Triple-S Fish Ranch - 1700gal 164†x 48†x 56†SPS peninsula build
- Thread starter pmrogers
- Start date
Thank for joining in silver17jo, sirreal63, muttley000, alpineroush, jmking33, IANick, stylo328, erictorres0311,humaguy,explor3r,TankRazr
For skimming, I will start out with the RK2 25PE and Deltec AP702 from my old systems and re-evaluate state of the art in 18 months or so when stocking levels in the new system begin to approach what I had in the 750.
No plans for a calcium reactor at this time, just 2-part. If the DaStaCo becomes available in the U.S. I may use it.
Thanks, saltwatershark. I will be using the Ecoxotic 120W Cannons, which are rated for SPS level PAR at up to 72". I don't actually want quite that much intensity, so I will dim them down enough to allow for LPS on the bottom of the tank.
For skimming, I will start out with the RK2 25PE and Deltec AP702 from my old systems and re-evaluate state of the art in 18 months or so when stocking levels in the new system begin to approach what I had in the 750.
No plans for a calcium reactor at this time, just 2-part. If the DaStaCo becomes available in the U.S. I may use it.
Thanks, saltwatershark. I will be using the Ecoxotic 120W Cannons, which are rated for SPS level PAR at up to 72". I don't actually want quite that much intensity, so I will dim them down enough to allow for LPS on the bottom of the tank.
I've loved putting together my Exocotic lighting system on my 300gal. Great product. Get what you pay for. Dimmed them down so far I can lay my hand on the heat sink of 100w cannons with no discomfort .... wouldnt even want to think about trying that with a halide.
Update: 750 removal, return pumps, lighting
Update: 750 removal, return pumps, lighting
Quiet week, and going to be fairly quiet for the next month while the entire carport area is covered in scaffolding, blocking crew access to the fish room.
Got the 750 moved out last week with the help of Timfish and half a dozen other guys from Austin Reef Club, who I didn't think to ask about their RC names. Great bunch of guys, made the move much more smoothly than the professionals I used for the move in.
Decided to go with 2 Abyzz 420s for the returns. Got excited about the Pentair Intelliflow pool pumps but they aren't yet offering saltwater seals. On the Abyzz, if I've read the flow curves correctly, and if my plumbing friction is roughly 6' equivalent then I should still get 2200gph at each output even after 25' total head pressure. I will say that disassembling the 420 that ran on the 750 for the past year reaffirmed my love of these pumps: the impeller quite literally looked brand new, with zero etching or calcification, only a slight slime of bio film. And this was after an alk and calcium overdose incident last summer that locked up all 6 Tunze Streams in the tank. In-tank flow will be a topic for another thread.
Only other progress was experimental surgery on one of the Ecoxotic 120s to confirm that I could successfully replace the integrated driver with a Meanwell dimmable driver.
Update: 750 removal, return pumps, lighting
Quiet week, and going to be fairly quiet for the next month while the entire carport area is covered in scaffolding, blocking crew access to the fish room.
Got the 750 moved out last week with the help of Timfish and half a dozen other guys from Austin Reef Club, who I didn't think to ask about their RC names. Great bunch of guys, made the move much more smoothly than the professionals I used for the move in.
Decided to go with 2 Abyzz 420s for the returns. Got excited about the Pentair Intelliflow pool pumps but they aren't yet offering saltwater seals. On the Abyzz, if I've read the flow curves correctly, and if my plumbing friction is roughly 6' equivalent then I should still get 2200gph at each output even after 25' total head pressure. I will say that disassembling the 420 that ran on the 750 for the past year reaffirmed my love of these pumps: the impeller quite literally looked brand new, with zero etching or calcification, only a slight slime of bio film. And this was after an alk and calcium overdose incident last summer that locked up all 6 Tunze Streams in the tank. In-tank flow will be a topic for another thread.
Only other progress was experimental surgery on one of the Ecoxotic 120s to confirm that I could successfully replace the integrated driver with a Meanwell dimmable driver.
The 120's dont dim through the power supply 0-10v input like the 100's do ?
Unfortunately, no. The 120s are UL listed for wet environments and come with an integrated, epoxy sealed, non-dimmable driver. Swapping the driver entails cutting the cord between driver and chip, and voids the UL listing. I guess that either Ecoxotic couldn't source a UL listed dimmable driver, or that there is no demand for dimming capability in the commercial settings where the 120 is typically used.
I thought the DaStaCo was available, just purchased in pounds? I'd imagine they'd ship it if you wanted it. Seems the guys with big systems really seem to like it for stability.
Also, awesome to see that Austin has a thriving club. When I lived there in the mid-late 90's, I think there were less then 10 people in the club. Had some fun times but never seemed to reach enough critical mass though that those were the days when Gallery of Pets and the Austin Aquadome were the premier stores :lol:
saltwatershark
New member
Curious about your decision to go with 2-part instead of a Ca Reactor. I always thought that CaReactors are the "gold standard" but your decision to use 2-part suggests otherwise (clearly you're building to perfection so you have thought this through). Any chance you will shed some light on your thoughts here?
Also I noticed in one of the pics that your sump is a MyReefCreations (MRC). I looked at their site and saw the MRC Orca Pro III, which looks amazing. Is this skimmer a contender for your system? Curious what your thoughts are here.
This thread has gotten so much traction because you're building all of of out dream tank! Thanks again for sharing.
Also I noticed in one of the pics that your sump is a MyReefCreations (MRC). I looked at their site and saw the MRC Orca Pro III, which looks amazing. Is this skimmer a contender for your system? Curious what your thoughts are here.
This thread has gotten so much traction because you're building all of of out dream tank! Thanks again for sharing.
markcraddock
New member
Tagging
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I love the attention to detail, great build. Looking forward to being involved in watching all the way from Johannesburg, South Africa.
Tagging
I love the attention to detail, great build. Looking forward to being involved in watching all the way from Johannesburg, South Africa.
Thanks for joining in, markcraddock and FattyK21!
The decision to go with 2-part is purely about simplicity and maintenance. I tried many of the premium reactors between 1997 and 2008 before switching to 2-part. All of the reactors required more maintenance than dosing 2 part. And even with a mythical perfect reactor, CO2 is the real showstopper for me at this scale. I'm afraid the largest CO2 cannister I could reasonably transport to get refilled would only last 6 to 8 weeks once the system is fully populated. Contrast this with 30gal 2-part reservoirs that are plumbed to the RODI reservoir. Refilling them will take nothing more than turning a valve and dumping in a few cups of soda ash or CaCl.
MRC is definitely in the running for skimmer, though I'd go with their industrial series 2492-W over the Orca.
The decision to go with 2-part is purely about simplicity and maintenance. I tried many of the premium reactors between 1997 and 2008 before switching to 2-part. All of the reactors required more maintenance than dosing 2 part. And even with a mythical perfect reactor, CO2 is the real showstopper for me at this scale. I'm afraid the largest CO2 cannister I could reasonably transport to get refilled would only last 6 to 8 weeks once the system is fully populated. Contrast this with 30gal 2-part reservoirs that are plumbed to the RODI reservoir. Refilling them will take nothing more than turning a valve and dumping in a few cups of soda ash or CaCl.
MRC is definitely in the running for skimmer, though I'd go with their industrial series 2492-W over the Orca.
I agree, I use 50g reservoirs, it's been a breeze and I like the benefit of individual control of Alk and Ca. As a backup to supplement if needed, I run a Geo 1218 CR with the C02 turned off. If demand out paces the 2 part I plan to run the CR at a slow rate only to handle excess demand, but I'll continue 2 part for better control.
dahenley
New member
my 240gal nano tank (in comparison) was easily maintained using a MRC CR-6 dual reactor. and i never even had to drop the PH within past 6.8.
i would think with a large tank, you could run a reactor (a large reactor with moderate output (not a hot reactor as people call them) and use dosing to be more precise.
people say dosing is nice but when your using that much 2 part and always mixing more. i would find that a pain.
just my opinion of curse
i was just thinking if a reactor could be used to give 2/3 the demand and use 2 part to get that exact number your looking for. then it might be easier the relying soley on just 1 thing (but by using 2 different it could make things too complicated......) sorry for the ramble....
Got any new pictures or updates for us? (i know things are slow in the initial build... but i am a picture whore and love me some equipment shots........ more so then special corals some times haha)
i would think with a large tank, you could run a reactor (a large reactor with moderate output (not a hot reactor as people call them) and use dosing to be more precise.
people say dosing is nice but when your using that much 2 part and always mixing more. i would find that a pain.
just my opinion of curse
i was just thinking if a reactor could be used to give 2/3 the demand and use 2 part to get that exact number your looking for. then it might be easier the relying soley on just 1 thing (but by using 2 different it could make things too complicated......) sorry for the ramble....
Got any new pictures or updates for us? (i know things are slow in the initial build... but i am a picture whore and love me some equipment shots........ more so then special corals some times haha)
Thanks for the confirmation, Elliott. Your system is one of the reasons I decided it would be okay to start out without a reactor. Glad to hear you are happy with your 2-part system at scale-- was planning to shoot you a PM to check in on your satisfaction with the setup. About how often have you needed to refill your 50g reservoirs?
Thanks for the input dahenley. I am open to adding a reactor later if there does turn out to be more hassle with the 2-part than I'm anticipating. For now, I'm hoping that the large reservoirs will let me go 2+ months between needing to mix more, and that the process of mixing will be relatively painless: a few minutes to fill with RO/DI, then just dump in the powder. By comparison, refilling a CO2 cannister is a 1-hour process to disconnect, get to the store and back, reconnect. And then there is the rest of reactor maintenance: empty, clean, and refill the media chambers, another pH meter calibration, recirc pump cleaning, etc.
lol, I'll post an update later today. But to cut to the chase, nothing exciting is happening while the fish room is inaccessible for the construction crew.
fishmanstan
New member
What are you thinking coral wise? SPS?
Update: more rock, controller games, light dissection
Update: more rock, controller games, light dissection
Another quiet week with the driveway scaffolding blocking access for crews to work on the fish room.
Spent the holiday weekend on the acid bath and LaCl phases of rock reincarnation and wiring up a test light to the Apex dimmer. Removed the ballasts on 6 of the LED pendants, 6 left to go. Picked out flooring material, ordered the easy access salt mixing tank, and laid out the proposed cabinetry and quarantine tank positions on the floor using painter's tape.
Acid bath for 900lbs of rock
4 hour acid bath followed by drying for a day. Rock is currently soaking in freshwater lanthanum chloride solution for a few days. No detectable phosphate or visible LaCl precipitate in the first 4 days of soaking. Will transfer to saltwater and start curing once stock tanks arrive.
Apex->Ecoxotic Dimming test
Hacking up an Apex VDM cable turned into a multi-hour process thanks to my less-than-stellar spatial skills:
Halfway through disassembling the LED cannons
Salt mixing tank
This little 15gal tank with a 12" top opening will sit next to the 300gal saltwater reservoir and be used for easy-access salt mixing as described by worm5406 in post #34
Laying out the cabinetry and quarantine tanks
Back wall will be floor to ceiling cabinetry. Center square is a 3'x3'x16" coral quarantine tank. Right side rectangle will be a bank of four 75gal fish QT tanks.
More cabinetry tape off
Back right corner will be lab counter and utility sink. Left side tape is for four 75gal fish QT (back half cut off by temporary wall and 90gal), coral QT in the center. Phase 2 of the fish room is behind the temporary garage door, an additional 22' x 8' space to house sump, skimmer, reservoir tanks, UV, reactors.
Update: more rock, controller games, light dissection
Another quiet week with the driveway scaffolding blocking access for crews to work on the fish room.
Spent the holiday weekend on the acid bath and LaCl phases of rock reincarnation and wiring up a test light to the Apex dimmer. Removed the ballasts on 6 of the LED pendants, 6 left to go. Picked out flooring material, ordered the easy access salt mixing tank, and laid out the proposed cabinetry and quarantine tank positions on the floor using painter's tape.
Acid bath for 900lbs of rock
4 hour acid bath followed by drying for a day. Rock is currently soaking in freshwater lanthanum chloride solution for a few days. No detectable phosphate or visible LaCl precipitate in the first 4 days of soaking. Will transfer to saltwater and start curing once stock tanks arrive.
Apex->Ecoxotic Dimming test
Hacking up an Apex VDM cable turned into a multi-hour process thanks to my less-than-stellar spatial skills:
Halfway through disassembling the LED cannons
Salt mixing tank
This little 15gal tank with a 12" top opening will sit next to the 300gal saltwater reservoir and be used for easy-access salt mixing as described by worm5406 in post #34
Laying out the cabinetry and quarantine tanks
Back wall will be floor to ceiling cabinetry. Center square is a 3'x3'x16" coral quarantine tank. Right side rectangle will be a bank of four 75gal fish QT tanks.
More cabinetry tape off
Back right corner will be lab counter and utility sink. Left side tape is for four 75gal fish QT (back half cut off by temporary wall and 90gal), coral QT in the center. Phase 2 of the fish room is behind the temporary garage door, an additional 22' x 8' space to house sump, skimmer, reservoir tanks, UV, reactors.
dahenley
New member
are you keeping the 90gal?
i only ask, because if your going to use a 75 for QT, why not just use the 90? its the same foot print with more height (which is fine for fish)
Nice tape job! (makes things easy to understand and visualize)
Just a question.
i have heard and seen people acid the rocks and bleach, but never heard of LaCL them.
do you have a link or info on using LaCl? (i know what it does but never seen or heard of soaking rock in it)
Thanks!!!!
(p.s., have a bite to eat a Pluckers for me! a college friend used to live a block off campus and too me there. it was great!!!)
i only ask, because if your going to use a 75 for QT, why not just use the 90? its the same foot print with more height (which is fine for fish)
Nice tape job! (makes things easy to understand and visualize)
Just a question.
i have heard and seen people acid the rocks and bleach, but never heard of LaCL them.
do you have a link or info on using LaCl? (i know what it does but never seen or heard of soaking rock in it)
Thanks!!!!
(p.s., have a bite to eat a Pluckers for me! a college friend used to live a block off campus and too me there. it was great!!!)
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