Reef Diaries: 56G Reef Savvy

hung · Feb 3, 2014

ReeferEric said:
Jebao DC9000 will be powering the whole system, planning on picking up either another DC9000 or DC12000 as a back up.
1.5" Union to 1.5" True Union Check Valve and then splits off to the return (1.25") and manifold (1"). I tried to keep pressure loss down as much as possible through pipe reducing. Everything is threaded connections, easy to remove if needed. I've got a second check valve in case I want to clean it, easy swap in.

Can you tell me what size the pvc elbow is on the inlet side of the Jebao pump is? I don't have mine in yet and I am trying to gather all my plumbing parts. Thanks.

revhtree · Feb 3, 2014

Awesome job!

ReeferEric · Feb 4, 2014

hung said:
Can you tell me what size the pvc elbow is on the inlet side of the Jebao pump is? I don't have mine in yet and I am trying to gather all my plumbing parts. Thanks.

It's a standard 1.5" elbow with one side slip and the other threaded. I did a little bit of cutting and cementing to get it where you see it. It's hard not to rush it but try to take your time and think about it.

revhtree said:
Awesome job!

Coming from the Rev himself, it's an honor.

ReefKeeper09 · Feb 4, 2014

reefereric said:
smoked acrylic cover. This idea just came about, i wanted to create something out of the normal door and a more modern look to it all considering the dt is rimless. When the refugium light isn't on, you can barely see through it. Sometimes i leave the lights on to give it a nice effect. The original idea was to go with all black acrylic but this worked out even better for me.

How do you get the acrylic to stay in place? Magnets or what? This is Beautiful! Truly awesome!

hung · Feb 4, 2014

ReeferEric said:
It's a standard 1.5" elbow with one side slip and the other threaded. I did a little bit of cutting and cementing to get it where you see it. It's hard not to rush it but try to take your time and think about it.

Thanks Eric.

ReeferEric · Feb 5, 2014

ReefKeeper09 said:
How do you get the acrylic to stay in place? Magnets or what? This is Beautiful! Truly awesome!

They are actually held on by Scotch heavy duty dual lock reclosable fasteners. Can be bought at Wal-Mart and Target. It's not the traditional velcro where its one side soft and the other hard, this one both sides are hard and they cling into each other. I added some staples to the side with the stand since it's not like the acrylic where its nice and smooth for it to stick to.

ReeferEric · Feb 5, 2014

Few pictures I took the other day:

rovster · Feb 6, 2014

What's that second one down? Looking good!

ReeferEric · Feb 6, 2014

rovster said:
What's that second one down? Looking good!

I don't know but I know you want a piece! Too bad you don't have anymore space. LOL.

oceangirl2009 · Feb 7, 2014

Man, I wish I could take pictures like that, great job! I am officially jealous

Aquarium Art · Feb 7, 2014

Nice looking tank Eric !

Aquarium Art · Feb 7, 2014

Only thing i would change is the Aquascaping other then that awesome running system , makes me want to see it in person

ReeferEric · Feb 8, 2014

oceangirl2009 said:
Man, I wish I could take pictures like that, great job! I am officially jealous

Don't be, I just to be a professional photographer so it took time to do what I can. Practice makes perfect.

ReeferEric · Feb 10, 2014

Some more visial eye candy!

I've got more updates coming with my frag tank build and other DIY stuff.

Chris155hp · Feb 10, 2014

looks good eric!!!

rovster · Feb 11, 2014

Nice pics! Can't wait until all my tiny frags grow up like those.

revhtree · Feb 11, 2014

Beautiful!

ReeferEric · Feb 11, 2014

Chris155hp said:
looks good eric!!!

I need to drop by one of these days but you live in the middle of no where. LOL

rovster said:
Nice pics! Can't wait until all my tiny frags grow up like those.

You won't have any space if that happens. Get a bigger tank and sell me the small one that your working on.

RedReefer · Feb 11, 2014

What is your water change schedule? How and what are you feeding? How many inches above the water level are you running your ATI? Are you running that skimmer dry. How many days do you go before you have to empty the skimmer cup. Sorry for so many questions but I have almost the same exact system that's only been running 3 months.

ReeferEric · Feb 12, 2014

RedReefer said:
What is your water change schedule? How and what are you feeding? How many inches above the water level are you running your ATI? Are you running that skimmer dry. How many days do you go before you have to empty the skimmer cup. Sorry for so many questions but I have almost the same exact system that's only been running 3 months.

Total water volume for the system is about 66-70 gallons. Water change using Red Sea Pro salt at 10g a week, it's an over kill. I feed once a day and its a mix of frozen mysis, flakes, brine, selcon, & garlic extract. It's my own mix, the tank loves it. Lights are maybe around 8 or so inches from the water. The skimmer is ran dry and every week I will pull the cup to empty as well as spray the cup clean, I never actually clean it completely as it helps collect more fish poop.

They key is consistency in everything you do. From parameters to water changes, you have to stay on it. Also, make sure your RO/DI filters are changed on time and don't prolong it. I saw a big difference when I had replaced my filters, mainly because my city uses chloramines to treat the water. All my acans and montis died because of it and I didn't catch it on time until another local reefer had told me about it. Since then my tank has been doing really great.