Apex Neptune Themed/Planet Crystalline Build!

[michealprater]

First challenge I ran into today was the uv outlet was going to hit the air inlet on the skimmer. So I drew something up in CAD to 3D print and I will simply relocate the air inlet to the other side and mount it to the sump. I will post pictures once installed.

 

[michealprater]

Looking good! I'm running a 40B (going on 2 years) and have been thinking a lot lately about upsizing.

You will have to let me know how you like that Planet tank after it's up and running for a bit.

The beauty of the upgrade is a lot of my equipment will transfer and be right sized. Especially lighting and skimmer. I had an oversized skimmer so it will be right sized now. And my light will be a perfect fit.

 

[michealprater]

I absolutely hate the look of the UV sterilizer in there. Doesn’t match at all. May force me to buy a black one in the future. I wish I knew if it was safe to just paint it with grey Krylon paint that says it will stick to PVC.

 

[michealprater]

Mocked up custom made pvc brackets. Got air inlet relocated but the bracket isn’t precise so I made some changes and I’m reprinting. Started on controller board layout. Ordered orange paint to paint the uv sterilizer.

 

[MgSullivan]

Very nice build. I always heard krylon fusion spray paint is safe around an aquarium.

 

[michealprater]

Got a smoking deal on an entire Apex setup. This will allow me to use a COR20 pump and a dose. It’s also a step up from the el model I have so I believe that will eliminate the need for my PM1 and PM2. Plus it has an eb832 and eb8 so I should be able to run the entire setup through Apex now.

 

[ThaBeast]

I absolutely hate the look of the UV sterilizer in there. Doesn’t match at all. May force me to buy a black one in the future. I wish I knew if it was safe to just paint it with grey Krylon paint that says it will stick to PVC.

You can probably just buy a black housing from the Mfg and transfer the 'guts' over to the new housing

 

[michealprater]

Slow progress, but going! Got UV sterilizer painted, looks great, put in a bulb and it just flickered. Realized I got 22w instead of 25w. I am hoping that was the problem, I am terrified it could have a bad ballast. Got the dos mounted and the brackets for the two kamoers mounted. In the process of building my dosing containers as well.

 

[michealprater]

Christmas Day update! Merry Christmas all. Installed some waterproof LEDs under the tank, a great gift from my son! For displaying sump only of course. Also finished my first custom designed dosing container. Two more in progress.

 

[kribbz]

Loving this build! I like the attention to detail.

 

[michealprater]

Making some major progress on the controller board.

Designed some cable rails to run along the top of the stand in the back so cords wouldn’t hang down.

Getting close to tackling the cord mess. No clue where I am going to tuck all these and keep them out of sight.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Making some major progress on the controller board.

Designed some cable rails to run along the top of the stand in the back so cords wouldn’t hang down.

Getting close to tackling the cord mess. No clue where I am going to tuck all these and keep them out of sight.

Controller board looks nice!

 

[kribbz]

Make sure whatever you do with those cords, they are easy to separate. That way if you need to take a pump down for maintenance or replace a powerhead, you don't have to untangle a bundle of cables.


What are you substrate plans? Bare Bottom or sand this go around?

Are you adding anymore rock?

 

[michealprater]

Make sure whatever you do with those cords, they are easy to separate. That way if you need to take a pump down for maintenance or replace a powerhead, you don't have to untangle a bundle of cables.


What are you substrate plans? Bare Bottom or sand this go around?

Are you adding anymore rock?

Yeah, the cords will be separated and labeled so I can easily identify them.

Bare bottom for life. I will never do sand again. Only a couple species I like that I can’t have, so no big deal. I love the clean look of bare bottom. So much easier to maintain. I just think sand looks nasty unless a person stirs it daily.. and I am trying to be as hands off as possible.

As far as rock, that’s TBD. I am going to see how minimalist it looks once it’s in there. If I need more for it to look proper, I’ll just add a small amount of dry rock at a time. I have a nice biomedia chamber in the sump. I will likely take advantage of it with a couple bio bricks.

 

[michealprater]

Power bars labeled. Apex powered up and programmed.

Black tubing added to attach Co2 scrubber. 2 of the 3 dosing containers just tossed in there to see how they looked.

Heater controllers mounted, additional power bar mounted for any future expansion.

 

[michealprater]

I’ve did so many builds in my 24 years in this hobby and I don’t know that I have ever enjoyed one more than this. It has presented so many challenges with the limited space, and I’ve had to brainstorm so much to figure out solutions. I have some more great problem solutions to share, but they have to finish printing first. Stay tuned.

 

[michealprater]

Backup doser container. Printed orange lids don’t matched. Printed stands to space it up off the ground, thus giving me some more space to conceal wires.

 

[kribbz]

Yeah, the cords will be separated and labeled so I can easily identify them.

Bare bottom for life. I will never do sand again. Only a couple species I like that I can’t have, so no big deal. I love the clean look of bare bottom. So much easier to maintain. I just think sand looks nasty unless a person stirs it daily.. and I am trying to be as hands off as possible.

As far as rock, that’s TBD. I am going to see how minimalist it looks once it’s in there. If I need more for it to look proper, I’ll just add a small amount of dry rock at a time. I have a nice biomedia chamber in the sump. I will likely take advantage of it with a couple bio bricks.

watch out for them bio bricks I had some in my last sump and aluminum went off the charts. When I pulled the bricks they disintegrated into mush.

 

[michealprater]

watch out for them bio bricks I had some in my last sump and aluminum went off the charts. When I pulled the bricks they disintegrated into mush.

Any other suggestions for the use of a biomedia chamber?

 

[michealprater]

I been down with the flu all week, I am starting to feel somewhat better. I really hope I have the strength because tomorrow is the big move day! I will try to take as many pictures as possible, but I don’t anticipate there being many as I will need to be back up and going ASAP.