Byron & Reneé's 465g reef - 700g+ total
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Reef Fever
Valuable Member
jealous,looks awesome
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byron
Active Member
its been a while since we lasted posted...
I mentioned previously that we had an HVAC issue in the fish room that had never been addressed. With summer temperature rising again, we had to go tackle the problem. We finally decided to install a mini split ductless AC unit in the fish equipment room to handle the temperture and humidity -- and for now we belive we now have it under control.
We installed a Friedich Ductless Split AC system. The internal unit is mounted to the wall in the fish room at the ceiling above the sump and the external compressor is 30 feet away outside of the house. So far we have been able to pull the fish room down to 75 degrees which keeps the water in the system below 80 -- as was our intent. The Friedich appears to be pulling 3-4 gallons of water a day from the air in the room.
Obviously we will have to monitor all of this for the next several months to get it tuned and insure that it is handling all of the issues. If we need more dehumid, we may have to install a separate system fot that down the road.
A note: I ordered the unit online and my FIL and I installed it. My recomendation: don't try this at home, have it done by professionals... (actually I intended to have the folks who installed the geothermal system on the house do it, but they were "too busy" to do when we needed it done). In retrospect, waiting for them would have been a reasonable plan, but we did get it installed and working -- and we saved around $3K in the process.
Further note: this compressor unit has an inverter to reduce run time and cost of ownership -- but it did increase the aquisition cost. My belief is, do it -- its worth the added cost.
inside unit:
outside unit:
I mentioned previously that we had an HVAC issue in the fish room that had never been addressed. With summer temperature rising again, we had to go tackle the problem. We finally decided to install a mini split ductless AC unit in the fish equipment room to handle the temperture and humidity -- and for now we belive we now have it under control.
We installed a Friedich Ductless Split AC system. The internal unit is mounted to the wall in the fish room at the ceiling above the sump and the external compressor is 30 feet away outside of the house. So far we have been able to pull the fish room down to 75 degrees which keeps the water in the system below 80 -- as was our intent. The Friedich appears to be pulling 3-4 gallons of water a day from the air in the room.
Obviously we will have to monitor all of this for the next several months to get it tuned and insure that it is handling all of the issues. If we need more dehumid, we may have to install a separate system fot that down the road.
A note: I ordered the unit online and my FIL and I installed it. My recomendation: don't try this at home, have it done by professionals... (actually I intended to have the folks who installed the geothermal system on the house do it, but they were "too busy" to do when we needed it done). In retrospect, waiting for them would have been a reasonable plan, but we did get it installed and working -- and we saved around $3K in the process.
Further note: this compressor unit has an inverter to reduce run time and cost of ownership -- but it did increase the aquisition cost. My belief is, do it -- its worth the added cost.
inside unit:
outside unit:
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Breakbeats2334
Community Member
Sorry to hear the issues about the hvac i was wondering when we would get an update
Is the rest of the system working as intended and have you come up with any plans on the types of corals your considering?
Is the rest of the system working as intended and have you come up with any plans on the types of corals your considering?
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byron
Active Member
I haven't logged in to R2R for a while it appears... got an email into the iPhone about your post... The HVAC system is working perfectly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! room temp stays constant, the unit has kept up with dehumidification needs... its GREAT. Only had it running for a couple of months now, but it has been the perfection solution for the summer heat and humidity -- I wish I had done it last year.Sorry to hear the issues about the hvac i was wondering when we would get an update
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byron
Active Member
to the other part of your question... we have not added any new livestock to the tank quite awhile. We just decided to let everything in there grow and mature some... no rush. Reef Conservation Society (formerly NCPARS) is having their next frag swap next month. We may wander down a pick up a few more at that event. Everything seems to be doing reasonably well.
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byron
Active Member
I installed a new prototype ReefLink from EcoTech Marine on Saturday... while it still has a few bugs to shake out, its VERY COOL. I can now control my array of 6 Radion XR30w Pro units from anywhere in the world -- including my iPhone and iPad. The unit connects to the Internet via Ethernet cable of WiFi -- AND THE COOLEST PART: no PC or Connection Manager is required once the unit is setup and running -- AND NO NEED TO CONNECT A USB CABLE FROM A PC TO A RADION!!!!! One thing it does need though is a way for my Apex system to talk to it... at the moment you still have to use EcoSmartLive exclusively. ReefLink - EcoTech Marine | EcoTech Marine way to go EcoTech!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nvfishman
Active Member
I haven't been on here in a while. My setup is very similar to what you have. Looks like you got a ductless like I have. My biggest problem with the ductless is there is no fresh air going in my fishroom. I have the humid air pulled out with a attic inline if it gets over 60%. I have a register open connecting the fish room with behind the tank in the main house. I have to keep the door open from the fishroom to the main house to try to keep some fresh air getting in or I try to keep a window open sometimes but it gets to hot in the day and now too cold at nite. I just reconnected my ozone machine attached to skimmer to increase ORP. I am thinking about having a air pump pull fresh air from outside and put a airstone in one of the tanks to increase oxygen level and orp. What are you doing for orp since you have a closed fishroom as well?
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byron
Active Member
The iPhone app to talk to the ReefLink is very cool... I think is should be releasing to the public soon so that you can download it. It's a seamless integration to the EcoTechLive system and has a slick, easy to use UI. Now I can stand out in the media room with iPhone in hand and manipulate the entire system through either the ReefLink app or the Apex app... Nirvana, baby.............. (or I could do it from Ireland as well or from China or from...)
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byron
Active Member
OK, I must admit that choking off oxygen is not anything that I took into account went I build the setup... that said, I'm not sure I have a problem there. For one, the top of the perimeter walls in the room are not sealed -- about a 14 in gap allowing air flow into the ceiling and adjacent areas. Two, I have an HRV system installed on both the upper and lower floors which effect clean air exchanges to the outside environment. BUT, now that you brought it up, I will begin to keep an eye on it... thanks for the thoughts....
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byron
Active Member
thanks...
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byron
Active Member
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay...
Aiptasia is gone (for now at least)!!!!!!!!!!
As I noted before, I dumped a handful of peppermint shrimp in the DT. They quickly wiped out 3 of the sites, but for some reason ignored one semi large Aiptasia specimen.
I ordered in a bottle of Red Sea Aiptasia-X from BRS and applied it this morning to the remaining Aiptasia... IT INSTANTLY TOOK IT OUT!!!!!!! I will let you know if it is a permanent fix, but I have to say that I was amazed at how well it appeared to work. I used it exactly as the instructions said and for now at least I'm willing to say: it was totally worth the cost + shipping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW, not sure what the Red Sea Aiptasia-X is (may just be a syringe with a bottle of Super Glue), but it worked.
Hopefully the peppermints will be content to munch on other stuff now...
Aiptasia is gone (for now at least)!!!!!!!!!!
As I noted before, I dumped a handful of peppermint shrimp in the DT. They quickly wiped out 3 of the sites, but for some reason ignored one semi large Aiptasia specimen.
I ordered in a bottle of Red Sea Aiptasia-X from BRS and applied it this morning to the remaining Aiptasia... IT INSTANTLY TOOK IT OUT!!!!!!! I will let you know if it is a permanent fix, but I have to say that I was amazed at how well it appeared to work. I used it exactly as the instructions said and for now at least I'm willing to say: it was totally worth the cost + shipping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW, not sure what the Red Sea Aiptasia-X is (may just be a syringe with a bottle of Super Glue), but it worked.
Hopefully the peppermints will be content to munch on other stuff now...
Great looking system Byron!
Not to be a Debby Downer, but the aiptasia you shot will likely come back. Red Sea Aip-X does cause them to disappear quickly, but IME they always return in a week or so. At that point I shoot them again I find it's more of a maintenance task as opposed to a complete eradication. With that said they won't spread when your using the Aip-X, so I consider it a pretty good product. Ideally when the Aip emerges again it starts off considerably smaller and the pepp shrimp will take it out.
Not to be a Debby Downer, but the aiptasia you shot will likely come back. Red Sea Aip-X does cause them to disappear quickly, but IME they always return in a week or so. At that point I shoot them again
I find it's more of a maintenance task as opposed to a complete eradication. With that said they won't spread when your using the Aip-X, so I consider it a pretty good product. Ideally when the Aip emerges again it starts off considerably smaller and the pepp shrimp will take it out.
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byron
Active Member
I haven't posted any updates in a very long time... very lazy I suppose. I finally pulled out the 2 Rubermaid stock tanks and had Advanced Acrylics on the West coast make a custom sump. Its now in and operational and about 75% completed. It cleaned up the equipment room a lot and freed up space -- and it looks awesome.
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byron
Active Member
Changed out some other equipment as well over the past year:
1. Skimz SL300 skimmer (the BK300 was needing enough maintenance that I just decided to switch over)
2. 2 - Skimz Monzter FM150 for GFO and carbon (now running from the return line)
3. 6 - 8x8x4 MarinePure Ceramic Biomedia blocks
4. Ecotech L1 return pump
5. Neptune ATK topoff
6. upgraded to current Apex
other changes also I'm sure, but I don't recall them at the moment -- I'll explain it more in another post...
1. Skimz SL300 skimmer (the BK300 was needing enough maintenance that I just decided to switch over)
2. 2 - Skimz Monzter FM150 for GFO and carbon (now running from the return line)
3. 6 - 8x8x4 MarinePure Ceramic Biomedia blocks
4. Ecotech L1 return pump
5. Neptune ATK topoff
6. upgraded to current Apex
other changes also I'm sure, but I don't recall them at the moment -- I'll explain it more in another post...
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