Triple-S Fish Ranch - 1700gal 164†x 48†x 56†SPS peninsula build
- Thread starter pmrogers
- Start date
SchnitzelReef
Active member
*****en setup...and man I love your garage!!!
Here's a link to Paul's presentation "Building a 30 Year System" at C4 in Austin in May. Paul's presentation starts at the 5 minute mark (the first few minutes are discussing one of the local club's projects).
http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/31527-capital-city-coral-corral-c4-may-2014-paul-rogers/
http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/31527-capital-city-coral-corral-c4-may-2014-paul-rogers/
HumphreyBear
New member
Fantastic! Our thanks to Paul and the ARC...
Robb in Austin
New member
Does anyone else see an update post but not when you open the thread?
Robb in Austin
New member
Thanks, but I wasn't talking about Paul. In my cp it was showing an update from 12something am but when I clicked on the last page button it just showed Tim's post.
Seems to be ok now.
Back to the thread.
Seems to be ok now.
Back to the thread.
gofor100
New member
Started with this thread at its beginning stages, but life caught up to me (had my first child), and I'm back reading RC. This was one of the first threads I looked up since I couldn't wait to see the progress.
Glad things are moving along! Can't wait to see the next update.
-Chad
Glad things are moving along! Can't wait to see the next update.
-Chad
Yeah, I was having the same problem.
Tagging from Australia.
Just stumbled in blindly and then hung on for the ride.
Love the patience you are displaying in this. All too rare in this hobby. No doubt you'd wish to go faster, but I note that you are taking the time on each aspect of the build and slowing down 'for the corners' as it were.
And on the far side of the tank, will you put something like a daybed so you can recline beside the tank.
Dave
Just stumbled in blindly and then hung on for the ride.
Love the patience you are displaying in this. All too rare in this hobby. No doubt you'd wish to go faster, but I note that you are taking the time on each aspect of the build and slowing down 'for the corners' as it were.
And on the far side of the tank, will you put something like a daybed so you can recline beside the tank.
Dave
July Update: Coral QT and dosing pumps galore
July Update: Coral QT and dosing pumps galore
Busy first half of the summer with work travel and family activities not leaving a lot of time for aquarium work. Since the last update:
Dosing Batallion
Disassembling and rebuilding 18 Liter Meters took a while. 3 dosing pumps per QT: 2 for water changes and 1 for top off duty. 2 more Liter Meters for Alk and Calcium dosing to the main system sump. Each pump had to be disassembled and rebuilt because they come from the manufacturer with the dosing motor rotated 90 degrees from the orientation I wanted for wall mounting. Also had to reposition the neoprene tubing on each pump to provide more slack on the output side; otherwise the output tube angle would prevent mounting.
Debugging Coral QT wiring
This scene is representative of a large amount of my time spent on the coral quarantine tank-- sorting out the bugs in the wiring. As of my last update, I had everything wired up and neatly trimmed out just in time to take photos for the post. From those pics one might have thought ('one' including me) that I was almost done.
Alas, no. First, the aquacontroller main unit wouldn't recognize the EB4 power strip. Resetting the EB4 didn't work, neither did reseating all the USB cables or rebooting the aquacontroller. Finally resolved it by clearing my web browser cache and restarting.
Next up, 1 of the 4 lights wouldn't fire at all, and the dimmer control didn't work for 2 of the lights. This turned out to be a combination of a dead driver and a bit of bad wiring (you do actually need to keep '+' and '-' straight on the light dimmer circuit, btw).
First Water Test
First water test. Not my finest hour for quality of plumbing work. 4 leaks: at the return pump bulkhead where I installed the washer on the wrong side, at the water change drain feed bulkhead, around the threads of the return pump output that I forgot to tape, and at the union ball valve which was missing one of its o-ring seals. Fortunately, all easy fixes.
Light Rack for coral QT
Build light rack using EZTube aluminum tubing and snap-together fittings. EZTube is a clever system, and provides plenty of strength for a light rack application. However, when you use multiple fittings in a row, it does not go together as consistent and straight as I'd hoped. I am not satisfied with how uneven and amateur looking the rack came out. Will fix his by putting a 4" x 1/4" wooden face frame around the rack to hide the wobbly lines of the aluminum sections.
July Update: Coral QT and dosing pumps galore
Busy first half of the summer with work travel and family activities not leaving a lot of time for aquarium work. Since the last update:
- Installed 18 Liter Meter dosing pumps
- Finished coral QT wiring
- Plumbed coral QT
- Built and hung light rack for coral QT
Dosing Batallion
Disassembling and rebuilding 18 Liter Meters took a while. 3 dosing pumps per QT: 2 for water changes and 1 for top off duty. 2 more Liter Meters for Alk and Calcium dosing to the main system sump. Each pump had to be disassembled and rebuilt because they come from the manufacturer with the dosing motor rotated 90 degrees from the orientation I wanted for wall mounting. Also had to reposition the neoprene tubing on each pump to provide more slack on the output side; otherwise the output tube angle would prevent mounting.
Debugging Coral QT wiring
This scene is representative of a large amount of my time spent on the coral quarantine tank-- sorting out the bugs in the wiring. As of my last update, I had everything wired up and neatly trimmed out just in time to take photos for the post. From those pics one might have thought ('one' including me) that I was almost done.
Alas, no. First, the aquacontroller main unit wouldn't recognize the EB4 power strip. Resetting the EB4 didn't work, neither did reseating all the USB cables or rebooting the aquacontroller. Finally resolved it by clearing my web browser cache and restarting.
Next up, 1 of the 4 lights wouldn't fire at all, and the dimmer control didn't work for 2 of the lights. This turned out to be a combination of a dead driver and a bit of bad wiring (you do actually need to keep '+' and '-' straight on the light dimmer circuit, btw).
First Water Test
First water test. Not my finest hour for quality of plumbing work. 4 leaks: at the return pump bulkhead where I installed the washer on the wrong side, at the water change drain feed bulkhead, around the threads of the return pump output that I forgot to tape, and at the union ball valve which was missing one of its o-ring seals. Fortunately, all easy fixes.
Light Rack for coral QT
Build light rack using EZTube aluminum tubing and snap-together fittings. EZTube is a clever system, and provides plenty of strength for a light rack application. However, when you use multiple fittings in a row, it does not go together as consistent and straight as I'd hoped. I am not satisfied with how uneven and amateur looking the rack came out. Will fix his by putting a 4" x 1/4" wooden face frame around the rack to hide the wobbly lines of the aluminum sections.
Yes, I'm a huge Mercedes fan as well! Had a Renntech'd S600 before the SL65. The tuned 600 was an incongruous hoot-- you could feel every pound of its mass yet it had the acceleration of a rocket and handling limits more like a mid-size sedan. I can hardly imagine adding power to a 65!
love the build, looking forward to seeing water soon
car sitting there is fitting, goes with the build(I have a CLS63)
Thanks Elliott, it is my dream GT. Though I have to say your CLS63 has the prettiest sheet metal in the entire Mercedes lineup! You used the word "soon" in reference to this tank-- did you forget which thread you were reading?
. Just one, though I am testing the published 200' USB length limit. Will add a separate Apex for the QT system if I see any flakiness.
Not at all-- at least the coral QT actually has water, and may even have livestock before 2017. :hmm3:
Tagging from Australia.
Just stumbled in blindly and then hung on for the ride.
Love the patience you are displaying in this. All too rare in this hobby. No doubt you'd wish to go faster, but I note that you are taking the time on each aspect of the build and slowing down 'for the corners' as it were.
And on the far side of the tank, will you put something like a daybed so you can recline beside the tank.
Dave
Thank you, Dave! It has been a challenge to stick to the slow and steady plan at times but I just have to remind myself that almost every single corner I cut during setup of the 750gal ended up requiring a crisis or multiple years before I addressed it. Once I get caught up in the day to day maintenance of a big system I find it almost impossible to make time for significant new building or reworking of parts of the system.
No room for a daybed or sofa, unfortunately, but there is a chair in the corner
, and I may squeeze in a narrow bench later.My pleasure, rppvt, glad you enjoyed it!
Harlequin mania, LD3ants86, venomcc, neogenix, vair, wild1, bleox312, Cougarman, SchnitzelReef, Aleks677, jmsilhy, Aleks677, thanks for joining the thread!
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