Caravan's 165 SPS dominant Reef in Austin

[Caravanshaka]

Quick photo update. Got frag light mounted, skimmer test fitted, and the manifold and fuge plumbing complete last night. Turns out I forgot my ball valve for the fuge flow though, so need to add that in.

 

[SlvrZ]

Wish I had that much sump space! Id love to make a frag tank down under, but the chaeto is taking up all the space.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Wish I had that much sump space! Id love to make a frag tank down under, but the chaeto is taking up all the space.

This was a major reason for the upgrade. I wanted a frag tank, but the location that the tank fits in isn't conducive to having 2 separate tanks. The stand is 68 wide and 36 deep, and will fit into a nook that is 70 wide and 38 deep. Tank on top is 54x30x24, allowing me some space on the sides for plumbing and electronics, and behind for wiring and some airflow. This is by far the biggest sump I have ever worked with at 48x30x16

 

[Caravanshaka]

Oh, and first livestock went into the tank last night!

 

[Caravanshaka]

Thanks @premiumaquatics for getting the DOS in stock the afternoon I needed them!

 

[Caravanshaka]

Stand LEDs installed so I can see what I am doing. 8 cool white luxeons on a 600mah driver. Probably just going to have this one on an Apex outlet instead of a door switch like my old build.
Return plumbing all dry-fitted and looking good!

 

[Caravanshaka]

All plumbing done except for the fuge ball valve and the drain pipes on the inside of the sump!

Every connection chamfered inside and out on the pvc pipe, then glued with clear primer and medium pvc cement. Looks really clean overall! Now I have to decide if I’m going to be so picky that I rub all the barcodes off the fittings....

 

[najer]

Looks very clean, nice work.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Looks very clean, nice work.

Thanks! Next up is determining how and where to mount the dual DOS setups and get the dosing containers plumbed up!

 

[Caravanshaka]

Here is what I am thinking for location on the DOS setups. Will use screws in the wall panel that covers that area for mounting.

 

[Bmasculine]

Really clean, sump is awesome.

 

[Caravanshaka]

DOS setup mounted and connected! I plan on refilling the containers using a siphon method so I don’t have to try and remove them from the sump area. Just pop the top and fill.

Dosing will consist of ATI elements 1-3, and the 4th will be used for nutrients as needed (nitrates most likely as I am dosing 10ml per day on my current 100g tank manually)

 

[Caravanshaka]

Not a whole lot to report tonight, wife had plans for me outside of working on the tank build! ;Jawdrop

I did get a few of the controllers mounted as well as the mounting templates for the 2016 Apex brain and EB832. Planning on mounting my power bricks up high, and having all of the power cables in channels, but those details may have to wait until the tank is in its final resting position....already not looking forward to taking this all apart to move it into the house.

 

[Clayton Jessup]

Wow @Caravanshaka this is a amazing build I can’t wait to see this tank ! The Modular Marine Sump ,ATO,and Dosing Containers are all very nice ! I once ordered a baffle kit for him and loved it! He does good work! Very nice I am going to be tagging along for this build for sure !

 

[Caravanshaka]

Wow @Caravanshaka this is a amazing build I can’t wait to see this tank ! The Modular Marine Sump ,ATO,and Dosing Containers are all very nice ! I once ordered a baffle kit for him and loved it! He does good work! Very nice I am going to be tagging along for this build for sure !

Glad to have you along for the ride @Clayton Jessup !!

 

[flex13]

wow very nice. Red and White

 

[Wrasse-cal]

This is a great set up. Maybe I missed it, but what made you decide to go back to dosing versus the CA reactor?

 

[Wrasse-cal]

I'm curious as well as to why you are using the maxspect gyre controller versus an gyre interface module to link the gyre/s to your apex?

 

[BantyRooster97]

Curious about the CaRx as well, ALK & Cal work hand in hand, not sure how ALK can be stable & Cal can rise. My Masterflex & CaRx is probably my best & easiest addition to my tank.

 

[Caravanshaka]

This is a great set up. Maybe I missed it, but what made you decide to go back to dosing versus the CA reactor?

My Alk has stayed steady at 7.8-8 with it, but my calcium has slowly climbed from the low 400’s to a max of 515 with the reactor being the only thing adding either calcium or Alk. If I’m going to have to dose soda ash to continue using the calcium reactor, I might as well just dose everything for control.

The benefit to a calcium reactor is the addition of trace elements that are also in the coral skeletons. I realized though, that while this is better than 2-part, the trace elements only include those used to build the skeleton, not anything that may have been in the tissues of the coral flesh.

With the addition of Triton, Aquaforrest, and ATI essentials, dosing now contains all elements known to be consumed by a living reef, and are continuously supplied in the average uptake of those elements. To me, I know that ATI essentials will contain, within reason, the same concentration of elements from batch to batch.....whereas a refill of calcium reactor media may be different depending on what was in that batch.

Stability is life or death in a Reef, and after running the most stable calcium reactor setup I can, I still haven’t found that stability.

I'm curious as well as to why you are using the maxspect gyre controller versus an gyre interface module to link the gyre/s to your apex?

Cost is a major factor. You can run 2 Gyres on one maxspect controller/power supply, and they are synced seamlessly. I think there are enough adjustments in the macspect controller to handle anything I need, and it’s something I won’t mess with much after the initial setup.

Curious about the CaRx as well, ALK & Cal work hand in hand, not sure how ALK can be stable & Cal can rise. My Masterflex & CaRx is probably my best & easiest addition to my tank.

There are a ton of variables in a tank and calcium reactor setup. pH required to dissolve the different elements...the media used and what elements they contain...what is in your reef taking in those elements.

While calcium and Alk work together, they aren’t 100% of the time in sync. @Randy Holmes-Farley has studied this and agrees that a proper dosing setup will always be more stable than a calcium reactor.