DB's Back! ~ 75gal Build ~ Mixed Reef
- Thread starter DB9181
- Start date
DB9181
New member
Alright, I think the K-4 will be alright, just need to make sure i position it just right to get alot of deflection off the glass. Also going to add in 2 JBJ 1600s on a wavemaker, set on a very low interval (5-10secs), alternating, to create "randomized" flow.
Tossed the two 48" VHO Actinics on the tank to get a feel for it...Definitely will need to build a simple canopy asap so that the extra light doesn't blind us in the room - specially once the two 250w MHs are in place
View attachment 6873
Also dry-fit the plumbing - as simple as you can get - had to stagger the valves to make sure they can be fully closed due to the tight space. Directly after the valves will be flex-line NOT PVC running down to the sump - hopefully this muffles most of the noise. I will also spraypaint the PVC black prior to cementing it in place.
View attachment 6874View attachment 6875
I noticed another issue that I dont think I want to fool around with. As you can see in the plumbing pics, there is an outlet directly blow the lines / in the middle of my stand - I thought this would work out great, but I think Im going to tape off that outlet and use another one that is close - With all the moisture from the sump running, etc I dont want to mess with it. Plus, I plan on mounting all the power stripes on the external left side of the stand. This will still give me easy access to them (but keep them 'hidden' on that side), keep all plugs away from moisture, and also keep things looking 'clean' wire wise.
Tossed the two 48" VHO Actinics on the tank to get a feel for it...Definitely will need to build a simple canopy asap so that the extra light doesn't blind us in the room - specially once the two 250w MHs are in place
View attachment 6873
Also dry-fit the plumbing - as simple as you can get - had to stagger the valves to make sure they can be fully closed due to the tight space. Directly after the valves will be flex-line NOT PVC running down to the sump - hopefully this muffles most of the noise. I will also spraypaint the PVC black prior to cementing it in place.
View attachment 6874View attachment 6875
I noticed another issue that I dont think I want to fool around with. As you can see in the plumbing pics, there is an outlet directly blow the lines / in the middle of my stand - I thought this would work out great, but I think Im going to tape off that outlet and use another one that is close - With all the moisture from the sump running, etc I dont want to mess with it. Plus, I plan on mounting all the power stripes on the external left side of the stand. This will still give me easy access to them (but keep them 'hidden' on that side), keep all plugs away from moisture, and also keep things looking 'clean' wire wise.
DB9181
New member
Alright, slowly making progress on the upgrade but keep running into hangups. My $200+ order from BRS came in this week 
with all my plumbing pieces, pH probe, RKE lunar pods, etc. Decided to change most of the plumbing to flex-line to reduce noise, however I ordered the wrong size ball valve from BRS...need to get a new one. My RKE & Wavemaker (From yogoshio) should hopefully be in by the end of the week as well.
Went to test my plumbing... turns out the Mag7 I was going to us is dead - so... I'll be ordering another return pump, probably off-brand to save alittle, but stronger than the Mag7, maybe closer to a Mag9.5 flow since ill have valves on the drain/return to regulate/fine-tune it.
Sump is still in the works - might be grabbing sparkys old 30gal fuge, otherwise I'll make my own -Need to figure out how exactly to hook up my Skimmer to it (ETSS 800)
The plans for my custom canopy are in the works as well (canopy thread)However it might be a little while until that is built, so for now I'm just going to temporarily hang the MHs from the ceiling, idk about hanging the VHOs yet since those are just sunrise/sunset.
This upgrade has thrown me for some loops, and slightly frustrated as I dont have alot of time to work on it, but want to get it up and going, so I snapped a few pictures...
Blue Tubbs & Single head of Red Devil People Eater (RDPE)
View attachment 7296
Green & White Striped Acans
View attachment 7297
Frogspawn & Sexy Shrimp
View attachment 7298
Green Clown Goby
View attachment 7299
Osc. Clown
View attachment 7300
with all my plumbing pieces, pH probe, RKE lunar pods, etc. Decided to change most of the plumbing to flex-line to reduce noise, however I ordered the wrong size ball valve from BRS...need to get a new one. My RKE & Wavemaker (From yogoshio) should hopefully be in by the end of the week as well.Went to test my plumbing... turns out the Mag7 I was going to us is dead - so... I'll be ordering another return pump, probably off-brand to save alittle, but stronger than the Mag7, maybe closer to a Mag9.5 flow since ill have valves on the drain/return to regulate/fine-tune it.
Sump is still in the works - might be grabbing sparkys old 30gal fuge, otherwise I'll make my own -Need to figure out how exactly to hook up my Skimmer to it (ETSS 800)
The plans for my custom canopy are in the works as well (canopy thread)However it might be a little while until that is built, so for now I'm just going to temporarily hang the MHs from the ceiling, idk about hanging the VHOs yet since those are just sunrise/sunset.
This upgrade has thrown me for some loops, and slightly frustrated as I dont have alot of time to work on it, but want to get it up and going, so I snapped a few pictures...
Blue Tubbs & Single head of Red Devil People Eater (RDPE)
View attachment 7296
Green & White Striped Acans
View attachment 7297
Frogspawn & Sexy Shrimp
View attachment 7298
Green Clown Goby
View attachment 7299
Osc. Clown
View attachment 7300
DB9181
New member
Im going to have to return ALL the fittings i just ordered from BRS and get new ones bc of a different outlet size... found 1000 GPH Submersible Water Pump Aquarium KOI Pond Fountain Sump for $50
Joe5688
Active member
Nice, only suggestion i have is, if u look at my build thread u can see i offset my return and drain pipes according to where they enter the sump. My return is closer to the right side of my tank because it enters the right side of the sump. My tank has a center brace in the back and didn't want all the plumbing tucked behind it
yogoshio
New member
+1. Nothing we are doing on tanks under 300 gallons needs schedule 80 fittings really. My entire closed loop is schedule 40 fittings from Menards, lol.
DB9181
New member
Most of the back (middle) of my stand is open so the lines can run wherever. I was going to get my fittings locally but couldnt find them. Guess I'll swing out to Addison and check by you.
DB9181
New member
A few more updates ... Recieved my RKE & JBJ Wavemaker Duo from Yogoshio
View attachment 7380
The 1600gph pumps will be at opposite ends of the tank (angled opposite diagonally up/down) and set to alternate every 10secs. Additionally, the two koralia Evo 1050s will be at opposite ends as well constantly on. Should get a good mix-up of flow this way. I'll probably have the JBJs turn off at 'night' for calmer water but we'll see.
Also working on re-programming the RKE - Tested on the 2 blue lunar pods and they are pretty sweet.
I decided I felt comfortable that the tank was stable and moved my 2 clowns over and they're loving it. They've pretty much stayed in my 10gal QT for almost a year because I was moving the 29gal around so much. They spent the first day mainly in the same corner and playing in the flow/current.
[video=youtube;roxjzXbOSlY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roxjzXbOSlY&feature=plcp[/video]
Also, 'jimmy-rigged" the MHs to hang from the ceiling for the time being until the canopy is built. I believe these are old 10K bulbs - Still need to order some new ones... Probably looking in the 14K range, I like a little blue but not to the point of 20Ks. Also havent added the last ~15gallons of water because the bulkheads/plumbing isnt hooked up therefore it would just pour out of the back of the tank. MHs are currently roughly 10-12in off the water.
View attachment 7388
And added a huge rock of ovr 40 shrooms and 2 colonies of palys - (shrooms not fully opened in pic)
View attachment 7389
Ran the MHs for a little over 2 hrs lastnight, again 10-12in off the water. Hung from the ceiling w/ no fans to see what it did to the water temp (measured through RKE). in 2hrs water temp went up about 2.3 degrees - Tonight I will try to w/ a single fan blowing across the water - Trying to get an idea of the amount of heat (i know its ALOT) prior to buiding the canopy.
View attachment 7380
The 1600gph pumps will be at opposite ends of the tank (angled opposite diagonally up/down) and set to alternate every 10secs. Additionally, the two koralia Evo 1050s will be at opposite ends as well constantly on. Should get a good mix-up of flow this way. I'll probably have the JBJs turn off at 'night' for calmer water but we'll see.
Also working on re-programming the RKE - Tested on the 2 blue lunar pods and they are pretty sweet.
I decided I felt comfortable that the tank was stable and moved my 2 clowns over and they're loving it. They've pretty much stayed in my 10gal QT for almost a year because I was moving the 29gal around so much. They spent the first day mainly in the same corner and playing in the flow/current.
[video=youtube;roxjzXbOSlY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roxjzXbOSlY&feature=plcp[/video]
Also, 'jimmy-rigged" the MHs to hang from the ceiling for the time being until the canopy is built. I believe these are old 10K bulbs - Still need to order some new ones... Probably looking in the 14K range, I like a little blue but not to the point of 20Ks. Also havent added the last ~15gallons of water because the bulkheads/plumbing isnt hooked up therefore it would just pour out of the back of the tank. MHs are currently roughly 10-12in off the water.
View attachment 7388
And added a huge rock of ovr 40 shrooms and 2 colonies of palys - (shrooms not fully opened in pic)
View attachment 7389
Ran the MHs for a little over 2 hrs lastnight, again 10-12in off the water. Hung from the ceiling w/ no fans to see what it did to the water temp (measured through RKE). in 2hrs water temp went up about 2.3 degrees - Tonight I will try to w/ a single fan blowing across the water - Trying to get an idea of the amount of heat (i know its ALOT) prior to buiding the canopy.
Lil BamBam
Premium member
I will be careful with those brown zoas.. They will take over fast!!!
With your new PH, are u getting a wave or can you?
Looks good man!!
With your new PH, are u getting a wave or can you?
Looks good man!!
yogoshio
New member
If you want to add blue I'd get some stunners from ebay. They're super cheap and can be glued right into the canopy.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquarium-Re...925?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1909bbb5
Same diodes as Ecoxotic but homemade by a guy in Texas for way cheaper.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquarium-Re...925?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1909bbb5
Same diodes as Ecoxotic but homemade by a guy in Texas for way cheaper.
DB9181
New member
Planning on probably breaking that rock in 3 pieces - 2 of them the brown zoas and a larger section of just the shrooms. Then i can always snag some of the zoas into QT for angels, etc it see if they 'nip' before risking the pretties.
Wave...? hmm at 1600gph x2 im sure i can - just want to make sure i have flow everywhere first - it already causes a ripple at the surface - I'll also have 2 3/4" loc-line returns for surface flow/aggitation.
Thx for the link - I actually also have 2 48" Actinic VHOs that will be over the tank for sunrise/sunset (probably off during the day bc thats ALOT of blue - thats why im thinking 14Ks on MH), just didnt hang em yet. Plus then the 2 lunar pods (4 blue LEDs) for night time.