d2mini's "Essential Focus" Mixed Reef Build

[Txdragonslayer]

Wow that shelf looks very good, looks like it came as part of the stand. I can see now why you wanted to paint your controller, looks much better now that it is painted!

 

[d2mini]

Wow that shelf looks very good, looks like it came as part of the stand. I can see now why you wanted to paint your controller, looks much better now that it is painted!

Thanks, Sheldon.

 

[revhtree]

Finished the shelf I was working on today.
This is what I was in the middle of when I painted the Profilux.

It's just a 3 sided structure with standard right angle joints using a Kreg jig.
A little wood filler helped smooth out the seams.
The bottom left corner is notched out where it sits on top of the equipment panel.

Then I got to painting, using the same white Rustoleum Lacquer spray paint I used for the Profilux.

Between coats I used some 000 steal wool to help smooth it out and 0000 over the final coats.
I think I achieved a gloss finish.

And here it is installed in the stand.
Notice the red acrylic shelf. A little taste of what's to come.

Just excellent!

 

[scfurse77]

Wow, This thing is crazy nice! Let alone the cost of all this stuff. But just to have the knowledge to put something together like this is amazing to me. Awesome Work!

 

[d2mini]

Just excellent!

Thanks, Rev!

Wow, This thing is crazy nice! Let alone the cost of all this stuff. But just to have the knowledge to put something together like this is amazing to me. Awesome Work!

Thanks! A lot of what I've learned over the years has been from threads like these so I'm just paying it forward.
Hopefully other can benefit as I have, and anyone with more or different experience than myself can catch a mistake I'm making before it's too late.

 

[JPSika08]

You just gave me an idea what to do with my Profilux and older doser

 

[d2mini]

ANOTHER NEW TOY ARRIVED.


I'm putting this bad boy over my refugium in my sump.
Mars Hydro 300. $99 on Amazon.
It's a full spectrum grow light. 300w.
Should be good for most macros, not just chaeto.
And from what I hear, it blows away the HPS light I was using over my previous refugium.
Visually it has a real pink look.

 

[revhtree]

Dang I need to check in to that light!

 

[Black Pearl]

Let's not get tempted to grow anything else under that light, it's not legal everywhere yet LOL. This is going to be another awe inspiring setup

 

[dbl]

Dennis, I think you'll love the light. I ended up with a Kessil Purple, which if I'm not mistaken, has the same spectrum. I can't trim the macro algae fast enough! Nice purchase.

 

[DCReefer]

I use the Kessil Purple as well. They are cheap used on Ebay.

 

[Pandy]

That shelf and mod to the profilux is way cool. Looks awesome.

 

[Txdragonslayer]

Hey Dennis, may i ask what skimmer you are going with this time, since you sold off the Life reef? Unless you mentioned it above, but I, like most people mostly look at the pictures

 

[d2mini]

That shelf and mod to the profilux is way cool. Looks awesome.

Thanks!

Hey Dennis, may i ask what skimmer you are going with this time, since you sold off the Life reef? Unless you mentioned it above, but I, like most people mostly look at the pictures

LOL, i'm just swapping it out for the 24" LifeReef. Found one locally. I only sold the 30 because it was a little too tall for my stand.

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Haha dang man...nicely done on the shelf! Well, really everything so far!

 

[sheldonjjessup]

Thanks!


LOL, i'm just swapping it out for the 24" LifeReef. Found one locally. I only sold the 30 because it was a little too tall for my stand.

Ah nice, thank you!

 

[d2mini]

UPDATE 5-2-16

Exciting news!
The sump is here!
I picked it up from www.buildinganobsession.com this weekend and they knocked it out of the park!
We went back and forth a little on design. There were two things we needed to achieve.
The first was a large refugium, and the refugium had to be the first section, per Triton.
I was shooting for around 12% of the tank volume based on Triton's recommendations and my past experience with a workhorse refugium.
I think we ended up with right around 20g of water volume. MORE THAN ENOUGH!
Second, the Elos drains (similar to beananimal or herbie style setups) is capable of A LOT of flow.
BAO was worried about turbulence with that much water flowing through the sump. So they designed two devices that would help with this and can be seen in the pics below.
First is the output from the drain. There is an elbow and then a long slotted tube so the water is more dispersed across the width of the sump.
And since this is the fuge section, this also creates a gyre which should keep things circulating.
Because the flow is so high, I'm not sure what's going to happen with the macros.
I could imagine the possibility of the gyre being too intense so maybe I can play with the cap on the end, letting some of the water out that way to control the flow out the slots a little.
I won't know until everything is up and running. I'm shooting for around 12x flow through the sump.

And the second way to deal with the turbulence is the black ramp on the other side of the first baffle in the skimmer section.

A couple of other details worth noting...
Heater holders were tucked in under the ramp.
Plenty of 1/4" water line connections for dosing tubes, ATO, etc.
I hate socks and Triton doesn't recommend them either, but just for a little extra filtering if needed, we added a space for some filter pad/sponge material in the return section, along the adjustable height skimmer baffle.
And the one thing missing that I'll show once the sump is in the stand, is a magnetic probe holder that is a new design by BAO that really seals off the magnets from the saltwater.
Apparently they did some extensive testing under high pressure and were finally confident enough to release the design into real world use, something they've avoided in the past.
I know many of us, including myself, have seen the damage that can be caused by water penetrating seals and causing magnets to rust in the aquarium.
Total size of the sump is around over 37" long by 22" front to back and 18" high.
It's a beast and barely fits in the stand. One door had to come off to get it in.

Anyway, the sump is in my possession and I was able to take a few shots before putting it in the stand.
The only background I had that was large enough was black so it's a little hard to see in these pics, but the back panel of the sump is black.
Top and bottom are white, and the baffles are red... and BAO played with contrast by adding some more black with the ramp and heater holders.
I'm so stoked with how it turned out!

 

[hung]

that sump is hot Dennis!

 

[KingBlingTX]

Very nice sump, Dennis! I didn't realize we had a local company that does this!!

 

[d2mini]

**** that sump is hot Dennis!

Thanks, Hung!

Very nice sump, Dennis! I didn't realize we had a local company that does this!!

Yep! I've worked with BAO for years on various projects.