ADA 120-P Reef Build - 65 Gallons

[samnaz]

very very nice!

 

[Ben Weaver]

So nice and clean! This is dream tank material right here. Good job on everything. Can wait to see life in it!

 

[toybox22]

Question: my drain pipe is about 6-7 inches down the water line, is that too far down? I've been reading up and people usually put it 1 inch below the water line. Not sure if it being so deep will cause any issues? I notice a lot of bubbles but nothing too crazy.

I have an AIO tank, but from my knowledge, if your pump dies, is your sump big enough to hold all the water that is gonna drain into it? That's why most people have it an inch. Cause it's less water going into the sump if the pump dies or a power outtage.

Awesome looking build though! Loved ADA for my planted tanks.

 

[Scratch08]

Beautiful setup. That sump is awesome!!
As for the drain, the closer to the water line it is the less noise you'll have from water falling into the overflow...if that makes sense.

 

[Clayton Jessup]

Beautiful setup!!! I absolutely love this build amazing, well done !

 

[illuminata]

Quick update. Been super busy with the kids and planning my daughters 1st birthday party.

Transfer was a success. 0 live stock loss. 0 cycle. I'm really digging the no background look but now I have to pay more attention to cable management (I know its ugly, I need to clean it up -- hide it behind the overflow).

I decided to try a bare bottom look first since I didn't have time to prep any of the new sand (kind of just threw everything together, along with the rockscape) and dumped my old sand in buckets.

Next step would be cleaning up my electronics and building a board for it. My goal is to keep everything inside the sump and leave room for a Trident.

 

[reefwiser]

Looks like the side of your cabinet threw up.

 

[illuminata]

Looks like the side of your cabinet threw up.

It was bad, I should have taken a photo when the transfer was taking place - old tank there, large buckets of water here, equipment there and corals everywhere..
I cleaned it up as much as I could. Pretty much plugged everything in and threw everything in the stand. All this with 2 four year olds and a 11 month old running around :O

 

[najer]

Loving the scape, nice work.

 

[illuminata]

Quick shots off my cell phone! I need to bust out the dslr.

 

[Clayton Jessup]

The tank looks amazing!!!

 

[illuminata]

Got the electronics in place, the boards are oversized (by millimeters) to be wedged in place by tension -- this way I can remove them and or replace modules easier.

The display on that location is temporary, I'll leave it out of the tank on the wall. I like walking by and just glancing seeing everything is ok without opening any doors.

 

[illuminata]

Left Side:
wxm, fmm, ald, pmk, bob and a link1 (eb832 on the bottom)

Right Side:
apex, cor, dos, ddr

 

[P-Dub]

Outstanding!!! Wish I would have come across your build sooner. The ONLY thing I would have done differently is added a manifold. I put one in and it has been a game changer for me. Allowed me to add a chiller, UV sterilized, back up return pump, calcium reactor, bio-pellet reactor and the feed for my external refugium. Love the look of EVERYTHING that you have there. Well done indeed!

 

[illuminata]

Outstanding!!! Wish I would have come across your build sooner. The ONLY thing I would have done differently is added a manifold. I put one in and it has been a game changer for me. Allowed me to add a chiller, UV sterilized, back up return pump, calcium reactor, bio-pellet reactor and the feed for my external refugium. Love the look of EVERYTHING that you have there. Well done indeed!

Thanks @P-Dub oh, let me check out your build. I considered a manifold but didn't think I was going to run much on it so I just added a single valve for a quick water change dump. Can always add more later down the road! ;Woot

 

[samnaz]

fantastic job with the electronics boards!

 

[illuminata]

fantastic job with the electronics boards!

Thanks @samnaz ! Not sure if it's 100% done yet, once the Trident comes out, I feel it's going to change a bit.

 

[Nms2156]

Looks awesome !

 

[illuminata]

Update: The overflow was making too much noise so I had to tune the gate valve (completely closed and slowly opened it up, I read about this from the red sea reefer owners). I got it to the point where there is no more splashing and bubbles coming out from the drain. Super quiet, I just hear water trickle to the filter sock. The loudest thing now are the G4 fans.

This made me a little concerned about water level in the back of the overflow so I put in an optical sensor to alert me if it goes up.

Optical Sensor:

Old FTS:

 

[Fishlee]

you make me want to upgrade my tank too