The Maelstrom 120

Red_Beard · Jan 7, 2020

Definitely rinse it. I was very glad i did, you wouldn't believe the stuff that came out! It even had some weird colored plastic thread bits and other random stuff. After rinsing though all the sand settles really well with minimal/no dust storms.
I added mine the same way @Schnizzle did and didn't have any issues fwiw

samnaz · Jan 7, 2020

I would rinse. I’ve read tropic Eden is less dusty than other sands hence why I’ll be using it for upcoming build but I plan to rinse anyway. Otherwise dust will settle deep in the sand bed and if the sand it stirred it’ll just keep coming out.

AbjectMaelstroM · Jan 7, 2020

Alright, rinse it is then. Does one rinse using RODI water or tap?

Because I have about 140 gallons of tap that I have to pump out from the leak test. Would be a shame to just toss it.

Schnizzle · Jan 7, 2020

I have well water so I wouldn't hesitate to use tap. If you are on city water I would be worried about chlorine and the like.

AbjectMaelstroM · Jan 7, 2020

Yeah county water and they use chloramine per their water quality report. Might rinse in tap then do a final rinse with RODI.

samnaz · Jan 7, 2020

Rinse with the tap from the leak test. Waste not! Final rinse with RODI and you’re good to go.

AbjectMaelstroM · Jan 11, 2020

QT tanks (2x20g) and ordered a mated pair of Mochavinci Clowns from Sustainable Aquatics. Will be doing HotRocks' QT method, preceded by rally dip.

Its getting real boys...

Still, much to be done tomorrow. Crawled under the house today and put in joist support. Light mounts are in their final position. Tomorrow tank and stand go in position and start filling it with RODI water. Maybe even get to start the wire management and reefpi integration.

AbjectMaelstroM · Jan 11, 2020

Oh yeah... So I have some tap water left in my tank and sump (pumps could only get so much out before drawing air). I probably have 2-3 gallons between DT and sump.... Is that going to cause any issues?

My thought is that it's a drop in a ~140 gallon RODI-sea... So shouldn't be an issue, but figured I'd ask.

Red_Beard · Jan 11, 2020

that stinks i hit the same problem. I just used one of the wife's good towels and wrang it into a bucket. With all your other precautions why risk this one?

AbjectMaelstroM · Jan 11, 2020

Red_Beard said:
that stinks i hit the same problem. I just used one of the wife's good towels and wrang it into a bucket. With all your other precautions why risk this one?

Dang it.... Why do you have to be the voice of reason? Haha. I'm gonna have to find one heck of a turkey baster.

Agreed. I think I'm being blinded by the bright shiny "finish line."

Red_Beard · Jan 11, 2020

The towel worked great, give it a try! Chuck it in and let it soak it all up then wring it out in a bucket. Rinse and repeat...i think you'll be surprised how fast it goes

AbjectMaelstroM · Jan 12, 2020

Schnizzle · Jan 12, 2020

That’s looking really nice.

AbjectMaelstroM · Jan 12, 2020

Making rodi water is like watching paint dry.... Especially when. You need ~140 gallons.

Schnizzle · Jan 12, 2020

I had mine in storage and ready so I wouldn’t have to wait... I was three gallons short. It was so painful.

AbjectMaelstroM · Jan 12, 2020

Schnizzle said:
I had mine in storage and ready so I wouldn’t have to wait... I was three gallons short. It was so painful.

Ouch, that's painful. Yeah most I could bank was 50 gallons. Many...many...more to go.

thaistalyn · Jan 12, 2020

AbjectMaelstroM said:
Been slow going, life getting in the way.

Made progress on my lights, first fixture (trial run) is about done, pretty happy with the results. Once I'm 100% and will order parts for the matching sister light.

The two pucks are radion clones 23 leds 69w. I bypassed the red and green leds (8 total) and added 4 mints and 3 Viosys hyperviolets - 150w per fixture at full blast. Still debating if I should add more RBs via replacing hyperviolets with 3 ups of 1 HyperViolet 2 Royal Blue for a total of 6 more RBs (14 total).

Also, went by Petco an dgrabbed a 40B for the sump. Now I need to get baffles made.

Are these viparspectra lights modified or a complete DIY set up? Mind sharing details on these lights? I'm about 2 months from needing lights on the cycling tank.

Will you be controlling these (dimming) with the reefpi?

AbjectMaelstroM · Jan 12, 2020

thaistalyn said:
Are these viparspectra lights modified or a complete DIY set up? Mind sharing details on these lights? I'm about 2 months from needing lights on the cycling tank.

Will you be controlling these (dimming) with the reefpi?

The lights from the above pics are complete diy, they are controlled with reefpi (7 channels); however, those are not what I ended up going with. It just ended up being too much DIY for which I didn't have time for, so I just went with a more off the shelf piece.

I ended up picking up two viparspectra lights, replaced some 6500k whites with 20k and 3 blues with 395nn. Both viparspectra lights are also controlled with Reef pi.

The diy setup will end up over my coral/invert QT.

Maxx · Jan 13, 2020

Red_Beard said:
The towel worked great, give it a try! Chuck it in and let it soak it all up then wring it out in a bucket. Rinse and repeat...i think you'll be surprised how fast it goes

Shop vac for the win....