My 4ft Wonder

[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

Decided to start my 4ft after months of working on it...

I have progressed from a IOS 1ft to IOS 1.5ft to 1.5ft custom tank with sump to a 4ft Tank with Sump.

It has been an amazing journey of reefing from knowing nothing to a 4ft reef tank.

Still trying to learn the fine details of tank upkeep and coral up keeping.

 

With this new 4ft which i started working on it since May 2016

I bought over a second hand 4ft tank and redo the whole pipping system myself.

 

Sump

With some advice from various other reefers, i have done up the pipping with a globe valve on my overflow line and a check valve and 3 different T-off on my return line.

i had to rework most of the area and space in the sump as i wasn't intending to run a refugium and the return pump reservoir was small. I had to cut out the different glass pieces and remove all the remaining silicon and trim the height over the glass for the whole sump as the top of the sump glass panels were the same height as the sump tank panel heights which will lead to an overflow if part of the main tank volume flows back to my sump.

I also rework the filter area; previous user was using filter wool but i wanted to use socks. So i added a few glass and also made my sock holder from acrylic.

I don't have any photos of the sump before the rework and the process as my phone crashed before i could backup all the photos.

 

FTS as of Yesterday

 

i will continue to talk about the sump on a later post with photos of the system

 

To all; Keep Calm and Continue Reefing no matter what.

Regard

Daniel

[Zoaslover]

Very neat n nice. Colour is vibrant.

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[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

[Darren Sim]

Nice! Looking forward to more updates!


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[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

Some photo of my sump area...

Over all look.

it seems really messy...

but in the mess there is order!.

Yes instead of using a chiller; i decided to take a plunge into running a compressor...totally loving the quietness in the house and also the absence of hot air.

 

this is the globe valve which i am talking about...it really help to control the overflow and keep the drain line almost silence... which is awesome!!

 

The overflow goes into a box which overflow into the filter socks area which is sealed off therefore forcing the water to go thru the filter socks..

but in an event that the filter socks is totally clogged; the system allows for water to flow over into the next compartment therefore preventing a overflow of water out of the sump. i also put the return line for my phosban reactor in my filter socks to catch any rowa that escape from the reactor.

Now for the main return pump..i decided to bite the bullet and go for the vectra m1.. not that i don't love a jebao just that i am not too sure if the jebaos can push out the same volume of water at the same electrical load.. so there i go with a m1...

 

Now talking about the T-off; i am sure many will say why so many T-off...just put an additional pump can liao...

I wanted T-off bcos i didn't want to run too many pumps and increase my electrical load.. 

My first T-off goes to a canister...yes a canister....it is actually a pre-filter... i didn't get the biggest...which i kinda of regret right now...but i am comfortable with the size.... so i t-off to the canister and put filter media inside...so that i can maintain a slower flow and ensure that the bacteria got time to work on the  stuff... with the canister overflow line....i routed it to a separate compartment of my tank....previously used as a refugium compartment with the water overflowing via a small overflow line.. i converted that small overflow line as my emergency overflow right now... The separate compartment is housing more media right now...

 

As for my 2nd T-off it is running my CR and my phosban reactor; with two on-off valve i can choose to shut off or on the flow to the two reactors. Those two reactors are common stuff so nothing much to talk about.

 

I also run a RR113 in my sump with a mixture of new AIO golden pellets and old AIO brown pellets and also some normal biopellets.

 

As for the Calcium Reactor...

i am running a BM CR...got it second hand from another reefer. it was in quite a bad condition...so i had to do some work to get it working like buy a new pump and also replace all the tubing.

I decided to run my CR off a weipro PH controller and the return drip line on a needle valve to help regulate the flow.. i also added a additional chamber using a DI canister and i put magnesium media in it.. so far i am not sure if it has been able to melt any of those magnesium media but when i top up my CR in future, those media will go into the main chamber and some Coral chip will be placed in the additional secondary chamber to catch any additional co2 that leaked off from the main chamber.

Skimmer which is currently running is the Skim DC Monster sm203, it is really a beast and it takes up alooooot of space...

Oh yes...i routed the return line for the RR113 to the inlet for the skimmer.

 

I am also running a seneye home which i upgrade to get the light par meter.

It helps to tell me the temperature of the water and also the nh4 and ph of the water if i put the slides in... but since i haven really disturb the system much; i did not place a new slide in.... so i let it help me monitor my temperature to ensure that the water temp does not goes too high; just worried that the compressor breaks down.

 

This is all for my wet sump area....

 

 

Edited October 6, 2016 by Daniel Poh Yang Zheng
Forgot to add in some details

[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

Next up: i think i will talk about my project to increase the amount of space in my DT and the projects that i did

[Darren Sim]

Really detailed introduction of your sump! 🏻


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[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

Some Photos of my Reef

[Harlequinmania]

Nice setup, did you diy your own led and t5 combo light set ?

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[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

Nice setup, did you diy your own led and t5 combo light set ?

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i didn't diy my lights but i diy combined them.. will do a short write up on it soon


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[SubzeroLT]

Thanks for sharing.

Any particular reason for using the canister filter for media? Not enough space in the sump?

[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

Thanks for sharing.
Any particular reason for using the canister filter for media? Not enough space in the sump?

i didn't want to put the media in the second compartment which houses my reactors, skimmer and cooling coil.. didn't want to mix them..and my system sump don't have the 3rd compartment before the return pump reservoir..so i don't have the option to put the media there. Bcos the sump creator didn't leave a provision to put extra media..

the original area to place the media should be the first compartment which i converted to use filter sock..

i believe more is also better than less.. therefore i add in the the pre-filter canister which allow me.. place more media offsite and allow me to tune the flow and also in addition to the refugium converted media compartment.. So far i check my media, there is no detritus in the pre-filter canister and the media compartment; the media all clean..


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[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

Got these for a project... hopefully it works..







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[JMW]

Nice, for automated dosing? Pls update us on how the dosing frequency can be controlled.. Staying tuned for updates

[sherman]

Wow get from where

[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

Wow get from where

my wife happen to work in the medical line.. so she manage to help me get one set.. wanna try drip dosing anything that need to change for the tank aka like up mg level.. so that changes r made over a longer period of time than immediately pour in..


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[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

Just a FTS for the day...

Need to find more time to update the build progress... which was done earlier




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[sharonleong]

On 07/10/2016 at 8:07 PM, Daniel Poh Yang Zheng said:

Got these for a project... hopefully it works..







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What the purpose of this project about?

[Harlequinmania]

i believe is a simple dipping system to dip solution like kalkwasser or supplement ect  ?

[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

yeah it is going to be a drip system for supplement.. bcos i am running a CR..therefore don't have a doser.. don't want to get one for a occasional need to slow dose supplements like MG


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[ReDDeviLs]

professional drip system. interesting!

[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

DIY Floating Reef Space.

I have alway think of how i can increase my property space in my tank bcos i feel that my scape may not be the best around.. There are alternatives in the market like aquaroche system, alternate reef etc which are sold at Iwarna..

Did a few research on reef central and how others have DIY or improve space needed. And i even went thru taobao and manage to find a floating reef set up; the cost of it wasn't really great and i ordered one to try it out.. 

Found the piece to be abit too unstable to use with SPS corals as there is only two small magnets on it and it will move/shift downwards when i push on it therefore i can only put zoas on them..

First Choice...I wanted to use Plastic Resin to make my own artificial rock work and embed the magnet in it... manage to find some marine maintenance shop which sells plastic resin but i could not buy a small qty to try out and had to order like a 1litres and it will cost quite abit... therefore the price to test and try out is not worth it bcos i am not even sure if it works.

Therefore i went back to look around more..

i manage to find some flat rock from iwarna aquaroche series which wasnt too expensive as it is sold per kg..and using a saw to cut the rock into half. Half of it i used to place some zoas on it and on my sand bed to prevent the wrasse from flipping it again and again.. Happy that it works well; no more flipping from the wrasse due to the weight of the rock

 

Magnet wise - i was looking for something which is an overkill and very strong.

I was looking at the sure grip magnets but it was really hard to find it in Singapore

 

Looked around and found this magnet made by Boyu. And it can hold up to 18mm glass thickness.

I

 

With some epoxy; i manage to stick the rock to the magnet; previously i was afraid that the rock will not bond with the plastic frame of the magnet due to the smoothness of the magnet frame...Using some rubber band to hold on the various pieces together as the epoxy took  awhile to dry.

 

After the whole setup have dried up and nothing was breaking apart...i soaked it in DI water for abt two days before introducing it into my tank.

 

Love the sturdiness of it and i allowed it to sit in my tank for almost a month before putting any frags or coral on it... the floating reef was covered with green algae...looking abit more natural and part of the reef.

 

 

Sorry for the long post and also the photo taken...may not be as beautiful as i will love it to be.

 

Please continue to reef and stay strong no matter what happens.

 

[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

Water Parameters as of 8th October

Sal: 1.025

PH: 8.0

Alk: 8.0dkH

Mg: 1270ppm

No3: 3ppm

Po4: 0.046ppm

Potassium: 370

Cal: Not Tested due to running CR

 

Will be working to improve my tank by decreasing No3 and Po4 levels.. and also increase MG and K levels too

 

Just been wondering why the last few days, my SPS PE is getting shorter and shorter... no idea why... no RTN/STN... Maybe if anyone know; please share

[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

i haven't been able to get my milli to extend their PE to be as hairy as last time.... not sure why...

Polyps are out but not the hairy part of the milli...

 

Water Parameters wise is still good...

Po4 has dropped again to 0.039ppm

Cal is at 425ppm

Alk is at 8.4dkh

 

I have also reduce my light output on my gen1 radion and also dip my SPS milli.

No pest was found after the dip...

I decided to feed more; as recommended by other reefers.. using one teaspoon of oyster feast. Just started yesterday so i will need to wait and observe more over a week or two..

 

 

[Daniel Poh Yang Zheng]

I have been used a app Aquariumate to track and record the various purchases and also the parameters of my tank and also to set reminder for the various part dosing.

It have been an greatly useful app and also allows for tracking of any form of parameters

 

Allow for tracking of more than one tank setup..

 

Different Aspect of the App allow for robust tracking and monitoring.

 

Task Reminder for the various different items

 

Main Page providing reminders of different times and how many more days to dose them.

 

Keying in of various test parameters

 

 

It maybe an expensive app to purchase but no regret for the purchase as it allows for easy upkeep and reminder for the tank daily needs..