HybridAZN's 180 gallon build

[JaimeAdams]

Darn! I missed posting #1000!

 

[hybridazn]

Looking great George!!! Pretty cool camera angle!

Post #1000!

Darn! I missed posting #1000!

 

[maroun.c]

pretty neat.
Love that angle

 

[hybridazn]

It's been one of those types of weekends lol

First off happy memorial day everyone! I hope everyone took a moment today and remembered those who have fought for our country and the freedoms we take for granted daily. Gone but never forgotten.

I tried to do a little work on the tank tonight but I hit a few snags. First on Saturday I started to install my FMK kit. I started to mount the module on my board and I gently (and I really do mean gently) bumped the 3rd gate valve on my sump with my hand and BOOM! It starts spewing water from the bottom of the valve! Eek! I turn off the manifold pump and stop the water. I remove the valve and find that the bottom of the valve completely cracked from the slight bump.

I guess that's what I get for using a cheaper sch 40 valve instead of a sch80. Luckily I only use 1 valve so far so I just plugged up the bulkhead with a threaded plug.

Fast forward to tonight, I do a 15 gallon water change and carbon rinse(another 5 gallon). I fire everything back up and I check my skimmer



Uuuuuugh, the gate valve is leaking??? Gimme a break lol. As you can see in the video it leaks at a decent pace. I pm'd @geo about getting this fixed. I'm more than willing to take a road trip to Ohio to get this bad boy fixed. I would fix it myself but where the valve is I don't think I could get it off easily.

I did notice however that if I apply pressure upward the leak stops. So I propped a piece of pvc uhh underneath the gate valve to stop the leak until I decide the next course of action.

So yea, this weekend for my tank related stuff involves 2 busted gate valves and a half way installed FMK kit (module mounted and plugged in, no sensors yet).

But other than that my weekend was awesome, I had a wonderful time with my family.

And now end rant lol. I'm hoping to have a nice livestock update sometime this week, so stay tuned!

 

[prsnlty]

It's been one of those types of weekends lol

First off happy memorial day everyone! I hope everyone took a moment today and remembered those who have fought for our country and the freedoms we take for granted daily. Gone but never forgotten.

I tried to do a little work on the tank tonight but I hit a few snags. First on Saturday I started to install my FMK kit. I started to mount the module on my board and I gently (and I really do mean gently) bumped the 3rd gate valve on my sump with my hand and BOOM! It starts spewing water from the bottom of the valve! Eek! I turn off the manifold pump and stop the water. I remove the valve and find that the bottom of the valve completely cracked from the slight bump.

I guess that's what I get for using a cheaper sch 40 valve instead of a sch80. Luckily I only use 1 valve so far so I just plugged up the bulkhead with a threaded plug.

Fast forward to tonight, I do a 15 gallon water change and carbon rinse(another 5 gallon). I fire everything back up and I check my skimmer



Uuuuuugh, the gate valve is leaking??? Gimme a break lol. As you can see in the video it leaks at a decent pace. I pm'd @geo about getting this fixed. I'm more than willing to take a road trip to Ohio to get this bad boy fixed. I would fix it myself but where the valve is I don't think I could get it off easily.

I did notice however that if I apply pressure upward the leak stops. So I propped a piece of pvc uhh underneath the gate valve to stop the leak until I decide the next course of action.

So yea, this weekend for my tank related stuff involves 2 busted gate valves and a half way installed FMK kit (module mounted and plugged in, no sensors yet).

But other than that my weekend was awesome, I had a wonderful time with my family.

And now end rant lol. I'm hoping to have a nice livestock update sometime this week, so stay tuned!

Bummer! Glad you had a good time with the family though [emoji2]

I thought my return pump kicked it on Saturday. Unplugged it by accident while setting up a replacement ph.... The plugs look the same. So when plugging it back up I plugged the return into the ph connection. Of course I shut them down also in apex. Turned on the return outlet in apex the return didn't come on... freaked out, dismantled the return, cleaned it and it still wouldn't come on. After 3 hrs I see the new ph not working then I realized what I did. Lol oh well the pump got an extra cleaning and I got a blood pressure check [emoji12]

I had 2 son's in the military and my son in law is currently in the army and I thank you very much for remembering them!

Hope your skimmer is an easy fix!

 

[hybridazn]

Bummer! Glad you had a good time with the family though [emoji2]

I thought my return pump kicked it on Saturday. Unplugged it by accident while setting up a replacement ph.... The plugs look the same. So when plugging it back up I plugged the return into the ph connection. Of course I shut them down also in apex. Turned on the return outlet in apex the return didn't come on... freaked out, dismantled the return, cleaned it and it still wouldn't come on. After 3 hrs I see the new ph not working then I realized what I did. Lol oh well the pump got an extra cleaning and I got a blood pressure check [emoji12]

I had 2 son's in the military and my son in law is currently in the army and I thank you very much for remembering them!

Hope your skimmer is an easy fix!

I was born and raised in a military family, so these holidays will always be important to us. I mean I was born at Walter reed medical facility in DC haha.

That's funny about your return pump, it's crazy how these little things will drive us nuts lol. Luckily I didn't get a drop of water on the carpet. My stand is lined with a thick rubber pond liner so it's water right. And the skimmer I noticed right away so the water didn't have a chance to get to the carpet.

 

[prsnlty]

I was born and raised in a military family, so these holidays will always be important to us. I mean I was born at Walter reed medical facility in DC haha.

That's funny about your return pump, it's crazy how these little things will drive us nuts lol. Luckily I didn't get a drop of water on the carpet. My stand is lined with a thick rubber pond liner so it's water right. And the skimmer I noticed right away so the water didn't have a chance to get to the carpet.

Hahaha, yeah, I tend to lose it and panic and when I panic I don't think right. I really need to stop that! Lol

My son's were both in the Marines. My son-in-law is now at Ft Belvoir in DC. He's a SGT and soon to be a Blackhawk pilot and pilot instructor. Great guy and I'm very proud of him

Any word on what to do about the skimmer yet?

 

[hybridazn]

Hahaha, yeah, I tend to lose it and panic and when I panic I don't think right. I really need to stop that! Lol

My son's were both in the Marines. My son-in-law is now at Ft Belvoir in DC. He's a SGT and soon to be a Blackhawk pilot and pilot instructor. Great guy and I'm very proud of him

Any word on what to do about the skimmer yet?

No word yet, pm was marked read this morning.

 

[revhtree]

You get the FMK kit installed?

 

[justingraham]

How are you setting up the fmm sensors?
I have two 1/2 and 2 one inch I also have two optical sensors that are just in a bag
The 1/2 for my reactors and the inch for my returns.
After playing around with the fmm for a couple of weeks I have come to the conclusion that after I set the reactors up there is really no need to monitor them all the time and was thinking of hooking up the optical sensors instead
when I switch out the media in my reactors i could always switch the plugs to dial them back in and then use the optical sensors I don't know.

Like the fmm is cool but not much benefit after it is set up

 

[hybridazn]

You get the FMK kit installed?

No not yet, maybe tonight I can get a couple of the sensors going.

How are you setting up the fmm sensors?
I have two 1/2 and 2 one inch I also have two optical sensors that are just in a bag
The 1/2 for my reactors and the inch for my returns.
After playing around with the fmm for a couple of weeks I have come to the conclusion that after I set the reactors up there is really no need to monitor them all the time and was thinking of hooking up the optical sensors instead
when I switch out the media in my reactors i could always switch the plugs to dial them back in and then use the optical sensors I don't know.

Like the fmm is cool but not much benefit after it is set up

I'll be using 1 1/2" sensor for my carbon reactor and a 1/4" sensor for my calcium reactor feed. I'll be redoing my return plumbing soon and when I do I'll use the 1" sensor on that.

Funny most ppl using the fmk are saying it serves no purpose but yet before it came out everyone was crying they wanted to know what their actual flow rates are lol.

 

[justingraham]

No not yet, maybe tonight I can get a couple of the sensors going.



I'll be using 1 1/2" sensor for my carbon reactor and a 1/4" sensor for my calcium reactor feed. I'll be redoing my return plumbing soon and when I do I'll use the 1" sensor on that.

Funny most ppl using the fmk are saying it serves no purpose but yet before it came out everyone was crying they wanted to know what their actual flow rates are lol.

Yea I agree I was one of those people

I think if it exactly like a kid getting a toy their parents told them not to get because it is a waste of money and in a week you won't even play with it that's the fmk

I found out what both my return pumps do and now I'm bored with it. But wait I'm sure it can do something else I don't really need it to do. O well

It was interesting to see what my flow was/is tho. I was completly surprised to be quite honest. I thought I was only getting 1000 gallons an hour out of both returns I was way wrong I'm closer to 4000 gallons an hour. I also learned that each percent u step up a vectra m1 in reeflink is an extra 20 gallons an hour of flow.

So I got information out of it I guess it comes down to what I do with that information to see if the fmk was truly worth the money.

I don't know if you have started plumbing the actual sensors but they recomend on the ones above an inch to use the teflon paste and the ones below to use teflon tape. I used teflon tape on both with no problems. Also remember the teflon tape will expand a little so you do not have to over tighten the sensors into the fittings as when I was tightening mine I could see how it could snap. Follow the arrows and it's an easy install. Good luck

Ps my fishkam still hasn't worked properly since the power outage streams for a day then it can not be seen.

 

[maroun.c]

Mihaps will always be part of this hobby, guess its good when theyre minor and cause no losses! Hope ur skimmer fix will go smooth.

 

[hybridazn]

Yea I agree I was one of those people

I think if it exactly like a kid getting a toy their parents told them not to get because it is a waste of money and in a week you won't even play with it that's the fmk

I found out what both my return pumps do and now I'm bored with it. But wait I'm sure it can do something else I don't really need it to do. O well

It was interesting to see what my flow was/is tho. I was completly surprised to be quite honest. I thought I was only getting 1000 gallons an hour out of both returns I was way wrong I'm closer to 4000 gallons an hour. I also learned that each percent u step up a vectra m1 in reeflink is an extra 20 gallons an hour of flow.

So I got information out of it I guess it comes down to what I do with that information to see if the fmk was truly worth the money.

I don't know if you have started plumbing the actual sensors but they recomend on the ones above an inch to use the teflon paste and the ones below to use teflon tape. I used teflon tape on both with no problems. Also remember the teflon tape will expand a little so you do not have to over tighten the sensors into the fittings as when I was tightening mine I could see how it could snap. Follow the arrows and it's an easy install. Good luck

Ps my fishkam still hasn't worked properly since the power outage streams for a day then it can not be seen.

Have you tried contacting the fishkam company about it? That really stinks about that.

Mihaps will always be part of this hobby, guess its good when theyre minor and cause no losses! Hope ur skimmer fix will go smooth.

Yes the ups and downs of owns a fish aquarium haha. @geo has been in contact with me via pm and are now working on when I can take the skimmer up for repairs! Yaaaaay!

 

[hybridazn]

You get the FMK kit installed?

So I finally got around to installing the FMK.

FMM module

The FMM module has 2 aquabus cable ports, 4 sensor ports, 24v accessory port and a power supply port.

I mounted the FMM on my board (sorry no pic) and hooked it up, updated the apex to the latest firmware and it was up and running. Next up was mounting and installing the flow sensors. I have only hooked up 2 sensors so far. A 1/2" and a 1/4" I purchased additionally.

Here is the 1/4" on my calcium reactor feed.

The compression fittings make it a breeze to install.

Here is a 1/2" sensor on my carbon reactor. I replaced the 2 white sch 40 fittings that come with the kit with 2 sch80 fittings to match my plumbing better.

I ran the wires for the 2 sensors to the FMM and hooked them up. After that I went on my apex classic dashboard and assigned the ports to what size sensor I have running. After that I put the tiles where I wanted them in fusion

Top sensor is my carbon reactor and the bottom is my CaRX, both in gph.


I will be redoing my return plumbing in the near future and that is where I will utilize the 1" sensor. As for the other 1/2" sensor I'm not sure what I will use that for. I was going tonuse it on my UV when i put it back online but its not recommended to use UV with Zeovit, so there goes that idea lol. Only time will tell what I have in store for it lol

 

[jsker]

Post #1000!

LOL-ROTF

 

[hybridazn]

Just wanted to show a little love to @Afishionado with this pic

Also approaching the 2 week mark with zeovit. My weekly routine consists of this:

Pump zeolites(2x a day) still at 500ml of zeolite in the reactor
Dose zeobak (8 drops daily)
Dose zeostart daily (.4ml)
Dose zeofood (6 drops every Thursday and sunday)
Dose coral snow (10ml total. 5ml on Thursday and sunday)

I'll be doing a round of tests this weekend to make sure everything is ok and if I need to make any adjustments. But the eye test of the display tells me everything is ok.

 

[jsker]

How do you like your Jeboa pump. I am using one for my return now and so far things are great.

 

[fabutahoun]

nice looking sump, looks like bane from batman

 

[hybridazn]

How do you like your Jeboa pump. I am using one for my return now and so far things are great.

So far I really like it. It's been about 2 years now I've had it with zero issues. I have noticed in the last few months that the flow has been slowing down but I think that might be because the pump is in need of a good cleaning. That will be happening very soon.

nice looking sump, looks like bane from batman

Haha thanks! If only it was as sinister as bane hahahaha