140 shallow reef build

s2nhle · Nov 6, 2015

Nice. What model is it?

JOKER · Nov 6, 2015

I have the 100dm5. I wanted the 4 but it was out of stock. Site showed in stock but it wasn't . They sent the 5 for same price. Test run came out good with vinegar and water so it should be ready to go.

s2nhle · Nov 9, 2015

Looking nice. Thanks.

JOKER · Nov 13, 2015

s2nhle said:
Looking nice. Thanks.

Thank you.

JOKER · Nov 13, 2015

Well been busy and haven't gotten much done. Picked up some wood and PVC yesterday. Making my bottom shelf, and adding pond liner in case of spills. Will have to set in sun or get the heat gun out to form it nicely, but I got started on it.

JOKER · Nov 15, 2015

Got the bottom shelf on stand. Also received my water containers, 60 gallon. One will be RODI the other salt. Gotta get cleaned up a little then get mixing station built and plumbing for water change ran.

JOKER · Nov 17, 2015

Well got containers setup today. Just waiting on bulkheads for them now, have float valves. I just have to figure out how I want to plumb them to the RODI. I was thinking of just having a T to split the water to each maybe having the float a little lower in the saltwater to keep from getting salt into the RODI water..

Defective_Weeble · Nov 17, 2015

JOKER said:
Well got containers setup today. Just waiting on bulkheads for them now, have float valves. I just have to figure out how I want to plumb them to the RODI. I was thinking of just having a T to split the water to each maybe having the float a little lower in the saltwater to keep from getting salt into the RODI water..

My two cents - I don't have my saltwater container plumbed to fill automatically. I chose this specifically because I want to do an auto water change setup in the near future. My reasoning, by way of example:

I start with 2 empty containers. A fills with RODI, B fills with RODI. I mix salt into B and it starts getting pumped to the display. As the level drops, the float switch allows new RODI to refill B but that drops the salinity of the existing saltwater in B.

Rather than risking a failure, I chose to fill B manually every week.

This might not be the right answer for you but it's what works for my mixing station.

JOKER · Nov 17, 2015

I will fill both these manually so as not to risk TDS creep. I may put a shut off valve in both lines so as not to cross contaminate. I just want to reduce the amount of time I have to work on tank so I can enjoy and get more done with the tank itself. I will run the auto water change and fill the ATO container through the apex. Thanks for your input!! How many gallons do you plan to change with your auto water change? I was think 1.5-2 gallons a day.

Defective_Weeble · Nov 17, 2015

JOKER said:
I will fill both these manually so as not to risk TDS creep. I may put a shut off valve in both lines so as not to cross contaminate. I just want to reduce the amount of time I have to work on tank so I can enjoy and get more done with the tank itself. I will run the auto water change and fill the ATO container through the apex. Thanks for your input!! How many gallons do you plan to change with your auto water change? I was think 1.5-2 gallons a day.

Yeah the time constraint thing was big for me too. Right now I'm doing manual mixing of 15 gallons per week. I gravity drain my RODI to my mixing container, add salt and let the external pump mix for me. Flip 2 valves and the same pump pushes water through a hose to the tank. I need to get a hose reel to keep it from getting so curled and kinked but I just haven't done it yet.

I'm going to do the AWC on the new tank, which is a 300 gallon. I'm looking at somewhere around 260 gallons of total volume, so probably 15 gallons per week to get close to 5% weekly without worrying about being super exact. That works out to 2.12 gallons per day, or 8025 mL for Apex settings.

JOKER · Nov 17, 2015

Sounds like a plan. I am now hauling buckets for tank drain and use a pump and hose to refill. In the future I will use the stenner pump for auto water change. Dual head 100 gpd so each head will do 50 gpd so it will do a little over 2 gallons an hour and it will remove and replace water at the same time. I am running everything through PVC pipe in the attic. Im hoping this works well for me. Im not sure of the exact amount I will be able to do at one time as that will depend on sump levels, but im sure I will still have to use trash cans for larger water changes for time required to do larger water changes with the pump. Do you also plan to do larger water changes monthly or do you think the daily auto will be sufficient?

Defective_Weeble · Nov 17, 2015

I'm hoping that the AWC will be sufficient. Really it's just a matter of replenishing elements and such as my nitrate and phosphate levels aren't ever a problem anyway.

JOKER · Nov 17, 2015

Im hoping I wont have any troubles with neither this go around. Last tank had some troubles but sand bed was between 2 and 3" and I couldn't clean it well. I plan a 1" sand bed this tank. I just don't like the bare bottom.

JOKER · Nov 23, 2015

Got the PVC ran in attic for the AWC, ATO fill, and apex cable ran. Now waiting on fittings and stuff for water containers.

JOKER · Dec 2, 2015

Well got the tubing in now waiting for apex cable to finish my run for the water system. Hoping to hear from reefsavvy soon so I will know when to expect tank. Thinking I may start curing the rock but not sure if I should just yet since I may have to rework some after get the tank. I may wait until tank arrives to cure it in tank, then start the cycle right after. Going slow at the moment waiting on things but it will get there.

StikHedRon · Dec 2, 2015

Looking good, I like that skimmer! I run one on my tank that has about 125gal net. Just an FYI, when putting it together, make sure that the part of the bubble plate that has the holes missing is over the exit tube, and this is what bugged me, it took about 2 weeks to stop producing a ton of micro bubbles.

JOKER · Dec 2, 2015

StikHedRon said:
Looking good, I like that skimmer! I run one on my tank that has about 125gal net. Just an FYI, when putting it together, make sure that the part of the bubble plate that has the holes missing is over the exit tube, and this is what bugged me, it took about 2 weeks to stop producing a ton of micro bubbles.

Thanks will do that. I ran this overnight in vinegar water and it did ok, but had a lot of bubbles at first. Im hoping it will settle in quickly when get started. I know it is super quiet!!!!

Flatlandsrefeer · Dec 2, 2015

JOKER said:
Thanks will do that. I ran this overnight in vinegar water and it did ok, but had a lot of bubbles at first. Im hoping it will settle in quickly when get started. I know it is super quiet!!!!

Loving following this!

JOKER · Dec 3, 2015

Flatlandsrefeer said:
Loving following this!

I'm hoping to speed up the build soon. Getting QT setups and filters now. APEX cable should arrive this week so can get the mixing station active and plumbed. Then I can test the pump at distance.

JOKER · Dec 19, 2015

Ok so got the plumbing for auto water change ran, tested pump and had to replace one of the tubes since it was off by 3 ounces in 10 minute run (now to do the 45 minute run to be sure that the rate is the same on both heads), still need to run some vinegar through the 1/2" tube to clean, apex cable is ran and tested outlets, and have filled both tanks.