d2mini's "Essential Focus" Mixed Reef Build

Curious what are you doing for rock work? Did you save and store some of your old rock? Or do you plan on getting a new package from TBS?
 
Hi Dennis,
I like your new home, very nice open floor plan.
I was impressed with your first tank already, looking forward to this one.
Good luck!

Hermann
 
Hey Dennis,

I've mainly been a lurker on your threads... well, honestly, it has been because I was always late to the party. :lmao: REALLY excited to have found this new build thread towards the beginning so I can tag along!

Your tanks and builds are a huge inspiration for me and so many others, so thanks so much for sharing as much as you do.

I am still very new to reefing by most standards, but I am already starting to plan a new larger tank build to migrate from my BioCube 29, which has been great so far.

What I'd love to understand in greater depth, and feel free to point me elsewhere to do the research, is how you perform your AWC and automated mixing stations, etc.

This is something that I would really like to build out for my tank, and I have struggled with figuring out how to automate as much as possible. Like automating filling my ATO tank from my RODI tank. At the moment with my BC29, I have very little evap and simply change out a 5g jug as it gets low, which is fairly infrequent. But the new tank will be larger and very likely rimless without a hood, so I expect evap will be MUCH higher. I am all about automation and removing mundane tasks. One thing I struggle with is how to setup refilling the ATO without my RODI kicking off all the time if I am feeding the ATO tank from a RODI holding tank. The reason I am struggling is because it would seem the easiest setup are some float valves, but these could mean that my RODI runs many times a day. So wondering if you already figured something out for this. Like a sensor that is only turned on once a week in the RODI holding tank? I just don't know if this exists.

I saw in your previous build threads some info on your AWC setup, but wondering if you will be doing anything different this time around, and what equipment and controllers you will be using. I use Apex for my automation stuff, but it looked like you have used different types and wondering why you chose what you did.

Sorry for the long post and so many questions, but it has all been pent up from reading through page after page of your previous threads and finally catching up to current. :rollface:
 
timfederwitz said:
Hey Dennis,

I've mainly been a lurker on your threads... well, honestly, it has been because I was always late to the party. :lmao: REALLY excited to have found this new build thread towards the beginning so I can tag along!

Your tanks and builds are a huge inspiration for me and so many others, so thanks so much for sharing as much as you do.

I am still very new to reefing by most standards, but I am already starting to plan a new larger tank build to migrate from my BioCube 29, which has been great so far.

What I'd love to understand in greater depth, and feel free to point me elsewhere to do the research, is how you perform your AWC and automated mixing stations, etc.

This is something that I would really like to build out for my tank, and I have struggled with figuring out how to automate as much as possible. Like automating filling my ATO tank from my RODI tank. At the moment with my BC29, I have very little evap and simply change out a 5g jug as it gets low, which is fairly infrequent. But the new tank will be larger and very likely rimless without a hood, so I expect evap will be MUCH higher. I am all about automation and removing mundane tasks. One thing I struggle with is how to setup refilling the ATO without my RODI kicking off all the time if I am feeding the ATO tank from a RODI holding tank. The reason I am struggling is because it would seem the easiest setup are some float valves, but these could mean that my RODI runs many times a day. So wondering if you already figured something out for this. Like a sensor that is only turned on once a week in the RODI holding tank? I just don't know if this exists.

I saw in your previous build threads some info on your AWC setup, but wondering if you will be doing anything different this time around, and what equipment and controllers you will be using. I use Apex for my automation stuff, but it looked like you have used different types and wondering why you chose what you did.

Sorry for the long post and so many questions, but it has all been pent up from reading through page after page of your previous threads and finally catching up to current. :rollface:
Click to expand...

Thanks! Glad you enjoy. :)

As far as ATO and AWC it kinda depends on the particular build.
For the last tank, I ended up using the GHL Profilux controller which comes standard with programming for both ATO and AWC.

For ATO, i just ran a water line from my 60g storage container to my sump. A small pump was in the sump and it was plugged into one of the GHL Powerbar outlets. The RO/DI i would turn on manually when the storage container got close to empty. It had a float valve that turned off the RO/DI when full. And then when I remembered, I would manually turn off the ro/di so it didn't keep turning on/off as the ATO filled.

The AWC was controlled via two GHL level sensors in the sump. I had it set on a timer, so when it got to that time, the GHL would first turn off ATO control. Then it would start the pump that was in my sump that was connected to a water line that ran to my sink drain. This would pump the water out of the sump until it got to the lower level sensor. Then that pump would turn off and it would turn on the fill pump that was in my saltwater container. This would fill the sump back up until the water level got back up to the upper level sensor (which also controlled the ATO). This way, the exact same amount of water that was removed was replenished. No need to calibrate pumps, no change in salinity.

In my old cube, I ran a LiterMeter III setup for AWC. These are great and very precise and can run up to 150x/day. You just need to calibrate the pumps every 6 months or so. This runs independently of your Apex.
For ATO on this build I just used a float valve in my sump and gravity fed the water from the fresh RO/DI container that was in my garage.

For the new build I'll be running Triton so under normal operation there is no need for water changes. Except for rare occasions. So I'll probably go ahead and set up something similar because I would still rather hit a switch and let it do it's thing, even if it takes hours, than have to do it manually.
The new water change station isn't far from the tank so it's still easy enough to run the lines. I just have to drill one small hole into the house to fit a few of the 1/4" water lines. Which I need to do for the ATO anyway, because I'm still going to run the ATO directly from the fresh RO/DI container.

Since these new storage tanks are out of sight, hidden in the storage shed, I do want to figure out a way to be notified when they get too low. Because out of sight out of mind!
I haven't figured that part out yet. ;)

Hope that helps!

-------------------

On another note... I FINALLY wrote a new blog post!
Moving an Aquarium. :)
www.everydayreef.com
 
Dennis, here is the basic idea for the arm that would conceal the cord. I think a nice 45 coming up to the light from the tank rim would be more atheistic but I only had a few minutes to sketch.

arm_zpskz2gd7im.jpg
 
d2mini said:
Since these new storage tanks are out of sight, hidden in the storage shed, I do want to figure out a way to be notified when they get too low. Because out of sight out of mind!
I haven't figured that part out yet. ;)

Hope that helps!

-------------------

On another note... I FINALLY wrote a new blog post!
Moving an Aquarium. :)
www.everydayreef.com
Click to expand...

YAY! A new blog post to read!! BTW, I love photography myself and actually went to school for visual arts... and am now in sales. :lmao:

For the RODI tank in the shed, Soulpatch got some ATO and doses tanks from BAO and had him add sensors that hang down in the tank. I didn't ask him yet, but it seems the sensor goes off when NOT in contact with water. So thinking you could do something similar in your RODI tank and either alert you or automatically shut off/turn on something.

Here is the page where he has pics close to the top of the page.
 
drauka99 said:
Dennis, here is the basic idea for the arm that would conceal the cord. I think a nice 45 coming up to the light from the tank rim would be more atheistic but I only had a few minutes to sketch.
Click to expand...
Thanks.
Honestly the little bit of cord that shows isn't that bad.
I'm just going to change the color of it to help camouflage it.
Anything else ruins the minimalist floating look. I much prefer the thin, almost invisible wires to aluminum arms that come up from behind the tank to hold the light, and although a clean solution, even the single arm seems too heavy looking to me. :)

timfederwitz said:
YAY! A new blog post to read!! BTW, I love photography myself and actually went to school for visual arts... and am now in sales. :lmao:

For the RODI tank in the shed, Soulpatch got some ATO and doses tanks from BAO and had him add sensors that hang down in the tank. I didn't ask him yet, but it seems the sensor goes off when NOT in contact with water. So thinking you could do something similar in your RODI tank and either alert you or automatically shut off/turn on something.

Here is the page where he has pics close to the top of the page.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but the problem is getting those sensors to communicate with my controller.
Pretty sure there is a max length of wire you can run?
 
ClownsRCoo said:
The apex can send email alerts or text alerts which is all you would need for the ATO problem. Does your controller have that ability too?
Click to expand...

The controller indoors is (i think) too far from the water storage containers outside to run wires to connect the level sensors. That's the whole problem.
 
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