Cody.P's 75g Ultimate Build!

[Cody.P]

I couldn’t get the Branch to work like I wanted! Tried for a few hours with it and then this idea hit me lol.

Excited to see what you do with it! Tonga branch scapes are one of my favorites

 

[Cody.P]

More equipment has been decided on and the tank is in set up mode. Going with a T5/Radion combo. The radions will be run all day and the T5s will pop on for about 3-4 hours at peak intensity. Should really cook the corals and give them some nice color. I’ve also started collecting fish for the tank. I plan to really push the bio load on this 75!
Hope to start filling the tank with water this weekend! More pics to come [emoji4]

 

[Cody.P]

Tank is on the stand! Just doin a Little cable management before adding water [emoji4]

 

[LPStandard]

Tank is on the stand! Just doin a Little cable management before adding water [emoji4]

Exciting! What are you using for cable management?

 

[Cody.P]

Exciting! What are you using for cable management?

Zip ties and the back of my stand lol. I’ll take a pic and show you when I get home! It’s mostly to just hide the cords behind the tank

 

[Cody.P]

Exciting! What are you using for cable management?

Here is the “cable management” mostly just keeps the cords out of the sump and behind the tank.

 

[LPStandard]

I need to do a little cable cleanup myself. I've been using the Velcro cable ties. Nice if you have to move or change things, and they're usually big enough to wrap multiple cords

 

[Cody.P]

Oh Velcro sounds way easier lol.
I tried zip tying these to little nail hooks. That way I can cut and undue anything I want to change. Well that’s the idea at least lol.

 

[Cody.P]

Rock and a little sand are in the tank! What do you think??
Front

Left side

Right side

 

[Cody.P]

Well lesson learned. I plugged in my light to the new outlet I installed and BOOM!! The ballast went POP and blew smoke out!! I instantly pulled out the light power and cringed. Initial thought was too much power. So I got out my tester and it was putting out 220v! Oops. The junction box I used was for the wall heaters that need 220v. What are the odds...?
Anyways now I need to install a new ballast for my T5s. Also crawled around in the creepy attic again and fixed my wiring issue. Thank goodness the apex was able to handle the 220v and is ok [emoji51]

Also plan to purchase my replacement parts for the MP-10s, my other radion, return pump and skimmer this week [emoji4]

 

[LPStandard]

Well lesson learned. I plugged in my light to the new outlet I installed and BOOM!! The ballast went POP and blew smoke out!! I instantly pulled out the light power and cringed. Initial thought was too much power. So I got out my tester and it was putting out 220v! Oops. The junction box I used was for the wall heaters that need 220v. What are the odds...?
Anyways now I need to install a new ballast for my T5s. Also crawled around in the creepy attic again and fixed my wiring issue. Thank goodness the apex was able to handle the 220v and is ok [emoji51]

Also plan to purchase my replacement parts for the MP-10s, my other radion, return pump and skimmer this week [emoji4]

Whoops! At least it was just a ballast.

 

[Cody.P]

Whoops! At least it was just a ballast.

And I found out my return pump is fried also lol. Went to turn it on last night and it doesn’t work anymore! Better those two things than all my other equipment. Lesson learned for sure...

 

[LPStandard]

And I found out my return pump is fried also lol. Went to turn it on last night and it doesn’t work anymore! Better those two things than all my other equipment. Lesson learned for sure...

Bummer :/

Still, could have been much worse.

 

[Cody.P]

Bummer :/

Still, could have been much worse.

Seriously, could have fried my mp10s, radion, apex etc. thankfully I hadn’t plugged any of that in.

 

[curtisbenm]

Very lucky indeed! If you have room in your breaker box, you may want to think about running a new 'home run' line and have your tank on its own circuit. I'm no electrician, but I'm sure you are capable of doing it. Just my thought

 

[Cody.P]

Very lucky indeed! If you have room in your breaker box, you may want to think about running a new 'home run' line and have your tank on its own circuit. I'm no electrician, but I'm sure you are capable of doing it. Just my thought

That’s very smart! I will look into that.

 

[Cody.P]

Small update.
I ran an RODI line from my heater heater room all the way to where my
Tank is. Plan is to use solenoids and floats to create a direct line between my tank and RODI unit. Here is the little tube sticking out of the wall [emoji4]
Also the tank is pretty much ready. Apex is hooked up and waiting for water. My BRS 4 stage 150gpd will be here on Friday. Then the tank gets wet!

Still deciding on lights, Kessils for my dads 180 get here on Friday so I’ll check those out. Also hoping to get my hands on a Hydra 26. Then I’ll have one of each (Kessil 360, Hydra 26, and Radion XR15). Hoping that seeing each will help me decide lol. Also having second thoughts about running 4 T5 bulbs. Maybe just two??

 

[Cody.P]

More stuff arrived today!
Jebao dc return pump along with a vertical float and solenoid to automate my ATO.
RODI unit will be here tomorrow and there should be water in it by the end of the weekend!

 

[Cody.P]

Thanks! I’m hoping all the fish poo is able to stay suspended with this rock structure [emoji4]

Also finished up my ATO this evening. So here is the basics. I wanted to never ever have to fill up an ATO container or top off my tank. So I wanted the tank connected straight to my RODI unit. Yes, I know this is dangerous. But I’ve done it on my frag tank, and my dads 180 has been running like this for 10 years. Neither has ever had a problem.

So I added as much redundancy as possible. A solenoid controls the flow of water into the tank. This solenoid is controlled by two float switches. One for low/normal level. And one high for an emergency back up. I’ll use the apex to only allow power to the solenoid/floats for about 25 minuets every day (depending on evaporation). And if all else, the water has to flow through a mechanical float valve.
As I see it, there are four safety features to make sure the tank doesn’t over flow [emoji4] that is enough to let me sleep at night. Oh and I’ll also add a leak detector just in case to alarm me of an overflow.
Anyway it’s hard to explain in text so here are a couple pics.

Tomorrow the RODI unit gets hooked up and I start filling the tank!

 

[slowngreen]

Really liking your scape. Cant wait to see it wet and thriving.