Sonicboom's 180 build in Tampa

[Snook65]

Sonic, good thread and I will be following you. It's nice to read about others having issues like me. You know the old saying "Misery loves company"!

[Sonicboom]

Originally Posted by Snook65

Sonic, good thread and I will be following you. It's nice to read about others having issues like me. You know the old saying "Misery loves company"!

haha, thanks Snook65, welcome aboard the pain train. My wife honestly thought when i said i was going to start a saltwater tank, that I would just go out and buy a kit and put everything together and, walla. done. LOL, yea maybe if IKEA sold tanks that would be the result..

[Sonicboom]

So i ran a little test today, with 3 sides of the qt tank covered with insulation, I let the house reach 82 degrees while I was at the zoo. Came home and the tank was still at 78.

[RIGUY314]

looks like you are doing a great job on all sides. can't wait to see the stand finished. keep it up. tagging along for the ride. any plans for automation? Apex or DA?

[Sonicboom]

Thanks Riguy, I picked up some magnets for the doors today and some 1/2" cpvc for a rock frame i made. Yes i will be doing automation, not a pain yet replenishing 1 gallon a day but I don't like the salinity swings. I have been reading alot about the APEX and the DA. Seems like they both do the same, i will have to narrow it down to which one has the most bang for the buck as well as which one is current with updates. I'm sure i can't go wrong with either.

[worm5406]

I like the apex and feel that it has better bang when I bought it. I did a lot of research. Did a lot of reading and youtube video searches.

[Sonicboom]

Thanks for the info worm5406, once i have my lighting in place i will be looking at the Apex. I think the controller is last on my shopping list. I am looking at those Radions in your signature, I really like the weather pattern they can do. I would love for them to simulate according to the actual weather outside.

[worm5406]

No luck on actually reading current conditions.

Only those of use that are techno nerds like the lightning, and the occasional visitor sometimes.

HAHAHA

[Sonicboom]

<----absolute techno nerd, I want it to control fans based on outdoor wind conditions as well... LOL!! i mean it is our job to simulate the actual environment as close as possible right?..lol

[Sonicboom]

Update1: came home and was happy to see the QT tank still at 78 even thought the house was at 85. i guess the insulation really works.

Update 2: picked up my first inhabitants. a pair of Super fancy white ocellaris or Davinci clowns from FAOIS.
here they are getting acclimated, and they even ate brine shrimp during.




once acclimated, they were introduced to their new "temp" home

[Newbie Aquarist]

Nice clowns. I wonder what other designer name they can come up with next.

[vair]

Looking good.

[AmberFL03]

very nice! I might have missed it but what did you do with the 75 that didn't fit?

[Sonicboom]

Originally Posted by AmberFL03

very nice! I might have missed it but what did you do with the 75 that didn't fit?

Thank you, i sold it on craigslist.

[Sonicboom]

So after much research i think I will be going with the soon to be released AI Hydras. great customer service, great reviews on the SOL (with the exception of the remote), and when the Director releases it will be controllable via web and Iphone and android. and i will be saving about 600.00 after purchasing three vs ecotech.

[Sonicboom]

So i have been researching and looking for ATO units. i found a few, some a simple mechanical float valve and some electronic multi float valve setups. However, I have not found any that take into account the salinity as a safety check. I would love to have a probe in the tank monitoring salinity and a float valve at the same time. However the ATO will only kick off IF Salinity rises past 1.025 AND the water level drops enough to activate the float, and vice versa, if the float drops, the salinity must read 1.026 or higher. this way i can do a water change and not have to worry too much about the ATO kicking on. anyone know of any products out there that can do this? I know anything left in the water will start to get a build up but there is some maintenance associated with any ATO.

[vair]

Sounds complicated, are you concerned the ATO dumping to much fresh water in?

[worm5406]

WOW... that is 3rd gen...

We are still in 1st gen.

There are other things more complicated things that needs to be addressed before that.

But I feel ya.

[Sonicboom]

Originally Posted by vair

Sounds complicated, are you concerned the ATO dumping to much fresh water in?

lol yes it does, but i don't think it is, basically the microprocessor just needs an IF AND statement, so IF water level low AND salinity > 1.025 THEN enable ATO. It's just a sort of double check. so if there is a leak of some sort or water is being manually removed the salinity check would not allow the ATO to kick in, making things that much worse.

Originally Posted by worm5406

WOW... that is 3rd gen...

We are still in 1st gen.

There are other things more complicated things that needs to be addressed before that.

But I feel ya.

I hear ya, but this is one of things people will say..damn that makes sense! I am not sure how the digital ATO's work but during a water change, does the ATO need to be turned off?

[worm5406]

Some have a defer statement. So it will defer the LOW water sensor for x minutes. As in low water sensor has to meet the critera for x minutes before turning on.

It is easier to set it to do the w/c during certain times of the day... Being careful because if the W/C does a change when it is in a LOW position it might add extra to make the water level correct. All this little adding of SW compared to RODI/TO will add to the salinity. A little bit each time.

That is why some take out 5 g and add 5 g back in at a time. Quick and easy.

[animalcracker]

cool

[dukeap]

nice built

[Sonicboom]

So it looks like I will have to drill a small hole in my sumps baffle to mount the ATO float valve, any advice on drilling a 1/4" hole in a sump with standing water? from what i read, the drill bit will need to be a paddle bit?, drill nice and slow, from both sides if possible and place a piece of wood either to guide it as well as stop it from breaking through the opposite side. Did i leave anything out?

[dave.m]

Depends on what type of "float valve" it is and how big the hole needs to be. For holes under 1/2" I just use a regular wood drill bit. Definitely go very slow. For the float valve, if it's the swing-arm type you shouldn't use it in saltwater as it will quickly clog and be useless. If it is the type with the magnetic-contact float inside an upside-down PVC cap make sure you can take it out to clean it once a month, i.e. don't mount it permanently.

Dave.M

[Sonicboom]

Thanks for the info Dave.m, i was planning on using an arm type float but have run into a bit of an issue. I'm not sure if anyone with these DC programmable pumps has had the same issue but I like to set my return pump on 1 at night for calm flow, 2 in the morning and 3 or 4 during day and evening. The issue is as the pump ramps up, the water level drops in the return area. This goes back to the need for a salinity plus level check from a controller. ..