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

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powers2001

powers2001

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Harbor Freight Tools had a Presidents Day Sale this weekend and I just happened to be out of town and in a different town where there is a HFT. I saw this generator on clearance for $125 and had to get it. I also bought a membership to their Inside Track Club which was $30. The membership gave me an instant discount of 20% off on the generator knocking it down to $99. So the unit and membership were $130 together. The discount on the purchase almost paid for the membership and the membership will give me great deals for a whole year. Then I can cancel it if I don’t like it.

Now about the generator. It’s a TailGator brand, 900 peak watts and 700 running watts, two stroke motor, and runs on a fuel mixture of 50:1 gas to stabilizing oil. I haven’t gotten it out of the box yet but I have watched 4 YouTube videos on it. Can’t go wrong with the price! My BBU for my gyres only lasts for approximately 35 hours so this little TailGator could really come in handy especially since I plan to have some pricey fish and high-end corals packed in this tank. I live in Montana and the winters here are cruel and bitter. Seems like every winter we have Arctic air come down and settle over our town. We’re just 60 miles from Canada.
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powers2001

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Time for an update. Realized my RS parts # 42221 were all cross-threaded where the nut screwed on to all three downpipes. I was using conversion unions and the top male ends of parts # 42221 have to go up inside the end of the downpipes quite aways so the o-ring seals. The metric to standard unions were quite expensive and would have leaked like a sieve. Hard to explain or show pictures but I’ve seen so many guys with Reefer tanks do it wrong. The part that saved me is from Ace Hardware. 3/4” MPT to 1” slip pipe adapter. I’ve seen a lot of guys use a similar fitting with 3/4” slip on the slip end instead of 1”. You have to douse the male threads of this fitting, and the female threads of RS # 42221 with Rector Seal #5 preferably. Got this tip from RussM of NS forums. It’s pipe joint compound without lead.
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Ocean_dreamer89

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Time for an update. Realized my RS parts # 42221 were all cross-threaded where the nut screwed on to all three downpipes. I was using conversion unions and the top male ends of parts # 42221 have to go up inside the end of the downpipes quite aways so the o-ring seals. The metric to standard unions were quite expensive and would have leaked like a sieve. Hard to explain or show pictures but I’ve seen so many guys with Reefer tanks do it wrong. The part that saved me is from Ace Hardware. 3/4” MPT to 1” slip pipe adapter. I’ve seen a lot of guys use a similar fitting with 3/4” slip on the female end instead of 1”. You have to douse the male threads of this fitting, and the female threads of RS # 42221 with Rector Seal #5 preferably. Got this tip from RussM of NS forums. It’s pipe joint compound without lead.
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Those are the same fittings that I used and they work great! Looking great so far! I like your idea of using cutouts to plan where equipment will fit. Very clever!
 
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powers2001

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Those are the same fittings that I used and they work great! Looking great so far! I like your idea of using cutouts to plan where equipment will fit. Very clever!
@Ocean_dreamer89 I almost didn’t catch the 42221 nuts were cross-threaded because the metric to standard conversion unions weren’t allowing the 42221’s to seat up in there all the way. On the templates I use them for everything and have a thick folder full of master copies then run extra copies when I need something.
 
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powers2001

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Soft plumbing the downpipes. I don’t have the skills to do a complex hard plumbed job nor do I see the need to have one in a small space like this. I have a Two Little Fishies 1” ball valve on the INside of sump where overflow water drains into sump. With a ball or gate valve above the water level in the sump you most likely will have gurgling still. The idea is to flood the pipe and hose above the valve. But the plumbing below the valve won’t be flooded hence some gurgle since there will be likely to have air in the line.
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powers2001

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Well I’ll give you folks an update on the plumbing issues inside and outside the stand for the chiller, UV, and inline probe holders. The plan for the UV is pretty much dead. I plan to plumb it into my system only if I need it. And same thing with my chiller. I might get by with just a fan blowing across the top of the DT. So without those two piping assemblies gone I’ll have more room for the Adaptive Reef inline probe holders. The original design was plumbing the chiller, UV, and probe holder all on the same end of the stand along with a huge CO2 scrubber and Trident also on this same end of the stand. The IKEA cabinet is on the other end of the stand so that end is pretty much maxed out. This has all taken so long with this all that I’ve been able to think about several scenarios. I wouldn’t have had all this thinking time if the AR probe holder came out three months ago like I was predicting, so it’s a good thing it hasn’t.

The manifold only pump, a Varios 2, will have to go in the skimmer section now I realized. Man with all these space restraint anxieties I could use a shrink. Ha ha.
 
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powers2001

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I just realized that if I could find a place for these wires and the Kill-A-Watt power strip, I might be able to put something here like this UV.
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powers2001

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I have an RO Elite skimmer for this system but it won’t allow me room for a second return pump in the skimmer section of the sump section to run a manifold. So I bought a temporary of sorts skimmer to begin with until I don’t need a manifold (UV and inline probe holder tube) anymore. Then shed those two pieces of equipment on the manifold later. Then I won’t need a second return pump thus giving me room finally for the Elite skimmer just in time to export from a steady increasing bioload.
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powers2001

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Thinking about putting this CyberPower AC BBU on a glass shelf in the IKEA. Had it on backside of IKEA but UV most likely will go there.
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powers2001

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I need one of those. How many watts?
@Jeffcb on the side of the box I quote, “Cannot exceed 700 running watts or 900 peak watts at one time. “

One thing I must mention is Harbor Freight will not accept returns on this generator so sales are final. They have a lot of other models of generators that are returnable with good warranties. All this has to do for me is keep a BBU charged that runs a powerhead or AirKing fan if the power goes out. I still haven’t fired it up yet.
 

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Love the sump area! Very clean and well put together under the hood!

Really enjoyed the thread and all the different information and aspects that came with it! That generator is so tiny and powerful! Love that!

Enjoying the thread and keep updating us all on the build!
 
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powers2001

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Love the sump area! Very clean and well put together under the hood!

Really enjoyed the thread and all the different information and aspects that came with it! That generator is so tiny and powerful! Love that!

Enjoying the thread and keep updating us all on the build!
@ReeferBlaine yeah I downsized my skimmer for more room and went from DC to AC, won’t have that powerbrick, and easier to dial in. I’m planning on selling my Octo Elite skimmer, I’ll need the money for and saving up for a trip to Chicago in October for Reef-A-Palooza and see my son at the same time.
 
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I was at HFT today and bought long reach straight and curved pliers and long reaching vise grips to fix a short in my DIY T5 dimmable ballasts. I have to reach way back into a tight spot.
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A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

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