The Great (or not so great) Hillbilly Reef Experiment

[Sonicboom]

I got them from the local co-op who special ordered them for me. There isn't any indication on the tanks themselves who makes them. If you want, I can call them and find out where they got them. I can tell you that they are 23 inches in diameter, 43 inches tall with an 8 inch opening up top and a 1 1/4 inch outlet. There is also an opening within the 8 inch lid for running pipe into the container.

Odd, i calculated those dimensions and came up with 77 gallons for a vertical cylinder.. but i may be doing something wrong

 

[Hawg Pharm]

Odd, i calculated those dimensions and came up with 77 gallons for a vertical cylinder.. but i may be doing something wrong

I'm going off what they told me when I called for the dimensions. I actually haven't measured to see how accurate they are.

 

[Hawg Pharm]

So, of course, I had to go measure it. The taper begins at the 37 inch mark and the 65 gallon mark is about 1 1/4 inch from the top of the lid. The last inch or so is the black part of the handle. The diameter is correct.

As it is, the plan is to only use the volume needed for something like Reef Crystals that makes 55 gallons per bag. I'm having a senior moment and can't remember who's thread it was, but someone here showed themselves dumping the entire bag of salt into the tank, turning on the pump, eating some pizza and then coming back and finishing up in a jiffy. I instantaneously said, "I want that". I figure the easier it is to do any form of upkeep, the more I'm going to enjoy this. All I'll need to finish it up is a heater and a power head to keep it nice and mixed up for the next water change.

 

[Hawg Pharm]

After seeing the Gixxer's pull out the Kessil I had to dig mine out of the supply stack and give them a whirl. One problem, and I've seen others talk about it, is that my tank is 30.5 inches wide so the coverage is a little off using the goose necks. Since I'm so close to the ceiling, I think I'll just mount them that way.

<a href="http://s115.photobucket.com/user/kncald/media/photobucket-17653-1372371494578_zps2d7a63d3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/kncald/photobucket-17653-1372371494578_zps2d7a63d3.jpg" border="0" alt="2013-06-27_16-24-03_755 photo photobucket-17653-1372371494578_zps2d7a63d3.jpg"/></a>

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[Newbie Aquarist]

Love them Kessils.

 

[Ghetto Man]

This is going to be a fun build. Good luck!

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

After seeing the Gixxer's pull out the Kessil I had to dig mine out of the supply stack and give them a whirl. One problem, and I've seen others talk about it, is that my tank is 30.5 inches wide so the coverage is a little off using the goose necks. Since I'm so close to the ceiling, I think I'll just mount them that way.

<a href="http://s115.photobucket.com/user/kncald/media/photobucket-17653-1372371494578_zps2d7a63d3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/kncald/photobucket-17653-1372371494578_zps2d7a63d3.jpg" border="0" alt="2013-06-27_16-24-03_755 photo photobucket-17653-1372371494578_zps2d7a63d3.jpg"/></a>

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I LOVE our Kessils. I can't wait til we can snag two more 360's for the 180g. The dimming control on the 360 with the Apex is awesome. It works beautifully.

Question...how low are the Kessil's hanging from the top of your tank? They look fairly close to top of the tank edge. Was concerned that you may have problems with water splashing up on to the light fixtures. You said you were limited on the ceiling height for where you've placed your tank, so I wasn't sure how you have them hanging.

Edited to add...I see where the tank placement is now. I guess the picture is of the Kessil's on the goosenecks?

 

[Hawg Pharm]

I LOVE our Kessils. I can't wait til we can snag two more 360's for the 180g. The dimming control on the 360 with the Apex is awesome. It works beautifully.

Question...how low are the Kessil's hanging from the top of your tank? They look fairly close to top of the tank edge. Was concerned that you may have problems with water splashing up on to the light fixtures. You said you were limited on the ceiling height for where you've placed your tank, so I wasn't sure how you have them hanging.

Edited to add...I see where the tank placement is now. I guess the picture is of the Kessil's on the goosenecks?

At the moment they are on the goosenecks and way too close to the top of the tank. For that reason, I'm pretty sure I'm going to hang them from the ceiling. I've got 21.5 inches from the top of the tank to the ceiling. But, I just had to give them a go after seeing yours in action. I have them hooked together and played with that a little bit but have yet to even plug in the Apex. I'm glad to hear that it works like a charm.

 

[Hawg Pharm]

This is going to be a fun build. Good luck!

Thanks! I'm certainly having fun just trying.

Love them Kessils.

I do too. I would ask how the build is going but I've been following for a long time. Nifty mixing equipment you've got there.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

At the moment they are on the goosenecks and way too close to the top of the tank. For that reason, I'm pretty sure I'm going to hang them from the ceiling. I've got 21.5 inches from the top of the tank to the ceiling. But, I just had to give them a go after seeing yours in action. I have them hooked together and played with that a little bit but have yet to even plug in the Apex. I'm glad to hear that it works like a charm.

Ah! Ok. I see now. It's hard to tell from the picture if they were actually on the goosenecks or not.

The programming for the Kessil's is a little daunting at first, but I found someone who posted their programming either here or on the the Neptune support forum for someone to check their dimming and color settings. I tweaked it a little for the timing to fit our schedule. I haven't tried it with more then one hooked up yet...but with the master/slave capabilities with them, it should be pretty smooth.

Everything looks really good so far! I'm SO jealous of the 'fish room'. I wish our new house had the space for it, but unfortunately not right now. Maybe one day!

 

[Hawg Pharm]

Ah! Ok. I see now. It's hard to tell from the picture if they were actually on the goosenecks or not.

The programming for the Kessil's is a little daunting at first, but I found someone who posted their programming either here or on the the Neptune support forum for someone to check their dimming and color settings. I tweaked it a little for the timing to fit our schedule. I haven't tried it with more then one hooked up yet...but with the master/slave capabilities with them, it should be pretty smooth.

Everything looks really good so far! I'm SO jealous of the 'fish room'. I wish our new house had the space for it, but unfortunately not right now. Maybe one day!

I remember seeing that support post and thinking, "I'm glad there are a lot of smart people here". I plan on just getting the entire system up and running and then getting out the Apex. I'll have plenty of time once the rock and sand are in the tank before I get to anything else. At that time, I hope to become proficient at using the Apex.

As for the fish room, it was a minor coup. I can only hope to get my spouse half as interested in the project as yours is.

 

[Hawg Pharm]

I've been neglectful in my updates. Part of it has been how busy I've been at work (excuses, I know). The other part is the frustration I've felt at certain points of the project. But, I realize that I should be sharing those frustrations during those times in order to pick the brains of all the good folks out there with a thousand times more experience than what I have. I've certainly learned a lot of things the hard way in the past week.

So, let's see what has changed......

 

[Hawg Pharm]

Redneck Plumbing, Inc.

This is my first attempt at plumbing. Sure is different than all the plumbing questions I get at work (it isn't a day if I don't get at least five gastrointestinal questions). It's really a simple system. I will have two overflow pipes at one inch each as well as a 3/4 inch emergency overflow. At present, there is one return from the sump to the display tank at 3/4 inches. There will be another one inch line from a second pump that will run behind the dt and into it from the far left for increased flow. The first pump will share duties with the fuge and the line that will lead to the drain for water changes. Still a work in progress. Maybe today I'll get the main part finished.

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[Hawg Pharm]

As you can see, the entire purpose of this setup was to gravity feed the contents of the fuge into the display tank. While I know it would have still been fine, I didn't like the thought of the pump taking out upwards of 80% of the pods. After all, I'd like to keep mandarins some day.

The fuge only had the one outlet. That scared me. I had purchased an extra sensor for it so I could hook it up to the Apex but everything I've read here speaks of redundancy. Plus, the thought of flooding the house and turning my wife against the project was not an option. Therefore, I drilled a two inch hole in the side of the fuge for an overflow drain that will go right into the sump. I'll adjust the water flow when it is time to avoid the emergency overflow. If for some reason I can't, I'll simply plumb the second drain into the dt as well.

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[Hawg Pharm]

So in between plumbing issues and other problems I decided to get some rock and sand into the tank, just to get some of it out the tubs in the bathroom. I had read where folks said to wash the sand. They weren't kidding. It turned the water in my plastic tub into a frothy soup. I can't imagine how long it would have taken that to settle out if you just poured it into the tank.

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[Hawg Pharm]

I included this photo to show the cabinet work. I'm very happy with it. The top allows me access from the front. I didn't build it, by the way. My skills do not extend to practical woodworking.

Ignore the mountain of rock in the tank. The primary purpose was to get it out of the various tubs and into the tank. Aesthetically, it leaves something to be desired. I was just playing around with it, focusing on stability more than anything else. It has lots of caves, nooks and crannies, but I'm sure changes will come as I go forward.

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[Newbie Aquarist]

To be honest its not that bad looking for throwing it together in a short amount of time.

 

[Hawg Pharm]

To be honest its not that bad looking for throwing it together in a short amount of time.

Thanks. If anything, it is solid. After each placement, I'd try to rock it or knock it over. I don't plan on having any big fish, so I'm not really worried about collapses. Plus, the rock went in first so I won't have any problem with the sand movers.

 

[Hawg Pharm]

Well, the lights are mounted and the Vortechs are churning. Now I understand why everyone talks about how blue the photos are.

Water changing system still not plumbed and I haven't let a drop of water touch the fuge. Sump probably has 50 gallons in it and the skimmer saved me after I added 80 pounds of live sand on top of the aragonite and experienced my first massive white out.

Fish room is in a state of controlled chaos. I mounted a lot of the Apex gear today but will have to wait on the Netgear WiFi adapter.

Really, it isn't this blue. The shimmer is amazing. Makes me want more Kessils.

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[kegogut]

Looks like someone got a happy meal today! =P