Pete's 110 build

[iwishtofish]

Wonderful! Did I see something on the birdsnest(?) at 4:17-4:19?

 

[drummereef]

Interseting, a recirc mod on the bio pellet reactor (not even realy a mod) sounds like it may be in the near future. A set of tees and a MJ pump should do the trick just fine. I like it
thanks

I think Reef Dynamics were the first to market a recirculating pellet reactor. Here's the link and definitely let me know if you end up modding yours. I'd love to see how you go about doing it, I'm considering modding my SMR1 as well. Just need some creative inspiration. Another awesome tank vid btw. :thumbsup:

http://www.reefdynamics.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDESC=N&ProductCode=BPR250

http://www.reefdynamics.com/Reef-Dynamics-Bio-Pellet-Reactor-for-250-gallons-p/bpr250.htm

 

[psteeleb]

Very very nice! Can you tell me exactly which T5's or LED's were on during that video? I run a T5/LED combo, where the LED's are Royal Blue LED's. But these RB's light up the whole tank in blue...I'd like to buy 420nm (ie 03 True actinic LED's).

It was mostly royal blues as the cool whites would have been toward the end on their dim down cycle

Wonderful! Did I see something on the birdsnest(?) at 4:17-4:19?

thanks - I'll have to check that time frame when I get home as I can't see my videos from work

I think Reef Dynamics were the first to market a recirculating pellet reactor. Here's the link and definitely let me know if you end up modding yours. I'd love to see how you go about doing it, I'm considering modding my SMR1 as well. Just need some creative inspiration. Another awesome tank vid btw. :thumbsup:

http://www.reefdynamics.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDESC=N&ProductCode=BPR250

http://www.reefdynamics.com/Reef-Dynamics-Bio-Pellet-Reactor-for-250-gallons-p/bpr250.htm

I need to work out the details but it will look something like the picture

I'll workup some sort for friction fittings to the reactor if I can get close in size or will use tubing that is close coupled with 1/2" hard pipe between the fittings shown

 

[drummereef]

I need to work out the details but it will look something like the picture

I'll workup some sort for friction fittings to the reactor if I can get close in size or will use tubing that is close coupled with 1/2" hard pipe between the fittings shown

Ha! I knew you'd knock this out! Just a thought... but will that Maxi Jet stay primed sitting above the water line like that or would it be better to plumb to through the side of the reactor down lower on the reaction chamber?

 

[psteeleb]

Ha! I knew you'd knock this out! Just a thought... but will that Maxi Jet stay primed sitting above the water line like that or would it be better to plumb to through the side of the reactor down lower on the reaction chamber?

excelent point - I'll add a bleed port on the top of the pipe and vent the air out using some 1/4" tubing or something like that. Or..... maybe I can situate the return off the top so it always self vents :idea:

I'd prefer to keep the TLF reactor in tact but if this doesn't work well I'll drill some holes in it and use some uni-seals. I'd still have to work in some sort of strainer so not to pull in the bio pellets

fun stuff :beer:

 

[drummereef]

excelent point - I'll add a bleed port on the top of the pipe and vent the air out using some 1/4" tubing or something like that. Or..... maybe I can situate the return off the top so it always self vents :idea:

I'd prefer to keep the TLF reactor in tact but if this doesn't work well I'll drill some holes in it and use some uni-seals. I'd still have to work in some sort of strainer so not to pull in the bio pellets

fun stuff :beer:

Nice! Can't wait to see what you come up with. :beer:

 

[gohstwrighter]

man i love this tank .(outragous) just cant cover it ,congradulations its beutifull .

 

[psteeleb]

Nice! Can't wait to see what you come up with. :beer:

thanks - I think I'll stop by the hardware store tommorow and pick up some tubing and fittings just to test drive it and decide from there


N03 tested at 1, so still dropping

all corals are looking about the same, the undata still looks bad, the gorgs look great
--------------------------------------
a couple pictures from today
I swear this mille just keeps picking up more colors - I better enjoy it now as it may still brown or green out :hmm5:

and a couple short vids
favia gone wild :wildone:
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blue tortuosa
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new mille
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[sahin]

Beautiful! Loved the Blue Tort video. You've probably been asked this before, but what camera and lens did you use for making the videos? - Sorry to ask if you've already provided the answer somewhere.

 

[bagz727]

thats a pretty mille!!

 

[drummereef]

Gorgeous Mille. :thumbsup:

 

[psteeleb]

Beautiful! Loved the Blue Tort video. You've probably been asked this before, but what camera and lens did you use for making the videos? - Sorry to ask if you've already provided the answer somewhere.

The camera is a Sony HDR-XR150, it's actually my video camera but it takes great close ups when things are the right distance. FTS aren't so great

thats a pretty mille!!

thanks

Gorgeous Mille. :thumbsup:

Thanks, I'm already getting requests for frags

 

[psteeleb]

our local club (DFWMAS) is having their big event this weekend, Nextwave. They have 4 or 5 speakers coming in and one of the hosts brought by one of the speakers, Tony Vargus, by my place as aprt of a mini tank tour. I was honored to say the least, Tony took a bunch of great pictures that I'm looking foward to seeing.

 

[feh]

thanks
the lights are a blend of LED's and T5's. Most of my pictures are taken with just the T5's on (a 2/1 mix of royal blues and cool whites)

here's the line up, left to right in the picture
12 3w Royal Blues
9 3w Royal Blues with 9 3w Cool Whites
T5 12k
T5 Actinic
T5 Fiji Purple
T5 12k
9 3w Royal Blues with 9 3w Cool Whites
12 3w Royal Blues

Interesting lighting combination. What kind of schedule do you run those on?

 

[lanshark]

Almost finished catching up with your build threads. RC "Hall of Fame". So helpful to those wanting to improve our own reef keeping skills.

Few questions; :reading:

What would you say the overall impact is from the kalk dosing to CA levels in your reef tank resulting of the 15 sec an hour Kalkwasser dosing process? Assume that is a drip a second kind of the thing? Are you basically meeting your CA needs through water changing alone? The CA reactor is really an ALK reactor, correct?

Also, have you had any success culturing your own phyto and/or rotifers!

I'm trying to be patient and start my 180 build upgrade this summer, however, after seeing what's possible in your reef ... I'm so AMPED UP...
:beer: Regards, Matthew

 

[psteeleb]

Interesting lighting combination. What kind of schedule do you run those on?

12 3w Royal Blues <------------------------ 7:30am to 12:30am with a 2 hour dim on dim off
9 3w Royal Blues with 9 3w Cool Whites <--- RB's 9:30 to 11:30 also with a 2 hour dim on/off; CW 9:00 to 11:00 with 2 hour on/off dim
T5 12k <---------------------------------- all T5's are on 4 -8
T5 Actinic <------------------------------- all T5's are on 4 -8
T5 Fiji Purple <---------------------------- all T5's are on 4 -8
T5 12k <---------------------------------- all T5's are on 4 -8
9 3w Royal Blues with 9 3w Cool Whites <--- RB's 9:30 to 11:30 also with a 2 hour dim on/off; CW 9:00 to 11:00 with 2 hour on/off dim
12 3w Royal Blues <------------------------7:30am to 12:30am with a 2 hour dim on dim off

 

[psteeleb]

Almost finished catching up with your build threads. RC "Hall of Fame". So helpful to those wanting to improve our own reef keeping skills.

Few questions; :reading:

What would you say the overall impact is from the kalk dosing to CA levels in your reef tank resulting of the 15 sec an hour Kalkwasser dosing process? Assume that is a drip a second kind of the thing? Are you basically meeting your CA needs through water changing alone? The CA reactor is really an ALK reactor, correct?

Also, have you had any success culturing your own phyto and/or rotifers!

I'm trying to be patient and start my 180 build upgrade this summer, however, after seeing what's possible in your reef ... I'm so AMPED UP...
:beer: Regards, Matthew

thanks

I run both a Ca reactor and a Kalc reactor - Kalc alone will not meet my tanks demand

The Ca reactor is run only during the day hours (not at night) for the most part the Ca alone meets the tanks Ca and Alk demands. I actually run it pretty high during the day so it buffers the pH increase caused by the lights (actually the corals and algae are increasing pH through O2 release form photosynthesis.

Kalc is run more as a supplement and to increase the pH or try to hold it between 8.0 and 8.2. Although it provides both Ca and Alk it's not enough to meet the demands but there are other benefits over and above being a pH stabilizer. It also helps precipitate Po4 through absorption then skimming. In doing this it increases O2 and ORP making for a healthier tank. I have found corals just do better with some amount of Kalc use, but it may be for the same reasons I already mentioned.

I've never tried culturing e phyto or rotofers, I trave a lot with my job so don't really have the time to deal with them. I've considered it but they require daily maintenance.

Make sure you start a build thread when you get started with the 180, it's a great way to show off your build and get some great feedback.

Again thanks :beer:

 

[psteeleb]

As I mentioned earlier I decided to make a minor modification to my bio pellet reactor so I can get the high tumbling flow but decrease the throughput. Basically I'm turning the reactor into a recirc reactor but decided to make the changes externally.

After taking measurements on a MJ pump and the tubing connectors on the TLF reactor I decided to use ½" CPVC. CPVC is a PVC pipe but sized to use with copper pipe in residential applications. Standard PVC pipe is actually much larger then the CPVC as it meets industrial ASTM standards.

This picture shows the difference in size. In the foreground in standard ½" PVC and background is a piece of ½" CPVC

The reason I went with the CPVC is that I can get a nice sealed friction fit using some silicone tubing as shown in the following pictures.

The MJ suction side has a larger diameter and is close to the size of the CPVC fittings but just a little smaller. So using a tubing size that fits snugly on the pump was difficult to get to fit on the fitting, but after heating it in a cup of water in the microwave for 60 seconds it became soft and flexible enough to fit over the end of a coupling as shown here

the MJ discharge side is about the same size as the TLF outlets so I used the same tubing for making a nice tight fit.

After mounting the fittings and pipe to the TLF reactor outlets and MJ pump I needed a place to hook up some tubing for the supply and effluent out.
I actually bought some 1/2" fittings that had normal 1/2" threaded ends that I was going to install a JG tubing connector too but I wasn't happy with the look as the 1/2" threaded connector was pretty large compared to everything else. I had some 1/4" threaded quick release fittings that I decided to incorporate and instead of using a threaded fitting decided to thread the inside of the 1/2" CPVC pipe to fit a 1/4" threaded pipe fitting. The result was much cleaner looking.

Finished product - I'll give it a little time to dry and hook it up tonight
(maybe a video later)

 

[aquaph8]

You are a pipe fitting macgyver sir. Looks like a cool little setup.

 

[drummereef]

Hot dang!! Excellent job on the recirc mod Pete. If this works I'm definitely going to do this on my SMR1. :thumbsup: Let me know if that MJ1200 is enough at full throttle to keep the pellets suspended too.

Thanks, I'm already getting requests for frags

Put me on the list.