Barely made the club but time for my 180 upgrade (Warning: Progress may be slow)

[gioNVA]

Wow! Very nice Henry. Didn't know you were upgrading til now. Can't wait for the next update.

[nightOwl]

HaleMoana - Thanks...it's slowly coming together.

gioNVA - Francis I have been slowly creeping along . You can see it is going to big upgrade . You will have to stop by and see the progress. I know I will end up with a frag or two from your tank to stock this thing. You posted a pic around the middle of February on WAMAS I saw that I liked .

Next update will be in a few days...I am waiting on some cords that should have arrived by now. I pulled the sump from under the tank due to the leak and added another piece of acrylic. My once pretty sump (it was pretty to me) is starting to look tacky now . Leaky bulkheads are frustrating!

[gioNVA]

Henry, I still have that frag so it's yours when you're ready. Also, let me know if you need help with the build. I'd like to check it out one day.

[kayaking2]

I'm getting a custom 180G build this summer so this has been an interesting thread. Cam wait to see the completed tank.

[nightOwl]

Thanks Francis! Shoot me a PM and we can set up sometime to stop by...

[nightOwl]

kayaking2 - Welcome to the build. Hopefully you will find something that may help you during your build.

[nightOwl]

I will try to get some pictures later this weekend. I am so excited to announce that the bulkhead is not leaking anymore. Wooo hooo! I did however find two small places where water is leaking near two of my ball valves so this weekend will be dedicated to finding and stopping all leaks. I still have a long way to go but the sump not leaking is a big deal for me. I am one step closer to salt water!!!!!

[nightOwl]

All leaks have been fixed now and the system is running water, but I have found a few issues.

• The floor/and or original stand is not totally level
• The sump baffles may not be high enough for the amount of water passing through the sump
• The return lacks pressure/The drain lines are not draining fast as I expected

With that being said there is still some tweaking I need to do. Progress has been limited due to other obligations the last few days but I do have a few small updates.

General - Updates

The cords arrived last week that I used on the other end of the conduit run. I ordered 12 - 14 gauge cords. They came pre-stripped and are 6 feet long.

Cords


I started painting the control panel, frag tank stand, and the MD stand.

Conduit - Left Side of tank Completed

Since cords on equipment are only so long I installed a conduit run from the left side of the tank to the right side. The conduit runs between the space that is at the top of the tank and the frame. It is shown in the last picture. It terminates all single wires into a gray box on the right side of the tank. Socket ends come out the box for each 3 wire pair. I used 1" conduit and was able to fit 24 - 14 gauge wires in the conduit. From top to bottom 2 sockets each individually controlled (4). The second box contains a switchable socket where the bottom half is controlled by a switch and the top is always hot (1). The bottommost box contains one socket and one GFCI switch (3). The socket on the left is individually wired. This three box configuration gives me 8 sockets that can now be controlled by the switches on the EB8 or EB4.

Wiring Started


Wiring Completed

Conduit - Right Side of tank

This side will contain a box with two sockets each individually wired giving me a total of 4 more outlets. The outlet box will be located below the gray box where the wires terminate.

Gray Box - Closed


Gray Box - Open

Sump Updates - Sump Repaired

One thing I did wrong when I tried to reinforce the side of the sump was glue the inside piece of acrylic in place before drilling. This led to my holes not lining up and also the extra issues with scratching the acrylic. In the picture below you can see how much water-weld I used to try to align the holes. Even after using the water-weld to build up the difference the bulkhead still leaked. I ended up cutting another piece of 1/8" acrylic and placing it on the outside. This sandwich along with a new bulkhead made the leaking stop. I also installed a black piece of acrylic to block some of the light from running into the other parts of the sump. I still need to add the baffle teeth.

Sump after using water-weld


Black Acrylic


1/8" Acrylic outside patch and new bulkhead


In the picture above if you look closely you can see the flow through the sump is over the baffle. The baffle is 8" tall. I have to figure out a way to slow the flow down or raise the baffle.

[kayaking2]

I like the drawer in the stand. Might have to think about that for mine. I don't know how you keep all the wiring, plumbing, tubing straight. I think I'm going to have to pay someone to come in and set up my new tank.

[nightOwl]

Part two

General Updates - Tank

I think I may have too much flow going into the tank or the drains are not draining fast enough. I think the water should be skimming closer to the drain then it is. I have the pump dialed back already so I am not sure how much more I should dial it back. Is there a point where too much dialing back effects the pump?

As mentioned before the tank stand/floor is not level. There is about 1/4" of an inch difference over the span of 6 feet. As you can see this does not leave much room for error which is a bit concerning. I plan to buy a water sensor for the right side of the tank that will shut the pump off if water is sensed. I found out that the right side was lower than the left side accidentally. I was running a test and had forgot to open the drains while running the pump. When I heard water, but did not see it I quickly realized it was flowing from the right side of the tank .

Drain


Left Side


Right Side

[nightOwl]

Kayaking2 - I had planned to make the drawer slide out like the drawer on frag stand, but I had more things to finish first. I probably should have finished the the slide out drawer when I built the stand extension. Hindsight is always 20/20 . I will eventually figure out a way to get them installed. If you are handy you can do it yourself, but it just may take some time.

Originally Posted by kayaking2

I like the drawer in the stand. Might have to think about that for mine. I don't know how you keep all the wiring, plumbing, tubing straight. I think I'm going to have to pay someone to come in and set up my new tank.

[BowieReefer84]

Do you have a PVC cap on the top of the standpipe with a hole drilled in it like a standard durso? Looks like it is completely open? Wouldn't that allow too much air, and a lot of gargling. That would slow down the flow if there is a lot of air in the tube imo. Can't exactly tell from your pictures. Can you post up some better shots (close ups) of the overflow plumbing?

See post #10 http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1276584 . Looks like you do not have the cap/vent? Maybe I am blind.

All that electrical is very clean. Looks great.

[nightOwl]

BowieReefer84,
Thanks for the compliments on the electrical work.

I have one cap on each return drain. They were in previous pictures but I did not have them in place on shots I posted most recently as I was looking down the hole to see how much flow I was getting. You are not blind . They are drilled with a 1/4" hole. I have not put the rigid plastic in them yet, but they will have a the rigid plastic inserted. The post you referenced I have as a book mark. When I first started my plumbing I searched ReefCentral for hours . If you look real closely to the picture you will see the cap on the back of the tank. Below is a picture of the tank again with the caps and the cap itself. There is also a picture of my updated 1-1/2" - 2" parts painted black now.

Top down of cap


Back of tank - from post #99



Flange painted black

Originally Posted by BowieReefer84

Do you have a PVC cap on the top of the standpipe with a hole drilled in it like a standard durso? Looks like it is completely open? Wouldn't that allow too much air, and a lot of gargling. That would slow down the flow if there is a lot of air in the tube imo. Can't exactly tell from your pictures. Can you post up some better shots (close ups) of the overflow plumbing?

See post #10 http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1276584 . Looks like you do not have the cap/vent? Maybe I am blind.

All that electrical is very clean. Looks great.

[dahenley]

what size calcium reactor is that?
and who made it? (looks like a gray seas, but cant tell)

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by dahenley

what size calcium reactor is that?
and who made it? (looks like a gray seas, but cant tell)

dahenley - Welcome aboard. You are correct it is a GSA calcium reactor. They are now Avast Marine works. I am not sure of how big a tank it supports but it was custom build. I emailed Dan today so when he gets back to me I will let you know what he says its rated at.

Custom Calcium Reactor - Footprint - 14" x 12" x 19"

[nightOwl]

Next update will be sometime next week. It will be a painting update and saltwater update. Draining 180 gallons in five gallon buckets is time consuming!

dahenley - I heard back from Dan the other day and the CR can support a tank up to 400 gallons. Dan use to make a lot of items for people in our local club and his ratings for his equipment was were pretty spot on!

[nightOwl]

I am a little behind on updates but I have been in an out of town a little more than expected. Now on to the updates .

Main Display - Updates

I have removed the excess eggcrate and in some place removed it all together. The rock sits on the drilled PVC tubes/eggcrate. There are still some places that I need to hide the PVC from the front view by camouflaging it with the some of the spare rock I have. Overall so far I am happy with the way it is turning out.

The tank has water in it but has not been filled yet. I have had water running for over 25 hours and I still have a long way to go. That is not 25 hours straight by the way. After the tank is filled I still have to fill the frag tank, the sump, and the pipes.

I finally added the sand to the main display. I am using the CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand and really love this sand. I have used it in my last two tanks. It does not get blown around by power heads and in the pass my Jawfish have been able to burrow without any issues. I have roughly used about 6-1/2 bags of the sand. Each bag is 40lbs so that’s a lot of sand! The way the tank is situated it does not look too deep from the front of the tank.

Seaflor Special Grade 40lbs.


Before Sand


Five Bags In

Painting - Updates

Painting of the Stands
I decided to paint the stands since they would be exposed to salt water directly. I choose to use Kilz primer for the initial coat. After two coats of that I applied two coats of Behr Bright White under the main display and to the inside the frag tank stand. The outside of both were coated with two coats of Behr Kitchen and Bath Lamp Black. In the past I have used this combination with good results as far as being able to wipe down the surface when spills occur.

Primer and First Coat of Bright White


Main Display


Frag Stand

Wiring - Updates

Earlier when I first started I mentioned I would be adding two dedicated 20 amp circuits for the tank. I finally got around to wiring some of the outlets. I have drilled through the framing and added the outlets that will be used. I will have to add up my total number of watts to make sure I am not going to max out the two 20 amp circuits. I am trying to stay under the 80% rule people suggest. In hindsight I should have added three. I should be fine though as there is still room on the existing 15 amp circuit in the same area. I have put three above the tank for the MH. My lights may take up one circuit by themselves. The other circuit will be the tank and the other items.

Outlets for 20 amp Circuit


Two Outlets – The Lower Left is Switched


I also finished the wiring of the right side of the tank for the individual outlets. I have created four for the right side of the tank. Just like the left side each is individually wired so that I can control each outlet. This brings me up to 12 individual outlets for the tank.

Right Side of Tank Individual Outlets

[d3hree]

great progress, its looking very nice. I like the framing around the DT

[nightOwl]

d3hree - Thanks for the compliments and welcome to the build.

[nightOwl]

General- Update

After roughly 40 hours the main display is now filled with water. Painting is pretty much done besides some touch up that I need to finish. The outlets for the 20 amp circuit have been wired. I will have a total of 10 outlets to utilize.

Frag Tank - Update

I was not happy with the single drain in the frag tank so I added another 1" bulkhead to help more water pass through the system. That required some plumbing rework which I thought I was done with . I also put the frag tank on a piece of styrofoam. Since I plan to possibly use the Vortech's on that tank and they make quite a bit of noise. The styrofoam will hopefully dampen the vibrations. I will post pictures tonight.

ReeFlo Snapper - Update

I had posted a thread in the Lighting, Filtration, and Other Equipment forum asking about how much noise the pump should make as I heard they were pretty silent pumps. I plan to contact them today in regards to the noise I am hearing. I took the pump apart (removed impeller, the back plate of the impeller housing, and fan cover) but it still sounds like something is rubbing/grinding. I was in a LFS last weekend and I had to touch a similar pump to see if it was on because it was so silent. The only reason I knew it was on was because my hand quickly sent the signal to my brain...HOT! After that I am convinced my pump is too loud.

[SPotter]

What no pictures??????

[nightOwl]

SPotter,
Here a few updated pics .

I have a video but for some reason when I try to upload to my webshots account it has some type of hum in it. Really annoying.
Front Tank Shot


I attached my surge protector for the pump that sits in the trash can. You can see the surge protector on the left side of the stand. In the past I have filled the trashcan with 30 gallons of water and then used that water to refill my top off and make new salt water.
Frag Tank Stand


Three Outlet Groups -

[kayaking2]

Looking good.

[nightOwl]

Thanks kayaking2.

[nightOwl]

General- Update

I do not have too many big many updates to report. I added handles to my drawers that are under the tank stand. Did some more painting. Started returning extra plumbing parts that I did not need - I could open my own plumbing store.

I contacted Reeflo about the sound the pump was making and the news was not good . The sound I am hearing is the beginning of the bearings about to go. The good thing is they will replace bearings, clean the pump, and return it for a fee. This will extend the warranty on the pump. From speaking to them the customer service seems to be pretty good. I think I will just buy a new pump.

I plugged in the two heaters I have to check them and found out one is not working! The light comes on and it appears to be working but is not putting out any heat. Another thing that has to be purchased now .

Another thing I am working on is getting the Apex controller internet access. I have yet to configure this thing. I purchased a Linksys E2000 router and installed DD-WRT on it. I just need to configure it to be a repeater bridge . Then I do not have stand and tinker with the small screen of the Apex. I will be able to configure it from my computer upstairs. I already have the Ethernet cable in place I just hope it reaches all the way to the Apex.

One final small thing is I ADDED SALT !!! . So the tank is now running salt. I have added one full box of Reef Crystals. I will pick up more this weekend. I also plugged in the skimmer and the small bubbles are such a thing of beauty . I am still playing around with the flow in the tank but it seems to be pretty nice. I have not configured the Apex, but I am letting the pumps run on the variable speed port. The Tunze pumps move water and are silent! I am a fan. I will visit the grocery store for some shrimp and pantyhose this week. The pantyhose are to put the shrimp in as I hear they get pretty nasty once they start decomposing. The cycling process well be underway by next week. I also have a couple of bags of live sand I will be adding to help jump start the process.