Lyle's 150H in-wall build (with pics)

[jlylec]

what kind of lights did u get ai or ati

I went with the AI Sols. 2 of them. I'm a little frustrated right now though because I had an order going with ReefGeek but they said they couldn't ship until the middle of April and PremiumAquatics said they could ship me some by the beginning of next week at the latest, so I changed my order to them and now that order has been delayed 2.5 weeks! ugh. just my luck!

 

[jlylec]

So I've been messing around with my final plumbing prior to cementing. I don't think I can fit a durso on the 1.5" and the 1" in my overflow. Is there any reason not to have the standpipes just straight up like this?

 

[jlylec]

Here is the final return plumbing. I think I'm going to cement everything tonight. I'm a little nervous about this step as it's so final!

I couldn't fit the valve on the 1.5" drain. The true union ball valve is just so huge on the 1.5"! I left it wide open since it is just for little overflow and emergencies anyway.

 

[jlylec]

If your reducing valve is like mine, there is a bolt that you can adjust with a wrench and raise the pressure. Reducing valves are more important for older homes. - with modern pipes and new fixtures like yours you should not have anything to worry about.

I messed around with this last night. It was a bit counter-intuitive as I had to tighten the nut to increase the pressure. When I tighten the nut all the way my pressure only ever got up to 43lbs or so. I guess the water coming to our house just isn't high enough pressure. This is weird because the showers and things seem to have plenty of pressure. I guess it's because we're at the end of our street maybe. I'm a little concerned that I may have opened the pressure reducer wide open so it won't protect the house against a big surge. Any chance this is the case? Although I doubt the water would surge over 100lbs which everything was already tested to.

 

[Enjoy]

I would leave the siphon (lower) stand pipe alone, but I would add a 45, or 90 elbow to the top of the overflow standpipe. I believe it will help silence any gurgling(sp?).
Great looking system!

 

[Kweli]

subscribed

 

[jlylec]

I would leave the siphon (lower) stand pipe alone, but I would add a 45, or 90 elbow to the top of the overflow standpipe. I believe it will help silence any gurgling(sp?).
Great looking system!

thanks Andrew!

 

[jlylec]

I got my Apex stuff yesterday. It took me about an hour to get everything set up properly on my network, but once I got it everything set properly it worked flawlessly. I have a feeling I'm going to love this thing!

I'm thinking of how I'm going to mount all this stuff behind a false wall or something to keep all the wires clean. I'm going to need another energy bar and an I/O module to handle the floats. I think I'm going to fully automate water changes with 2 maxi-jet 1200s and 2 float sensors.

1. Apex shuts the return and ATO off
2. 1 min later a maxi in the sump pumps for 3 min to a drain.
3. 2 min later a maxi in the FSW tank pumps for 3 min back to the sump.
4. 2 min later the return and ATO come back online.
5. Repeat twice a day.

Think this will work?

 

[jlylec]

Does an Apex system get hot? I'm planning on putting this behind a door that's basically closing in a corner. I'm going to leave the top and bottom open so it should get plenty of air. Just curious if these things get hot when they're running all the equipment.

 

[jlylec]

I've gotten a lot done this past week. I built a 'door' in the corner next to the tank to house the Apex equipment.

I haven't organized all the cords yet since I don't have my lights and I want everything hooked up first. I'm also adding another energy bar and an I/O breakout box for the float switches.

I also built a bench/platform so I can reach into the tank, hung the light rack for the Sols (hope to have those in a couple weeks), mounted a GFO/Carbon reactor and built a shelf over the RO unit to protect all the tubing.

Today I should be able to cement up all of the final plumbing except for the 1" drain as I went ahead and bought a gate valve for that line instead of the ball valve and won't get it until Tuesday.

I still need to plumb the water change equipment, 'cook' the eco rock, trim out the display side and paint, find some sand (looking for Bermuda pink sand), test everything, and fill. Fortunately I think I finally have, or have ordered, all of the equipment I need. Who knew this project would be so much work?! I'm really excited to see the final product though and hopefully it will be good enough to quiet down the wife! She certainly didn't realize I'd be spending so much time on this!

 

[jlylec]

I'm putting some final touches on the equipment until I get the gate valve and last Apex parts I need. All the plumbing is cemented now and I tied it in place with some plastic straps I found.

Also got the drains figured out (I hope).

I've got to figure out how to manage all the wires.

Hope to be ready for water and initial testing before I leave for NYC on Friday.

I started filling a Brute can to cook the rocks for a couple weeks. I'm considering getting some white plastic water tanks for the RO/DI storage and FSW tanks so it's easier to plumb and see how full they are. All I still really need to find though is some good sand. I'd like some Bermuda Pink sand but can't find that anywhere. If anybody has any ideas let me know!

 

[Luckylouse]

Very nice build! Enjoy it because when you're all done you'll miss the excitement of build a new set-up. Be patient!

 

[jlylec]

thanks lucky...i am trying to temper my excitement and be patient...it's hard now that i'm so close though!

 

[jsehlms]

jlylec, Looks good, but if those are Finnex HPS like I have, they need to be fully submerged. It looks like you'll have an inch or two above the water line. Trust me you don't want that. I had one of mine break, resulting in sand all over the sump.

 

[jlylec]

jlylec, Looks good, but if those are Finnex HPS like I have, they need to be fully submerged. It looks like you'll have an inch or two above the water line. Trust me you don't want that. I had one of mine break, resulting in sand all over the sump.

Thanks man...they are Finnex HPS heaters. I thought the blue line on the side was the water line. I can put them on their sides and get them completely submerged. I really appreciate the heads up!

 

[jsehlms]

No problem. I thought the blue line was the line also until I read through the manual more carefully. I've also found the height tolerances vary between units. I have 2 - 200w units, and one is about 1/2" taller than the other. Looks silly with them next to each other.

 

[jlylec]

No problem. I thought the blue line was the line also until I read through the manual more carefully. I've also found the height tolerances vary between units. I have 2 - 200w units, and one is about 1/2" taller than the other. Looks silly with them next to each other.

Yeah I'm bad about reading manuals. I don't think I even looked at those for the heaters! Have they worked OK for you otherwise? I read a bunch of horror stories about heaters (in general) killing tanks, so I'm hoping that by controlling them with the Apex I can avoid those issues.

 

[jsehlms]

It's only been 2 months, but so far so good. I have my heaters internal temp set to 82 and the ACJr set to turn them on/off based on seasonal temps. The temp reading on both heaters have matched the temp probe of the ACjr and a standard glass thermometer.

 

[jlylec]

I got my new gate valve last night and cemented that up. Plumbing is now complete!

I started putting water in the tank to test the bulkheads last night too. So far, so good.

The last of the Apex stuff is coming today so I should have everything done on the tank tonight. I still have to plumb the water change tanks and stuff, but at least I will be able to do full testing.

 

[jlylec]

Well I've got everything hooked up and tap water testing going on! Everything seems to work and no leaks. It took a bit of fiddling to get the drains working properly and I'm a bit worried about flow. The Mag12 has decent flow, but splitting the returns and feeding the fuge ends up leading to not very powerful spray out of the return nozzles. And the Koralia Evo1400 flow pumps don't appear to move the water as well as I thought they would, but one of them may not be working properly. I have to play with it some more.

I need to stop using this iphone camera for these pics.