Tank Trials: Ultra Low Maintenance Tanks | BRStv Investigates

[Mandelstam]

Looking forward to see the skimmerless tanks develop! Having serious thought of going down that road myself.

 

[Ryanbrs]

@Ryanbrs : There's one type of coral that Tank Trials has not mentioned: NPS corals (Non-Photosynthetic). Why not include that group with the softie tank?
With that in mind, I'd really love to see this: - https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/automatic-frozen-refrigerated-food-dispenser.335151/ - set up with that system. (I know the system's a little small for this kind of DIY.)

I'd be very interested in seeing how this actually works (or doesn't). Just at face value, I think it absolutely would. Dosing food to the tank like this should eliminate the need to manually feed it. So, as I see it, this should be the sole source of food going into this system, rendering it totally automated, and ULM.

We plan on doing a NPS system in the future but the goal probably won't be ULM. We might loan some concepts but the goal with the NPS will simply be results!

 

[Sycoticrealm]

I have a 29g with a 10g sump and all i do is a weekly 10g water change.

I don't have a updated picture right now this was a month or 2 ago.

 

[Dylan Grech]

ULM Return pumps:
In my opinion the tank should have 2 pumps plumbed in with a Neptune flow sensor on the primary pump. If flow is blocked or drastically reduced the secondary pump would kick in which keeps the system running in case of malfunction. A battery backup can also be added for extra redundancy.

ULM Heating:
Pretty much same as return pump, you want to have redundancy and alerts in case of malfunction.

ULM Plumbing:
This is a bit trickier but I would say:

• An easy drain system for water changes
• Skimmer cup plumbed to a drain for less maintenance
• ATO is a must with salinity monitoring
• Keep pipe work as short as possible and with plenty of unions for yearly cleaning
• Up size all drains for less chance of blockages

 

[Donovan Joannes]

Plumbing - very low maintenance if minimally done and properly sized. I have two stand pipes (overflow and return), return pump pumps water straight back into display. The overflow goes straight into the sump. Nothing to maintain except some light brushing to remove algae growth.

Return pumps - should be cleaned monthly for longevity. I cleaned mine occasionally or whenever the flow is reduced.

Heaters - nope, don't need one. Chiller is needed especially if you keep deep water corals or those came from cooler climate reef system. I used to have resun 650, but i am on evap cooling now and so far my shallow water corals/acros is doing fine at higher temperature.

 

[siggy]

The SPS approuch will be exciting to follow thow the external skimmer and cup would keep me up at night, and uptake has yet to be addressed? The softy sump will be equally exciting to see a down and and Dirty approach.

 

[dirtdobber06]

I suggest you set up a log sheet for each tank and get a stopwatch to "clock in" and "clock out" to quantitate" number of minutes of maintenance performed in x amount of time. Then when you change something you can see if maintenance time increases or decreases or stayed the same.

 

[laverda]

I forgot to add the reason I don't want a skimmer is I think that it is too much maintenance you have to empty the cup every 2 to 3 days and I chose a cheato reactor because I think it would be less maintenance than an ATS but I would prefer an ATS

An ATS can be very inexpensive to build and very low maintenance. I incorporated mine into my over flow and another one in the weir in my sump. Attached are photos of the one in my overflow. I have not be lighting it with the red and blue grow light as pictured recently. The one in my sump is lit 8 hours a day. Just the little light from my main LED has been enough to grow the algae you see on the 2 sides. I just added the center mesh a couple days ago, mostly to keep snails and crabs out of my overflow. The total cost was less than $50.00. It takes about 1 min to harvest the algae once every week or 2.

 

[laverda]

This week's question:

-What does ULM mean to you when you think of plumbing, return pumps and heaters?

Clean, simple, well though out plumbing. There is really no reason for 3 drains if everything is designed for 50% more flow than the return pump can deliver and you put screens on the inlets.

A good quality return pump, that can be easily serviced. I like the idea of 2 smaller pumps running side by side. If one fails it is not the end of the world! Having to replace a pump in 6 months to 2 years is not ULM. AC return pumps are still way more reliable than DC return pumps. Needing a flow monitor to make sure the pump is working is not ULM either. That’s just more stuff to deal with. A simple high level float switch in the sump will tell you the same for the most part. Other wise keep the number of pumps in the sump to a minimum. If you really can’t do without 5 reactors, feed them off your return lines to the sump. Saves you the cost of pumps, saves electricity, saves maintenance, reduces heat in the tank.

2 or 3 smaller heaters as opposed to one larger one. Both set 2-3 degrees higher temp then your ideal and then controlled by a good controller. You will find your temp much more stable this way. It gives you lots of redundancy, for when a heater fails and they all do!

 

[bobman]

ULM heating is honestly not even needed. As long as room temps remain consistent. I have never run them on my tank because they usually fail at some point and honestly most peoples homes are at decent temps where heating is really a non-issue. I have one in case my heating was to break in my house but it is not actually in the tank. Its still in the package I got it in. You can always drop it in later in an emergency but an emergency and ULM and 2 entirely different concepts.

Plumbing is also really a non-issue and a properly setup herbie and bean animal is about as maintenance free as they get.

For a pump it really depends on where you want to go. The vectra m1 is probably the best choice on the market and most efficient. Plus the feed mode is excellent since you dont have to stop flow to the sump to feed changing the water levels in the sump. However if you are looking for basically an indestructible pump you just cant beat a old mag drive. They have more that stood the test of time and just keep going. With that said the M1 is likely still the better option. Way less power usage, quieter, and dont add near the amount of heat into the system.

 

[Rip Van Winkle]

ULM in terms of heaters for me, means an arrangement where it's set and forget. Also reputed, quality equipment that will last as long as possible, without requiring replacing because of breakdown or malfunction. If redundancy makes for less maintenance them that's the way to go.

For pumps, the same basic recipe as above but also something that is controllable. I would definitely go with a DC pump. I'm not convinced that having two pumps on a system this size is actually worth it but definitely having a replacement pump on-hand in case of failure. I liked the suggestions of battery back up. Incorporating the BBU would be a ULM component because when the lights go out it would surely reduce the amount of maintenance at that time.

ULM Plumbing, for me, does not translate to reduced installation time. In other words, going fast and cheap on the plumbing install will only raise long term maintenance because we all know that when something is done poorly from the beginning it becomes a continual problem going forward. Quality, well thought out plumbing, hard plumbed with PVC, done with care and as large size diameter pipes as reasonably possible. I think the plumbing on the BRS 160 is a good example but scaled to what is appropriate for a tank this size. I know Ryan has the same tastes as I do in these parts of system setup, with order and cleanliness for the plumbing as well as proper cable management for equipment power distribution inside the cabinet.

 

[Shawn Dahl]

Just started building a new 42 gallon ulm sps reef, following along. I' going with plenty of live rock, large fuge, large skimmer, carbon reactor for filtration. Kessil H380 to light the fuge. Just waiting for my order of pukani to show up to start curing. For return I opted for sicce syncra silent 3.0 and 2 MP10 for added water movement.

 

[Dylan Grech]

ULM Return pumps:
In my opinion the tank should have 2 pumps plumbed in with a Neptune flow sensor on the primary pump. If flow is blocked or drastically reduced the secondary pump would kick in which keeps the system running in case of malfunction. A battery backup can also be added for extra redundancy.

ULM Heating:
Pretty much same as return pump, you want to have redundancy and alerts in case of malfunction.

ULM Plumbing:
This is a bit trickier but I would say:

• An easy drain system for water changes
• Skimmer cup plumbed to a drain for less maintenance
• ATO is a must with salinity monitoring
• Keep pipe work as short as possible and with plenty of unions for yearly cleaning
• Up size all drains for less chance of blockages

I've seen a few replies about the dual pump setup and a lot of people don't seem to like it or prefer just having a backup pump.

In the episodes there was mention of "long trip". In case of mulfunction during the trip who would replace your return pump? If it was already plumbed your controller could just turn it on and you can keep enjoying a cocktail by the beach.

I can see the space restrictions with such a small tank but definitely something I would consider on bigger tanks.

I also like the float switch idea instead of a flow meter but personally I prefer the gadgets.

 

[Greaps]

DC Pump seems ideal, do AC pumps work on battery backups?

ULM Return Pumps 2 options: In my opinion for ULM a single DC pump with a proven track record is probably a more ULM approach than two less proven pumps. Taking apart and cleaning two pumps is more work.

Sicce Syncra SDC 9.0 Multifunction Pump
Flow Range - 1000 - 2500 GPH
Max Head - 23 ft
"states tool free maintenance" in description

Or

Neptune COR-20 Return Pump
Max Flow - 2000 GPH
Max Head - 20FT
"I just want to see it in action"


ULM Heater: Buy 2, and monitor with controller. Pick a brand I don't care much to comment.

ULM Pumbing: Bean Animal Overflow, Unions. and Gate Valves. Plus a modification to the return line. Being these sumps do not have socks or mechanical filtration they will become settling tanks and we like clean sumps. Therefore a way to rapidly siphon or do a quick mechanical filtration of this water is necessary. Lets use our return pump to do this task by having an option to branch off the return pump outflow pipe and divert water into our WC bucket or to recirculate it back into the sump bypassing the display tank and use a temporary hog filter sock or cup with disposable floss.

CJ on youtube has this setup essentially. He calls it a self cleaning sump.

 

[SereneAquatic]

DC Pump seems ideal, do AC pumps work on battery backups?

ULM Return Pumps 2 options: In my opinion for ULM a single DC pump with a proven track record is probably a more ULM approach than two less proven pumps. Taking apart and cleaning two pumps is more work.

Sicce Syncra SDC 9.0 Multifunction Pump
Flow Range - 1000 - 2500 GPH
Max Head - 23 ft
"states tool free maintenance" in description

Or

Neptune COR-20 Return Pump
Max Flow - 2000 GPH
Max Head - 20FT
"I just want to see it in action"


ULM Heater: Buy 2, and monitor with controller. Pick a brand I don't care much to comment.

ULM Pumbing: Bean Animal Overflow, Unions. and Gate Valves. Plus a modification to the return line. Being these sumps do not have socks or mechanical filtration they will become settling tanks and we like clean sumps. Therefore a way to rapidly siphon or do a quick mechanical filtration of this water is necessary. Lets use our return pump to do this task by having an option to branch off the return pump outflow pipe and divert water into our WC bucket or to recirculate it back into the sump bypassing the display tank and use a temporary hog filter sock or cup with disposable floss.

CJ on youtube has this setup essentially. He calls it a self cleaning sump.

Is this the self cleaning sump? Kind of a cool idea...

 

[Cliff Moberg]

Just curious did you ever consider canister filters I am going to try this on my aquarium in the new year on a 350 gallon tank with 3 fulval x6 canister filters what are your thoughts

 

[Cliff Moberg]

Merry xmas

 

[wopadobop]

@Ryanbrs . i am surprised by your choice to use both a uv filter and ozone. a uv bulb when properly powered does create safe levels of ozone through reaction with sea water . I think you may be complicating the build for the sps tank without needing to. Also the uv light does break down large chain molecules along with some organics so that they can be removed by the skimmer. I have always used a large uv light with any tank that was reliant on a skimmer for filtration. I learned that from @Boomer years and years ago.

 

[Doug Bourks]

It means hands off. I shouldn't need to think Of It or shut anything off when I'm doing my weekly cleanings.

 

[Greaps]

Yep that's the one I mentioned. Thinking about it further I think we can make this even simpler by putting a prefilter over the return pump for that once a month cleaning of the sump area.

By the way, great project. Has me itching to get a bigger tank again.