Indymann99
New member
My clown hung up in the corner for 6mo before realizing he has 119.8 other gallons to swim around in.. just give it time.
:lolspin:
Dane's 175 Gal in-Wall Tank Build
- Thread starter TulaneDane
- Start date
TulaneDane
New member
So after a lot of searching, I've found only a few opinions on whether or not you should leave your chiller pump running continuously, regardless if the chiller is on or off. :fun5:
A small majority seem to think its best to leave the pump 'always on' and just turn the chiller on/off as needed. I think this will be my approach as well.
:hmm1:
The other debate is whether to use your controller as the primary regulator of the chiller and the chiller itself as the back-up, or vice-versa. :worried2:
The best school of thought I found was to use my controller as the back-up because:
Just thought I'd share my research.
A small majority seem to think its best to leave the pump 'always on' and just turn the chiller on/off as needed. I think this will be my approach as well.
:hmm1:
The other debate is whether to use your controller as the primary regulator of the chiller and the chiller itself as the back-up, or vice-versa. :worried2:
The best school of thought I found was to use my controller as the back-up because:
- Each chiller has a spool-up/boot-up time, and allowing the chiller to step through this on its own is best
- Turning any appliance on/off repeatedly probably isn't best, particularly one with a compressor
- You can program your temperature reading within the chiller to match that of the controller, thus avoiding a chiller & heater running at the same time
- Chillers draw a lot of amps when running, and spike when initially turned on. Keeping these spikes off your energy bar could be beneficial
Just thought I'd share my research.
Indymann99
New member
+1 on your logic.
I do the same with my heaters... my APEX is the failsafe the internal control is primary.
my 0.02
I do the same with my heaters... my APEX is the failsafe the internal control is primary.
my 0.02
TulaneDane
New member
So I'm up and running with the JBJ 1/4 Chiller:
Will find a way to conceal it a bit better later on. Learned a bunch trying to hook this thing up.
Currently I'm pulling from my primary overflow weir, and dumping into my emergency weir. I'm cavating a little somewhere in this setup, which is dumping micro bubbles into the tank. I have the outflow tube wrapped in a filter sock now to cut this down.
At first I was using a Taam RIO HF20 to feed the chiller. Uh no. That thing sounded like tin cans. I'm now running it off a Eheim Compact 3000+. MUCH better. ...though I think I'm near the minimum flow rate for the Chiller off the Eheim.
...and now for some reef porn:
One of my Blue Knuckle Hermits with two feather dusters on his shell.
Will find a way to conceal it a bit better later on. Learned a bunch trying to hook this thing up.
Currently I'm pulling from my primary overflow weir, and dumping into my emergency weir. I'm cavating a little somewhere in this setup, which is dumping micro bubbles into the tank. I have the outflow tube wrapped in a filter sock now to cut this down.
At first I was using a Taam RIO HF20 to feed the chiller. Uh no. That thing sounded like tin cans. I'm now running it off a Eheim Compact 3000+. MUCH better. ...though I think I'm near the minimum flow rate for the Chiller off the Eheim.
...and now for some reef porn:
One of my Blue Knuckle Hermits with two feather dusters on his shell.
TulaneDane
New member
Sigh...more bad news. Lost my second yellow tang in my Quarantine Tank. :sad2:
As soon as I noticed he was slowing down and not picking the seawead clean off the clip, I changed out the filter insert in the HOB filter, and did a 50% water change. After careful monitoring, two days later he was gone.
Sad and frustrating. He made it 1.5 week longer than my prior yellow tang. I kept the lights moderated for most of the time. Supplemented his seaweed diet with frozen Mysis Shrimp. Made sure the airstone and powerhead were agitating the surface.
SG: 1.024
Temp: 78*
NH4: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 4 ppm
One side of him had some brown coloring. I guess I should have listened to those that said to break down the QT tank. Is is possible that a 15 gallon QT is just too small for these guys? :uhoh3:
As soon as I noticed he was slowing down and not picking the seawead clean off the clip, I changed out the filter insert in the HOB filter, and did a 50% water change. After careful monitoring, two days later he was gone.
Sad and frustrating. He made it 1.5 week longer than my prior yellow tang. I kept the lights moderated for most of the time. Supplemented his seaweed diet with frozen Mysis Shrimp. Made sure the airstone and powerhead were agitating the surface.
SG: 1.024
Temp: 78*
NH4: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 4 ppm
One side of him had some brown coloring. I guess I should have listened to those that said to break down the QT tank. Is is possible that a 15 gallon QT is just too small for these guys? :uhoh3:
TulaneDane
New member
Tang killer checking back in. :mad2:
Display Tank water parameters still seem OK:
NH4: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
PO: 0
SG: 1.024
Ph: ranges from 8.1 to 8.3
Getting a decent amount from algae in the tank, so I'm going to cut down on feeding (and lighting as well...running about 10 hours). Current stock:
- 2 clownfish
- 2 Halloween hermits
- 2 blue knuckle hermits
- 4 scarlet leg hermits
- 6 red leg hermits (little guys)
- 5 Trochus snails
- 1 mexican turbo snail
- 1 emerald crab
Replaced the two locline outputs from my return with flat bill nozzels to try and spread the flow a bit.
Also moved three of my four power heads to the top of the tank and pointed them down. Perhaps this will better oxygenate the water.
Set my Chiller to hold the temp at ~78.5. It's working quite well. However I haven't yet cracked the micro bubble issue. My chiller's pump is pulling from my primary overflow weir on the left as shown, and dumping into my emergency overflow weir on the right. No bubbles are making it into the sump from the primary overflow...so how are bubbles coming from my Chiller?? :deadhorse1:
This is the Chiller pump line out from my primary overflow:
The black hose atop my ecotech power boxes is the same Chiller pump line. Runs horizontally from left to right, then up. The second hose running straight down on the left is the return:
Thoughts on killing these micro bubbles?? :hammer:
Display Tank water parameters still seem OK:
NH4: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
PO: 0
SG: 1.024
Ph: ranges from 8.1 to 8.3
Getting a decent amount from algae in the tank, so I'm going to cut down on feeding (and lighting as well...running about 10 hours). Current stock:
- 2 clownfish
- 2 Halloween hermits
- 2 blue knuckle hermits
- 4 scarlet leg hermits
- 6 red leg hermits (little guys)
- 5 Trochus snails
- 1 mexican turbo snail
- 1 emerald crab
Replaced the two locline outputs from my return with flat bill nozzels to try and spread the flow a bit.
Also moved three of my four power heads to the top of the tank and pointed them down. Perhaps this will better oxygenate the water.
Set my Chiller to hold the temp at ~78.5. It's working quite well. However I haven't yet cracked the micro bubble issue. My chiller's pump is pulling from my primary overflow weir on the left as shown, and dumping into my emergency overflow weir on the right. No bubbles are making it into the sump from the primary overflow...so how are bubbles coming from my Chiller?? :deadhorse1:
This is the Chiller pump line out from my primary overflow:
The black hose atop my ecotech power boxes is the same Chiller pump line. Runs horizontally from left to right, then up. The second hose running straight down on the left is the return:
Thoughts on killing these micro bubbles?? :hammer:
TulaneDane
New member
Decided my next fish will be a small school of Blue/Green Chromis. Thinking 5 to start. Supposed to be a bit more hardy than Tangs, so they'll be better equipped to handle me. :hmm5:
Biting the bullet on my chiller, and am going to plumb it through the sump. I can't figure out how to stop the micro bubbles I'm creating from drawing/dumping from/to the display tank.
It will be 11' of head height though, so I'm going to have to find a way to fit a mag 12 pump into the sump. ...It's going to be tetris in that thing. :eek1:
Time for some good news! Since adding my chiller, I was able to turn off my sump fan and put the lid back on my 'refugium' (just live rock in there). Its now been 15 days since I last filled my 20 gallon ATO, and it's only half way down. Looks like it may last me almost 30 days! With no chiller and using fans to cool, I was only making it ~10 days! :bounce1:
Biting the bullet on my chiller, and am going to plumb it through the sump. I can't figure out how to stop the micro bubbles I'm creating from drawing/dumping from/to the display tank.
It will be 11' of head height though, so I'm going to have to find a way to fit a mag 12 pump into the sump. ...It's going to be tetris in that thing. :eek1:
Time for some good news! Since adding my chiller, I was able to turn off my sump fan and put the lid back on my 'refugium' (just live rock in there). Its now been 15 days since I last filled my 20 gallon ATO, and it's only half way down. Looks like it may last me almost 30 days! With no chiller and using fans to cool, I was only making it ~10 days! :bounce1:
Reef noob_
New member
awesome thread and build, i just read through all of it, excited to see it mature, subbed.
TulaneDane
New member
So finished plumbing my chiller through the sump instead of directly in the Display Tank. MUCH better. No more micro bubbles in the display tank, and so much more of the wiring and tubing is hidden! :bounce1:
Plumbing now runs through the interior of the house to the left of the tank and comes back in through the wall (black vinyl tubes):
I then run the black vinyl hose directly into the second return enclosure of the Aqueon Proflex4 sump:
Went with a Mag 12 for the chiller pump. It's pushing plenty of flow even at the 11' of head height of the chiller. However, I have zero room left in the return section of the sump:
Return section now houses two Mag 12s (one for the chiller, one for the return), one Mag 24 (running the skimmer), a Maxijet 1200 for my GFO/Carbon reaction, the AquaC skimmer, a heater, and all the float switches and tubing for my ATO. It is a full house... :crazy1:
On another note, I picked up 5 Blue/Green Chromis a little over a week ago...and only two remain today. The bigger ones just bullied the smaller ones.
Plumbing now runs through the interior of the house to the left of the tank and comes back in through the wall (black vinyl tubes):
I then run the black vinyl hose directly into the second return enclosure of the Aqueon Proflex4 sump:
Went with a Mag 12 for the chiller pump. It's pushing plenty of flow even at the 11' of head height of the chiller. However, I have zero room left in the return section of the sump:
Return section now houses two Mag 12s (one for the chiller, one for the return), one Mag 24 (running the skimmer), a Maxijet 1200 for my GFO/Carbon reaction, the AquaC skimmer, a heater, and all the float switches and tubing for my ATO. It is a full house... :crazy1:
On another note, I picked up 5 Blue/Green Chromis a little over a week ago...and only two remain today. The bigger ones just bullied the smaller ones.
Indymann99
New member
So
On another note, I picked up 5 Blue/Green Chromis a little over a week ago...and only two remain today. The bigger ones just bullied the smaller ones.
Did you provide plenty of "hiding spots" for the Chromis? If you have 5x in QT you need at least 7-10 pieces of PVC tubes / elbows / Tee's for each to have a hiding spot at night.
my 0.02. I have had 4x Blue/Green Chromis in my DT for several years.
TulaneDane
New member
Checking back in. I'm down to one Blue Green Chromis. He's a bully of a dude I guess, and has gotten pretty big, about the size of my clownfish now. I have 4 PVC pieces in my QT, two very large pieces and two smaller pieces. That is apparently not enough. Though I'm suspecting I did not feed enough to begin with...these guys are pigs. Will put him in my Display Tank this weekend.
My minor algae problem has turned into a rather large one. Could be Chrysophytes or brown/clear hair algae. I'm speculating my 55 gallon saltwater mixing tank is leaching TDS. For a while I mixed my saltwater and just let it sit stagnant with no pump circulating it...that's bad for TDS right? Will pick-up a TDS meter outside of my RO/DI unit to test the mixing tank. That or my rocks are leaching nitrates/phosphates...However I started with all dry rock. Will find out soon. :facepalm:
In the meantime, I'm treating the symptoms:
- Did 36 hour blackout
- Aggressive manual scrub down using a toothbrush
- Changed filter socks after they captured everything I knocked loose
- Scaled my red LED bulbs to zero
- Increased air intake to skimmer: unplugged the ozone intake to my skimmer (not dosing O3, but had plugged it while tuning the skimmer early on), made other adjustments to up the air intake as well.
- Started dosing API AlgaeFix Marine yesterday
- Started a small dosing of Carbon (vodka)
- Contemplating a biopellet reactor!
We'll see how this approach works. :rolleye1:
Think my next fish will be a Diamond Watchman Goby. :idea:
Some good news: added two LPS corals to the tank! A Hammerhead and a Candy Cane. I feed them about once every 5 days with Mysis shrimp or Apex Crossover Diet. They are beautiful under the blue lights, and are doing well. :bounce3:
My minor algae problem has turned into a rather large one. Could be Chrysophytes or brown/clear hair algae. I'm speculating my 55 gallon saltwater mixing tank is leaching TDS. For a while I mixed my saltwater and just let it sit stagnant with no pump circulating it...that's bad for TDS right? Will pick-up a TDS meter outside of my RO/DI unit to test the mixing tank. That or my rocks are leaching nitrates/phosphates...However I started with all dry rock. Will find out soon. :facepalm:
In the meantime, I'm treating the symptoms:
- Did 36 hour blackout
- Aggressive manual scrub down using a toothbrush
- Changed filter socks after they captured everything I knocked loose
- Scaled my red LED bulbs to zero
- Increased air intake to skimmer: unplugged the ozone intake to my skimmer (not dosing O3, but had plugged it while tuning the skimmer early on), made other adjustments to up the air intake as well.
- Started dosing API AlgaeFix Marine yesterday
- Started a small dosing of Carbon (vodka)
- Contemplating a biopellet reactor!
We'll see how this approach works. :rolleye1:
Think my next fish will be a Diamond Watchman Goby. :idea:
Some good news: added two LPS corals to the tank! A Hammerhead and a Candy Cane. I feed them about once every 5 days with Mysis shrimp or Apex Crossover Diet. They are beautiful under the blue lights, and are doing well. :bounce3:
Indymann99
New member
+1 on the Goby
Tankerblade
New member
Awesome built. The attention to detail is awesome. Keep up the good work!!! Definitely subscribing :thumbsup:
TulaneDane
New member
An update on my algae issue. After about a week, the issue is simply...GONE! :bounce1:
I'm not sure what was the most effective of the changes I made. I suspect they all had a factor, however given the speed of this stuff disappearing, my guess is the API Algae Fix Marine was the primary factor. In a little over a week I only dosed this stuff 3 times. About 15ml each time as prescribed.
I don't think the carbon dosing (vodka) could have turned this around so quickly. Skimmer working better I'm sure helps, but in a week? ...probably not. No red LED's quite possible, however even those areas that didn't get direct light are now free of any algae.
I fear I might have even overshot here and am now a bit concerned for my clean up crew. They are all much more mobile now...I suspect looking for food.
These are all the same places I showed before:
I'm going to step off the API Algae Fix Marine now and see if this stuff creeps back, just to confirm.
Rocks still have a bit of a brown tint to them, would like to see that gone...
@Indyman: Do you supplement your Diamond Watchman Goby's diet with anything, or is he self sustained by your sandbed?
I'm not sure what was the most effective of the changes I made. I suspect they all had a factor, however given the speed of this stuff disappearing, my guess is the API Algae Fix Marine was the primary factor. In a little over a week I only dosed this stuff 3 times. About 15ml each time as prescribed.
I don't think the carbon dosing (vodka) could have turned this around so quickly. Skimmer working better I'm sure helps, but in a week? ...probably not. No red LED's quite possible, however even those areas that didn't get direct light are now free of any algae.
I fear I might have even overshot here and am now a bit concerned for my clean up crew. They are all much more mobile now...I suspect looking for food.
These are all the same places I showed before:
I'm going to step off the API Algae Fix Marine now and see if this stuff creeps back, just to confirm.
Rocks still have a bit of a brown tint to them, would like to see that gone...
@Indyman: Do you supplement your Diamond Watchman Goby's diet with anything, or is he self sustained by your sandbed?
So, your rocks will eventually have a brown tint to them, and that's a healthy thing. Also, the hair algae was also likely part of your natural cycle in your tank. My guess is the blackout is what nipped it in the bud so fast. Algae is not a bad thing to see in a reef tank, especially a new one. Just part of the process.
