crvz's hole in the wall
- Thread starter crvz
- Start date
drummereef
Team RC
Looking great Chris! Just for peace of mind, my 180g Marineland had a couple of spots where the bottom trim didn't sit perfectly flush with the stand I built. After a few days the gaps went away and the tank is sitting totally flush with the stand. I think they have a little flex in them and will conform within reason to the flatness of your stand. Let us know what Marineland says but I had this same thing happen with no issues to date. 
crvz
Team RC
Thanks. It's working out pretty well so far. I still have a little work to do to get the third circuit wired into it, but that will come in time (that third circuit will mostly be used by the stock tank). There is currently one dedicated circuit and one that, I thought, was just shared with a few other outlets in the garage. Turns out, that shared one also powers the front/back porch as well as the garage door openers, and thanks to christmas lights + lots of rain that GFCI has tripped a couple times this month. I'm going to have to evaluate how I spread out my equipment to ensure that I'm not accepting a big risk by using that circuit.
I'm thinking a few stacks that come from back to front, in lieu of the more common side to side aquascape. I have some ideas in mind, but I imagine it will mostly just come together real time. I do intend to lift all the rocks off the sand by and inch or some with a few acrylic rods, as well as use rods to attach the rocks together.
Looking great Chris! Just for peace of mind, my 180g Marineland had a couple of spots where the bottom trim didn't sit perfectly flush with the stand I built. After a few days the gaps went away and the tank is sitting totally flush with the stand. I think they have a little flex in them and will conform within reason to the flatness of your stand. Let us know what Marineland says but I had this same thing happen with no issues to date.
Thanks for that, Brett. I havent called them yet, but the tank is mostly flush now. There are a handful of spots that I can slip 2-3 sheets of paper under, but it's certainly the exception.
Will do. I looked for one in my archives, but the only thing I found was one with the lumatek ballasts. The meanwells are mounted next to those ballasts and I wired up a few molex plugs to hook everything up. I did also get an Apex from my wonderful wife last week, so I'll be looking into dimming the LEDs over time to simulate sunrise/sunset. I've also got a few gift certificates for LiveAquaria in the hopper, so I've got a lot to look forward to.
crvz
Team RC
No need for apologies, that's why I'm sharing the experiences. The flow plan is 4 tunze 6100s to start (I expect to need upgrades in the years to come), so with the controller I'd say it'll be in the 10000 gph range on average, or about 30x per hour. The sump will have 2 magdrive 9.5 pumps, which will probably be running about 1200 gph after head loss. Definitely on the lower range.
I'm not sure the final configuration of the sump, as the frag tank will be a little while down the road, but I do expect it to be wholly independent for QT purposes.
I'm not sure the final configuration of the sump, as the frag tank will be a little while down the road, but I do expect it to be wholly independent for QT purposes.
crvz
Team RC
Details for Padrino
Details for Padrino
Back to electrical, here's the basic rundown. First, I will have power from three 20 amp circuits coming into this panel (though only 2 are active right now). If you look at the top left of this panel, above it you'll see 2 black plugs going directly into the wall. That is how I'm supplying power from each of the circuits. All 3 of the circuits are GFCI.
It looks a little cluttered right now, but that's because I have hardware plugged directly into this unit. In a few weeks, all that will be removed, and only the black and gray plugs that are dangling will be plugged into this panel. Those are all labeled as A1-A8 (for the first DC8), B1-B8 (for the second DC8), and C1-C7 (for the X-10 modules), as well as with the name of the piece of hardware I plan on plugging into the other end of the cord. Those cords are then run to other areas in the room. For example, the light panel;
On the bottom of this panel you can see 16 outlets. Those are each run directly from the power panel, through conduit, to the back of this panel. Only the 4 tunze plugs on this panel also have a switch for quick shut off (all the switches you can see on the right part of the power distribution panel). And Rob, you can see the 3 meanwell drivers on the top portion of the light panel. You may also notice my properly mounted Tunze controller (still looking for that hardware...)
I also have some plugs hooked up directly under the stand. Here's half of them, the other half being on the opposite side of this opening.
In that image, you can clearly see the labels and how I'm trying to stay organized with all of it. Again (or if I didnt mention it), I'm using 14 gauge braided wire and soldering all the ends of every wire to ensure that they don't splay (and try to short anything out). It's taking some amount of time, but after years of being not as organized as I would like, I'm certain I'll appreciate it when it's operational.
In other news, I've started aquascaping. It's slow-going.
Details for Padrino
Back to electrical, here's the basic rundown. First, I will have power from three 20 amp circuits coming into this panel (though only 2 are active right now). If you look at the top left of this panel, above it you'll see 2 black plugs going directly into the wall. That is how I'm supplying power from each of the circuits. All 3 of the circuits are GFCI.
It looks a little cluttered right now, but that's because I have hardware plugged directly into this unit. In a few weeks, all that will be removed, and only the black and gray plugs that are dangling will be plugged into this panel. Those are all labeled as A1-A8 (for the first DC8), B1-B8 (for the second DC8), and C1-C7 (for the X-10 modules), as well as with the name of the piece of hardware I plan on plugging into the other end of the cord. Those cords are then run to other areas in the room. For example, the light panel;
On the bottom of this panel you can see 16 outlets. Those are each run directly from the power panel, through conduit, to the back of this panel. Only the 4 tunze plugs on this panel also have a switch for quick shut off (all the switches you can see on the right part of the power distribution panel). And Rob, you can see the 3 meanwell drivers on the top portion of the light panel. You may also notice my properly mounted Tunze controller (still looking for that hardware...)
I also have some plugs hooked up directly under the stand. Here's half of them, the other half being on the opposite side of this opening.
In that image, you can clearly see the labels and how I'm trying to stay organized with all of it. Again (or if I didnt mention it), I'm using 14 gauge braided wire and soldering all the ends of every wire to ensure that they don't splay (and try to short anything out). It's taking some amount of time, but after years of being not as organized as I would like, I'm certain I'll appreciate it when it's operational.
In other news, I've started aquascaping. It's slow-going.
Padrino
New member
Chris,
you are as crazy as I am, NICE! couple things, your missing teh hardware for the tunze controller?? i think i used Velcro. Worked awesome and then i can take it off if i need to make an adjustment. It looks like you ran a separate line from your DC8 to a separate plug closer to your source.. I did something similar. anyways i really like what you've done!
Rob
you are as crazy as I am, NICE! couple things, your missing teh hardware for the tunze controller?? i think i used Velcro. Worked awesome and then i can take it off if i need to make an adjustment. It looks like you ran a separate line from your DC8 to a separate plug closer to your source.. I did something similar. anyways i really like what you've done!
Rob
crvz
Team RC
No... the way the aquascaping is coming together I will have channels coming form the back to the front at diagonals in the tank. I plan on having the power heads point down these channels, so at least one of them will be on the right side of the tank. I'm sure I'll have to play with it once I set it up, but that's the general idea.
I decided to go with 2 return pumps for a few reasons. First, redundancy. If a pump fails, the other one is still firing. And though I havent done this to date, I'm considering changing how one of them is wired to put it on an entirely different breaker (currently sump hardware is all on one breaker, but the Tunze units are on a different one so I won't lose all tank flow if just one of those breakers fails). Second, this also allows me a little more flexibility in terms of plumbing in other hardware (calcium reactor, chiller, carbon reactor, future reactors, etc.). Instead of having all the head loss for those devices on one pump, I'll split it up, which in theory should give a little better flow performance (considering that head loss affects pump performance in a non-linear relationship). And third, I already have two mag 9.5s.
Current livestock is "surviving." My LPS are doing wonderfully, as are the clams, but many of the SPS are tired of living in a poorly established stock tank (that has badly designed flow and nutrient export parameters). I havent lost much of my SPS, but they arent performing well and I do expect them to grow much better once I move them over. Of more significant concern is the recent increase in algae, particularly lobophora and some small patches of hair algae. It's no coincidence that the hair algae issues are primarily isolated to areas of woefully insignificant flow, and I don't suspect that to be an issue in the next 6 weeks once I transfer everything over. Lobophora, however, grows well in all kinds of conditions (including high flow... it covers the top of both of my tunze 6100s in that tank), so I'll have to apply other solutions for that nuisance (I had a blonde naso tang from liveaquaria which eradicated the lobophora about 4 months ago, but once it did so I believe the fish starved to death; I intend to get another that will hopefully take to a more captive diet as well as a taste for lobo).
I'd probably also complain about the lighting on that stock tank... I received an Icecap Reef Illuminations fixture as part of a review program which, at first, seemed like a good match. That fixture and the tank are both 4 feet long, it had a pair of 250W metal halides as well as two LED strips and two T5 bulbs. However, my long-term diagnosis is less positive. The reflectors in the fixture are pretty poor. They're also positioned near the ends of the fixture... not at all where you'd want them to center it over a 4 foot tank. As a result, I think I'm wasting a lot of potential out of the bulbs (14kK phoenix). So any acros I have that are not directly under those bulbs have suffered. I'll have to re-evaluate how I have that set up once I move the stock tank and get everything better situated for frags/QT purposes.
Taqpol
New member
I would go with the MSX 250A or 300A. I love mine and I think Drummereef uses the same. The askoll pumps put out a crazy amount of air and Luke at www.shop.clayboa.com was really great to work with.
EDIT: Wow, I tried to type reef filtration, all one word in place of clayboa but it was edited for me...
Its ok, for some reason the website doesn't seem to be working right now anyways...
EDIT: Wow, I tried to type reef filtration, all one word in place of clayboa but it was edited for me...
Its ok, for some reason the website doesn't seem to be working right now anyways...
drummereef
Team RC
I do use the 250A. Problem is, MS doesn't carry the MSX skimmer line anymore. So the only option would be to order direct from SWC (Saltwater Connection) but I wouldn't personally recommend it. I didn't have a very cordial conversation with the owner when I had a warranty issue on an old skimmer prior to owning the 250A. They are also in Canada so shipping might be a PITA. There's lots of knockoffs that use the Askoll or Bubble Blaster pumps. I think they all perform well from what I've seen.
Perhaps Reef Filtration is the US dealer for SWC now? I have no idea but looks like their website is back up.
Perhaps Reef Filtration is the US dealer for SWC now? I have no idea but looks like their website is back up.
crvz
Team RC
Leo has pointed out the new ATI powercone... for the price and performance claims that certainly has my attention. I will be paying attention for a release date.
In other news, I've finished transferring all the corals over from the stock tank to the display. Now there's a bunch of maintenance to do on that setup, including moving it across the room. Not exactly looking forward to that. I also have noticed a few diatoms in the new display, which I expect to increase over the next few weeks, but let's hope that's the worst of the "blooms" to come. I'm sure it won't be.
Finally for today, I decided to snap some images of the corals that are in the tank to capture a baseline. To begin, the various acan species. I've got nine different specimens, so here's the first. I believe I picked up this gem from pacificeast a couple years ago, and it showed up as 4 polyps. Looking forward to it settling into its new home.
Another acan spotlight to come tomorrow.
In other news, I've finished transferring all the corals over from the stock tank to the display. Now there's a bunch of maintenance to do on that setup, including moving it across the room. Not exactly looking forward to that. I also have noticed a few diatoms in the new display, which I expect to increase over the next few weeks, but let's hope that's the worst of the "blooms" to come. I'm sure it won't be.
Finally for today, I decided to snap some images of the corals that are in the tank to capture a baseline. To begin, the various acan species. I've got nine different specimens, so here's the first. I believe I picked up this gem from pacificeast a couple years ago, and it showed up as 4 polyps. Looking forward to it settling into its new home.
Another acan spotlight to come tomorrow.
crvz
Team RC
Another acan in the collection. I got this from cherry corals as 2 polyps a little over 2 years ago. Seems weird that it's been that long. In any case, they marketed them as "dragon skin" acans, and while I don't necessarily fall into the hype of weird named corals, that always stuck with me. I'd say it's about 25-30 polyps now.
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