My 240G Addiction - It's a Miracle

[jknecht]

I realized I've never shown you my DIY Anti TDS Creep RO/DI storage barrel. It has two float switches that connect to a solenoid that turns on the RO when the water falls below the bottom float switch and turns off when it reaches the top float switch. The manual float valve is there in case the solenoid fails. The bulkhead is there in case everything fails and runs to a drain. I realize it's overkill but I original just had the barrel setup with the manual float valve and the bulkhead was the fail safe. I added the anti TDS feature after the fact.

Outside of barrel

The barrel has a 1.5" valve to fill my salt barrel below it. One RO line connects to the solenoids below. The other is just for future use (Volcano wetneck). I sometimes connect a long hose to it to rinse probes in RO water.

The barrel connects to dual solenoids for redundancy

They run to the ATO standpipe which have dual float switches attached to it.

I also added another UPS and have them connected inline. They run the skimmer pumps and Hammerhead Gold.

 

[Dudester]

That's as fail-safe an ATO as I've seen - nice work!

 

[tgunn]

Now that's a nice auto top off!!

Just curious, but are you getting one of the massively huge volcano skimmers?

The only reason I ask is because I actually found with my tank that TOO big of a skimmer is a bad thing.

I've got a total of about 240g of water, and I'm running a three pump recirculating octopus skimmer. Admittedly my bioload is fairly low with 10 fish.. Because of this my skimmer can hardly pull anything out of the water. I get MAYBE a cup of skimmate a week. I think if I was running a smaller one I'd be able to pull a lot more out.

Just figured I'd share my own experience with you. Something to be aware of.

Great looking setup so far!
Tyler

 

[dteske]

Love the build, everything is so well done. How are the Vortechs working out for you?

 

[8BALL_99]

Great setup. I like your canopy slide. Your ballast wires look about 10 times better then mine lol.. I mounted all my ballasts ont he wall also but my cords just got tied and piled up You probably would have been better off building your Own ups with a deep cycle battery insted of buying both of those. I've had very good luck with mine running a few hundred watts for about 5 hours. Haven't tried longer cause I haven't had an outage that lasted longer,,,Yet..

I've got a 190 built by miracles a few years ago. They are building me a new 300 to replace it Now! They really do make great tanks.

 

[jknecht]

Dudester - Thanks. I probably would have skipped the drain if I built it again.

tgunn - Thanks for the the heads up. Yes, I am getting a Volcano 1850. It will definitely be overkill until I get the tank stocked. I plan on having it heavily stocked with fish and SPS. Even then it will still be a little overkill but I really like the idea of running all the overflow water through the skimmer. BTW I have been following your thread from the beginning. Your setup came along very nice!

dteske - Thanks. I love the Vortechs. I don't know how long I debated over whether to go with Tunze or Vortechs. I'm so glad I went with them. They look a lot better in the tank IMO. Also having the ability to upgrade the firmware with new features has been nice. I still need to install the Gen2 Magnet Upgrade Kits I got a few weeks ago.

8BALL_99 - Thanks. I know what you mean; it was a pain cleaning up all of the wires. The deep cycle UPS would have been a great idea. Oh well, I got a good deal on the UPS's. I'm sure mine won't last 5 hours! Congrats on the 300 gallon from Miracles. They do build a great tank. 3/4" glass is heavy stuff!

 

[8BALL_99]

Well believe it or not my tank is only 1/2" on the front and sides and 5/8 tempered on the back and bottem. But it has Euro Bracing around it.. I got quotes from several builders and they all had it with the same glass. Now if I didn't want the Euro bracing the price from all of them went up cause they said I had to have 3/4" Glass all around. Thinner the better IMO. It kinda of suprises me how many people get Rimless tanks. I wouldn't want one just cause of the thickness of glass I'd have to get. My tank is really a 280 72x36x25 with 2 external overflows. But each overflow holds 11 gallons. That counts right? If they were internal they would count ,but never have corals in them.

 

[jknecht]

My tank is really a 280 72x36x25 with 2 external overflows. But each overflow holds 11 gallons. That counts right? If they were internal they would count ,but never have corals in them.

Overflows count! I need to start counting the 120ft of pipe I have between my fishroom and tank.

I wish I could of had a width 30" or 36" inches. But my space was dictated by the garage behind the tank. I really didn't want to eat up space in the garage or have it protrude into my office so I ended up with 26". So I opted to make the tank 30" tall. Having the external overflow is nice; I have plenty of space to aquascape.

It's interesting that their using 1/2" and 5/8". It will definitely help with weight and clarity. When I had my 240 built, Derek did everything in 3/4" with the exception of the eurobrace and overflow which is 1/2".

 

[stunreefer]

jknecht, great build!

I'm curious as to what you used for your probe holder? I've been contemplating how to do it, and I was going to plumb them in line, but I like the way you did it. Prevents any chance of leaking (over plumbing) and is easy to access for maintenance.

TIA!

 

[Dudester]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12989182#post12989182 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 8BALL_99
You probably would have been better off building your Own ups with a deep cycle battery insted of buying both of those. I've had very good luck with mine running a few hundred watts for about 5 hours.

That's a great idea, care to go into any detail on the materials necessary to put this together? Sorry jnecht if this is considered a hijack but it will probably interest many others as well.

 

[jknecht]

stunreefer - My probe holder is made by AquaMedic.

http://www.aquacave.com/electrode-holder-by-aquamedic-1034.html

I just attached it to a pvc pipe in my sump using cable ties. It works well.

I may try the Aquadyne 1/2" inline compression probe holders down the road. I think these would work well if you screw them into a tee. Marine Depot carries them.


Dudester - No problem, ask away. I would be interested as well.

 

[8BALL_99]

I guess cause yours is 30" tall vs mine is 25" tall. You wouldnt think that would make that big of a difference.

Dudester, If you click on my redhouse Its got a few pictures of my UPS. Its not to hard to built. Its just a Relay Inverter and battery really. I've since replaced my triclke charger with a solar charger that connects to a couple panels on the roof. I also run my Canopy lifts off the ups battery. After couple years I'm very happy with the ups. Works great.. I've got a Generator. But really since I built the ups I just use the Gen to run the big screen and the fridge lol

 

[AgentSPS]

WOW there was a LOT of careful thought and planning put into your system. Very nice! Following closely.

 

[jknecht]

8BALL_99 - Now that I recall. I believe Derek did say he needed to use 3/4" because of the height. Makes sense.

AgentSPS - Thanks. I'm trying to put a lot of thought into everything to limit the regrets later. However, I think I already want to replace my lights with LumenBrights; just so maintenance is easier.

 

[jknecht]

I got a new toy the other day. I ordered the EZ model which has a few more features than the original.

I believe it's worth every penny.

I tested the following and I can't believe what some of them are costing me each month.

Hammerhead Gold - 234 Watts. Not to bad considering the head pressure required. I can live with it.

2 - UVI 39W T5's on an IceCap 430 Ballast - 125 Watts

Here are the shocking ones:

Whirlpool Dehumidifier in fishroom - 748 Watts I looked around online and it seems this is pretty typically. Running it 24/7 adds up quick.

Deep Freeze - 634 Watts - This one makes no sense. I looked online and it should be pulling about 125 watts. I unplugged it for a while and plugged it back in and now it's pulling exactly 125 watts. It's old, so maybe something is going wrong with it.

I tested a ton of other things but don't want to bore you with the details. Unless you want them.

 

[tgunn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12990090#post12990090 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jknecht

tgunn - Thanks for the the heads up. Yes, I am getting a Volcano 1850. It will definitely be overkill until I get the tank stocked. I plan on having it heavily stocked with fish and SPS. Even then it will still be a little overkill but I really like the idea of running all the overflow water through the skimmer. BTW I have been following your thread from the beginning. Your setup came along very nice!

I really should just dump a whole load of fish into my tank and get the bioload up, then I'd have no problems.

Funny thing, my 3 pump recirculating octopus which is 12" diameter and 32" tall uses over 180w of electricity (roughly 60w per pump). Your massive volcano will use less and it's sooooooooo much bigger!!! It's nice you can run all the overflow water through it too. I can only run a fraction of my overflow water through my skimmer because of it's size..

Nice that you have external overflows though! I wish mine was external. The area to the left and right of the overflow is pretty much dead space. I'd have gained a LOT of room without the overflow.

Thanks for the comments on my tank! It's been a long time getting to where I'm at. Always things I'd love to change, but hey that's how it goes I guess.

Tyler

 

[8BALL_99]

Yeah Dehumidifiers suck. They pull a Ton of power and add a Ton of heat to the room. I was lucky enough with the way I built my Equipment room not to need one.. I use a window AC mounted in the wall in the summer to cool the room and help with moisture. It does pretty good. Pulls about 400 watts when it kicks on. But it doesn't run that much and it removes the heat insted of adding it.. I built the room pretty water proof anyway though.

In the winter I have a couple of inline fans in the ceiling rigged to a thermostat.. When the tempiture gets above a set point the fans kick on.. One exhausts air outside the other brings fresh cold air in..

 

[jknecht]

Now that summer is winding down I have more time to dedicate to the tank.

I finally got around to replacing the Vortech magnets with the new Gen 2 magnets. I haven't noticed a difference in noise that some have reported. Although mine have never been loud. I did find one of the drive shafts was different between the two. The one on the left is the new version. I ordered a replacement for the one with the older drive shaft.

I replaced my 10 year old dehumidifier in the fishroom after finding out how much it was costing me a month to run. It used to cost me about $60.00 a month to run the old one because it never shut off. The new Danby is only costing me about $32.00 a month. The dehumidistat appears to be very accurate.

I gave my glass a good cleaning a couple of weeks ago and have been keeping up with it on a weekly basis now. I don't want to let it get bad again as it was back breaking work scraping everything off the sides and back.

 

[jknecht]

Yesterday I received my Eco-Rox order from BRS. I ordered 100 pounds of Fiji and 75 pounds of Tonga shelf rock. All of it looks great. It was packed very well; not one broken piece. So I have 175 pounds plus what's in my sump and tank already. I have plenty to finish the aquascaping now.

One of the large shelf rocks has what looks like a favia brain coral skeleton attached to it.

I have about 50 pounds of Marshall in the sump.

I noticed last week that my RBTA has split in two for the 3rd time in about 2.5 years. I may sell the second one once it heals up.

On to the bad news. I still haven't received my Volcano skimmer. As of last week Scott (Spazz) said he hopes to have it done this week. We'll see; I ordered it in May and was told it would only be about 6 weeks. I know he runs behind; but I figured I would have it by now. I have been very patient. Although after reading the Volcano thread over the last couple of days I'm not sure what to think about the skimmer anymore. It looks like for the size of skimmer I may have to force air into it with an Alita air pump.

As of last night all of the new rock is curing in trash cans and should be ready in a couple of weeks. Then the stocking will begin; as long as I have a new skimmer.

 

[jknecht]

I also ordered a gallon of ROX carbon from BRS. I'm looking forward to trying it.