RocketEngineer's 75g/125g Setup

[RocketEngineer]

LEDs have started to hit the tipping point where they are affordable enough to be practical. Doing a DIY build saves even more money but its still not cheap. The flip side of the coin is I won't have to worry about bulbs once its built.

I'm definitely using the same stand. I was smart enough to design it for just this eventuality. The stand took a lot of time and effort to make and was well worth it. Plus, I have all the stuff underneath already arranged how I like it so there's no reason to disrupt something that's working.

Remember light stocking gives you a cushion should something go sideways. I prefer fewer fish over risking the entire setup to a power outage.

 

[iwishtofish]

Yeah, I built my stand to accomodate a 120g, as well, should I ever upgrade to that from my 75g.

Once I get a few more fish and corals, I'm going to start looking for a cheap generator. As long as it runs and starts easily, I'm not going to worry how pretty or gas-efficient it is. I just want the peace-of-mind when I hear bad storms (another Irene) are coming. It would be nice to get one big enough to handle some house functions, but then $$$ jump because of the need for an electrician to modify the box.

Can't wait for that Dr. Mac's trip at the end of the month. Do they have many LPS selections other than acans? That seems to be the most common coral on the website.

 

[jcw]

Hi! Just stopped by again. Tank looks good despite your ups and downs. I've been through the ringer with my set up as well. Misery loves company.

Just wanted to add my 2 cents with LEDs. I've got a standard 125g. Started out with AI sols and just felt like there were too many light/dark areas. Super high par center, low par periphery that it really affects where you can grow high light sps.

I just this weekend switched to a used 6ft 6-bulb(12- 3ft) t5. Nothing fancy. But it was like someone had turned the lights on in the room. Everything is lit up. But you know how a t5 looks.

You lose the shimmer effect for sure. And the tank looks less "exotic" with lots of shadows in some places and vivid lighting in others, but light from the t5 hits everwhere.

I also have a 72g bowfront (that I took your recommendation over a year ago and drilled for a beananimal overflow, thanks) that has a 4 ft Acan 800 series light. And the arrangements of the leds provides a much better light distribution, but correspondingly less par(to my naked eye). the acan are probably not ideal for deeper tanks.

My thought is the better fixture might be an 8 bulb t5, with 2 bulbs replaced with something like reeftech's retrofit led strips that go right into the place of one of the t5 bulbs.

 

[jcw]

Regarding the hair algae probem, I think you touched on it earlier. Your tank and mine are simply not low nutrient no matter how many times my phosphate test comes back zero. Your tank just reminds me of mine so much. We grow Halimeda, hair algae, chaeto like pros.

I didn't see if you are running carbon regularly? Gfo?

I started with a couple bags of chemipure elite and already i'm seeing a difference(btw, i didn't do my research before getting chemipure. I wouldn't buy it again). Also consciously feeding less at a time. Not tank feeding corals. Religiously doing water changes and cleaning socks and skimmers. Chaeto stopped doubling every week or two. HA slowed. Bubble slowed and the crabs maybe getting control.

Just kicking around ideas. Hope i don't sound like the typical know-it-all, cause as my sig says, i'm pretty clueless right now. I don't know how you feel, but i refuse to believe that i lack the intelligence and dedication to end up with a very nice looking tank (ultimately like you see in totm.) I'm sure a rocketengineer has the skills, too.

At least you don"t have a bubble algae problem. That stuff goes everywhere and can't be removed without removing and scrubbing the rocks.

 

[RocketEngineer]

iwishtofish,
The Acans are normally from Australia but if you look in the WYSIWYG section under LPS, the selection is pretty good. Right now I see Brain, Favia, Chalice and Blasto frags under that heading. Also look in the Under $15 section as there is a wide rage of small pieces for sale there. He does carry a bunch of Acans but that's just the Australia section.

jcw,
I have been looking at LEDs for a while and one thing I have noticed is the spread on commercial fixtures is limited because they seem to design them to hang from the ceiling. This puts the fixture 18"-24" above the surface of the water and requires relatively tight optics. For my fixture I intend to use 80 degree lenses for testing and if I don't get enough spread I will go without. Going DIY, I can make it work vs a purchased fixture where I have to live with what's included. The two reasons to go to LED are electrical usage drop and no more bulb replacements. Plus it will cost half as much to build my own.

The tank has been on autopilot since Thanksgiving which is part of the algae problem. I don't run GFO/carbon but I plan on picking some up this weekend. The funny thing with my tank is the Cheato DOESN'T grow while the hair algae does despite the fuge having a longer lighting cycle. I will clean the bulbs and replace the cheato ball this weekend. Its getting tired and old and new cheato brings in new hitch hikers into the system.

I can understand about being smart enough to do it. However I don't have good habits with cleaning/water changes which is part of the problem. I keep promising myself I will do the water change "this weekend" and then its Sunday and the water isn't even mixing. Just have to do it really.

BTW, I do have bubble algae, its just in the recesses of the tank. I don't have problems with any one thing be it flatworms, hair algae, any kind of pest as long as they don't try to take over. They exist in nature because they fill a niche just like they do in our tanks. They only become a problem when nothing limits them and they are allowed to multiply out of control.

RocketEngineer

 

[RocketEngineer]

Two fun pics:

This is a hermit crab hanging from one of the rocks. Why it decided to go there, I don't have a clue.

While I was sweeping the floor I put Ariel's bed on the couch. Well she found it was more comfortable than the couch alone.

Now, as requested here are some pictures of the 125g.

Here is the old overflow:

While usable, its two Durso drain pipes with a very small overflow box. My new overflow will be 4' long and employ a BeanAnimal design. To do that I need to remove the old one which is proving easier said then done.

I cut off the flange of one of the bulkhead fittings to try and see what is holding this thing in place. Turns out the original owner injected silicone around the threads of the bulkhead fitting to seal the overflow box in place. To get this apart I will need to cut the silicone between the glass and the fitting. Not a lot of room to work in so if anyone has any ideas let me know.

RocketEngineer

 

[moondoggy4]

You could try cutting the bulkhead from the inside say 12 6 3 and 9 o'clock.

 

[RocketEngineer]

You could try cutting the bulkhead from the inside say 12 6 3 and 9 o'clock.

That crossed my mind but the overflow box is only about 1.5" wide which results in very short saw strokes. I came up with the idea of using a piece of fishing line steel leader wire to cut the silicone. I will stop at Walmart tonight to get a piece and give it a try. If that doesn't work I may resort to cutting the bulkhead. Heck, even getting a wedge out would let me squeeze the bulkhead and break the silicone. Lots of options left.

RocketEngineeer

 

[iwishtofish]

Sweet tank, my friend!

 

[RocketEngineer]

Sweet tank, my friend!

I got the 125g, two 40g (one had the end panel broken when it was removed), and the return pump all for $300. A good deal from where I sit as I only needed the 125g.

 

[RocketEngineer]

Success!

Success!

WE HAVE OVERFLOW REMOVAL!!!

Took three nights, a chisel, wire saw, and utility knife to do it but tonight I got the overflow removed from the 125g.

From the inside:

Pulled the back cover off:

Does anyone know how to get the silicone off of the glass? A scrubbing pad comes to mind but I'm worried about it scratching the glass. Suggestions would be welcome.

 

[rburns24]

I usually use a razor blade with water, then finish up with the blade and windex. I'm not sure, but it may be the ammonia in the windex that helps.

 

[RocketEngineer]

I usually use a razor blade with water, then finish up with the blade and windex. I'm not sure, but it may be the ammonia in the windex that helps.

Will have to give Windex a try. Thanks

 

[iwishtofish]

Are you going to use your existing rock, or go with all new? Will you have a sandbed? I'm finding flow to be one of my biggest challenges. If I have it low enough for my LPS, I can't seem to keep detritus from settling. Maybe with alternating Vortechs, you won't have any problem. Wish I had some!

 

[RocketEngineer]

I'm going to go with a mixture of both. Some of the rock I have now a) has corals encrusted on it, and b) is nice flat pieces I can use to make caves. However, the base rock I got is very large grapefruit shapes. These will be the base of the rock structures and the flat pieces combined with new branch style LR will make up the aquascaping.

I need a sand bed for my jawfish. I will be combining different types of sand to help keep it in place.

The upgrade will include adding (2) MP40s. When combined with the MP10s I have now that should be plenty of flow. I have found that I have a few dead spots in the 75g but a single powerhead pointed along the back glass fixed most of that. If I were to do it again, I may have gone with (2) MP40s for the 75g but I didn't have the money at that time. I may still buy 1 this summer and move one of the MP10s to the back glass before I upgrade. Flow is funny as its really hard to plan out because of all variables involved but at the same time is really important to get right.

RocketEngineer

 

[.OptimusPrime.]

Love what you did with the 75. Can't wait to see the 125

 

[RocketEngineer]

Love what you did with the 75. Can't wait to see the 125

Thanks. I'm definitely looking forward to the 125g. It will dominate the living room but I can accept that.

Here are my plans:
For the hood and LEDs, I'm planning (4) 6"X9" Heatsinks with 20 LEDS each:

Each heat sink will have its own fan which pulls in air from above the tank and is turned on and off with the drivers. The two fans in the back of the hood will be temperature controlled.

At the moment, the layout is like this:

This gives me two strings per heat sink: a blue string with (8) RB and (3) Blue, and a white string with(4) CW and (4) NW. Each fixture will have it's own cord so I can remove it to do work but the strings will be connected in parallel in the stand. By running in parallel the whole fixture only has (4) drivers total. The four moonlights (one per heat sink) will be connected to each other and run off a single low amperage driver.

Plumbing:

The 125g will use the same return pump and outlet manifold as the 75g. It uses two 3/4" return lines so should be plenty big enough for the MD5.

For the drain setup, the internal overflow box sits 1.5" below the bottom of the cross brace. With a 4' long overflow box, the water should be able to flow down the inside wall of the box without too much problem. It then goes through the two existing holes into the external box where the BeanAnimal pipes are located. This gives a drop from the lip of the internal overflow to the siphon pipe of ~6 inches. This should provide plenty of flow to keep crud in suspension.

Working from left to right, the drain lines are as follows: the Durso, the siphon, and the safety. These are all 1" pipes as I don't have enough space behind the tank for a box big enough for 1.5" bulkhead fittings. To account for the position of the sump all three pipes have a jog using (2) 45 degree elbows while the Safety has a second jog to get away from the return pipes. The drain pipes mount to the overflow box with unions to allow me to remove them without cutting anything.

Just a preview of things to come.

RocketEngineer

 

[iwishtofish]

You are definitely putting some serious thought into this! Looks great so far. You planning on rigging plumbing for any reactors? MD5 = Danner Mag 5 pump?

 

[RocketEngineer]

When I planned the 75g I started planning the 125g. Over the last couple years I have been updating the design as I realized the limitations on what I have now and the techniques have improved.

Since I don't run reactors 24/7 right now, I prefer to leave those on separate pumps that won't affect the flow to the tank/refugium. I have more than enough small pumps to make it work.

Yeah, MD5 stands for the Danner Mag Drive 5 which is my current return pump. Been running on saltwater setups for over 4 years at this point so I see no real reason to change it. Eventually I may go bigger but that's down the road.

 

[trinidiver]

RocketEngineer, nice build...................... you ever thought of getting a lawnmower blenny along with maybe a yellow tang? I have one of each and they keep my algae in check. I also have a sailfin tang, 2 blue hippo's and a powder brown. Mine was allot worse than yours cause it was literally growing all over my rocks onto my zoas, mushrooms and LPS, so i ended up running ROWAphos along with regular water changes and it went in less than a mth with just small patches here and there. The Tang clan devours all algae in my tank. More snails will also help.