120 Gallon, with focus on my new RKE controller

[TheNorthernLight]

Hello,

 

I thought I would talk about my experience so far with my RKE and showcase my setup a little.

 

Now first things first, I must mention that this project is still quite a bit from being complete.. on that note...

 

Equipment:

 

120 Gallon AGA Dual Overflow tank

Current-USA Outer Orbit Dual 150W HQI / T5HO / moon lighting (total of 516W of light).

C-skim C1200 Protein Skimmer Deluxe

750 Gph Return pump

2 x 150W Stealth Heaters

ATO's Auto-Top off unit

Coralife 250G Protein skimmer (being sold soon)

Coralife 500G Calcium Reactor w/Milwaukee electronic solenoid and 5Lb tank of CO2

100 Gpd 5 stage RO/DI with solenoid shutoff

DA's Reefkeeper 2

and now Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper Elite v2 / WEB Server :twisted:

 

 

My setup :

 

I have my tank and steel stand, and then a custom made 9ft tall Side Stand wrapped in sheets of black ABS Plastic Sheeting (textured).

 

Here is the initial full tank and stand shot :

 

Now I will focus on the stand for the most part as that is where all of the RKE related features currently exist.

 

This is a closeup of the RKE's main GC1 controller's installation location. You will notice the section that is currently missing a piece of plastic where the cooling fans are situated. This will eventually get filled in, however I am in the process of looking for a 120v QUIETER fan that I can mount here, that won't draw too much power, and also that is made of plastic (avoid corrosion).... it's rather hard to find. (any suggestions are welcome). Once I have the fan(s) installed permanently, I will get a peice of ABS plastic to match that will be custom cut to fit.

 

You may be asking why I want to change the fans... if you didn't guess in the above sentence... it's noisy. These fans work superbly, however have a 65 dB rating! but they also move 160 CFM to match.

Effective.. yes, quiet... not by a mile or 5. For those that don't know, this is considered a comparible rating to a room full of people talking!!!

 

 

The ReefKeeper Elite :

 

Headunit (GC1) :

 

- Just a nice closeup of the mounting location. The piece of ABS Plastic is actually a door.

 

RKE-Web and ASUS 802.11 b/g/n Adapter :

 

ARROW) This is where the hole was drilled for the GC1's main cable connection.

This is the RKM-NET installed, I used the same screw to mount the RKE-WEB to the plastic and also the GC1 on the outside, the screw fit puuurfectly!

The white box is the ASUS WL-330GE Wireless Access Point

 

Another view ...

1) RKM-NET

2) ASUS WL-330GE AP

3) Reefkeeper 2 Head Unit

4) RKM-PC4 Lighting.

 

 

RKM-PC4 - Lighting :

 

-Pretty straight forward, this is the primary PC4 that powers the GC1 and RKM-NET, and it daisy chains down to the second PC4.

1 and 2) I had an electrician install 2 seperate circuits from the breaker, each rated for 15Amps. I then wired both socket 1 and 2 each to a seperate circuit.

3) RKM-PC4 Lighting. This is the primary controller for my MH's, T5's and moon lights.

4) Battery backup airpump

 

 

RKM-PC4 (2), RKM-SL1, and RK2 :

 

- Just an overview of the middle shelf

1) RKM-PC4 for my pumps (return and protein skimmer)

2) RKM-SL1

3) My old and somewhat flaky ReefKeeper 2

4) My Fan junction box, pluged into channel 2 on the pump PC4

5) DA's pH probe connected and callibrated.

6) DA's Temperature probe.

 

The "Powerstack" as I like to call it :

 

 

1) Top power for Lighting

2) Power for in-tank maxijets

3) Storage shelf

4) Fresh RO/DI Water reserve

- This water reserve has a float switch attached to a DIY home-made solenoid controller that allows for automated topup of the freshwater reserve. It also has a manual bypass, and "off" in failure design.

 

This gives you an idea of the overall layout. As you can see, it's not the cleanest layout, but it works damn well... and isn't that really the point?!?!

 

 

Things to do :

 

1) Attach a wetfloor sensor to the SL1

2) Either buy 2-3 more PC4's for the rest of my connections

3) Swap my current sump tank for a larger model and make it a refugium

4) Hook up the new C-Skim 1200 Deluxe skimmer (it's sitting there doing nothing atm).

5) Swap out my Freshwater tank with my older 20Gallon that has a pre-drilled hole (current tank is missing a 1 inch triangle in the very top-right corner).

6) Build several float switch "stands" that remove there propensity to be sensitive to waves and inaccurate water height adjustments.

7) Build a pocket pc app that can parse/read the RKM-NET rss feeds. (comparible to the iReef app).

8) Figure out a way to store all the graph data into a real database for true long-term data-mining.

9) Paint the exposed wood black on the powerstack shelf.

15) Take the wife on a long trip someplace tropical before she kills me for spending so much damn time on this "hobby" (read addiction)

 

 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my little tour of my setup, and hope it inspires some, and maybe make a few others cry (jk ).

 

Cheers,

 

Spyrule.

[SmittyCoco]

Thanks for taking the time to break it all down. Maybe someone that was wondering how the rke controller works will have a better understanding .

[TheNorthernLight]

Well as a quick note to that, the way in which I have it wired up is NOT the "required" way. As a matter of fact, the RKE does not HAVE a required order of connection. You can daisy-chain up to 63 devices in a row, in any order, with any combination of uses. It's insanely powerful, and for price/feature EASILY the cheapest controller out there.

 

It simply rocks.

 

Spyrule

 

P.s. - No I don't get any benefit from promoting this device, I simply like it so much that I will always give praise where praise is due. cheers.

[TheNorthernLight]

bumpage for more coverage...

[bmac16]

Awesome setup, i want a controller soon....

when do you plan on selling the skimmer, and at what $$$$?

[TheNorthernLight]

Honestly,

 

I have no idea yet, but it probably won't be too long. going to try for $100 canadian, but we'll see.

[TheNorthernLight]

I wrote a photo'd review of my original build when I built it for my 75 Gallon, it has a few more photo's and whatnot :

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=85524

 

As you will be able to tell, I have changed a few things.

 

I will post some pictures of that upgrade process in a few days.