drummereef's 180g in-wall build
- Thread starter drummereef
- Start date
gary faulkner
New member
Brett,
Been seeing your thread almost everyday when I'm on so thought I would check it out. Don't like most build threads but yours is different than most. I've read the last 10 or so pages and like we talked about earlier (DKH being less than 8) I'm also interested in ULNS. Thanks for the thread.
Been seeing your thread almost everyday when I'm on so thought I would check it out. Don't like most build threads but yours is different than most. I've read the last 10 or so pages and like we talked about earlier (DKH being less than 8) I'm also interested in ULNS. Thanks for the thread.
drummereef
Team RC
Currently I'm dosing a mixture of Coral Snow and ZEObak at lights out daily. I only dose AAHC (amino acids) 2x weekly with the magic brew. Once I feel like this acute algae issue is under control, or I see it's not improving the situation, I will only dose the Corals Snow 1x weekly.
Thank you Gary, glad to have you here. There will be plenty more discussion of ULN systems here. One of my favorite topics and discussions.
Fishdisease
New member
Hey Brett,
I have a couple of questions that'll bring ya back to the beginning. I'm going to start construction of my room and stand this weekend (I'm starting out in the same place you did with concrete floor and walls in an unfinished basement) and I was wondering about a couple of dimensions. How tall is your stand from floor to the top of the ply? Are you happy with the height or would you change it at all? Also, if you did it all over again would you keep the 2x10 header at the front top of the tank? OR would you increase/decrease the width of it? Thanks!
Dave
I have a couple of questions that'll bring ya back to the beginning. I'm going to start construction of my room and stand this weekend (I'm starting out in the same place you did with concrete floor and walls in an unfinished basement) and I was wondering about a couple of dimensions. How tall is your stand from floor to the top of the ply? Are you happy with the height or would you change it at all? Also, if you did it all over again would you keep the 2x10 header at the front top of the tank? OR would you increase/decrease the width of it? Thanks!
Dave
drummereef
Team RC
Hi Dave! My tank roughly 38-39" tall. The floor was uneven because the concrete slopes towards the main floor drain so care was taken to make sure the stand was level. I'm happy with the height overall. The only thing I would have changed was I put two support braces under the top of the stand, one of which happened to be right over the skimmer cup. This limits the height I can raise the skimmer body. I would have only put one center brace if I were to do it again, so no vertical obstructions over the skimmer.
Some people like doors over the front of their tank some don't. I knew when I remodeled the basement I would have new carpet installed. I didn't want any mess or spills on the new carpet so I used the 2x10 header above the tank. It does make it more difficult to clean the front of the tank and place corals but I really didn't want the mess in the living space. It's a good height and allows me to push my light rig slightly more forward than if it were a true 2x4 wall. It wouldn't hurt to go with a 2x12 but it's hard to find one that isn't bowed/warped/twisted. The larger the dimension the less true they are. But you're in Canada so maybe the lumber is better.
Fishdisease
New member
Hi Dave! My tank roughly 38-39" tall. The floor was uneven because the concrete slopes towards the main floor drain so care was taken to make sure the stand was level. I'm happy with the height overall. The only thing I would have changed was I put two support braces under the top of the stand, one of which happened to be right over the skimmer cup. This limits the height I can raise the skimmer body. I would have only put one center brace if I were to do it again, so no vertical obstructions over the skimmer.
Some people like doors over the front of their tank some don't. I knew when I remodeled the basement I would have new carpet installed. I didn't want any mess or spills on the new carpet so I used the 2x10 header above the tank. It does make it more difficult to clean the front of the tank and place corals but I really didn't want the mess in the living space. It's a good height and allows me to push my light rig slightly more forward than if it were a true 2x4 wall. It wouldn't hurt to go with a 2x12 but it's hard to find one that isn't bowed/warped/twisted. The larger the dimension the less true they are. But you're in Canada so maybe the lumber is better.
Good points. I hadn't considered the issues of cleaning or coral placement, I have always assumed that I could reach the front if I'm standing on a stool at the back. I spent about 2 hours at the orange box last week picking out (as straight as I could find) lumber. Yeah, our good wood goes south of the border, and we get the left-overs! I don't have a planer or jointer so I tried hard to get straight 2x6s for the stand and header. if I can get 2 straight ones after the stand is built I could use both to make that 12" (well, 11") header.
I don't have a drain in my floor at that location, but I'm sure it isnt level, so I'm probably going to spend a significant amount of time trying to get the stand level, as you did.
Thanks for the help, I'll hopefully start my thread soon. Got the RO/DI installed a couple weeks ago, floor was sealed last week and the walls go up this weekend. My room will only be 6' deep and 13 ft wide, but for what I have planned, it should be enough. We'll see!
Dave
drummereef
Team RC
Good plan! I'm surprised they send the "choice" cuts down here. Well, by the time it makes it through all the climate changes and then sits on a bent rack at HD you can only imagine what it looks like when we get it home.
The Kiln Dried stuff is as light as toothpicks and the dense wood is as green as new bananas at the grocery. :lol: I can reach the front of my tank (from the back) when I'm on my step stool. I also use some tools to move things around when I don't want to get my arm wet. If the living space of your room is dark you can use the internal reflection like a mirror to see what you are doing inside the tank. Kind of useful when placing corals from the back. 
cromedogg33
Member
One thing I did that I would change with basically the same setup, which bugs me daily is the 4x4 I used to hold up my ceiling on each side of the tank keep me from being able to clean about 2" of the glass on the left/ride side. If I could do it over again I would leave enough space to get my hand+magent in there to clean.
So now I get to have an extremly fun time cleaning 2" strips on each side of the tank!!!
is the 4x4 I used to hold up my ceiling on each side of the tank keep me from being able to clean about 2" of the glass on the left/ride side. If I could do it over again I would leave enough space to get my hand+magent in there to clean.So now I get to have an extremly fun time cleaning 2" strips on each side of the tank!!!
Fishdisease
New member
One thing I did that I would change with basically the same setup, which bugs me daily
So now I get to have an extremly fun time cleaning 2" strips on each side of the tank!!!
That's another good point.
Brett, you made the whole in your wall a bit bigger and used trim to cover it form the outside correct? Did that leave you enough room to clean the sides of the glass? I'm sure if you used 3 or 4 inch trim you could tack it to the wall to hide the gaps on the sides and still have enough room to clean it. This is good stuff! Thx.
drummereef
Team RC
One thing I did that I would change with basically the same setup, which bugs me daily
So now I get to have an extremly fun time cleaning 2" strips on each side of the tank!!!
Excellent point Josh. You and me both.
Well... When I originally designed the opening around the tank, yes, I left enough room. But plans change. :lol: I decided to trim out the opening with a slightly thicker material and I upgraded my cleaning magnets to an Algae Free. There went the extra space... In hindsight I would have left a little more room for error. I'm in the same boat as Josh, have to manually clean the corners with a cleaning pad. The front isn't a problem, just the very front corner on the side glass. Sides are always a pita since you have to go around pumps and cords anyway.
lanshark
It's Landshark, aka SNL
Brett,
Been following this awesome build thread. I noticed your pvc conduit in the fish room and think I'd like to wire a few outlets in my fish room in the near future. Question, can I use 12g rolmex through the conduit or do I have to run three separate 12g wires in the conduit? What was your city code requirement?
Been following this awesome build thread. I noticed your pvc conduit in the fish room and think I'd like to wire a few outlets in my fish room in the near future. Question, can I use 12g rolmex through the conduit or do I have to run three separate 12g wires in the conduit? What was your city code requirement?
drummereef
Team RC
Hi lanshark and thanks for the compliments.
Unfortunately code does not allow Romex to be routed through conduit. You have to buy separate stranded wire. You want to buy "stranded" wire not solid copper like Romex. Much easier to pull, especially around corners and you can fit a lot more wire than you would be able to with solid or Romex anyway. I used 14 gauge wire for my conduit run. Depending on your application you might not need 12g. Look at the particular device, or set of devices you plan on running on the circuit and make sure you don't exceed the amperage of the wire. Also leave yourself 10-12% headroom on the wire's max amperage as well. I ran separate circuits to each receptacle (split wired) so each 14g run only powers 1 device. Most of my devices are low amperage drawing no where near what a 14g wire will handle. Most of the devices like pumps etc are hard wired with 18g themselves - if you see what I'm saying here.
If you are running a full 20A circuit through the conduit (i.e. straight from the panel), then yes 12g is what you want to use. My application was essentially built as permanent extension cords from my Apex Controller. HTH
Check my thread in the link below. Scroll about halfway down the page...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1599945&page=38
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reefdiction
New member
I really enjoyed reading the thread about you n wall tank build. Very inspiring.
Thank yo for sharing your build..
Thank yo for sharing your build..
afernandez
Never Quit!!
Currently I'm dosing a mixture of Coral Snow and ZEObak at lights out daily. I only dose AAHC (amino acids) 2x weekly with the magic brew. Once I feel like this acute algae issue is under control, or I see it's not improving the situation, I will only dose the Corals Snow 1x weekly.
Question...what's your magic brew
I've been reading alot more on zeovits and I have a general understanding their producs and the system .(i allways though it was just tooooo much work never found it attractive until u said something about it :lol: )
I don't know if you remmember but Im also using the ecobak pellets for close to 5 weeks now with mb7, and I know it's going to strip alot out, I allready see a great diffrence in my skimmer I just want to make sure my fuzzy sticks don't starve
Thanks again for all your help
drummereef
Team RC
Thank you for stopping by reefdiction.
Currently I'm dosing a mixture of Coral Snow and ZEObak at lights out daily. I only dose AAHC (amino acids) 2x weekly with the magic brew. Once I feel like this acute algae issue is under control, or I see it's not improving the situation, I will only dose the Corals Snow 1x weekly.
Question...what's your magic brew
I've been reading alot more on zeovits and I have a general understanding their producs and the system .(i allways though it was just tooooo much work never found it attractive until u said something about it :lol: )
I don't know if you remmember but Im also using the ecobak pellets for close to 5 weeks now with mb7, and I know it's going to strip alot out, I allready see a great diffrence in my skimmer I just want to make sure my fuzzy sticks don't starve
Thanks again for all your help
The "Magic Brew" is something Sonny (SunnyX) is developing, wish I could take credit for it.
drummereef
Team RC
Fantastic article about Carbon Dosing by Sanjay Joshi... :thumbsup:
"Bacterial Counts in Reef Aquarium Water: Baseline Values and Modulation by Carbon Dosing, Protein Skimming, and Granular Activated Carbon Filtration"
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/3/aafeature
"Bacterial Counts in Reef Aquarium Water: Baseline Values and Modulation by Carbon Dosing, Protein Skimming, and Granular Activated Carbon Filtration"
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/3/aafeature
gary faulkner
New member
Long read but well worth it. Lots of other good atricles in the AA mag as well.
drummereef
Team RC
Indeed an interesting read. Although not conclusive, I wonder if a bio pellet system is slightly more efficient at nutrient reduction since bacteria population in the water column doesn't significantly increase as "liquid" carbon sources are dosed over time. One would think the theory of "solid" source carbon ,i.e. a pellet reactor, would provide a more consistent source of carbon for bacteria as the article suggests - since the bacteria is colonized on the carbon source, not in the water column. :twitch:
gary faulkner
New member
Yes, I believe that pellets are a better option because the bacteria are on the pellets rather than being in the water column dependant upon the amount of liquid carbon in the water. Also the pellets are more controllable, you can't just shut down liquid carbon dosing. I tried vodka dosing in the begining and had lots of trouble with it. Hopefully the pellets will be a better answer for me.
drummereef
Team RC
:thumbsup:
