Marty's 8' 300g/sump room build. ~750g system

[crusso1993]

I know updates have slowed way down...with everything running now I've been focused on getting other parts of house settled..afterall we did just buy this house when this thread started lol..

First quick update on the cube..We decided to not wait (per usual) and got a hydra 26. So far I'm very pleased with it.

Here's a few pics of it as of now..

Now to the important tank.. first of all, it's looking great. Very happy with how everything is running so far. Corals are growing, polyps are out, and fish are happy...which makes me happy.

This view doesnt hurt either.

Over weekend i worked on getting things put away a bit more and building storage space. Went with ceiling hung shelves to not take up more floor space in garage

Also built a shelf over by the water station for "more used" storage as well as a place to hold my containers for my phyto farm.. that project will probably get going this weekend..

I went on coralvue website and found these extension cables for the smart ato micro.

They were 20 bucks and are 15 feet each. This allowed me to finally have my ato pull out of my big freshwater bin so I no longer need to fill up ato container. I ran lines into tanks and
This also freed up more floor space in the room.

I mounted my rodi unit to the wall and got all the lines ran as short as possible.

I also ordered another FMM module and two optical sensors for the apex. I'm going to have the rodi unit automated to keep my freshwater container full all the time. It will be set up to make about 100g at once as to not burn through my DI resin with short cycling it. Still coming up with a way to auto back flush without using ton of valves.. but a monthly manual back flush may be adequate..

Another thing I'd like to say is how much I love this skimmer neck cleaner/skimmate collector setup. I have not touched the skimmer nor collector since this tank started running and I'm only at 50% full.

Skimmer maintenance once every three months? I'll take it.

Also would like to comment on how happy I am with the AC unit in the room. Its keeping the humidity around 40%, and more importantly its keeping the room cool and there are no more heat issues. I've been able to match the room temp with the heaters for the tanks to keep it so basically only the ac is performing temp regulation. Here's a graph of my temp over last five days.

The apex is set to have heaters on at 77 and off at 78, the heaters themselves are set to 78, and chiller is set to 80. Neither chillers nor heaters have come on in last 5 days. I'm sure with the summer months this will change a bit but I could turn room ac down to help compensate.


There's a bunch more in the plans, and I'll post some more coral pics up this weekend when I get time

Everything is sounding like it is working well and looks great!

For you RODI, have you looked into the Aquatic Life Smart Buddie Booster? It's fairly inexpensive, has an auto-flush built in and increases efficiency substantially. If you're not familiar with them, here's a screenshot from Amazon so you can look it up.

 

[crusso1993]

Double post

 

[Mshort03]

Everything is sounding like it is working well and looks great!

For you RODI, have you looked into the Aquatic Life Smart Buddie Booster? It's fairly inexpensive, has an auto-flush built in and increases efficiency substantially. If you're not familiar with them, here's a screenshot from Amazon so you can look it up.

Something like this seems to be the simplest solution..it would also get my pressure into the efficiency range since I'm currently running about 45-48psi..

Have you used this one yourself? If in buying one I'd like to get a good one... I'm gunna go read about this thing now

 

[Mshort03]

Wait also I see it says 50-100 God. I have the 150 GPS water saver model... I guess booster pump research is in my plans for today

 

[crusso1993]

Something like this seems to be the simplest solution..it would also get my pressure into the efficiency range since I'm currently running about 45-48psi..

Have you used this one yourself? If in buying one I'd like to get a good one... I'm gunna go read about this thing now

I have not used this one. However, I do know a number of people using them and have gotten glowing reviews from everyone. The guy who turned me on to it is @dantimdad as he has, uses and loves it. I've referenced him a number of times on these.

I was going to buy one about 1.5 - 2 months ago but a funny thing happened. I put it in my cart on Amazon on a Wedsnesday and it was $99. When I went to check out on Friday, they were out of them and the price had jumped to $129.99. It has stayed at that price since. It was interesting as the previous couple of weeks to the price jump I had recommended them to quite a number of people through different RODI threads. No idea if the two were related but they did sell out of them at the $99 price. Needless to say, I was happy that I felt I steered a lot of folks in the right direction but was not real happy with the price jump.

My pressure runs at a constant 63 psi without the pump but I still am planning on buying one when I can. Unfortunately, work has been quite slow and I have lacked the extra funds.

 

[crusso1993]

Wait also I see it says 50-100 God. I have the 150 GPS water saver model... I guess booster pump research is in my plans for today

Hhhmmmm... that is interesting. I wonder if you could still use it? I would contact Aquatic Life and maybe BRS and ask about it. Please let me know what you find out.

 

[dantimdad]

That pump has performed flawlessly. I am getting 80gpd out of my 50gpd rodi buddie

 

[Mshort03]

Hhhmmmm... that is interesting. I wonder if you could still use it? I would contact Aquatic Life and maybe BRS and ask about it. Please let me know what you find out.

That pump has performed flawlessly. I am getting 80gpd out of my 50gpd rodi buddie

Well I did a little research and looking at the auto flush kit on brs the 75gpd is good for the 75 GPS unit as well as the 150gpd water saver unit. I'm pretty sure a 150 is simply 2 75gph back to back.. so if this is the case I feel it may work? I'm gunna have to find a way to figure this out..

Also, since you own it @dantimdad can you adjust the pressure output on it? Also how long and often does it back flush?

 

[crusso1993]

Well I did a little research and looking at the auto flush kit on brs the 75gpd is good for the 75 GPS unit as well as the 150gpd water saver unit. I'm pretty sure a 150 is simply 2 75gph back to back.. so if this is the case I feel it may work? I'm gunna have to find a way to figure this out..

Also, since you own it @dantimdad can you adjust the pressure output on it? Also how long and often does it back flush?

According to the documentation, it is not adjustable and it flushes for 18 seconds before every use. Oh, wait, I'm not @dantimdad ... thankfully! Lol I'm sure he'll jump in.

 

[dantimdad]

It's fixed pressure and @crusso1993 is correct about the flush.

Honestly, I am glad it's set and forget. Already too many variables in reefing. Nice to have something idiot simple for once.

 

[Mshort03]

According to the documentation, it is not adjustable and it flushes for 18 seconds before every use. Oh, wait, I'm not @dantimdad ... thankfully! Lol I'm sure he'll jump in.

I guess I could have read the ad :/ stupid me. Lol.

An 18 second flush seems kinda short don't you think? If this came on let's say once or twice a month to produce 100gallona per time, wouldn't something more like a 5 min flush be better? Genuinely asking.

 

[dantimdad]

I don't think so. But I am no expert. I am getting 2tds out of the membrane and zero out of di.

This all starts at 176 approximately.

 

[crusso1993]

I'm not an expert either but @Mshort03 you are correct in your thinking that the only difference betwixt the 75gpd and 150gpd systems is the addition of another inline 75gpd filter. So, basically, the waste from the first 75gpd feeds the "in" on the 75gpd filter. Based on the research I have ddoneregzrding adding a booster pump, it will only increase the performance of your system.

 

[Mshort03]

I'm not an expert either but @Mshort03 you are correct in your thinking that the only difference betwixt the 75gpd and 150gpd systems is the addition of another inline 75gpd filter. So, basically, the waste from the first 75gpd feeds the "in" on the 75gpd filter. Based on the research I have ddoneregzrding adding a booster pump, it will only increase the performance of your system.

Is that supposed to be don't reccomend or deff reccomend? Cannot dispher that part lol.

I'm getting good efficiency now with my current pressure, as in I've made 2k USABLE water and have not noticed any increase in my water bill. So I guess I'm more interested in the auto flush function. I know I could also do this with a few apex solenoids but that's just a lot of parts to fail.. a manual occasional flush is becoming more appealing at that point

 

[justingraham]

Something like this seems to be the simplest solution..it would also get my pressure into the efficiency range since I'm currently running about 45-48psi..

Have you used this one yourself? If in buying one I'd like to get a good one... I'm gunna go read about this thing now

I have one it runs at 110 Psi love it does about 2-3 gallons an hour I also have the same set up as u except I use a trash can in my attic for fresh water storage get the Neptune solenoid valve and use it on the supply side to your RODI

 

[crusso1993]

Is that supposed to be don't reccomend or deff reccomend? Cannot dispher that part lol.

I'm getting good efficiency now with my current pressure, as in I've made 2k USABLE water and have not noticed any increase in my water bill. So I guess I'm more interested in the auto flush function. I know I could also do this with a few apex solenoids but that's just a lot of parts to fail.. a manual occasional flush is becoming more appealing at that point

Oh, sorry if it wasn't clear. I definitely recommend one!

 

[Mshort03]

I have one it runs at 110 Psi love it does about 2-3 gallons an hour I also have the same set up as u except I use a trash can in my attic for fresh water storage get the Neptune solenoid valve and use it on the supply side to your RODI

That's the plan. An ATO for my ATO. I really dig the hands off approach to things that's why I was trying to figure out the auto flush portion

 

[justingraham]

That's the plan. An ATO for my ATO. I really dig the hands off approach to things that's why I was trying to figure out the auto flush portion

Well the to buddie is as hands off as it gets

 

[Mshort03]

Got some progress on the display done today. Built most of the shelves on the sides. Still need a few trim pieces and to make a door, and of course paint.

Most importantly I'm glad the pipes are finally protected, but it's nice to actually see its "built in" look. Will finish the wood work this week/weekend, aside from trim I'll also be covering the gap on either side of the tank to block the light from coming around and to give a more finished look.

 

[crusso1993]

Got some progress on the display done today. Built most of the shelves on the sides. Still need a few trim pieces and to make a door, and of course paint.

Most importantly I'm glad the pipes are finally protected, but it's nice to actually see its "built in" look. Will finish the wood work this week/weekend, aside from trim I'll also be covering the gap on either side of the tank to block the light from coming around and to give a more finished look.

Looks good! That's an interesting looking lamp. Is it something you built?