Deep Down Florida 300g In-wall Build

[bmanzie]

Well it has been a while since my last update on my tank. For starters, I have finally been able to control my nitrates and phosphates. I have my nitrates down to 0 and my phosphates down to .29
I am still working on bringing down my phosphates to near zero but that may never be a reality.
I have also changed my chiller. The 3/4 HP that I had running has died on me 4 times since I got it last year. I decided to go with a different setup and upgrade at the same time.
I am now running a 1 ton condenser unit outside my house with a larger cooling barrel on the inside. This thing is running on less amps than my previous PIA chiller and running a 1/4 of the time. So far so good on this choice. Here are some pictures of the new chiller.

This is the condensing unit on the outside.

This is the cooling barrel on the inside.

 

[bmanzie]

...

 

[DRThompson]

that is one massive chiller! LOOKS GREAT Bill!

 

[blackthunda77]

How are those lights holding up for you so far? You mind passing me some info on them and where you got them from? They look tempting.

 

[nivram]

Is that barrel insulated? That's interesting about it being more efficient.

Are you still running the same led units?

 

[bmanzie]

DRThompson, thanks, this chiller will save me money.
Blackthunda77, the LEDs are working great. I don't have any corals yet but if you read through my post you will find PAR readings somewhere. I should be adding corals soon as I finally got my water parameters under control.
Nivram, the barrel doesn't need to be insulated. This is how it is in the Current chillers and most chillers with a barrel. This unit pulls 10 amps and takes 25 minutes to lower the temp 2 degrees. Keep in mind my TWV is 370. My other chiller ran at 12 amps and took 2 1/2 hours to do the same.
Yes, LEDs are still up and running.

 

[flfireman1]

Question, at what temp are you running your aquarium that you need a chiller? Just curious, since your running LED's which emmit less heat. What were your temps without the chiller?

 

[bmanzie]

Since most of my tank is in the garage, my tank will run close to 90 on a regular day. On a hot summer day it would run hotter without a chiller. I know this because my old chiller broke down in the summer and even recently.

 

[flfireman1]

Since most of my tank is in the garage, my tank will run close to 90 on a regular day. On a hot summer day it would run hotter without a chiller. I know this because my old chiller broke down in the summer and even recently.

Ok, that explains everything. I didnt realize your aquarium was partially in the garage.

Well glad to see everything is up and running and looking good.

 

[bmanzie]

Well just when you think everything is running good something unexpected happens. I realized I have puddling around the base of my stand. I didn't think much of it because sometimes the fish splash and it lands on my garage floor. Well after the second day the water was still there and worse. I knew I had a leak.
After some frustrating investigating I found that the leak was coming from my sump. Although this is much better than my tank leaking, it was still a challenge. In order to fully fix the leak I had to remove my sump. I have included a picture of my sump and plumbing so you could see the challenge. In the end, the leak was fixed and my fish were happy to have moving water again. Thanks to Matt for lending me the air pump, it worked great.

 

[Rogger Castells]

Wow, that was some engineer work you had to do......I am impressed and sad!

 

[AquamanE]

good job Bill. Taking out that sump required a lot of thinking.

I noticed in pics that i dont see you denitrator over on the right. Did you move it or got rid of it? If you got rid, why?

 

[bmanzie]

Wow, that was some engineer work you had to do......I am impressed and sad!

Mr. Rogger where have you been? I hope all is well.
Turn that frown upside down.

 

[bmanzie]

good job Bill. Taking out that sump required a lot of thinking.

I noticed in pics that i dont see you denitrator over on the right. Did you move it or got rid of it? If you got rid, why?

Thank you it did.
I figured I would post pictures incase others had to do the same.
I still have the denigrator but took it offline. It wasn't doing what I wanted (maybe because I didn't set it up right).
But now I do't have a need for it as my nitrates are 0.
Now my phosphates at .45 is another story. Trying to bring that down.

 

[nivram]

Glad you were able to get your sump out. Did it crack?

 

[bmanzie]

No looked like an air bubble was in the seam.
I sanded it down and resealed it.
All is good now. (knock on wood)

 

[AquamanE]

So if you had a denitrater on before and it didnt help, what did you do to bring nitrates down?, and what are you doing for pho4 reduction. We can all learn from this. You have a big tank and lots of fish.

 

[bmanzie]

Well I changed what I was feeding and how much, and I have also added a large portion of Cheato (which you could see a large basket behind the UV).
I was feeding a seafood mix blend and lots of it. I since have changed to small portions of mysis, flakes and pellets.
Of course I had to do a number of large water changes to bring things under control.
My PO4 is my next task and I have been using Rowaphos and trying to have my skimmer do some of the work.

 

[mrx66699]

Looks good buddy anytime....glad I had what you needed and your fish are safe......

 

[bmanzie]

Glad you had it also.
Your tank still looks great by the way.