mmmm 230...

[Gizmo]

I'm back, and no one's missed me :)
Been gone for abouts 9 months now, I went and did something stupid, built a house on my own :O dumb dumb dumb. Anywho, house is almost ready to move in and the good folks at AI moved my tank in yesterday. Got to throw a shout out to Ron and the crew for a great delivery. My staircase was a nightmare for them to move this puppy down. (230G if you missed the title) Metal stand, compression board and finally the tank with 2 overflows. Very excited to get this tank up and running as soon as I move in (March 15 btw) and I'm hoping the mrs will let me host a fish meet too... hopefully :) I'd love to hear input of things that might make this system work to its full potential, currently i'm researching lighting, I run 2x250 Mogul XM 15000k MH's on my 70g and Im was thinking going to 3x400 Mogul XM 15000k's I'm mounting the transformers in another room to dissapate some of the heat from the tank room. Also if anyone knows a good, small HVAC unit that works well to control humidity in the fish room, as well as fresh air and cooling I'd appreciate some info there too. PS. Pics to come tomorrow as I work on the frost walls in my basement.

Ciao 4 now

[honkey sauce]

ok

[Fish]

Sounds awesome and welcome back!
I would like to see pics of the tank and the house ( :

- Chad

[Gizmo]

Hey all, I got to get some pics posted, but I finally found some time to start getting the mechanical room setup. I finished a 3 week freshwater test to watch for leaks and making sure the equipment is working up to spec. I plumbed in the 70g fuge and 125g sump. I also have 3 35 gallon tanks tied into the sump and system for frag growth, clam growth and fish growth.

[mseepman]

Sounds great!! Need those pics!!

[fishytime]

Wow and I thought going a week with no updates was a long time:mrgreen:. +1 on the pics.

[Leah]

For it to work: it needs to come to my house lol congrats on the house and the tank
and the dog. love pictures tank, house, dog whatever. Just jokin about the dog. But
have one to trade. ha ha

[Gizmo]

So I Finally got some pics. I spent the weekend "finishing" up the wiring. I still have some plug drops to do for the skimmer and heaters, but for the most part all the power systems are working. I did freshwater test for leaks, and after some tightening, we're waterproof.

I ordered up the black sand bed for the display tank, I figure it should be here this week. As well, I have the glass for the breeding, clam and frag tanks, so i'll start to build those this week as well. They will end up around 36 gallons when done.

Oh the dog is our newest edition, KAI. He's a Shiba Inu.

241 shows the lighing and accessory control on the right, the display tank is on the left, and you can see some of the mechanical on the wall behind Kristi... THANK GOD she is soooo understanding when it comes to this hobby :)

244 - Shows the 2 dart pumps that feed the display tank

245 - Pic of the 125g sump and the drain lines from the display tank. The stand around it is holding up the 70g fuge above.

[Gizmo]

Well Apparently I can only upload 5 pics. That sucks.

[mseepman]

Use photobucket.com It's free.

Then once you upload the pictures use a seperate window for Canreef and right click on each picture, copy location and then paste into the window created when you click the little picture of a mountain and sun on these reply windows.

I know that sounds a little strange but it wil let you embed all your pictures.

Works great.

[Gizmo]

http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020240.JPG
Ok, now i remember web code :) This is Kai.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020241%20(Small).JPG
and Kristi
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020242%20(Small).JPG
The Control Board
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020244%20(Small).JPG
Dart Pumps
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020245%20(Small).JPG
Sump
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020246%20(Small).JPG
Plugs for the monitor hardware.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020247%20(Small).JPG
The 1 GFI handles all the plugs. I hate using GFI plugs on "mission critical" hardware, nothing worse that being on holidays and for whatever reason, the GFI trips and shuts down the heaters or pumps.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020248%20(Small).JPG
This is 2 of the feeder junction boxes on the ceiling above the sump. The wires hang down with a cord cap on the end to plug the devices in. Keeping the plugs suspended eliminates any worry of water getting in, or at least sitting in the plug.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020249%20(Small).JPG
Left: Main tank ballasts for the 3x400w MH. Right: more junction boxes
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020250%20(Small).JPG
Here's the front of the sump. The line at the bottom is for draining the sump for water changes or service. It is connected to a drain system that goes around the whole mech room, i'll show some pics soon. The toilet tank is my DIY wavemaker.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020251%20(Small).JPG
Ozone dumahiky, and nitrate, ph, calcium and salinity monitors
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020252%20(Small).JPG
Here is my old display tank. Its now a fuge. 70g worth of fuge.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020253%20(Small).JPG
Here's the backside of the display tank. The light is on a suspension rig, so I can raise it up for feeding, servicing, etc. in its lower position it sits just mm above the rim
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020254%20(Small).JPG
Left is the Venmar 3100. It sucks in air directly from this room to dehumidify, clean and expel bad air. Nice piece of kit. On the Left is the breeder rack. it has 2x 250mh lights and is/will be plumbed into the sump.

[Gizmo]

http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020255%20(Small).JPG
This is the mechancial wall for the house and tanks. In the bottom left is the RO/DI units. 400gpd.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020256%20(Small).JPG
This is a lopsided view of the overflow in the display. I use all spaflex pipe to reduce strain on the bulkheads.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020257%20(Small).JPG
Pic of the lighting rig in the upper position.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020258%20(Small).JPG
Pic under the display tank. The bottom left 2" is a sump overflow drain. It goes right into the floor drain. The Mrs put one condition on this project. NO MORE FLOODS. :|
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020259%20(Small).JPG
This is the clam tank space.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020260%20(Small).JPG
Frag tank space on the left, clam on the right
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020261%20(Small).JPG
Facing back towards the control board. The temp house audio rack is in the background.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020262%20(Small).JPG
This is the electrical board. Its a work in progress. We are adding 2 wind turbines this spring (to cover the large power bill i'll be generating) Thats what the shut-offs and meter sockets are for. The top centre is the house network.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020264%20(Small).JPG
Here is a bit clearer pic of the venmar
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020265%20(Small).JPG
Parts n tools
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020266%20(Small).JPG
This is a view from the home theatre room towards the tank.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020267%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020268%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020269%20(Small).JPG
That wall is where the projection screen will be.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020270%20(Small).JPG

[Leah]

Holy smokes,
Will you have any money left for having kid's? Great pictures though. Hit the fast forward
button and didn't find any of the tank up, fully loaded and running. So I will keep pushin
it. Ha, anyhow looks like quite the set up, I am jealous.

[Gizmo]

http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020271%20(Small).JPG
Skimmer and other parts.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020275%20(Small).JPG
More conduit and junction pic
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020276%20(Small).JPG
The Wavemaker project
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020277%20(Small).JPG
There is the 2" drain system
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020278%20(Small).JPG
This is where it goes into the floor drain. There are so many devices now that need a water drain, I was tripping over drain lines, this cleaned it up.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020279%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020280%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020283%20(Small).JPG
Display tank all lights on.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020285%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020288%20(Small).JPG
House audio, this will be in a rack facing out to the home theater. Right now its running 3 zones. I have the house wired for 15 zones.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020289%20(Small).JPG
view with the lights off
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P10230243%20(Small).JPG
Timers, and a pic of my wife and her mom.

[levi1803]

Is that a Shiba Inu? We have a black and tan one in our house, pretty cool dogs.

[banditpowdercoat]

Looks great, But why didn't you just get a couple 4 gang electrical boxes to put your switches in instead of nippling to single boxes???

http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:YtexIG8kSKH1cM:http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61avXtnw2UL._SL500_AA280_.gif

[Gizmo]

Is that a Shiba Inu? We have a black and tan one in our house, pretty cool dogs.

Yep, We have a female too. She's a retired breeding dog.

[bignose]

Wow!! can't wait to see it running. Spectacular work!!

[fishytime]

This one looks like it will be top notch*impatiently waits*

[Delphinus]

Wow, it's almost overwhelming!

One thing, those nitrate probes aren't intended for continuous monitoring. Having said that, maybe keeping the probe wet will help it last longer. Who knows..

That's awesome you're adding wind turbines ... that's something I was wanting to look into one day. I'll be watching this one and learning !!

[Gizmo]

One thing, those nitrate probes aren't intended for continuous monitoring. Having said that, maybe keeping the probe wet will help it last longer. Who knows..

I've been reading more of that every day. I guess im one of the lucky ones. I've had that probe for over 2 1/2years, most of the time sitting in a cup of water in storage. I tried it out in a test sample and it was bang on.
Having said that, I think I will take the probe out of the tank when not in use and put it back in a container of fresh RO/DI water.


I've got sand, baffles, UV filter and the breeding tanks coming this week, I'll post some more pics this weekend.

[Delphinus]

Oh wow, you've gotten a nice long run with that probe. Uh .. don't listen to me then! Although that doesn't really surprise me. Generally speaking, doing whatever the opposite of what I do, is usually the better choice. :p

However, I would just say ix-nay on the RO/DI. I bought one of the first units and mine was defective from the get-go. Speaking with Lou Dell at American Marine, he suggested I soak the probe overnight in fresh water, try again the next day, and then call back and let him know if it worked. So I put the probe in RO/DI, followed through, and it still didn't work. (It turned out the problem was a bad solder in the controller unit, eventually I sent it in, Pinpoint fixed it and sent it back.) But when I called to say it didn't work, he asked "Did you use RO/DI? Tell me you didn't use RO/DI, because if you did, you just wrecked your probe." I said "But you just said freshwater, I just assumed RO/DI was the trick." So he said, "yeah OK, I should have warned you. I'll send you a new probe." That was nice of him to send a new probe. So anyhow, according to my conversation with Lou Dell, "don't use RO/DI to store these probes, use tapwater." For what it's worth.

Man I miss using mine. But it was something like $220 to order a new probe .. dang that stings. :(

[Gizmo]

I wonder why RO/DI would be bad for the probes, good thing i've been using tap water :D

Shipment of salt and sand came yesterday. Took 50 bags to give me a 3-4" sand bed

http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020290%20(Small).JPG

http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020291%20(Small).JPG

I'm thinking i'll be painting the back of the tank black to match.

[Delphinus]

I guess RO/DI has a strong affinity to strip out ions...

Black sand, black overflows .. seems a no-brainer to go black on the background. :) I have that combo on a FW tank and it's really sharp. Only thing is in a reef, the rocks shed so much crud, you'll probably be doing a lot of vacuuming on your weekly chores. Hard to beat the look of a tank like that though! :cool:

[JDigital]

I found black sand to be highly magnetic with my 10G contest tank I had... Not sure if yours will act the same, but keep your magfloat away from it... :wink:

[hillegom]

Very interesting tank build. Thanks for all the pics.

[banditpowdercoat]

I am in love....

[Gizmo]

<looks around Awkwardly >

[banditpowdercoat]

<looks around Awkwardly >


Your tank, Silly. Not like I have a weird fettish or anything...... I am just in love with your tank

[Gizmo]

These are the turbines i'm installing. It took some doing with the city to get them allowed, but all is good.
http://www.windterra.com/

http://spectroimage.com/solcool/images/windterra-1_1.jpg

They stand about 2m high and 2m diameter. And no, thats not my house below.

http://www.yourgreenamerica.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/DSCN0336.jpg

[24storm]

I am curious as to how much they are? If your not comfortable posting it up send me a PM please. How much power would they generate in your area i cannot say that i have paid attention to how much the wind blows but i am thinking its not windy enough to make that much power but i could be wrong. I would be very interested in doing something like this.

Thanks Keith

[mseepman]

I would for sure be interested too. I'm looking to build a new home and now is the time to investigate this stuff.

[Gizmo]

www.windterra.com has some info on energy to windspeed ratios. But if the wind is givin you can get 1200watts.
Price point I would say you can get them around $8500 plus install. (I bought the prototypes so my price isn't retail)

[Gizmo]

Here are the renderings I did for our house when I had to apply for a permit. Sorry About the size.

http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1000205.jpg
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1000206.jpg
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/Untitled-1.jpg

[Delphinus]

How does it work, do you have to have large batteries that get charged by the turbines then you run a circuit off that, or there some kind of automatic load balancing for the whole house? Sorry to go a little off topic, it's just interesting stuff.

I wonder how hard it'd be to get a permit in Calgary for those. It's already a little bit absurd how hard it can be to get permits for solar panels - although I think I've heard that council is considering softening the process a bit to encourage green thinking - but I don't think anything's come of it as yet. So something that's moving and a bit of a visual attractant, man I could just see those bureaucrats having a hey day with it.

[digital-audiophile]

I'm not sure what I would do if my neighbour put those up :p

[mark]

I'm surprised you got approval.

[Gizmo]

Turbines aside, I've been crazy busy trying to get the system up and running. I've built new breeder tank stands and the tanks last weekend. I didn't realize how easy glass was to work with, provided you have the right tools. I added a UV filter on a quiet one 3000 pump. and built a catwalk behind the main tank to allow for easier access. Ran a water test on the breeders for almost a week now and its all good, so I will be draining out the crap tap water and start RO (probaby take 3-4 days to fill the entire system (528 gallons now btw) Oh, and I made a water change unit that will make waterchanges about 5 min long and not have to touch a drop of water. I know, lets see some pics. I got them in the camera I just need to unload them tonight and post them. Tonight I promise! :D

[fishytime]

*waits impateintly*:whistle:

[Gizmo]

Sorry, here they are! :D

http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020293%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020298%20(Small).JPG
Yea I know sloppy silicone job, but thats what a knife is for ;)
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020299%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020300%20(Small).JPG
This is the water change idea I had.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020301%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020303%20(Small).JPG
UV Filter
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020304%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020305%20(Small).JPG
Pump that runs the breeder tanks
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020306%20(Small).JPG
Lighting in lowered position
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020307%20(Small).JPG
Pullys on lighting rig
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020308%20(Small).JPG
Tanks just after being built

[Gizmo]

http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020309%20(Small).JPG
Tank Stand for breeding tanks. The Canadian Tire one I bought wound'nt support 900+lbs.. go figure :D
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020310%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020312%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020313%20(Small).JPG
These couple of pics are the drilling steps of the new tanks for the bulkheads.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020314%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020315%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020316%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020318%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020319%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020320%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020321%20(Small).JPG

[Gizmo]

The tanks are all full and circulating finally (except the fuge)
Here are some pics of the display and breeders
(Yes the bubble column is intentional)
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020326%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020328%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020329%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020330%20(Small).JPG
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020331%20(Small).JPG
These are the lights for the fuge.
http://www.unitedconstruction.ca/gizmo/P1020332%20(Small).JPG

BTW, if anyone is out in spruce grove and wanted to come by for a coffee and chat reef stuff feel free to drop me a line.

[hillegom]

Gizmo
You will get more light into the fuge if the curly Q's of the CFLs are in the reflecter.
The built in ballasts for those get hot and will overheat, decreasing the life of the bulb, even if they are rated for 7 years. If you could rig something up that would keep the bases out of the reflector, a lot of the damaging heat would dissapate.
I sure like this build, keep up the good work!

[Gizmo]

I've got a link to a couple of video's of the system running.
We added 250lb of rock wednesday, some nice large pieces. Its already at the nitrite phase of the cycle! :D
Got the UV running and the skimmer modded and running pulling a lot of crap out of the water already. We also added 2 Koralia Magnum 8 powerheads to the display tank and WOW do these puppies put out a lot of flow, maybe even too much :O
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCVyZ0XWk0c This is the water movement in the sump, quite a torrent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1--RJM2pSV4 This is the whole room and system.

Oh, PS. Tried the kitty litter for a fuge substrate, BAD IDEA! I ended up scooping out 32kg of litter and cleaning out that 70g. It made the water really gross, and acidic. (I checked, it was clay, unsented cat litter... its just clay...) So i'm opting for a standard sandbed 5" which i'm waiting for from the supplier.

[hillegom]

I dnld the two videos. I get sound but not video. :Maybe it is just me!

[Gizmo]

I recorded it with a flip video device... I've updated the links to Youtube.

[spoot]

That is a lot of flow through the sump!

[Gizmo]

That is a lot of flow through the sump!

Thats the return of 3 dart pumps, 2 QuietOne 4000 and 1 QuietOne 3000

[bignose]

Perhaps I could come take a look at your tank some time. I could learn a thing or 20 from this.

[Gizmo]

Sure, anytime just pm me

[Boomboy]

man i didnt realize you had such a big system, i would have given you more cheato to put in this thing. i will have to come by and take a look at this whole system, wow there is alot to it. maybe i should just bring the fish to you, that way i can see your system.

[Gizmo]

man i didnt realize you had such a big system, i would have given you more cheato to put in this thing. i will have to come by and take a look at this whole system, wow there is alot to it. maybe i should just bring the fish to you, that way i can see your system.

Sure!, i'll be working on it this weekend if you wanted to come by.