Wabo's Reefer 170 Build

[Waboss]

Well, I haven't updated this thread in a few weeks, so I thought I'd drop in a few notes.

Since the last update, the following changes have been made:

-Installed new LED's in the cabinet so I can see everything better.
-Reworked the plumbing for the skimmer so I could minimize it's foot print a little more
-Replaced the BRS reactor with an Avast Spyglass reactor (so far, way cool)
-Removed dosing pumps and will be switching back to just a Kalk stirrer soon
-Pulled the Tunze Osmolator I've been using for about a year and replaced it with an Avast ATO w/ probe holder. This allowed me to also remove the Neptune probe holder and free up a little room in the sump......which was really needed.

Everything I've been doing has been to minimize the complexity of the system and try and find a better way of maintaining stability.

I'll post a FTS later, lights are off now and I don't have a new one. Here's a shot of the cabinet/sump now though. It's getting pretty full in there.

 

[Waboss]

Well, wrapped up some more little projects I wanted to get done in the cabinet, so here's the latest:

I'm pretty sure I'm not fitting in anything else in there!

 

[Waboss]

It's been a while, so I figured I'd post some updated pictures now that it seems I've finally gotten my stability issues under control.

 

[Waboss]

Well, after moving the tank and dealing with a bit of a nitrate swing in my tank, things seem to be back to mostly normal. So I figured I'd update this thread with a few pics. I do still need to figure out why my PH is dropping back down again, but I hope to figure that out this weekend.

 

[Waboss]

Here's a few more pics and updates.

Finally finished swapping out my DoS dosers for GHL dosers. So far, I'm very pleased with the GHL dosers. Don't get me wrong, the DoS's were good too, but the GHL's are smaller and more cost effective since I needed 7 dosing pumps (4 for KZ's coral nutrition, 2 for Alk/Cal, and 1 for NoPox).

Also added a cabinet next to the stand so I could move my controller and dosing stuff over and out of the stand for more space.

 

[bknapp]

Looking good.

I noticed on your skimmer pump to had a metal clasp holding the tubing, you might want to look into a plastic clasp instead if that thing starts to rust it could cause problems.

 

[Waboss]

Actually the metal clamp is on the return line where it connects to the bottom of the tank. I have more vinyl clamps, just haven't seen a need (yet) to change it out since it really never gets wet. But thanks for comments, I probably should change it out anyway just to be safe.

 

[Waboss]

I figured I'd post a quick update on the tank.

Here's a video I just shot with my cell phone today:


The only gear change I've made is that I swapped out the Lifereef SVS3-24 I had for a Deltc SC1351 to free up some space in the sump. I loved the Lifereef but it was a bit oversized for my tank and took up a lot of space that I wanted back. And, on that note, the Deltec is kicking but pretty well too. It seems to be pulling more out of my tank than the LR did (sump is cleaning up and nitrate are dropping), but the skimmate is no where near as dark and smelly as what the LR's was.

 

[bknapp]

I'm really liking the Deltec skimmers.

 

[Waboss]

Just mapped the tank's lighting with a Lux meter.

Here's the results:

 

[Waboss]

Added a RAIN2 Algae scrubber from Santa Monica Filtration today.

Here's the write up with pics and video that I did on it.

 

[JustinFromAL]

Hey, thanks for this thread. I actually stumbled into it looking for someone who used a WAV on the 170, but once I started realizing it I figured out we have had basically the same line of thinking. I started with a BC29 that heavily modified, then went to a JBJ 30g cube that I have now but I'm really miss a sump and a decent protien skimmer. So, my RSR 170 comes in next week and I'm going to use your experiences to SKIP a lot of the steps of yours that I would have definitely repeated.

Two questions, first still positive on the spyglass reactor? Are you mixing GFO/Carbon in it?

Second, had any thoughts about a refugium? I'm running Triton method at home and would really like to keep it simple and run it on this tank (at work) but the need for a ~4g+ refugium is a problem.

 

[Waboss]

Hey, thanks for this thread. I actually stumbled into it looking for someone who used a WAV on the 170, but once I started realizing it I figured out we have had basically the same line of thinking. I started with a BC29 that heavily modified, then went to a JBJ 30g cube that I have now but I'm really miss a sump and a decent protien skimmer. So, my RSR 170 comes in next week and I'm going to use your experiences to SKIP a lot of the steps of yours that I would have definitely repeated.

Two questions, first still positive on the spyglass reactor? Are you mixing GFO/Carbon in it?

Second, had any thoughts about a refugium? I'm running Triton method at home and would really like to keep it simple and run it on this tank (at work) but the need for a ~4g+ refugium is a problem.

I'm glad you found this thread useful.

As for your questions, I do like the spyglass reactor still, even though I no longer use it. It worked well in the stock sump that comes with the 170, but I got really tired of the the way the sump was laid out and just made a new one (just added baffles to a new aquarium and used that as the sump). In the new sump, I just didn't have room for it. I ran it with carbon only and with carbon/GFO when I had it. It took a little while to get used to, but it worked well.

The new sump I made has a space for a refugium, but I turned that into a place for my ATS, which I've been playing around with. I have a thread about the ATS I'm using HERE if you're interested. If you used a slightly smaller skimmer than I did, and tightened things up a little, I think you make a refugium compartment that would work for you. That's assuming you want to chuck the sump that comes with it and make one. If you want to use the one that comes with it, I think there's someone making a baffle for it that allows for a refugium section, but I can't remember who it is.

Or you could do what I almost did, and remove all the "innards" of the sump and re-baffle things the way you want them. The main reason I didn't do this is because my system was up and running already and I didn't have a "temp sump" to use while rebuilding it.

 

[JustinFromAL]

Thanks for the info! Yeah, now that I think about it i'll probably modify the sump and just use BRS reactors. I've got a RO 110SSS laying around that's reasonably compact. I'll probably just try to customize the sump for Triton with that in mind.