Dewey's 180+ gal reef build thread

[deweyhowell]

Ask Scott (slief) about what auto water change system is best. He will convince you.
Hint.. it's not the DOS.
Daniel.

Thanks. Is there a thread on this? All of my equipment could be returned/re-purposed at this point. I won't be setting up the tank until the 2nd half of December after the work on the rooms is complete. Scott, are you following? I welcome your input.

 

[slief]

Ask Scott (slief) about what auto water change system is best. He will convince you.
Hint.. it's not the DOS.
Daniel.

LOL.. My first choice is the Genesis Renew in large part because of the speed and the flexibility of the Renew. Don't get me wrong, I really like the Dos and use one myself for other duties. It's just that the Renew can change out a gallon of water in up to two minutes with the Pro model, can be set from 1-99 gallons and can be set to do it in a day a week or continuously. All with the push of a button. If you set it to daily or weekly, it will repeat process if you set it to do so and never needs intervention. It's always dead accurate because of the metering bins and never needs calibration.

Before I got my Renew, I used a Liter Meter 3 and slave pump which worked OK but was slow and not capable of bulk water changes. It also needed roller cleaing every few months along with calibration I would have used a Dos instead of the Litermeter but the Dos wasn't out 5 years ago. Nor was it out when I got my Renew 2 or more years ago. That said, the Renew is by far the best auto water changer you can get. Hands down, nothing compares in terms of speed, intuitive nature, ease of use, flexibility and accuracy. My Renew changes out 5 gallons a day on my system. On the rare occasion that I want to do a large water change, I enter the amount I want to change, hit start and walk away. I wouldn't trade my Renew for anything. While it's not cheap, it's worth it's weight in gold for water changes and works like a dream.

My Apex provides my failsafes for it by monitoring salinity and sump levels. If my sump level is too high or too low or my salinity gets out of whack, the Renew is shut off and I get notification via email and text. Genesis also offers an ATO (Storm) that works in conjunction with the Renew and halts the ATO when the Renew is changing water. For Apex users, I prefer using the Apex for ATO duties. My Apex handles my ATO duties and I have a delay programmed in so that my ATO virtual outlet requires the floats to sense a low sump level condition for 3 minutes before activating my ATO pump. This gives the Renew time to complete the water change without causing my ATO pump to add water.

 

[deweyhowell]

Interesting. I am going to look into this further with my setup. I think with my 75 gal tanks and the flexibility in my rooms, should be able to make it work pretty easily.

DOS & Tunze vs Renew & Storm

Hmm... in the scheme of my full setup, overall cost isn't much different
Something to noodle on.

 

[scubadan206]

I think you will need the man himself to program all that stuff into the apex. I struggle with even the most basic of programing on the apex. I have float switches, but I don't have enough experience with the system to even set that up.
I am building a new sump in the basement so I will figure things out when that is up and running. I bought a DOS for the upgrade as well but I will use that for two part dosing.

 

[scubadan206]

The BRS dual reactor will get clogged fairly quickly with your tanks needs. I would use the dual for carbon and buy something larger and more efficient for GFO.
The small size of the standard reactor will limit the amount of water you can run through them too much for your future needs.
I bought a jumbo reactor for GFO. I will use my dual for running carbon.

Daniel. :spin3:

 

[deweyhowell]

Automatic water changes and reactor

Automatic water changes and reactor

I've decided to stick with DOS for AWC for now. Later, I can always move it to dosing and consider adding the Genesis Renew system for AWC.

I am also going to start with the dual reactor and migrate to dedicated reactors as needed as my parameters and tank require.

 

[deweyhowell]

Return pump and lighting for 75 gal tank

Return pump and lighting for 75 gal tank

The return pump and the lighting for the 75 gal refugium/pest tank have arrived. I will post pics later tonight.

Electrician coming tomorrow to fix up the circuits.

 

[frankabagnale]

sweet!

 

[deweyhowell]

Return pump and lighting for 75 gal tank

Return pump and lighting for 75 gal tank

Here is are the promised pics

The return pump for the 75 gal



And a couple of shots of the lighting - Reef Breeders Photon 32 in

 

[deweyhowell]

Electrical work

Electrical work

Here are the results of the electrical work

A new outlet on the display tank side giving 2 independent circuits



and on the Refugium side (got some patch work to do ...)



All 3 circuits (2 for the tanks and 1 for the mixing station) are on 20 Amp dual function GFCI breakers. One shown here:

 

[deweyhowell]

Separating equipment

Separating equipment

For the equipment...

AWC, ATO and mixing station is on its own circuit.

For the other 2 circuits, how do you all recommend separating equipment between the circuits?

return & skimmer on one?
powerheads on the other?
what about chiller, lights, apex, etc ?

I'd love to hear what others have done for this.

 

[james30ct]

I would do the lights and heater on opposite circuits that way if one were to fail there would still be a source of heat. Same for powerheads and return IMO.

 

[deweyhowell]

Salt

Salt

I decided to go with Reef Crystals
Here are a couple of boxes that make 200 gal each

 

[deweyhowell]

QT and top off

QT and top off

Here are a couple of 20 long tanks - one for QT, one for top off to sit under the 75 gal for the tunze osmolator.

 

[deweyhowell]

Final room prep this weekend

Final room prep this weekend

I am getting the room prepped this weekend, then I should be all set for the delivery of the tanks in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully water in the tanks by Christmas and rock and sand from TBS soon after! Richard, I'll be ordering a 180+ package with mixed rock, sand and cuc very soon!

Here's my work list for the weekend:

1. tile the floor in the display tank room
2. open the wall between the rooms for plumbing between the 180/75/sump
3. patch the wall from the electrical work
4. run water line, install utility sink in fish room
5. build a small stand for the mixing station and hook up pvc plumbing for the mixing station
6. mount RO/DI unit and DOS pumps above the mixing station

I'll post pics of the progress and the end result ...

 

[slgcmg]

I'm thinking of upgrading from T5's to LED's. What size LED did you go with and how many?

Here are pics of the equipment that arrived this week.
Now all I need is a couple of tanks and a sump!

Lighting for the 180 gal display tank


Apex Gold, Leak detector module and a probe for each room


Pumps, flow and heater


The mixing station and some of the equipment for automatic water changes and automatic top-off

 

[deweyhowell]

I'm thinking of upgrading from T5's to LED's. What size LED did you go with and how many?

I decided to go with 2 - AP700 Kessils for the 6 ft 180 gal tank. I don't have any experience yet with them, but I think they will give me sufficient coverage for most anything I'd like to keep.

 

[slgcmg]

Okay. I've got the same size. Mostly LPS but want to add clams and SPS to.

 

[deweyhowell]

Room prep complete!

Room prep complete!

Productive long weekend getting the rooms prepped.

Here are some shots of tiling the room. We ripped out the carpet, did some leveling of the concrete underneath, and then tiled the room.

 

[deweyhowell]

Room prep complete!

Room prep complete!

Here are the locations of the 2 tanks with the hole between the wall for plumbing and sump access:






Here are 3 shots of the mixing station