Eshopps Mariner M180 Build

[oakcityreefer]

It’s loud enough you can hear it while in the room but not anywhere else in the house. I’m three weeks in with no fish and one week with fish and I still have about 30% of my first roll left

If I remember right, you had issue getting your ReefMat to work out of the box, what was the resolution?

Redsea sent me a new motor

 

[King Neptune]

Ok, I installed my Aqua 57 Classic UV. Not sure if this will be the final long term placement and hose routing, but it's working fine like this:

I mounted the ballast/transformer here:

I used these hangers for mounting: https://www.homedepot.com/p/HAP-SYS...and-2-1-2-in-Copper-pipe-PL-1111-23/314482639
The hangers gripped very tight, so I bent them open a little in a vice and the transformer is now easier to remove if needed. These same hangers would work for the PVC housing as well.

I tuned the pump to push 500 GPH through the unit. I did this with a 5 gallon bucket test. Level 70 on my Jabeo DCP 3500 pump, took 36 seconds for 5 gallons, so that's what I'm currently running. (levels go 30-100) I can share the other times for the other power levels if anyone is interested.

After installing the 57 watt classic, my Tunze ATO starting going crazy. I initially thought the light escaping from the unit was this issue. It was not. I then found other threads here on reef2reef experience the same issue, but no publised resolution. I have now have the resolution which I will shortly post here on this thread....(Suspense LOL!)

 

[oakcityreefer]

Would it not mount horizontally on that same divider above the sump? That's where I was planning to put mine but I haven't even tried to see where it will fit. I only have 2 clowns ,snails, and a few shrooms right now so I wasn't in any hurry. I like you going first so I can just copy you...LOL

 

[oakcityreefer]

dang I just noticed you put labels on the sump sections. You are way more organized than me.

You have your ATO sensor in the skimmer section. I have mine in the pump section. Your reasoning for putting it there? Its my understanding that the pump section is the only section that will vary in height so thats why I put it there.

 

[King Neptune]

Would it not mount horizontally on that same divider above the sump? That's where I was planning to put mine but I haven't even tried to see where it will fit. I only have 2 clowns ,snails, and a few shrooms right now so I wasn't in any hurry. I like you going first so I can just copy you...LOL

I mounted mine vertically with the pump on the bottom port, that way the water will flow without the possibility of an air bubble. You can mount it horizontally as long as the ports point up. You'll need to see where it fits best for you. The UV pump is in the skimmer compartment and I should still have room to add a protein skimmer. I posted a picture of the other place I considered putting the sterilizer , which should also work. Once I placed mine in the spot I chose, I thought hey that works easy peasy with no mounting brackets and so far so good.

 

[King Neptune]

dang I just noticed you put labels on the sump sections. You are way more organized than me.

You have your ATO sensor in the skimmer section. I have mine in the pump section. Your reasoning for putting it there? Its my understanding that the pump section is the only section that will vary in height so thats why I put it there.

I initially had the ATO sensor in the retrun pump section, but after I added the UV sterilizer there was quite a bit of introduced turbulence in the return pump section since the output for the UV sterilizer is dumping the water into that section. Plus, whenever I turned on the UV light, the Tunze ATO sensor would go haywire triggering the dumping of water. So, I moved the ATO sensor as part of my troubleshooting, to try and get it further away from the UV sterilizer and now I've left it there since it is also in a calmer chamber. The water level stays the same on my pump section and skimmer section due to the opening between the two sections. The water level might be different it it gets too low, but I haven't test that...

 

[King Neptune]

THE TUNZE AND AQUA UV STERILIZER CONFLICT AND SOLUTION:

As mentioned my Tunze ATO sensor would go nuts whenever I turned on my UV Sterilizer. I tried numerous fixes in troubleshooting. What worked is adding a submersible titanium grounding probe in my sump. I purchased this set at Amazon: Amazon product ASIN B01GUFNJZQ and will probably use the 2nd one in my quarantine tank as it sounds like a good idea to use one anyway for safety.
The amazing thing is that it worked! I didn't come up with this solution on my own, it was a solution I was given to try by Tunze support. Here's the full response I received from Tunze support when I emailed them about my issue:

Rick,

Below is what we know on this issue, Aqua is one of the brands that overdrives the bulb, the ground probe is likely the solution.


3) A flourescent light inducing current into the water or creating an electromagnetic frequency that disrupts the controller, the most common still in use on aquariums is a UV sterilizer. 2 separate issues can be at play here and there are two solutions, but the test is simple, turn off the UV and see if the issue is solved, if so, this is our culprit. Here is what we know on this so far:

We basically see 3 types of UV, premium products where this issue is minimal and usually only some distance between the UV and all associated wiring and using separate surge suppressor strips for the UV and Osmolator is sufficient to solve the problem, this is generally the case with Pentair. The ballasts are a reasonably high quality and have sufficient EMF shielding that a few feet distance, not sharing an outlet and keeping the wires of each isolated solves the problem.

UV’s that claim to overdrive the lamp, the idea here is it is a hybrid UV/Ozone generator, for this to work as advertised obviously a high amount of ionizing energy has to reach the water, this high frequency current is essentially stray voltage but more like a van de graaf generator than a live wire in the tank so you don't feel it. In this case a titanium ground probe in the tank solves the issue.

Low end UV’s where the ballast creates considerable EMF radiation, this can usually be detected on a TV or Radio in the vicinity as interference, this same interference directly affects the processor and causes it to repeatedly cycle on and off in response to the frequency. This is only solvable by considerable distance and in the worst case may require completely separate household circuits to isolate the interference. The cause here is that to cut costs all EMF shielding and most safeties were omitted from the ballast..

 

[TankAndTurbines]

Very nice. I really need to get my build thread going. Mine is in cycle now. My only complaints so far and these a very minor. I would buy again in an instant.

1. The return valves to the filter socks are too close and you cant close them off. During normal operation you shouldn't need to but when testing would have been nice.
2. It says fleece roller ready but the only one I could fit without sump modification was the ReefMat 500. A tank this size really needs a 1200 size roller.
3. They provide a really nice glass overflow cover. Useless if you have a light mounted on the back center.

I ordered the ReefMat 1200, I'm sure I can get it to fit with a little modification from my dremel Hoping my new tank gets here by the end of the week. Very excited and can't wait to see more progress on your tank!

 

[J2010701]

How are you liking the tank so far? I’m thinking of pulling the trigger for the M130.

 

[King Neptune]

How are you liking the tank so far? I’m thinking of pulling the trigger for the M130.

Really like it so far. Everything appears to be high quality and very well made. Best of luck if you pull the trigger on the 130.

 

[TankAndTurbines]

Yes it was easy. Just had to put the bottom in first. Then clip the top part on. Nothing to do with the Eshopps but the motor for the ReefMat isn’t working out of the box. It won’t reset, connect to WiFi, and only turns one of the two sprockets. Support is working on it.

Oh boy! I ordered the ReefMat 1200. Should be fun to see if that fits I'm sure a little modification will be required

 

[oakcityreefer]

Yes it was easy. Just had to put the bottom in first. Then clip the top part on. Nothing to do with the Eshopps but the motor for the ReefMat isn’t working out of the box. It won’t reset, connect to WiFi, and only turns one of the two sprockets. Support is working on it.

Oh boy! I ordered the ReefMat 1200. Should be fun to see if that fits I'm sure a little modification will be required

Please let us know how it goes. Once I get a full bio load I may have to upgrade.

 

[TankAndTurbines]

Yes it was easy. Just had to put the bottom in first. Then clip the top part on. Nothing to do with the Eshopps but the motor for the ReefMat isn’t working out of the box. It won’t reset, connect to WiFi, and only turns one of the two sprockets. Support is working on it.

Oh boy! I ordered the ReefMat 1200. Should be fun to see if that fits I'm sure a little modification will be required

Please let us know how it goes. Once I get a full bio load I may have to upgrade.

The ReefMat 1200 definitely fits in the sump...with a little modification. I wanted to install it the other way around to make changing the roll a little easier but the chord for the sensor sticks out a little further than the unit and cause the pipes to misalign.

 

[Mattgee87]

Anything fits with a big enough hammer :-D

 

[J2010701]

The ReefMat 1200 definitely fits in the sump...with a little modification. I wanted to install it the other way around to make changing the roll a little easier but the chord for the sensor sticks out a little further than the unit and cause the pipes to misalign.

Looks sharp. What did you use to cut the acrylic to add the reefmat?

 

[PacoPetty]

Looking good! I love how you made adjustments to add the Reef Mat 1200

 

[Rocco's Reef]

Looks sharp. What did you use to cut the acrylic to add the reefmat?

I did the same thing with my Eshopps, I used an oscillating tool with the round cutting attachment

 

[TankAndTurbines]

The ReefMat 1200 definitely fits in the sump...with a little modification. I wanted to install it the other way around to make changing the roll a little easier but the chord for the sensor sticks out a little further than the unit and cause the pipes to misalign.

Looks sharp. What did you use to cut the acrylic to add the reefmat?

I used a Dremel to cut it. It creates a lot of dust. Wish I thought about using a shop vac to suck up the dust as I cut it though.

 

[King Neptune]

I used a Dremel to cut it. It creates a lot of dust. Wish I thought about using a shop vac to suck up the dust as I cut it though.

Thanks for the great information on the mod for the ReefMat 1200.

I may add a roller mat at some point, but for now I got rid of the socks and switched to two 7"x4.5" 3D-printed media cups I found on Etsy. I have carbon in a media bag on the bottom topped off with Poly-Fil. Low tech, but hey...

 

[synapticfire]

Hey @King Neptune are you using the random flow generators nozzles that came with it? Mine suck air and are super annoying. I tried all the tips on the VCA website. Can’t seem to make them not suck.