Double or Nothing... AJ's 405-Gallon Reef Savvy Upgrade

[garrettm]

Originally Posted by Stylo328

Tiny update today, but one I'm oddly excited about nevertheless. I ordered these brackets for the two BRS Jumbo reactors. These will allow me to mount them high along the rear of the stand and make good use of the manifold! Of course, the brackets didn't come with screws, but a quick Hone Depot run remedied that. Not sure if I am going to run the GFO and Carbon in parallel or not, but it's nice to have the option.

Hoping for a much better update tomorrow!

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Gotta love the Home Depot! Great looking build. Did I miss how you are plumbing in the reactors??

Following!

[Stylo328]

Originally Posted by garrettm

Gotta love the Home Depot! Great looking build. Did I miss how you are plumbing in the reactors??



Following!

Thanks for joining.

I plumbed the reactors today using the manifold I made last week. I have them running in sequence for the moment. It's nice to have two additional outlets from the manifold available.





I also installed the first pair of MP40QDs on the rear. Will try to make some more progress tomorrow. We are getting very close.


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[garrettm]

Looking Great!

[klipprand]

Can't find where I read it, but as I understand it, you should run the carbon prior to the GFO and your GFO should last longer.

[Stylo328]

Originally Posted by klipprand

Can't find where I read it, but as I understand it, you should run the carbon prior to the GFO and your GFO should last longer.

According to The BRS video for their dual reactor, they recommend running GFO first. I don't really know though as I've never run GFO.

Originally Posted by garrettm

Looking Great!

Thank you very much!


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[Stylo328]

Spent quite a few hours tinkering with the tank today. First thing I addressed was the side curtains to cover the overflows. The cabinet guy had installed them with screws and brackets. While effective, once they were mounted and the tank slid in place, we would not have access to the rear. I designed an alternate mounting method using magnets and an L bracket. It looks just like it did and both sides are completely removable.











Very pleased with how it turned out.

Also spent some time installing the Apex components, including the head unit, PM2, WXM (will use Reeflink instead), Auto Leak Detector, and finally, mounted the MP40 and Vectra controllers. Mounted the power adaptors and all three of the EB8s. Even installed the auto fish feeder.





Hardest part was crawling through the attic to run the Ethernet lines from the modem to behind the tank. The Apex and the Reeflink will both be hard wired to the modem.





A ton of work, but a ton of fun!

Here is the rear of the tank when I called it quits for the day. Still have a ton of wire management to do. Of note, the MP40 in the center is hung from those zip-ties so that I can remove it from above if the need arises in the future.



Thanks for checking in.


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[worm5406]

I took a small 4 port hub and put it near the tank. Wired back to the wireless hub/router. That way I can always add more. After I had it running for a while I added a webcam and plugged it straight to it too.

Sometimes cables can get messy. That way I only have to replace 6 foot cables instead of trying to run new cat5/6.

Looking good!

[LJC6780]

Great tank! Totally jealous. Looking forward to the final outcome!


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[Stylo328]

Originally Posted by worm5406

I took a small 4 port hub and put it near the tank. Wired back to the wireless hub/router. That way I can always add more. After I had it running for a while I added a webcam and plugged it straight to it too.

Sometimes cables can get messy. That way I only have to replace 6 foot cables instead of trying to run new cat5/6.

Looking good!

That's a great idea. Thanks. I had never thought of adding a webcam!


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[Stylo328]

Originally Posted by LJC6780

Great tank! Totally jealous. Looking forward to the final outcome!


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Thank you very much!


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[worm5406]

Originally Posted by Stylo328

That's a great idea. Thanks. I had never thought of adding a webcam!

There are quite a vew good ones. I got a PTZ (pan tilt zoom) at a higher price range. My build thread has it listed. Right now it is looking at the 180 / 120 / sump. When I get the 265 added it will have a lot to look at. (But if I make the new fish room like I want I might have to get a second one. )

The HUB though has really saved quite a bit. I can plug a laptop into it and configure sitting right at the tank compared to going to a device or back to the computer in the other room.

[dgasmd]

Simply outstanding

[Stylo328]

Originally Posted by worm5406

There are quite a vew good ones. I got a PTZ (pan tilt zoom) at a higher price range. My build thread has it listed. Right now it is looking at the 180 / 120 / sump. When I get the 265 added it will have a lot to look at. (But if I make the new fish room like I want I might have to get a second one. )



The HUB though has really saved quite a bit. I can plug a laptop into it and configure sitting right at the tank compared to going to a device or back to the computer in the other room.

I'll definitely look into that. Thanks.

Originally Posted by dgasmd

Simply outstanding

Thanks bud! Start getting ready, were almost there!


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[Chopper65]

Looks great, have been following along, you are way more organized than I am lol

[Stylo328]

Originally Posted by Chopper65

Looks great, have been following along, you are way more organized than I am lol

Thanks. I appreciate you following and the compliment.


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[this is me]

Very nice plumbing! Wow, I can't imagine how many tries and how many trips to the hardware store that I would have to make in order to complete that job!

[Stylo328]

Originally Posted by this is me

Very nice plumbing! Wow, I can't imagine how many tries and how many trips to the hardware store that I would have to make in order to complete that job!

Thanks! It was quite a bit of trial and error. I can say that I am happy to own a miter saw and to be a few miles from HD. Must have been at least five trips.


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[Stylo328]

Good morning. A few updates. The second L1 arrived and is plumbed in. I have to do some tweaking to the bean animal in the ghost overflows. With both pumps, I cannot run them over 40% without some challenges. I'm thinking it's the second "open" drain that needs some work. Thank God for the emergency drains!

I found a few scratches on the front panel and on one side. A local tank builder is coming to polish the glass today. I've seen his work and am optimistic. I pray it turns out well.

Was thinking, and please chime in, with three MP40s on the back wall and the two L1s, do I really need to install the MP60s on the sides? I have them, but the tank looks so clean without them. I guess I could always add them later. But that would require modifying the rear skirts.

I'll post some pics of the "polishing" later. Have a great day all.


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[worm5406]

Originally Posted by worm5406

A second pump, or higher pressure, might increase that water to where you want it too.

Originally Posted by Stylo328

I hadn't thought of that. Now I'm torn. If I don't raise the level in the overflow and the second pump doesn't resolve it, then I'm stuck with the lower level as it will be hard to access the overflow boxes once the tank is in place.

Conversely if I do raise the intakes in the overflow and the second pump increases it further, I could end up with a real issue when I put the second pump on. Same issue with access to the overflow applies.

Unfortunately I will not be able to add the second pump until I tear down the 187 and swap all rock and corals over to this tank.

SO... With the second pump how does the levels look??

Raising that lip is not affecting the Ghost overflows is it? Drop them back down maybe?

I agree on tuning the primary drains and getting that siphon set exactly correct.

[McGee10]

Very nice job, as far as the MP 60s it all depends upon what you are putting in as far as corals, if you're going SPS you will definitely need them.

[Stylo328]

Originally Posted by worm5406

SO... With the second pump how does the levels look??



Raising that lip is not affecting the Ghost overflows is it? Drop them back down maybe?



I agree on tuning the primary drains and getting that siphon set exactly correct.

Second pump definitely raised the level. I had a hard time with the overflows though, so had to throttle the pumps back to 40%. Today I re-did the bean animal and am hoping for better results. I'll let you know when we fill the tank this week. I gave up on raising the lip in the overflows by the way.


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[Stylo328]

Originally Posted by McGee10

Very nice job, as far as the MP 60s it all depends upon what you are putting in as far as corals, if you're going SPS you will definitely need them.

Thanks! It's going to be a mixed reef, but there should be plenty of SPS in there. With the removable side curtains, I should be able to add the MP60s later if need be. I'll just have to modify the curtains to allow for the cords.


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[Stylo328]

Today saw plenty of tank activity. Pedro (vividclearglass.com) arrived at 10:30 to polish out several scratches that I discovered on the front and side panes. I was surprised to find how much the MP40s the previous owner had on the side panes had marred the glass.

To prepare I drained all the freshwater last night, relying on the shop vac to collect what the siphon left behind. By the time Pedro arrived, the tank was dry and ready.

Here are a few photos of the scratches (difficult to capture) and the polishing process.











And the final product, scratch free!





The polishing process does create some distortion when viewed at an extreme angle, but the absence of the scratches is well worth it!

I have to recognize Pedro. He quoted me a price based on a two-hour job. When he arrived and evaluated the tank, he identified far more scratches than my wife and I had found. He was here working for over seven hours and the final price was consistent with the quote. A great guy and his attention to detail was incredible!


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[worm5406]

Nice job. That looks so much better!

[McGee10]

What size is the CO2 bottle looks small, is it a 5# bottle?