125 reef build

[Fish Dude]

Great tank, you must be a proud pappa cccapt...quick question.

When you are dealing with the kind of heat generated from 3 halides, I see that you ran water to your basement for gravity and cooling effect. But when you build a canopy out of wood, do you coat the interior of the canopy with a resin that is fire safe?

Wood canopies and halides make me nervous. Did you do anything special?

 

[ccCapt]

Thank you.

I only painted the inside of the canopy with a couple coats of exterior latex. The entire back side of the canopy is opened and I have 3 fans in there so I don't really have a heat problem. I've been using MH's in a wood canopy for close to 20 years and never had any issues. As long as it's well vented there really shouldn't be enough heat to cause a fire. The lights only raise my tank temp about 1-2 degrees depending on the temp in the house.

 

[jherrin215]

I just wanted to tell you that you have an awesome setup!! I was looking at your thread and seeing your sump in the basement was awesome!! That solved all my problems for auto topoff's and PWC's!! I have been trying to figure out how to get the pumps I need to run everything up into the main level and get all my wiring and such for level switches into the basement!! Now I know. Thanks for the great thread!!

 

[ccCapt]

Thanks! I'm glad you found it useful.

 

[ccCapt]

It's been a while since I updated this thread. Everything has been running smooth. I have 2 projects to post. The 1st is done, the 2nd I'm still working on.

This is a Ranco 2 stage temp controller. You can buy them prewired or DIY. I paid $72 for a brand new unwired unit, while a prewired unit directly from the manufacturer is $125. TFP sells a 1 stage controller for $100. The unwired version comes with good instruction on how to wire it.

I took the top off and 1st started to connect the power wire.

Next are the wires for stage 1.

Then I shoved in the wires for stage 2. It started getting a little tight in there.

Everything all tied together.

And finally the finished unit. I can plug 2 heaters and 2 fans into it. I have it set so if the temp falls below 78 the heaters kick on and if the temp goes over 81 the fans kick on.

 

[pat8you]

very cool. nice job

 

[ccCapt]

Thanks Pat.

Here's a little hint on my other project. Anyone care to take a guess?

 

[cmor1701d]

Hey Larry,

Care to wire one up for me. I barely have time to visit here these days, though I am planning on heading to the frag swap on the 31st!

So are you adding natural sunlight to your tank, or are you connecting a couple of tanks together?

 

[ccCapt]

Care to wire one up for me. I barely have time to visit here these days, though I am planning on heading to the frag swap on the 31st!

Sure, send me the controller and 2 extension cords. I'll wire it up and bring it to the swap.

So are you adding natural sunlight to your tank, or are you connecting a couple of tanks together?

Nope

 

[ccCapt]

Here it is. It came out OK. Nothing much to describe, the pics show it all. It starts with the full size print over the straightened out SunTunnel.

I need 3 total. I'm not 100% satisfied with how this 1 came out. The cut out pieces didn't really fit that well. I'm not sure why. If I decide to make the other 2, I will do it a little different. It comes down to...do I want to spend $60 and make 2 more and maybe not be totally satisfied, or spend $230 and buy the real Lumenarcs.

 

[intimatecple]

great DIY project!!!! Is that $60for all 3....or each? It Looks really good to me !!

 

[Ziggy953]

Hmm...if you can build all 3 for $60 maybe...How rigid is it?

IF it's $60 each...that's not much less then the ones you can buy at a store.

 

[ccCapt]

The 10" SunTunnel was $30. That will make 1. I only bought 1 to see how it would turn out. The 14" will make 2 reflectors, but I didn't see it in stock. The 14" is around $50.
With the 10" you can build 3 for about $90 compared to $115 each new.

How rigid is it?

It's stiff enough to make the bends pretty easy. Basically it's about the same as tin duct work.

 

[q3ick]

Dude thats a big tank. I stick to multiple small ones.

 

[ccCapt]

This is a simple gate valve mod I did to my Octo NW200.

Here's the skimmer as it was. The return water just pours out the standpipe and over the sponges. The original sponges are crap so I made new 1's, but it was a pain always cleaning them.

Here's the parts for the mod. 1 1/2" pvc, a 1 1/2" gate valve and a 1 1/2" to 1 1/2" rubber connector. The skimmer plumbing is metric, so it's slightly bigger than the pvc, but the rubber works nice .

The skimmer cleaned up and ready for assembly.

All put together and ready to go in the sump. There is also a piece from the elbo that goes into the water. I had to put the skimmer in place so I could measure how big the piece needed to be.

Back in action.

 

[jcmelski]

ccCapt,
NICE tank! What is that behind the skimmer to the right? Also you mentioned mods to the skimmer that you read about on "RC". What is rc? How did you calculate how high to make the baffles in the sump? I want to make a diy sump when I'm ready to go big and was wondering how high to go with the baffles and how big to make each compartment.

 

[ccCapt]

Thanks.
To the right of the skimmer is a ViaAqua Poly reactor that I run GFO (granular ferric oxide - to remove phosphate) in. I made the baffles 12" high, but you can make them any height you want, as long as there is room in the sump to hold the water coming from the tank when the pump is shut down. When my pump is off, the water level in the sump raises to about 4" below the top of the sump. I knew how much room the skimmer needed, so that's the size I made the 1st compartment. The others you can make any size you want, depending on how you want to use them.
RC is www.reefcentral.com, a huge saltwater forum.

 

[ccCapt]

Well it's already 1 year since I set the tank up and transferred everything from the 75.

Here's a look at how the tank progressed.

2-21-08 tank was started

5-08

7-08

9-08

11-08

2-21-09 and still learning how to use my camera

 

[intimatecple]

Very, Very Nice Larry!!!!

 

[Ziggy953]

Excellent growth since the move!!