SkiCat's Dream Build: [Saving The] Planet 180 - The Making Of An Epic Aquacultured Mixed Reef

[SkiCatTX]

Yea. As is, there’s no way I could fit all that equipment and all the electronics for it (controllers, ballasts, etc) so in addition to the stand face, we had our carpenter also make up a small electronics cabinet that will go next to the stand to house the apex and all that stuff, which saves, I think, just enough room in the stand to make working on it bearable lol

Hopefully will have the stand face completed and installed my thanksgiving so I can get the cycle underway!

Ballasts and the like from lights is going to be a whole other thing...not sure what I'm going to do with those. I'm thinking I might either try to make a minimal "hood" wrap of wood around the hybrid fixture, or mount those along the wall behind the tank...or in the external closet and run the wires over the tank.

Some of the electronics, especially controller related, could be mounted remotely. The doors will be removable, so I can't mount everything to the inside of them like I did with my current setup. That was very convenient, but in this case it would tether the door panels to the stand, which is not what I want.

We will be out of town all next week, which ultimately is good, since none of the hardware will be here by then...so I can't sit around and fret about not being able to work on it... I will be off for a couple of weeks around the end of the year, so that's my time to build out as much as possible!

 

[SkiCatTX]

This build is actually something else. I'm excited for this!

Me too! Things are moving painfully slowly right now...just frustrating...soon enough it'll all be here and I'll be overwhelmed by the work I suppose...

 

[SkiCatTX]

Super excited! Gotta say since you like white and will be away for periods of time give @Battlecorals a shout for the new deltec skimmers. They have a safety feature that when the water level rises too high it sucks water instead of air so the skimmer cup wont overflow back into the sump. I just got the 1000ix and it is a gorgeous piece of equipment!
Excited to see the rest of this super clean build come together!

I have historically been a dark stained wood person, my electronics where always "space grey" or black or something, and my tanks all black like everyone else. But, more recently I starting going with brighter colors, and seeing a lot of white painted cabinetry and offices. I have found just a few tanks online, or on YouTube, that have either white or frosted backgrounds, and white stands, mostly freshwater, but a few reef tanks here and there. They look best when the back glass is kept completely spotless, so I might regret this decision, but I'm going to give it a try...

I'll check out the skimmer, though with sensors I can probably make any skimmer work like that. I'll have to have sensors for various overflow conditions and leaks anyway.

 

[SkiCatTX]

The Sump is ready! It'll be packed up this weekend for shipping. I should have it by the first week of December (Note, the skimmer is one of Jeff's, just for display).

The sump features 2x 7" sock holders in the first chamber, which I'll use on and off as needed, and the opening is wide enough to support a roller mat insert like the Klir Di-7. There are 2x 1.5" drain bulkheads for full and partial syphon, as well as a 3rd emergency 1.5" over the skimmer chamber. There are 2x additional 3/4" bulkheads which I plan to use for a frag tank to be added later, and a cover for the chamber during normal operation.

The flow is then split between the 9" x 24" refugium chamber in the front with gate adjustable height/flow, and the rear 15" x 16" skimmer chamber, with a 4" bubble trap/media holder on the overflow into the pump return chamber, making the total chamber size 15" x 20". This chamber also has a probe holder and several 1/2" bulkheads for closed loops to chiller, reactors, etc.

Finally, the return chamber has a row of dosing and ATO line holders along the back, and 3x return pump bulkheads, 2x for the main display, and 1x for the future frag tank. Since all the pumps will be mounted externally, a lid can be kept over this chamber when in use. I also requested clear acrylic on the ends so that I could easily see into the chambers from all sides.

An additional experimental feature I added were two "water slides" to help reduce both noise and bubbles being generated from the larger water drop-offs from the refugium to the pump chamber, and the sock to the skimmer chamber. Because this sump is taller than normal, water falling between the chambers, and especially into the pump chamber could cause bubbles to get sucked into the return pumps and could be noisy.

I plan to install a number of optical and float sensors in various chambers to monitor water levels, set alarms, and enable ATO and AWC features. Those have yet to be designed, but I have them in mind for now. I might have to drill a few holes here and there, but I believe I have prepared for most things...

 

[AnxiousReefer]

Wow! This build is going to look amazing it’s tanks like these that make me want to get a custom tank. Following along can’t wait until the tank is up and running

 

[SkiCatTX]

Wow! This build is going to look amazing it’s tanks like these that make me want to get a custom tank. Following along can’t wait until the tank is up and running

Welcome! Same here, it was reading R2R tank threads over the last year that finally convinced me to go for it...

 

[SkiCatTX]

So, more drama with Planet this week.

Seems after all the weeks of sitting on the build, and demanding I send them the overflow box, they didn't even order the glass until a few days ago! So, the build is going to be delayed...again. They are saying the Sapphire glass is backordered and don't even know when it will arrive, so they can't start yet...

If I had only known back in August when I started this how much trouble it would be, I might have just gone with Reef Savvy from the beginning...It would have cost twice as much, but at least in the end I know I would eventually get a great tank out of it...

 

[samnaz]

W o w ...this build is something else! Hopefully the tank arrives soon-ish and is beautiful enough to make it worth all the struggles and waiting. Impatiently looking forward to updates ;Pompus ;Bookworm

 

[SkiCatTX]

W o w ...this build is something else! Hopefully the tank arrives soon-ish and is beautiful enough to make it worth all the struggles and waiting. Impatiently looking forward to updates ;Pompus ;Bookworm

Yes, a bit overwhelming all the equipment I need! Ordered a ton of stuff in the holiday sales this week...I'll post some pics shortly of the mountain of boxes that is forming my office...

 

[SkiCatTX]

I finally got all the boxes opened and all the packing materials out of the way. I'll post thoughts and images here as I get through examining everything and have some thoughts.

First up, the CaribSea Life Rock.

I decided on the dry Life Rock for a couple reasons: First, that I will not be filling the tank for several months, so it would sit in the boxes all that time. Live rock would have needed curing again, and most of the "live" would be dead by then anyway. Second, I plan to start this tank steril, or at least reasonably so, with cultured bacteria and carefully selected pods and algae. Not that I can keep it this way long term, but I want to get started for a few months growing the things I want in there with the hope that in the long term as other things find their way through quarantine, at least they have to compete with all the good stuff that is already established...in theory at least...

I think I might have over ordered, as I intended to get an initial selection of about 100 lbs, then follow up with more as needed once I got started scaping. However, it turns out that I ordered 140 lbs across two orders in 6 boxes. Basically, one of each type, plus an additional box of branches. Maybe it's fine, as the tank is a pretty good size, but at least looking at it all in the boxes it looks like way too much, even after removing most of the packing material!

The Base Rock are large round-ish pieces with lots of holes and mini caves, quite heavy. A few pieces here and there have broken off, but I'm fine with that, as these will make great rubble for seeding QT tanks or mounting frags.

I got one 20 lb box of "Arches" and another 20 lb box of "Shapes". I should have just gotten two boxes of shapes, as each box had 4 pieces, but 2 of the 4 in the shapes box where the same arches. So, in the end I have 6 12" arches, 1 large cave piece, and 1 "donut" smaller shape. All fine, but it might have been better to get a few more cave pieces.

The "Branch" pieces are a bit larger and thicker than what you might get with Real Reef Rock branch rock (Belize Branch rather than Toga Branch maybe?). I like the look of the latter, but this branch is probably better suited to mounting frags. About 1/4 of the pieces were broken in shipping, I was able to super glue a few back together, and the others I left in order to have a few smaller rubble pieces of these as well.

The final type is the "Shelf" rock, which appears to basically be a larger round-ish rock that was cut through the middle with a saw, then covered in their coloring and gravel so that it is completely flat on one side.

Not sure if it shows up in this picture well, but the rock on the right is the top view, while the left is the flat cut bottom of another piece. This will make great foundation rock, and probably stacks pretty well.

I have very happy with the look of this rock, it is amazingly realistic. I would be hard pressed to tell the difference between dried out and cleaned up harvested rock and this rock, unless I look real closely.

 

[SkiCatTX]

I debated this long and hard, but in the end, I decided to initially go with an Apex controller. I might at some point get a GHL controller as well and put some redundancy on the system, but for now I'll go with what I know. I am concerned about reliability, especially with the newer controller, on a system with a lot of automation, so we'll have to see how it goes.

For starters, I got the base unit with all the probes, a solenoid for ATO, which I'll pair with the float switch and optical sensors from the ATK that I already have. I don't need the pump as the RODI water is gravity fed. In addition to the FMM from the ATK, I need another one for the flow meters which will measure the water going into the UV and chiller as well as the returns, and 4x 1" flow meters.

I also found a saltwater-safe solenoid that will work similar to the ATO for water changes. Though many people use it anyway, technically the Neptune solenoid is NOT safe for salt water as it has metal parts that touch the water...

This WIC valve has an AC coil that I can run off one of the outlets in the Apex power bar.

 

[SkiCatTX]

Then, of course there is the coral saw.

When I move all my existing corals into the new tank, I plan to cut them all off the rocks and QT them. My current tanks are so full of pests, tube worms, asterina starfish, bristleworms, and who know what else, I hope to reduce the amount of these that get into the new tank...or at least delay the day they take over...

 

[SkiCatTX]

I did end up getting a couple Gyre 350s while they were on sale last week. Originally, I wanted just to use MP40s, as I am quite tired of cleaning my Ice Cap 1k gyre on the WB10. It gets covered in algae quickly and I have to clean the anemone guard mesh every week or two, and I ultimately have to remove and soak the pump itself at least once a month or it basically stops moving water at all. Because the wire goes in the tank, doesn't come off the pump, and plugs in directly to the controller, I have to pull the wire out as well, and that must be kept dry while trying to clean the pump...just a pain all around.

Another annoying side effect is that whenever I remove that pump from the tank, even just overnight to clean it, the anemones start moving all around the tank, and will often split. The result is that I have a large number of very small anemones, rather than a few larger ones...

I figure the only fix for that is to have multiple pumps that I swap out. For the MP40s, that's easy as I can just get a couple extra wet sides, take out a dirty one, swap in a clean one, then clean the dirty ones at my leisure, dry them, and store them for the next swap out. For the Gyres I need multiple actual pumps, though in theory I can get extra bladesets and mesh covers, but I would still have to occasionally clean the pump center itself.

For now, I got two pumps-only, which I plan to control with a Hydros, and maybe I can get an extension so that I can unplug the pump at the tank, without needing to rerun the wires each time. We'll see how that goes, and decide if I want to try another gyre on the other side of the tank.

 

[MrWheelock]

Very nice!

 

[SkiCatTX]

Very nice!

Yes! I am very excited...if only I could get the tank and sump I would be happier...ugh the waiting...

 

[SkiCatTX]

Oh, and update on the tank. Planet says the 3 Sapphire panels they were waiting on arrived this week, but one had a flaw in it, so they sent it back...waiting on the replacement for that one side panel now...oh so close...

 

[SkiCatTX]

In the meantime...continuing with new equipment that was on sale last week...I got an Aquatic Life DX-18 48" Hybrid Dimmable T-5 fixture. I looked at the various Giesmann and ATI fixtures, which would be a bit cheaper and worked just fine in generally, but I wanted a dimmable T5, and this I believe is the only one that works out of the box, and accepts 0-10v from a controller directly.

I'm not sure if I'll ramp them up and down on a daily cycle (though I might since it supports that), but what convinced me was something I read about setting the max output for various reasons. For example, when I get new bulbs, the new ones could be considerably brighter than the old, so I could lower them 20-30% for the first week or two to prevent damage to coral, or if I want to put two different colored bulbs on the two channels and adjust them relative to each other...anyway, seems nice to have.

I plan to get 3-5 XR-15Pros to put in the center. I prefer the 15s over the 30s in this case since two of them is almost exactly half the price, and I can evenly space them and add more at any time, rather than having the LED pucks in even numbered pairs close together. I didn't get the Radions yet, however, since they weren't on sale last week there is no hurry...

 

[SkiCatTX]

I ordered a large box of PVC fixtures and other parts from BRS on Monday while they were still on sale. I don't yet have a final count on all the fixtures and pipe I'll need, but there were quite a few that I do know I'll need, or will likely need, so I figure I might as well get them now. Unfortunately, many of the fixtures were not in the box when I did inventory, so I sent an email to BRS. They responded quickly and are preparing a new box with the missing items, so that's cool. I appreciate that they didn't give me grief over it.

Should have been a lot more in there...

Oh, and I also got a BRS shirt from an order last week.

 

[SkiCatTX]

And BTW, not sure if I posted before on it, but my planned color scheme for pipe is blue for return and closed loop, black for drain to sump, and of course Schedule 80 grey for fixtures and orange and red for various valves and Apex gear. Also, I'll be using ABS black for bulkheads, I'd like to use Sch 80 grey bulkheads as well, but they are so much larger than the Sch 40 ABS ones that they wouldn't fix in most of the sump. To be consistent I'll just go with black everywhere.

The one possible exception is the return bulkheads in the tank. I'm still looking for a source for white, but haven't found any yet. Swimming pool bulkheads come in white, but I can only find 2" and larger, so that won't fit in the holes for 3/4" returns they are drilling. I could 3D print them, but I'm not sure I want to print something so critical to operation as the return bulkheads...

 

[Maxx]

In the meantime...continuing with new equipment that was on sale last week...I got an Aquatic Life DX-18 48" Hybrid Dimmable T-5 fixture. I looked at the various Giesmann and ATI fixtures, which would be a bit cheaper and worked just fine in generally, but I wanted a dimmable T5, and this I believe is the only one that works out of the box, and accepts 0-10v from a controller directly.

I'm not sure if I'll ramp them up and down on a daily cycle (though I might since it supports that), but what convinced me was something I read about setting the max output for various reasons. For example, when I get new bulbs, the new ones could be considerably brighter than the old, so I could lower them 20-30% for the first week or two to prevent damage to coral, or if I want to put two different colored bulbs on the two channels and adjust them relative to each other...anyway, seems nice to have.

I plan to get 3-5 XR-15Pros to put in the center. I prefer the 15s over the 30s in this case since two of them is almost exactly half the price, and I can evenly space them and add more at any time, rather than having the LED pucks in even numbered pairs close together. I didn't get the Radions yet, however, since they weren't on sale last week there is no hurry...

I look forward to your take on these lights. I'm seriously considering them over a 40 breeder with two Kessil A360X's