RC 75 DIY Stand and Sump
- Thread starter rmchoi
- Start date
rmchoi
New member
I have the large Avast locker. This holds 1.5 gallons.
Though Zeovit is a proven system for SPS, it was not successful for me. I found it difficult to dial in the slurry of basic and optional additives. The corals would cycle from good to bad, then I would tweak the recipe to correct. This cycle happened several times. The dosing regiment became overwhelming. Between the lack of stability, the chore of daily dosing and losing corals - it became too much. I thought 12 months was reasonable timeframe to make it work. Its likely my own fault, not Zeovit, for the ups and downs. There are so amazing SPS tanks that run solely on Zeovit! That is good enough reason to give it a try.
Continuing the search for stability, I moved polar opposite direction toward using biology. I set up two large refugiums. One with chaeto and the other with deep sand base to control phosphates and nitrates. Then set up a calcium reactor for alk /calc/ mag. Changed from LED to MH/T5. Tweaking the LED for the right light spectrum was a similar experience to tweaking Zeovit for the right recipe. So, I went with simple MH/T5 lighting. Its safe and supports most SPS corals in most areas of the tank. I added fish load and increased feeding to keep nutrients available for corals. The test numbers are stable and the SPS are starting to respond well.
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Zacktosterone
Active member
Right on!!!!
rmchoi
New member
Ecotech Battery Backup Battery Replacement DIY
I have two Ecotech battery backups to run the MP40 during power outages. The last time we lost power, the backups failed. The battery died and no longer hold a charge.
The battery case has 8 pop rivets holding it closed. I drilled each rivet out with an 1/8" bit to removed the cover.
Inside is a 12V 18A sealed lead acid battery. After removing the 2 terminal bolts, the battery is free. I replaced it with a Mighty Max Battery and reconnected the terminal bolts. The new battery was $35, a bargain compared to replacing it with a new Ecotech backup.
I used 1/8" white pop rivets to fasten the cover back on, charged the unit for a day, then reconnected to the MP40 pumps. Ecotech has a procedure to show the battery percentage by removing the power from the controller and connecting the battery cable. Press a button and it showed 100% charged. That's it!
The new battery should last 3-4 years, more towards the 3 year mark.
I have two Ecotech battery backups to run the MP40 during power outages. The last time we lost power, the backups failed. The battery died and no longer hold a charge.
The battery case has 8 pop rivets holding it closed. I drilled each rivet out with an 1/8" bit to removed the cover.
Inside is a 12V 18A sealed lead acid battery. After removing the 2 terminal bolts, the battery is free. I replaced it with a Mighty Max Battery and reconnected the terminal bolts. The new battery was $35, a bargain compared to replacing it with a new Ecotech backup.
I used 1/8" white pop rivets to fasten the cover back on, charged the unit for a day, then reconnected to the MP40 pumps. Ecotech has a procedure to show the battery percentage by removing the power from the controller and connecting the battery cable. Press a button and it showed 100% charged. That's it!
The new battery should last 3-4 years, more towards the 3 year mark.
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rmchoi
New member
Since finishing the stand, I have moved the tank several times. Once to relocate to a new spot, another to move for new flooring and another to move for re-plumbing. The ease and time saved is priceless. The tank and stand remain level and stable.
Do you have any image of the manifold connected to your return pump? I have a similar set up (in the process of actually) and just ordered a pair of media reactors and it came with the manifold. I need to go out in the garage and check but I think my manifold may be a bit different but it could also just be the angle - thus me asking
Looks like water inters the manifold from the return or a pump, then falls through the media, and then into the sump. The bottom 1/4 of the canister I guess is under water? Anyway - If you have any more sump, manifold, and return plumbing images that you don't mind sharing that would be great.
Thanks regardless because I'm going back and checking them out anyway
Almost bought a Vectra but ordered the Cor 15 from Neptune. I was using a Jeaboe 15000 DC pump - or that was the plan anyway. Now will keep has a spare.
rmchoi
New member
Do you have any image of the manifold connected to your return pump? I have a similar set up (in the process of actually) and just ordered a pair of media reactors and it came with the manifold. I need to go out in the garage and check but I think my manifold may be a bit different but it could also just be the angle - thus me asking
Looks like water inters the manifold from the return or a pump, then falls through the media, and then into the sump. The bottom 1/4 of the canister I guess is under water? Anyway - If you have any more sump, manifold, and return plumbing images that you don't mind sharing that would be great.
Thanks regardless because I'm going back and checking them out anyway
Here is better angle of the Vectra. It pulls water from the sump through 3 x 1" clear tubing.
This picture shows the media reactor feed off the horizontal tee, furthest left. This tubing loops out the back, around the sterilizer and returns into the media manifold.
The media manifold feeds 3 separate media canisters. Lifereef sumps have a built in media/probe rack with 3 canister slots. Drop a media canister in each hole and it stop about 3" below water line. There is a mesh bottom that hold the media in place. Water pours in from the top. The media stays fully submersed, so there is no channelling. It's a simple design. This media canister has carbon at bottom and a bag of purigen that floats near the top.
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@rmchoi - thanks! I also have the sump, skimmer, and Jeff shipped manifold and 2 reactors last week. Everything was set up and running in the garage to perform leak checks. The manifold and canisters are new so not plumbed in at the time. I've since moved the tank in and adjusting the plumbing so your images helped a lot.
Did you drill the sump for the Vectra or did Jeff? I was considering doing that for my return pump but decided not to.
Thank you again for your time and the photos. Great job and thanks!
Did you drill the sump for the Vectra or did Jeff? I was considering doing that for my return pump but decided not to.
Thank you again for your time and the photos. Great job and thanks!
rmchoi
New member
Congrats on the Lifereef system! It just so happened that Jeff installed extra inputs on the sump. They were extras, until the Vectra.
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rmchoi
New member
After many months, this an update of my system.
After many months, this an update of my system.
This started with a stock 75 gallon tank, a homemade stand and sump. Over time, I added a cheato refugium and a mangrove refugium, that share the same sump. This is going on its third sump and several different return pumps. Also added a calcium reactor for calcium and magnesium.
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The DT and refugiums are all filtered through a Lifereef LF1-300 sump and SVS2-2 in-sump skimmer. The sump has a dedicated spots for their skimmer, mechanical filters and media reactors. The skimmer runs on a Mag 9.5 pump with the large skimmer cup. I stopped using the foam filters as the tank matured. The media reactors have carbon + purigen, which I change out every quarter and bio-media, which is rinsed out once a year.
After many months, this an update of my system.
This started with a stock 75 gallon tank, a homemade stand and sump. Over time, I added a cheato refugium and a mangrove refugium, that share the same sump. This is going on its third sump and several different return pumps. Also added a calcium reactor for calcium and magnesium.
--
The DT and refugiums are all filtered through a Lifereef LF1-300 sump and SVS2-2 in-sump skimmer. The sump has a dedicated spots for their skimmer, mechanical filters and media reactors. The skimmer runs on a Mag 9.5 pump with the large skimmer cup. I stopped using the foam filters as the tank matured. The media reactors have carbon + purigen, which I change out every quarter and bio-media, which is rinsed out once a year.
rmchoi
New member
New chaeto refugium and mangrove refugium
New chaeto refugium and mangrove refugium
In an adjacent room are the refugiums, calcium reactor and dosing station. The display refugium hosts a 4' tall mangrove plant in a 40 gal breeder.
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In the cabinet below is a 20 gal refugium and Lifereef Calcium Reactor. The CR is sized up to 600 gal, which seems right for the corals I have. The CR media is 75/25 Reborn/Remag. I refill this about three times yearly.
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This is chaeto refugium is lit by two Kessil H80 flora. It is surprising these small lights work with a deep refugium. I let it grow dense and harvest about 6 gal of cheato every 2 months and clean the refugium twice a year. The refugiums handle the phosphate, but I have to dose nitrate. About six months ago, I stopped using additives like amino acid, iron and iodine. Now I just do 15% weekly water change. This renews all the water every 6 1/2 weeks, making the water especially stable. The skimmer produces less skim mate over time. It needs emptying monthly and runs mostly for aeration.
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I've went from Zeovit method, to a another major dosing regiment method and now, landed on a natural filtration method. I'm seeing good coral growth and stable water.
New chaeto refugium and mangrove refugium
In an adjacent room are the refugiums, calcium reactor and dosing station. The display refugium hosts a 4' tall mangrove plant in a 40 gal breeder.
--
In the cabinet below is a 20 gal refugium and Lifereef Calcium Reactor. The CR is sized up to 600 gal, which seems right for the corals I have. The CR media is 75/25 Reborn/Remag. I refill this about three times yearly.
--
This is chaeto refugium is lit by two Kessil H80 flora. It is surprising these small lights work with a deep refugium. I let it grow dense and harvest about 6 gal of cheato every 2 months and clean the refugium twice a year. The refugiums handle the phosphate, but I have to dose nitrate. About six months ago, I stopped using additives like amino acid, iron and iodine. Now I just do 15% weekly water change. This renews all the water every 6 1/2 weeks, making the water especially stable. The skimmer produces less skim mate over time. It needs emptying monthly and runs mostly for aeration.
--
I've went from Zeovit method, to a another major dosing regiment method and now, landed on a natural filtration method. I'm seeing good coral growth and stable water.
travisstewart
New member
Looks awesome. Do you think lighting has a huge part in the growth amount? I am using a cheap Home Depot bulb that everyone swore by, but not getting the growth out of my macro that I had hoped for.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
rmchoi
New member
Yeah, since light + nutrients = growth, I believe the light is a big contributing factor. The right light strength & spectrum, balanced with the right amount of nutrients should yield better growth.
Typically, your tank is an experiment of one. What works for one tank may not work on someone else's tank. Keep in mind, if the results are not there, it doesn't mean you did it wrong. No matter how much you try to control things, this is nature and it's not always predictable.
