drummereef
Team RC
drummereef's 180g in-wall build
- Thread starter drummereef
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drummereef
Team RC
I laminated them with FRP. It's the fiberglass paneling you find in commercial bathrooms and restaurant kitchens. I originally put a piece under the stand, behind the sump, just as a precaution but had quite a bit left over so I used it for the mounting panels.
110galreef
New member
Ok, then are you going to trim all four sides of the face or just the top? I think we need a "Sketch Up" Image! :beer:
I am starting plans now for my in-wall. House is being built and should be done late July! :bounce1:
Amoore311
New member
Brett,
You might want to test your controller with the DC8 and DC4 HD in that spot before you make it permanent.
Ballasts have a fantastic habit of throwing the ACJR off b/c of electrical interference. I would have lights randomly turn off during the day, or dosing pumps randomly turn on when they weren't supposed to.
If you run into problems with interference, you have to put some space in between the ballasts and the controller, or you can try and used a shielded CAT3 cable if you can find one.
You might want to test your controller with the DC8 and DC4 HD in that spot before you make it permanent.
Ballasts have a fantastic habit of throwing the ACJR off b/c of electrical interference. I would have lights randomly turn off during the day, or dosing pumps randomly turn on when they weren't supposed to.
If you run into problems with interference, you have to put some space in between the ballasts and the controller, or you can try and used a shielded CAT3 cable if you can find one.
drummereef
Team RC
That's strange, I thought it was just X10 modules that ran into that problem. Is it the Aquacontroller interface or the Direct Connect that it would interfere with?
drummereef
Team RC
I will trim all four sides. Probably can't see it in the pics but there is a small space on either side of the tank too, about an inch or so. I wanted the space on the top taller just for access to the tank. Congrats on the new house! You better put a BIG tank in there.
Amoore311
New member
I was trouble shooting it over the phone with Curt for an hour or so. I moved my ballasts to the other side of the tank and the problems went away.
The ballast was directly under the ACjr Hardware when I had the problems (Ballast was 2 FT below the DC's and Head Unit). I moved them to the other side of the tank, 6FT+ in between the two, and then the problems were gone.
Couldn't tell if it was the DC's or the ACjr head unit, b/c I had that stuff all mounted the same distance from the ballast to being with.
drummereef
Team RC
Strange, very strange. What ballasts are you using that caused it?
Glass Reef doesn't seem to have any problems with interference from what I've seen. I'm using basically the same stuff with the exeption of Galaxy ballasts instead of Coralvues. Maybe it has something to do with the new Energy Bar and Apex? Dunno...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13481792&postcount=77
Amoore311
New member
I was using an old (3) x 250 Watt HQI Ballast from Catalina Aquariums when I was having the problems. That has since been switched out though.
Could very have just been my ballast, but it's still worth a shot to maybe temporarily mount your stuff before making it permanent. Maybe with some velcro or something.
The random on/off's don't show up at all in the controller reports either. So you have to be sitting in front of the tank and see it for you to notice. Lights randomly turning off for 5 minutes isn't a huge deal, but your tank randomly turning on dosing pumps for 5 minutes can lead to big problems lol.
I was having the problem when I had my ACjr. I had it for a short time to try out the programming language before I jumped over to the Apex. When I got the Apex, the ballasts had already been on the other side of the tank, so I didn't have a chance to see if it was just my old controller.
Now that I look at the post you linked, it could very well have been my Head Unit was too close to the ballast as well.
Could very have just been my ballast, but it's still worth a shot to maybe temporarily mount your stuff before making it permanent. Maybe with some velcro or something.
The random on/off's don't show up at all in the controller reports either. So you have to be sitting in front of the tank and see it for you to notice. Lights randomly turning off for 5 minutes isn't a huge deal, but your tank randomly turning on dosing pumps for 5 minutes can lead to big problems lol.
I was having the problem when I had my ACjr. I had it for a short time to try out the programming language before I jumped over to the Apex. When I got the Apex, the ballasts had already been on the other side of the tank, so I didn't have a chance to see if it was just my old controller.
Now that I look at the post you linked, it could very well have been my Head Unit was too close to the ballast as well.
drummereef
Team RC
Gotcha. I will definitely do some testing although will be kind of difficult until I'm able to move my controller over from my 40g. Might have to go back to manual light timers on my 40g so I can do further testing on the 180g. I plan on mounting my ACjr head unit away from the electric panel anyhow. Hopefully I can get it at least 4-6' feet away from that stuff. Thanks for the heads up!!!
Amoore311
New member
Any time man. As much as you helped me out plumbing my tank with your detailed build, I owe it to you to point out any problems I came across along the way as well lol.
Our builds were kind of similar (Both 180's, same lighting except I went with HQI's, similar plumbing with manifold). Yours is much nicer with the fish room and inwall, and a bit bigger total system volume. I'm lucky and motored right through my build though, didn't have to worry about preparing for a child or anything along those lines lol!
Thanks for taking the time and being so detailed with the build!
-Adam
Our builds were kind of similar (Both 180's, same lighting except I went with HQI's, similar plumbing with manifold). Yours is much nicer with the fish room and inwall, and a bit bigger total system volume. I'm lucky and motored right through my build though, didn't have to worry about preparing for a child or anything along those lines lol!
Thanks for taking the time and being so detailed with the build!
-Adam
drummereef
Team RC
Haha, yeah time seems to travel differently now that I have a kid. Patience is becoming even more of a virtue.
drummereef
Team RC
Going to start working on the conduit run tomorrow. Trying to get the last little bit done so I can start filling it up!
drummereef
Team RC
I went with the gray conduit from Lowe's, all 1". It's Carlton brand. I needed to go 1" because I'm feeding a total of 27 wires through it. I'm almost done so I'll post some pics of the progress in a bit. Need to make a quick Lowe's run for some more stuff.
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drummereef
Team RC
Wow fishreef1 thank you for the compliment, really means a lot to me. I hope it all works when I'm done.
drummereef
Team RC
drummereef
Team RC
UPDATE:
Finished what I wanted to get done with the conduit project today. Basically the idea is, instead of running a bunch of extension cords I would run conduit to have conveniently placed remote outlets that are controlled by my Aquacontroller. By split wiring the receptacles I now have 8 independent outlets that will connect to each port of my DC8. I also placed an outlet near the main return pump as well.
I won't get into alot of detail as Melev has a great writeup about how to wire conduit. I basically ran a total of 27 wires through 1" conduit via 3 outlet boxes, or a total of 9 outlets (hot, neutral, ground). Here's the pics!!!
I bundled and labeled each group of wire (hot, neutral, ground) before pulling them through the conduit. This is an essential step of the process as it would be very difficult to sort out after the wires were pulled.
Left side box in progress.
Right side box in progress.
Needed to make a turn around the right side wall, so I used a 1" 90 elbow.
Another shot of the conduit run along the right wall.
This is where the wires head up to the breakout box (will be installed later). I used a Tee so I could add one extra outlet for the return pump. Notice the removable access. Made it very easy to route the wires.
Organization is key. :lol:
The final run up to the soon to be installed breakout box.
More to come..... :fish1:
Finished what I wanted to get done with the conduit project today. Basically the idea is, instead of running a bunch of extension cords I would run conduit to have conveniently placed remote outlets that are controlled by my Aquacontroller. By split wiring the receptacles I now have 8 independent outlets that will connect to each port of my DC8. I also placed an outlet near the main return pump as well.
I won't get into alot of detail as Melev has a great writeup about how to wire conduit. I basically ran a total of 27 wires through 1" conduit via 3 outlet boxes, or a total of 9 outlets (hot, neutral, ground). Here's the pics!!!
I bundled and labeled each group of wire (hot, neutral, ground) before pulling them through the conduit. This is an essential step of the process as it would be very difficult to sort out after the wires were pulled.
Left side box in progress.
Right side box in progress.
Needed to make a turn around the right side wall, so I used a 1" 90 elbow.
Another shot of the conduit run along the right wall.
This is where the wires head up to the breakout box (will be installed later). I used a Tee so I could add one extra outlet for the return pump. Notice the removable access. Made it very easy to route the wires.
Organization is key. :lol:
The final run up to the soon to be installed breakout box.
More to come..... :fish1:
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