Bioload 75 - Reef Aquarium

[bioload]

Originally Posted by Doug

Ask for a price and voila. Now thats a breakdown.

Great work.

I forgot to mention that the comparable size/shape/pump SWC XTREME 250A @ $549.99 is not a re-circulating skimmer. One of the reasons I choose to build my own, and I could run the plumbing whichever way worked best for my system

From what I can tell a comparable sized re-circ on their site is the cone SWC Xtreme Cone Protein Skimmer 250 1A @ $749.99

Since we're on price....This is the quote i recieved for an acrylic cone

(1) 8” to 4” x 12” high x 3/16” thick clear cast acrylic cone with one glued, polished seam $199.00
(1) mold charge $140.00

If you can use a cone that s 11.7” high, we can avoid the mold charge as we have one in house.

Freight is additional and terms are prepaid. Delivery about 3-4 weeks."

[bioload]

With the skimmer nearing completion I've started thinking of DIY'ing a calcium reactor.

Danner Mag-Drive 250 Supreme Water Pump
Milwaukee CO2 Regulator with Needle Valve & Solenoid
5-3/4" x 6"OD Acrylic Tube Clear Extruded x 12"
Milwaukee Instruments SMS125 pH/ORP Controller - (Already have)

Still looking for co2 cylinder options as well.

[bioload]

Finally got the skimmer plumbed and running for about a day now, and just when I thought I could move my focus elsewhere.....there seems to be a problem with the pump. Got home this afternoon to find that there weren't any fine bubbles being produced.

The pump is still drawing air through the airline, but the chamber of the skimmer looks like a boil and the water line which was right at the neck when everything was working well has dropped several inches.

I opened the volute and there is nothing visibly wrong with the pinwheel. Contacted SWC and hope to here back from them soon...

[bioload]

The skimmer seems to be working better this morning. Turns out while I was at work yesterday my two year old decided to feed some cheetos into the sump. My next step may be to finish the stand and get some child proof doors.

I do recall an instance with one of my other tanks where the skimmer suddenly stopped working. Thinking back now the neighbors son did drop a couple Ruffles into the thank. I guess skimmers and junkfood don't mix well.

Here is a pic of the skimmer in it's final spot plumbed into the overflow. I had originally had a gate valve on the outlet, but I've found I can adjust the skimmer by varying the height of the outlet tee for now. I currently have the return pump (mag 900) running at 100% through the tank. However, this will be reduced later on when I add a bypass to feed the reactors and refuge.

[bioload]

It's been a while since I've updated a tank log since not much has changed. The tank was relocated to the opposite side of the room due to the spill and subsequent cleanup .

I had to redo the aquascape in the move and could not get it exactly the way it was before, but I'm still with the new look.

The Percula's have been moved out to their new home where they have started spawning, and I've added a pair of Maroon's (red and white ). I still have my blue tang which is not as aggressive to the maroon clowns. I've also added a quartet of chromis, and a lawnmower blenny to the tank.......Almost forgot the three serpent stars...don't see them much.

The tank is temporarily lit with a cool touch fixture with VHO actinics and dual MH 175's. I was planning on replacing the bulbs on the fixture but due to the $200 price tag for the bulbs I'll be going LED.

Still no corals yet....but soon. Working on the Nitrates and will be building a few reactors once the LED DIY is complete. The tank has yet to get a water change and the Nitrates are in the 40-80 range (i think). It's a real pain trying the guess the colours on the test kit.

I've added a few varieties of caulerpa to the sump and had it lit with a 13W compact fluorescent. Right now I'm using a 250W DE MH pendant to see if it will spur some more growth to consume some of the excess nitrates.

I think that's about all that has changed....so here is an FTS

[Skimmerking]

Well that deserves a BIG ROGER on the skimmer buds.

[bioload]

Between work and the family I got some time make some progress on the fixture. The LED's are mounted to the heat sinks in the standard alternating blue/white pattern. The assembly was fairly simple with the screws provided in the kit. All I needed to do was apply some of the thermal grease and screw into place. A word of caution regarding the grease.....a little goes a LONG way.



Some planning is required in order to position the LED's in order to connect them in series. I also found that the wires that came in the kit were too short for the layout that I have. They are okay if I were to connect the LED's side by side, but came up quite a bit short running diagonally.

[bioload]

The acrylic box I'm building will be home to two of the segments with one box for each side of the 75 gallon. The dimensions are approximately 22"w, 13"d, and 2.5"high. I might drop the height down to 1.5" if I decide to go without the optics.

Below are the pieces that were cut for the font, back, and sides. The two sides will be router prep'd in order to bond with the front and back.