Rainbow Archipelago 1.0 Reef Journal

[naterealbig]

Do you already have the UV Unit?

You want to plumb the UV into the return line of your system, put unions/union ball valves on either side for maintenance purposes. If you already have the unit, fab up a replacement section of plumbing the same length, with unions on either side.

When you need it, take out the replacement section and put in the UV Unit.

Hi Maxx,

I do already have the UV unit.... it might have been the first piece of equipment that I actually purchased for the build, a year or so ago

All of my plumbing will be completed with unionized ball valves. I hadn't even thought about simply building a section of piping to replace the UV if I wanted to take it out. It would definitely prevent the UV unit from requiring maintenance as worms and other life begin to grow over the bulb sleeve.

This is the exact reason I wanted to log things as I went, instead of simply posting the finished product. Thank you so much for the great idea!

I had a bloody algae bloom that lasted a good 2-3 months when I re set up my current tank... It finally went away on its own, when the system stabalised. Mind you, had I had a uv, I probably would have used it happily.
If it is going to be difficult to install, I would wonder if it is worth the effort....

This is my sentiment exactly, although, instead of a single 2-3 month bloom, I had several over the course of several months. The corals and fish did not seem affected at all by the bloom, but it was annoying to me. I purchased a used AquaUV (8W maybe?), and I just laid it down in my sump area with a MaxiJet900 feeding it. It cleared up the algae within a matter of a day or two, and I just turned it on if the bloom came back. Almost as annoying as the bloom itself however, was having the UV unit loose, hanging out under my stand. I wanted to avoid the clutter with this build, so just decided to build it in permanently with the plumbing. Maxx brought up a good point though - if I make a "dummy" section of piping, I can remove the UV, and replace it with hard plumbing if I ever get tired of it being on there.

Hopefully I wont need it with the planned extra LR in the sump, but I would rather go through some extra trouble now than not setting up a way to use it if necessary.



Thank you guys for your feedback and help! I was not able to make any progress today on the tank. I had to go into work early, as the big-wigs were meandering about. No progress this weekend either, as my girlfriend and I are headed to Marco Island to get away for a couple days.

 

[maxxII]

You're welcome!
This is the precise reason many of us read other's threads....

There is always some other way of doing things that may not have occurred to the rest of us. Might not be better, but its interesting to see how everyone else does things.

I've learned alot from other people's builds.

 

[naterealbig]

Progress....

Progress....

Drilled hole from wet side of cabinet to dry side of cabinet, and glued in grommets.







Installed wire duct





Plumbed outlet of pumps.

*Used silicone tubing to join pump outlet of the Eheim Compact 2000+ pumps to check valves.

*Check valves installed to prevent back flow in the case where one pump fails.

*Silicone tubing used to isolate any noise from pumps.





Finished for today!

 

[markalot]

Subscribed!

 

[slin1977]

Fantastic start. Looks like you set yourself a pretty good idea of how you want this to turn out. Keep the updates flowing mate.

 

[naterealbig]

Subscribed!

Awesome, I'll be looking for your input!

 

[naterealbig]

Fantastic start. Looks like you set yourself a pretty good idea of how you want this to turn out. Keep the updates flowing mate.

Thank you for the kind remarks slin. As much as I hated waiting as long as it has taken to get everything in order, the upside is that I was able to plan out everything. Extra time has been scarce lately, so I will squeeze updates in when I can.

 

[reefmutt]

Looking good so far.
Progress, progress.

 

[markalot]

Awesome, I'll be looking for your input!

That would be a mistake. You're well ahead of anything I've ever done.

 

[naterealbig]

Looking good so far.
Progress, progress.

Thanks Matt!

 

[Cdodge1]

Nate, everything looks superb. The amount of planning and aesthetic consideration rivals any build I've seen. So far I'm loving the layout. Good idea on the dual return. I'm looking forward to seeing some water in that bad boy!

 

[naterealbig]

Nate, everything looks superb. The amount of planning and aesthetic consideration rivals any build I've seen. So far I'm loving the layout. Good idea on the dual return. I'm looking forward to seeing some water in that bad boy!

Thank you for the compliments Christian, a lot of time has been put into the planning and equipment choices. A lot of people would say the dual returns are overkill, but if there is anything that being a reefer and a submariner has taught me, is that redundance is key! I can't wait to get water in it either.

To get water in it, I need to do the following things:

1. Cut, route, and install the 3/4" HDPE board that will be used as the bare bottom "substrate".
2. Install the siphon and emergency drain lines
3. Fill and test for leaks with tap water
4. Fill with RODI

I should be able to knock out some work this weekend - I'll keep the thread updated as I make progress.

How is your tank doing? Any pointers based on your experience with the Radions?

 

[naterealbig]

Progress From Last Night

Progress From Last Night

Man! I can't believe I forgot to update my thread this morning - I didn't realize it until just now. Photobucket was being a PITA when I tried to upload my pics.

I finished the return line plumbing, which was physically the hardest part of the build. Everything after this should be a piece of cake!

About 1/2 way through....




Finished!

 

[plyle02]

Nice Nate,
I met you years back, I think I may have purchased an item, or vice versa, either way, I remember you being a sincere person. Anyway, I am very happy to see what you envisioned come to fruition, it seems you have a solid game plan, and looking over the plumbing, I think you missed your calling as a plumber All I can say is wow, your attention to detail is quite impressive! I am subscribed and looking forward to seeing your tank as it comes to life, again great job!!!

 

[naterealbig]

Nice Nate,
I met you years back, I think I may have purchased an item, or vice versa, either way, I remember you being a sincere person. Anyway, I am very happy to see what you envisioned come to fruition, it seems you have a solid game plan, and looking over the plumbing, I think you missed your calling as a plumber All I can say is wow, your attention to detail is quite impressive! I am subscribed and looking forward to seeing your tank as it comes to life, again great job!!!

Hi Perry, I remember you well - I quietly followed your threads then, and you have a beautiful setup now. I must admit though, I liked your previous setup a little better as it was bare bottom . Thank you for the compliment about my sincerity, it means more than anything anyone could say about my tank. Thank you also for the kind remarks about my planning and progress so far. I will have this tank for a while, so my goal is to not say to myself later, "I wish I would have done it this way. I hope you chime in if you see anything that seems awry, and I am always looking for helpful tips!

- Best Regards

 

[dantdodge]

This looks amazing! Subscribed... I think you are ready for some water in that tank. Looking for the next update.

 

[naterealbig]

Progress: Starboard bottom

Progress: Starboard bottom

So I found out last week that the anemone that I bought (pic in an earlier post) to put in this tank died. I haven't even gotten water in the tank and I'm killing stuff. Really, really bummed about it. :sad2:

The show must go on though, so let's talk about some progress. Everyone says you work with HDPE like wood - I had a little different experience It's not as easy as it seems. I still need to fill in the gaps and create a ridge around the top to keep the detritus out of the cracks. For this, I was going to use silicone from home depot.

After some consideration, I don't want to risk any type of contamination, so I am going to go with FDA approved food-grade white silicone from RTV. The problem is, they don't have this at home depot. I need to order some RTV-102 from Grainer, which should be here on Monday, so some more waiting.

This weekend I will try to plumb the drains, and leak test the plumbing.

Boring, but here are the pics.










Also, picked this up from Diver's Den

 

[maxxII]

That's a Radiata urchin.
They are venomous and also will eat corals, hard and soft.

They are very pretty though.

 

[reefmutt]

Progress is progress!
Any bit gets you closer.

 

[naterealbig]

This looks amazing! Subscribed... I think you are ready for some water in that tank. Looking for the next update.

Hey Danny, thank you for the kind words, every bit of progress I make gets me a little more excited. Keep checking back, I definitely want your input on this! Thanks!

That's a Radiata urchin.
They are venomous and also will eat corals, hard and soft.

They are very pretty though.

Yes, it definitely is a beautiful specimen. I had a green banded urchin (very similar in physiology) in my last tank, and I found out it's venom was very painful, along with the fact that it would eat my corals if it was hungry the hard way. I did notice however that I could actually feed it veggies, and that seemed to stop his appetite for my corals. What has been your experience specifically with the Radiata? I figured as long as I spot fed him, he'd be OK?

Thank you so much for the feed back!

Progress is progress!
Any bit gets you closer.

True, but I want to get water in this thing so bad it almost hurts!