Restarting reef tank in Greenback after a hiatus

ApexConsumer

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Hi everyone,

I am restarting my reef tank after it died off during my move here from Florida three years ago. Upgraded to a 90 gallon from the original 45 (now my sump/refugium) and got everything assembled over the last couple weeks. Decided to acid dip my rock to start with a clean slate. The tank has been cycling for a little over a week, and I just finished the aquascape with the clean stone last night. Planning on mostly mushrooms and other soft corals, since I like movement. Still, have some diy projects and tweaks to make. I almost forgot how expensive this hobby could be!

Just wanted to say hi and see if anyone had any reasonably priced frags to get me started when the tank is ready in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to being part of the community.

Brad
 

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I like that same type of tank. I have several soft coral, lps and Yuma ricordia mushrooms. The reef club is having a meeting on Saturday at 1@ JKS aquatics in Knoxville. Myself and other potential new members are going. Would be a good way to meet other local people who share the same hobby.
 
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I'll see if I can make it. I have been meaning to stop by to check it out. I really like of ricordia mushrooms.
 

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Welcome , fellow escapee from Florida and almost neighbor ( I came here from Ft Myers and live in Friendsville ). Hope you can come to the club meeting Saturday .
 
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Technically my tank is set up, but I have projects to finish before I invest in too much livestock. I did have a scare last night when I dropped a led light into the tank while it was on! Thankfully I had created dyi gfci outlets that function correctly. A RO bath and overnight drying under a fan and the light works perfectly!

I still need to add the baffles to my sump/refugium and add another 60 lbs of sand to DT
 
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Whoops. I fat fingered the post above before it was ready.

Need to finish modifying the top to hide the lights
IMG_20190306_084924208_HDR.jpg
before my girlfriend flips out. I am also am pulling the items together for a dyi battery backup that can last for at least 8 hours with only 2 powerheads and 250 watts of heaters. Just need the two 6 volt batteries since i have the rest of the gear.

Here is my tank in progress... One lonely mushroom and chaeto...
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IMG_20190306_084915792_HDR.jpg
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Looks like you're off to a great start!! Love the rock work.
 
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Thanks! I decided to try to go for a more natural look this time instead of the wall I had piled up last time.
 
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Added 60 lbs of sand ($66) to complete the deep sand bed, and rearranged the aquascape when I finished. Decided to epoxy two ledges since they kept falling off the acrylic rods I drilled. I seem to enjoy piling rocks up since it took hours to get it just right... Installed the wavemaker ($60) and played around with settings for a while with the other powerhead.

Finished fixing the top so it fits with the lights mounted 7.5 inches above the water. Still can't believe the mars aqua light that fell in the tank is working.

I tried to turn the skimmer on since the tank had cycled. I had previously tested it, but while the pump works, the drive shaft had snapped. It makes a gentle hum, but no bubbles. Attempted a Superglue fix that didn't work. Researched and found that they sell a replacement shaft for $20, but a full pump is only $50... So another $50 spent on the setup. It should be here this week. I think messing around so much with the tank might cause another mini cycle, so I will hold off on adding fish until at least next week depending on the readings. However, I plan to start adding more soft corals to keep the mushroom company.

Three main projects remain:
1. My girlfriend now wants me to hide the exposed lights on top of the tank. So I either need to build a box or bust out the router and create a seamless edge extension for the whole top. Also need to repaint the entire stand once I am done.
2. Installing the baffles in the sump. I plan on running the tank without it for a week while the silicone dries. Going to get this done soon.
3. Building the DIY battery backup. I already have everything but the batteries. Plan on it being able to run 350 watts of heaters in the dead of winter and two powerheads for at least 8 hours. Need to decide what type of batteries to use. I would prefer to keep them in the house and may make a vented box so I can use golf cart batteries (cheaper). Has anyone done anything like this and have any advice?
IMG_20190310_194307567_HDR.jpg
 
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Did some rough calculations using internet expert info to figure out what I can expect to need for my battery backup. Two Costco deep cycle 6-volt batteries wired together to make 12 volts should provide roughly 200 ah at estimated $200. I can use approximately 80 percent of that (160 ah) without harming the batteries.

I assume only 250 watts of heaters (i have an extra 100-watt heater hooked up in case one fails) need to be on to warm the estimated 120 gallons in my system. I am going to assume 50 watts for two powerheads (edit my jaebo 6500 pump says it uses only 55 watts so I might use that instead) to agitate the surface and circulate water to the heaters. This means I need to plan for 300 watts.

Power (Watts) = I(Amps) * V(Voltage)

Therefore,

Amps = Power/Voltage

300/12 = 25A

Assuming that the batteries are fully charged, then it will have the full 160AH of usable capacity.

These batteries are not linked to a boost converter or anything like that so it would be 25 amps at 12 volts, so we don't need to do any more calculating here. If the power output were not at 12v, then we would reverse the power equation to do 12*160 = 1920WH. This means the battery can provide 1920 Watts for 1 hour. I have a 2000 watt modified sine wave inverter, so this works.

160AH (Amp Hours)/ 25 Amps = 6.4 hours.
or
1920WH (Watt Hours)/300 (Watts) = 6.4 hours.

This gets me close to my 8 hour goal for powering the tank in the dead of winter (worst case scenario). The heaters shouldn't have to stay on all of the time most of the year. Realistically, most power outages don't last that long anyways, and I do have a gas powered generator for backup. This will let me sleep through the night without worrying that the whole tank will die on me.

I can always buy another two batteries to double my run time. I may do so and use this system for my home office backup. I would also wire the extra batteries to be removable and portable so that I could take half the system with me for car camping. Eventually, I would like to add a few solar panels, so this is a great excuse to start a home battery bank.

These are all round numbers for simplicity and do not take into account resistance. That would reduce the run time slightly.

Let me know if anyone sees any mistakes.


Hmm.. further research says that I need to take into account the difference in the ambient air temp in the house. We usually set the heater at 68 degrees so an additional 100 watts of heater might have to be added to my calc resulting in 400 watts (4.8 hours of battery time). Also in the event of an outage, the temperature in the house would begin to fall over time. Geez, this gets complicated. The plan would be to buy the extra batteries for a total of 400 ah to cover it.

Sorry for the long post.
 
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ApexConsumer

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Correction... This project is a freaking rabbit hole... I am not an expert and still learning.

I can only use 50 percent of 210 ah (105ah) without harming the battery life of 2 6 volts lead acid deep cycle batteries. Also learned about discharge rates. That means that battery can only supply the the full ah rating if used over a certain number of hours (20 hours for these batteries). The number of ah available falls the faster it is used. Don't see anyway around not buying 4 batteries to have 210 ah (50% of 420 total ah for the batteries) to use over 20 hours without degrading battery life.
  • Capacity: 210 amp-hours at 20 hour discharge rate (the standard rate for deep cycle batteries)
  • Cost: $84
  • Dimensions 10.5”L X 7”W X 11”H and weigh 58 pounds
400/12 =33.3 A (worse case winter use with all heaters on constantly)

210/33.3=6.8 hours to use the safe amount of power to avoid damaging the batteries. The other 210 ah is available if you are willing to sacrifice long term battery life for the additional run time.

However, 6.8 hours is less than the 20 hour discharge rate for these batteries and will cause the available ah to use over this period to drop. Need to figure out exactly how much of the ah would be usable over that 6.8 hours. Going to make a wild guess of 160ah for now and think around 5 hours of run time could still be expected in the dead of winter. Need to research more...

Btw this has made me explore alternative heating options as the expected cost for a system rises primarily due to the heaters. I do have inverters for my cars and a gas powered generator to use if needed. I wanted a system that would seamlessly take care if the tank for the majority of outages and allow me (more importantly my girlfriend) to sleep through all night time outages. I am beginning to think a winter outage would still require me to wake up and take steps to provide additional power for heating unless I wanted to spend money on a total of 8 batteries (nope).

I did learn that calcium chloride mixed in water bottles is a very economical heat source but only lasts a short period of time. I plan to buy a bucket to keep in the attic along with some cheap thermal blankets.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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