OldSchool 225 build with some new twists.

[OldSchool Reefer]

Ok here is an update, nothing dramatic happened Granite was cut wrong even though it clearly stated ( in 2 places) on the drawing all that was to be done :mad:

I’m too fat to fit between the stand and the wall to mount the Ecotech battery backup and or my arms are too short!

I got 3 Killer large colonies an Acan Lord, an Aussie Duncan and an Space Invader
Chalice but I can’t take a decent pic to save my life.

So it has been a great start to my Birthday week, so don’t expect to see any pics until I get a filter for the phone!

It’s ok to feel sorry just send frags!

 

[F i s h y]

Ok here is an update, nothing dramatic happened Granite was cut wrong even though it clearly started ( in 2 places) on the drawing all that was to be done :mad:

I’m too fat to fit between the stand and the wall to mount the Ecotech battery backup and or my arms are too short!

I got 3 Killer large colonies an Acan Lord, an Aussie Duncan and an Alien Eye Chalice but I can’t take a decent pic to save my life.

So it has been a great start to my Birthday week, so don’t expect to see any pics until I get a filter for the phone!

It’s ok to feel sorry just send frags!

Sounds like a great week so far

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

Sounds like a great week so far

I got a good deal on the corals ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

Well the granite place is redoing the last piece of the beer ledge. I wish I understood Portuguese but I’m pretty sure that they were calling me names.

I came home to find the Space Invader chalice flipped up and half buried in the sand so I had to move a bunch of rock around in the sump to find a few good sized pieces of travertine to drill for the frag plugs to fit into so it doesn’t get blown around. Now I need a lesson 101 on Chalice coral placement so I can find a spot to put it!

The neighbor got home from work so I asked his skinny butt to help me mount the Ice Cap VHO ballasts. He was in between the sump and the stand holding the ballasts and I was between the stand and the wall with the driver Well the lights are on and I was able to snap some pics with just daylight bulbs. They don’t do the corals justice but I’m not embarrassed to show them.;Facepalm

The Acan Lord was further back and I just couldn’t get a decent shot of it, so that will have to wait until I can get some filters!

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

Crazy day but I’m happy with the progress! I wanted to get the fuge/ remote DSB Plenum running but that was going to take some time settling out as to not make a milkshake in the tank! There were a few occasional drips from the returns and I needed to add a few rapps of Teflon tape to the fittings and the 3/4 loc-line returns were blowing sand all the way across the tank with the Vectra L2 only running at 50%. Why not split the flow to 4 returns while it’s not flowing? Because I don’t have any 3/4 Loc-line Y fittings that’s why! :mad: I had already shut the L2 down and started on a he plumbing raked out the big Divots in the sand bed and gotten 6 inches of sand in the plenum. All that was left was top it off with some Miracle Mud and Live sand from the old sump and button up the plumbing! I make a Quick call to the LFS and I’m in luck they have the Loc-line Ys! With 10lbs of Carib Sea special grade in the sump topped with 10lbs of Fiji Pink already clouding up the fuge and the remainder of the bag of Special Grade in the flow problem areas I have time to get to the LFS and back before the cloud settles out!
Ys installed mud in LS in and L2 flowing at 65% with no disturbances, so as soon as the clarity gets better it will be time to round up some fish!
Someone is happy with their new home and I don’t think it’s the Duncan!

Moma was sucking on tentacles so I don't think they are leaving anytime soon! She already has him sweeping the floors and cleaning the walls!
The sump was a wreck from moving a bucket of reef rubble and frag plugs from the old sump and moving the rock in and out from the old fuge / holding tank that I might as well give it some love. Do I clean up the mess? No I finished the plumbing on the reactors!

I might as well toss in a filter sock to catch any stray GFO or Carbon and polish out the rest of the cloud from the water column!

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

I made 50 gallons of RO/DI last night, and will make another 50 tonight. Going to add 2 bags of Reef Crystals with a Tunze Stream and I should have 100 gallons of good usable water in the tank in the morning. Should have rock going in by the weekend.

One big Tunze rocking the full length..... we have Saltwater! This called for the Beer ledge to be christened!

i had three modelos today!

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

i had three modelos today!

I think I had more that night

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

So I have been slacking and haven’t gotten much done worth reporting! Fish and new corals in the tank and I have spent a lot of time looking and planning….. and I had a big OLD birthday on top of that! Ok so here is some progress; got my second Battery Backup and installed it, got a Neptune ATO and started to install it when I realized that there was still a bunch of crap that had to be removed from the old setup on the Lanai. ORCA 250 with neck extension & larger cup with wash down had to be removed along with lots of plumbing, which required some saws all action. Decades old mechanical feed timers, that monster 220 Volt Hammerhead pump, fans, socket expansions and heater controller had to go before I could move the old reservoir. After doing all that I did all that nasty work in the heat of the day only to find that there still wasn’t room with the 6 foot 125 gal sump still in place :mad: Well it still needed to be done! Out with the old before we can go in with the new!

So here we are trying to figure out where to put the new school stuff;Facepalm

Several components still waiting to be added to the mix but I’m done for now!

 

[DH78]

Good luck with the rats nest Hope you'll show some pictures of your cable management when done. Always need ideas to improve cable management.

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

It was nice when I had a dedicated cabinet! I had everything on slide out racks. It was still a rats nest but it looked organized

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

Getting close to having the basic setup complete. Still have a few Neptune modules to replace so I predrilled holes for the mounts. Getting behind the stand is a bear so I will take every precaution to do this right the first time!

It’s in place and plugged in now it’s time to start hooking things up and get control of things!

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

My approach to wire management is kind of simple, keep um separated and hide as much as possible! All of the Ecotech equipment will be kept separate from the rest of the system and even on a separate circuit. Since NONE of the Ecotech interacts with the Neptune Apex :mad: it only made sense to isolate them. Three pumps 3 lights and 2 battery backups will get their own cabinet and DJ switch. With Mobius controlling all that, it’s not like there will be any reason for switches other than testing the battery backups.
I Cut some PVC and glued it up now it’s time to drill some holes.

Add a few grommets and start wiring it up, first thing to go in is the DJ switch.

Unplugged all the Ecotech stuff except the lights and started to move it to its new home. VorTechs running on battery backup.

Vectra L2 running on batteries too. Power supplies for the Battery Backups are in and we’re ready flip the switches to go back on the grid.

Time to get to work on the other side for the lights.

 

[DH78]

Love the DJ switch. One of my go to items.

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

Love the DJ switch. One of my go to items.

It’s a Pyle PDBC70, they used to make good stuff but this one came from Bezos’s store and came from China so we will see!

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

Work continues but no significant progress… yet we persist! The Orphek Camera Lenses came today and I played a little! Here is a full tank shot of the rockwork.

I moved about a 5 gallons of reef rubble, dead skeletons from old colonies and frag plugs from the old sump into the frag section of the new sump. There is still about 500 pounds of live sand to get out before I can tackle removing it to build the new water change station

I got the temporary Fuge light setup running and my little fist sized ball of Keto is hanging on in that oversized chamber (comparatively speaking that is) I may have to shut dow the GFO reactor to give it a fighting chance! My PH has been hanging around 7.75 and I really want it closer to 8.0 everything else is great so I’m suspecting excesses CO2 and a reverse photoperiod should keep it above 7.8 ;Nailbiting

 

[DH78]

Reverse photo period brought my current tank to around 8. I also added kalk dosing to keep it closer to 8.2.

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

Reverse photo period brought my current tank to around 8. I also added kalk dosing to keep it closer to 8.2.

I have been dosing 2 gallons of kalk daily for weeks, but since I got the Apex monitoring it seems to be falling I have calibrated it 3 times With no avail. I don’t know if I trust what it’s telling me.

 

[DH78]

I have been dosing 2 gallons of kalk daily for weeks, but since I got the Apex monitoring it seems to be falling I have calibrated it 3 times With no avail. I don’t know if I trust what it’s telling me.

I would verify with something other than the apex if you have it. Otherwise, you can always check the probe calibration by just putting in the solution. You don’t have to recalibrate if it’s accurate

 

[OldSchool Reefer]

This cabinet for the Ecotech components is proving to be a bigger challenge than I thought! I very much like working with the EPVC, it cuts like butter, sands well but you can’t polish the edges to a factory shine. It’s softer than most wood products so you must be careful not to dent it especially when clamping. Save all the scrapsit takes a lot of bracing to keep it square and from flexing. The Weldon 2007 cement is so easy and fast setting that all that bracing is worth it!

lighting side is close to being buttoned up just need some more bracing for the center.

That old pair of Ice Cap fans should keep it cool.

Still have to finish the center section and make a deflector for the fans to direct the flow down onto the Mangrove tank.

 

[DH78]

I know you said you liked working with it, but with the extra bracing needed and needing to be careful about denting it with clamps, do you prefer it to wood? As I get close to building my board, I have debated using EPVC, wood, or maybe an older circuit panel box. I'm leaning towards wood, but the EPVC looks really intriguing as it is waterproof. In your opinion, what advantages over wood does the EPVC have for this application.