drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[platax88]

Hey, I know you're probably pretty focused on the lights right now, but have you given any thought on what you were going to do with flow in the tank? I know you have a pair of vortechs and said you would transfer over some tunze streams, but what about the gph of the tunzes and placements?

I ask because I am upgrading to a 180 or 240 in a few months and was wondering what i would or would not need for flow besides my two vortechs.

Hey Alex, I just installed 2 MP40Ws on my 180 and in my opinion you WILL need more flow than just the two vortechs. My tank is BB with three rock pillars to give you an idea. Along with my vortechs I run two Tunzes 6100 on an aquasurf controller. The tunzes give me a nice 1.5" wave and I run the vortechs on Lagoon mode at the moment. Oh I also have 1000gph going through two pendutors. Hope that helps.

drummereef -- kudos so far!

 

[drummereef]

I'm inspired by your build and hope to someday aspire such greatness; subscribed.

Thanks for showing us all of this!

Thank you easydoesit!

 

[drummereef]

Hey, I know you're probably pretty focused on the lights right now, but have you given any thought on what you were going to do with flow in the tank? I know you have a pair of vortechs and said you would transfer over some tunze streams, but what about the gph of the tunzes and placements?

I ask because I am upgrading to a 180 or 240 in a few months and was wondering what i would or would not need for flow besides my two vortechs.

The Tunzes are the Nanostream 6025 I'm going to transfer from my 40g. They push 660gph, or a total of 1320gph since I have two of them. I figure roughly 900gph from the return along with the Vortechs at 3200gph would be a rough total of 8620gph if I'm running the vortechs full on. I'll probably run them in Reef Crest Mode for random flow. That's almost 48x turnover in the display. If I need more I'll get another Vortech or something, but that's what I'm starting with.

I haven't decided where I'm putting the Tunzes but I was originally thinking the back wall pointed diagonally toward the front/center. That will probably change when I aquascape though.

 

[drummereef]

drummereef -- kudos so far!

Thank you platax.

 

[platax88]

The Tunzes are the Nanostream 6025 I'm going to transfer from my 40g. They push 660gph, or a total of 1320gph since I have two of them. I figure roughly 900gph from the return along with the Vortechs at 3200gph would be a rough total of 8620gph if I'm running the vortechs full on. I'll probably run them in Reef Crest Mode for random flow. That's almost 48x turnover in the display. If I need more I'll get another Vortech or something, but that's what I'm starting with.

I haven't decided where I'm putting the Tunzes but I was originally thinking the back wall pointed diagonally toward the front/center. That will probably change when I aquascape though.

drummereef, keep in mind that the Vortechs on reefcrest mode hardly ever hit 100%... actually, they spend quite a bit of time under 50%. I found reefcrest to be very weak in my 180gal. I run lagoon mode and both set to master to get the most random flow possible. I actually set one to lagoon and a few minutes later the other, that way i know they are in different phases of the programming. Lagoon mode still has spikes and dips like reefcrest but at abover 50%.

 

[drummereef]

i like the nice clean desing

Thanks jason.

 

[drummereef]

drummereef, keep in mind that the Vortechs on reefcrest mode hardly ever hit 100%... actually, they spend quite a bit of time under 50%. I found reefcrest to be very weak in my 180gal. I run lagoon mode and both set to master to get the most random flow possible. I actually set one to lagoon and a few minutes later the other, that way i know they are in different phases of the programming. Lagoon mode still has spikes and dips like reefcrest but at abover 50%.

This is true. I might just keep them at 100% and let the flows from all the pumps intersect. Really depends on the aquascape and placement of corals etc, so that's a decision down the road for me... Good points however.

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


150lbs Key Largo Marco Rock, a BRS RO/DI, and some stuff for the lights on the way this week! Down to the final stretch guys.

 

[Amoore311]

Are you going to be using a sand bed in this tank Brett?


If you are the vortechs will still kick the sand around if on 100% constantly.

You will be fine (depending on rock work of course) with 2 Vortechs and the 2 tunzes. You can always add a third vortech down the road.

I've got 2 vortechs, 1 on either side pointing at each other, and (2) koralia #3 on the back wall. The koralias will eventually be swapped for another Vortech. My return is a Poseidon PS4, so you should be running a bit more flow to your display with the dart.

Have you seen or played with a sample of that Key Largo Marco rock? The stuff he sent me as a sample was very heavy and not very porous at all. This was when he first released the product line (Key Largo stuff), not sure if the product has improved since. I was surprised, considering the regular marco rock is fantasic stuff.

 

[drummereef]

Are you going to be using a sand bed in this tank Brett?

If you are the vortechs will still kick the sand around if on 100% constantly.

I guess that depends on what kind of sand you use. I do plan on using a very shallow sand bed in the display, probably no more than a dusting to cover the bottom glass. Most likely will do a deep sand bed in the refugium as that project comes along. After years with my 40g, I'm done with a lot of sand in the display.

Have you seen or played with a sample of that Key Largo Marco rock? The stuff he sent me as a sample was very heavy and not very porous at all. This was when he first released the product line (Key Largo stuff), not sure if the product has improved since. I was surprised, considering the regular marco rock is fantasic stuff.

That's honestly the first time I've heard anything bad about Marco Rock other than the phosphate leaching issues. The new Key Largo from what I've seen/heard is very light weight and porous. Maybe it was just a bad batch or all they had for samples at the time. A guy here locally just put some in his 120 and it looks amazing.

 

[drummereef]

With the rest of the equipment coming this week I thought I'd update you what needs to get done before the tank gets wet.

1. Pull sump out for final cleaning and remove the protective paper from the bottom.

2. Install a piece of FRP on the wall behind the sump for splash proofing.

3. Plumb and mount RO/DI in sump room.

4. Run conduit outlets for the skimmer, vortechs, heaters, and accessories. Won't be completely wired for service, just roughed in so it's easier/safer to finish while the tank is cycling.


Then.......... WATER!!!!! :fish1:




Should have a sneak peak at the lights by tomorrow night. Jeremy shipped the replacement quick disconnects so I can fire up the LBs for a test! :beer:

 

[henrystyle]

What bulbs are you planning on running?

 

[drummereef]

What bulbs are you planning on running?

I have 250 watt Radium bulbs installed in the LB's right now. Just waiting for UPS to show up with the male end connectors that go with the Galaxy Ballasts. Truck is out for delivery!

 

[Amoore311]

I guess that depends on what kind of sand you use. I do plan on using a very shallow sand bed in the display, probably no more than a dusting to cover the bottom glass. Most likely will do a deep sand bed in the refugium as that project comes along. After years with my 40g, I'm done with a lot of sand in the display.

I have 1-2" max depending on the spot in the tank you are looking at. I use the caribsea special grade reef sand for comparison. That stuff gets blown around very easily when I put the vortechs on 100% full power the other night.

Just something to consider in the planning process haha.

 

[crvz]

Question. Are you doing anything for actinics? I may have missed it, but I hadnt seen anything yet. I got a few LEDs to dork around with and some of the aluminum tubing to see how that may work.

 

[drummereef]

I have 1-2" max depending on the spot in the tank you are looking at. I use the caribsea special grade reef sand for comparison. That stuff gets blown around very easily when I put the vortechs on 100% full power the other night.

Just something to consider in the planning process haha.

Good to know, thanks Amoore.

 

[drummereef]

Question. Are you doing anything for actinics? I may have missed it, but I hadnt seen anything yet. I got a few LEDs to dork around with and some of the aluminum tubing to see how that may work.

No, not at this point. I might add some LED strips to the rack down the road but it'll be a while. I will do the sunrise/sunset effect by turning one LB on and off at a time in sequence. Similar to what Melev has started doing on his tank. I turned the lights on for the first time last night and they were pretty blue. No need for actinics from what I saw other than the dawn/dusk effect. Maybe as they burn in they will get whiter, but on the Galaxy's they had a nice blue tint.

I would have snapped a pic but there's nothing in the tank to look at yet. Once the rocks are in (coming tomorrow) I will start getting some pics with the lights on.

 

[crvz]

No, not at this point. I might add some LED strips to the rack down the road but it'll be a while. I will do the sunrise/sunset effect by turning one LB on and off at a time in sequence. Similar to what Melev has started doing on his tank.

Cool. I plan on doing that as well on some level as well.

 

[drummereef]

When to HD and picked up a 4x8 sheet of FRP. Should get it cut and installed behind the sump in a day or two. I should have enough left over to make the mounting panels for the ballasts and RO/DI too. Projects!!!

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Couldn't resist posting a couple pics for you guys.


For those who wondered, here's how the quick disconnects look like on the Galaxy Ballasts. Makes it really easy to disconnect at the ballast if there's an issue. The wire nuts are temporary so I could plug it in for a test. They will be replaced with proper plugs once I wire up the rack. Hopefully by the weekend.

BRS 6 Stage Deluxe RO/DI w/dual DI canisters. I ended up going with this unit because of the robust monitoring it has and I liked the idea of a dual DI stage. Randy (chem forum) has always said he liked dual DIs because you can completely exhaust the first DI as the second DI will pull out any residual TDS. Saves a little on DI resin over time I suppose.

And finally a DC4HD. This will be the outlet gang that controls the lights via my Aquacontroller Jr I'm transferring from my 40g. Maybe some day my wife will let me upgrade to the Apex. Shhhh nobody say anything!

Oh, and we got the utility sink plumbed and working a couple days ago! :dance: Words don't express how excited I was about a sink. Actually quite embarrassing now that I look back on it. Haha. Already used it to clean up the tank in preparation for rocks.... and a poopy diaper.