Gilroy 425g Build Thread (All Apex, all the time)

Brad Syphus · Oct 23, 2015

You have to be patient. We don't. [emoji3]

Harry_Y · Oct 23, 2015

That is going to look so sweet once it gets gone.

JBNY · Oct 23, 2015

Nice build. Slow and steady wins the race.

Terence · Oct 23, 2015

I have some fun stuff planned for the Apex once I get through all this basic set up stuff. I just came up with another idea yesterday. This is going to be a fun project for sure. Check out this video I did showing the power of the first (and hopefully permanent) pump I am going to put on the build.

slief · Oct 23, 2015

Terence said:
I have some fun stuff planned for the Apex once I get through all this basic set up stuff. I just came up with another idea yesterday. This is going to be a fun project for sure. Check out this video I did showing the power of the first (and hopefully permanent) pump I am going to put on the build.

Very nice! I've never seen one tested that way. That is some serious flow when you contain it like that. I have two of them on my system. Once for the return and one for the closed loop and love these pumps. By far the quietest and most powerful pump I've ever seen or played with. I think you are going to LOVE that pump once it get it setup on your system.

By the way, very nice build! I can't wait to see this when it's done! If you need some help programming that Apex let me know! ;-)

Terence · Oct 23, 2015

We will see how that pump does with the head pressure. I think it is going to be a winner. I am likely going to get a couple of other manufacturers in here at some point as backups and see how they perform in the same set up. I think people would like to see that.

JBNY · Oct 24, 2015

Yeah I am very interested to see how it runs with some real head pressure. I have been running a Sequence 6000 for the last 13 years. It's 370 watts but puts out so much GPH at high head. I run a duel Beckett skimmer, the chiller, all my reactors and my main circulation with it. My DT is on the floor above the sump. I'd love to get the wattage down to a lower number. But I'm not sure I can have it all with one pump. Anyway I hope the RD pump works.

Terence · Oct 24, 2015

JBNY, sometimes it is better to get 1000-1500gph through the return and use another separate low power DC pump to run a manifold for the rest. Then use other means to create flow inside the DT. That will be my approach here. 200w return, 50w manifold, 120w of WAV (4) in the tank for a total of about 25x turnover (flow) in the DT.

JBNY · Oct 24, 2015

Yeah I am sort of coming to that conclusion too if I want to get a little power savings. I have the Sequence throttled back more than halfway at the DT, I knock it back to about 800 GPH then use in tank pumps to really ramp up the turnover in the tank. I could put in two pumps in the sump, one just for the tank return and the other to the manifold and power everything from there. Just not as clean and extra money for two DC pumps rather than one. No sure if it's really worth it to just save about 150 watts.

Anyway, Looking forward to seeing everything come together.

Terence · Oct 24, 2015

"Just" 150 watts? Running 24/7 that 150 watts will likely pay for the extra pump in less than a year.

Terence · Oct 24, 2015

OK, very productive day today. I was able to put the footings in for the jack posts and install the jack posts themselves.

I still had energy so I decided to finish out the plumbing as well. I still had to plumb the final section of the return, tee it off, and put in some temporary down tubes in the tank until I get the Sea-Swirls. I also finished up the emergency drain final three feet of plumbing. I also poured water into the overflow boxes so that I could test the seals. No leaks there yet.

Now all that is left is letting the glue set up and maybe tonight I will be finally flowing (fresh) water.

Terence · Oct 25, 2015

Water is flowing. Skippy is happy! Not quite enough to roll over the overflows yet, but by today I should have enough RODI made to start full circulation and leak checks. So far so good. The flow from the RD230 is really good.

jl283467 · Oct 25, 2015

Congrats

Terence · Oct 25, 2015

Thanks!

I just did a flow test. I did 7.5 gallons of water into a jug (coming out of the drain) in 28 seconds. By my calculations that works out to just under 1000 gallons per hour. This is about what I expected with this head pressure so I am quite happy. If I could get more flow for the same or less watts, and have the pump be submersible, I would entertain it. But for now, this seems to be a winner.

Tuning the drains looks like it might really be tricky. Adjusting to flood the drain and then waiting a while to see if there is equilibrium. When they are flooded, the tank is near silent. I love that!

Terence · Oct 26, 2015

YES! We have water circulation!

jl283467 · Oct 26, 2015

Harry_Y · Nov 1, 2015

Looking good

On a side note I'm happy to see that Apex has Reefers working for them.
It helps when you understand what we are dealing with.

Terence · Nov 2, 2015

ALL senior management and a good portion of the rest of the company are all long-time passionate reef keepers. This passion is one of the reasons we are able to continue to innovate in both our hardware and software offerings. Follow along on this build - the geeky Apex parts are just about to get going!

revhtree · Nov 2, 2015

Great job on the build so far!

SPotter · Nov 2, 2015

awesome build! Sorry if you addressed this earlier in the thread but I didn't see anything mentioned about how hot it gets under your house during the summer months? Will you need to add air conditioning?