PolypPal's Ultra-Custom 68g Acrylic AIO

polyppal · May 12, 2022

finally got a fish jail and reintroduced my Alpha Spotbreast. I’m noticing the female doesn’t look very female, like it’s transitioning with even a little striping developing (prob from being QTd without a male for 40-50 days), so I’m wondering if this can even work? Gonna ask around for some advice - maybe start looking at rehoming the smaller female(ish) one

any thoughts @i cant think ?

polyppal · May 12, 2022

When it comes to a controller, I am mostly concerned about precise temperature monitoring/control, live monitoring, ATO integration, and light timers. I can count on one hand how many times ive checked a PH or ORP probe on previous systems, so I decided to forego those functions.

I custom built my Hydros system to fit my needs with coralvue, mostly because they didn't have any XP8 packages available, and I didn't want anything with the hokey little wifi bars... So my system consists of:

Collective:

XP8 Bar $279
X3 Controller $199
Magnet Temp Mount $25
Command Bus Terminators (2) $10
Command Bus Cord $10

ATO System:

Optical Water Sensor $40
ATO Pump $25

(the kit is $80, if you buy the components separate it comes to $65, so they're
charging you an extra $15 for some airline tubing)

Total System Cost: $588 (comparable to entry level ApexEL, plus included the impressive Hydros optical ATO unit)

I am still using the Kamoer X1 app and X1s for dosing, Coralvue does not have any good dosing options yet (they make an X1 with hydros command connector, but they cannot be daisy chained, which makes them mostly useless).

I will likely get a hydros 4-head doser option when they release one (prob a rebranded Kamoer F4 with one command bus needed)

MECOMI · Jun 30, 2022

polyppal said:
Mounted to the 3030 T-Slot stand I built for this tank. It sits at 34" high, to be level with my desk. Underneath I mounted multiple reactors/dosing pumps and ATO/Dosing reservoirs. Note - my Zoa tank is right around the corner, its bio-pellet reactor and a couple of the dosing pumps for it are housed under this tank as well.

I really like the clean look of this setup and the acrylic tank looks really sharp. A couple questions after rolling through the thread. Do you ever have to bypass the reactors, is it easy to shut on/off? Any issues come up changing the rock out multiple times?

And on a side note i lived in Colorado up till a couple years ago where i initially dreamed of running a reef tank. Since i moved away i am curious if you get water just from the city or do any water collection? Prices per gallon of water use were wild

before i left so thought id ask if you supplement somehow?

Later,

B-Kind

polyppal · Jun 30, 2022

MECOMI said:
I really like the clean look of this setup and the acrylic tank looks really sharp. A couple questions after rolling through the thread. Do you ever have to bypass the reactors, is it easy to shut on/off? Any issues come up changing the rock out multiple times?

And on a side note i lived in Colorado up till a couple years ago where i initially dreamed of running a reef tank. Since i moved away i am curious if you get water just from the city or do any water collection? Prices per gallon of water use were wild before i left so thought id ask if you supplement somehow?

Later,

B-Kind

Thanks! Yes I have valves on the in/outs of the reactor so I can shut off flow and siphon for cleaning/media exchange. I also have a purge valve that allows me to bleed the new carbon/gfo into a bucket instead of rinsing beforehand. Has worked out really well! Im getting ready to overhaul this build thread soon and ill update my reactor evolution in the new thread.

I have lots of ceramic biomedia in the back chambers, I have always found there is very little biological benefit to synthetic reef rocks. A single bio brick is hundreds of times the surface area of the liverock. I usually do get a little algae buildup on the rock for a while (like a mini ugly stage) but nothing major. If I pull it out for maintenance or something, as long as I get it back in before it drys up I haven't noticed any issues

Oh really? Im in downtown Denver and I haven't noticed any crazy water prices here. I run it thought a 5-stage RODI because it is treated with Chloramines though

MoshJosh · Jun 30, 2022

Looking awesome, I especially love that stand! Looks super sick!

I guess I can’t argue with all that space for growing coral, but man I love branches. . . if that old scape is collecting dust somewhere and you want to get rid of it hit me up!

polyppal · Jun 30, 2022

MoshJosh said:
Looking awesome, I especially love that stand! Looks super sick!

I guess I can’t argue with all that space for growing coral, but man I love branches. . . if that old scape is collecting dust somewhere and you want to get rid of it hit me up!

Thanks, yeah I love the branch too it just didn't provide much real estate... Sorry sold it to a guy a while back but if you end up building one ill be glad to give you some tips

MECOMI · Jul 7, 2022

polyppal said:
Thanks! Yes I have valves on the in/outs of the reactor so I can shut off flow and siphon for cleaning/media exchange. I also have a purge valve that allows me to bleed the new carbon/gfo into a bucket instead of rinsing beforehand. Has worked out really well! Im getting ready to overhaul this build thread soon and ill update my reactor evolution in the new thread.

I have lots of ceramic biomedia in the back chambers, I have always found there is very little biological benefit to synthetic reef rocks. A single bio brick is hundreds of times the surface area of the liverock. I usually do get a little algae buildup on the rock for a while (like a mini ugly stage) but nothing major. If I pull it out for maintenance or something, as long as I get it back in before it drys up I haven't noticed any issues

Oh really? Im in downtown Denver and I haven't noticed any crazy water prices here. I run it thought a 5-stage RODI because it is treated with Chloramines though

Thank you for the response!

I have been going through some ups and downs with my Biocube for a while after a successful start. I have thought about reactors in the past but could not even fathom where they would go in a 32 gallon AIO. I have room under the Biocube stand for a couple simple reactors and now would just have to figure out how to get the water through them and wrap my head around the plumbing. Controllers and plumbing still make my head spin but i suppose thats the fun of the hobby.

I also have a small boat load of ceramic bioballs in my sump to help support the biological filtration in my RSM S500. All my rock is cement together with the biggest piece being 60-70 lbs of Marco Rock so here is hoping that does not have to be removed anytime soon. At this time i am hoping to add some more rock features to allow for more hiding spaces for the fish population increase, and of course for more coral as the $$$ allows.

Dang well thats good to hear regarding the water costs there. I was out of Centennial and our standard water costs were around 180 and when we ran the sprinklers we would be around 280 which is ridiculous. Since moving the water is about 20 a month.

Chlorinated · Jul 7, 2022

polyppal said:
When it comes to a controller, I am mostly concerned about precise temperature monitoring/control, live monitoring, ATO integration, and light timers. I can count on one hand how many times ive checked a PH or ORP probe on previous systems, so I decided to forego those functions.

I custom built my Hydros system to fit my needs with coralvue, mostly because they didn't have any XP8 packages available, and I didn't want anything with the hokey little wifi bars... So my system consists of:

Collective:

XP8 Bar $279

X3 Controller $199

Magnet Temp Mount $25

Command Bus Terminators (2) $10

Command Bus Cord $10

ATO System:

Optical Water Sensor $40

ATO Pump $25

(the kit is $80, if you buy the components separate it comes to $65, so they're
charging you an extra $15 for some airline tubing)

Total System Cost: $588 (comparable to entry level ApexEL, plus included the impressive Hydros optical ATO unit)

I am still using the Kamoer X1 app and X1s for dosing, Coralvue does not have any good dosing options yet (they make an X1 with hydros command connector, but they cannot be daisy chained, which makes them mostly useless).

I will likely get a hydros 4-head doser option when they release one (prob a rebranded Kamoer F4 with one command bus needed)

How you you run the ATO pump? The X3 doesn't have any drive ports. And you pic shows an X4 without a probe port....lol

polyppal · Jul 7, 2022

Chlorinated said:
How you you run the ATO pump? The X3 doesn't have any drive ports. And you pic shows an X4 without a probe port....lol

Sorry I have an X2 not X3. The X2 had the best combination of ports for my needs

I ran the ATO off the X2 drive port and it worked great, but I now have a Kamoer X2SR Auto Water Change System that has an integrated ATO that I use, and the X2 just powers dosing pumps via drive ports. I need to do an update a lot has changed lol