A Golden Reef Tank (v2)

[halmus]

Originally Posted by karimwassef

Beautiful.

Where did you get your fibergrate?

Grainger. My new favorite toy store.

I just wish they had an actual store I could roam around in. Unfortunately, half the stuff I need I to have to order an then wait for it to come in from across the country. I only get to see the front counter and/or a website.

[MarylandTang]

There just aren't words to describe this build...

[awaxdee]

Wow

[McPuff]

This is certainly the most detailed build I have seen yet.

The rock work looks really good. It should provide a nice feel for the actual depth of the tank and you've also done a good job of utilizing the height of the tank without going too high... the corals will bridge that gap for you!

Will be exciting to see the stocking and progression of the display itself. The support room is crazy good!

[halmus]

Thanks everyone.

We tried to restrain ourselves with the rockwork but I’m afraid we still put too much in. We’re trying to take advantage of the height while leaving plenty of room for vertical growth.

[halmus]

After two months of running water with the skimmer and massive water changes, I finally added activated carbon and GFO.

I don’t know if this image will attach, but this is the immediate result to ORP and ph. I’m not chasing ORP values, but I’ve never seen such a dramatic correlation between those products and ph. Does anyone have any input or advice?

IMG_3670.jpg

[MarylandTang]

My ORP tended to go sequentially higher (often overnight while my pH is dropping) for the first few weeks before settling in.

I don't think either range is that vast, so the graph axis may give the impression that it is more dramatic than it actually is.

[karimwassef]

The pH drop points to a likely excess CO2. What could be driving that?
For example- less food (P) for an algae scrubber reducing photosynthesis?
I'm not a fan of GFO myself. They should only be used as temporary measures in case of excess but not as a constantly running filter. They can reduce P which limits the photosynthetic algae from removing N... which can cause an imbalance, etc... just let nature remove both in balance.

[halmus]

Thanks for the feedback Karim and Tang.

Just to provide more context, I have no fish in the system, I’m only running lights over the refugium that has no algae or growing things other than a thin layer of diatoms that no doubt contribute something to the CO2 / O exchange. Or do they? I need to research diatoms. I’m not feeding anything, not even ghost feeding.

I have a few hundred pounds of BRS pukani in the system that is notorious for leaching phosphate and other crud (from what I’ve read).

I’ve been running water for two months now and have been doing 125 gal water changes almost every weekend. I’m trying to “cook” the rock in tank while I’m heavily focused on just completing the system. Once I can dedicate the mental energy and time, I’ll start cycling the tank. Right now, I just want to purge as much junk out of the rock. I’m not in a big hurry, but my reasoning is that if I add GFO and carbon, it will help remove impurities from the rock as well as any crud in the system as a result of the construction.

So, that brings me to the original question, what could cause the ph to drop .2 points? As MarylandTang pointed out, it’s not a catastrophic drop but it is a clear reaction to adding carbon and/or GFO. I suspect the GFO. I’ve just never witnessed such a strong and dramatic correlation over an 8 hour period after two months of stability. I’ve been reading what I can online and I’m not surprised to see the inverse relationship between ph and ORP. I don’t particularly care about ORP, just ph stability.

Thanks again for the input everyone! I’m glad I’m seeing this now because it gets my brain back into water chemistry and how little I know about it.

[karimwassef]

You may not see them, but if you have light and inorganic nutrients, you have photosynthetic organisms. If you remove N or P or light, you'll see a drop in pH.

Personally, I would use this as an opportunity to cultivate your algae scrubber. Why waste the precious source of nutrients instead of allowing it to kickstart nature? Seed the scrubber and let it mature.

[halmus]

Thanks Karim.

By scrubber are you referring to the refugium? I don’t use a true algea turf scrubber on my tanks. I got turned off by the religion of “Santa Montica” and vowed never to go down that path.

I don’t doubt the benefit of the principle itself, it’s just that the original presentation to the reefing community felt more like an infomercial hosted by Billy Mays.

IMG_3671.jpg

[karimwassef]

Turf or macro... same general biomass sequestration.

Turf just has the benefits of avoiding bacterial growth on macro that could retard coral growth rate. The air exchange makes it difficult for bacteria to thrive.

I'm a proponent of both algae and sponges as necessary biological filters. I'm personally not a fan of the traditional bacteria filtration. They'll always find their place in any ecosystem without much help.

[BZOFIQ]

One of the best and certainly my favorite built I have ever seen on any forum; bar none.

Man, you should be teaching about aquarium build aesthetics!

[halmus]

Originally Posted by karimwassef

Turf or macro... same general biomass sequestration.

Turf just has the benefits of avoiding bacterial growth on macro that could retard coral growth rate. The air exchange makes it difficult for bacteria to thrive.

I'm a proponent of both algae and sponges as necessary biological filters. I'm personally not a fan of the traditional bacteria filtration. They'll always find their place in any ecosystem without much help.

To be honest, even though I joke about turf scrubbers and Billy Mays, that would probably be a more effective solution than what I’m building as a refugium. What I’m building will realistically have a net-zero effect. While it will export nutrients through macro algae’s, it will also collect detritus and a certain percentage of algae will get caught and decay in the sand and rock. It’s not the ideal refugium where the algae tumbles freely and it’s keep clean otherwise. I’m really just including that tank because I love the diversity of all aspects of the hobby. I will probably have pipe fish or seahorses in there over time.

I also tried to create a cave structure in there to grow sponges (kind of a cryptic zone). Again, just because it fascinates me.

Thanks again for your input and following Karim!

[halmus]

Originally Posted by xoomer

One of the best and certainly my favorite built I have ever seen on any forum; bar none.

Man, you should be teaching about aquarium build aesthetics!

Thanks xoomer. I appreciate the compliments. My OCD has tried very hard to keep this build aesthetically pleasing and easy to maintain once complete.




Electronics on the hood is my priority next weekend. The first step is determining all of the inputs and outputs for the control system.

Inputs:

open/ close the hood through keychain wireless remote, Apex outputs?, physical switches on my “IT” cabinet, physical switches inside the hood of the aquarium?

Variable target speed of hood movement

Outputs:

LCD screen displaying opening/closing state and speed?

Audible feedback letting me know it received an input command?

Feedback to Apex as to open or closed state?

I have a lot of work to do just figuring out how complex I want to make this. How complex does it really need to be? Just because I can run and monitor it through the Apex, do I really need to? I can’t imagine a time I’ll ever need to open my aquarium hood while sitting on a beach in Costa Rica.

[halmus]

This month, I'm focused on prototyping and building the electronics that will control the hood movement. I'm using a stepper motor to maintain precise control of the rotation of the lead screw which also guarantees precise control of the hood's position at all times.

I'm prototyping everything on the bench first so that I can build out the software to integrate all of the switches and indicator LED's with the motor's movement. I will have physical buttons under the hood and a few other locations around the filtration room to open, close, pause, and emergency stop movement of the hood.






I'm also adding this remote control key fob that also duplicates the functionality of the physical buttons.





The next step is to mount everything on PCB's and install in the acrylic project box I built.

[Benson0219]

Wow... just read through you whole thread. Very impressive. Are you an engineer??? The precision is amazing on your build.

[halmus]

Thanks Benson. Yes, I do have an engineering degree although I’m not currently using my degrees as intended in my profession.

I have a majority of the components permanently mounted now. I still have to install everything in the project box. I guess it will be next weekend before I have this fully assembled and running. I hope it will be done then so I can start woodworking again over thanksgiving to finish the hood facade.

[Benson0219]

Your woodworking is on par with your tank design and construction...

[halmus]

Thanks benson.

Putting the hood facade on will be a huge capstone in this project. Let’s hope the manufacturer’s specs for the ball bearing glides are accurate and the whole thing doesn’t collapse under the weight when extended.

[Benson0219]

Keeping my fingers crossed for the façade to work as projected!!!

[Eauturquoise]

Realy nice project !!

[SharkaThon]

Amazing looking build! Just tagging along to see this beauty full up and running!

[halmus]

Originally Posted by Benson0219

Keeping my fingers crossed for the façade to work as projected!!!

Thanks! I need all the luck I can get. I hope I’ll have the electronics on the hood complete by the end of the long thanksgiving holiday. Nothing ever goes quite as planned.

Originally Posted by Eauturquoise

Realy nice project !!

Thank you.

Originally Posted by SharkaThon

Amazing looking build! Just tagging along to see this beauty full up and running!

Thanks for tagging along. If all goes as planned, I’ll start introducing coral by the new year.

[halmus]

The hood automation system is finally in place. I'll be using the remote control 99% of the time to open and close the hood. There are buttons on the main control unit but it's located near the ceiling. I added additional terminals on that unit so that some time in the future, I can run wires to buttons on the main "control station" if you could call it that. There will be a dedicated panel there as an interface for the hood movement. For now, I'll use the remote. Here are two vides:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a34ReiFgRjU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a65ldN4KCpk

I am so stupidly busy either finishing up one project, starting another, or cleaning up after myself with this build. The videos aren't that good. I did take better video but I don't have the time to edit them together, remove a bunch of background noise, and make it professional.

If anyone has any questions, let me know. For now, I'm finishing up a small acrylic project to hold all of my extra long reefing tools for the extra deep tank. Maybe next weekend I can start on the woodwork for the hood. What you see in the videos is 1/8" acrylic with the paper backing still on. I'm lining the inside of the hood with those as a moisture barrier.