SAM

got my rendering of my display tank custom Octolid - got a hinge feed door front center with a cut out for an autofeeder chimney at the left top corner.

also got my frag rack installed.

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haven't update for awhile now. it took me couple weeks to get it filled with sand, fine tune the sump, flow plus I was literally sick for almost a week in the middle of all of these thing. now it is finally in the cycle phase. starting to get the RMS railing up for the lights, installed the apex system, fix the chiller (there was a bad wire), fix the leak, breaking in the skimmer, installed the heater.


next on the agenda is to add the frag racks to the frag tank, fix the penductor since I broke one when I was tweaking it lol. finish installing lights, i only have 2 gen4pro at the moment, need to get 2 more. still on the waiting list for the L8 algae scrubber. ordered my lid cover from octolid - it will come with a feeder hinge and a cut out for the auto feeder chimney.

definitely have plenty of flow (these 2 pumps is blowing my sand everywhere lol) from the reeflo barrcuda/hammerhead pump + the ocean motion/reeflo Dart but still wanna add 2 more mp40wqd at both side of back wall of display tank to serve as backup, additional flow since I already have an ecotech backup battery in case of power failure. might invest in another backup battery in the future.

still need to get more RMS mounting for the frag tank for my 3 gen2 lol.....totally forgot I have nothing to mount them on.

I will post more picture in the coming weeks with more progress.

oh yea, I still gotta calibrate my salinity, ph, orp probe....just being lazy right now.

this has being a tremendous undertaking, way more than I thought it will be. lots of frustration for sure and road blocks. yet I'm chipping at it little bit at a time. I'm getting closer and closer. i feel like I learned so much about this tank like as if I'm learning how to raise a kid lol. really want to shout out to both Jim and Seth for all the support, wisdom, and encouragement!

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Sam, what's the purpose for the 2nd 40g water container?

the middle 40g one is strictly for water top off, the left 40g just extra at this point lol. I was gonna use it for fast mix salt station etc..

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Did Seth hang your RO/DI? That thing seems like its way up high! I'd be dripping water in my face every 6 months changing out filters.

Rockscape looks good buddy!

nope did it myself lol. just wanna have room underneath for my wife stuff

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also got on the waiting list with Bud on Turbo's Aquatics Algae Scrubber....really have no idea how long its gonna take cuz his main engineer job just cut back and he's the only engineer left for his department plus he's trying to figure better light situation for the L8 and L16 model.  So this is to hoping..... lol

Being awhile since I last updated:

Finally finished plumbing the RODI system & all the water storage including my 2 old 40gallon & the new 150gallon.  One of the old 40g will be used for water top off plumb with the Tunze 3155 <---will probably eventually replace with the Apex once it dies out.  

Definitely upgraded my system, added a Chlorine Buster unit, 100gpd piggy back RO Membrane, and another dual DI at the end.   So now, I can produce 190 gallon of water per day.  

 

As you can see from the video below, the TDS is pretty good now.  😁

 

Oh yea, I also finished my rockscape with plenty of holes for fishes to swim through & tons of mounting spaces for corals....will add sand to it soon.

Maybe I’m over thinking it, but how do you “dial in” you chiller flow with it plumbed like that? Do you just leave the valves open and hope for the best?


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I had the same question too but I believe it was explained to me by using the 1.5in valve in between the 2 T connector to adjust the how much the main flow get to go directly to the return and how much it will be diverted into the chiller. I'm also to figure out by how long it takes the chiller to take down the temp to finalize the amount of flow being allowed to flow through the chiller. chiller does have a recommend flow rate but I don't have an apex flow measure connector lol.

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I'm certainly not an engineer capable of making an educated statement here, but does plumbing a chiller like that (off the return pump returning to the same line) cause pressure problems or rob flow from the return if you have to increase the line pressure with the valve between the skimmer inlet/outlet?

good question, I had the same question and concern myself. after consulting with Seth and Jim, we felt the pump is strong enough to handle it. maybe Seth or Jim can chime in and give a better explanation.

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Finally Done with plumbing in the ocean motion & the chiller.  

Next is Water Leak test.....keeping finger cross.  

Then its onto plumbing in the RODI system & water change system.

Once all and done, it'll be aquascape!!!!!  <-- this time I will spend more than 1 hr on it lol and I promise not a fruit stand!!!!

 

Some more update:

Plumbed and finished installing the return plumbing this weekend.  Ordered some more parts online that's coming in this week.  Then I'll be finished plumbing the frag tank into the system.  The last part of plumbing will be the ocean motion <-- a bit tricky since I have not figure out the variance sequence of the ocean motion lol.  BTW, am I the only person having trouble logging in from tapatalk???  

Good to know. Hoping my own tank will survive for a year in the garage while we wait to move. Man I can’t wait to see this build keep going. What will you be choosing for rock and sand?


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same rock and sand from my old tank actually, might need to top off some more rock though. I'm gonna really do a better rockscape this time around so Seth won't laugh at my fruit stand lol

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for some reason the tapatalk is no longer giving me alert!?!? I literally have to check in myself to see any updates lol

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How long did you have the tank sit in the garage for?


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probably a year or so [emoji52]

had too many life events during that time including a new born who is now 2yrs old and a new job.

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finally got the electric work done for the tank project. now I have 2 eparate dedicated 20amp outlets, one on garage side and one on dinning room side, for the tank in addition to the original 20amp outlets for the dining room....a total of 60amp for the whole tank setup.

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Thanks to Seth & Jim! We finally started plumbing!!!! It will be a long process with planning and problem solving. looking at these pics do not do it justice. we spent alot of time on it.

I was able to clean up the garage a bit and restructure and outfit the canopy with support so we can use it as a stand for the 2 water storage tank on the left. it's a new setup we gonna use for making water top off and water change simple.

upcoming weeks:
1. trying to figure out how to salvage the ocean motion parts (missing several links from the existing hose to the tank) and plumbed into the tank.
2. ordering more plumbing parts that can only be found online like pvc gate valve
3. backup motor/pump for the main return
4. more plumbing lol

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ok, finally in the house. I guess plumbing next.

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done with 1st layer of stain today...hopefully I can find energy to get the 2nd layer tomorrow.

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finally new update!!!! I got My frag tank and stand from Marc with Melev.

the stand is unfinished so I will be doing some wood filler, wood condition, staining, and coating etc these couple weeks.

here's a link to Marc stand making video:

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Have anyone used either of the following methods to take out minor scratches in your tank:

1.using an non gel toothpaste with baking soda to polish area gently for 1min and repeat until the scratch is gone

Or

2. Using a clear nail polish, then let it sit for 1hr to cured, then use nail polish remover to remove excess

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Already thinking about my fish wish list:

5 tangs:
Hippo
Yellow
Sohol
Purple
Naso

Clown fish:
1 pair (1 Orange and 1 Black)

5 wrasses:
6 lines
Mystery
Red head solon
Hoeven
Scarlet pin stripe

Maybe:
Dragonet
Alage blenny
Diamond watchman goby


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Good thing you can grow massive colonies Sam. You may not want to snorkel in that tank.

Thanks for the info on Marc. I may give him a call and see. When is yours done?


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He gave me an estimated time of 6wks.

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Sweet Sam. Not sure how I missed the first thread. Glad to see the big tank in the house. That frag tank will be nice. Is Marc building the stand too? I may need to look into that for a frag tank as well.

How high off the water is the canopy? You could always add a few 4' T5 lamps to help supplement the Radions if you need, although I've heard that new G4 are really powerful


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Yep Marc is building the stand too. I would say he gave the best deal compare to 5 other vendors I got quote from.

For the build, we've decided to go with no canopy, open look. Gonna buy some Radion RMS to hang the lights this time. Going for the clean look lol.

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Ok, just ordered my frag tank/stand with Marc from Melev in Ft. Worth.  It's gonna be a 36x36x10 frag tank, had to change the height of stand to 35in for it to fit through the front door lol.  Marc had to remind me of that, originally wanted a 36in tall stand lol...oops!!!  Once its done, I'll drive up there and pick it up.  so if anyone need to order anything from him, I can pick it up for you too =)