Red Sea REEFER 250 ALL Pre-Conditioned and most CAPTIVE-BRED Fish, SPS, Zoanthids. Slow Poke Reef. WE HAVE WATER!! start page 61.

Savo · Aug 25, 2018

The anticipation for your tank is driving me crazy.

powers2001 · Aug 27, 2018

@Savo Slow and steady wins the race. B-)

powers2001 · Aug 27, 2018

I received my Walmart storage cabinet and it had this broken piece in it. I'm dealing with the manufacturing company in Canada to get a new piece and their CS sucks.

powers2001 · Sep 1, 2018

I’m going to use 2 Sea Sweeps with Reef Octopus Pulse 2 wavemakers.

powers2001 · Sep 9, 2018

Started on the storage cabinet for all my electronics. I have to find something to reinforce the back, it is quite flimsy at a little less than a quater inch thick on just the back board.

powers2001 · Sep 24, 2018

I finished the Walmart cabinet for my electronics.

mrvn · Oct 1, 2018

Any updates? I can't wait to see this build finished

powers2001 · Oct 2, 2018

mrvn said:
Any updates? I can't wait to see this build finished

To get started next month I have to pay down my credit card to buy what I believe are the remaining items: Apex level sensor magnet holders (4) @ $29 each from Octo Aquatics, apex RO solenoids, an RODI, and plumbing. It will take some months to buy and put together I'm still doing research and designing my plumbing.

powers2001 · Oct 2, 2018

This is some of the things I have to buy @mrvn @cromag27 The magnet holders that the Apex level sensors come with stock only hold on up to 1/4" thick wall. These from Octo Aquatics hold on up to 3/4" walls.

powers2001 · Oct 6, 2018

Up in the air with my wave makers. Still haven't decided what to go with yet. I'll use one of these sets with my Sea Sweeps:

Reef Octopus Octo Pulse 2. One on each Sea Sweep. I've done searches here on R2R and only found one guy that uses Octo Pulses so I can't find out much about these but they put out about as much as Vortech MP10's so (2) set close to max output should be enough. As a comparison there's a lot of Reefer 250 builds here with nothing but (2) MP10's for internal circulation but they all set the output pretty high. Because of that there's no high end spike pulses since they already set them close to max output. Putting the Octo Pulses on Sea Sweeps makes oscillating flow sweeping back and forth across the tank, front to back from both ends on the tank for the radical wave swings that would be absent with Octo Pulses. They are Apex Ready which means they are controllable with Apex controllers.
Tunze Nanostream 6040. (53 - 1,190 GPH). Apex Ready. One of these has about half the output as a Tunze 6095. Since one each on two Sea Sweeps wouldn't be enough flow for a Reefer 250, I would use another two 6040's one on the back of each side glass pointing forward toward the front glass panel. I used one of these on a different tank controlled by an Apex and it started sticking off, not starting with

pulsing set by the Apex to shut the wavemaker on/off every few seconds. I was pulsing the flow between 0% flow for a couple seconds and 20% of max flow for a couple seconds not knowing the Apex Manual states not to run Tunze Streams from 1% to 29% of maximum flow. After reading this I contacted Roger Vitko of Tunze USA and he said pulsing on/off will give a Tunze Stream a lifespan of 2 years and that pulsing without shutting the pump conpletely off will extend the life.
Tunze Nanostream Turbelles 6095. (528-2510 GPH) These wavemakers have more output than Octo Pulse 2's, have a broad wide flow output, are ideal for tanks up to 3 feet long, and are also Apex Ready. Two of these, one on each sweep, would suffice for this tank as far as I know but I'm concerned at lower flow there will be dead spots in the bottom corners of the tank.
Neptune Systems Apex WAV. WAV's have very high output and would have to be turned downed low for a Reefer 250. I've read RSR 250 build threads where reefers have two set on either side of the tank running between 1-5% of maximum. These pumps connect to the Apex via 1Link Cable with makes it very convenient by freeing up 120v outlets on an EB832.

mrvn · Oct 13, 2018

powers2001 said:
Up in the air with my wave makers. Still haven't decided what to go with yet. I'll use one of these sets with my Sea Sweeps:

Reef Octopus Octo Pulse 2. One on each Sea Sweep. I've done searches here on R2R and only found one guy that uses Octo Pulses so I can't find out much about these but they put out about as much as Vortech MP10's so (2) set close to max output should be enough. As a comparison there's a lot of Reefer 250 builds here with nothing but (2) MP10's for internal circulation but they all set the output pretty high. Because of that there's no high end spike pulses since they already set them close to max output. Putting the Octo Pulses on Sea Sweeps makes oscillating flow sweeping back and forth across the tank, front to back from both ends on the tank for the radical wave swings that would be absent with Octo Pulses. They are Apex Ready which means they are controllable with Apex controllers

I feel like the Sea Sweeps and the Octo Pulse 2 would make an awesome duo. The apex controllability of the pumps would allow you to have a control over the speed and random flow throughout the day and the sea sweeps would help you distribute that nice flow to eliminate dead spots.

powers2001 · Oct 18, 2018

I decided on Reef Octopus Octo Pulse 2's although I might change my mind. Here's a video on them:

powers2001 · Oct 19, 2018

I’ve been working on mounting my Apex on the side of my water station.

powers2001 · Oct 28, 2018

This is my first YouTube video in nearly two years and my first YouTube video with my iPhone. It's just a random video of where I keep my tank. In the ranch's bunkhouse for now. The place is under construction and a total mess. I guess it's the man cave because my mom and girlfriend rarely go down there. There's a lot of storage there and I might move the tank and stand only to my girl friend's place when I move in.

powers2001 · Nov 4, 2018

STORAGE:

powers2001 · Nov 6, 2018

Finally found my skimmer. Red Sea Reefer Skimmer. They just published the video on Sunday. Here they are on their website. I had the hardest time finding a skimmer while researching for my custom Synergy Reef sump. The skimmer compartment is 7.5" x 14.5" and the two skimmer I wanted, RO eSsence S-130 and RO Regal S-150 INT, would not fit. I was left with the only decent choice of NYOS 120 which I feel is under-powered. The RS Reefer RSK-300 skimmer fits as footprint 7.1" x 9.8". Woo Hoo !!! Can't wait to get my hand on one of these.

powers2001 · Nov 10, 2018

Well I sold the Sea Sweeps and a bunch of other stuff to pay for an RODI. I bought the Icecap Smart RODI. Then I changed my mind about wavemakers since I sold my Sea Sweeps and I think I'll go with WAVs. Now I have research to do with BBUs and what I can put on them. Not AC output BBUs like for computers but DC output for pumps like Icecap and Ecotech's BBU. I would put 3 items on backup and possibly 4:

COR-20 return pump. This is the heart of the system and will oxygenate the tank and sump when put on a low power setting by the Apex when power goes out.
Apex 12 volt DC power supply. This is backup power for the Apex when power goes out to send out alert emails and texts. It also keeps the brain of the controller going to control whatever equipment is also on battery backup.
Router/modem. You can't received email and text alerts when the power goes out if there's no power going to your modem. You also can't connect to Fusion without an internet connection.
??? This is optional but if the power went out for a long time water would evaporate and you could put the ATO on backup.

Since most BBUs for aquariums only have two outputs I would need 2 of them. I could put the COR on one by itself and the items in numbers 2 and 3 on the other. Icecap batteries can be daisy-chained together for extra power duration output. Two batteries daisy-chained will put out the same power for twice as long a period as one battery at the same power drainage.

I emailed Coralvue about Icecap batteries and I will post what they say.