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Unread 02/23/2017, 02:12 PM   #26
nishal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kto17 View Post
Looks like a great start. I just got a reefer 250 Deluxe.
Thanks very much. The 250 deluxe is awesome. The light mounts and lights really are low profile and great looking. Do you have a build thread? Best of luck.


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Unread 02/23/2017, 02:15 PM   #27
nishal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reefer525XL View Post
I was planning on using that sand but I came across Tropic Eden Reeflakes and I'm so glad I did. Grain size is 3mm but its consistent and has almost zero dust. I would seriously consider it over the carrib sea. Here is a close up shot.



There is also a smaller grain which I believe is 2mm. Overall I think the quality of tropic eden is far superior.
Ah damn it! I already bought the sand . The Tropic eden does look awesome. Any much dust?


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Unread 02/23/2017, 02:18 PM   #28
nishal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VGT View Post
Man, the Red Sea Hydra mounts are so much nicer than what AI offers. Wish they were sold separately.
It's pretty impressive. It doesn't route the cord inside but can't complain. The drilled glass was a bit scary before seeing that there are plastic inserts that extend all the way over the glass edge. Not so worried anymore.


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Unread 02/23/2017, 02:19 PM   #29
nishal
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Originally Posted by acesq View Post
First of all. Best thread title ever. Secondly, this will be the first thread I read specifically for the humor. And finally, LOL.

Nice tank.


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That's a lot to live up to now! Thanks for the pressure (it can only go down from here)...and the compliments.


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Unread 02/25/2017, 06:00 PM   #30
nishal
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So a note on these AI Hydra 26 lights that come with the Reefer 450 Deluxe...I can adjust the angle of the lights by 5 degrees. It's scary as hell though. What if I drop one of and a metal edge hits the glass bottom of the tank and the thing shatters?! You know the feeling, right? I would never want to get another tank especially after the high price tag here. I was on edge setting up each of these babies with a stomach full of centipedes.



From the pic above you can see I still need to adjust them a degree or two but only after I install the Neptune Powerbrick.I also realized I couldn't really turn them on without the App...probably had to press the one button for a few seconds, but I was too lazy to wait four seconds.


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Unread 02/25/2017, 06:40 PM   #31
nishal
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Holes and IoFT:

Both you and I have seen those beautiful display of high end colorful tank electronics and amazing wires running with beautiful lines and curves. I never imagined cords could be so beautiful! Those/you guys are my heroes and I'll continue to admire your build photos.

My brain is minimalist (brain power too) and can't deal with clutter in a working space...closets are the exception . I mentioned earlier that there is a significant built in cavity in my wall behind the tank. That cavity houses the connections for the wires for whole house speakers and a receiver. The speakers sound great even though they are Bose (sorry Bose lovers, they aren't as great as you might think) but I'll wait to add a Sonos receiver to power and control those speakers in the future to incorporate into my current wireless Sonos speaker ecosystem.

For IoFT (Internet of Fish Things), I do plan to use the thunderstorm feature on my lights and couple that to speakers with thunder and lightning. Lame but it'll bring the giggly happiness to my kid, friends and I. Hopefully the fish don't hate it.

Anyway, back to the filling my hole with Neptune Apex stuff. I feel like I'll offend some people by hiding these beauties but it is what is it is. They aren't that good looking either...feel and look like oversized children's toys instead of a modern piece of IoT. That piece on the left looks like a blaster from a cheap science fiction show. Come on Neptune Apex, I can help you if you like. Lots of respect to the lab grade probes...well ok, I'll wait to comment since I spend 11 years using lab grade equipment 29 hours a day.



The hole in my wall has a power outlet, so I want to hide most of my power management stuff there to be out of the way. Conveniently, the back one of the cabinets is open so I can get on all fours and reach though the cabinet, right into that hole to plug and unplug anything that needs electrical stimulus. The red sea tanks are great at limiting some common flood issues but I am still worried that water can splash and wet my hole and electrical. Don't want that. I really tried to think of how to mount the powerbricks and Apex Powerbar to plan for flooding, splashes and heat dissipation. I had no less than 4 ideas and only one worked after failing miserably 3 times. I had this piece of furniture which is rectangular, water resistant and slatted and the perfect fit for my boxy hole.



Another 3 times of trying to use this and failed again until I came up with this. It ain't as beautiful as the others I've seen but I'm satisfied with safety, easy to access, great for heat dissipation since it's standing up, and the fact that I got to use 15 of the hundreds of zip ties (I only needed 4 but screwed up a few times again!) I have in my garage. The other power bricks are elevated on granite pieces I had from our counter tops...they are cool and heat and water resistant.



Here is a glory shot of the hole that's now mostly filled. Cabinet is pulled away from the hole (those plastic legs under the stand really make moving this stand and tank easy to slide for maintenance...one things go in the tank, I am not sure that will still be true:



And this is what the inside of the cabinet looks like with a controller from my pump (Simplicity), skimmer (Simplicity) and Gyre. I'll have to do something just to get rid of that mess of cords, but I am so relieved to have space and less hazards, especially with a 4 year old around:



Let me know what you think.


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Unread 02/26/2017, 09:44 AM   #32
acesq
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Love it. Nice a clean. Do something about those cords and you will join the big leagues of of ApexOCDdom.

When does it get wet?

And how does your post count stay at 3?? You'll never be able to access the buy/sell forum to start collecting all kinds of useless reef stuff!!!


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Unread 03/21/2017, 08:34 PM   #33
Blitzer
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Love the build! Any updates?


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Unread 03/22/2017, 12:53 PM   #34
nishal
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Gye and Cabeling

It's been a while but some good progress. Here is the tank with lights up and a Gyre 230 installed.



I like the form factor of the Gyre and the flow that should cover the whole tank without factoring in rockwork, but I could just put that sucker on the back wall vertically to get a gyre going around the rocks starting in the back and circling round the rocks. The new controller is easy to use once you read the manual and understand what the buttons do and how long to press them for different functionality. If I need more flow, I can add another Gyre 230 and plug it into the existing controller without needing another. Sounds like a good investment to me.

Also, those wires were bothering me but I can't do the fancy stuff the other reefers can do. I just want it to be neat and out of the way. Bought these wire organizers from Amazon.



They worked well. I'm happy.



Not too much on the sump, but it works again for me.




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Unread 03/22/2017, 01:31 PM   #35
nishal
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Holy rocks

I don't want a wall of rocks like I did before. I don't want a lot of rocks but more space for corals to grow, fish to swim and a minimalist but balanced easy on the eyes tank. Totally awesome if I can pull it off. I am not concerned with making a beautiful rock setup to look at but the minimal infrastructure needed to hold corals that as it gets covered by corals is relaxing and impressive. After all, it's a reef in my house, it's a big commitment on so many levels and had better be impressive.

I liked live rock and the life on it, but didn't want to deal with unwanted hitchhikers. I had a bad experience with a ninja mantis shrimp that scared the crap out of me, the clicking, the mystery and sticking my hand in the tank. So I made a promise to myself that I would use dry rock the next time if I were lucky enough to have another tank.

I saw ReefCleaners ancient reef rocks that didn't need any special work except to wash the dust off and populate with bacteria. No leaching of phosphates also, which apparently can be a problem in the future with some rocks. I ordered 50 pounds for what will be about 110 gallons of H2O total after displacement. Good company and great rocks minus the poor delivery person dropping the box hard and chipping them.


Had a cardboard box almost the same size of the tank and experimented with some rockscape. I hate doing this part because in the tank, due to optical distortion, visually the 3d structure of the rockscape will be different after adding water, so I'm going to make the angles gentler, etc to compensate. I ain't talented enough to glue rocks underwater and also risk cracking the tank. If this cracks, I'm never getting another tank.

I used Reef Welder to hold the rocks together, a plastic that softens when in hot water and hardens when in cooler water. I like the purple, but you have to use hot water and have some tongs because you'll burn your fingers getting it out of the hot water. It worked but cooled down quickly with the dry rocks (no water as yet). I don't think this stuff will work with room temp water in the tank. Actually the only reason I got it was because it was cool...plastic beads that I can kneed into a paste...how is that not interesting?



Some islands in the tank held together will Reef Welder





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Unread 04/02/2018, 09:07 PM   #36
erics3000
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Nice. tagging along. I think i am ordering one of these


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Unread 04/04/2018, 03:27 PM   #37
oceanfan913
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Impressive start, looking forward to seeing how it comes together. Definitely a clean look so far.


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Unread 04/05/2018, 01:35 PM   #38
PMReefs
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What return pump did you go with? And did it come with that barb fitting or did you have to order that separate?


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Unread 04/11/2018, 02:39 PM   #39
swiftvision
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reefer525XL View Post
I was planning on using that sand but I came across Tropic Eden Reeflakes and I'm so glad I did. Grain size is 3mm but its consistent and has almost zero dust. I would seriously consider it over the carrib sea. Here is a close up shot.



There is also a smaller grain which I believe is 2mm. Overall I think the quality of tropic eden is far superior.
It's what I used too. My research came back with nothing is better.


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Unread 04/11/2018, 06:11 PM   #40
top shelf
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nishal View Post
Holy rocks

I don't want a wall of rocks like I did before. I don't want a lot of rocks but more space for corals to grow, fish to swim and a minimalist but balanced easy on the eyes tank. Totally awesome if I can pull it off. I am not concerned with making a beautiful rock setup to look at but the minimal infrastructure needed to hold corals that as it gets covered by corals is relaxing and impressive. After all, it's a reef in my house, it's a big commitment on so many levels and had better be impressive.

I liked live rock and the life on it, but didn't want to deal with unwanted hitchhikers. I had a bad experience with a ninja mantis shrimp that scared the crap out of me, the clicking, the mystery and sticking my hand in the tank. So I made a promise to myself that I would use dry rock the next time if I were lucky enough to have another tank.

I saw ReefCleaners ancient reef rocks that didn't need any special work except to wash the dust off and populate with bacteria. No leaching of phosphates also, which apparently can be a problem in the future with some rocks. I ordered 50 pounds for what will be about 110 gallons of H2O total after displacement. Good company and great rocks minus the poor delivery person dropping the box hard and chipping them.


Had a cardboard box almost the same size of the tank and experimented with some rockscape. I hate doing this part because in the tank, due to optical distortion, visually the 3d structure of the rockscape will be different after adding water, so I'm going to make the angles gentler, etc to compensate. I ain't talented enough to glue rocks underwater and also risk cracking the tank. If this cracks, I'm never getting another tank.

I used Reef Welder to hold the rocks together, a plastic that softens when in hot water and hardens when in cooler water. I like the purple, but you have to use hot water and have some tongs because you'll burn your fingers getting it out of the hot water. It worked but cooled down quickly with the dry rocks (no water as yet). I don't think this stuff will work with room temp water in the tank. Actually the only reason I got it was because it was cool...plastic beads that I can kneed into a paste...how is that not interesting?



Some islands in the tank held together will Reef Welder


I used reef welder as well and love it. May have went overboard with it but hey at least I know the rock isn't going anywhere.

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