220 Gallon Volcanic Lava Rock Reef Tank Build
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- Thread starter Ratherbeflyen
- Start date
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ShepherdReefer
5000 Club Member
Wow, really nice.
danieyella
unfriendly local swamp witch
Great tank! Love the solution you came up with for the lighting, probably going to go a similar route with my upcoming tank transfer.
Ricksreeefs
Well-Known Member
Great tank! Love all the diy.
OP
OP
Ratherbeflyen
Well-Known Member
I decided to get rid of all but one of the AC to DC power bricks. So I bought a 24v DC switching power supply on amazon and went to work.
Changing the connections from the power bricks to one DC power supply was actually really easy. Most of the equipment already used a 2.1 x 5.5 mm jack. I reused a lot of the original wiring and just ran the wires to the bigger power supply. For the ones that had a different connection or didn't have one in the first place, I put one on. You can buy a 10 pack of 2.1x 5.5mm male and female connectors on amazon for $10.48. Or a least I could 3 years ago when I did this project. Then I reused the brick from the return pump to power both wavemakers. I reused it because it supplied 3x the wattage of the gyre wavemakers use, and it was free.
For the things that are anything less than 24v DC, like my backup battery changer and dosing pump etc, I used adjustable buck converters.
They do have exposed connections, but they are not a shock hazard because they are low voltage DC. However, they may short out if they contact something metal. So I put them in a cheap light switch type electrical box along with my relay for the automatic battery backup.
As an added bonus, I now have free space on my reefkeeper power strips.
Those items, a soldering gun, wire, and some shrink wrap was all it took to complete the project.
Changing the connections from the power bricks to one DC power supply was actually really easy. Most of the equipment already used a 2.1 x 5.5 mm jack. I reused a lot of the original wiring and just ran the wires to the bigger power supply. For the ones that had a different connection or didn't have one in the first place, I put one on. You can buy a 10 pack of 2.1x 5.5mm male and female connectors on amazon for $10.48. Or a least I could 3 years ago when I did this project. Then I reused the brick from the return pump to power both wavemakers. I reused it because it supplied 3x the wattage of the gyre wavemakers use, and it was free.
For the things that are anything less than 24v DC, like my backup battery changer and dosing pump etc, I used adjustable buck converters.
They do have exposed connections, but they are not a shock hazard because they are low voltage DC. However, they may short out if they contact something metal. So I put them in a cheap light switch type electrical box along with my relay for the automatic battery backup.
As an added bonus, I now have free space on my reefkeeper power strips.
Those items, a soldering gun, wire, and some shrink wrap was all it took to complete the project.
Looks great! I'm trying to go that way myself. One thing I was worried about was the wire gauge for the 2.1x5.5mm barrels? Some are rather small on Amazon. Just wondering if you took that into consideration. I was thinking of using the srew down barrel to wire adapters and 18 or 20 gauge wire instead.
OP
OP
Ratherbeflyen
Well-Known Member
I did consider the gauge of wires. The 18 awg wire was more than enough for most of the components, and I reused the stock 14 awg wire connectgors for the return pump. How to size wire for DC amps and volts is a longer conversation than the scope of my build thread.
Wow. This build is utterly insane. So much skill on one person. Can we see an update?
FyiteOn
New Member
Love the tank and the DIY...
Running that much volcanic rock as long as you have, do you noticed any adverse effects to your water stability or nutrients that you think can be attributed to the rock?
Running that much volcanic rock as long as you have, do you noticed any adverse effects to your water stability or nutrients that you think can be attributed to the rock?
Gumbies R Us
Another Fish in the Sea
Any updates on your tank?
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