Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > Special Interest Group (SIG) Forums > Large Reef Tanks
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 09/17/2016, 12:02 AM   #226
Synden
Registered Member
 
Synden's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 90
Crazy attention to detail! Very inspiring. Looking forward to seeing this badboy grow out


Synden is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/18/2016, 01:40 PM   #227
muttley000
MTS Sufferer!
 
muttley000's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: NW Ohio
Posts: 1,926
Stopped by today specifically hoping for a update on this thread and I was not disappointed! The whole system looks great, thank you for posting the detailed info you have!


__________________
Next step on the system is adding A 90 gallon!

Current Tank Info: 475 multitank system is now running! Several hundred gallons of additions planned!
muttley000 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/19/2016, 03:54 PM   #228
JBarnes
Registered Member
 
JBarnes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Mead, Colorado
Posts: 328
Is there a floor drain in the room in the event of a catastrophic failure? Your build looks amazing. Thankyou for sharing it with us. Jerry.


JBarnes is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/20/2016, 02:36 PM   #229
Brian Crook
Registered Member
 
Brian Crook's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 269
Thanks a lot everyone

JBarnes, there is a floor drain in the room (large 4" ABS penetration through the concrete floor, located under the sink area).

However, it appears that there is no "U" bend in the pipe under the concrete, so leaving the hole open at floor level results in a slightly foul odor in the room. It is currently plumbed to my with sink with a "Y" connection and small "U" bend, and the main line is capped. Therefore it would not support in the event of catastrophe. The next nearest open hole drains are quite a ways away.

For the time being its a risk I'm willing to take, but I do mull it over every now and again and think of my options. Any thoughts?

Edit: I should also mention that I purchased the Active Liquid Detection system from Neptune Systems and have the sensors setup all around the tanks. Once I set them up, the idea is that they will email/text msg me if water is detected. Hopefully this could be noticed prior to a major catastrophe.



Last edited by Brian Crook; 09/20/2016 at 02:43 PM.
Brian Crook is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/20/2016, 08:36 PM   #230
dave.m
Registered Member
 
dave.m's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Canadia
Posts: 4,276
Since you already have the water sensors on the floor, you could have them go back to your Neptune controller which, when notified by the sensors, could then activate a motor that pulled a lever that would pull the plug up out of the 4" drain as needed.

Dave.M


__________________
My Gawd! It's full of corals!

Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.
dave.m is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/21/2016, 05:54 AM   #231
McPuff
Registered Member
 
McPuff's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Michigan
Posts: 1,735
Quote:
Originally Posted by dave.m View Post
Since you already have the water sensors on the floor, you could have them go back to your Neptune controller which, when notified by the sensors, could then activate a motor that pulled a lever that would pull the plug up out of the 4" drain as needed.

Dave.M
That's a cool idea! And reminds me... I've got to hook up my ALD module soon as well.


McPuff is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/21/2016, 05:31 PM   #232
Land_shark067
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 39
This is an amazing build and amazing job documenting so we could fallow your build!!! in your fish room i see a couple HVAC grilles. do you exhaust the room or are they part of your central system? how much evaporation do you get? is the room getting to humid?

Thanks again and Please keep posting livestock and growth updates!!


Land_shark067 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/22/2016, 08:53 PM   #233
Brian Crook
Registered Member
 
Brian Crook's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 269
Quote:
Originally Posted by Land_shark067 View Post
This is an amazing build and amazing job documenting so we could fallow your build!!! in your fish room i see a couple HVAC grilles. do you exhaust the room or are they part of your central system? how much evaporation do you get? is the room getting to humid?

Thanks again and Please keep posting livestock and growth updates!!
The large grille directly over the tank is a Panasonic Whisper Quiet ventilation fan which vents directly out of the house. It is connected to an adjustable humidistat and will turn on if the humidity in the room increases.

The other smaller vent is from my house and will likely remain closed all the time.

Presently I am keeping the door open in the room, mostly just for convenience, and the vent fan never turns on. Any humidity from the tank is just sucked up by the dehumidifier that I run in my basement.

In the long term I'd like to keep the door to the room closed most of the time to be a little more energy efficient. However I'd still like to install a grille in the bottom of the door to allow cool basement air to be sucked into the fish room and pulled upwards towards the vent fan.


Brian Crook is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/23/2016, 08:20 AM   #234
kaxt
Registered Member
 
kaxt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: NJ
Posts: 340
Are you sure there isn’t a p trap in your floor drain? We have floor drains in the labs where I work. Because the drains are rarely used, sometime all the water in the P evaporates and the labs get stinky. We just pour a little water down the drain, and the smell goes away. It might be worth trying, unless you are sure that the trap was never installed.


kaxt is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/23/2016, 08:54 AM   #235
Brian Crook
Registered Member
 
Brian Crook's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 269
Quote:
Originally Posted by kaxt View Post
Are you sure there isn’t a p trap in your floor drain? We have floor drains in the labs where I work. Because the drains are rarely used, sometime all the water in the P evaporates and the labs get stinky. We just pour a little water down the drain, and the smell goes away. It might be worth trying, unless you are sure that the trap was never installed.
Interesting... That might be worth me checking out.

Prior to setting up this aquarium, this drain had never been used while I've owned this house. It was just capped with the intention of being available for a second kitchen in the basement.

The floor drain in my laundry room definitely has a p trap in it, but I assumed that this other one was never intended to be an open floor drain and was probably intended to be directly plumbed to kitchen fixtures with their own p traps.. Either way, I might have to investigate this further.

Thanks for the tip.


Brian Crook is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/23/2016, 10:09 AM   #236
TheFishGuy31
Registered Member
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Mechanicsville, MD
Posts: 122
You can get an endoscope that connects to a laptop from Amazon for about $20. Easy way to find out if there's a trap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


TheFishGuy31 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/27/2016, 01:56 PM   #237
scar79
Registered Member
 
scar79's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Southwestern CT
Posts: 534
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFishGuy31 View Post
You can get an endoscope that connects to a laptop from Amazon for about $20. Easy way to find out if there's a trap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wow, I always though of endoscopes as expensive standalone devices. I have a winbook tablet with full USB port, so I just picked up one of these because why not.


scar79 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/03/2016, 05:05 PM   #238
Brian Crook
Registered Member
 
Brian Crook's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 269
I know I've been lacking for updates here but I'll put together another one soon with some new photos.

After much deliberation I have just placed an order for three of the new EverGrow IT5060's to incorporate with my existing three Kessil A360WE's to complete my display lighting. I would like to blend these with my Kessil's to reduce the spotlighting and better fill the rather large footprint of this tank, and I am pleased that they are now made with higher end diodes (Cree, etc).

I have also spent a significant amount of time on the laundry/utility room (former home of my previous aquarium) and fixing the big hole in the wall that was left behind.

Anyways, more to come in the near future!


Brian Crook is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/03/2016, 09:04 PM   #239
bwhit1406
Registered Member
 
bwhit1406's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Land O Lakes, FL
Posts: 851
Been following your progress, truly amazing build. I love the living space you have created. Keep up the good work!


__________________
150 Gallon mixed reef mix of lighting Metal Halide, Led, and T5
bwhit1406 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/29/2016, 04:10 PM   #240
Brian Crook
Registered Member
 
Brian Crook's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 269
So I've got plenty of updates to share, but I'm just waiting for my final lights to arrive (scheduled to arrive this Tuesday). I have also ordered my first shipment of coral "frags" (ever), rather than full on colonies from LFS's, and they will be arriving on Wednesday.

Plenty of photos soon enough!


Brian Crook is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/29/2016, 06:34 PM   #241
dave.m
Registered Member
 
dave.m's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Canadia
Posts: 4,276


Dave.M


__________________
My Gawd! It's full of corals!

Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.
dave.m is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 10/30/2016, 02:18 PM   #242
muttley000
MTS Sufferer!
 
muttley000's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: NW Ohio
Posts: 1,926
Looking forward to that!


__________________
Next step on the system is adding A 90 gallon!

Current Tank Info: 475 multitank system is now running! Several hundred gallons of additions planned!
muttley000 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/03/2016, 04:58 PM   #243
Brian Crook
Registered Member
 
Brian Crook's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 269
Alright folks, so here's what I've been up to over the past several weeks... (not all of which is directly related to the aquarium). This update is going to be a little different, with the pictures and text split up throughout.

My previous 220 gallon aquarium backed into the laundry/utility room, so part of this upgrade and new location of the 520 gallon was to recover and renovate the laundry room to make it a nicer place to be. So I tore down all the drywall, insulated with safe-n-sound, tiled the floor, installed a drop ceiling, tore out the old plumbing for the utilities and ran some new lines, ran some new electrical, etc... etc.. The end result being a much cleaner and brighter room for our laundry machines, sink, storage, and utilities. It's actually quite a large space in there now without the old aquarium. Even though this has nothing to do with the new tank, completing this reno affirmed for me that I made the right decision in upgrading.

Next up, I tore up the old tiles at the foyer/landing in the basement. There were two different types there previously (both different than the new ones I put down in the laundry room), so it was time for them to go. I replaced them with the same woodgrain tiles I used around the bar and fireplace area in the recroom to help tie everything together. I still need to complete the grouting and trim but you get the idea...

(old aquarium went through the wall on the right)











Back to the fish room, I've been working on running and organizing the wiring for my new lights which recently arrived. I opted to purchase three 24" fixtures of the new EverGrow models with higher end diodes (Cree, Osram, etc.). These fixtures are a little less expensive than some of the competition, but I am very impressed with them so far. These fixtures are positioned along the back side of the aquarium, with my three Kessil's positioned along the front. I've programmed them to blend nicely together and I couldn't be happier with how it all looks. This is definitely the best overall lighting I've ever had with any of my aquariums. I purchased an additional 16" fixture for use over the frag tank. With a little bit of clever maneuvering I used the wireless remote to create a separate lower intensity schedule for the frag tank light.














My refugium is also up and running now, with a few pieces of rock and (what started as) a handful of chaetomorpha. I put my old Vortech MP40 in the refugium, but only have it programmed to power on for 10 minutes at a time once every 4 hours just to help stir up the detritus and prevent stagnation. Flow through the fuge is pretty minimal by design.





Last edited by Brian Crook; 11/03/2016 at 05:39 PM.
Brian Crook is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/03/2016, 05:15 PM   #244
Brian Crook
Registered Member
 
Brian Crook's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 269
Here are some photos of the room overall. I now have a proper desk and workstation at the back of the room. I use this space for some of my other hobbies as well, mainly music and photography. On the wall where the old aquarium was (the dark purple one), I added a cold air return when I renovated the laundry room and put up some photos to add a bit of interest.










And a couple loose ends... Since I first started up my Reeflo Hammerhead pump, I had noticed a slight leakage at the seal. I inquired with the manufacturer and they shipped me a new mechanical seal. Installing the seal was pretty simple and the leak has stopped completely... so that's awesome. Very impressed with Reeflo's customer service.

My water chemistry test kits arrived too so I've started taking some samples and inputting them into my Apex. I'm dosing Alk/Calc manually for the time being (and minimally at this point), but will eventually automate this process when it becomes pressing.

Lastly, I picked up a ~6' long and ~1" thick piece of rough edge oak (complete with chainsaw mark) which I will finish and turn into a couple of shelves out in the recroom somewhere...

(taking apart the pump to replace the seal.... clearly quite a bit of leakage!)







Brian Crook is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/03/2016, 05:23 PM   #245
Brian Crook
Registered Member
 
Brian Crook's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 269
Missed a couple pictures...

Here's a quick photo of the frags which just arrived the other day, and another photo of my very stubborn carpet anemone which refused to move from its position right against my glass ... You can see that I have now positioned a powerhead straight at it in the hopes that it will concede and relocate.. I'd really rather not have to peel it off once again.






Brian Crook is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/03/2016, 05:38 PM   #246
JonezNReef
Registered Member
 
JonezNReef's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Florida
Posts: 782
Wow everything is looking awesome. Nem may be in a bad place for you but it and that clam look very happy with your new lights too.


JonezNReef is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/03/2016, 11:50 PM   #247
dave.m
Registered Member
 
dave.m's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Canadia
Posts: 4,276
Now THAT'S what I call an update. Great looking work all around. Congrats!

Dave.M


__________________
My Gawd! It's full of corals!

Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.
dave.m is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/04/2016, 06:02 AM   #248
McPuff
Registered Member
 
McPuff's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Michigan
Posts: 1,735
Looks awesome. Can you share more information about those evergrow lights? They look like nice fixtures!

For your fuge, consider using a Mars Aqua grow light (300W) or similar (i.e., something with more power). I've got one of these and my chaeto is doubling in size each week.


McPuff is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/04/2016, 11:09 AM   #249
Brian Crook
Registered Member
 
Brian Crook's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 269
Quote:
Originally Posted by McPuff View Post
Looks awesome. Can you share more information about those evergrow lights? They look like nice fixtures!

For your fuge, consider using a Mars Aqua grow light (300W) or similar (i.e., something with more power). I've got one of these and my chaeto is doubling in size each week.
Thanks, the lights are the EverGrow IT5000 series (whichever number corresponds to the 24" version for the main tank and the 16" version for the frag tank). There are six independently controlled channels consisting of two types of blue, a white, red, green, and UV. Sorry I can't recall all the specifics but its easy enough to google that info. The interface is completely wireless and there are no controls on each unit which I really like. They each come with a wireless touch-screen controller however one controller can control all of the units. The controller is fairly simple in design but does what you would expect it to do without any bells and whistles. The "custom" setting allows you to set the intensity of each channel every hour. So after a bit of time programming it all it's a "set it and forget it" style of light. Cloud patterns and features such as this are not built-in to this light. 1% blue or 1% UV works well as a moonlight, though I think I will still have it shutoff completely and utilize my Apex LSM.

Each channel is controllable down to 1% which is pretty fantastic, considering my Kessils shutoff around 15%. The diodes are now all name brand which drives the price of these units up a bit, but still significantly less than the competition. As I mentioned before I was really impressed with these lights when I bought them, which is why I opted for the 16" version for my frag tank. They seem to be a nice balance of value and performance / quality.

Regarding the fuge, I am getting pretty good growth with just the 60w-equivalent light bulb over top, however I may upgrade down the road. I'm not sure how I feel about throwing yet another 300 watts of lighting into the equation though... but we'll see.


Brian Crook is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 11/07/2016, 04:48 PM   #250
Brian Crook
Registered Member
 
Brian Crook's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 269
Here is a full tank shot, taken today:




Brian Crook is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:36 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.