CCOMBS FIRST REEF!

[ccombs]

I certainly have a lot more wiring and plumbing to go... However! right before your eyes is a full APEX system, 35 gallons of ATO, 35 gallons of salt water for a water change, and a UPS that gives me several hours of run time. Plus! I have no fish room. How did I accomplish such a task? Stay tuned to find out how I hid everything in plain sight.

 

[ccombs]

Even if no one ever read this build thread, I am so glad I have it. This has made staying accountable to QT times, cycle times, etc. so easy because I can go reference dates I did things! I feel like my fish have been in QT 3 weeks already, but it has only been 10 days lol.

I am worried about my coral beauty angel, he isn't really eating much and is rubbing his body up against the PVC in the QT. I have read that this might be flukes, but the fish isn't breathing heavy. He is just kind of chilling at the bottom of the tank. Maybe someone in the #reefsquad has some insight? He hasn't eaten much since I started copper treatments, which I expected, but he has gone from a low appetite to hardly any at all. He has no visible signs of anything on his exterior. The issue here is that he is exhibiting signs of several different problems, but there is nothing textbook at the moment. My biggest worry is that Uronema is being suppressed by the copper enough for him to fight it, but as soon as the QT is over and he goes back into the DT it will wipe my tank.

So far I did 7 days of Metro (added to water, not food), followed by the 2 doses of copper separated by 48 hours. I have added nothing else but food to the tank. After the first week of copper I will be doing a WC and re-dosing. Is that the correct way to handle this? After 3 weeks of copper I plan on doing some rounds of prazipro.

 

[elisa h]

Everything looksawesome so far! Your qt protocol sounds great but I understand still you being paranoid about the uronema getting back in your tank. Instead of using prazi at the end of copper you could use general cure which will take care of flukes as well as uronema since it contains metro. Then just observe for a bit to make sure.

 

[Lasse]

I´m sorry about the coral beauty. If you will start the way I do - it is very important that you use a well feed, healthy and not shy fish. I can not guide you what to do but my normal reaction when I treat fish against a disease and that the fish getting worse with the treatment is normally to stop the treatment and do a water change.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Rick.45cal]

@Humblefish maybe you can share some of your wisdom as well. :)

 

[rkpetersen]

So far I did 7 days of Metro (added to water, not food), followed by the 2 doses of copper separated by 48 hours. I have added nothing else but food to the tank. After the first week of copper I will be doing a WC and re-dosing. Is that the correct way to handle this? After 3 weeks of copper I plan on doing some rounds of prazipro.

The 7 days of metro, if done properly, might almost cover uronema and brooklynella. If you're doing copper for crypto and velvet, are you measuring your copper level? Not dosing blinding and keeping the level therapeutic the entire time is important. Many people now use a product like Copper Power and the high range Hanna copper checker. Your fish could be lethargic if your copper level is too high.

Also, when treating with copper and doing water changes, you should mix up the fresh saltwater, dose it with copper, check the copper level in the new water, and if it's therapeutic, then do the water change. Don't let the level fall below therapeutic by doing a water change with untreated water.

Treating with two rounds of GC or Prazipro after the copper would be effective for any remaining flukes, but would not cure uronema. Even though GC does contain metro, two doses 5 days apart won't be enough metro for uronema.


Any sign at all of white stringy feces should prompt adding GC+Focus to the food, to eliminate intestinal parasites.

 

[ccombs]

I´m sorry about the coral beauty. If you will start the way I do - it is very important that you use a well feed, healthy and not shy fish. I can not guide you what to do but my normal reaction when I treat fish against a disease and that the fish getting worse with the treatment is normally to stop the treatment and do a water change.

Sincerely Lasse

Appreciate it. The coral beauty is one of the few remaining from the uronema outbreak, so he is in QT and I am watching him. The DT is doing well. I chose a very healthy looking golden head goby to start out for a few reasons. The first being he will help manage food waste up front since he sifts sand. The other is that the golden head gobies seem to be more active and hide less than their counterparts like a diamond watchman. The new goby has been hard at work burrowing. I am about to do my first small feeding per the Lasse Method and will see how he does.

 

[ccombs]

The 7 days of metro, if done properly, might almost cover uronema and brooklynella. If you're doing copper for crypto and velvet, are you measuring your copper level? Not dosing blinding and keeping the level therapeutic the entire time is important. Many people now use a product like Copper Power and the high range Hanna copper checker. Your fish could be lethargic if your copper level is too high.

Also, when treating with copper and doing water changes, you should mix up the fresh saltwater, dose it with copper, check the copper level in the new water, and if it's therapeutic, then do the water change. Don't let the level fall below therapeutic by doing a water change with untreated water.

Treating with two rounds of GC or Prazipro after the copper would be effective for any remaining flukes, but would not cure uronema. Even though GC does contain metro, two doses 5 days apart won't be enough metro for uronema.


Any sign at all of white stringy feces should prompt adding GC+Focus to the food, to eliminate intestinal parasites.

Thanks! I have a hanna copper checker on the way. Great tip about the water changes so I don't fall below therapeutic level, I never really thought of that. This first week is blind in the sense the checker hasn't arrived yet, but I have followed dosing precisely.

 

[ccombs]

Here is my tank with the daylight settings. I haven't tried a yellow filter or anything, but my phone pictures come out so blue, and I certainly like my tank to not look like a laser tag arena.

I cannot tell you how much I recommend labeling everything, even down to aquabus IDs. In the grand scheme of life, this system isn't THAT complicated. However, it is complicated enough I can stare at the contents of a BRS box and think to myself, "what the heck did I buy this to accomplish again??"

I recommend labeling power cables, especially DC bricks. Although you can always use a brick that has higher amperage, you do not want to do a higher voltage psu.


Finally, I just did my first feeding and the fish ate like a champ. Time for some victory laps!!!!!

 

[rkpetersen]

You're a labeling maniac. I can appreciate that. :D

Also this works surprisingly well.

 

[ccombs]

So for what I am doing to keep everything hidden, I actually needed the FMM Module to be roughly 15' from the sensors, but the problem is the sensors have a 10' cable and and Neptune doesn't have official extensions. In my industry we call these 1/8" TRRS Cables (Tip, Ring, Ring, Sleeve) and they are fairly uncommon. They are mostly seen on Apple headphones that have a mic integrated before the new connector. We commonly work with TRS or TS depending on the application.

Anyhow, I can confirm that these extensions from Amazon 100% work with no problem.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008DWGLLO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have been trying to find a picture that shows what it looks like when I really get OCD at labeling, but haven't been able to find anything quite yet. The back of this particular rack will be a good example if I can ever find a picture!

If you want a battery back up that will really run your tank for awhile, steal the one on the bottom left side of the rack hahaha.

 

[ccombs]

All of the final parts should be in by the end of the week, and I will spend the weekend building the final portion of the set up. I am so close to being done, I am excited for the whole thing to just be up and running.

Here is another hint as to how I accomplished getting so much hidden in plain sight. A NEMA enclosure!

Finally, here is a picture of the new goby. He is eating, exploring (slightly shy) and I watched him 'add ammonia' to the tank if you will lol.

 

[ccombs]

I am at my stopping point until Saturday. I head out tonight but I got the tank to a pretty good spot.

I finished labeling all of the plumbing and lines.

I got the tank slid back into place (it had been pulled away from the wall so I could work)

The only thing here is I still need to get the 5 RODI lines in their places, I am still waiting on some parts for that.

I also am waiting on a replacement part from Icecap. The gyre interface I received wasn't functioning properly, so they shipped out a new one. In the mean time I just have the stock controller hanging down.

Previously, I had discussed my home monitoring water sensors, here is one of them.

I cannot recommend simplisafe enough!

This weekend I will get the storage for AWC and ATO all tied in, as well as show you how a NEMA enclosure allowed me to hide all of the gear right in front of your eyes!

I think this tank might be in the running for the most advanced tank of it's size lol. This tank is a nice size tank for the room I have it in, but has all of the luxuries of a 'big boy' tank. I really like the idea of having a smaller tank that is so stunning, you forget it is tiny. Hopefully you guys will see me eventually get there!

 

[ccombs]

So I have been referencing a NEMA enclosure. This is basically a UL listed box that is waterproof. Here is my current modification to it. I should have it finished up by the end of the day, but we will see! This box is the key to allowing me to hide so much gear in front of your eyes.

The far left connector is a waterproof USB (hint hint, aquabus). Next to that is just a general watertight cable gland joint to allow some sensor cables to pass through. Far right are 4 RODI bulkhead connections. What else has 4 RODI lines you ask? How about the DOS.

 

[ccombs]

Alright! Lot's of pictures of the enclosure build coming up. Essentially this enclosure will house some electronics in a remote location.

First off, anyone is more than welcome to steal my idea, but please know you will void your warranty on some parts. Due to my knowledge and work with electronics, this was a risk I was willing to take.

Ok- Here are the containers for fresh water (ATO) and saltwater (AWC). These will be refilled via a temporary line I will run from my RODI as needed. Both containers have a float valve so I don't run the RODI too long and have a ball valve in line so I can divert water to individual containers as needed.

Next, the heart of the enclosure is an older model Neptune APEX Energy Bar. I went this route because it is cheaper, compatible, and the plugs all faced normally which is what I needed for this all to fit. First step was to cut off the power connector and sort the wiring.

Next I did a rough layout of the components and marked them. I will be mounting everything to a plywood board that is then connected to the enclosure. I needed to limit my drilling on the enclosure to keep it waterproof.

This isn't the final layout I went with, but it shows the process.

Next I wired the EB8 to what is called a Neutrik Tru1 Connector. This is an industrial grade waterproof power connection for up to 120V/20A. I use them frequently at work and they worked perfect for the job.

Here is my power cable I made. Edison to Powercon.

Here is where it gets really cool. For most data transfer, I convert everything to CAT6e (or fibre in some instances lol) and this allows me to go long distances and through networks, etc. This allows me to use an Ethercon connector which is what I would prefer. However, since Aquabus is data and power, I needed to stay USB all the way to the enclosure. This is where these waterproof panel mount USB connectors came into play.

Now I have a locking USB connection that is waterproof and can be disconnected and capped off if needed.

Finally, I went outside to verify everything worked with the EB8 and data. I have already confirmed the DOS and FMM.

It works and the power meters perfect!!!

You will see that I am doing power on top and anything with water below. This is because gravity is my friend and electricity doesn't drip down lol.

So far so good!

I really hope y'all find this cool. I haven't seen any install like it and I hope it will inspire others.

 

[ccombs]

Here are some more pics as I get the containers wired up. I used cable glands to get the sensor and pump cables out.

Here is my assembly to split off the RODI and control where it goes.

 

[ccombs]

Enclosure is done minus a little bit of labeling.

 

[extremetang]

Neat build. Following

 

[ccombs]

Neat build. Following

It certainly isn't a normal one haha.

 

[extremetang]

My jaw opened when you cut the Eb8... lol