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Coral Vue Hydros

Custom Look CadLights 50Long


twan

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Looking Back

A little history. My 1st saltwater aquarium was born on 7/16/06. It ran very successfully with some light modifications. The tank hit it's stride and was in top shape from 2007-2010. A move caused a mini crash in March of 2010. Then disaster struck in October 2011. Back to back power outages each spanning over 2 days finally melted the tank away. This was what the tank looked like at its height:

ftsyn0.jpg

 

Looking Forward

With my 1st baby on the way in April I wanted to move quickly to get this new setup running as I will have time for maintenance but not enough time to design, order or install after March 2012. I know I wanted a tank with an ELOS look but on a smaller budget.

 

Looking to Others

Inspirations for this tank come 1st and foremost from urbaneks. Truely awe inspiring in design and methodical setup.

Next I love the look of Rehype. The perspective is amazing.

 

Looking to Vendors

 

Tank

I looked to a few vendors for the tank namely ADA, Mr. Aqua, PicoAquariums, Glass Cages, 2 Local Fish Stores & CAD lights. In the end I choose CAD due to their reasonable pricing, sleek stands, willingness to customize. Any of their plumbing shortfalls will be addressed with SCH 80.

Sump

Never having a sump setup before I was baffled (pun intended!). What I did know was that many 1st time sump users end going through 2-3 sumps in the life of the aquarium due to unforseen upgrades they wish they had thought of day 1. For this reason I began shopping for a sump that had an integrated ATO, holders for probes, sleek design & filter sock integration with easy cleaning. I am now in talks with Tyler from elite-aquatics.net to design me a sump similar to the one built for TokenDog.

Dry Goods

Most will come from BRS.

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Looking to Cadlights

Tank was ordered 1/30/12. I should take delivery of the tank in one months time (2-3 weeks to build few days to ship.) Eddie and Andrew were very helpful over the phone. This tank is essentially their 50 long with a relocated & smaller overflow and all 4 sides in starfire. I choose their white gloss cabinet.

 

  • 36"x18"x18"
  • 4 sided starfire glass
  • clear silicone
  • 1.5" durso drain
  • 1" return
  • right rear rectangle overflow 3" along back
  • right rear rectangle overflow 5" along side
  • return nozzle exits 12.5" inches high through overflow wall pointing from right to left along the back of the tank
  • overflow made from black acrylic with teeth and cover
  • outside of overflow blacked out to hide plumbing

I did not order lights or sump from CAD. Just their tank/stand/skimmer. Now its time to think about a custom sump.

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Looking to Elite Aquatics

 

I am now in talks with Tyler from elite-aquatics.net to design me a sump similar to the one built for TokenDog.

 

Imagine this sump:

6472975435_e8cc64002d_b.jpg

Sized down to integrate this ATO reservoir:

ATO_res-504x336-1500x1500.jpg

 

Tyler was very helpful and I am waiting for a sketch back from him and final measurements before I order.

I am leaning towards the sump because of its design. The first chamber is designed so that the waterfall from the drain will constantly stir up the bottom of the sump, pushing any debris to the top where it will spill over on to a platform with two filter socks where the water will then go in to the skimmer area, up and over in to a fuge, and then finally in to the return section where they put a nice probe holder capable of holding up to 3 probes for me.

 

It measures 30x15x15 and fits with an inch all around in my stand. Now we have to tailor it to keep the same footprint but integrate an ATO reservoir.

I have never had a sump and I am not scared of DIY. I just don't think I have the skills to DIY to these standards rather then going through several sumps in the tanks life.

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Looking @ Placement

 

When you see these pictures your going to say Twan, why not a 4 foot tank? My reasoning is simple.

I want to be able to do water changes of only 5g at a time. I don't want to have to buy 3 LED lighting fixtures.

Not too keen on more and more money for rock, more powerful return pump, more visable pumps in the display. That aside lets take a look where the tank will sit. I used some painters tape to get the rough measurements and represent how large the overflow would be. This is rough and not exact be kind!

 

After coming down stairs to the left:

48sjb.jpg

Straight on:

ebAqx.jpg

Closer:

jzJKx.jpg

3x5 overflow area defined:

W4DgZ.jpg

Two cat-6 cables already run. 1 for Apex/RKE and 1 for an IP webcam:

hSKH4.jpg

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i just noticed, you might want to re-route the 3 gray/white cat5e cables running through the proposed tank area if this ends up being the final placement. The weight of the tank and stand could very possibly cut the cables or compress them to the point of not functioning properly, even through the carpet.

 

i hate to be a downer but i would rather you know about potential problems now than in a month when there are rocks, water, and a tank in that location :)

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Ditka no worries. The existing white/grey cat6 cables run to my ps3/tv/cable box and the tank will not be resting on them. The way they disapear into the carpet is not how they run once under. The picture is deceiving. The two black cat6 however, those are the 2 new ones. 1 for Apex/RKE and 1 for an IP webcam that will be pointed at the tank.

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Looking @ Return Plumbing

I think I found an error in my tank build.

Return nozzle exits 12.5" inches high through overflow wall pointing from right to left along the back of the tank.

 

I wanted the return to come out of the overflow wall instead of over it due to aesthetics and I wanted it a little more then 1/2 way up the water coloumn blowing across the back of the tank to diminish dead areas but not stir the sand.

 

So when I turn off the return pump or remove it a lot of the tank would drain back down the return line becuase it is probably 3-5 inches lower then the drain.

 

Confirm or deny that one of these plumbed into my return line would fix all this worry.

1” George Fisher Wye Check Valve

sch-80-plumbing_check-valve-wye-1.jpg

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Looking @ Capturing it all

I picked this up last week primarily to capture my newborn son when he arrives but it will also make a great tool in capturing how this all unfolds.

 

rihVH.jpg

 

 

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Looking @ RODI

 

My current RODI unit has been sitting for 2-3 months and needed a filter change. I ran it through for a few hours before disconnecting it and was averaging 4-5 TDS.

 

Here are the starting pictures:

oqfcs.jpg

 

New filters and resin ready to go in:

HvdzP.jpg

 

Rejection water after the filter change:

UbQW8.jpg

 

Zero TDS out the back end:

0SHIv.jpg

 

Success!

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Question on the RODI filter change. The white canister under the two clear resin canisters is labeled membrane on my RODI unit.

I was able to open that canister thinking that the tube all the way to the left in my 2nd picture was a replacement for what was inside. Once I got it open the membrane looked different and would not come out.

I just replaced the resin in both canisters, the one sediment filter and the two carbon filters.

I did not use the tube with tapered ends I thought to be a replacement membrane.

 

Any thoughts?

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Looking @ Current Equipment

 

Here is the area in my laundry room with a slop sink that I have to work on clearing out to prepare for having another tank and all the maintenance that it entails:

 

smHRd.jpg

 

Depending on when my rock and tank comes I may cycle the dry rock in the blue tubs that each hold 20 gallons.

The equipment laying on top is old equipment with calcium build up that I hope to use in those bins. I am going to give them a water/vinegar soak overnight and a good scrape. The nanocube will become my hospital/quarantine tank

 

Low on salt, guess I have to add this to my dry goods order:

s9E5Y.jpg

 

Refract has seen better days due to salt damage but works perfectly still:

4nrfs.jpg

 

 

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.....blah blah return line exiting too low on the overflow wall......blah blah

 

So when I turn off the return pump or remove it a lot of the tank would drain back down the return line becuase it is probably 3-5 inches lower then the drain.

 

Confirm or deny that one of these plumbed into my return line would fix all this worry.

1” George Fisher Wye Check Valve

 

I still need help on this please. Any guidance would be appreciated. I am going to call CAD today.

 

 

Question on the RODI filter change. The white canister under the two clear resin canisters is labeled membrane on my RODI unit.

I was able to open that canister thinking that the tube all the way to the left in my 2nd picture was a replacement for what was inside. Once I got it open the membrane looked different and would not come out.

I just replaced the resin in both canisters, the one sediment filter and the two carbon filters.

I did not use the tube with tapered ends I thought to be a replacement membrane.

 

Any thoughts?

Still looking for help on this. I am pretty sure that membrane is changeable but not necessary until 3-5 years. Mine would be hitting the 3 year mark but the whole RODI unit was only used for 5-7 gallons per week so very light use up till now. Are they hard to come out? Is the tube all the way to the left in my 2nd picture was a correct replacement for what was inside? Should I not even worry becasue after the resin and filter change I am getting ZERO TDS?

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I still need help on this please. Any guidance would be appreciated. I am going to call CAD today.

 

 

Still looking for help on this. I am pretty sure that membrane is changeable but not necessary until 3-5 years. Mine would be hitting the 3 year mark but the whole RODI unit was only used for 5-7 gallons per week so very light use up till now. Are they hard to come out? Is the tube all the way to the left in my 2nd picture was a correct replacement for what was inside? Should I not even worry becasue after the resin and filter change I am getting ZERO TDS?

 

Wye Valves work, but you'll need to clean them out regularly and they aren't fool proof. Make sure you use unions on either side of the wye valve. Can you use loc-line to raise the return line height?

 

You don't need to replace your membrane until it stops returning 0 TDS with fresh filters. They aren't that hard to come by, but they are expensive. Just check your water regularly and you'll know when it's time to replace your membrane.

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You should definitely ask them to move the return higher, it is a custom tank after all. You should not have to worry about your tank flooding your basement when you can make a small design change to reduce the chance of that event to near %0.

 

also, nice choice on the camera! Those NEX cameras are a pretty killer little package.

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Thanks ditka & Paleoreef103.

 

I called CAD lights today about my return being too low on the overflow wall. This was corrected by moving the hole where the return exits through the overflow to 2 inches below the overflow teeth rather then being 12.5 inches up from the bottom. In the end the overflow return exit may be equal with my durso drain and then I will have to shorten the durso slightly. No biggie. I made the change I see fit and everything else will need to be ironed out when I take delivery. I am still going to plumb a 1” George Fisher Wye Check Valve into my return plumbing in case. This is only a worry in times when the return pump is off for maintenance or a power surge/outage. I think I am covered now.

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If your return and drain are setup properly, the Wye is not necessary.

As long as your sump can accommodate the water volume that will drain from the DT, given the return outlet height, you'll be fine. It'll just be one more piece to service anyway...

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If your return and drain are setup properly, the Wye is not necessary.

As long as your sump can accommodate the water volume that will drain from the DT, given the return outlet height, you'll be fine. It'll just be one more piece to service anyway...

 

Correct. I made the change I see fit and everything else will need to be ironed out when I take delivery. Will the sump handle the extra water coming back down? No Idea. I am just trying to get some stuff squared away before it comes and this is just one thing I will have to relax, wait and see on. ;)

 

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I'm watching this build!!!! I like the tank dimentions and the tank!!!

 

Only two pages and WE know so much more of your plan than Siwelk!!!!!

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Looking @ Current Equipment - Take 2

 

So here is a picture from an earlier post showing some of the old equipment that I have & plan to use for mixing salt water and my quarantine tank (the nanocube). You can see the pumps have some serious build up on them.

 

smHRd.jpg

 

I was going to spend $7-$10 on some Magi-Klean but decided to use some vinegar solution 1st. After a two 12 hour soaks with a 2 minute toothbrush scrub each time here is the final product.

 

nLPLd.jpg

 

Two Hydor Koralia Nano's

One Tunze Universal pump Mini 5024.04

One Hydor Theo Heater 50w

One Jager Thermostat Heater 50w in perfect shape

One Jager Thermostat Heater 50w maybe slated for the trash

 

No reason to buy the Magi-Klean at all from my POV. I also wanted to conduct the test as I have quite the job in cleaning out the Nanocube tank. I think a few soaks of vinegar solution will do the trick. I hope to tackle it this weekend. Here is what I am up against.

 

YFZna.jpg

 

y53f4.jpg

 

p.s. side question, one of the heaters looks rusty on the bottom but it is not cracked that I can see. But for there to be a rust inside there has to be a seal bad somewhere, no? Should I just discard it? I think so.

 

 

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