New Swiss 1900 liter (500G) Build

[SPR1968]

Thanks. I can't wait either! ;Happy

And my current fish in their temporary location have been staring at their new home for several months now. They can't wait either! ;Joyful

I’m quiet fortunate here in that my current tank it still in place as it’s in a different location to were my new system is going, well a different part of the room.

I can leave everything running as it is and move the fish and corals at my leisure which makes everything much easier. I may just leave the current system running indefinitely anyway, with a few modifications for ease of maintenance. But all the live stock will move, well assuming I can catch them! Lol

 

[Laith]

I’m quiet fortunate here in that my current tank it still in place as it’s in a different location to were my new system is going, well a different part of the room.

I can leave everything running as it is and move the fish and corals at my leisure which makes everything much easier. I may just leave the current system running indefinitely anyway, with a few modifications for ease of maintenance. But all the live stock will move, well assuming I can catch them! Lol

I'm in a similar situation though I had to move the existing tank. But it's all setup so I can take my time moving things.

 

[Laith]

Speaking of hiding cables, I saw this today at the hardware store:

They're cable holders to put on floors.

My idea is why not glue one of these to the back wall in the tank (in the corner) and run the cables through them?
The cover can be taken off anytime you need to remove the cables.

These ones were a bit wide but I'm going to look for narrower ones. They're anthracite coloured so they should blend in ok...

 

[Laith]

So as usual, just before leaving the house, something broke on my current tank.

Yesterday, a couple of hours before leaving for a long weekend, I received an alarm that my conductivity meter was reading something like .0999. What?

After taking a look, I discovered that the water level in the return area of the sump had dropped to below the sensor so it was no longer in the water. Checking further, my ATO pump (part of the Tunze osmolator) was not functioning.

So rushed off to the fish store and luckily they had a new osmolator in stock. Hooked up the new pump from that and all ok.

So I've decided to install two osmolator pumps for ATO in my new setup. That way if one breaks down the other can still topup the required amount. To be really redundant it would be best to have two separate osmolator units, including a separate water level sensor for each. But that may be overkill. I think I may just hook up two pumps to the same osmolator control unit.

 

[SPR1968]

So I've decided to install two osmolator pumps for ATO in my new setup. That way if one breaks down the other can still topup the required amount. To be really redundant it would be best to have two separate osmolator units, including a separate water level sensor for each. But that may be overkill. I think I may just hook up two pumps to the same osmolator control unit.

It’s a good idea to have redundancy with something so important especially if you go away a lot

I’ve been using the Tunze for 4 years and it’s been faultless so far. I’m now going with the Apex ATK as primary (just because of intergration and it also has a physical float valve to shut off flow in the event of failure) but I think I’m going to buy a Tunze Osmolator as well as back up and just position the sensors slightly below the Apex sensor so if it fails the Tunze will kick in for redundancy

2 Osmolators is also a good idea and I would have them as independent systems but maybe from the same ATO reservoir

 

[dragon99]

So as usual, just before leaving the house, something broke on my current tank.

Yesterday, a couple of hours before leaving for a long weekend, I received an alarm that my conductivity meter was reading something like .0999. What?

After taking a look, I discovered that the water level in the return area of the sump had dropped to below the sensor so it was no longer in the water. Checking further, my ATO pump (part of the Tunze osmolator) was not functioning.

So rushed off to the fish store and luckily they had a new osmolator in stock. Hooked up the new pump from that and all ok.

So I've decided to install two osmolator pumps for ATO in my new setup. That way if one breaks down the other can still topup the required amount. To be really redundant it would be best to have two separate osmolator units, including a separate water level sensor for each. But that may be overkill. I think I may just hook up two pumps to the same osmolator control unit.

I went out of town last week and had a similar experience. ATO stopped working, In my case it was a clogged line (using limewater in the ATO), but I'm seriously considering redundant Tunze 3155's in my next setup. I mean why not? For the minimal cost of install it's definitely worth it. I'm planning dual power circuits, dual Apex power bars, so redundant ATO is the logical conclusion.

 

[Laith]

So decided that I'll install two separate osmolators in the new tank. Since I've already got two osmolator controllers I just need to get a second pump.

Not sure one controller can drive two pumps at 12v. And since all I need is a second pump for a totally redundant setup with two controllers and two level sensors, why not?

 

[Laith]

It’s a good idea to have redundancy with something so important especially if you go away a lot

I’ve been using the Tunze for 4 years and it’s been faultless so far. I’m now going with the Apex ATK as primary (just because of intergration and it also has a physical float valve to shut off flow in the event of failure) but I think I’m going to buy a Tunze Osmolator as well as back up and just position the sensors slightly below the Apex sensor so if it fails the Tunze will kick in for redundancy

2 Osmolators is also a good idea and I would have them as independent systems but maybe from the same ATO reservoir

The Tunze osmolator does have a physical float valve to set higher than the optical sensor to shut off the pump in case... at least mine do.

And I agree with you about the redundancy: decided to put two complete ato systems in place. And since I have three separate circuits each with their own fuse on the switch panel I'll connect each one to a different circuit.

 

[RedSea500MaxS]

How much are you going to charge for admission? I want two VIP full day passes! Wow.

 

[SPR1968]

The Tunze osmolator does have a physical float valve to set higher than the optical sensor to shut off the pump in case... at least mine do.

And I agree with you about the redundancy: decided to put two complete ato systems in place. And since I have three separate circuits each with their own fuse on the switch panel I'll connect each one to a different circuit.

Yes that’s correct, but I meant the Apex ATK has an actual float ball/valve so it physically stops the flow in the event of complete failure, rather than the Tunze which is just a float switch which tells the pump to stop

But I would agree 2 separate systems is the way to go and if it weren’t for me going with Apex I would also get 2 Tunze Osmolators definitely, they have an excellent reputation. I’ll have 1 for redundancy as well anyway.

In the whole scheme of things the cost is negligible and for piece of mind as well. Everything runs fine until either your about to leave, or start ‘fiddling’ with it! Lol

 

[Laith]

How much are you going to charge for admission? I want two VIP full day passes! Wow.

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

But let's see if I can grow coral in the thing!! ;Wideyed ;Joyful

 

[Laith]

Remember I had to do this to protect the tank from the door handle of the door?

Then it became this:

Not really pretty!

 

[Laith]

This weekend I installed this:

Which works really well at keeping the door well away from the tank glass:

It has a friction setting as well which I've set so that the door doesn't swing freely open but has some resistance when opened. I tried slamming it open and the above picture shows the furthest it will open

.

So now this looks much better! ;Happy

 

[Laith]

More progress... RO/DI unit moved from basement and installed under the kitchen sink and all hooked up to the tubing leading to the fresh saltwater and topup tanks under the DT:

Also installed this to get extra water making capacity:

The booster pump is attached to the back wall of cabinet also under the sink. But that wall is very thin and the vibration/noise was a bit much. So now it is sitting on the floor of the cabinet and noise is much better, though still audible (very lightly).

I tested the RO/DI fill system and it works really well. I plugged in both solenoids (one managing the RO/DI water going to the topup tank and the second one the RO/DI water going to the fresh saltwater tank) and turned on the tap to the RO/DI units. Both tank started filling. I tested turning off and on the solenoids in different combinations and everything seems to work as planned.

Also tested the emergency float valves: with both tanks filling, raising one float valve stopped water filling in the tank concerned and the other tank kept filling. Raising both float valves triggered the autoshutoff on the booster pump and the RO/DI unit.

The only thing I can't test yet are the GHL sensors that will manage the solenoid function through my Profilux.

Overall, happy that it works as planned (so far!)

;Happy

 

[Laith]

It was a busy weekend! ;Happy

And then:

Ignore the mess of wiring on the right. That will all go into the cable guides I'll be installing (you can see one cable guide into which the Mitras cables are already inserted). To continue the cable guide I needed to saw a second one to length but running an electric saw on a Sunday is a no no here!

 

[najer]

Nice work again.

 

[Ashir Parekh]

It was a busy weekend! ;Happy

And then:

Ignore the mess of wiring on the right. That will all go into the cable guides I'll be installing (you can see one cable guide into which the Mitras cables are already inserted). To continue the cable guide I needed to saw a second one to length but running an electric saw on a Sunday is a no no here!

Very nice, but don't you need 1 more mitras at least

 

[Laith]

Very nice, but don't you need 1 more mitras at least

Originally I was going to install six. But after discussions with GHL they convinced me to start with five.

My reasoning for six was more for better coverage (less shadowing) than PAR concerns. However, GHL says that because their six pucks are more spread out in each unit and with the reflectors that are built in to each puck coverage should not be an issue.

In any case, if I do notice that five doesn't do it, it will be fairly simple to install a sixth one!

 

[Laith]

Moving along...

The wet test. The objective here was just to fill tank and sump with water and test everything... so, garden hose (this was around the 25th of September)!

 

[Laith]

Quick update on the wood panels used in the cabinetry around the tank: turns out that they are slightly too thin (16mm) and since they are large pieces they started getting deformed, bowing in or outwards. Not much, but just enough that they were no longer flush with each other and on one or two of them the curve took the magnets too far from each other so they did not close against the stand properly.

The builder said his supplier usually provided 19mm panels for this type of cabinetry but had told him that 16mm should be fine. A carpenter was contacted for his opinion: he never uses 16mm for door panels, only for drawers. In his opinion cabinet door panels should always be at least 19mm, especially when they are large!

So this time around the builder has played it safe with his supplier and insisted on 20mm thick door panels. They should be delivered at the end of this week but as I will be away for two weeks they won't be installed until my return.

I took this opportunity to change the number of panels across the bottom and top of the tank from three to four: large one meter panels were a pain to remove and replace, especially the ones above the tank! Four should make them more manageable.