Adventures in keeping a sps reef

BarSnackz

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I'm definitely not a pro by any means of building a stand, but I have built a few so far and am pretty comfortable with it. You could make one with doors that a have panels cut out so you can put in acrylic/glass for viewing. One thing I do suggest, that I did on my last stand build is to buy some heavy duty leveling feet from Amazon. Drill those into the bottom and you won't have to worry about smacking shims underneath it to level (unless that's your thing).
If you do make the stand longer then the tank, just make sure that you have some bracing that is underneath all parts of the bottom rim of the tank. Also a piece of 1/2" to 3/4" ply across the top to smooth out any imperfections and make sure to countersink any and all screws.
Hope this helped! Following along!
 
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Llorgon

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I'm definitely not a pro by any means of building a stand, but I have built a few so far and am pretty comfortable with it. You could make one with doors that a have panels cut out so you can put in acrylic/glass for viewing. One thing I do suggest, that I did on my last stand build is to buy some heavy duty leveling feet from Amazon. Drill those into the bottom and you won't have to worry about smacking shims underneath it to level (unless that's your thing).
If you do make the stand longer then the tank, just make sure that you have some bracing that is underneath all parts of the bottom rim of the tank. Also a piece of 1/2" to 3/4" ply across the top to smooth out any imperfections and make sure to countersink any and all screws.
Hope this helped! Following along!

I was thinking of the doors with the viewable panel actually. I will see if it's worth the effort though. Good idea on the levelling feet. I will definitely do that!

Going to start looking into plans/designs for the stand this week.
 
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Llorgon

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So, not too much new going on here. Grandfather is excited to help with the stand. We are getting together to talk about what I want on the weekend and then he's going to do up some blueprints.

I'm not sure blueprints are needed, but he likes working with the turbocad type software. So it gives him something to do as well.

I'm trying to think of any sort of special requests I would need for a stand. Maybe a extra spot to put a fuge light?
 
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Llorgon

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It's been a busy few weeks. Sold my truck, bought an electric car. Yay no more $150/week in gas!

Anyways, the stand design has been completed. Attached the blueprint my grandpa sent me. This weekend I went over and we went through it. It's more complicated than I was expecting, but it's going to be really solid!

We bought the wood this weekend and should start the build process on Saturday. I'm a bit nervous since this will be the first woodworking project I have done since grade 8 shop class where I made a piggy bank...
 

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ScottB

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Had my annual review at work today and got a raise plus an extra weeks vacation! Decided to celebrate by ordering a trigger systems amethyst sump. I mean, you have to make the fun decision with money sometimes, right?!

Anyways it should arrive middle of next week!

I was going to recommend Trigger. I have three sapphires: a 20C, a 39, and a 44 all linked together. No complaints.
 
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Llorgon

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I was going to recommend Trigger. I have three sapphires: a 20C, a 39, and a 44 all linked together. No complaints.

Sounds like I made the right choice in sumps. I've only been starring at it, but I like it so far and I can easily fit all my equipment in it so far.
 
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Llorgon

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Started work on the stand this Saturday. Got most of the wood we need cut and got one side of the stand glued. Ran into some trouble when we went to start screwing things together. The new batteries for the drill we bought and charged the day before were dead. So have to return them to home Depot. :(

But other than that the first day was a good learning experience.

IMG_20200307_163812.jpg IMG_20200307_163803.jpg
 
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Llorgon

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Unfortunately due to the corona virus this project has been put on hold. My grandfather has some lung issues so we are staying away so they don't get sick.
 
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Llorgon

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So since this project is on hold while we wait for this virus to die down I have a lot of time to plan the system! If I plan things right I can slowly accumulate equipment so once we can socialize again I can finish the stand and get this thing going!

What I have:
Lights
Sump
protein skimmer
return pump
tank
ato

What I need:
heater
powerheads
dosing unit - Since I want the tank to be sps I assume I should just start with a doser.
aquarium controller.
Other items I'm forgetting?

I'm thinking I should decide on an aquarium controller and then go from there to get compatible equipment. For controllers it seems like apex is the most popular. I have seen ghl, but I don't know anyone who has used it.

Anyone have any good/bad experience with ghl?
 

revhtree

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Stand is almost done. Need to paint it and add a catch to the doors so the cats can't open them.

Any good paint recommendations?

IMG_20200913_153638.jpg IMG_20200913_153642.jpg IMG_20200913_153649.jpg IMG_20200913_153659.jpg IMG_20200913_153707.jpg IMG_20200913_153710.jpg

Looks very nice!
 
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Llorgon

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The stand is done! Well it needs some paint touch ups in a few places, but other than that it's done!

Now I can start looking at power heads and I think I will need to update the plumbing.

PXL_20201024_204541353.jpg PXL_20201024_204025518.jpg PXL_20201024_203557649.jpg
 
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Llorgon

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Now that the stand is complete I can start picking up other equipment.

I came across the coral vue wave engine and strongly leaning towards picking one up. If I can get compatible wavemakers and a return pump then that's way less cords and control boxes to deal with. Anyone have any experience with the wave engine?

Looking at return pumps that work with it, I am thinking of going with Reef Octopus VarioS 4. Will that be strong enough or should I go with a bigger pump? I think it has a max flow of 1056gph.

For flow I'm thinking either reef octopus pulse 4 or a couple gyres. Anyone have experience with either of these? I hear the gyres are good, but need a lot of maintenance.

For a controller I am looking to get an Apex. I already have the neptune ATO.

What are some good dosers? I have zero experience with automatic dosing so not sure what I should be looking for.

I also need to pickup a heater. Do most people run 2 heaters or just one? Can the apex control the temp so I don't have to rely on the internal heater to do that?
 

Camaro Show Corals

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It's been a busy few weeks. Sold my truck, bought an electric car. Yay no more $150/week in gas!

Anyways, the stand design has been completed. Attached the blueprint my grandpa sent me. This weekend I went over and we went through it. It's more complicated than I was expecting, but it's going to be really solid!

We bought the wood this weekend and should start the build process on Saturday. I'm a bit nervous since this will be the first woodworking project I have done since grade 8 shop class where I made a piggy bank...
Tesla?
 

DC Reefer

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Now that the stand is complete I can start picking up other equipment.

I came across the coral vue wave engine and strongly leaning towards picking one up. If I can get compatible wavemakers and a return pump then that's way less cords and control boxes to deal with. Anyone have any experience with the wave engine?

Looking at return pumps that work with it, I am thinking of going with Reef Octopus VarioS 4. Will that be strong enough or should I go with a bigger pump? I think it has a max flow of 1056gph.

For flow I'm thinking either reef octopus pulse 4 or a couple gyres. Anyone have experience with either of these? I hear the gyres are good, but need a lot of maintenance.

For a controller I am looking to get an Apex. I already have the neptune ATO.

What are some good dosers? I have zero experience with automatic dosing so not sure what I should be looking for.

I also need to pickup a heater. Do most people run 2 heaters or just one? Can the apex control the temp so I don't have to rely on the internal heater to do that?
The stand and tank are looking good, nice woodworking.

The Varios 4 should be sufficient. I just ordered a six for a 105 gallon system but the sump is in the basement and needs to lift the water just over 9 feet.

I have 4 gyres on two different tanks and you are correct about the maintenance, but when they are maintained the wide flow is great.

A lot of good dosing pumps. With the apex you can "automate" most of them. I have 4 of the BRS dosing pumps going and four of the apex DOS pumps (three of the DOS pumps are for auto water Changes on tanks). I have not had issues with any of them.

For the heater I would run two and have the apex control the temp. I have had good luck with the Jaber. I use their internal settings as a back-up if the apex switch were to fail. I usually have one that comes on .2 degrees sooner than the other so not running both unless it is pretty cold in the house.
 
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Llorgon

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The stand and tank are looking good, nice woodworking.

The Varios 4 should be sufficient. I just ordered a six for a 105 gallon system but the sump is in the basement and needs to lift the water just over 9 feet.

I have 4 gyres on two different tanks and you are correct about the maintenance, but when they are maintained the wide flow is great.

A lot of good dosing pumps. With the apex you can "automate" most of them. I have 4 of the BRS dosing pumps going and four of the apex DOS pumps (three of the DOS pumps are for auto water Changes on tanks). I have not had issues with any of them.

For the heater I would run two and have the apex control the temp. I have had good luck with the Jaber. I use their internal settings as a back-up if the apex switch were to fail. I usually have one that comes on .2 degrees sooner than the other so not running both unless it is pretty cold in the house.

Thanks. It was my first woodworking project and it was pretty fun. Although most of it was my grandfather telling me what to cut and where. Also using tools which are way older than I am is interesting.

ok good to hear about the return pump. I have to go up maybe a foot. Should be more than enough.

How often and what sort of maintenance do you have to do for the gyres?

I was thinking of doing the Bubble Magnus BM T-11 for a doser that way I could add another unit if I wanted to do things like auto water change ect. The only thing I don't like about the apex ones is there is only 2 units. If I want to dose more than 2 things in the future then I have to buy another $450 doser.

Thanks for the tip on the heater. I will take a look at the Jabers.
 

DC Reefer

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Thanks. It was my first woodworking project and it was pretty fun. Although most of it was my grandfather telling me what to cut and where. Also using tools which are way older than I am is interesting.

ok good to hear about the return pump. I have to go up maybe a foot. Should be more than enough.

How often and what sort of maintenance do you have to do for the gyres?

I was thinking of doing the Bubble Magnus BM T-11 for a doser that way I could add another unit if I wanted to do things like auto water change ect. The only thing I don't like about the apex ones is there is only 2 units. If I want to dose more than 2 things in the future then I have to buy another $450 doser.

Thanks for the tip on the heater. I will take a look at the Jabers.
Check on Bubble Magnus to make sure it can handle the water change volume. Not used them myself. For the DOS they usually go for $300. I don't use the DOS container, I use the $3 BRS dosing jugs. Probably have a dozen of them or so and just swap one out for the other when it gets low.

I have been using the Jagers for over 25 years. I have two 300 watt ones one of my tanks which have been controlled by Apex for 10 years.

For the Gyres I don't do the maintenance nearly as often as I should. When I do I take the baskets off and soak in a vinegar solution overnight and then scrub with a brush, rinse and reinstall. Going to try citric acid next time. Read a post last week about damage vinegar can do to certain plastics with magnets in them like for the MP pumps. I have read that some folks will clean the pumps every couple of weeks to keep the flow at max. Since these are not my main flow pumps I maintain every 2-3 months. One other thing to note on these, in one tank I have some really small snails and they get into the pump and they make a horrible racket and I have to pull them apart to get the snails out.


Nice on using the old tools - a lot of times they require a lot more skill than the newer ones:). I have some of my grandfathers tools that are 70+ years old and the quality is terrific.
 

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