Planet Aquarium 96x24x21 work in progress!

[Adrift]

Today I purchased a 10 ft 1x4 wood that I will stain and use as the base plate on the ceiling for the 1/4 threaded steel pipe I purchased. For the steel pipe I got 3 30” in pieces, two couplers, two 90 degree street elbows, and two bulkhead feed through a that will be used to mount on wood base plate. I will mount three sky’s with hanging kits for the time being, will upgrade to a fourth when money is available. will have a eb4 located in the attic and route all wiring to it. I also picked up can of flat black 2-1 spray paint to paint the rod one color. I wish Home Depot carried the fittings black but could find them. This project will hopefully be accomplished this weekend or next if time permits. Total cost for this mounting solution came in under 60 bucks. This does not include Neptune hanging mount kits, believe they 30 a piece.

I chose this mounting solution because I wanted the ability to hang whatever I wanted and could add and slide lanyards back and forth.

 

[Adrift]

Quick update last night I put 3 light layers of flat black spray paint on the steel piping. Over all length when built is 97 inches

 

[Adrift]

Moved my stand to exactly 10 inches from wall. Back of aquarium is 9 3/4 inches. Should provide ample room to maintenance both media reactor and UV sterilizer.

 

[Adrift]

Started staining the base plate for lights.

 

[Adrift]

Today my wife, daughter, and I hung the light bar. I double checked my measurements and hopefully everything lines up. I also prepped and hung hung three sky hanging kits. After that I had to touch up the paint on the ceiling and stain on wood. They are now getting ready for the slip knot concert. I’m relegated to babysitting duty of my son and Great Pyrenees. Y’all’s guess on who is really watching who. So since my help has left, I will see what else may be accomplished.

 

[Adrift]

Ok so I was able to hang the Neptune Sky’s three each. Looks like in the packaging they recommend four for a 96 inch long. Think I misread the specs and only purchased 3. Oh well will need to make do, can’t afford a fourth at the moment. They came with the gray Neptune logo replacement, but I think I like the orange, makes it pop. However doesn’t really matter what think, when the wifey comes home from the concert she will have to decide. Happy wife happy life!
I had difficulty with Neptunes recommend spacing at upper attachment on rod. I couldn’t keep the light from swaying forward or aft at one of the corners. Only solution was to spread the wires further apart like depicted in the pictures attached. With the way it currently, I don’t see how I could ever add a fourth light. I watched one @melevsreef and he installed a acrylic rod he fabricated to keep them from swaying. I may contact him for a solution, since he is local to me in Fort Worth.
So tomorrow I will hole saw some holes behind the wood light bar base. Route the wires up the sky mount kit into the attic and hook up to the eb4 and aquabus lying in wait. Can’t wait to see it lit.

 

[Adrift]

250lbs of caribsea south seas base rock rinsed and drying for later today

 

[Adrift]

So I wired the 3ea skys I bought from BRS into the attic and set up a EB4. I spent approximately 2 hours yesterday and 2 today troubleshooting why I couldn’t get the skies to work. Kept getting voltage error. There is very little help on the Neptune forum. I found one entry that included something similar. If daisy chaining 3 or more together you needed to connect to module connected to a 24 VDC power supply. That didn’t work either. Frankly I don’t know how I fixed it kept disconnecting and reconnecting and it finally took. It didn’t help I am having issues with my new EB4 from #BulkReefSupply. It is currently reading as an EB8. I’ve tried update, reconnect, delete, all to no avail. When I disconnect to the aquabus to the skies I noticed only one sky brick on #3 connected to outlet #4 on EB4. I played around with it utilizing an outlet tester and noticed outlet one and two come on in commanded off position. So now on my interface number one and two must be set to off and number 4 set to on to operate sky’s. I have outlets 1, 2, 4 and program as lights so….I’m very frustrated at the skies and EB4. I don’t know if it’s the EB4 causing the issue or the skies being stubborn. Oh and the AMP meter is showing 0 output. Even though it has three lights on at the moment.
I took that 250 lbs of Carib sea base rock that was rinsed off yesterday and aquascaped the tank. I don’t think it came out bad. Not as nice as throes NSI aquascapes but good for me. No I don’t plan on gluing it. Haven’t in the past and don’t plan on it now. Want the ability to reorganize and clean.

 

[Adrift]

So I wired the 3ea skys I bought from BRS into the attic and set up a EB4. I spent approximately 2 hours yesterday and 2 today troubleshooting why I couldn’t get the skies to work. Kept getting voltage error. There is very little help on the Neptune forum. I found one entry that included something similar. If daisy chaining 3 or more together you needed to connect to module connected to a 24 VDC power supply. That didn’t work either. Frankly I don’t know how I fixed it kept disconnecting and reconnecting and it finally took. It didn’t help I am having issues with my new EB4 from #BulkReefSupply. It is currently reading as an EB8. I’ve tried update, reconnect, delete, all to no avail. When I disconnect to the aquabus to the skies I noticed only one sky brick on #3 connected to outlet #4 on EB4. I played around with it utilizing an outlet tester and noticed outlet one and two come on in commanded off position. So now on my interface number one and two must be set to off and number 4 set to on to operate sky’s. I have outlets 1, 2, 4 and program as lights so….I’m very frustrated at the skies and EB4. I don’t know if it’s the EB4 causing the issue or the skies being stubborn. Oh and the AMP meter is showing 0 output. Even though it has three lights on at the moment.
I took that 250 lbs of Carib sea base rock that was rinsed off yesterday and aquascaped the tank. I don’t think it came out bad. Not as nice as throes NSI aquascapes but good for me. No I don’t plan on gluing it. Haven’t in the past and don’t plan on it now. Want the ability to reorganize and clean.

So I heard back from Neptune Tech support. They stated the new EB4 I purchased was evidently mis-wired and I need to send that back. I would need to spend approximately 50 bucks to order a new one from them. Received an RMA to send that unit back for evaluation. Once evolution is resolved and if it’s determined to be factory defect I will get reimbursed. Seems like a weird transaction to me. I purchased a new unit it’s faulty once installed and I have to pay shipping and deposit or send in unit to get repaired and wait almost a month.
I would think with BRS acquisition that the mom and pop business wouldn’t still be operating as such.

 

[billysprout]

glad you commented on my build thread. yours is fantastic!!

 

[JumboShrimp]

To this moment I can’t believe you were working above your beautiful glass tank. I was holding my breath for you second by second until the lighting project was complete!

 

[Squid_reef]

Looks amazing Adrift!
It's exiting to see how it all unfold.


Looking forward for what comes next!

 

[Adrift]

You and me both lol. The tank is to heavy to move even without water.

To this moment I can’t believe you were working above your beautiful glass tank. I was holding my breath for you second by second until the lighting project was complete!

 

[Adrift]

I purchased new EB4 replacement and packed up the EB4 for cross shipping to Neptune for repair. Hopefully this next weekend I will not be working and can fill tank with water and sand to start cycle.

 

[FEED ME ZOAS]

Glad I popped over to your thread! This is one to follow!

 

[Adrift]

Today I received my replacement EB4. Yea!!

 

[Adrift]

Today I have started filling the tank. I put 25 gallons in then added 6 bags of Caribsea Agra alive. Then I added the next batch of 25 gallons of mixed salt. I’m currently waiting for the next brute to fill with water which begins the slow process of hurry up and wait!!!
With it being 150 gpd rodi unit should be able to possibly get tank filled by tomorrow at the latest. I don’t run my rodi when I’m asleep or away. Just don’t trust the float valves entirely.

 

[Adrift]

I also set up my test shelf with api test kit that I will probably toss after cycle, maybe. Hana testers extra regents. I order HR nitrate and copper testers from coralsfishandbeyond.com. I also have two each brine shrimp hatchery’s that will be moved to my spare room. Where I’ll set up this, phyto and copepod hatchery from Poseidon, and qt tank. I currently do not have a qt tank and Poseidon kit.
so far I’ve added my third batch of salt water at 75 gallons. Which puts me to the half way mark in my tank. So I’m thinking between the six bags of sand (may buy another) and 250 lbs of rock that I have approximately 50 gallons of displacement in the tank alone is just shy of 200 gallons.
im currently using my ehiem jaeger 125w heater in main DT until sump is filled so Helio will take over. I set my temp in the house to a hot and balmy 70 degrees so the little heater doesn’t work as hard.

 

[Adrift]

Today I added another 50 gallons of water. At 125 gallons in display. I know this maybe boring info but it helps me keep track of the stats. So far I also have added 1 capful x3 of Seachem prime.

 

[Adrift]

I did get that EB4 installed in the attic again on Friday and got the sky’s running again. I was still having issues. With the schedule and a few issues with understanding some programming. So I started a new thread and got my answers from SuncrestReef. It ended up being that I just needed to load clock settings. They were stuck on PST time.

Each of the modules you're asking about (COR, FMM from the ATK, and SKY) create their own controllable outputs which is where all the programming should be applied. None of them need to be powered through a controllable EnergyBar output, because the items can be turned on/off/adjusted through their respective outputs.

A good analogy is unplugging your TV to turn it off instead of using the remote control. The TV should always have power, and just respond to On/Off using the remote. So don't waste those valuable EnergyBar outlets for the COR, FMM, or SKY unless you don't have any other choice to lug them in elsewhere. If the EnergyBar is your only choice, then program it for "Always On".

For your SKY schedule question, the first thing to check is whether your Apex clock is set correctly. You need to tell it what time zone you live in so the programming follows the time where you're located. Run the Clock Setup task in Fusion, then reboot the Apex after saving the changes for the clock settings to take effect.