So I have fallen off the wagon and again have been bitten by the salty water bug. I have been into and out of aquariums for more years than I care to admit but I went cold turkey almost 10 years ago and am now on a return engagement. I have in the past owned and been the indentured servent to many tanks in my past. a 53 Corner, a 60 cube, a 55 long, a 120 and a 210.
I was intrigued by the Nuvo 25 AIO but I could not buy one no matter how hard I tried. so the search began and lo and behold I found a local couple who was getting out and gave me a great deal on the tank, basic stand, Ghost skimmer, pumps and a AI LED light and about 100 Lbs. of dry dirty dead rock in a crate in his yard . As we were putting everything in my truck after the purchase he told me every once in a while you have to tap the pump to get it started after a power cycle .
And so it begins:
Not wanting to "tap" the pump after a power cycle I instead purchased this IM MightyJet 538 Gph DC controllable pump as a replacement.
My next "fix" was the glass 100 Watt heater. I was a Senior Controls Design Engineer foe 21 years then a Wide area Network Administrator for 17 and I am not a fan of electrical components inside a glass housing so I picked up this stainless Steel 100 watt heater with dual thermostat controller and double outlets to keep temps in their respective ranges.
Next in my research I saw the ghost skimmer was working for many but in general they were not highly recommended, I found a marketplace deal on a Tunze 9004 skimmer used but in perfect condition and after searching I could not find a new one in stock anyplace (good sign) so I snapped it up. I see they are upgradeable to DC motor so that may happen depending on how well it works. My only worry is no remote drain for weeks of camping but I will figure out a solution.
Next I put the 100 lbs of scroungy rock into a bleach bath in a 30 gallon brute outside my garage to oxidize off all the crap I don't want it my new tank, it snowed last night and today was to be the day 7 cleaning, rinsing day but that will have to wait. supposed to be in the 50's later this week.
So I decideed to dig into my treasure trove of old equipment to see what I could use in my new tank. Lo and behold I kept lots of good stuff.
Yes I know its old and will need a new PH probe but it does everything I need it to do, worked flawlessly on past tanks.
And
And 2 of these 6055 wave makers fully controllable speed as well as programmable functions to make them do as I wish.
A little large for in tank display but I will see if I can hide them.
Digging a little further I found (2) ReefDosingPumps Sentry models. 1 was used for ATO and the other equipped with dual line for dosing 2 part in my old systems. They are hospital grade equipment and simply stone cold reliable with battery baxkup if power cycles it remembers how much it dosed and continues. BIG but super reliable.
In the same box I found this industrial duty dual diaphragm pump used to do automatic water changes. it can remove and replace up to 6 gallons a day set at 100% duty cycle. I need to reduce cycle and downsize the tubing and valves to be able to fit it into my plan but its all standard pipe thread so I see no problem getting about a gallon a day. if I remember discussing this with Randy Holmes Farley at a show 30 gallon tank with recycling some of the new water will still change about 26 gallons of new water.
Well that's the plan and I just got my wife to agree to let me have a "little" space in her laundry room Dog kennel area for a couple of 20 gallon containers for RO and Premix as well as pumps and dosing. I will go thru the drywall for tubing and as long as I got away with that I may pot a 10 gallon refugium on a stand there also. Still planning that out with the refugium sitting slightly above the display and a small pump moving water out of the rear of the AIO into the refugium and gravity fed back to the AIO rear compartment. I think the 538 GPH should be large enough the break off a small feed into the refugium and still provide enough for the tank to be OK.
I am selling the giant couch I had on the wall where the tank is going and I will rip up the white carpet the original owners put down in the recreation room (what were they thinking ?) and put down vinyl strips in its place.
Stay tuned and I hope to get this show on the road.
I was intrigued by the Nuvo 25 AIO but I could not buy one no matter how hard I tried. so the search began and lo and behold I found a local couple who was getting out and gave me a great deal on the tank, basic stand, Ghost skimmer, pumps and a AI LED light and about 100 Lbs. of dry dirty dead rock in a crate in his yard . As we were putting everything in my truck after the purchase he told me every once in a while you have to tap the pump to get it started after a power cycle .
And so it begins:
Not wanting to "tap" the pump after a power cycle I instead purchased this IM MightyJet 538 Gph DC controllable pump as a replacement.
My next "fix" was the glass 100 Watt heater. I was a Senior Controls Design Engineer foe 21 years then a Wide area Network Administrator for 17 and I am not a fan of electrical components inside a glass housing so I picked up this stainless Steel 100 watt heater with dual thermostat controller and double outlets to keep temps in their respective ranges.
Next in my research I saw the ghost skimmer was working for many but in general they were not highly recommended, I found a marketplace deal on a Tunze 9004 skimmer used but in perfect condition and after searching I could not find a new one in stock anyplace (good sign) so I snapped it up. I see they are upgradeable to DC motor so that may happen depending on how well it works. My only worry is no remote drain for weeks of camping but I will figure out a solution.
Next I put the 100 lbs of scroungy rock into a bleach bath in a 30 gallon brute outside my garage to oxidize off all the crap I don't want it my new tank, it snowed last night and today was to be the day 7 cleaning, rinsing day but that will have to wait. supposed to be in the 50's later this week.
So I decideed to dig into my treasure trove of old equipment to see what I could use in my new tank. Lo and behold I kept lots of good stuff.
Yes I know its old and will need a new PH probe but it does everything I need it to do, worked flawlessly on past tanks.
And
And 2 of these 6055 wave makers fully controllable speed as well as programmable functions to make them do as I wish.
A little large for in tank display but I will see if I can hide them.
Digging a little further I found (2) ReefDosingPumps Sentry models. 1 was used for ATO and the other equipped with dual line for dosing 2 part in my old systems. They are hospital grade equipment and simply stone cold reliable with battery baxkup if power cycles it remembers how much it dosed and continues. BIG but super reliable.
In the same box I found this industrial duty dual diaphragm pump used to do automatic water changes. it can remove and replace up to 6 gallons a day set at 100% duty cycle. I need to reduce cycle and downsize the tubing and valves to be able to fit it into my plan but its all standard pipe thread so I see no problem getting about a gallon a day. if I remember discussing this with Randy Holmes Farley at a show 30 gallon tank with recycling some of the new water will still change about 26 gallons of new water.
Well that's the plan and I just got my wife to agree to let me have a "little" space in her laundry room Dog kennel area for a couple of 20 gallon containers for RO and Premix as well as pumps and dosing. I will go thru the drywall for tubing and as long as I got away with that I may pot a 10 gallon refugium on a stand there also. Still planning that out with the refugium sitting slightly above the display and a small pump moving water out of the rear of the AIO into the refugium and gravity fed back to the AIO rear compartment. I think the 538 GPH should be large enough the break off a small feed into the refugium and still provide enough for the tank to be OK.
I am selling the giant couch I had on the wall where the tank is going and I will rip up the white carpet the original owners put down in the recreation room (what were they thinking ?) and put down vinyl strips in its place.
Stay tuned and I hope to get this show on the road.
