FibberMcGee
Premium Member
Richard, awesome! The entertainment center is killer, love the gas hinge for the cover great idea. I may have missed it, but what lights are you going to run?
My 300 Gallon Nightmare!!!
- Thread starter rberrie
- Start date
Chaotic Reefer4u
♥Acropora Aficionado♥
awesome setup...
msudawgs56
Go Dawgs!
simply beautiful setup..that's one the wife would let me do!!
dgasmd
New member
Look on the website. It is at the bottom of the first page. We have a guest speaker for MArch.
www.pbmas.org
Thanks to EnFuego, msudawgs56, johnxboi, ChAoTiCrEeFeR4U, Psyire & FibberMcGee for all of your kind comments. I really appreciate your feedback.
Lighting:
72" Maristar Fixture
3 -Phoenix 250W 14000K+ Metal Halide (DE) - HQI
2 -39W 11000K Aquablue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent
2 -39W Actinic/Blue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent
3 Current USA Lunar Light/Linkââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Â2 Moon White & 1 Nocturnal Blue
I will be running the Aquacontroller III Pro which I have on my 54 gallon to control the lights and pumps, etc.
Lighting:
72" Maristar Fixture
3 -Phoenix 250W 14000K+ Metal Halide (DE) - HQI
2 -39W 11000K Aquablue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent
2 -39W Actinic/Blue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent
3 Current USA Lunar Light/Linkââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Â2 Moon White & 1 Nocturnal Blue
I will be running the Aquacontroller III Pro which I have on my 54 gallon to control the lights and pumps, etc.
silver17jo
New member
I am in love with your wall unit, just wow. The tank seems so natural and am excited to see the finished product. Great job man, your an inspiration!
Purple Haze
New member
that's one hellified entertainment center.
silver17jo & Purple Haze:
I am in love with your wall unit, just wow. The tank seems so natural and am excited to see the finished product. Great job man, your an inspiration!
Thanks so much for your comments. We have a local company here in South Florida! I have used them on my home theater and they always do an outstanding job. What is even better is their service! The wall unit that houses the aquarium, had to be modified a number of times because the original aquarium installer neglected to give the cabinet maker the proper direction.
Dave from Mica Products & Wood in Boca Raton, FL was absolutely terrific. They made the modifications quickly and at no charge. We have become friends over the years and I know I can always count on him! The experience with Dave was the complete opposite from the experience with he who will remain nameless...for now.
Home Theater. The albums you see are Laser Discs not music albums. I have been into movies for a long time...DVDs...who new???
Photo show the routing out of the hood and the hole for the exhaust fan. The sides had to routed to make room for the light fixture fan intake. The hood was 71" the fixture is 70.5". The 1/4" inch wasn't going to work.
Before:
After:
dogstar74 & tbass:
The tanks are 65 gallons each that I purchased from D&D Group in Ohio. Believe it or not, I can't find the documentation at the moment. U.S. Plastics has the same model for $118 each. #8507 65 Gallon Vertical Closed Head Tank.
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=32&product%5Fid=4293
I am in love with your wall unit, just wow. The tank seems so natural and am excited to see the finished product. Great job man, your an inspiration!
Thanks so much for your comments. We have a local company here in South Florida! I have used them on my home theater and they always do an outstanding job. What is even better is their service! The wall unit that houses the aquarium, had to be modified a number of times because the original aquarium installer neglected to give the cabinet maker the proper direction.
Dave from Mica Products & Wood in Boca Raton, FL was absolutely terrific. They made the modifications quickly and at no charge. We have become friends over the years and I know I can always count on him! The experience with Dave was the complete opposite from the experience with he who will remain nameless...for now.
Home Theater. The albums you see are Laser Discs not music albums. I have been into movies for a long time...DVDs...who new???
Photo show the routing out of the hood and the hole for the exhaust fan. The sides had to routed to make room for the light fixture fan intake. The hood was 71" the fixture is 70.5". The 1/4" inch wasn't going to work.
Before:
After:
dogstar74 & tbass:
The tanks are 65 gallons each that I purchased from D&D Group in Ohio. Believe it or not, I can't find the documentation at the moment. U.S. Plastics has the same model for $118 each. #8507 65 Gallon Vertical Closed Head Tank.
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=32&product%5Fid=4293
luvtolean
New member
Nice set-ups.
Looks like we share some gear too, is that a Samsung DLP next to the tank? I have a Monster power conditioner on my home theater too.
Don't have a nice starfire tank quite yet unfortunately.
Only real advice I'll give is to think about fault tolerance in your system. Things will always fail if you use them long enough. For example, think, if the plug to your aquacontroller quits one day, what happens to the whole system?
Looks like we share some gear too, is that a Samsung DLP next to the tank? I have a Monster power conditioner on my home theater too.
Don't have a nice starfire tank quite yet unfortunately.
Only real advice I'll give is to think about fault tolerance in your system. Things will always fail if you use them long enough. For example, think, if the plug to your aquacontroller quits one day, what happens to the whole system?
luvtolean,
Yes that is a Samsung 50" DLP.
I have definitely tried to think of worst case scenarios and backup plans. That is one reason I went with the Tunze's instead of a closed loop. More flexibility and ease of maintenance. I know that I haven't thought of everything nor can I. But through help by people like you and the Reef Central Forum, I hope to avoid as many pitfalls as possible.
PS. TANK ARRIVED TODAY!!! Pictures to come.
Yes that is a Samsung 50" DLP.
I have definitely tried to think of worst case scenarios and backup plans. That is one reason I went with the Tunze's instead of a closed loop. More flexibility and ease of maintenance. I know that I haven't thought of everything nor can I. But through help by people like you and the Reef Central Forum, I hope to avoid as many pitfalls as possible.
PS. TANK ARRIVED TODAY!!! Pictures to come.
AngelReefer
In Memoriam
Very Nice
luvtolean
New member
Nice, I like mine, even though I'm one of the small lucky percentage that sees the occasional rainbow.
I think you'll be happy with those. Tunze streams might be my choice for "best equipment I ever bought".
To give you an idea of what I mean, I've had the return pump on my tanks fail. Twice. The first time happened while out of town. I lost most of the tank. The second time was the Sunday afternoon hours before I was to leave for Hawaii. So though I've been flamed for it on other posts, I always recommend two return pumps.
Another member I know with a large system had a power outage while out of town. Everything came back on, but for some completely inexplicable reason, the venturi didn't restart on his Deltec skimmer. His tank took a very serious hit. This same reefer has also had "dumb" things like power strips die. And according to the Laws of Murphy, this stuff only happens when you're out of town.
Ideally you'd have double of everything mandatory. Return pump, skimmer and maybe even chillers (or at least standalone temp controllers on different circuits.)
Also, especially where you live, make sure you have enough generator power for the whole tank. My generator saved my tank during a 5 day power outage last summer.
Though my tank is not ideal, I am working towards it.
finding nemo
In Memoriam
Just beautiful but would love to see the missing pictures also,
the woodwork is to die for.
Please keep posting pictures as this comes along as I would love to see it to its completion.
Great job to all involved in its makeing
the woodwork is to die for.
Please keep posting pictures as this comes along as I would love to see it to its completion.
Great job to all involved in its makeing
I will try.
The concept is that as fresh saltwater is fed to your aquarium, the exisitng older water is drained from the sump.
Drain: I am plumbing a 3/4" pvc horizontal pipe to my sump at the level that I would like the water line to be. I suggest going lower than you desire so that you can simply add a 90 degree elbow and as much pipe as you ultimately need to break the surface of the water. If the placement of the horizontal is too high, you are in some trouble.
The pvc pipe that is at the water line will be the drain line. You need to connect that to some sort of drain or gutter. As the water rises in the sump, the water is automatically drained into the standpipe. (Also a great safety mechanism!!)
This is NOT my photo or tank. This is from oregonreef.com. IMO the best private tank in existance! Note that the stem is too high to do water changes. His stem is only for safety. (No water overflowing the sump.)
The next item is fresh saltwater entering the tank. This needs to be done in the aquarium so that your fresh mix doesn't go down the drain. In addition to aid in this the fresh water must be a couple of degrees cooler than the aquarium water so that it sinks to the bottom and pushes the older water to the top and over the overflows.
I plumbed a line from my holding tank to the top of the aquarium. This will provide for the fresh new saltwater.
In the garage in my case, I have two 65 gallon holding tanks and an ro/di filtration system, plus a cold water line from my laundry room. I make my filtered water and store it in the right tank. The tank is fitted with a float valve to automatically shut off the water when it is full. (Cold water line connected to my ro/di. The ro/di is then connecterd to the fresh water tank. The drain for the ro/di is drilled to outside and drains into my gutter system.)
The fresh water tank has a bulkhead that is then connected to the saltwater tank. There are unions and ball valves on both sides of the T which sends the water to either the aquarium or recirculates the saltwater tank.
When I am filling the fresh water tank, all ball valves are closed.
When I want to transfer fresh water to the SW tank, I open both valves on either side of the T. Please see photos:
Notice the configuration. One union and ball valve on each side of a T. Then off the T to a ball valve and a union to a pump. Then out of the pump to a union to a T I connected a spigot another ball valve up to a 90 elbow and into the slat water tank. What is harder to see, is that there is a black ball valve that is behing the spigot that sends the water throught the garage wall and down to my tank. The unions allow me to disconnect each component in the system for repair or replacement. The ball valves allow me to control the flow and direction of water.
The pump is plugged into a receptacle which is controlled by a sping wound timer. The timer has a 15 minute max run time and a hold switch if I want to leave the pump on.
This works for two reasons. At 800 gallons per hour, the pump can send fresh saltwater to my aquarium at 10 gallons per minute (with head loss). I can dial it down if need be. This would take 5 minutes to do a 20% water change 50G on 250 gallons. Set the timer for 5 minutes and you are done!!! Imagine, 5-10 minutes to do a water change...no muss no fuss. I am getting excited about this already.
The timer also makes sure that I do not forget to shut off the pump and both ruin the pump and send too much water to the aquarium.
I can also monitor the water change from the aquarium and not have to run back and forth. Secondly, I can leave the timer on hold and run the pump continuously to mix and circulate the saltwater in the holding tank.
Finally, this is not my idea. I read about this system from Anthony Calfo. He has a thread on RC here somewhere describing this system. lastly, I have not yet finished plumbing my aquarium and so I have yet to try out this system regarding water changes. However it works like a charm to mix the saltwater.
One more thing. I am hooking up a cheap chiller to this system in the near future to chill the water when I need to do a water change so that I can keep the new water 2 degrees cooler than the aquarium. I will only need to run the chiller for a few hours a month.
One more thing...again. This system is also fantastic because you don't disturb any of the livestock in your tank. The water level does not change and you can leave on all of your pumps!!!
Man...this is long winded but I hope it helps.
We made a little bit of progress. Not enough for me...but what can you do. I got the TANK!!! It came in on Wed. Looks very good. Let me know what you think.
Tank not all the way in the wall unit. Still have work to do back there.
The door is off on the left to fit the sump in. Once the sump is in, I can reinstall the door.
I spent hours, days, weeks debating closed loop vs. powerheads. Ultimately as you already probably know I decided on Tunze Streams x4 6100 plus controller. The following picture shows the corner braces that can fit the magnet holder and the tunze. I made them long to have the flexibility to move them up and down. The two outside Tunze's will aim at the center of the bow and the two inside Tunze's will aim at the corners of the tank.
Check out the eurobracing. It's 3/4"with 3" witdth glass cut out in one piece ! The whole center is open. The whole you see cutout in front of the overflow is only in the stand. That was for the original closed loop setup.
Finally got the shed. Its 5'x32"x3'. It holds both pumps, the chiller and the UV. It will be vented and I will install an exhaust fan in there as well. I also need to anchor it down for hurricane season.
Placing equipment inside looking for orientation. The pumps will have to be on a platform to go straight into the wall/skimmer.
Picking up my rock tonight at the airport. 50lbs Marshall Island and 88lbs. of Kaelini.
Tank not all the way in the wall unit. Still have work to do back there.
The door is off on the left to fit the sump in. Once the sump is in, I can reinstall the door.
I spent hours, days, weeks debating closed loop vs. powerheads. Ultimately as you already probably know I decided on Tunze Streams x4 6100 plus controller. The following picture shows the corner braces that can fit the magnet holder and the tunze. I made them long to have the flexibility to move them up and down. The two outside Tunze's will aim at the center of the bow and the two inside Tunze's will aim at the corners of the tank.
Check out the eurobracing. It's 3/4"with 3" witdth glass cut out in one piece ! The whole center is open. The whole you see cutout in front of the overflow is only in the stand. That was for the original closed loop setup.
Finally got the shed. Its 5'x32"x3'. It holds both pumps, the chiller and the UV. It will be vented and I will install an exhaust fan in there as well. I also need to anchor it down for hurricane season.
Placing equipment inside looking for orientation. The pumps will have to be on a platform to go straight into the wall/skimmer.
Picking up my rock tonight at the airport. 50lbs Marshall Island and 88lbs. of Kaelini.
