Ally's 2m Build

Ally ZA

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 6, 2017
Messages
16
Reaction score
11
Location
South Africa
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
So first off we use metric in South Africa but will try to put both units in.

Around November last year i shut my tropical down after a CO2 dump into my tank killing most of my fish. It was either re scape for a discus only setup or convert to marine. After some twisting of my arm by some friends i decided to go marine.

Tank is currently filled with tap water to test flow. The only thing left in the display is the overflow boxes. I have the material but have to make up a form to mold the shape on. This build has alot of custom fitting due to limited space.

Tank is 2m x 0.5m x 0.65m (78.7 x 19 x 25.5 inch)

Current equipment being reused

Reef Angel controller
Jacod dosing pump
WP24 wavemaker
2 Ehiem 300w heaters

New Equipment

Reef Octopus Skimmer
2 Zetlight zt6600
Jacod DCT12000 return pump
solenoid valve for RO topup
2 Jacod SW15 wavemakers
DIY glass and acrylic sump 1.2m x 0.4m x 0.4m
All new plumbing.

Some pictures

Sump concept
IMG-20170402-WA0016.jpeg


Tank emptied
IMG-20170129-WA0003.jpeg

Cabinet removed
IMG-20170320-WA0017.jpeg

Old "Dry side" Electrical draw removed
IMG-20150904-WA0000.jpg


Repainted inside and new base board made.
IMG-20170324-WA0013.jpeg

New sump layout
20170402_125406.jpg


Lighting
IMG-20170320-WA0021.jpeg


Fabricating light stand. As i cant get behind the tank once full i made this stand adjustable and can be stripped to pieces if i need to remove it
20170409_162811.jpg
20170508_164030.jpg

Test fit with lights
20170516_193114.jpg


Sump construction
IMG-20170528-WA0011.jpg
20170529_165757.jpg

20170704_180454.jpg
20170704_180418.jpg
20170731_230224.jpg

Latest updates: Overflow chamber cover installed, outlet holes made bigger, still need to make up the branches.
20170906_171337.jpg

Re purposed bed lamp with 700 lumen bulb for chaeto chamber
20170906_171252.jpg


New dry side, still busy with the other 2 draws and front covers.
20170906_171145.jpg


20170704_180440.jpg
 

Chrisfish

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 29, 2015
Messages
7,488
Reaction score
26,843
Location
Hatteras
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Welcome to R2R, very nice set up!:)
 

revhtree

Owner Administrator
View Badges
Joined
May 8, 2006
Messages
47,602
Reaction score
85,990
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Looking awesome! Nice build!
 
OP
OP
Ally ZA

Ally ZA

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 6, 2017
Messages
16
Reaction score
11
Location
South Africa
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi everyone.
So I've fallen behind on the updates and I'm happy to say my system is up and running as of Saturday.

I last left off when I had to build the overflow boxes. These were a challenge as I had to form a curved profile. Firstly I made a wooden form on which I was going to bend the acrylic to. I clamped the one end down and heated the area that I wanted to bend with a heat gun. Took a bit of reheating and bending to get it close enough. Lot more effort than it sounds. Ones the front was done I cut the other sides to fit. Some areas were cut out for the bracing of the tank and the boxes were glues into place.

The drawers for the electrical were mostly completed and painted but due to a sudden storm I have to re sand the fronts and paint again as dirt was blow onto the wet paint.

After a final flow and leak test the tank and sump was drain and cleaned. 3-4 days later it was fill with RODI water.

I placed egg create between the braced base to protect it if rocks should fall. Thursday evening I spent washing and adding the new substrate and about 90% of the salt 1.014. Friday I got an extra bag of sand to fill the gaps and topped up the salt. On Saturday I only got a couple hours in running a dedicated power point to the tank and extending the multiplugs in the draw system, wires just need to be strapped into place once draws been repainted. On Sunday night the scaping was done. Got some chaeto from a fellow reefer and was tumbling nicely, Stability was added and some frozen food to maintain the chaeto and bacteria.

This morning the tank was crystal clear. Tomorrow full the tank with live stock........

Haha. Will get a pair of something small on the weekend and let it run in for a week or two. By then I should have some growth in the system for inverts. But I will see when I get there.

A couple of us ordered some live phyto and roti so will be playing around with that too.

Pics of progress to follow soon.
 
OP
OP
Ally ZA

Ally ZA

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 6, 2017
Messages
16
Reaction score
11
Location
South Africa
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Unfortunately found a fault in my sump and spent the night preparing it for repair which requires about 72hrs of fix and cure so it's offline. Wave maker in display keeping water moving and surface agitation going.
 
OP
OP
Ally ZA

Ally ZA

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 6, 2017
Messages
16
Reaction score
11
Location
South Africa
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ish sorry man.

With that repair job and finishing up in my old department ek was nie lus nie.
So here is some eye candy

20170912_064345.jpg

Electrical drawers
20171007_221526[1].jpg

Mold to form the overflow boxes made from sheets of wood.
20170915_185253.jpg

Finished box
20170923_231332.jpg

Installed
20170925_164330.jpg

After draining the tap water cleaning the tank, it was time to fill with RODI
20170930_132901.jpg

After filling with sand
IMG-20171004-WA0018.jpg


Scaping with current rock
20171009_180343.jpg

20171009_180200.jpg

Adding some bacteria
IMG-20171003-WA0009.jpg


20171014_091858.jpg

New cover for sump for noise and splashing
20171013_163957.jpg


20171013_164027.jpg

Water proofing my float switches. still have to make the bracket to mount onto sump
20171008_021129.jpg




Last weeks failure
IMG-20171009-WA0023.jpg



IMG-20171009-WA0025.jpg

The fix.
IMG-20171010-WA0029.jpg


Group of us ordered starter kits to try my hand at growing some Phyto and Roti. So far its going good, doubled up on the starter bottles i setup.
IMG-20171007-WA0062.jpg

Phyto on top and Roti underneath
IMG-20171014-WA0036.jpg


Sump shot
20171008_151310.jpg



Thats it for now.

20171013_175320.jpg
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
Ally ZA

Ally ZA

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 6, 2017
Messages
16
Reaction score
11
Location
South Africa
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
On Friday I got my first occupants.
They were hanging out together at the lfs so took them as a pair. Although very shy and sticking together in the corner of the tank in the shadows they respond well during feeding. I need to get some more rock to build nice caves etc. I stuck a piece of nori in a clip and placed it near them and use a syringe with long pipe to target feed as the pump blows the food around to much. They already learn and swim out to the pipe when Im going to feed. They quickly grab up the bits of mysis.

I finaly reprogrammed my RA and it's up and running. 2 sw15 arrived and installed. Built a bracket for the float switches for ATO. 1 set as low/high and second as emergency high shutoff.

All for now.

IMG-20171020-WA0036.jpeg


20171022_154328.jpg
 
OP
OP
Ally ZA

Ally ZA

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 6, 2017
Messages
16
Reaction score
11
Location
South Africa
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Okay

Its been ages since i last posted so im not going to try and recall everything that has happened but rather where things are currently.
System has been running for 9 months and 26 days, running DIY dosing Alk, Ca, Mg and Carbon dosing.

Current Live stock in order of purchase
2 clowns
Cleaner wrasse
Diamond goby
2 Fire gobys
2 Yellow and 1 Purple Tang
2 Bangui Cardinals
Copper Band
Pajama Cardinal
Bi Colour Blenny
Regal Tang
2 Yellow Coral Gobys
Diamond Goby
Tail spotted Blenny

Live stock lost
3 Fire shrimp. 2 vanished other found drifting around.
Milk goby. Found dead in the morning. Sad loss as the Milk and Diamond had paired up.
Pajama Cardinal. Vanished during the night.

I feel i am reaching that point where its 1-2 more then im done. Unfortunately the only pairs that stayed together are the clown. The others split over time, guessing same sex.
I will replace one Bangui to make a pair to see if the will breed, not sure if i can do the same with the Fire gobys too.
The Bi Colour Blenny and Regal are best mates scavenging for food together. They the same size.
However the Bi Colour and Tail Spotted Blenny (smaller) dont see eye to eye. I had to make a little pile of rocks in the corner where he was being chased to for him to call home otherwise he would of been dead some time ago. It seems though the Bi Colour is becoming more tolerably.

Coral
This has been a bit of a challenge. One minute everything is looking great and the next they all closed up or dead.
SPS are a total mystery to me, i cant keep any alive, the couple frags i had die within days to weeks.
As im typing this i feel as if the system is taking a bit of a dip again, my Candy cane has retracted its flesh from the branches, this could be because it was knocked over on to a Brain. My GSP has not extended in 2 days and finally the ricordia are also staying small. I did adjust the white up by 1 point on my lights about a week ago but wouldnt think to see such a knock on the corals like that.
Any advice would be appreciated to keep SPS alive, I do test my water every weekend and it looks good when comparing to other systems that are running amazingly.

Here some eye candy
20171119_152841.jpg
20171119_153419.jpg
20171119_173903.jpg
20171124_133510.jpg
20171124_133541.jpg
20171125_152348.jpg
20171203_092855.jpg
20171209_141947.jpg
20171209_153621.jpg
20171209_153633.jpg
20180101_233541.jpg

View attachment 20171203_190038_LLS.jpg

20180103_064230.jpg
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 57 49.6%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 63 54.8%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 26 22.6%
  • None.

    Votes: 28 24.3%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 7.8%
Back
Top