NeverlosT's 140g Cube in Paradise

[NeverlosT]

So the water got clear and the sediment was gone and what was in its place? Leaks.

Yup. The bulkhead at the refugium interface was leaking. That was number one, but that was due to a really badly made bulkhead where they left flashing from the injection molding on the part. No good for water sealing. Here is a pic of it. I filed the excess plastic off, and it sealed right up.

That wasn't the bad leak. THIS was the bad leak....

Main return pump leaking. Ugh. :mad2::mad2::drama:

So there you have it. If someone tells you that DC12000s can be run externally, you tell them to pipe down. They cant. I took it apart and checked it all out. The sealing O-ring between the volute and the pump body is just a interference seal and does not get compressed against any sealing surface, so though water wont gush, that pump will never be watertight. I'm an Ocean Engineer, trust me on this one.

You know what was the real bummer? ALL of the hard plumbing was sized around THAT volute size, and now that pump wouldn't work. The pump went back (as did the spare), great service from the shop in that instance. A new day was dawning, the day of Plumbing 2.0!

 

[ethridge78]

Thats what i like to hear

 

[NeverlosT]

Plumbing 2.0 and the great pump upgrade

Well, it was time to call in the reserves. My last system back east (about 250 gallons) was run by a giant archaic reeflo. It was huge, it was a little noisy, but it worked like clockwork for years. This pump couldn't be noisy since it was in my living room (and we do not have a big place, the living room is the dining room is part of the kitchen...). I wanted energy efficiency though and the reeflo has that. Basically it was a drag race between the Iwaki MDX-100RLT and Reeflo Snapper/Dart. I found a deal on Socali on a new snapper/dart. The race was over.

I measured 5 times, I cut a lot, we could rebuild it, we could make it better, my hands were covered in blue spraypaint and then it was born. Plumbing 2.0....

Complete with a new check valve union on the return, and guess what, it didn't leak this time. Guess what else, it was quieter than the DC12000.

Also in that pic is the custom LED sump lighting I installed since I was sick and tired of working in the dark, it is under-cabinet lighting, and was worth every cent. It's even dimmable.
Lastly, that pic also houses the NextReef Monster reactors that will be the Carbon and GFO reactors, and they match the blue of the plumbing??!! Oh snap.

 

[ethridge78]

got to love those reeflo dart I have the gold hybrid on mine a little wine but love it

 

[NeverlosT]

So while all this sillyness was going down we were also working on the aquascape. I need sand since I am a wrasse-man, and we like the look of sparse towers and arches. We had the two towers from our 60G and so I set out to make a few more. I typically start tanks with dead rock since I don't like hitchhikers or nuisance algae and it saves a lot of money (and looks the same in 6 months). So we ordered some MarcoRock (great stuff) and went at it.

And in the tank:

The idea was to put the two seasoned towers from the old tank in front there, well, that didn't really pan out, but you'll see...

 

[NeverlosT]

got to love those reeflo dart I have the gold hybrid on mine a little wine but love it

good to hear! After a long time the seals go, but you can just get new seals. You can't beat the electricity consumption and I plumbed mine with those giant valve unions so that if I ever do need to take it out, it is an easy job (already tried once).

 

[NeverlosT]

Then it was time for the next problem...

The hood (this thing was made for a fishtank right??) started warping a lot once it was somewhat close to water. It was bad enough that if it got any worse, the hood could actually fall off the tank trim which would be bad news. :sad:

The guys at Visio were very nice and offered to install a cross-brace, but hey, that is where my lights need to go, and I don't want a big shadow in the tank, nor do I want to lose the hood for three weeks, so I declined and decided to fix it myself.

Heres one side, a little warped:

And the other side, so warped that the trim that rests on the tank trim almost doesn't fit!

So I tried just forcing it and hoping it would stay. That didn't pan out:

So it was time for the big guns. I heated and bent two aluminum plates, then drilled them and installed them with stainless hardware. They would mount to the canopy walls and when the front closed, would pull the walls into alignment (the front part is quite rigid). I decided to take this opportunity to Redgard the hood as well, and paint the aluminum parts. Here is how she ended up.

Regret #1. I wish i spent more time taping off the hood like I did the stand, the stand came out better... the hood isn't bad, but it isn't gorgeous inside either, works though.

Does it work? Hell yeah it works, also keeps light from spilling out the crack between the front of the hood and the sides. Bonus.

 

[NeverlosT]

A few bonus pics

Before I hit the rack, here are a few progress shots:

A better shot of the monster reactors:

A shot of the fuge lights installed (two PAR20 LED laps in 5000K):

The screen top I made (I don't support carpet surfing), I even built in a feeding window, it works great!

 

[revhtree]

Well done! Looks great!

 

[jackson6745]

I might have to copy your feed window That's cool. Nice equipment on this cube. Can't wait to see it stocked.

 

[NeverlosT]

Thanks guys, yeah the window in the screen works great for feeding. I highly suggest it.

More equipment pics to come...

 

[NeverlosT]

Conduit and plumbing continues...

I wanted to minimize the rats nest of wiring that all sump areas become (unless you have a HUGE sump area or a lot of spare room). So I installed conduit on the roof of the stand and down one corner. This would let me hide most probe and power wires as well as some of the water lines.

I also ran water lines to the reactors and filled them (probably too full in the case of the GFO) with media.

Heres one of the completed canopy before I brought the light over...

 

[NeverlosT]

The calcium reactor got plumbed in, followed shortly after by the UV sterilizer.

I believe in running UV at least part time on a reef tank, it improves the Redox potential of the water and kills nasty plankton like Ich Tomites. Yes it may kill some good bacteria too, but there is a lot of good bacteria on all of the tanks surfaces so I don't foresee and issue there.

The UV had a little issue when I first ordered it, as you can see, but a few bucks and a few new seals later and we were back in business.

One other change that was made here was that the manifold now feeds the UV with one of its outputs (it wants a lot more flow than the media reactors). So the Carbon and GFO share an outlet and water slowly flows through them.

 

[NeverlosT]

One last pic of the sump area all filled in...

Then it was time to put all of THAT in here...

A shot of the old tank just before she moved...

And a shot of the new tank when all the critters made the move!!! Only casualty was our anemone, but the clowns had started hosting the Aussie golden torch anyway. Still a bummer.

Just before lights out, some dramatic lighting....

And what it looks like down the left side...

and the rest of it!

There are basically 4 main pillars and lots of arches and caves. I will get some better pics of it now that things have settled in. We wanted a lot of open space to swim and a lot of sand area to make it look a bit more natural.

We also added a few critters once the tank was nice and stable. First, a picture of a red dragon frag, oh wait, no it isn't, it is Titus the Achilles Tang who has to be in every darn picture of the tank!

 

[ethridge78]

One smart man here

 

[NeverlosT]

Also joining the family were 7 resplendent anthias, including one tiny one named "Turbo". They all are doing terrific, school like champions, and bring a lot of fun and color to the tank. You can see a few of them here on the right. I promise to use a better camera soon with a correct white balance...

Heres a nice bit of pearlberry Acropora, in front of some blurry red planet that plans to encrust an entire rock before sending up shoots...

And here is Suzi's favorite fish, Gus, the Japanese Elegance Blenny. This guy is ridiculous. He eats all of the darn snails in the tank. Seriously, he has eaten 30 in 5 months, and we are talking Tiger Trochus snails. Ugh. If he didn't have such a hilarious personality and a habit of sleeping upside down in a hole, I don't know what we would do. Seriously, he found a hole that he calls home, but then he grew, and got fat, and now he doesn't fit in right-side-up, so he inserts himself, tail first, upside down. Amazing.

 

[11f150]

Nice build! You have yourself a nice tank there

 

[NeverlosT]

So the acros did not enjoy the onset of the GFO reactor. Not one bit, everyone lightened right up. So I turned it way down and started feeding a bunch. The fish love it (especially fat-Gus) and the corals are digging their new feeding regiment as well.

Parameters are rock solid at:
Temp - 78
Specific Gravity - 1.026
Alkalinity - 7.5 dkh
Calcium - 395 ppm
Phosphates - 0.015 ppm
Nitrates - not readable
Magnesium - 1450ppm
Tank pH - 8.1-8.35
CARX pH - 6.95-7.00

Hopefully the SPS colors up again soon. It is amazing how long it takes to color up and how quickly it goes if something is off.

Another amazing story, we moved all the tank critters over and had extra sand that lived outside in a bucket. Two days later I went to the LFS and while looking in their tanks saw a Conch..... and it dawned on me that ours was probably in the throw-out sand, forgotten about in the hustle of the tank move!!! We rushed home and Sir-Conchsalot as he is known was rescued from the sand bucket, slowly warmed in a dish with a tank-water drip, and then put in the tank, and that bad dude is right as rain, and remains conching around to this day. I'll have to take a pic of that googly-eyed tough guy soon.

Heres another setup pic:

It shows the temp probe, the pH probe, the two level switches that control the ATO, and the ATO line (green) that runs into the sump there.

There is a third level switch in the skimmer compartment that will shut off the skimmer if the water level in that area gets too high for any reason, so that the skimmer wont barf.

Also, the tank pH was running a bit low once the CA reactor was in full swing, and I didn't feel like buying a Kalk reactor, but it dawned on me that a kalk reactor will raise your pH but it is really only needed if you want to dose a saturated Kalkwasser solution. All I wanted to do was boost calcium and my pH a tiny bit, and that does not require a saturated Kalk solution. Well, 2tsp/gallon of Kalk is saturated, and 1tsp/gallon is not and will stay in solution no problem, so my ATO reservoir now gets filled once a week or so with RO/DI water mixed with 1tsp/gal Kalkwasser powder. The pH stays nice and high in the tank and all is well. I highly suggest this to anyone having this issue. You don't even need a circulating pump in the ATO reservoir.

 

[ethridge78]

looks good to me

 

[NeverlosT]

Thanks 11F150, as chance would have it, if you check the first post on the first page, I also have a 2011 F150 Ecoboost SuperCrew. Great truck!

Thanks again Ethridge!

I'll post about how the water circulation works next, pretty cool and fun project that was.