Choss' 96 gallon Reef Savvy "Nano" Tank

[choss]

I had 2 GHL Dosers 2 as well... till 2 months ago 1 fell in the sump with power still connected.
I am still angry to myself for being so clumsy.

Hmm. I think this supports my decision to set up the expensive stuff in a cabinet as far away from my sump as possible. I don't trust myself!

 

[choss]

Thank for the link I'll have a look.
I'm disappointed I'd need a profilux as dosing all three elements is what I would be after as I use AF three part.
That's a shame about dropping the Doser into the sump!

@choss how's it progressing? Or are you too busy drinking wine?

Mattres,

Things are progressing...slowly. And yes, there has been more wine involved. I'm actually out in Montauk NY for Thanksgiving. We have a small house out here. For those not so familiar with eastern long island, its at the very end of the Island, basically out in the Atlantic. Not much to do here except obsess about the stupid plumbing mistake I made. So I thought about it for a few days and then decided that I will solve the problem for now by adding a $30 MJ1200 pump to power the reactor. And I'll just leave the manifold offline. At some point this will bother me enough that I will deal with it but for now my focus will be on finishing the return plumbing and electrical.

 

[choss]

Following this awesome build

glad you are following.

 

[choss]

With the KH Director you need at least a 3 to 4 pump head dosing pump.
3 pumps will be used to supply the KH Director (1 x tank water supply, 1 x reagent supply, 1 x water removal). The 4th pump can be used to dose ALK to the sump/tank.
So if you want to use 3 part dosing, you need an extra second pump with at least 2 heads.
The nice thing is that, as far as I understand, if you chose the stand alone GHL doser 2.1 together with the KH Director, you do not need the Profilux controller.
@choss, did you order the stand alone or slave pumps?

Janci - its funny (or not) because I ordered the KH Director and Doser combo pack not realizing that I would need to also get a second doser for dosing 2 part. I just impulse bought when I saw the price on sale. I guess I should have designed my shelf with 4 shelves instead of 3! ;Wideyed;Sorry;Vomit Curses!

 

[Janci]

Janci - its funny (or not) because I ordered the KH Director and Doser combo pack not realizing that I would need to also get a second doser for dosing 2 part. I just impulse bought when I saw the price on sale. I guess I should have designed my shelf with 4 shelves instead of 3! ;Wideyed;Sorry;Vomit Curses!

Oops ;Bookworm.
I had to go back in the pictures to see the shelf.
Looks like you will need to squeeze 4 GHL devices in that space. Maybe you can remove the shelf plates and stack the dosers, KHD and controller just on top of each other.
I think @Jerel was doing it this way.
Good luck.

 

[choss]

Oops ;Bookworm.
I had to go back in the pictures to see the shelf.
Looks like you will need to squeeze 4 GHL devices in that space. Maybe you can remove the shelf plates and stack the dosers, KHD and controller just on top of each other.
I think @Jerel was doing it this way.
Good luck.

Yeah I'll find a way to fit it all in.

 

[Mattres]

Mattres,

Things are progressing...slowly. And yes, there has been more wine involved. I'm actually out in Montauk NY for Thanksgiving. We have a small house out here. For those not so familiar with eastern long island, its at the very end of the Island, basically out in the Atlantic. Not much to do here except obsess about the stupid plumbing mistake I made. So I thought about it for a few days and then decided that I will solve the problem for now by adding a $30 MJ1200 pump to power the reactor. And I'll just leave the manifold offline. At some point this will bother me enough that I will deal with it but for now my focus will be on finishing the return plumbing and electrical.

Haha don't let the mistake haunt you to much. It may in fact be better to run a separate pump as every time you adjust the reactor flow it would affect your return flow, i would then think the drain would need adjusting. Of course this is all probably very simple but it may help to make you feel a little better
The valve may come in handy to if you ever want to use it for a water change, you could also attach a short hose and use the flow to stir up the sump every now and then.
I just quickly google map'd Montauk, looks like a great place to get away!
I may have to pick your brain soon, my fiance and I are headed to Canada for our honeymoon but we managed to squeeze 5 nights into New York before coming home. We've both been before years ago but couldn't resist going back. I haven't got anything aquarium related planned yet but a visit to a LFS has to be on the cards i think!

 

[choss]

Haha don't let the mistake haunt you to much. It may in fact be better to run a separate pump as every time you adjust the reactor flow it would affect your return flow, i would then think the drain would need adjusting. Of course this is all probably very simple but it may help to make you feel a little better
The valve may come in handy to if you ever want to use it for a water change, you could also attach a short hose and use the flow to stir up the sump every now and then.
I just quickly google map'd Montauk, looks like a great place to get away!
I may have to pick your brain soon, my fiance and I are headed to Canada for our honeymoon but we managed to squeeze 5 nights into New York before coming home. We've both been before years ago but couldn't resist going back. I haven't got anything aquarium related planned yet but a visit to a LFS has to be on the cards i think!

Thanks for making me feel better about the reactor/manifold . I found a few threads last night like Mr V's awesome 45 SPS tank and started to convince myself that maybe I will not use the reactor at all. We shall see. If you come out to NY definitely hit me up for some suggestions. If you have enough time, eastern Long Island is crazy nice if you get out far enough to the Hamptons and beyond. The Hudson valley is also great.

 

[Mattres]

Mr V's acros are definitely an inspiration! Awesome will do, I'd love to see more of the NY area.

 

[choss]

Mr V's acros are definitely an inspiration! Awesome will do, I'd love to see more of the NY area.

Ok cool. give me a shout when you are in town or finishing your plans

 

[FLAdaboy]

Awesome build!

 

[YHSublime]

Great woodworking skills! Hopefully this will be wet this month!

 

[choss]

I hope so too! I got my plumbing finished this weekend and reworked my GHL shelf in the electrical cabinet. So now I just have to get all the equipment & electrical situated and I will be ready to leak test. Glad you are following along.

 

[choss]

Update
Ok, I know its been a while but I think I'm ready to get the tank wet tomorrow. First a few things that have been updated:

Electrical: I have mounted or wired up the following:

* 2 GHL powerbar 4s (one in Sump cabinet, one in fish room below controlling the AWC system shut off
* ATO pump - Controller under tank and ATO pump in fish room below connected via electrical running through the floor (connected to PB4)
* skimmer pump with controller mounted in sump cabinet (connected to PB4)
* Reef Octopus Varios 6 pump controller mounted to stand (connected to PB4)
* Heaters ( connected to PB4 4)

Plumbing: All plumbing finished and unions tightened

Sump Matt - I purchased a waterproof neoprene matt for under the sump. I have caulked it o the inside of the stand to ensure a relatively waterproof seal for small spills.

Lighting: Here is where I hit a major speed bump. I am connecting a Luxcore 250/400Watt ballast to the Giesemann Spectra. Unfortunately there are no instructions. Here is the connection between the ballast and the light:

full connection giesemann and ballast by choerenz, on Flickr

So after trying various combinations with no luck, and consulting the following color chart

Untitled by choerenz, on Flickr

I decided to ignore the advice of Reefbum's site (only source I could find for the wiring) and went white to blue, black to brown, and green to green (so reverse of the white and black wires in the picture above). I now get a brief flicker from the bulb. After testing another MH bulb, same result. I contacted Coralvue and Chris Conti got back to me today and suggested I may have a bad ballast. I bought the ballast from BRS who has indicated that despite buying from them, because it has been over 30 days, they cannot replace the ballast but will contact Coralvue on my behalf. This is a bit unfortunate considering how much money I have spent with BRS but we'll see, right now I'm optimistic that the problem will get resolved in due time.

So onwards! Leak test tomorrow & Thursday. I'll also post a few pics of the finished sump area and electrical cabinet.

 

[Clayton Jessup]

I am sorry to hear about the mishap of your lighting Choss ! Look forward to seeing the tank getting wet!

 

[Janci]

Lighting: Here is where I hit a major speed bump. I am connecting a Luxcore 250/400Watt ballast to the Giesemann Spectra. Unfortunately there are no instructions. Here is the connection between the ballast and the light:



So after trying various combinations with no luck, and consulting the following color chart

Untitled by choerenz, on Flickr

I decided to ignore the advice of Reefbum's site (only source I could find for the wiring) and went white to blue, black to brown, and green to green (so reverse of the white and black wires in the picture above).

The only wires that have to be connected connected properly is green with yellow/green. The blue, white, brown, black should be free to connect as this is AC current.
Just do a double check to be sure that everything is properly rated for the correct voltage.... 110V <-> 220V.
A broken ballast is always another option of course.

 

[choss]

The only wires that have to be connected connected properly is green with yellow/green. The blue, white, brown, black should be free to connect as this is AC current.
Just do a double check to be sure that everything is properly rated for the correct voltage.... 110V <-> 220V.
A broken ballast is always another option of course.

It seems to be a bad ballast. I'm only concerned because BRS is passing me along to Coralvue. I'm getting a bad feeling about this... but we'll see. Hopefully I get a working ballast and will be in good shape. In the meantie, tomorrow I start filling the tank. I'm quite nervous about this....

 

[jgvergo]

It was nerve wracking for me too, but I bet it will go really well. It's just intense when a lot of water starts to flow very fast in your own house, through your own plumbing, which is where you cut your plumbing design and installation skills! I felt comforted by having a shop vac close at hand

 

[jgvergo]

It was nerve wracking for me too, but I bet it will go really well. It's just intense when a lot of water starts to flow very fast in your own house, through your own plumbing, which is where you cut your plumbing design and installation skills! I felt comforted by having a shop vac close at hand

GOOD LUCK!

 

[choss]

It was nerve wracking for me too, but I bet it will go really well. It's just intense when a lot of water starts to flow very fast in your own house, through your own plumbing, which is where you cut your plumbing design and installation skills! I felt comforted by having a shop vac close at hand

GOOD LUCK!

Yeah I am really nervous about this. I will start this afternoon. Will post some pics this evening