Subtechs 850 liter mixed reef
- Thread starter Subtech
- Start date
Ok after this insane move where I nearly broke my back and killed myself! Lord knows what I was thinking taking on this move....lol....
We finally arrived home in Langebaan and started stripping down the tank and stand
We finally arrived home in Langebaan and started stripping down the tank and stand
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don't kill yourself dude...As we swinged the tank out the window the rope got caught around my neck! Was a close call
Unfortunately I don't have any pics of me building the cabinet. But here is a pics of the tank in place.
I used the shutter board from the move to build the cupboard.
Just sprayed it with universal primer and normal delux wash and ware.
I used the shutter board from the move to build the cupboard.
Just sprayed it with universal primer and normal delux wash and ware.
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Dude... Looks awesome. Just remember to keep away from the ropes
My whole idea on this tank was not to go over the top on high tech equipment and spend loads of money on maintenance.
I had my local sea what tested at the NSRI for heavy metals, whalene trace elements and phosphates. The results where surprising good. I decided at this point that I am going to try the natural sea water route.
I purchased a bilge pump and a 1000 L flow bin. To the bilge pump I fitted a trailer plug for power. Now what I do is load the flow bin on my bakkie, go down to the sea and pump up about 300 liter of sea water once a month.
Then I throw in a monstrous urn element I picked up at second hand store for 30 rand to heat the water up as fast as possible. It takes about 30 minutes to heat my water up in the flow bin. If I had a trailer it wouldn't be an issue but using the bakkie I just don't have the time.
I will need to refine this process in future but for now its working just fine.
I have no closed loops on the system and don't stand there and siphon the old tank water out manually. What i do is fit a peace of pipe to my return out let and just open the tap i have on the return which i put hose pipe on. The natural siphon that occurs when you put your return pump off actually helps with this
Then I pump the natural sea water over to the display with a hose pipe and the bilge pump.
I will say this, you need to adjust salinity down when doing this, natural sea water in the lagoon at Langebaan is higher than we want in a typical reef tank.
I had my local sea what tested at the NSRI for heavy metals, whalene trace elements and phosphates. The results where surprising good. I decided at this point that I am going to try the natural sea water route.
I purchased a bilge pump and a 1000 L flow bin. To the bilge pump I fitted a trailer plug for power. Now what I do is load the flow bin on my bakkie, go down to the sea and pump up about 300 liter of sea water once a month.
Then I throw in a monstrous urn element I picked up at second hand store for 30 rand to heat the water up as fast as possible. It takes about 30 minutes to heat my water up in the flow bin. If I had a trailer it wouldn't be an issue but using the bakkie I just don't have the time.
I will need to refine this process in future but for now its working just fine.
I have no closed loops on the system and don't stand there and siphon the old tank water out manually. What i do is fit a peace of pipe to my return out let and just open the tap i have on the return which i put hose pipe on. The natural siphon that occurs when you put your return pump off actually helps with this
Then I pump the natural sea water over to the display with a hose pipe and the bilge pump.
I will say this, you need to adjust salinity down when doing this, natural sea water in the lagoon at Langebaan is higher than we want in a typical reef tank.
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Lighting done by 2 39 watt Oddisy light units, I have removed the 2 outer bulbs on each unit and replaced them with 4 DIY Led strips I made myself. They only run 14k led's and royal blue 445 led's.
The two center bulbs in each unit are ATI coral plus bulbs.
Like I said, a tight budget.
The two center bulbs in each unit are ATI coral plus bulbs.
Like I said, a tight budget.
Looks amazing! Looks very nice and clean! Definitely following on this one. Would love to see how you did the combo!
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks all, still have loads to come.....
Also I need to redo a few things where I feel I made mistakes.
Sure I am going to be asking for loads of advice soon as well.
My auto top is crazy at the moment, I am loosing about 20 liters to evaporation a day, so i need to fill a drum up, carry it inside and fill my top up reservoir each day. This is major works and a pain, I need to figure out how I am going do this part better. Some form of plumbing solution will be needed.
Maybe pick up a water line in the roof, fit the RO DI unit up there and run the outlet down the wall in a old electrical conduit to the sump. then run the outlet to the geyser overflow. I will need to fit a solenoid and powered float switch to run the solenoid in the roof. This is going to be a huge head ache!
Also I am creating a whole new problem for myself and deviating from one of my core ideas. I only wanted to dose one thing on this thank, Kalk nothing else. This done with my ALO in my RO tank, if i do this that method will be out the window and I will need to go the whole carx CO2 reactor and cylinder route. Luckily I do own a Tunze CO2 calcium setup but was hoping to stay away from this method and stick to kalk.
Anyways, I need to get this one sorted soon.... its a real pain in my behind!
Also I need to redo a few things where I feel I made mistakes.
Sure I am going to be asking for loads of advice soon as well.
My auto top is crazy at the moment, I am loosing about 20 liters to evaporation a day, so i need to fill a drum up, carry it inside and fill my top up reservoir each day. This is major works and a pain, I need to figure out how I am going do this part better. Some form of plumbing solution will be needed.
Maybe pick up a water line in the roof, fit the RO DI unit up there and run the outlet down the wall in a old electrical conduit to the sump. then run the outlet to the geyser overflow. I will need to fit a solenoid and powered float switch to run the solenoid in the roof. This is going to be a huge head ache!
Also I am creating a whole new problem for myself and deviating from one of my core ideas. I only wanted to dose one thing on this thank, Kalk nothing else. This done with my ALO in my RO tank, if i do this that method will be out the window and I will need to go the whole carx CO2 reactor and cylinder route. Luckily I do own a Tunze CO2 calcium setup but was hoping to stay away from this method and stick to kalk.
Anyways, I need to get this one sorted soon.... its a real pain in my behind!
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Good luck with that one! Can only imagine the mission when it comes to the ato for such a big tank.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This might be a solution for you build a stand out side the house about half a meter higher than your sump on that add a tank for RO/DI water connect your Ro?di system to that and then connect your water tank directly to your sump through a mechanical float switch.No solinoids nothing.this is the system I use but my system is installed on the roof and until now I have never had a mishap with it.