It is funny as some of this thread I have read before but much I have not. Page 12 now. Back in a day or two. Awesome documentation on process and mechanicals.A-Guy:
I was about to chime in with some comment like "isn't it time to dump a bunch of pooping fish in there?" until I realized I am coming in fresh on page 55 of your thread. Oopsy. I will need a few days to catch up and ask an intelligent question. Just so you have time to prepare for it.
Thank you for your help on a few APEX questions over the past few weeks. You are my "I know a guy" guy when it comes to confirming some Advanced configuration instruction. Back to page one now before dinner prep.
It's funny you mentioned page 12. That's when I made the fateful decision to get rid of my filter socks and instead use filter cups stuffed full of filter fiber so I wouldn't need to clean socks all the time. The way my sump was arranged, the skimmer blocked me from fully removing the pull-out sock trays, but I could open them enough to replace the fiber. Unfortunately, I believe that was the root cause of my tank crash as I couldn't keep nutrients under control. That's why my recent rebuild included a brand new sump with a 10" roller mat which definitely solved the filtration problem.
Makes me glad I kept quiet about my 30 kW install and my complaints about what it could not run. Tanks run fine. Sorry kids, no A/C for you but you are young and sturdy. And by now you have moved out anyway.
SSSSHHHH. I am not there yet. Don't ruin the plot! I am going as fast as I can! As I am retired now, I am overbooked.
The tanks looking very niceJust a quick update. I love the Platinum sump and the roller mat! It's doing an amazing job of filtration. In the past, I had to empty my skimmate locker about every 10-14 days. Now it takes over a month to fill up.
I'm slowly and carefully adding more corals.
I've been doing auto water changes with my DOS and Apex for almost 2 years. Over the past couple of weeks, I've started noticing a steady decline in salinity, so I assumed my DOS heads were wearing out and ready for replacement. But after replacing the heads and running the calibration, I saw the Fill head was only pumping about 75% as much as the Drain head. Closer examination of the tube revealed it's caked on the inside with sediment, similar to the gunk that builds up in my mixing station tank over time.
I'm thinking about using string trimmer line with a small brush head attached to shove it through the tube.
It's funny, for all the complaints I hear from people about the Apex salinity probe being worthless, it alerted me about this issue right away!
After I discovered all the sludge in my 1/4" tubing for AWC, I decided to clean out my mixing station tanks. I found a thick layer of sludge in the salt mixing tank, including a lot of buildup on the heater, salinity probe, and optical sensor inside that tank. This led me to change my procedure for mixing salt.
@SuncrestReef where did you get the UV mounting brackets as shown in this post?More good progress today. I glued up all the PVC and installed the sump plumbing. I purchased a set of mounting brackets for the Aqua UV sterilizer since it's a pretty heavy unit and will require periodic maintenance to replace the bulb and clean the glass tube. I wanted to make sure it was mounted firmly to make this easier when unscrewing the large PVC fittings.
To support the rest of the plumbing, I used 1" x 1" zip-tie mounting plates screwed into the sump cabinet ceiling, then suspended the PVC pipe from the mounts with zip ties. This worked great because it allowed me to loosely suspend the pipes while I got everything lined up and connected, then just tightened the zip ties until everything was pulled up to the ceiling and level with the UV sterilizer that is mounted solidly.
Now I just need to wait patiently for Neptune to get their manufacturing caught up and start shipping the next batch of COR-20 pumps so I can get water flowing.
I also added a few final touches to my saltwater mixing station. I glued up a small PVC structure to mount a heater, temperature probe, and salinity probe to sit in the bottom of the saltwater tank and connect into my Apex.
Tomorrow I plan to organize all the Apex cabling and power cords, and start the Apex configuration & programming.
I'll post it again here just in case others run across the same question:
That is a very nice install.Speaking of UV placement, here are two photos showing the placement of my 25 watt AquaUV unit. Following the guidance of the manufacturer, I mounted it so no bubbles of air remain after the return lines drain down. It is positioned front to back for ease of tube removal and it rests firmly against the back wall with one of the brackets SuncrestReef used. The forward section of the sterilizer is suspended from the "roof" and the entire unit is "locked" in place by the unions of the return plumbing. I have 24" clearance front to back in the cabinet.
All the return water flows through the UV. I get 500 gph flow through the sump thanks to the COR20 at 100%. According to the company, this is about the proper flow for ideal sterilization. BTW. I have a 120 gallon mixed reef.
I have a question? I bought the 57 watt Aqua Ultraviolet and I wanted to convert it to 1" pipe but it seems that mine came with the 2" x 3/4" reducer already glued into the cups. So my question how did you convert yours?For those of you who haven't been following along, this build thread took a detour as I completely tore down my Reefer XL 425 after a tank crash and rebuilt it with a brand new sump and plumbing. Now that the rebuild is done, I will resume updating this thread as I re-stock the tank to hopefully get back to the beautiful reef I had before the crash.
Here's a recap of the teardown and rebuild in photos:
I wanted to make this Trigger Systems Platinum 34" sump fit into a cabinet section that was only 28" wide due to the Red Sea cabinet's center support panel.
I figured the safest way to do this would be to drain and remove the display tank from the cabinet, disassemble the cabinet, then replace the center panel with an aluminum frame, opening up the full 46" interior width of the cabinet.
I started by turning off my return pump, moving my heater and probes into the display tank, then draining the sump. At that point the display tank was self-sufficient so I could disassemble and remove the sump, plumbing, and wiring. This is the mess created when you unbundle all those carefully routed wires:
Here's what a Neptune 1" flow sensor looks like inside after 3 years of use without cleaning it:
I pulled the sump out for a thorough cleaning:
And then set up the sump and my 20 gallon QT tank to hold my corals and fish while I drain the display tank:
Next I removed the display tank for cleaning:
A simple razor blade worked really well:
Meanwhile, I acid washed and bleached the rocks. Thanks to @obrien.david.j for loaning me his blue barrel and suction cups that helped immensely in this project!
The next step was to disassemble the Red Sea cabinet to replace the center support panel with the aluminum frame. This was surprisingly easy and only took about 30 minutes:
And now the new Trigger Systems Platinum 34 sump fits perfectly!
Next it was time to work on the new plumbing. I stayed with my original use of orange PVC and gray fittings:
A few hours of sniffing PVC glue and drinking beer is a great way to spend a weekend afternoon! What could go wrong???
Luckily everything fit:
While the build was in progress, I stocked the tank with a couple of 22" bluegill...
The leak test was a success, so I was able to fill the tank:
I mounted my Neptune GRO refugium light to the Trigger sump's top crossbar to eliminate the bulky mounting arm:
And with that, I was ready to transfer my fish & corals back to the display tank:
