The official reef-pi display tank - RedSea Reefer 300 XL

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Ranjib

Ranjib

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Plumbing done. I hooked up the hydor pump for the time being since it has barb fitting.
6E66C71C-CE87-4231-8FB3-DDFD15A0EAF0.jpeg


I’m little worried about the tank , the entire front glass is hanging in the air without any support . I think it’s as expected , since the tank sits flush across all side of the stand. Still it’s little scary
D8015BDC-20A6-437C-8A68-11FE24A9272B.jpeg


FDBA566E-97B7-47D9-9628-9729A9F7FD09.jpeg


Next step , filling up with water and test plumbing
 
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Ranjib

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Tank is wet. It took some time to fill up 80g with my aquatic life ro buddie. But it’s done now.
EC3D7E2C-5A07-4DC1-8D60-8E7129E763AA.jpeg


first time sump based system , it was little intimidating. It took some time for me to understand the tuning , tank was running through emergency overflow for quite some time (almost 15 min ) before I was able to understand and tune main overflow to get it working. Hydor pump is working fine , it produced little humming noise , but not too loud,
C357CDD8-27C8-4B10-A47C-0C55595AC25A.jpeg

Still understanding the intricacies of the sump.
I mixed salt straight inside the tank. Water is still not perfectly clear , but almost there. I have submerged the life rock tree in it. And started with cycling process. I am using the brightwell dry rock starter kit. Which ships with ammonia, nitrifying bacteria for starting the cycle and heterotrophic bacteria for after cycle use. I’m thinking of running that tank for two weeks like this . And the. Start adding biocube water in it from 3rd week. After a month I’ll start relocating fish , followed by corals . Will test water in between before making any changes

now that tank is cycling, I’ve started thinking about the equipment panel . There’s 12” w X 27”h X 20” d space next to the sump . I think I’ll make an wooden enclosure to fit in there. It will have the equipment, power strip and any other mission critical element . I am still trying to understand how many outlets I need? I think two 6 outlet power strip should be ok. But have to verify that
 

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I have put this tank on my watch list. I am hoping to see some fun automation solutions and maybe even new reef-pi features. So be aware out eyes at on you ;)
 

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Tanknow that tank is cycling, I’ve started thinking about the equipment panel . There’s 12” w X 27”h X 20” d space next to the sump . I think I’ll make an wooden enclosure to fit in there. It will have the equipment, power strip and any other mission critical element . I am still trying to understand how many outlets I need? I think two 6 outlet power strip should be ok. But have to verify that

My list:
2x heater
2x LED supply
Refuge light
Top off pump
2x vortech
1x return pump
Chiller
Calcium reactor
1x Raspberry Pi
1x cooling fan
1x CO2 metering valve

easy to get over twelve. I’ve had various reactors and UV units on and off the tank. The lower load stuff is run through an APC UPS, though I’ve been meaning on getting the Vortech backup supplies wired up (all that and we never lose power)
 
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Ranjib

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Expanded PVC would probably be better than wood in this situation.
I would, if its a better choice. Any advice on how to frame those? For wood, I can do joinery or just use metal brackets, hinges etc. and I was thinking of sealing the wood with some water sealer paint/polyacrylic coats
Im looking at whats available on Amazon: and
These will be sturdy enough to hold the weight of power bricks like Meanwell, 160Watts (for kessil). What about things getting hot? will it melt the pvc sheets?
 

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PVC is much like working with wood. Only real difference is if you use glue you would want to use PVC cement rather than a wood glue. You can drill, cut, screw, join just like wood. It would take a lot of heat to melt PVC so I doubt this would be an issue for power bricks. If you look at the controller boards for sale on BRS, they're all made of PVC.
 
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PVC is much like working with wood. Only real difference is if you use glue you would want to use PVC cement rather than a wood glue. You can drill, cut, screw, join just like wood. It would take a lot of heat to melt PVC so I doubt this would be an issue for power bricks. If you look at the controller boards for sale on BRS, they're all made of PVC.
Got it,. Make sense. Thank you so much. This hobby is so fulfilling. I learn something new every day.
 
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while tank is in process of cycling , I installed led strip light inside the cabinet. I think I’ll start with two kasa hs300 power strip. I have a dli web switch pro , we’ll see if I need more controllable outlets. For non controllable use cases I have triplets and ps10.
I researched about pvc sheet based cabinet assembly . It looks little more tricky due to heat gun usage . We’ll see . I have couple of those expansion sheet coming, if I can work with those easily , then it’s fine. Else fall back to wood.
23492A82-4F61-4578-8EBB-ECBE32442995.jpeg

I have api nitrate /ammonia test kit that I was thinking of using during the cycle process. Today while working with it I realized I have lost the color reference card. Still thinking if i should buy a new one or just let go.. and start adding water from nano after 2 weeks …
 
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Water is almost clear now . No changes in tank , except I did manual top up. Water is almost crystal clear now. I love this look. Mostly because it reminds me of my first tank.


F6DE85CB-4679-4E2E-8A09-67C47E6A9B88.jpeg


I understand now why folks complain about instant ocean salt. I can see the sedimentation clear now in the tank and sump, due to larger volume. For nano, it was a barely a smaller, thinner patch of settlement that will build up in the mixing vessel. Here is the deposit in the sump.
5370B2BB-E07C-44AB-AFD4-28C361929081.jpeg


These deposits are present in the display tank as well.. thinner layer... i touched them.. not sure if should stir till it dissolve or siphon it out. Dont want to live it there at the end. It will be interesting to how it performs in the mixing station.
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Bunch of thing going through my mind.
Thinking about the ato strategy long term . I am not confident on the built in ato. The reservoir is also way too small. I'll have to have some way to refill the resorvoir or just remove it all together. So a larger reservoir is definitely required (or directly plumb through ATO station ??). I think i'll start with one float valve based system for the reservoir and check how the built in ATO performs. Ideally, reef-pi should reflect the built in ATO's behavior.

PS 10 arrived.
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I'm not to happy with the unit. There is no way to control individual outlet. Build quality is also ok. I'll go with two kasa HS300, unless i see any durability concern, in which case i'll switch to DLI web switch or as last ditch ADJ/Wired relays. But definitely no ps10. If i dont see the need of all the outlet automation, i might go with a single hs300 and a triplite individually controllable power strip. I like those chunky switches.

More im thinking about the setup long term, i was feeling i should move the controls (electronics, power management etc) outside cabinet. And use the cabinet space for something else that may require physical proximity of the sump.
 

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The outlet spacing is also super right on that strip, bad news for plug-in adapters.

As for IO/RC, I stopped using RC primarily for all the residue from mixing (and the chelating agents from RC needed to maintain the high Alk). I bounce between hW Marinemix and the Topic Marin Pro Reef, and maintain Alk at around 8 instead of shooting for anything higher - both mix super rapidly and completely and consistently. That said the IO residue is harmless, just mostly calcium carbonate. The brown gunk from reef crystals was more annoying to look at.

As for ATO, cascading reservoirs isn't bad at all, and it adds buffers in case something doesn't work.
 
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I found out the api is testing procedure online (YouTube ) and the reference color chart in another storage box. I also notice my reagents have expired 8 months before. Still ran through the test ,
Ammonia is pretty high
65E2E9BC-2D94-4541-9559-6C9989D2E8AF.jpeg


zero to negligible nitrite
B97C4E58-65A1-4D7A-97EA-DB9640C3E32C.jpeg


and zero nitrate
73124BBC-4270-4AC7-AF03-969242F029EF.jpeg

This is the third day of cycle, so not too worry . I’ll see how the results change after a week.
 

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Just make sure you don’t quote this post on anywhere else because the cycle police will tell you API is sh*** and you immediately have to do an emergency water change :D

ps: API is sh***. But next week is probably the last time you test for ammonia anyway
 
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Just make sure you don’t quote this post on anywhere else because the cycle police will tell you API is sh*** and you immediately have to do an emergency water change :D

ps: API is sh***. But next week is probably the last time you test for ammonia anyway
:) . Oopsie . I am not too worried about it right now. I am curious if the ammonia color will change. Its gonna be some time before any coral goes in. I'm interested in the hanna nitrate checker though. Might get that one later after fishes are all in. Still learning nitty-gritty of larger tank (plumbing ).
 
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Tank has been running with two different heaters, a 300w titanium (eheim) and another 100 w glass ( aqueon pro ). No external control via reef-pi. I am observing almost 4 degrees of daily temperature swing.
Screen Shot 2021-08-05 at 11.19.45 PM.png

Not happy with it actually :-(. Its not terrible, since difference between two consecutive time point is not that drastic, so the temperature swing happens slowly, and in conjunction with the ambient temperature. Here is the dining room temperature (where tank is located)
Screen Shot 2021-08-05 at 11.23.57 PM.png


Ambient temperature swing is almost 20 degrees. And this is a cold span in this time. Indoor temperature can easily get to 94 (and outside 110-120), but in those days nights are also warmer, so I gess temperature difference will be still around 20. Its funny, if I drive just 40min in SF, its in 50s, I literally shiver every time I go to visit Stenihart aquarium.

Anyhow, since all im using Kasa HS300 power strip which also provides power monitoring, im able to observe the current draw patter with reef-pi (it is modeled as analog input/ ph pobe).

Screen Shot 2021-08-05 at 11.32.34 PM.png

The 100W heater (aqueon pro) is drawing around 800mA, fairly accurate (almost 90% of rated wattage), while the eheim is drawing 2780mA (slightly above 300W, so 100% of rated wattage). The eheim heater is kicking in almost every 2min (late night), to 5 min (late afternoon) for around 10 seconds to 1 min at max. Aqueon heater has similar and more sporadic usage profile. I'll be observing this and may be play with external control using reef-pi to see how it impacts.

I was playing around with the mobius app for mp40s. Set both of my powerheads in reef crest mode, at 40% speed. Here is their current draw profile. Almost 2 min interval pulses with slightly varying peak, at around 120ma (13watts). I think these are rated at 38W, max (100% speed).

Screen Shot 2021-08-05 at 11.43.48 PM.png


Not much otherwise. Thinking about getting the saltwater mixing station ready. Will start with planning tomorrow, and maybe execute it over the course of next week. I have to build the electronics enclosure as well.
 
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Yesterday late night i changes the Mp40 setting, to see how the current draw pattern changes. Here is what it looks like for Lagoon mode (at 40% speed)

Screen Shot 2021-08-06 at 9.03.50 AM.png




and tidal swell
Screen Shot 2021-08-06 at 9.08.24 AM.png

tidal swell is very similar to reef crest, with smaller (< 2 min) and slightly steeper spikes.
 
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Ran mp40 in nutrient export mode,, it looks like in this mode theres 30 min of constant speed followed by 30 minutes of double speed random spike phase
nu.png


the 30 min spikes are pretty random in nature (current draw wise)
nutrient-export.png



Meanwhile, Ap9x does not allow external control, at least through the 0-10V port. Its for controlling other lights :-( .
 
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Ranjib

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all the charts I’m sharing is based on data emitted by the tiny reef-pi.
98CF2829-4278-4ED3-8B81-636FFAFCC185.jpeg

I have bunch of these small , pi zero based reef-pi that can do temperature , ato and power control /monitoring . For the time being I’m just hanging it from the side of the tank
95AC350B-088B-4D53-BCEC-7ABDE5E8E45C.jpeg

While I work on the saltwater mixing station , new controller etc. this gives me some understanding of how the heater and various other equipment are functioning .
 

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I think everyone on this thread has way more experience than me, but figured I'd leave a few thoughts anyways :) maybe one of them helps

Aquatic life 4 stage ro/di unit

I read that bay area water has chloramine and that the regular carbon stages don't do enough to remove it. Some cursory research supports the suggestion that bay area water has chloramine and that carbon filters designed for chloramine are recommended.

Whether you're on the same water or not I don't know. I also know you have been running fine without a chloramine filter so :shrug:

I have an extra carbon stage on mine

Pentair Pentek ChlorPlus10 Carbon Water Filter, 10-Inch, Under Sink Chloramine Reduction Carbon Replacement Cartridge, 10" x 2.5", 1 Micron

I’m little worried about the tank , the entire front glass is hanging in the air without any support . I think it’s as expected , since the tank sits flush across all side of the stand. Still it’s little scary

It's by design ... Looks good but kind of sucks for reef keeper. The tanks actually tend to lean slightly forward all the time because of this. I have a red sea reefer and I thought it was my floor, but after a tank move and additional research, I found that red sea themselves say that this lean is natural and the tank is designed to tolerate it.
 

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

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 64 36.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 33.9%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.4%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 14.9%
  • Other.

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