!!!7000+ POUNDS OF GLASS!! YOU GUYS UP FOR A BUILD OR WHAT??

[Battlecorals]

Looks awesome Adam. Makes me wonder why geo doesn't offer it like that factory?

With you on that. I mean I LOVE the GEO tremendously, the mod made me love it even more

 

[Fudsey]

Topnotch work as always Adam

 

[newbreefer316]

Awesome thread! I tried squinting real hard at some of the pictures but I've got a couple questions I couldn't quite figure out.

1. Where do you keep all the rock in the system?
2. Do you grow everything directly on the bottom of the tanks and just place them under the corresponding lighting to match up with their par needs? I saw you mentioned egg crate when you were asked about going through the new tank phase but couldn't tell if you just use it for your frag racks or if you create levels in the tanks to get different par values.

 

[Battlecorals]

Awesome thread! I tried squinting real hard at some of the pictures but I've got a couple questions I couldn't quite figure out.

1. Where do you keep all the rock in the system?
2. Do you grow everything directly on the bottom of the tanks and just place them under the corresponding lighting to match up with their par needs? I saw you mentioned egg crate when you were asked about going through the new tank phase but couldn't tell if you just use it for your frag racks or if you create levels in the tanks to get different par values.

HI there, thanks a lot for the post

Great questions!

I have about 1k lbs of live rock, all dry from Marco. I designated one of the main tanks to housing most of it, and plan on growing out lots of pieces scattered all over the rock to make a kind of a super shallow "reef flat". That's concept anyway. Figure there's only about 4-5 inches max from the top of the rock to the water surface.

The rest is in the sump and in one other satellite tank I had made just for that purpose that's. about 100 gallons.

Here's a panoramic showing the live rock in the middle tank. I did the same thing in one of the back up system tanks as well. Just been mounting random frags all over the rocks and with any luck they will grow out well and look pretty cool. If anything to have more redundant colonies that won't be quite so easily accessible so they grow outa bit more for me before they get ravaged as the do lol.

The majority of my mother colonies are on 3x3 ceramic tiles from Scott at the Alternative reef. The tiles all sit about 3 inches off the tank bottom on eggcrate "tables" I made. This configuration lets the Gyres really do their thing. I get a good solid wall of movement over, and then under the colonies keeping the bottom relatively detritus free.

 

[Battlecorals]

Wanted to take a minute and highlight my top off and DI Set up, as it's a little different than a typical set up, or at least anything I have used in the past. I’ve always ripped through DI resin pretty fast and just dealt with it because of the complications of trying to have separate system to "de-gas" then pump back into reservoirs and such just wouldn't have been possible in the old space. But now, thanks to design of the Spectrapure UHE and a dash of ingenuity on my part, I was able to repurpose my reservoir as a "de-gassing" chamber to eliminate any excess co2 in the water, and function as a recirculating DI unit as well.

Water is fed from the membrane up to the 55 gallon reservoir in the attic space above the shop. This reservoir gravity feeds my main, backup, QT and display systems. The RO unit fills the tank up every day, from about 1:00-3:00 by way of a mechanical timer and float switch shutoffs. An air stone aerates the tank 24 hours a day. About an hour after the RO shuts down, a litermeter peristaltic runs for 6 hours, turning the tank over about twice, passing through the Maxcap Dual DI. This has proven to be extremely beneficial in that my DI cartridges last longer, which was the primary goal.

The only disadvantages I have found is that there is a short window, immediately after the unit shuts down and before the peristaltic kicks on, where any evaporation will be replaced with water that is not 100% pure. The TDS of the water out of the membranes is about 9 and when mixed with existing water in the reservoir drops a little. I honestly don't think this small amount of potential TDS is cause for concern though. As time goes by, and I really get an idea of how hard I can push the DI, I may shorten the amount of time between RO shut down, and DI on, so this margin may get smaller.

The one other snag, is that when it comes time to fill my 375 gallon saltwater reservoir, I have to fill the FW tank, run the DI for a bit, then empty it into the SW reservoir, rather than just let the unit run and fill it as I did before when the DI was on the unit itself.

Either way, this has proven to be an effective and efficient way to solve my fast exhausting DI problems that have plagued me for many years.

If anyone is interested in any other specifics, please don't hesitate to ask.

If you're wondering what the trough is for, that is my "save the shop" flood prevention mechanism, in the event of a failure of the actual reservoir tank, or any part of the system that's supposed to shut it down. There's a drain that goes right to my sink, so if I ever come upstairs and see water coming out of that tube, I know I've got a problem.

 

[Amoo]

Ok Adam this of great interest to me. So you bring the water in and run it through just the basic mechanical filtration stage, then just turn it over a few times then run it out of that tank through the Resin? I forget how bad my ground water pH is (well), but I can burn through a Di Cartridge in 3 months if I'm water changing heavy, and keep in mind I'm a residential user.

 

[Amoo]

Also what the heck, I'm only on page 10, but Battlecorals always has and always will be essentially run out of your house? Are you kidding me dude. You've been one of the top players in the game for a while and you're not in a commercial space, that's crazy and kinda awesome at the same time.

 

[Battlecorals]

Ok Adam this of great interest to me. So you bring the water in and run it through just the basic mechanical filtration stage, then just turn it over a few times then run it out of that tank through the Resin? I forget how bad my ground water pH is (well), but I can burn through a Di Cartridge in 3 months if I'm water changing heavy, and keep in mind I'm a residential user.

Awesome thanks for the post. This may be a way to help you save on DI for sure. There's a little initial cost but compared to what I spend on D, I'll save tremendously in the long run. I'd generally get about 1 month out of both my Dual DI Maxcapp and Silica Buster cartridges. Even these 20 inchers weren't lasting me much longer and things things are pricy! Anyway, It's actually not nearly as complicated as it may seem I promise, and can easily be done with a standard type RO I'm sure, meaning not the UHE units like I am using. You would just need some mechanism to automate when then RO shut off and the DI pump started up.

Ultimately how my system works, is I eliminated the DI on the actual filter unit itself. Instead of passing through the DI immediately after the RO membrane like it would on a conventional unit, the RO (only) water goes straight to the reservoir, where it is De-gassed as it fills, then get recirculated through the dual DI. Basically a super low pressure closed loop. I am still experimenting with durations of run time and a couple others factors related to on and off times, that may extend the life of the DI farther as well. will keep this one updated, in fact I may just go ahead and start a new clean thread that details this system specifically rather than get lost in the build thread. what do you guys think?

 

[Battlecorals]

Also what the heck, I'm only on page 10, but Battlecorals always has and always will be essentially run out of your house? Are you kidding me dude. You've been one of the top players in the game for a while and you're not in a commercial space, that's crazy and kinda awesome at the same time.

Ha! well thats good question. As things grew over the years and space got more and more limited, I was essentially faced with the question, do we move, get a commercial space or add on? Being a builder for the 20+ years, and with the daunting notion of relocating my system and everything in it farther away, adding on was actually the path of least resistance, and we got a two car garage out of the deal as well

Technically the business is out of my house, yes but I built the entire building for this purpose alone! I am the kind of person that has to be immersed. Having my prized collection off somewhere else was not something i could see myself warming up to either. Of course now there is literally never a time when I'm not "working" lol!

 

[Amoo]

Awesome thanks for the post. This may be a way to help you save on DI for sure. There's a little initial cost but compared to what I spend on D, I'll save tremendously in the long run. I'd generally get about 1 month out of both my Dual DI Maxcapp and Silica Buster cartridges. Even these 20 inchers weren't lasting me much longer and things things are pricy! Anyway, It's actually not nearly as complicated as it may seem I promise, and can easily be done with a standard type RO I'm sure, meaning not the UHE units like I am using. You would just need some mechanism to automate when then RO shut off and the DI pump started up.

Ultimately how my system works, is I eliminated the DI on the actual filter unit itself. Instead of passing through the DI immediately after the RO membrane like it would on a conventional unit, the RO (only) water goes straight to the reservoir, where it is De-gassed as it fills, then get recirculated through the dual DI. Basically a super low pressure closed loop. I am still experimenting with durations of run time and a couple others factors related to on and off times, that may extend the life of the DI farther as well. will keep this one updated, in fact I may just go ahead and start a new clean thread that details this system specifically rather than get lost in the build thread. what do you guys think?

Yeah I have an older now Spectrapure 150GPD I think it's a 2:1 or 3:1 and I destroy silica buster cartridges like no tomorrow.

I did buy their booster pump but never actually used it and have it in a box as I just decided to add a booster pump to my well. Makes for nicer showers too Essentially I could tear apart my current unit, fill just any old tank, drop an airstone in, the use some vales and the booster pump to fill my Top off tanks around the house.


RE the your house comment. I know I never read it, but through the years I guess I just assumed you had moved to a commercial space and never really paid much thought to the fact that with how popular your corals are, that you were still operating out of your home.

Either way I see a surprise box in my very near future just for the RODI tip, whatever I pay for that will be made back in about 6 months from saving on cartidges. So of coarse just tell don;t the wife about the savings, put the money into more tank stuff and when the wife asks why there is a new tub in her laundry room, I'll send her your number. Thanks for the help B-U-D-D-Y!

 

[revhtree]

HI there, thanks a lot for the post

Great questions!

I have about 1k lbs of live rock, all dry from Marco. I designated one of the main tanks to housing most of it, and plan on growing out lots of pieces scattered all over the rock to make a kind of a super shallow "reef flat". That's concept anyway. Figure there's only about 4-5 inches max from the top of the rock to the water surface.

The rest is in the sump and in one other satellite tank I had made just for that purpose that's. about 100 gallons.

Here's a panoramic showing the live rock in the middle tank. I did the same thing in one of the back up system tanks as well. Just been mounting random frags all over the rocks and with any luck they will grow out well and look pretty cool. If anything to have more redundant colonies that won't be quite so easily accessible so they grow outa bit more for me before they get ravaged as the do lol.

The majority of my mother colonies are on 3x3 ceramic tiles from Scott at the Alternative reef. The tiles all sit about 3 inches off the tank bottom on eggcrate "tables" I made. This configuration lets the Gyres really do their thing. I get a good solid wall of movement over, and then under the colonies keeping the bottom relatively detritus free.

Nice!

 

[JoeIII]

Why not just cut off the ato while you have "impure" water in the tank? It will have extra work to do when it kicks back on but will avoid using the bad water...

 

[Battlecorals]

Why not just cut off the ato while you have "impure" water in the tank? It will have extra work to do when it kicks back on but will avoid using the bad water...

A very good suggestion but its all gravity fed, so no pumps involved in the actual toping off. just a simple float valve. I could put a solenoid on the main line that closes for a bit after the fill up but that's just one more thing to get stuck or malfunction. Open to any other suggestions though. thanks a lot for the post!

 

[Brew12]

A very good suggestion but its all gravity fed, so no pumps involved in the actual toping off. just a simple float valve. I coil put a solenoid on ether line that closes for a bit after the fill up but that's just one more thing to get stuck or malfunction. Open to any other suggestions though. thanks a lot for the post!

I have to ask, would you ever consider using a gyre on a home DT?

I know.. you aren't a hardware guy, but I like getting answers from people who are successful at growing coral and you fit that description!

 

[Amoo]

I have to ask, would you ever consider using a gyre on a home DT?

I know.. you aren't a hardware guy, but I like getting answers from people who are successful at growing coral and you fit that description!

I have to ask, did @revhtree remove the link to his own build thread out of shame and actually spends more time in other people's build threads then his own

 

[Black Pearl]

I may just go ahead and start a new clean thread that details this system specifically rather than get lost in the build thread. what do you guys think?

Great Idea Adam, I have been having the same issue, burning through DI, wasn't much of an issue when I had a 100G doing 10g water changes a month, now I do 3g every 24 hrs and I have been trying to hash out a degassing system to ease the DI burn, so I would for sure benefit from this bit of wisdom

 

[Battlecorals]

I have to ask, would you ever consider using a gyre on a home DT?

I know.. you aren't a hardware guy, but I like getting answers from people who are successful at growing coral and you fit that description!

I have one in my display! Had two for a while even


It's invisible running vertically on the back corner.

I love it!


And I am a gear nerd too man trust me.

 

[Brew12]

I have one in my display! Had two for a while even


It's invisible running vertically on the back corner.

I love it!


And I am a gear nerd too man trust me.

Fantastic! I already purchased one for the new DT I have on order, planning on getting a second one.

 

[swk]

Did you ever swap out the offending top off reservoir on the basement sump for the display?

 

[Fudsey]

Adam, you could use another tank to store your RO water in and have the ATO in a separate tank that gets filled after it goes through the DI. This, of course would require a 2nd tank but would stop plain RO water going into your system