Introduced to Marine aquariums by my Dad and cousin @cooksterni who both have been running them for years, I finally decided to jump in myself recently. The idea was a modest sized tank to sit in my first floor (UK - second floor if you are in US) home office, where I was spending a decent amount of time working from home due to some sort of global pandemic. Luckily, this room has a boxed in waste/soil pipe, from the bathroom above, passing through the exact corner of room I had planned the tank to live in, on route to the internal garage underneath. This planted an idea that I could store and pump the ATO and AWC water from the garage and remove the need to carry water around the house, which had some attraction. I also work in IT and a total nerd, so the Robotank/Reefpi controller peaked my interest there too.
Almost 2months in from the tank setup, it cycled quickly and everything has been working well and almost exactly as designed. The ATO and AWC has been working perfectly using the DIY pumps system and tubing from the garage. Currently I have the AWC changing 2 litres every day, pumping between an upper and lower optical sensor and so the pump rate is no issue. The garage tanks are 60L, so have enough salt water to last me a month of AWC.
Equipment
Tank: Waterbox 60.2
Light: AI Prime 16HD light
Return: Sicce Syncra Silent
Powerhead: Octo Pulse2
Skimmer: Octo Classic 110S
Heater: D-D Titanium
Controller: Robotank + ReefPi
- Various optical and float sensors
- DS18B20 Temperature Sensor
- Extech Instruments 601500 pH Electrode
- 4x ZAOJIAO Adjustable Water Level Sensor Mounting bracket
Backup temp controller: D-D Dual Temp Controller
Substrate: Caribsea Arag-Alive live sand
Live rock: Donated by @cooksterni (for free!)
DIY ATO AWC:
- 9.6/6.4mm silicon tubing
- British General waterproof enclosure
- 3x G928 Peristaltic Pump
- Pssopp Acrylic Aquarium Soft Tube Fixture Holder
- Various 12v cabling and flexible conduit
Livestock
2 common Clowns
5 Turbo snails
1 Emerald crab
Firework Clove polyp
Pics
Almost 2months in from the tank setup, it cycled quickly and everything has been working well and almost exactly as designed. The ATO and AWC has been working perfectly using the DIY pumps system and tubing from the garage. Currently I have the AWC changing 2 litres every day, pumping between an upper and lower optical sensor and so the pump rate is no issue. The garage tanks are 60L, so have enough salt water to last me a month of AWC.
Equipment
Tank: Waterbox 60.2
Light: AI Prime 16HD light
Return: Sicce Syncra Silent
Powerhead: Octo Pulse2
Skimmer: Octo Classic 110S
Heater: D-D Titanium
Controller: Robotank + ReefPi
- Various optical and float sensors
- DS18B20 Temperature Sensor
- Extech Instruments 601500 pH Electrode
- 4x ZAOJIAO Adjustable Water Level Sensor Mounting bracket
Backup temp controller: D-D Dual Temp Controller
Substrate: Caribsea Arag-Alive live sand
Live rock: Donated by @cooksterni (for free!)
DIY ATO AWC:
- 9.6/6.4mm silicon tubing
- British General waterproof enclosure
- 3x G928 Peristaltic Pump
- Pssopp Acrylic Aquarium Soft Tube Fixture Holder
- Various 12v cabling and flexible conduit
Livestock
2 common Clowns
5 Turbo snails
1 Emerald crab
Firework Clove polyp
Pics