abcha0s' 300G Ultimate Reef

[lobsterboy]

very interesting with the pegs, and the rocks look great.

cant wait to see water and live stock in this beast.

[abcha0s]

I've made some progress...

* Added two buckets of Instant Ocean Reef Crystals - This raised the SG to 1.024 - I had expected to need more salt, but I guess I'm not complaining.
* Tunze Wavebox is working - I am getting a 1.25" wave - Not sure if that is good? - The wavebox is noisy! - Everything seems to suggest that it will quiet down at around the 2 - 3 week mark. I sure hope so.
* Skimmer is online - This is the Tunze Master DOC 9440 - It's rated at over 1000G for a FOWLR - Closer to 400G for a heavily stocked SPS reef. First impressions are good, but it's a quirky skimmer. I will have to keep my eye on it.
* Plumbed in two vertex UF-20 reactors for bio-pellets. I have 2L of pellets soaking in RO/DI now and I will add them to the first reactor tomorrow. I will add another 2L to the second reactor in a couple of weeks. I'm using a 50/50 mix of Vertex and NPX.
* I've got the sand in transit now - should be here soon.

I'm generally feeling good about my progress. I'm at the point where little things take a really long time to get done. There's still lots to do...

[Delphinus]

I just took the time to re-read this from the start, it's a bit of mind blowing experience the way you have this thread set up.

Anyhow, just wanted to say:
1) Everything looks stellar, nice work so far!

2) Be careful about how you've drained your laundry tank. Since I gather you're not requiring permits (since it looks like this is getting installed in an already developed area of the house), this may be less of a concern for you than it was for me - but technically it is now against code to have a sink indirectly drain into a floor drain like that. I did for my tank room exactly as you've done and I failed the plumbing inspection. I had no drain line I could tie into on the wall so I had to jackhammer the concrete, cut the pipe for the floor drain and tie into that, and then pour new concrete down. And that was the easy part (!!) because the sink drain itself has to be vented so I had to run a line up into the ceiling and route that to the nearest drain vent up to the roof, and T into that. Well, maybe that wasn't harder than the jackhammering but it still took some creative head scratching trying to figure out how to vent that sink.

3) Lee Valley is awesome. I like the sink brackets instead of legs idea. I actually have to replace my sink as it developed a crack and now leaks onto the floor, so I might just go with the brackets for the replacement sink. I'm glad I didn't replace it out yet before catching up on your thread! So: thanks for the idea.

[Skimmerking]

Wow what a weird thread. whats with all the pop up pages to show pictures.. the attention to detail is amazing thou.

[kien]

That is a massive update, coming along nicely! However, no pictures?!? Booooooooooooooo!!!

[abcha0s]

@John - I took some tips from your aquascaping. I would have tended to put as much rock as I could fit in the tank. After seeing your tank, I used way less and really like the result.

@Tony - Thanks for the comments. I'm probably about a month behind your build. At the point where it's getting exciting.

I really had no idea about the laundy tank and building code. Ignorance is bliss. I guess at some point I will have to get around to fixing that. I don't think tearing up the concrete is an option, but the main drain may be reachable. Not a high priority, but something to do in the spring. I appreciate the tip.

@Skimmer_King - What pop up pages? - Just Kidding.

Two thoughts...

1) Most of the images in the thread are compressed for two reasons. Firstly to keep the page load times quick and secondly because the images are served from my Shaw connection and I don't want to overload it too much. I figure if an image is interesting, clicking for a high res version is reasonable.

2) If you were referring to the odd layout of the thread, well it seemed like a good idea at the time. In hind sight, it might have been more trouble than it was worth. I was really trying to set up the thread so that all of the content was in the first couple of pages. It can be frustrating trying to find things burried in some of the huge build threads here. In any event, it's too late to change it now.

Nice cabinets BTW - I plan on building pannels for my stand and using magnets to hold them in place.

@Kien - Thanks for the encouragement. I'll see what I can come up with for some new pics.

[abcha0s]

It would be great if the Apex had the granularity to control the wavebox directly, but it seems impossible to fine tune the wavebox using only the apex. The benifit is really to link the wavebox with the programmed feed cycles and night mode.

There's a trick to make this work.

I used the wavebox controller (6091) to set the wave and used the Apex controller to enable/disable the 6091 wave function.

The wiring diagram looks like this:



The Y adapter isn't strictly necessary but it makes things much easier because it serves as a gender changer for the cables. Both the wavebox controller (6091) and Apex have male ends whereas the Y adapter is female.

The second wavebox isn't necessary either. However, if two waveboxes are deployed in this configuration, they have to be on the same end of the tank running in synchronous mode.

The jumper in the 6091 controller needs to be set to slave mode to enable control from the Apex.

I haven't spent a lot of time experimenting with diffent voltages, but in the simpliest of terms:

10V from Apex = 6091 stops creating a wave. The pump shuts off.
0V from Apex = 6091 opperates in wave mode.

This seems counter intuitive, but it does make sense on one front. If the 6091 controller is disconnected from the Apex it opperates independantly and generates a wave. Therefore, it is not dependant on the Apex for opperation, rather it is dependant on the Apex to know when to shut off.

I plan on doing some more experimentation with this configuration, but for now I can confirm that it works.

This configuration is documented here:
• Tunze Wavebox (6215) and Powerheads.........Post 28

[wickedfrags]

Outstanding build thread, and a well thought out build.

Question - I did not notice the tank drilled for a closed-loop system. With tank this size how did you decide this was not for you?

[abcha0s]

Originally Posted by wickedfrags.com

Outstanding build thread, and a well thought out build.

Question - I did not notice the tank drilled for a closed-loop system. With tank this size how did you decide this was not for you?

Hey - Thanks for note. That's a good question!

I ran a closed loop on my current tank (90G). It was based on two seperate loops (left and right) using an Oceans Motion Super Squirt 4-way on each loop. Each loop was driven by a Poseidon PS4 pump. The flow patterns were very dynamic and the system was silent. Overall, it worked perfectly but last spring I pulled it out and replaced it with Tunze powerheads.

There was really only one thing that I liked about the closed loop when compared to powerheads. When viewing the tank through the front pannel, it was barely visible. Aesthetically a closed loop wins every time, but that seems to be where the benefits end.

I pulled the closed loop out of my 90G for a couple of reasons. The first being the heat generated by the two Poseidon pumps. The second being the electrical consumption and the third being the maintenance of the pumps.

Here's the math that I worked through.

Closed Loop - 160W Power per pump - 1,200Gph per pump - Add 2-3 degrees F of heat to tank - silent
Powerheads - Max 48W per Tunze 6205 - 1,320 to 5,811 USgal./h - Doesn't add any noticable heat - silent

The 6205s are way to powerful for my 90G. I run them alternating at 30% power - I really bought them for this tank (300G).

The point is, a closed loop costs more money than powerheads, is either louder or adds heat (trade off for water cooled pumps), and can't match the flow rates.

Granted there are some cool things that you can do with a closed loop which aren't possible with powerheads, but the reverse is also true. Consider the various modes that a Vortex pump can opperate in.

I also like the fact that I can move the powerheads as the tank matures and corals grow. I can ramp up and down between 30% and 100% power. Cleaning is as easy as a vinigar soak.

All of these things were weighing on me when I envisioned this tank. When Steve Weast said that he wouldn't build a closed loop into his next tank because of the complexities and maintenance requirements, the decision seemed altogether obvious.

In my opinion, simple is always better. Although I completely agree that they are ugly, there's nothing simpler than a powerhead.

[wickedfrags]

Well thought out.

For me both a closed loop system with powerheads make sense (then again I gave up on energy efficiency). I like the closed loop as it is essentially failsafe, requires little to no maintenance, is hidden, and can provide random "general" tank circulation. Powerheads are always required later on as the tank matures and as flow requirements increase. Nice to see powerheads getting smaller and moving more water.

Look forward to more updates.