Red Sea Reefer Nano Build

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ejoshmo

Membership Expired
Hello all,

First build log. I've had this tank for about a year now and decided to completely start over after my move. I'm really taking my time with this one to make sure everything is just as I want it.

First decision was placement in my new townhome. As soon as I walked in to the new place I knew right where it was going to go. There is a wall adjacent to a half bath that was the perfect size for the tank. Furthermore, as my thoughts kept stirring I realized that I could create a hole in the wall that leads under the bathroom sink. A perfect spot to keep and run my apex and other dry goods!

Here are some picks so far:

Right side underneath sink:

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Left. Instead of the top off jug, there will be a RO/DI:

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Behind the tank, the first cord:

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Close-up of right side. Since I'm in a townhome, CO2 can get high, hence the reactor to keep PH up:

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Starting some aquascaping:

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More to come soon!

Josh
 
Awesome Josh! Looking great! What a perfect place too! Following along!

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Looks like the start of an awesome build thread. Well thought out and organized. Keep the posts coming, love seeing them.
 
Here is the aquascape so far:

Front:

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Left:

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Right:

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I'm trying to decide on lighting. I had a Kessil a160we lighting this tank. I liked everything about it except for the shadowing on my SPS. Since this will be an SPS dominant tank, I'm looking to get something different. Right now it's between the new 4th gen xr15w pro, or the nanobox duo. I'm leaning towards the nanobox because of the dual led pucks, which will help with the shadowing. I've also considered DIY leds and a power compact retrofit.

If anyone has any ideas to light an 18x18x18 cube, I'm all ears.
 
Hmmm...might be able to get away with one LEDZEAL Malibu S120 with a mounting rail kit or cables?

Got water in it yet?
 
Hmmm...might be able to get away with one LEDZEAL Malibu S120 with a mounting rail kit or cables?Got water in it yet?

Cool light. I ended up getting a great deal on a used nanobox duo so I'm going with that light. I'm expecting that to arrive this week.

I've also ordered the last few bits and bobs and will be installing those this week. If all goes as planned there'll be water this weekend!

The next month or so while the tank is cycling I'll be spending a lot of time figuring out livestock. I've had my mind set on helfrichi firefish, but I'm second guessing that based on their difficulty to pair successfully. I want really cool, unique, centerpiece fish. Any ideas?
 
Nice! Luckily you don't need the light for the cycle so hopefully you'll be running by the weekend. It's awesome when you finally have the water in and pumping. Making good progress! I have been researching fish too so I am in the same boat. Hopefully some more peeps will chime in. Keep us updated!

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Funny, as I was reading your post UPS knocked on the door and delivered my light. I love new stuff!


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Cool mod I did to the sump:

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The ato comes from the factory with a float valve attached to a gravity fed reservoir. I took that all out, drilled two holes for float switches, and added a solenoid valve that connects straight to the rodi. No more filling ato jugs and my apex handles it all.

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Looking good! Keep in mind that if something was to fail on your new ATO setup, you have an endless supply of water to make a nice flood and nuke your tank. I keep having one of my floats stick in the up position causing my sump to run low and pull bubbles!
 
@integra3g wrote:
Looking good! Keep in mind that if something was to fail on your new ATO setup said:
Good point. I'm looking at redundancy options at the moment. I'm considering a DIY alarm via a 3rd float switch that would trigger regardless if the apex was faulty or not. The problem with that option is it would do me no good if I wasn't at home .

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Maybe put an inline ball valve and only turn it on when you are home and off when your not so you don't come home to a flood. Still let the APEX and switches do its thing though.

Also might replace one of the float switches with a Optical Infrared Water Liquid Level Sensor so you have one optical and one float.

https://www.amazon.com/Optical-Infrared-Sensibility-Working-Controller/dp/B00Z9NUJWW
 
@ejoshmo wrote:
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and added a solenoid valve that connects straight to the rodi. No more filling ato jugs and my apex handles it all. said:
This has always been something that I've seen people do and then see a number of people saying NOT to do this for the reasons integra3g mentioned. One sticking float valve and it'll take no time at all (especially on a smaller tank) before your salinity is zero and your floor is covered in water:

http://www.melevsreef.com/rodi_recipe_for_disaster.html
Click to expand...
 
@jenkinscrew wrote:
Maybe put an inline ball valve and only turn it on when you are home and off when your not so you don't come home to a flood. Still let the APEX and switches do its thing though. Also might replace one of the float switches with a Optical Infrared Water Liquid Level Sensor so you have one optical and one float. https://www.amazon.com/Optical-Infrared-Sensibility-Working-Controller/dp/B00Z9NUJWW said:
I was originally going to go with the optical sensor, but it isn't plug and play with the apex. It requires an extra power source to power the led. Others have gotten it to work, but I'll let them continue to test it to make sure :)

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@Grant wrote:
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[I]@ejoshmo wrote:[/I][quote="and added a solenoid valve that connects straight to the rodi. No more filling ato jugs and my apex handles it all. said:
This has always been something that I've seen people do and then see a number of people saying NOT to do this for the reasons integra3g mentioned. One sticking float valve and it'll take no time at all (especially on a smaller tank) before your salinity is zero and your floor is covered in water:

http://www.melevsreef.com/rodi_recipe_for_disaster.html"]
Thanks for your concern, I love having these discussions! I don't think saying "never do x" is an appropriate answer to anything in reefing . I suppose it comes down to my need for automation vs. my comfortability with the amount of redundancy and failsafe measures I've taken. Either way, you all have stimulated some necessary thinking I still have to do regarding the safety of the tank and my home.

I'll get back to you all soon regarding where I land on all this
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@ejoshmo wrote:
Thanks for your concern said:
I'd agree with both of those statements. [smilie=smile.gif] Marc pretty much covers all the possible issues in the article so if you feel you have enough automation and redundancy to cover the risks I'm definitely interested in hearing how you do it.
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