drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[crvz]

It appears to be stranded THHN wire. Soldering the ends isn't really that labor intensive and that wire pulls through conduit very easily. If I were doing it, I would do it the same way.

Ah, thanks. I've a lot of experience with soldering, but I was intimidated with the number of outlets and cords I'm looking at (probably on the order of 60). You prefer this wire just due to flexibility, yes?

 

[sirreal63]

Yes, very easy to pull.

 

[drummereef]

It appears by your avatar you like powder blues, do you plan on adding one of those? You should add 5 or so chromis, I've found they school much more with 5+ which is always fun to see. I have 3 in my 75 right now and they all just kind of do their own thing.

Ha! I do like powder blue tangs but I think I'm going to keep smaller fish at the moment. Who knows what the future might hold though... Thanks for the chromis tip too!

Hopping into the way back machine, I've a question for the above picture. Stranded or solid core wire? I built an electrical panel of my own, and will continue to elaborate it, but I've yet to wire it up. I do plan on doing the same thing with conduit (running outlets throughout the room). I have 500 feet of each (green, white, and black) 14awg stranded wire, but I know that's not a great way of wiring up the outlets. I'm considering soldering the ends of the wires to keep the strands in place when screwing down the connections, but that's pretty labor intensive.

Any thoughts or insight here?

Indeed, as Jack said it is 14g THHN stranded wire. It's the only way to go when pulling through conduit. There is obviously a limit to the amount of wires you can easily pull but I was able to get 27 wires through 1" conduit no problem. I also assembled as I went so the pulling was rather easy. Nothing is glued, just friction fit, so if I need to modify the setup I can.

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


The reactors are plumbed and running! :beer: I'm very impressed with the NextReef MR1 reactors I went with. They are built like tanks and easy to assemble, maintain, and plumb. The lid is fastened with 6 thumbscrews that are keyholed so maintenance is a breeze. Just loosen the screws and twist off the lid. They could hold 5 or 6 cups of media easy, maybe more. Here's how it turned out.



NextReef MR1 Reactors

I'm pretty particular about the way things are packaged and NextReef didn't skimp anywhere. The boxes are very sturdy and they even took the time to shrink wrap the entire reactor! They even left the protective film on the acrylic base plate. Superb job NextReef! :thumbsup:

I went with Lignite Carbon and Granulated GFO from Bulk Reef Supply. I've used the ROX 0.8 in the past but some complain the grains are too small for reactors so I went with the Lignite instead.

I measured the appropriate amount of each media using the calculator on BRS and added it to the reactors.

Carbon

GFO

More to come..... :fish1:

 

[drummereef]

I plumbed the reactors with the supplied barbed fittings and plastic hose clamps. NextReef even throws in a small roll of Teflon tape for the connections. I bought 1/2" vinyl tubing separately which was used to plumb everything together.

Again, a barbed fitting was used on the manifold to connect the tubing.

With any media you must decant the fines leaving the large particles behind. I connected some extra tubing and opened the valve to the reactor to purge the system.

As you can see, this is why purging is necessary. I burped the GFO reactor a little heavy so I probably got more fines than usual. But the dirty results nonetheless...

And finally the reactors are ready for service.

The whole enchilada.

 

[Greenmaster]

Wow... that system looks so good it's scary

 

[crvz]

I always love the look of a new, clean system. Now if it looks that good still in 2 years, we'll know you'll need treatment for OCD. Everything looks amazing.

Indeed, as Jack said it is 14g THHN stranded wire. It's the only way to go when pulling through conduit. There is obviously a limit to the amount of wires you can easily pull but I was able to get 27 wires through 1" conduit no problem. I also assembled as I went so the pulling was rather easy. Nothing is glued, just friction fit, so if I need to modify the setup I can.

So when you wired up the plugs, did you bother to do anything to keep the strands of the wire from splaying?

 

[cromedogg33]

Can I ask why you have decided to run GFO?

 

[Taqpol]

Ha! I do like powder blue tangs but I think I'm going to keep smaller fish at the moment. Who knows what the future might hold though... Thanks for the chromis tip too!

Holy crap! This entire time I thought your avatar was a picture of the hammer like frogspawn from your 40 gallon we talked about a long time ago! I see the fishies now....

I agree about the chromis, I would try 7-10 personally. In your system they would still look small, especially if it made them school together tighter.

 

[drummereef]

Wow... that system looks so good it's scary

Thanks Green. Always kind to me. Much appreciated.

I always love the look of a new, clean system. Now if it looks that good still in 2 years, we'll know you'll need treatment for OCD. Everything looks amazing.

So when you wired up the plugs, did you bother to do anything to keep the strands of the wire from splaying?

Thanks crvz, I'll do my best. All I did with the wire was twist them as tight as I could then wire them up. I just made sure there wasn't any loose wires after I screwed them down. The 20a receptacles are better because they tighten down under a plate rather than twisting around a post - if that makes sense.

Can I ask why you have decided to run GFO?

I've used GFO in the past with good results. This algae bloom is all part of the cycle but I thought I might give it a kick in the pants anyway. I haven't decided but I might do a Zeo reactor later on once I start stocking corals.

Holy crap! This entire time I thought your avatar was a picture of the hammer like frogspawn from your 40 gallon we talked about a long time ago! I see the fishies now....

I agree about the chromis, I would try 7-10 personally. In your system they would still look small, especially if it made them school together tighter.

:lol: Yep, it's blue tangs. :rollface: True about the chromis. I just don't know how many of those I really want to look at LOL.

 

[cromedogg33]

I think you will really like it if you add 5+ chromis to your tank. They really do play a bit rough with eachother but it's fun to watch and they give you tank some movement at all times especially when your tangs are just hanging out riding the waves.

Also when your corals start to grow out they are the best at find those hidden spots and trails you want your fish swimming through.

What are you plans for the other hookups in the manifold?

 

[IAReefer]

Subscribed to this thread. I am in the process of a 180g build as well. It will not compare to your build, but I can already see alot of things that I could mimic. I am going with a Lifereef Berlin Sump and is pretty much ready out of the box. Your setup is AWESOME!!!

 

[drummereef]

I think you will really like it if you add 5+ chromis to your tank. They really do play a bit rough with eachother but it's fun to watch and they give you tank some movement at all times especially when your tangs are just hanging out riding the waves.

Also when your corals start to grow out they are the best at find those hidden spots and trails you want your fish swimming through.

What are you plans for the other hookups in the manifold?

I don't have immediate plans for the remaining outlets on the manifold at this time. I might add a Zeo reactor or calcium reactor down the road but won't be for a while.

Subscribed to this thread. I am in the process of a 180g build as well. It will not compare to your build, but I can already see alot of things that I could mimic. I am going with a Lifereef Berlin Sump and is pretty much ready out of the box. Your setup is AWESOME!!!

Thanks and have fun with it!

 

[crvz]

Thanks crvz, I'll do my best. All I did with the wire was twist them as tight as I could then wire them up. I just made sure there wasn't any loose wires after I screwed them down. The 20a receptacles are better because they tighten down under a plate rather than twisting around a post - if that makes sense.

Excellent, that makes sense. I think the fact that I'm using just 15A receptacles makes it easier for my wires to go rogue. Thanks again!

 

[Greenmaster]

。。。:lol: Yep, it's blue tangs. :rollface: True about the chromis. I just don't know how many of those I really want to look at LOL.

Why not get the sunshine Chromis they are nice to look at

Or the Blue Chromis

 

[drummereef]

Excellent, that makes sense. I think the fact that I'm using just 15A receptacles makes it easier for my wires to go rogue. Thanks again!

No problem crvz. Good luck on finishing the project.

Why not get the sunshine Chromis they are nice to look at

Or the Blue Chromis

I really like the blue chromis. A while ago my LFS quoted me a price of around 15 bucks a piece. Dang they ain't cheap like the blue/green chromis are. Especially if they start knocking each other off. :hmm2: There's a nice store in town that might be getting some blue/greens in later this week. I'll let you know.

 

[drummereef]

Since I've been on a reactor kick lately I've been very intrigued with the idea of starting a reactor using NP Biopellets. What's everybody's thoughts and is anyone using them currently?

 

[henrystyle]

Since I've been on a reactor kick lately I've been very intrigued with the idea of starting a reactor using NP Biopellets. What's everybody's thoughts and is anyone using them currently?

Read the reviews on those pellets..
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewi...ign=mdcsegooglebase2&utm_content=XB1115&tab=4

 

[Greenmaster]

Just a note this in my opinion and I have never actually used NP Biopellets. I am just trying to help people understand the supply and demand aspect of bacteria... algae follows the same rules to some extent.

One note on the pellets... Never install them when you already have very high nitrates... you will probably get a bacteria bloom. You want to make sure you get the levels of nitrates down then install it. Most of the people who experienced blooms had very high N/P, in other words they had lots of food for the bacteria so they reproduce till the food is down and the bacteria to nutrient supply is balanced. If you start out with less "food" they can't reproduce as fast and suffocate your tank.

 

[cromedogg33]

Since I've been on a reactor kick lately I've been very intrigued with the idea of starting a reactor using NP Biopellets. What's everybody's thoughts and is anyone using them currently?

Curious as to why are feel you need/want them?

Have you looked into dosing vodka?

For some reason after reading your OCD'ed build I have a feeling nitrates aren't going to be a problem for you.

Good husbandry goes a long way IMO.