Aquaph8's 225 Build

[aquaph8]

Nice and healthy fish!

Beautiful fishes.
:thumbsup:

Thanks, so far he seems really healthy and has a crazy appetite.

Oh man, gorgeous fish! How long do you typically QT your fish Brett?

Thanks Brett, average would be six to eight weeks but Ill change my routine depending on the fish too. For example, no tang will ever go in my tank without some kind of ich treatment. I always do at least one prazipro treatment for everything.

 

[drummereef]

Thanks, so far he seems really healthy and has a crazy appetite.



Thanks Brett, average would be six to eight weeks but Ill change my routine depending on the fish too. For example, no tang will ever go in my tank without some kind of ich treatment. I always do at least one prazipro treatment for everything.

Gotcha, thanks. That sounds like a great routine.

 

[zibba]

Here's a little sneak peek of what's in the QT.

So jealous! Very nice, Brett.

 

[aquaph8]

:fish1:

So jealous! Very nice, Brett.

Thanks man, all the new babies are doing really well.

 

[psteeleb]

nice additions Brett - looking great!

 

[rickcasa]

Great build so far...I'm going to add that bypass idea to my built too.
Is that a single piece manifold or did you build it from Tees and fittings?

Nice aquarium.

d3hree's mockup is fantastic and I strongly recommend utilizing the style of fittings in the rendering. True union valves (Spears makes great valves and fittings, all around) are not only very aesthetically pleasing, but functional to the point of being a worthwhile purchase. I know all about a budget, but what I've always found is that spending twice as much on the cheapest aspects of a build/system (i.e. plumbing) is often just as much, if not more, of a worthwhile and rewarding purchase. Plus it always makes an amazing rimless setup as yours look all the more professional!

Also in your current plumbing setup (as well as d3hree's mockup, if I'm not mistaken), if that side manifold is supplying water to reactors, a skimmer, or anything else down in the sump then the water will siphon back down through those into the sump until the height of the holes on your loc-lines. Maybe I missed a check valve or something along the way, but I just don't want you to end up with a floor full of saltwater.

 

[aquaph8]

Great build so far...I'm going to add that bypass idea to my built too.
Is that a single piece manifold or did you build it from Tees and fittings?

Thank you, the manifold is built from Tees a d fittings. Ive only ever ran one reactor off that manifold, the ball valves are a huge pain to adjust but with just the one reactor on it I've never bothered spending the $$$ on the nicer valves. The bypass idea is awesome am I'm really glad I took D3hree's advice, it makes adjusting the water level in the sump really simple.

 

[aquaph8]

nice additions Brett - looking great!

Thanks Pete. It's so nice building my fish population back up. I really want to add a couple angels soon but I'm still being a chicken, I'm sure Ill pull the trigger when the right ones come along though.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Is that butterfly reef safe?


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[aquaph8]

Is that butterfly reef safe?


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Haha, not completely but I'm hoping he'll be OK with SPS, he can eat anything else he wants, LOL

 

[clownin about]

Nice set up. Is your external bean animal acrylic? How was it bonded to the tank? Dimensions? Distance from tank rim to overflow? Thanks!

 

[aquaph8]

Nice set up. Is your external bean animal acrylic? How was it bonded to the tank? Dimensions? Distance from tank rim to overflow? Thanks!

Thanks, yes it's acrylic, bonded with silicone. It's 24x5x6, the actual overflow is 2" from the top of the tank

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Haha, not completely but I'm hoping he'll be OK with SPS, he can eat anything else he wants, LOL

You're a beast man. I like the way you think.


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[clownin about]

Thanks, yes it's acrylic, bonded with silicone. It's 24x5x6, the actual overflow is 2" from the top of the tank

Thanks for the info. I am building a 36x26x19 rimless & was going to make the external bean animal out of glass but I like the idea of using acrylic. I just wasn't sure if silicone was strong enough to bond the plexi to the glass w/out any issues. In my case it needs to be foolproof as I am in a high-rise & would cry if all that salt water started cascading down 20 floors :eek1:.

 

[rpjaws74]

wow love the open look

 

[aquaph8]

Thanks for the info. I am building a 36x26x19 rimless & was going to make the external bean animal out of glass but I like the idea of using acrylic. I just wasn't sure if silicone was strong enough to bond the plexi to the glass w/out any issues. In my case it needs to be foolproof as I am in a high-rise & would cry if all that salt water started cascading down 20 floors :eek1:.

LeeMar built mine, I would never trust myself with that part.

wow love the open look

Thanks a lot, appreciate it!

 

[aquaph8]

I'm getting tired of my kalk fluctuating with my top off needs. I have an extra BRS dosing pump, should I just run another line to my top off container and attempt to figure out how much kalk to dose. How far apart would you guys doses?

 

[drummereef]

I'm getting tired of my kalk fluctuating with my top off needs. I have an extra BRS dosing pump, should I just run another line to my top off container and attempt to figure out how much kalk to dose. How far apart would you guys doses?

Here's what I do... I have 2 containers, one for top off and one for Kalk. The top off is controlled by my Osmolator. The Kalk is dosed by a 50ml/min BRS doser controlled by my Apex. For my needs it runs every 20 minutes for 2 minutes 40 seconds each cycle (3x per hour for 2 min 40 sec). I used the Reef Chemistry Calculator to determine how much my daily need was and just plugged in Limewater as the product used. That way I could divide the total amount needed per day into my dosing schedule. So whatever top off need is leftover my Osmolator makes up with freshwater.

Here's my Apex program for my Kalk doser.

Fallback OFF
OSC 000:00/002:40/017:20 Then ON
If Time 19:00 to 02:00 Then OFF
If pH > 08.55 Then OFF

 

[aquaph8]

Thanks Brett,
I'm gonna do the same with a couple differences. I'm gonna run two pumps off one container, one will run top off through my ATO and the other will be timed through my RKL and run through my Kalk reactor. Now the fun part is figuring out the ratio of kalk to two part without throwing things way out of wack. Right now all my top off runs through the reactor and two part is adjusted to make up the difference, I honestly have no idea how much top off is being added to the tank.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Is it possible to run that in series. i.e, having the ato go through a kalk reactor and then top off in the sump?