abcha0s' 300G Ultimate Reef

[abcha0s]

Thanks Everyone!

I think my main problem with heat comes down to faulty heaters. In addition, I think there may be some efficiency to be found by switching to titanium heaters.

Two of the heaters are having issues with their thermostats (they are all brand new). I have replaced one for now and will replace all of them sometime soon.

I did take temperature readings throughout the tank to look for hot spots. I anticipated finding them, but in reality the water temperature is fairly constant throughout the system. When the heaters are on, the temperature in the return chamber of the sump can rise about .4F, but overall that seems inconsequential and it stabilizes within seconds of turning the heaters off.

I'll likely pick up 3x 500W titanium heaters the first chance I get.

I do find it somewhat ironic that I expected to save energy by going with LED lighting. It looks like the cost savings in PAR per watt, will be offset by the cost of heating the tank. It will probably still be a little cheaper, but not by much.

Anyways, it was an interesting topic to research. I'd never really given much thought to it in the past.

- Brad

[tang daddy]

Didn't have time to read your whole build thread but titanium heaters are definitely the way to go! After a malfunction with a stealth heater that caught on fire, and hearing stories of glass heaters breaking, for the same price titanium heaters are 10 times more reliable, also they need a controller to run them which is an extra fail safe. I currently run mine through the chiller so its either heat, nothing or cool as oppose to before when it would heat and cool at the same time. And IMO it is energy efficient as I hardly ever see it on now that my chiller runs it and the temp swings 1 degree when the lights are on from 78f to 79! Get it you won't be disappointed!

[abcha0s]

I've been busy trying to work through some of the bugs in my system. I've made some progress and had some setbacks.

One of my heaters exploded this morning. I hadn't intended to ever use this heater as I knew the risk of explosion was there, but I figured the risk was small and there's no livestock in my tank yet.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...231#post590231

Ironically, I had already ordered titanium heaters from BRS to replace the Marineland heaters that I am using now. I really should have done a little more research and just bought the right ones first.

My tank went through a massive bacteria bloom from the biopellets. I thought it would be a good idea to run these while the tank cycled, but in hind sight I think this was a mistake.

One interesting thing is that the initial bloom occurred with the tank at around 20C. After heating the tank to 26C, I went through another massive bacteria bloom. In total, I've gone through about 3 inches of the pellets.

Oh the mistakes. One day, I'll know these things.

I bought a 200G loaf tank for saltwater storage. I'm pretty happy with this as it will allow me to do big water changes if needed (like now). It will also be the primary storage for my continuous water change system. I should only have to top it up once a month and could let it run for up to 6 weeks if need be.

I have received my SpectraPure LiterMeter III pumps for the water change project. These were the best peristaltic pumps that I could afford and that are available to hobbyists.

I moved one of my two Tunze Ozmolators from my 90G to my new tank only to discover that the pump had seized. I can't say for sure when it failed but I remember testing it within the past couple of weeks. I've replaced the pump and set it up on the new tank, but it does show the need for redundancy.

I have an old 110W light over the tank now just so that I have something to look at. I should have some real lights within the next couple of weeks.

All of the parameters seem to be stable.

[lastlight]

What are the dimensions of your load tank? Where did you get it?

The place I've been looking at has a really ltd selection of loaf tanks so I'm leaning towards a cylinder.

[abcha0s]

Originally Posted by lastlight

What are the dimensions of your load tank? Where did you get it?

The place I've been looking at has a really ltd selection of loaf tanks so I'm leaning towards a cylinder.

Hi Brett

The dimensions are 58"Lx29"Wx37"H. It was made by paddleplastics - www.paddleplastics.com

I picked it up in Crossfield from Promould: 403-946-9920

I looked at a similar tank from Calgary Plastics (aka Richards Packaging). They didn't have any in stock and wanted over $100 to have it brought in. They quoted something like $550. I paid $400 from Promould.

The tank comes with a mainway and a bulkhead that was installed at the time of purchase. I had them put the mainway on, but put the bulkheads on myself. I installed the bulkheads on the bottom of the tank.

[abcha0s]

Some pictures of the tank.









Note: I hate dry rock; although it does have it's advantages (cost, no pests, easy to work with). The egg crate basket has Cheato in it. I'm hoping to get some micro life going on in the display (this is the first of many things that I will try).. I've also ordered some detritivores and established live sand online.

If anyone can spare a small piece of established live rock from a pest free tank, I would be very happy to pay top dollar for it. Please let me know...

The light is temporary. It's from an old tank and has been in storage for years. I'm glad I kept it.

[abcha0s]

Just a brief update for now:

I've had my continuous water change running for the past 3 weeks or so. I'm really happy with how stable it's been. If your interested, I documented it in post 20 of this thread. If you saw my original plans, you will be pleased to know that in the end I scraped the whole loop thing and just went with a basic setup. There are a few tricks to getting it balanced though.

I've ordered a Probe Expansion Module and a Salinity probe for my Apex to monitor salinity in the tank. I have no plans to use this for control - just monitoring and alerting. I haven't had good luck with these probes in the past, but I will try one more time. Hopefully it works out better this time.

I've added two MP60s to the tank. Wow these are awesome pumps. I haven't played with all of the different modes yet. I also have the Apex WXM on order.

I've been playing a lot with the flow in the tank recently. It's not easy to get it perfect. It seems that the powerheads either kick up sand or cause problems with surface skimming. I think I have everything figured out.

I still don't have any real lights on the tank. I'm told that I should have some really nice LEDs within the next week or two. Patience is a virtue.

Things have generally been stable. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to seed the dry rock in the tank. I do have some ideas but nothing confirmed yet.

Also if your interested - I posted some pictures of my 90G tank here:

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...threadid=73619

I don't really plan to do much more with this tank. I'll probably take a few more pictures before it gets shut down. I just thought it would be fun to share how it looks now.

- Brad