29 Gallon to 120 Gallon Upgrade Build

marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/393629/29-gallon-to-120-gallon-upgrade-build/20#post_3506475
Forgot to ask....How do you like the overflow setup.........
Bean animal is awesome! It was so easy to tune once the air is purged out of the system. Dead silent too! Highly recommended, especially for those who currently have HOB overflows. I don't miss mine at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/393629/29-gallon-to-120-gallon-upgrade-build/20#post_3506474
Looks very good!!!!! Curious if you've checked your phosphates......
I forgot to grab that test kit from my dad place. I'm going to be testing it tonight along with Calcium and Alkalinity. I do have a GFO reactor running. I'm also curious as to how accurately the Red Sea Salt mix levels will be. I want to see if they match what is advertised. I switched from instant ocean reef, which I used on my previous tank, to Rea Sea Coral Pro Salt mix based on reviews I read.
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarvelFan http:///t/393629/29-gallon-to-120-gallon-upgrade-build/20#post_3506473
API Test results.
Ammonia 0.5 ppm
pH 8.2
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0
I added 3 pieces of cured live rock from my 30 gallon into the 120. Hopefully it will help seed the system. Also threw a small ball of cheato and a grow light on the refugium. I'll run the light for 8 hours during the night and leave all lights off during the day until the tank is fully done with the initial cycle.
I didn't look at the shrimp yet. Going to of town this weekend and will check it tomorrow. I'll probably just ghost feed some flake before I leave for the weekend.

Added Live Rock into the 120 Mounted one of the LED lights to the canopy. Its about 3 - 4 inches off the water surface.

Picture with one light on. Piece of Cheato in the sump with a temporary grow light.

Pic of the LED mounted from back behind the tank. I used some plastic pipe clips with the mounting clips that came with the lights.
I like the look of the setup. How do you like the LED fixture you have (and what kind is it)?? 3 to 4" off the waters surface is kinda close. Are you getting the coverage you want from that?? Just curious, I have read that most will hang them 8-10" from the water.
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweatervest13 http:///t/393629/29-gallon-to-120-gallon-upgrade-build/40#post_3506508
I like the look of the setup. How do you like the LED fixture you have (and what kind is it)?? 3 to 4" off the waters surface is kinda close. Are you getting the coverage you want from that?? Just curious, I have read that most will hang them 8-10" from the water.
They are TaoTronic LED's that I found on eBay- 110 Watts each unit. Dimmable with blues and whites on independent power sources and controlls. $160 each.
The spread of the light was my concern too. I'm not sure if I'm pleased at this point to tell you the truth. I actually think the light is too concentrated in the middle. I'm trying to find a way to raise them, but the power cords and controls are on the top and get in the in the way. I would have to raise my canopy up, or cut mounting holes in the top of the canopy. Not sure I want to do this. It would gain me about 4 more inches of height. I'm toying with the idea cutting 2 rectangular holes and having the top of the units sit flush with the top of the canopy, but in my head this does look good to me, aesthetically.
I think I'm going to wait until I move the fish and corals have have both lights mounted before I make any drastic decisions. If I can get some help this weekend I think I may try to have a friend help me lift the canopy up 4-6" and see if the light spread changes in any significant way.
Another option I have is to try to find some sort of matching wood (which may prove difficult) and raise the canopy up 4-6" by building on a new base for it. Addition of a trim or boarder design around the canopy that will give me height, yet preserve the look of the tank.
** Edit - Additionally I was thinking I could get a light diffuser panel to help spread the light. as well.. just another idea
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Not sure if a light diffuser is what is needed......The issue is the height you have them mounted......
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/393629/29-gallon-to-120-gallon-upgrade-build/40#post_3506588
Not sure if a light diffuser is what is needed......The issue is the height you have them mounted......
I agree with you. I did a mock up tonight. I placed some scrap wood under the canopy to hold it up. I used 2x4 scrap which is a 3-1/2 inch booth. I think it improves the spread noticeably.
I'm think I'm going to play with the idea of building a small 4-5" high base. Then fill in the gap using a molding and trying to stain it as close as possible to the canopy.
Sound like a decent plan?
Here is a couple shots of the difference in height.

Light raised additional 3.5 inches
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarvelFan http:///t/393629/29-gallon-to-120-gallon-upgrade-build/40#post_3506590
I agree with you. I did a mock up tonight. I placed some scrap wood under the canopy to hold it up. I used 2x4 scrap which is a 3-1/2 inch booth. I think it improves the spread noticeably.
I'm think I'm going to play with the idea of building a small 4-5" high base. Then fill in the gap using a molding and trying to stain it as close as possible to the canopy.
Sound like a decent plan?
Here is a couple shots of the difference in height.

Light raised additional 3.5 inches

Definitely sounds like a good plan on raising the lighting.....Is the canopy factory made and finished.....Might not be to bad trying to match up the stain.......Not sure about using trim to make up the 4-5" height difference......Depending how easy it is to match the stain up, I might be inclined to totally redo the canopy.....
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/393629/29-gallon-to-120-gallon-upgrade-build/40#post_3506611
Thanks!!!!! I was curious about the Phos level.....How did you clean your dry rock.....How long did you soak or didn't you........

I didn't soak it. I had it in my tank for a couple days before i read your built thread realized some people soak there rock. I thought this was only needed to be done if you need to cure it to put it in an established tank. I did notice some residue or film coming off the rock, but I put a filter sock on for a day it all cleared up. I do have GFO Reactor going, so that should help with phosphates. So far so good. I ghost feed some flake food into the filter sock before I left for the weekend. Tank is looking good. Waiting to see the diatom bloom.
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/393629/29-gallon-to-120-gallon-upgrade-build/40#post_3506610
Definitely sounds like a good plan on raising the lighting.....Is the canopy factory made and finished.....Might not be to bad trying to match up the stain.......Not sure about using trim to make up the 4-5" height difference......Depending how easy it is to match the stain up, I might be inclined to totally redo the canopy.....
Yeah.. i'm going to see how close I can match it. I was thinking that it may even be a cool look to offer some contrast around the boarder of the canopy. Maybe sometime darker with a nice design. I'm going to get some samples and see next week what I can do with it. Hopefully I'll be able to start my algae scrubber LED build soon. Still waiting for the parts. I was hoping to have it up and running before the diatom bloom to see if i could minimize it. I'll post that build in my other build thread. I'm going hunting for TV dinner meal trays to make the scrubber and light cases. Snack time!
The canopy is a factory canopy BWT.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Very cool!!!! I was curious if you soaked and your results.... I bleached mine 2x and have been running in fresh RO water for over 2 weeks.... Should be good to go. I did notice a white film at first just put a filter sock in place....
Have another order coming in shortly!!!
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/393629/29-gallon-to-120-gallon-upgrade-build/40#post_3506656
Very cool!!!! I was curious if you soaked and your results.... I bleached mine 2x and have been running in fresh RO water for over 2 weeks.... Should be good to go. I did notice a white film at first just put a filter sock in place....
Have another order coming in shortly!!!
Good luck with the rock. I'm curious how much of a difference soaking will make. Wonder if not soaking in a bleach bath will lead to complications down the line?
Guess I'll find out, but of course I may never be able to directly relate any potential future problems to past events.
When I got back form out of town last night I did another API set of tests.
Ammonia = 1.0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
My salinity is a bit higher then I want it 1.028. I've been manually doing top offs. Last night I started a process of removing salt water form the tank before the fresh water top off. I should be able to whittle the salinity down to the proper level over time.
I'm starting my canopy modification and algae scrubber build this week. Hoping to get quite a bit done by the end of next weekend.
I was able to find the materials to raise the canopy up about 5 inches. This will give me about an 8" space between the lights and water, which I feel should be adequate.
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Tonight's results:
Ammonia - .50 ppm
Nitrite = .25 ppm
Nitrate - >0 but not quite 5 ppm
Looks like the cycle is off and running. Fed some more flake. I think my raw shrimp is gone by now. nothing left in the sock from what I can tell. I'll test it again this weekend. Going to be working on the scrubber and canopy if nothing else comes up over the next couple days.
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Today I worked on the canopy modification. I was able to raise it up about 3 additional inches after the modification, which did make quite a bit of difference. I used a veneer covered floorboard I found at Menards. In the picture you can see it is a shade lighter but the same type of wheat oak pattern. In person it actually blends in really well. I'm very pleased with how it turned out.
My upcomming projects include the following:
1. RO/DI and Saltwater mixing station (waiting for the uniseals to arrive)
2. Algae Scrubber build (waiting for the LED Driver to arrive)
3. Auto-top off set up.
4. Daily automated water change system
I'm working out the logistics of the auto water change system. Here is my idea at this point. It will run using 2 float switches, 2 small pumps and and my reef controller. Here is an example of what i'm thinking of how it could run. I'm looking at using 70 GPH pumps (Approx 1 gallon per minute).
I'll measure out the the distance between 2 points in the return section of the sump equivalent to ~1 gallon of water. 2 float switches will gauge the max and min levels.
1. 11:59 PM Auto-top off disengaged
2. 12:00 AM - Controller turns on PUMP #1. Pumps water from Sump out to nearby stationary sink drain.
3. 1 gallon of water is expelled from system. Float switch #1 drops turning off PUMP #1. (Emergency protocol - controller turns off Pump #1 after ~1 and half minutes in case of float switch failure)
4. 12:03 AM - Controller turns on PUMP #2. Pumps water from Saltwater Mixing Station into Sump.
5. Sump fills with 1 gallon of water. Float switch #2 rises and PUMP #2 turns off. (Emergency protocol - controller shuts down Pump #2 after ~1 and half minutes in case of float switch failure)
6. 12:05 AM - Auto-top turns re-engaged.
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Did a water test -
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0-5 ppm
pH - 8.00
I've been ghost feeding daily (maybe too much), so it seems like the tank is through an initial cycle. I think i'm going to give it about another week before I move my livestock over, but with the livestock comes 35 lbs of fully cured live rock, so I feel the there should be no issues since I won't be adding any additional livestock for a bit. In a couple weeks I'll order a cleanup crew package.
Do you think it would be better to slowly pull out live rock from my existing tank maybe 5 lbs a day for the next week, or should I just move it all at once? I was thinking it may be risky to remove the bacteria from the existing tank while leaving the livestock behind. Don't want to crash the existing tank.
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
I have a sump sponge and a filter sock with Chemi-pure on that system. There is also a filter sponge on the eShopp Overflow. Other wise its just the refugium with some sand and live rock and cheato. And my skimmer of course.
 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Readings last night were still good! Still ghost feeding while I work on my water mixing station.
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitratate - 0 (While Nitrate reads zero my Seneye device is producing NH4 readings of 15-17)
Ph - (API is hard to read color is between 8.0-8.2, but Seneye and ReefKeeper produce similar readings of 8.05 and 8.04 respectively)
I build a stand for the two 44-gallon brutes. Here is a shot of the finished product and and undershot of the construction. I also made a float switch holder for my ATO system out of some acrylic. I'm still waiting on my LED drivers for the algae scrubber build. Hopefully soon. Still a lot to do!

 
marvelfan

marvelfan

Member
Last night I was able to get my ATO hooked up and get the rough plumbing done on the water mixing station. I won't have the mixing pump until after I move my current tank. I'm going to use the Ehiem 3000 that is currently my return pump in my old setup.


I finally got a chance to test my RO/DI Float and shutoff valve on the RO/DI. Worked like a charm. I only filled the RO/DI up about 1/4 of the way to test the seal. I still have to cement all the PVC, but it held up well.
The only issue I ran into was the height difference due to the utility room being higher then the tank. When I tested my ATO I hit the float switch and the pump did turn off. However when I put the tubing into the sump it was creating a siphon effect and the stream didn't stop. I moved the tube slowly up until the stream did stop. It turns out that I have to run the ATO into my main display. Not a huge issue as it is still hidden in my overflow, but still of some concern as I move forward with my auto-water change build. A good 3 gallons of Top off to do last night so Let it run and went to bed. Woke up hoping the water stopped at my desired level. Worked like a charm. Going to be nice not to have to fill separate bucket for RO/DI every week. Now I can just leave my RO/DI running and have an endless Top Off reservoir. You don't know how many times I came home to find the pump running dry on my old set up. 5 gallon buckets go dry so quick!
 
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