My new 120
- Thread starter Chrisrush
- Start date
tgunn
Active member
Hey Chris,
Great job on the calcium reactor! Very well done. Is that the one that was in the DIY forum a while back (boy that narrows it down doesn't it? :lol
Let me know how it works for you; I have yet to consider a Ca reactor; I was going to rely on kalk initially but I'm sure a reactor will help down the road.
I like the organization in your top off cabinet; nice and clean. Does it get very hot in there with all the ballasts?
So did Lowes do a better job at cutting the ply for the tank skin than Home Depot? Heh. Home Depot took 2 tries to get it right.
Awesome frags! I see the nylon screws you were mentioning in my thread; that's a great idea for attaching frags. Just screw it in and it's done.
Does your new dog get along with your old one? No size conflicts?
Looking great overall!
Tyler
Great job on the calcium reactor! Very well done. Is that the one that was in the DIY forum a while back (boy that narrows it down doesn't it? :lol
Let me know how it works for you; I have yet to consider a Ca reactor; I was going to rely on kalk initially but I'm sure a reactor will help down the road.I like the organization in your top off cabinet; nice and clean. Does it get very hot in there with all the ballasts?
So did Lowes do a better job at cutting the ply for the tank skin than Home Depot? Heh. Home Depot took 2 tries to get it right.
Awesome frags! I see the nylon screws you were mentioning in my thread; that's a great idea for attaching frags. Just screw it in and it's done.
Does your new dog get along with your old one? No size conflicts?
Looking great overall!
Tyler
JustOneMoreTank
New member
Looking great Chris! Good job on adding a wood panel to the front of the stand to make the wife's kitchen a little nicer. Nice frag pictures as well.
Nice frag pictures as well. 
Chrisrush
New member
Sindjin,
The mag is alright. It adds quiet a bit of heat to the system and vibration noise. I tried to plumb it w/ 1.5" PVC, which is recommended, but that takes up so much room. The sump return wasn't the main tank circulation so I wasn't to concermed about the gead loss
If I had the space, I would have gone external.
Chris
.
The mag is alright. It adds quiet a bit of heat to the system and vibration noise. I tried to plumb it w/ 1.5" PVC, which is recommended, but that takes up so much room. The sump return wasn't the main tank circulation so I wasn't to concermed about the gead loss
If I had the space, I would have gone external.
Chris
.
Chrisrush
New member
Yea, that's the DIY reactor from Wmtasker in the DIY forum. It is a really simple design and since there is no acrylic to bond or cut, it makes it much easier than most DIY projects. I was going with Darren's (DJ88) design, but I had to scrap it when I couldn't get one of the sides to fit properly.
I've always wanted a ca reactor since everyone says how easy they are and how well they keep things stable. I guess time will tell on this one.
Thanks. They get hot, but it's not too bad. I put all the ballasts on riser to keep them off the wood (just in case). I plan on keeping the door slightly ajar and since there are holes in the back panel of the cabinet, it should help circulate air through.
Yea, they did a pretty decent job. The only hard part was trying to fit it all in the back of the car. I really miss my truck, except when I'm filling up w/ gas. I ran out of wood trying to incorporate the top canopy part, so I'm either going to have to buy another sheet ($40) or find someone who has some scrap oak plywood.
I saw a friend in Dallas doing that w/ the nylon screws and I thought what a great idea. Plus, they are easy to trade w/ people. I got most of my frags from local reefers for cheap, so if something happens w/in the next few months, I'm not out a whole lot of $$$.
They get along pretty good together. They aren't best friends yet. But they play well and the greyhound doesn't see the Pom as a dinner, so that's a bonus. We mads sure that the grey didn't like little fluffy dogs before we took him in.
Chris
tgunn
Active member
Chrisrush said:
Yeah, acrylic fabrication is something I'd like to learn eventually, but it's the reason I didn't end up DIYing my own skimmer; more tools, and more risk of mucking up expensive supplies..
I'll have to consider a DIY reactor like that one though. Keep us posted with how it works.
That's right, I forgot the back panel had holes for air circulation. I think most ballasts get pretty warm in the first place. Even my T5 electronic ballasts get a bit warm...
Heh, tell me about it. I had to fit my canopy pieces into the back of my Jetta. Not exactly a cargo carrier.
I ended up not having enough oak for the full canopy. I got the front sides, back, and then a small part of the top. I ended up just using cheap spruce ply for the back portion of the top.It's amazing how much wood for these projects adds up!
I'm slowly discovering a network of local reefers, but will probably need to buy a good number of my frags from the LFS. I only wish the hobby was more active in my area.
Our Shih-Tzu is pretty terrified of larger dogs; he was at my in-laws farm when he was young and their large dog bit his ear. He never did like large dogs after that..
Amazing how much energy dogs have when they're playing with one another.
Tyler
Chrisrush
New member
It's really not that hard, especially if you have a table saw or a good router. Getting a good seam isn't necessary if you aren't selling or care about the look. I'm going to DIY a carbon/phosphate reactor to put into the cabinet w/ the ca reactor in a few months. Just depending on how fast I need it.
The 2 MH ballasts are electric and I'm not sure if the ARO VHO ballast is electric, but the Reefkeeper power strip gets the hotest out of all of them.
I just found out that Lowes has a half sheet of 1/4" oak plywood so I should be able to finish the canopy skirt tonight (assuming I have time to work on it). I need to finish it b/c the light creep into the living room is getting a little bothersome.
I'd be more than happy to frag some w/ you once get the tank set up. Of course, the shipping would just about kill for a couple of frags.
That's pretty wild. So far they both seem to be getting along. I think that it helps our Pom to have another dog around during the day. Of course, they both sleep all day but I'm sure they play some.
Chris
tgunn
Active member
Chrisrush said:
I guess that's my problem; I have neither a table saw nor a router. :lol: Although I would love a table saw I think I'll have to hold off on that kind of purchase for some time.
I think a Ca reactor will be my next DIY project once things are up and running..
Ooooh so many things to do, so little time.
I'm surprised that the power strip for the ReefKeeper gets so hot; switching things on and off isn't exactly a complicated thing to do... Although the most unassuming electronics can waste the most to heat; my digital cable box is a little furnace in itself..
Hey nice! That works! Let me know how the 1/4" ply works for the skirt; I was thinking I'd use 1/4" when I build my stand skirt. I had thought to use 1/4" for the canopy but it wasn't sturdy enough to be self supporting.
Speaking of light creep; once you got water in your tank did you find that less light escapes from the viewing panes in the tank? When I fired up the T5s with an empty tank enough light spills out the viewing panes that I could read a book anywhere in the living room. I presume the water will cut back on this...
Thanks for the offer! I'll have to look into this more when I'm upo and running. I have a feeling I'd need a CITES permit to import frags; and I think that's $250 CDN. Ouch! Stupid Cdn gov't has to over-tarrif everything..
Yeah, it's funny, when my sister's dog stayed over at our place for a day, you'd think the dogs would just play and play all day, but they mostly just slept during the day side by side. Ahhh, a dog's life..
Tyler
Chrisrush
New member
I bought a router but I'm still waiting on a table saw. The place where I get my acrylic from will cut them to size if I want. The router that I have is alright, but it seems to have issues from time to time.
I know that feeling. Once I get an idea in my head, it usually takes a few weeks before I can get the materials, tools and plans to make the project. My wife loves that since most of the time it all ends up on the kitchen table since it's too hot outside to work in the garage.
I'm not sure what the heat is coming from. Could be transferred from the ballasts to the power strip. The only thing that is turned off and on is a powerhead in the fuge. Everything else is on for at least 8 hrs.
I hope that it will be alright since it won't be supporting anything. I was going to do that w/ the stand skirt, but I wasn't sure about the amount of warping for 1/4" plywood over a 4'x4' span would be. The 3/4" plywood is as straight as can be, and of course, extremely heavy.
What is a CITIES permit?
Sure would be nice huh. We took them to the dog park on Sat., they didn't do anything but walk around and sit in the shade. Probably the 100+ heat had something to do with that. I guess we will try again in the fall when it's a little more tolerable.
Chris
Chrisrush
New member
Well, time for another update. I sold my MRC skimmer the other day and opted for a needle wheel skimmer instead. I ended up with a ASM g4-x, which is a little big for my tank, but what are you going to do, the price was right. I put a gate valve on the output of the skimmer to control the flow a little better as well as recirc'ed the Sedra 9000. The skimmer is now fed from the left overflow, giving me the dirtiest water from the display tank. The mods were really easy to do once you get over the fear of drilling a $400 skimmer.
I have the ca reactor online and I have been experiencing some great growth in my SPS corals. Color, on the other hand, has left a little bit to be desired. I think that once the tank matures a little more, the colors will come out better. I might sell off all my softies during the DFWMAS frag swap in exchange for more SPS and clams. The coralline is growing as well.
Anyways, here are some pictures. I hope to finish the woodworking this weekend but I've been too busy trying to get the tank up and running first.
Pre-drilling
Post drilling (2 x 1.75" holes were drilled to accomodate the 1" uniseal for the Sedra input and the overflow input.)
Up close of the gate valve mod (Easiest mod out there)
One of the big complaints with the beckett skimmer was the amount of bubble coming from the output of the skimmer. With this gate valve mod, I had virtually eliminated the bubbles. Here is a picture of it.
See NO BUBBLES.
And this shows a better picture of the holes that were drilled.
I had to redo some of the plumbing under the tank to accomodate this along with reduce some of the noise and microbubbles. I read a lot about bubble towers and I had a half ca reactor laying around that I used for a make-shift bubble tower. Turns out it worked out really well. I'll post the pictures in another post.
Chris
I have the ca reactor online and I have been experiencing some great growth in my SPS corals. Color, on the other hand, has left a little bit to be desired. I think that once the tank matures a little more, the colors will come out better. I might sell off all my softies during the DFWMAS frag swap in exchange for more SPS and clams. The coralline is growing as well.
Anyways, here are some pictures. I hope to finish the woodworking this weekend but I've been too busy trying to get the tank up and running first.
Pre-drilling
Post drilling (2 x 1.75" holes were drilled to accomodate the 1" uniseal for the Sedra input and the overflow input.)
Up close of the gate valve mod (Easiest mod out there)
One of the big complaints with the beckett skimmer was the amount of bubble coming from the output of the skimmer. With this gate valve mod, I had virtually eliminated the bubbles. Here is a picture of it.
See NO BUBBLES.
And this shows a better picture of the holes that were drilled.
I had to redo some of the plumbing under the tank to accomodate this along with reduce some of the noise and microbubbles. I read a lot about bubble towers and I had a half ca reactor laying around that I used for a make-shift bubble tower. Turns out it worked out really well. I'll post the pictures in another post.
Chris
JustOneMoreTank
New member
Looks great. Modding the skimmer is very easy to do with simple parts and just a little time.
That is one big skimmer for you size tank!
That is one big skimmer for you size tank!
Chrisrush
New member
Somebody on DFWMAS asked how the skimmer was hooked up, so I figured that I would reply here as well.
The first picture shows the whole package. You can also see how the gate valve is placed.
Water drains in from the 1" grey fitting w/ red handle in the upper left hand part of the picture. I was originally going to have the water dump into the skimmer and the bubble tower, but then I figured that I'd have it all go straight into the skimmer. I had already glued the 't' in place, so I just capped it. Maybe later if I need more flow into the sump, I'll uncap it.
It then goes into a ball valve, for whatever reason I added that, then to into a 90 degree fitting, union and another 90 into the skimmer.
Here is a better picture of the part where it goes in to the skimmer.
And here is a picture of the parts that are under the water, where you can see the recirc mod, part of the gate valve mod and the bottom part of the union valve.
Chris
The first picture shows the whole package. You can also see how the gate valve is placed.
Water drains in from the 1" grey fitting w/ red handle in the upper left hand part of the picture. I was originally going to have the water dump into the skimmer and the bubble tower, but then I figured that I'd have it all go straight into the skimmer. I had already glued the 't' in place, so I just capped it. Maybe later if I need more flow into the sump, I'll uncap it.
It then goes into a ball valve, for whatever reason I added that, then to into a 90 degree fitting, union and another 90 into the skimmer.
Here is a better picture of the part where it goes in to the skimmer.
And here is a picture of the parts that are under the water, where you can see the recirc mod, part of the gate valve mod and the bottom part of the union valve.
Chris
tgunn
Active member
Chrisrush said:
Wow, how'd I miss replying to this originally? :lol:
Heh, I think for a start I need to get a new circular saw; I made the mistake of buying a really cheap one and... it's really cheap. Guess the table saw can come later..
Yeah, I found picking up the 1/4" ply and seeing how much it flexed in my hands that it wasn't quite what I was looking for. I'll likely end up with 3/4" on the bottom too because I can get it for a decent price at Home Depot; the cabinet grade 1/4" oak at the local lumber yard is much more expensive..
A Cites Permit is some kind of silly import permit we need in Canada to import marine life. I'm not entirely sure on the details but it's absurdly expensive for no real reason..
BTW, the new skimmer looks like it's working great. Good job on all the mods.
Later,
Tyler
Chrisrush
New member
Thanks, it's a good thing that extruded acrylic cuts easily, otherwise I might have torn up the skimmer.
I've been borrowing my dads circular saw and jig saw to work on the cabinetry. I really need to get them back to him some day. Or if I hold onto them long enough, maybe he'll forget.
I like the 3/4" oak but man is it heavy, especially at a length of 50" x 40". I might cut out the doors and then use 1/4" for it. Then again, I might not.
Chris
I've been borrowing my dads circular saw and jig saw to work on the cabinetry. I really need to get them back to him some day. Or if I hold onto them long enough, maybe he'll forget.
I like the 3/4" oak but man is it heavy, especially at a length of 50" x 40". I might cut out the doors and then use 1/4" for it. Then again, I might not.
Chris
