rsumner's 450gal Home Office Reef

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My GOODNESS, don't even know where to start with the teaser!!!! Would you still use the Apex Controller and "plug" in your custom power control unit it? I will have "backup" EB832 but understand they do crap out.

Did you use Aluminum T-slot for your framing on left and right side of your tank?
Then T-slot to clamp down UVs? I do not know that much about the T-slot but starting to research.

When you cycled your tank initially, you used dry rock. How much Seachem and Brightwell did you use from your exiting tank for the biological cycle? Do you use anything else to cycle, i.e. Fritz-Zyme Turbo Start?

Did all your live rock from initial reef tank fit into the 8" biological media side of your sump?

Can you get a pic of your current refugium? really want to see how much chaeto you have in there now.

And based on this build thread, I was going to put sump under my tank BUT have decided to build a shed outside for the sump and all equipment and reserve the underside of cabinet for future frag tank.
 
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rsumner

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My GOODNESS, don't even know where to start with the teaser!!!! Would you still use the Apex Controller and "plug" in your custom power control unit it? I will have "backup" EB832 but understand they do crap out.

More to come on this as I'm still undecided.

Did you use Aluminum T-slot for your framing on left and right side of your tank?
Then T-slot to clamp down UVs? I do not know that much about the T-slot but starting to research.

The framing I used isn't T-Slot. If you're searching T-Slot online, you're going to get completely different stuff. This is extruded aluminum. Start your research by going to 8020.net and they have all sorts of goodies there including all the different framing profiles/sizes. My side cabinets are 30x30mm extruded aluminum.

The UV's are so heavy that they aren't mounted to the side cabinet at all. I have 2 x 20x10mm extruded aluminum frames that are mounted to the studs on the wall (drilled a whole in them and then drilled 3" wood screws through the studs). From there, I had rails that I could attach the stainless steel straps to. Those straps and some small stands that I made out of 10x10mm extruded aluminum carry all the weight of the UV's. The cabinet encloses it all.

When you cycled your tank initially, you used dry rock. How much Seachem and Brightwell did you use from your exiting tank for the biological cycle? Do you use anything else to cycle, i.e. Fritz-Zyme Turbo Start?

I used brand new dry rock and new sand in the display, but I brought over about 30 pounds of live (and 2 lbs of Seachem matrix) rock that was running in my old tank and put it in my sump. I have a dedicated section in the sump for biological filtration that is the last section before the return pumps. I did dump a bottle of Brightwell's Microbacter Start XLM in the tank at the beginning, but this was completely unnecessary due to the amount of cycled live rock that I seeded the new system with. I was able to do a 0-day cycle this way and moved the fish and coral into the new tank immediately with no ammonia spikes. I donated the remaining live rock that didn't fit into the sump to the guy who bought my old tank.

Can you get a pic of your current refugium? really want to see how much chaeto you have in there now.

My fuge section is 36x30x17 and it's full. I harvest about once a month. I dose Seachem Trace and Seachem Reef Plus 2 days a week each.

fuge-with-chaeto.jpg


And based on this build thread, I was going to put sump under my tank BUT have decided to build a shed outside for the sump and all equipment and reserve the underside of cabinet for future frag tank.

If I had the space for a separate equipment room, I would have done this too. It's VERY hard to get access to all my equipment for maintenance.
 
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rsumner

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I'm making progress on my automation upgrades which is predominately focused on power control. My non-power inputs will still come from my Neptune Apex. So, I need to bring the Apex and my new modbus-based power control into a single control for programming. Enter Node-Red. More on this to come later, but here's a screenshot my of my node-red config querying the tank temps every one second and controlling the relays via modbus RTU serial all running on a $12 raspeberry pi.

It's so easy to read: when the temp changes and it's less than 77, then turn the heaters on. When it's greater than or equal to 77.1, then turn them off. This will keep my temps at 77 within 0.2. I'll add additional controls for my Calcium reactor's CO2 and more. The end game is that the Apex will be for inputs only.

The SD card on my Apex died last week, so I replaced it and I ordered a new A3 Pro. This will reduce the number of FMM's I have and give me more inputs to make control decisions.

node-red-apex.png
 
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rsumner

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In other news, I just got an update from @geo and my new calcium reactor and media reactor are going to be shipped Monday. I’m so excited to get it installed. My old Reef Octopus reactor just can’t keep up with the demand of my tank.

I’ll post pics of it installed, but here’s a teaser that Geo sent me.

image0.jpeg
 
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rsumner

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I've made some great progress on my new power control. I'm using an industrial Modbus controllable 32-channel relay that has pluggable (replaceable) relays. The power options I have available:
  • 16 x 120V AC outlets
  • 2 x 32V DC outlets
  • 10 x 24V DC outlets
  • 4 x 12V DC outlets
  • 5V DC internal power for automation equipment
I have one large Meanwell HLG-480H-24A (480 watt) power supply for all my 24V DC power that is mounted outside of the HDPE enclosure I built to house everything. I have two DIN mounted Meanwell MDR-series power supplies for 12V DC and a 5V DC. I have two 24V-to-32V DC boost converters to power my MP60's.


rsumner-industrial-power.jpg


I wrote a TON of custom Python code that pushes and pulls everything into MQTT. From there, I can use Node-Red to build automation flows and HomeAssistant to give me a visual into everything:

aquarium-homeassistant.png

There's still TONs of more work to do. The next big thing is to add power/current sensors to all the AC and DC outlets to monitor both voltage and power consumption. These will all be custom built components where I will design the circuit boards to accommodate everything I need and push the data into MQTT.

Oh, my Geo's Reef calcium reactor showed-up yesterday and my Two Little Fishies Reborn media should arrive today. I'll get it installed this weekend.
 
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I got the new Geo's calcium reactor installed this morning. I got the CR818 GEN3 main reactor with a SMC618 secondary chamber. I'm running Two Little Fishes Reborn large in the main chamber with two packs of ReMag. I'm running Two Little Fishes Reborn small in the secondary chamber. The new reactor has a super small 12V DC pump that only consumes 9W of power. My old Reef Octopus CR140 consumed 40W at 24VDC.

geos-installed.jpg


Here are some pics comparing the new Geo's reactors with my old Reef Octopus CalReact 140. It's a little hard to tell the difference when looking at them from the side:

geos-vs-octo-cax.jpg


But, from the top, you can see the 8" and 6" chambers dominate the CR140:

top-geos-vs-octo-cax.jpg
 
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rsumner

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Well, after replacing my A2 Apex with a new A3 Apex Pro and calibrating my probes, I noticed my salinity levels were pretty low. I typically blame this on the salinity probe or some sort of electrical interference, however I have a brand new probe, a brand new Apex, and I took extra care to keep my sensor cables far away from any power lines that could cause any interference. My Apex was reading 29.2ppt Salinity, so I dropped my Tropic Marin High Precision Hydrometer in the sump and confirmed that my SG was at 1.022. :eek:

I mixed up about 10 gallons of salt water and added it to my ATO reservoir using Hazmas Top-Off Calculator . This should get things back in order.
 
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rsumner

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Looks like the footprint on the OCTO CR140 is larger than the GEO CR818?

Yep, the Octo CR140's total footprint is larger than the Geo CR818 despite their reactor only having a 5.5" chamber vs your 8" chamber. Much of this is due to how they mount their circulation pump. Your design is much better, simple to use, and fits my application perfectly. Thanks again -- I couldn't be happier.
 

Mixing lighting technologies: Do you use multiple types of lighting for your reef?

  • I currently use multiple types of lighting for my reef.

    Votes: 7 58.3%
  • I have used multiple types of lighting for my reef in the past.

    Votes: 2 16.7%
  • I haven’t used multiple types of lighting for my reef, but I plan to in the future.

    Votes: 1 8.3%
  • I have no plans to use multiple types of lighting for my reef.

    Votes: 2 16.7%
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