Lee's 65g Mixed Reef

[Jaftica]

Looks great!

 

[lnevo]

So, last month I picked up a 3 head peristaltic pump and motor in preparation of setting up an automatic water change system. I almost have everything I need to get this up and running. The three head pump is nice because they are all on the same motor meaning they should all get the same exact flow rate when it runs.

Details on this type of system are here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2349824

Today I ordered a 24V solenoid valve with 1/4" quick connects. I will tee off my RO/DI output and this will open up the connection upstairs to fill my ATO reservoir. I'll use the RO/DI pressure to get the water upstairs instead of using a seperate pump.

I also decided to set up my 10G QT tank with the third head on the ametek pump. Even if I'm not actively QT'ing anything, I can use it for rinse water i figure long term it would be better for all the heads to have the same amount of wear. Initially I was going to take one of the heads off. Still not 100% on this yet.

It would work like this: pump head 1 will drain water from DT to QT, head 2 will drain QT to house drain and head 3 will send new SW to DT.

Thursday I received my second ReefAngel which I'll use to manage all this and eventually my SW mixing. I will be using a 5V power supply connected to an outlet on the Reef Angel upstairs to a relay downstairs which will be connected to one of the float switch ports. If this input is not "active" i will not run the RO or the AWC. This way if I'm doing any maintenance or any alarms happen to the tank upstairs, i can immediately abort everything i need to downstairs.

I will also have a float switch in the salt water reservoir that will be connected to the RA so when that flips the AWC will get disabled and I'll send out an alert.

For the RO I will be monitoring the water level in my ATO reservoir from my Mac. When it gets to lets say 25% I'll have a cron job to let the downstairs RA know to open the solenoid for an hour... That should bring it to a target of 75%. If the % goes higher than 90% for some reason I'll have the upstairs controller deactivate the 5V signal and send me an alarm. These numbers are all theoretical so I'll have to tweak once its all in place.

The relays that will control the Ametek pump and the RO solenoid will both be powered by the same 24V power supply which will also power the pump and the RO solenoid. The relays have a low voltage trigger which will be activated separately by a 5V signal from the downstairs RA. This will give me endless scheduling flexibility and the capability to change on demand how much water to change and how long to run the RO for. Right now the target will be to change out 1 gallon per day. I'll need to run the Ametek pump for an hour at full speed to get that. Broken down hourly thats like 2.5 minutes every hour.

I am planning on adding a PWM motor controller on the pumps to slow it down since they are pretty noisy. So at half the RPM it would be 5 minutes every hour. That part is on the slow boat from China (estimated for an april delivery...ugh!!)

I have a bit of programming to do and a lot of wiring and still waiting on some parts to make it all happen but I'm getting closer Just thought I'd share what I'm currently working on...

 

[lnevo]

Looks great!

Thanks man!

 

[oh207]

Sounds like an awesome project. I've been very intrigued by these systems, but unfortunately, the location of my tank relative to my laundry room (where I make RODI and mix water) won't allow any kind of automation. I'm following along to learn more. Good luck with the project!

So is the plan to do continuous water changes of a few gallons a day as opposed to using the AWC system to do bulk changes on a weekend or once per month? Are there benefits of doing the continuous over the bulk changes?

 

[lnevo]

I thought the same thing...my mixing station is on the full opposite corner of the house. The beauty is that I dont need pvc and the peristaltic pumps can handle a LOT of head height so if I wanted I could go up and over through the attic. 1/4" line is flexible and cheap.

As far as continuous vs bulk is concerned, its about stability and constant export. I could do it in one shot but it would take almost a full day (15 hours) to do what I do biweekly right now. With 1g a day I get the same benefit with no impact.

This is a very good explanation of the logic behind it:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/#13

 

[lnevo]

Actually it's better described in the small batch water change section

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/#12

 

[oh207]

Actually it's better described in the small batch water change section

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/#12

Both good reading. I'll definitely be following closely to learn more.

 

[TommyP]

Sounds like a nice little project can't wait to see how it turns out

 

[lnevo]

 

[oh207]

Very nice! Looks like it's time to start fragging a few items.

How many mandarins do you have? I just picked up a blue mandarin and a ruby dragonet from another reefer.

 

[lnevo]

Got him last Tuesday, but haven't seen him for past 2 days. Guess he's joining the list of shame....

Otherwise only the one green mandarin. Had him since last summer.

 

[oh207]

Got him last Tuesday, but haven't seen him for past 2 days. Guess he's joining the list of shame....

Otherwise only the one green mandarin. Had him since last summer.

Cute little fella! I like him more than the mandarin. I didn't bother to QT the mandarin and the dragonet. I got a blue mandarin and a Ruby Red. The Ruby Red is the exact opposite. He is out and all over the tank. From one corner to the next. The blue mandarin is mostly hiding but comes out. They ate frozen food from previous owner but right now my tank has a gazillion copepods and amphipods so they are enjoying the buffet.

 

[lnevo]

I probably wont try again with them though. I think next fish I get will be a tailspot blennie.

The mandarin I got him eating frozen as well. He eats good.

 

[oh207]

I like blennies. I got a bi-color blenny too.
I'll hit you up for some tips on feeding these guys frozen food. I did try to feed spirulina brine but they ignored it.

 

[lnevo]

Had a great time at the LIRA meeting last night. Picked up a really nice frag of grape juice acropora. Duke also helped me identify my huge microphthelma colony.

I also stopped by Tropical Island today. Have to say, all the tanks there looked great. I picked up an emerald crab and a bunch of red hermits.

I managed to inventory all my livestock tonight. Here's the full list.

Pink monti cap
Red star polyps
Green star polyps
Frogspawn
Captain America Palys
Green zoas
Silver tip purple hammer
Green Acropora Microphthelma
Pink Birdsnest
Orange Digitata
Firecra cker palys
Green Toadstool leather
Purple ponape birdsnest
Green hyacinth birdsnest
Green birdsnest
Duncan coral
Superman mushrooms
Blue mushrooms
Red mushrooms
Orange mushroom
Open brain coral
Kenya tree
Pink palys
Purple / green zoas
Yellow mouth red chalice
Purple ricordia mushrooms
Yellow porites
Orange / purple ricordias
Purple monti cap
Green montipora
Sunset montipora
War coral
Christmas tree favia
Neon green candy cane
Orange fungia plate
Meteor shower
Green nepthia leather
Spaghetti finger leather
Purple hammer
Purple / green tip hammer
Green spongodes
Blue echinata
Yellow millipora
Green slimer
Purple stylophora
Unknown acropora
Candy apple reds
Red hornet
Sunny D's
Pink and gold palys
Solars
Rastas
Wow palys
Armor of gods
Rainbow rapors
Nano's Mystery Acro
Grape Juice Acropora Nasuta

Skunk cleaner shrimp
Coral banded shrimp
Bumble bee snails
Nassarius snails
Hermit crabs
Emerald crab
Rose Bubble Tip Anemone

Blue hippo tang
Yellow coris wrasse
Green Mandarin
Orange spot diamond goby
Foxface rabbitfish
2 orange line chromis
2 occelaris clownfish
Royal gramma
Firefish

Chaetomorpha
Caluerpa prolifera
Dragons breath
Red grape caluerpa

 

[lnevo]

If you read through the list, the ruby red dragonet is not there Haven't seen him since the night I snapped those shots. Definitely thing I'll be shopping for some kind of blenny. Right now it's for a tailspot. Anyone think I'm overstocked?

 

[lnevo]

Ok. Today I setup the wiring for the relays that will control the automatic water change pump and the solenoid for my RO. All I have left now is to get the ReefAngel programmed and connect the 5V outputs to the trigger input on the relays. Then the main part of the electronics will be done. I do still have to get the control signal from upstairs connected and the float switch wired up for the ReefAngel's inputs, but that's just splicing wires.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvHLUKTDDv0

 

[oh207]

Hey lnevo, I was at the LIRA meeting the other night too (it was my first time). Would have been nice to meet you. Thats quite a list of corals and livestock you have there. I hope the ruby red is just hiding. Mine is more active than the blue mandarin. He is all over the tank.
The wiring for the AWC looks great. Thats some high-tech rig you have there.

 

[lnevo]

We may have met...not sure check your PM. If not, next time man. Sorry we missed each other. The ruby red is still MIA. Not hopeful. Haven't seen the emerald crab yet either after he took off when I dropped him in...Hope he comes out too.

I screwed up those relays trying to tie them into my reef angel. Ordered a few more with spares this time. Guess I'll try again in a month.

 

[jrsticks]

Looking great! i picked up the pump Ehiem 1262. You and Oh207 are getting me exited to start the build. All thats left is the plumbing and sand. You guys should start up the the 65 Gal club i will be in soon!