Now that is what I call an update.

I have a few boys at home... so I know the pressure before during and after... You will do fine. Remember bottle to the baby and cubes to the tank.

I will say that my 19yo and 12yo really like to come down and just sit and watch the tank. Espc when the blues are on or at feeding time.

I like how the rock turned out. From going to you and the rock in the tank to seeing it wet and things living on it is a big change.

What is up with the QT?

Glad to see you back and major major congrats on graduation and bringing a new life into the world. Tank looks good. What is going on with your QT system?

So... updates this week?

Water Exchange Station:

One thing that I hated about my old system was the water exchange process. I only had a ATO system, and that only held 5 gallons. This meant that I was always making RO water and mixing salt water. I always ended up forgetting the water was on, and flood my garage floor. In designing this new setup I made it a priority to automate this process. I looked into the Genesis RENEW™ Automatic Water Change System, and love it. I thought this would be the best route, unfortunately the price point was beyond my reach. Therefor I need to find an alternative.

I decide to install a MasterFlex dual head dosing pump. I picked this up used from a local reefer that was getting out. The setup is simple enough, two hoses that pump water at the same rate. The first hose would pull "dirty" water from the tank and expel it in a runoff. The second would pump "clean" water from a SW barrel to the tank. Because the MasterFlex drives both heads at the same time, the ratio of dirty water to clean water is the same. I have the it connected to a timer which turns on in the early morning. It replaces about 3 gallons a day.

Next I need to find barrels to suit my needs. My requirements were that they held 40+ gallons and fit into a corner of my garage, not preventing my car from getting in. Also the needed to be easy to open and close, so I could add salt without trouble. I found a perfect match from a local guy selling food grade barrels. They had easy to open lids, and held 55g. I built a rack so they could stack. The Top barrel is for RO and the bottom SW. The RO container is connected to the RO/DI filter and auto fills based on a float switch. I installed a ball valve on the bottom of the RO container, allowing me to fill the SW barrel when mixing was required. I also put in a series of connection at the side of the barrel. One is a hose bib to allow for large amount of RO water to be filled into containers. The second is a small ball valve to allow me to fill small container, such as my lab wash bottles. The last is a connection to my ATO.

The bottom barrel was placed on a drum cart that I order from Amazon. The cart was a little costly, but well worth it. Once full the drum weighs quite a bit, and impossible to move. With the cart, it's as easy pushing a wagon. I hooked up a pump to the SW barrel as well. This aids in the mixing of the SW, and also pumps SW to various contains if needed. This is possible because of the design in plumbing. (Note the ball valve near the top of the drum).

I am in love with this setup! Automating this process has made this hobby so much more enjoyable, and my tank LOVES it as well. There has been zero swing in salinity or nitrate. I would higgling recommend anyone setting up something similar.

Very nice. I wont have that luxary. I will have 2x 200g containers, can you imagine those moving. LOL

What is the 1/4" line with 1/4 turn off used for on top tank?

I can, only with a fork lift. The 1/4 line runs to my ATO. It runs to a solenoid which is turn open by a float switch. I questioned setting it up this way because if it gets stuck open, then I get 55g of RO water in my tank. As you can see I took the risk. In the future I may setup a seperate reservoir, limiting the amount of water.

Elaborate setup. Automation is a reefers best friend.

Rather than run the solenoid off a float switch which will -guaranteed- fail on you eventually, you would do better to put the solenoid on a timer. That way you can control how long the solenoid can stay open, limiting the possibility of dumping the whole ATO supply into your system at once.

Dave.M

Great point! I forgot to mention that point. I have my connected to my reefer keeper and it only come on for a hour in the evening. There is still a risk of the valve getting stuck open, but it is limited. The valve could get stuck open and remain open regardless of the power being provided to the solenoid. Hopefully this won't happen to me, but I have taken this step to limit trouble.

Lighting:


I wanted to provide a good environment for my corals and allow maximum growth, but on a budget. The lighting choice that has a long record in this hobby, and meets those needs is T5s. I found someone local selling the components of a retro fit T5 and we made a deal. I purchases two icecap 660 ballast and 16 T5 ends. This would prove me with 4 bulb for my blues and 4 bulb for my whites.

The next step was to build some sort of hood to contain all these lights. The requirements of this hood was simple. Contain all the lights, keep the weight off the tank, and evacuate the produced heat. To keep the weight off the tank, I placed 2x2 braces around the top of the tank, screwed into the studs of the wall. The hood was to rest on the braces just above the tank.

In order to control the heat produced, several CPU fans were to be place in the hood. Two fans were placed in the top to pull hot air off the lights. Four fans (two on each side) were place on the sides of the hood. These fans pulled in cool wire and blew it across the bulbs. The fans are controlled by a temperature probe and turn on when the heat builds up. They are super quite and very effective.

Let me here your thoughts. Any suggestion on improvements?

Nice!!! I like the setup.

Which paint did you use? High heat? Or enamel to reflect the light?

Are the fans on thermostats?

What are you going to control those with?

How many zones are setup?

OK.. sorry for all the questions.

Thanks. I used Kilz white paint. My thoughts here were to add a vapor barrier. If that accomplished that, I don't know. The fans are on thermostats and they are from a online company called Coolerguys. The product is called:

COOLERGUYS POWER SUPPLY (2A) & PROGRAMMABLE THERMAL CONTROL KIT

The lights have only two zone, one for my "whites" and one for the "blues".

Ahh OK on all of that.

Very nice. I have two more weeks of QT on a bunch of frags I got, then my Radions will be over my 120. I am debating on what color to make the ceiling inside that section, there will be a canopy over it to help redirect it too.

So... What does it look like?

How does it work?

What would you change on it?

So how are the lights doing?

Any updates??

It's so hard to believe that it has been almost a year since my last post. I have been lurking, but since the birth of my son I have had very time to post.

With that all said, I am no going to pretend that I never left by reviving an old tread. I was looking at my original sketch up of the system and don't think it turned out to bad. I had a few changes but all and all the design was solid. The false backing (sliding doors hiding the pumping) could use some redesign. The groves that I router out simply isn't enough to hold the doors in place. I still haven't decided on a canopy. I have designed about four, some with stained glass, and other simply solid wood. I just need to commit.

Display

The “Fish-room" slash glorified garage turned out pretty solid as-well. The sump needs an update, because I didn't account for enough "back-flow". I have purchased the 55 gallon tank, but the glass shop I bought cheap glass from closed. The QT system is on its third redesign (I am hopeful for this one). I have blown through 4 Reeflo Triton pumps (they have made good on all). Recently I have spent some time organizing my wires and flexable tubing in an effort to improve the look. Still I have a bit more to do. I also have decided to close in the bottom of the work bench area to make thing look more stream line.

"Fish-room"

Since the move to the larger tank, my coral are much happier. I have gotten much more growth in one year then I ever did in the smaller 54 gallon. I believe this is a result and better husbandry. This system is mostly “automated” making it much easier and more enjoyable for all. To follow are some progression shots.



Dec 2012

Dec 2014

Sept 2012

Dec 2014

Sep 2012

Dec 2014

May 2013

Dec 2014

And few more coral shots

Oct 2013

Dec 2014

Some newer additions:

Looking for some advice:

I added a 48" strip of Reefbrite XHO to my lighting setup. I love the color pop that it has added. It is subtle with the T5s on, but I can certainly see a difference. When the "whites" and "blues" are both on I cant see much difference, however when the "whites" turn off....POP! Also if I run the Reefbrites alone the color are amazing. Ideally I would like to cut back the run time on my T5 actinics, but I am unsure of the consequences. I would like to hear any improvement that could be made to my light schedule. It is currently as follows:

Lights______On_________Off

Reefbrite: _____9am ________ 10pm

T5 Blues:_____10am ______ 10pm

T5 Whites:____12am _______ 2pm

hows the dosing pump auto water change been working? do you doe by calcium reactor or dosing cal & alk & mag or just allow the daily water changes to meet demands for corals? thanks

Honestly, I would never go back to manual water changes. That $275 pump has improved my enjoyment of this hobby 100 time over. I would all way get how frustrated with the making, checking, and bucketing of water. I don't worry about that anymore. In fact, from time to time I need to remind my self that the system needs my attention. For example, I have let my RO/DI filter run to long and caused 55 gallons of water to be made with a 7 TDS reading. I disposed of the water. Also the stability of my tank parameters has stockily improved. No more swings in salinity, temp, or nitrates.

To quote Randy Holmes-Farley on the matter,

These changes are slightly less efficient than single batch water changes of the same total volume. A continuous water change of 30% exactly matches one batch 26% water change. As with very small batch water changes, these have the advantage of neither stressing the organisms (assuming the change is done reasonably slowly), nor altering the water level in the aquarium. The ease of doing such changes automatically also makes it far more likely that busy or lazy aquarists will actually do them.

Regarding dosing my tank, I have relied on my quality saltwater to provided me diminished nutrients ---- until now. My coral population has grown to the point where I need to dose. I have purchased a three head pump, and have picked out the containers. I am waiting until the holiday season is over to order the containers (the builders seemed swamped and I was in no rush). Check out these holding tanks. A lot of thought has gone into the construction and the people running the place are great to deal with.

Perhaps the changes are to subtle to see in the photographs, but I assure you that there is a change. John at FAOIS (LFS in Tampa area) helped me pick out the color for my 8 light system, and I have been very happy with it. I have been getting great growth from my T5s and my current schedule. So way change it up? Well, I felt some LED envy. I see the fluorescent colors in other tanks and in picture here, and most the time there under LEDs. That said, I am not convinced that total LED conversion is best. The obvious option was to supplement the T5s. After a great deal of research, I decided on these Reefbrite XHO. I do not regret it at all, and plan to add one more strip.

I can see a deference with the T5s running, but the true "pop" comes when the T5s go out. I am truly impressed at the power of this 48" strip of LEDs, and would recommend them to anyone looking to supplement there lighting.

Are the whites really on from noon to 2PM? I am assuming the 12am is really noon (12PM) not mignight (12AM). Oh for a 24 hr. clock! :lol2:

Hahaha, that's why I can never get my alarms right:lol:.

Regarding the whites, yes they are only on from 12pm-2pm. I reduced this from a longer photoperiod becuase I noticed some beaching of my corals. I probably should increase this in 30min increments and see if I have positive results.