fredknack Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Looking good. Looks like you have more than cabinets for organization. The whole setup seems pretty tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 man, I am getting anxious to see the final results.(scary) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salty419 Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Looks like one hell of a setup it looks like it will be a verey nice reef:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxx155 Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Looking good. Looks like you have more than cabinets for organization. The whole setup seems pretty tight. Thanks. Learned a lot from the previous setup, finally getting it done the way I want it and the way it should be done, just wish I had a little more room! man, I am getting anxious to see the final results. You and me both, I hate cycling, but I want this done right so its time to tweak on a few things (or my wife says organize, LOL) Looks like one hell of a setup it looks like it will be a verey nice reef Thanks. Hopefully it will turn out real nice. I want to enjoy my little slice of the ocean. Update: Tank temperature is now up to 69.4 degrees, LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drunkreefer Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 wow is all I have to day.... wish I wasnt renting!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxx155 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 Update: Finally got the lights up The lights have definitely help get the cycle moving along. I am starting to get a brown algae bloom, once it gets heavy enough I will shut off the lights for a week and add some cleaner crew to eat it all up. Got my two carbon reactors running and added a new phosban reactor. All are located in the refugium. The chiller is finally hooked up outside. I bought a Dog House from petsmart and it fit perfectly. I drilled some exhaust holes so that it plenty of airflow without letting rain in. I am not sure yet when I will start adding fish and corals. One thing thats holding me back is that I just booked my 1st year anniversary for the end of march (a month early) at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. The reason for the earliness is that the resort has a special during that week and it saves me $1,000 (which my wife surely agrees with). Anyway, I think it would be easier to add fish and corals when I get back and can devote 100% attention (at least till November when I have a family thanksgiving in Hawaii). 2009 is surely becoming a huge year for me - Two fabulous vacations, going to try and start to have children, my family business is getting a brand new building and booming, my sister-in-law is going to get married, and lastly I have the chance to do my tank exactly the way I want it! I am truly blessed. I hope everyone else has a great 2009 also! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxx155 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 Was reading some threads recently about automated water change systems and it really sounds like a great idea if done correctly. Here is what I was thinking: I don't have any more room in my fish-room, so I was going to add a plastic shed to the side of my house then put a 250 gallon poly water storage tank in the shed full of RODI water and the proper salt hook up a Litermeter III to draw 8 gallons out of my sump tank into a drain and 8 gallons from the 250 gallon water storage tank back into the sump over a 24 hour period. So, in a 30 day month it would change 240 gallons, which is about 25% of my system over the month. I think this will make my life much easier, and will make the system much more stable. The only thing I possibly have to worry about is making sure the water doesn't freeze outside in the shed. But, its already a plastic insulated shed and I can always add more insulation. I think this will also make the wife happy because I will still have room in the shed for tools and our lawn mower, allowing me to turn the larger shed into a nice art studio for her. LOL, isn't it funny that we always find a positive way to spin things so that our significant others go along with the idea. Anyway, what does everyone think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxx155 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 In case someone asks - I will have a circulation pump in the storage tank to keep the salt dissolved, but will not have a heater in there because it will probably become overworked. Even with weather getting down below freezing (during winter) and possibly over 100 (during summer), I am sure the heaters and chiller should be able to easily compensate for the small amount of water going in each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benny503 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Your progress is looking good, please keep us update... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Madmike is doing that same system. It's very cool and I think he's happy with it. You might be able to do away with a calcium reactor and just drip kalk, too. Couldn't you just go with one litermeter and an overflow drain? The overflow drain would only drain as much as the litermeter pumps in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxx155 Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 Madmike is doing that same system. It's very cool and I think he's happy with it. You might be able to do away with a calcium reactor and just drip kalk, too. Couldn't you just go with one litermeter and an overflow drain? The overflow drain would only drain as much as the litermeter pumps in... I haven't seen Madmike's system, I will have to check it out. I like my Calcium Reactor and it works well, so I will probably keep it. The problem with an overflow system is that as water evaporates it leaves the salt in the system elevating the salinity, so you need to replace the evaporation with fresh water. If the litermeter put more saltwater in than was taken out than it would inevitebly raise the salinity. I already have an automatic top-off system that works great and will stick with that. I think have the Litermeter control the exact amount going out as coming in should keep the system very stable. I have purchased a 300 Gallon Storage Tank, this should give me 37 days of water change at 8 gallons a day, before I have to refill the storage tank with RODI water and more salt. I Recently purchased enough salt to do 1,500 gallons, so it should last me about 5-6 months. My goal with this tank this time is to make it as automated and stable as possible. Obviously I will be doing work on the tank regularly, but I want to make it so that if I go on vacation for a week I should feel ok to only have a friend feed the fish once or twice, but the tank should run itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Your welcome to come and see my system if your ever up in my area. I wouldn't heat the water either. My 160g storage tank is in my garage and is circulated at all times with a reeflo dart. Your only going to be adding about 200ml to the tank every 9 minutes or so with the LMIII...I cant see even the coldest 200mls of water having ANY effect on aprox 900 gallons, lol. You wont regret the litermeters, one of the best investments I have made (and I have 6 of them now,lol!) mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Ahhh, evaporation! Makes perfect sense now, thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxx155 Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 Your welcome to come and see my system if your ever up in my area. I wouldn't heat the water either. My 160g storage tank is in my garage and is circulated at all times with a reeflo dart. Your only going to be adding about 200ml to the tank every 9 minutes or so with the LMIII...I cant see even the coldest 200mls of water having ANY effect on aprox 900 gallons, lol. You wont regret the litermeters, one of the best investments I have made (and I have 6 of them now,lol!) mike Do you have a tank thread anywhere? I was just thinking about using a pond pump to circulate the water (have the power cord come out the top). I have only heard great things about the Litermeter so I am excited. Hopefully one day I can make it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 No, I haven't had time to make a thread....Hey I think Andy owes me a favor for letting him use my par meter. Maybe he should come and take pics of my setup so they look all professional and stuff,lol. I can't for the life of me get any good pics, white balance is all off. I need to start shooting raw and shell out for photoshop and start editing that way, I think thats what alot of the good photogs do. A pond pump should work just fine to circulate the water. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Happy to, Mike -- you don't even have to use up the Par-meter favor to do it Oh, and I shoot JPEGs and don't use Photoshop There are a few tricks and one important technique IME LMK when you want to get together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Thanks Andy, I'll let you know when my tank is looking "particularly" good. I am switching out to Radiums today so I need to let them burn in for a week or two, but after that, I would really appreciate it. I have tried to shoot with a nikon D70, but had horrible results and couldn't get the white balance right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Cool beans, I shoot with a D70 too. Great cam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 maybe I'll have to borrow it again and have you teach me how to use it,lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxx155 Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 Wish I could rationalize shelling out a $1,000 for a camera that I would really only use to shoot my tank (my travel camera is wallet size, waterproof, and shock proof, so I am not replacing it). Hopefully when I eventually have a group get-together at my place someone can bring a nice camera for some good pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxx155 Posted March 6, 2009 Author Share Posted March 6, 2009 I just purchased a 12" Green Carpet Anenome (with host saddle clownfish thats been with it for almost 2 years) and a 5" Bubble Anenome with a mated pair of Oscellaris. I am getting a shipment of corals and fish in about April 9th and will take pics as soon as I can. I might post pics of some of my progress next week. Tank parameters are all right and the brown algae bloom is almost all gone. The cleaner crew kicked butt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilmca Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Wow amazing setup and it is supprising the similarities in setups. I'm really happy with the Reeflo 250, did you use the Reeflo 250 before you got the larger collection cup with extended neck? Just wondering how much of a difference did it make? I was considering upgrading but i haven't had any unwanted algae growth. Any algae I do get the Tangs take care of it. Got to love Tangs. I would like more tangs but my Clown Tang won't put up with any new additions. I can't believe you also moved that tank. I think if i ever move i'm just leaving the tank with the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxx155 Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 did you use the Reeflo 250 before you got the larger collection cup with extended neck? I didn't. But, from all my research I found that larger necks and cups definitely help because you want to increase the time the bubbles have to work. The longer it takes for the bubbles to get from the bottom to the top (through water) the more crap they collect. I was considering upgrading but i haven't had any unwanted algae growth. Any algae I do get the Tangs take care of it. If you don't have a problem then its probably not worth it. Tangs are good for handling algae. I can't believe you also moved that tank. I think if i ever move i'm just leaving the tank with the house. LOL, it wasn't easy thats for sure. Thankfully I was able to sell all my livestock before the move and that made things much easier. The only downside is that I had a lot of great fish and corals and now I have to start over, but I guess that leaves room for many other great fish and corals. More pics to come soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Just courious did you get the auto water change set up. I followed the advise from MadMike and found a litermeter III on ebay with the top off switch and a second pump all for about half of new price. I found a thread on WWM about adding a drain to my fuge then pumping in the fresh salt water to the tank which would cause the water to overflow out the drain in the sump. they suggested having the drain just slightly above the top off high point. this sounded good and I almost drilled, but after some thought I realized if the power went out and the tank drained down the overflow would drain out of the sump and when the power came back on the tank would be short about 5 gals or so. I went with the litermeter pumping in and out 2 gal a day, i'm just about through my first 40 gal barrel so far so good. these pumps work very well just set it and forget it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Makes life really easy doesn't it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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