Aquatic command center: Do you use a controller board?
- QUESTION OF THE DAY
- Thread starter Peace River
- Start date
- Tagged users None
design.maddie
Well-Known Member
Well, I am currently rebuilding my setup this week, so wires and controllers are strung left, right, up and down around the system. 
Little blinky lights all over the floor. Still not sure what I am going to do to tidy it all up, but I am sure I will come up with some catchy way to make it look nice.
Little blinky lights all over the floor. Still not sure what I am going to do to tidy it all up, but I am sure I will come up with some catchy way to make it look nice.
Mine was a 'hybrid' of a DIY plywood board and cluster#@&#. ;-)
I'm running a CADE1800 and didn't add enough room against the wall when placing the tank to effectively reach my hand in the back to route cables. The stand cabinet compartment where the power strips are isn't deep enough on the exterior (door side) for the Apex controller and EBB832, so at first I mounted them, along with my Hydros WaveEngine and COR controller to a 3/4" board at the rear with my Trident at the bottom of the compartment. The problem was access whenever anything needed to be changed or checked. I eventually pulled everything out, removed the bottom half of the panel below the power strips and while it's not pretty, at least I can reach what I need.
Moral Of The Story: Leave more than about 3" between the rear of the tank and your wall. ;-)
I'm running a CADE1800 and didn't add enough room against the wall when placing the tank to effectively reach my hand in the back to route cables. The stand cabinet compartment where the power strips are isn't deep enough on the exterior (door side) for the Apex controller and EBB832, so at first I mounted them, along with my Hydros WaveEngine and COR controller to a 3/4" board at the rear with my Trident at the bottom of the compartment. The problem was access whenever anything needed to be changed or checked. I eventually pulled everything out, removed the bottom half of the panel below the power strips and while it's not pretty, at least I can reach what I need.
Moral Of The Story: Leave more than about 3" between the rear of the tank and your wall. ;-)
Dburr1014
10K Club member
Nice, BTW, 13.7 wrx is not slow. LOLI just made a DIY box when I setup my tank last year to hide the wires and mount everything. I'll probably re-do it at some point since adding the second EB8 recently.
slowwrx137
Community Member
Thanks! Your one of a very few that get the name.
I've been out of the car scene for a while but had a bugeye back in the early 2000's that I eventually got down into the high 12's.
mattdg
Well-Known Member
Some nice organization posted here so far. Drawing inspiration from some of the posts. I don't use a proper board, but I do have this area built into my 120 gallon reef stand to house reef control equipment. The box upper right is to access the bulkhead. Below everything is a removable base, to fish wires down into the reef cabinet. I always have a power strip with built in switches, for quick controls like turning cabinet lights and AWC on and off, in this system .
This is the control board for my DIY LiPo4 battery generator. It has a 200Ah battery, to keep my tank running for 32 hours, during a power out. This is built into a smaller cabinet that sits right next to the 120 gallon mixed reef. This control center is usually covered by another board, so it just looks like a piece of furniture sitting next to the tank.
Here is the control center for my downstairs frag tanks. It is more organized than it looks in this picture, mounted 4 feet off the ground, with plenty of drip loops, directly behind a shelf where I frag and treat coral. Yes, that is a first Gen MP10! Again, with the switches. I really like being able to turn pumps on and off quickly, especially with a frag system. Beats having to pull my phone and use an app.
This is the control board for my DIY LiPo4 battery generator. It has a 200Ah battery, to keep my tank running for 32 hours, during a power out. This is built into a smaller cabinet that sits right next to the 120 gallon mixed reef. This control center is usually covered by another board, so it just looks like a piece of furniture sitting next to the tank.
Here is the control center for my downstairs frag tanks. It is more organized than it looks in this picture, mounted 4 feet off the ground, with plenty of drip loops, directly behind a shelf where I frag and treat coral. Yes, that is a first Gen MP10! Again, with the switches. I really like being able to turn pumps on and off quickly, especially with a frag system. Beats having to pull my phone and use an app.
MnFish1
10K Club member
Kudos to everyone who has organized their equipment in this way - I just mounted mine on the wall of my cabinet. Then discovered what a pain it can be when something goes wrong. In the end - I minimized the equipment for my tank - and didn't need much organization
321billk
New Member
I’m just stating and automation has taken over my kitchen, I have biocube 32 which I took off top and put on AI 16HD. I bought the adaptive controller board, added a renewed iPad but I have not got all the wire straightened out. Look at it and move on to something else. I put my apex in the cabinet. I did run lines from my salt tank(rubbermaid 32 trash can from porch inside and using apex DOS to pull it. Much work to do.
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dangles
Valuable Member
This is my current setup:
But I’m in the middle of setting up a new (bigger) tank and a much cooler controller board……
More details here:
www.reef2reef.com
But I’m in the middle of setting up a new (bigger) tank and a much cooler controller board……
More details here:
Build Thread - The "She Said Yes!" 120 Gallon Build
For my original Innovative Marine 50 gallon AIO build, click HERE. This will serve as my new build thread. It will be slow to get started as I gather all the gear but once Black Friday hits the pace will pick up dramatically! Long story short, my fiancé just built a house out in the country...
www.reef2reef.com
Troylee
all about the diy!!!!!
Made my own.. even cut my stand out while the tank was in operation to accommodate it and added doors.
Brucealmighty
Active Member
I like this idea, I have recently become single so the amount of maintenance time on the tank is going to increase immenselyMine is a controller door. Still a mess.
I have a bog standard cupboard with 2 doors and a piece of 3ply as a backboard
I'm thinking of hacking into the back of the cupboard and sort it all out, as dare I say.....
My apex is in the cupboard underneath the DT with the sump, I have routed cable's with cable ties and sticky plastic squares that the cable ties thread on to including air pipe for skimmer to outside.
My trident is on another cupboard next to the tank ironically the piece that can get splashed a little bit better than the apex controller itself and it's not ever got splashed and has not got the possibility of being splashed.
I am wondering on average how long does it take to move it all ? and any tips from anyone that has done it ?
Obviously prepare cupboard for installation first, but is there any kind of don't forget this or make sure you do the other before etc etc ??
Is it going to be more than a weekend job should I wait for holiday time off work to do the mission ?
Any input from anyone would be great.
bmr
Active Member
I am in the process of building my control rack and it is a total mess at the moment. Tank has not even completed its cycle but the project is in process and getting more organized by the day.
Progress
