Marc`s DIY 900g Inwall System

As a whole this is just visually stunning!! :cool:

Bamboo blinds can stay they add a certian feel to the room! ;)

Love those ninja skills! :D
 


A couple changes were just upsizing the reactor, i had also wanted to run some Mg and p04 remover..so this 5 stage reactor let me put it all in individual chambers.

MiscShots016-1.jpg




What brans reactor is this?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8846969#post8846969 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fudge
i didnt make the reactor this time, its a Marine Tech reactor.
The cost of these things is getting better and better in the last few years, i remember paying that and more for a good commercial reactor of about a whole pop can sized capacity 7 or 8 yrs ago.
So i opted to buy one this time around, now i can head to building a little better of a skimmer.

It is recirculating with a sedra of about fist size...ill have to post the actual type after i can slide it out to see the top half of the pump.
The feed is just tee`d off my main system pump, wich now, is just a dart.

The first chamber is attached to the pump intake, bioballs, water/co2 input are ran through this chamber.
The second is the main chamber.
the third one is upflow @ effluent rate and is being fed from the main reactor chamber.
This inturn feeds the 4thand 5th upflow through magnesium and finally P04 remover.


Reef waters,
Nigers have been in there for about 4 months, they are awesome but just too agressive of feeders.
Corals are all left alone, but get so excited at feeding time and latley have become almost too much.
As you can see in the pic, i could litterally just catch them by hand and take them out.
For instance yesterdayI had a fish that went into my overflow, i retrieved it with a net and he got stuck a little when i was placing him back in the display, and needed some work to dislodge from the net.
the net and two hands and a flailing fish wont even hold them back, they woulda bit him in half in the net before they even realized it was a tank mate since theyve been in the tank.
Once placed in the tank the triggers went back to ignoring him.
Recently they have grown strong enouph to bite through my skin aswell, this was my fault from hand feeding them for a few months...needless to say i dont do this often anymore.


Marc.
 
Absolutely love this tank...

Where did you get the design for the tank build, as regards structure, bonding and sealing etc?

Im doing something similar and after all the info I can get.
 
Happy New Year !

Colin, Anytime your ready. :)

Scarter,
I just riveted a strip of heavier pond liner around the edge of the canopy.

Zemuron and lovleylinda,

Heh, I dont need to grab them at all...its more like the other way around. :(
After feeding by hand for a while, they will "pat you down" everytime you place your hands in there.
As you can see better in this pic, the triggers will lodge themsleves in there in theyre hunt to find a morsel.

coralshots049.jpg


The tangs arent so extreme, but they still scare you when they graze a couple arm hairs off you when you least expect it.

MiscShots016-2.jpg


Zemuron and invincible,

The mini sump is fed with a single line but divided when entering the sump into 2 channels, there is a 1" drain off of each channel.
It is fed at about 150 gph.

There is a baffle in each meant to seperate incoming water, this is where the probes are placed, so effluents are not altering readings.

MiscShots033-1.jpg


Downstream from the "over" baffle are where Kalk and Ca reactor effluents are added each getting a side of the mini sump, so hopefully avoiding too much precip.

Kalk & Ca effluents are just raised to view rates, the Ca tube was capped and drilled so i could add a ph probe to that little chamber for reactor PH.

Finally dosing hoses at the end of each channel.

MiscShots042.jpg


Jumboshrimp,

So far id have to say im chicken still...ive just been comfortable with reactors for so long im scared to try a new approach.
Right now Im just dosing kalk and k balance...recently just kalk.

I did Mod the Deltec Stirrer to get a littlemore kalk into it.
I stole the column and flanges off my old Ca reactor and routed them out to accomodate the deltec stirrer.

MiscShots032-1.jpg


Uwiik,

It still gets dirty, but i keep a pretty tight reign on it.
Its about 17 months now.

Rowland,

The design was something a good friend (Acro @ RC) and i had came up with, during the year prior to starting, using considerations from prior set-ups and thoughts on what we`d like to see on a new one.
So we each built one, and changed only what was suited to individual needs.

...
 
Yesterday`s project was to remove the room exhaust fan, it was old when i got it and getting louder of late.

MiscShots001.jpg


replaced with a 8" elicant inline fan , was a bit of a project to fit it in there.

MiscShots003.jpg


I put it all back together and added a switch on it for variable speed, in the right hand corner of the fan box.

MiscShots004.jpg


Then of course, a frag rack so the the other half quits hitting....err... so i can fund my projects. :D

Orderves ?

coralshots011.jpg



Marc.
 
I see 5 probes in the mini-sump, plus one in the reactor effluent chamber. Is that right?

What all are you monitoring/controlling?

Also, does Marine Tech have a website?
 
Colin,

Sure you can have em all for 5 bucks, but you might have a hard time with the people who`s tanks theyre already in. ;)

Reefwaters,

Right now, i have not configured the controller to do anything but monitor parameters...i just havent had the time to play with that stuff yet.
So for now, Reactor Ph, Tank ph, orp red sea (self calibrating), orp profilux (manually calibrated), salinity, and temperature are all thats monitored.
The Marine Tech reactor was purchased through Proline aquatics here in Canada.

http://www.prolineaquatics.com/products.html

Marc.
 
Wow, this is one amazing system! You've done an excelent job.

The mini sump idea is one I will definately do in the future. Thanks for the idea!

FYI - the fishroom looks fake, it's too clean :):):)
 
Im new to RC and just thought id say what a great job your doing with that insane tank! Enjoyed reading your thread very much and look forward to watching your reef grow.
 
what chemicals are u puting in your tank with your dosers. i saw like 5 or 6 of them. i have 3 pumps and am wondering what main chemicals i should use with them. i have a 55 .
 
It is refreshing to see a very qualified craftsman such as yourself produce such an impressive piece of art. Very well done sir.

I was considering a plywood tank before I bought my 180 but the cost of the glass was much cheaper in this size. But when you get to tanks your size I'm sure the cost of plywood makes much more sense.

One question, I had read that a marine grade plywood should be used on wood tanks but I have never been able to find it. Is your plywood marine grade or just standard AB?

Thanks for sharing your great work and ideas here!
 
Wow guys, thank you all for all the kind words.

Custom color,

As of right now i dont dose anything but Kalk with it, i was playing with a couple items from the zeo line, but have since stopped.
The reason for the purchase of the doser was a bit optimistic on my part, the balling method interests me alot and would require the use of most of those dosers.
But i really have a lot of projects that i want to see done before i jump into that one, not to mention the old dog-new tricks/hindsight 20/20 thing...

I honestly wouldnt want to guess as to what your reef needs for dosing, as it would be exactly that...guessing.
I would test your parameters and take it from there, my first considerations would likley be Ca++/Carbonate replenishment.

Cuby2k,

Your right, it seems around the 300g point becomes cost effective.
Just a standard exterior grade ply was all that was used here.
While i did research this, i decided that if water got passed the resins and wet the wood... marine grade or not, it wouldnt matter for long.

Marc.
 
Back
Top