Reboot Standard 125. Nothing special here.

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After 12 years of being out of the hobby, I have decided to finally start back up. I had a standard 125 gal reef aquarium back in San Diego. In 2006 I had to tear it down as I made a move after getting married. We bought an old home with less room and a foundation with a crawl space unable to support the weight of the tank without major modifications to the homes' foundation.

I was disappointed that I had to break down a great tank. It was a predominately SPS, mixed reef tank. I had a 55 gal reef aquarium for many years before the 125 that I propagated corals and sold to my LF Stores in the form of store credit. I saved up enough in coral frag credits to purchase the LeeMars standard 125 and the associated hardware to get her running.

After 6 years of running the 125 I had a well-established reef aquarium with colonies from the original 55 as well as all sorts of new corals. I had a blast being involved with the San Diego Marine Aquarium Society and all the great members.

Tearing that tank down tore down a little part of me. Colonies and frags were dispersed FOC with the understanding that I would one day start back up and would have a ready supply of frags to start over from.

Fast forward 12 years later and a move halfway across the globe, I have finally taken the tank out of storage, shipped 8k miles and am in the process of starting over, literally almost from scratch. The only thing remaining is the tank and stand that I custom built in my friends wood shop, the DIY calcium reactor, Fluidized bed reactor converting to bio bead, sump now heavily modified, my original ASM protein skimmer, and separate tall refugium. After that, all things are going to be new and updated. SO it is an old/new system.

Man, have things changed in the hobby since I left. LED’s were just starting on the scene and seemed like cheapo alternatives. I had 2, 48” VHO actinic bulbs, two 250w Metal Halide and one 400w Metal Halide when I left. Now I am going to attempt LED’s. The cost of electricity is beyond belief. For two of us, our bill averages $400-$450/month, without a reef tank running. Add the cost of running the MH’s for 8 hours plus the cooling needed is what was the impetus to move to LED’s. If they don’t work out, I still have the MH’s. DC pumps were nonexistent. Wave-making… on a new level. I am cheaping out on some items as I want to see how these new-fangled items work out. I have done as much research as I possibly can on most items to understand the shortcomings of going the less expensive route. Please don't bag too hard on some of the equipment choices I made. They were chosen after extensive research and an understanding of the pros and cons.

I cheaped out and went with three SBReef lights, 16” standard dimmable LED’s and hacked them to be controlled with the Neptune Apex classic. Speaking of controllers, those weren’t around back in the day like it is today. I heard and read great things about the SB Reef lights so we will see. I hope that I did the hack correctly and it all runs as it should. Of course, I did all the wiring before having the Apex up and running. So I have soldered all the connections and hope that I did it right. I have purchased the apex LSM as I had great success getting my corals to spawn with timed moonlighting before. This should be better with the LSM and accurate lunar cycle simulations. Again, time will tell.

So, to recap, this build thread is a reboot of an old system. I will be progressing slowly and methodically, hopefully not so slow as to have interest falter. Your input will be greatly appreciated as the system components and setup are new to me. The basics I still have in my knowledge base. Still, I am not up on all the newest information and findings so input is welcomed.
 
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Here is the progression of modifying the canopy and mounting the SBReef Leds.
DSCN3003.JPG

This is the initial cut out and routing of the canopy to accommodate the fixtures and have them mounted flush to the top of the canopy. The lights draw in cool outside air to cool the LEDs from the top and the heated air exits through the fixture housing so I had to make certain the lights would not have restricted air flow out of the light fixture.
 
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The next photo is of the lights initially dry fitted into the canopy. I modified the mounting bars that came with the lights and think the method of installation is clean. My biggest concern when mounting the lights this way and cutting into a perfectly good canopy top was the problems that I might have mounting my MH lights if I ever decide to go back to MH lighting or if I choose a different light fixture.
DSCN3006.JPG
 
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The installation of the lights are complete. Well, mostly. I just need to rout the power cords. The Apex hack is completed in these photos. I used a phone line for each channel into a wall Jack with a three-way splitter on each. There are the two channels sooo...
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Well, I wanted to make certain that I had plenty of ventilation in the canopy as it is a canopy enclosed and sitting on the tank essentially sealing and trapping in any heat produced. I decided to follow the clean installation look and purchased some thermostatically controlled cooling fans. I went with an out-of-the-box approach seeing as I have had fans when I had my MH lighting in there but the back was open. I have enclosed the back of the canopy and installed passive venting out the back and active venting out the top. The four fans installed on the sides of the canopy are blowing into the canopy and the two on top are blowing out. The installed fans in the light fixtures suck air in fro the top and heated air will be blowing into the canopy enclosure so venting the heated air was important to me.
20180127_190753.jpg

Left side blowing in.
20180127_190817.jpg

Right side blowing into the canopy and the thermostat controller installed.
 
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The below photos are of the venting out of the canopy enclosure.
20180202_071221.jpg

Active venting out the top with two 120CFM dc fans.
20180202_071244.jpg

This is the view of the interior of the canopy with the passive vent hole out the back with the same grills as are mounted on the top and the view of the fans mounted on the canopy top with the fans installed but not yet wired.
 
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Some more progress with the tank. I have drilled the back of the tank for 3/4 inch bulkheads, painted with flat black, completed the rigid return lines and situated the return pump. I decided on the VarioS 6. I plumbed in a 5 valve manifold system as well. One valve to feed the refugium, one for the calcium reactor, one for the bio pellet reactor and two spares. I also mounted the two moonlights in the canopy for the Apex LDM. Why are all the wires for EVERYTHING so short? Still don't have the DC exhaust fans wired as I am waiting on AC/DC power adapter from Amazon. I also wired up the thermostatically controlled vent fans. I was also able to mount the refugium light. I used the parts that I didn't need from the mounting hardware on the SBreeflights.
 
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DSCN9664.JPG

The above photo is fairly self-explanatory. The back of the tank is painted and the plumbing installed. The VarioS 6 has 1 1/4 inch outlet so I plumbed that up to the anti-siphon valve which is 1 inch. That goes up to the T at the top and is further reduced to 3/4 inch to the bulkheads.
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The above is a slightly closer photo of the manifold setup.
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And the VarioS 6 plumbed to the sump. The sump is a 30 gal standard glass aquarium that I DIY modified and drilled. Details on that will be coming soon.
 
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DSCN9662.JPG

This is my refugium. I couldn't tell you the capacity. It was a DIY job that still holds water so I'm using it. It is a bit tall but I like it that way. It worked so well for me before I figure there is no reason the change it. The lighting, however, IS upgraded, obviously. I know it is not a fancy super hot rod Kessil bit it looks like it might do the job just fine for my needs.
DSCN9663.JPG

The grow light was mounted by utilizing the mounting hardware that I didn't need on the SBreeflights. I just had to modify portion that would normally sit on the tank rim. Gotta love band saws.
 
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DSCN9658.JPG

And I finally mounted the lunar lights for the Apex LSM. I just have two as that should suffice. I'm not looking to really observe the tank under moonlight but rather to stimulate coral spawning. I hope that this will produce predictable spawning events. With any luck, I will be able to collect the fertilized gametes and get them to settle out in another tank for alternative propagation. I had luck with this with birds' nests and some montipora.
DSCN9659.JPG

And finally, the wiring for the thermostatically controlled fans is installed.
 

Ento-Reefer

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Great build so far!!! You have some serious skills and I am impressed. I have the same or very similar light on my fuge and I can confirm, it works great!!! My chaeto has tripled in size I’m 3 weeks time.

I was very successful with Reef Breeders LED on my 95g and I think they are similar to what you are using. My advice is to start slow and gradually increase the intensity.

I’m looking forward to seeing this tank come together.
 
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Th
Great build so far!!! You have some serious skills and I am impressed. I have the same or very similar light on my fuge and I can confirm, it works great!!! My chaeto has tripled in size I’m 3 weeks time.

I was very successful with Reef Breeders LED on my 95g and I think they are similar to what you are using. My advice is to start slow and gradually increase the intensity.

I’m looking forward to seeing this tank come together.
Thanks, Ento. Good to know about starting on lower intensities for the DT lights. I am going to have trouble finding chaeto that is available in the US and that I used to have. I have been looking around for some but can't seem to source it, yet. Might have to go the Calurpa route, unfortunately.
 

Ento-Reefer

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Th

Thanks, Ento. Good to know about starting on lower intensities for the DT lights. I am going to have trouble finding chaeto that is available in the US and that I used to have. I have been looking around for some but can't seem to source it, yet. Might have to go the Calurpa route, unfortunately.

I know you can source the chaeto online at Algae barn. They also sell other types of macro algae and pods.
 
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I know you can source the chaeto online at Algae barn. They also sell other types of macro algae and pods.
Unfortunately, I sincerely doubt that they will send to this part of the world. Not the US... But I'll look into it. Thank you!
 
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Unfortunately, I sincerely doubt that they will send to this part of the world. Not the US... But I'll look into it. Thank you!
Yup, won't ship here... Bummer.
 
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