Broadwave's DSA 190 - Rebuild & Restore

[Broadwave]

So, wanted to share the re-build of my DSA 190 Reef that resides in my office. Earlier this year, I had a huge tank crash, where lost 95% of my corals and about 4-5 fish. In the months that followed, I took things slow to get everything back into equilibrium and figured, hey why not upgrade some equipment and re-do the filter room. Don't expect some fancy separate finished room, it IS in my basement after all and I wanted it to first of all be easy to maintain and have everything accessible.

I recently, upgraded my old Elite-Aquatics sump to the brand new GEO RU46 sump. the reason for the larger sump is that I am adding a refugium to the system and wanted to account for overflow should power cut. The smaller sump just couldn't handle it.

Here is a picture of the re-done filter room in the basement. Don't beat me up on the wiring just yet, I'm not finished. :-) I'll post more updates as more equipment comes in and will take some tank pictures as well.

 

[Broadwave]

Here is better look at the GEO Sump

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Here is better look at the GEO Sump

That, my friend, is a beautiful sump!

 

[Broadwave]

The refugium is now on line, lots of different macro algaes as Triton suggests. Just waiting on my GHL Profilux Doser to show up

 

[goody]

So does your fuge drain into your sump? I was also thinking of running a separate lifereef fuge on my upcoming build.

 

[Broadwave]

@goody Yes, the sump is fed by my return pump (EcoTech Vectra M1) and then returns to the filter sock section of the sump. The reason I did it this way was so that any rogue algae that may escape from the refugium would be caught by the filter socks. Yes, I am aware that I am not allowing any copepods back into the main display, but the refugium was not put on this system to feed copepods. Its primary purpose is to reduce nutrients.

The LifeReef refugiums are great! Jeff Turchek makes a great product. His Skimmers are second to none... trust me, I've had just about every kind of skimmer out there. Funny thing is I started in this hobby back in 2001 with his 24" skimmer, and find that I am back using them only because they just work... I kick myself thinking how much money I could have saved if I just stuck with his skimmer in the first place. The LifeReef sumps are awesome... the only draw back is the lead time... otherwise I would probably have his LF-300 sump.

I would have purchased one of his refugiums but since I already had a 57 gallon tank I wasn't using, it made $$$ sense to just use the tank vs. buying refugium.

 

[goody]

I was so close to getting a Lifereef skimmer, but went with a Skimz. Hope I won't regret that decision. What kind of flow are you running in your fuge? Do I also see a small powerhead in there? And is that a second M1 for your DT return pump? I was sure if I should go with the M1, L1, or wait for the VarioS8 to come out.

 

[Broadwave]

The second EcoTech M1 (on the left) is for my Lifereef VS-48 Skimmer. As far as flow, I'm not sure of the actual flow rate through the refugium. What I do know is that I am running the first EcoTech Vectra M1(right side) as full power (2,000 Gallons) and I have the ball valve at the top closed about a 1/4 of the way and there is good flow in the fuge. Keep in mind that the sump picture was before I put the refugium on-line... I took the back black hose and plumbed that as the feed for the fuge. The ONLY reason that the small Tunze pump is in there is to disperse the Triton elements.

 

[Broadwave]

Here are a couple of pictures to help.

 

[Broadwave]

So been a while since I posted last... lots of issue that have not gone right... in need of a reboot 3.0. I guess thats what happens when you try new technologies on a reef, so... I am going back to what Mike Paletta said in one of his YouTube videos on American Reef.. "Going with what is old is new again"... Will be posting new updates as things change and will fill in the details. One of the changes is that I will be moving off of Triton and going back to a CA Reactor. Additionally, I will be removing the Refugium and will be installing a Pax Bellum ARID reactor. Stay tuned...