Tank Journal Archive

Rob

Member
Apr 26, 2012
743
424
Robs 4' Reef
Introduction:
My background is process control & automation and it will come as no surprise that the majority of my previous tanks have had various degrees of Instrumentation / automation associated with them.

Reefing Since:
Marine 2008 FW Discus 1990


System Objectives:
The kitchen area this tank is in is quite small so I want the tank cabinet to look as small as possible. A major goal of this build is reliability of equipment and ease of maintenance.

Type of reef: Mixed reef with Small fish load

Stand:
DIY custom built, MDF veneer, edges sealed prior to assembly and will have a silicon bead run around any edge where water may collect on a spill. The internal cabinet sump area will have a secondary white laminate covering and again fully sealed. There is no plan for a steel or pine support frame and will rely on the “slab” style MDF construction to hold the weight, its only a 4’ tank. The MDF is water resistant, (not water proof). The veneer has been professionally cut and edged with a 2mm black edge strip so with the idea of creating a flat pack cabinet which will only need assembling.

Sketchup Initial Design
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Display System

Initial Fill Date: October 2011
Display Tank Dimensions: 1300x520x480high
Display Lighting: ATI 6x54W Power Module


Detail of the 12VDC Actuator which controls the height of the light
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Hood or Rimless: Euro braced



Sump Design: Simple compact design due to space restrictions

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Filtration:

Support systems:
NSW or ASW: NSW 20% change every 4 weeks
Display Water circulation: 2 x MP10WES (Changed from 2 x Tunze 6105)
Return Pump: Tunze Silence
Skimmer: Tunze 9011 with Ozone Injection 10mg/hr
Evaporation Top Up: Tunze ATO

Chemical additions:
Marine Magic 3 pump auto dosing system. I separated the pumps from the control unit and mounted them through the sump dividing wall.

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Calcium Addition:
Kent turbo Calcium Auto Dosed + Red Sea Calcium 3+ added to topoff water at half strength 10ml / 20l / week

Alkilinity Addition: Baking Soda

Magnesium Addition: Redsea Manual addition every couple of days

Prodibiotics Addition: NIL

Coral Food Addition: Tropic Marine Phyton & Zooton. One spoonful of each / day
 

Rob

Member
Apr 26, 2012
743
424
Thanks for the welcome....

I have just got a Nikon D5100 (with Macro) this week however struggling with getting a decent picture. I took about 100 pics and got about 2 that are any good, sand is way too bright Anyhow I thought I would limit " Iphone" pics to the DT build at this stage, until I master the new camera before posting crappy pics of the tank. Plan is to try and get a vid of the light actuator in action to show just how this moves and the speed of it. Its really convenient being able to lift the light up about 30cm when working inside. A future project will see the light automatically move up /down during the day as the power module is not dimmable.

Tank has been running for about 8 months and has settled in really well and its a good time to refine the aquascape over the coming few months.

I really wanted to have more automation on this tank however space limited the scope. I wanted all the power in one cabinet and not in the sump area together with as much low voltage (24VDC) equipment in the tank as possible. I did have a lot of the Tunze 24VDC stream pumps however they took up too much space so I went back to vortech's. The two MP10WES on eco mode do a great job with water movement although run them at 95% with an open scape.

Rob
 

Rob

Member
Apr 26, 2012
743
424
Its call "T Slot aluminium" and I purchased it cut to length from www.modularcomponents.com.au/building-blocks/

It cost me ~$350 however that also included two long pieces for the front of the tank and all bolts and brackets. I think there are also cheaper alternatives around as well. Great thing with this stuff is when they cut it its square and it simply bolts together. You have to plan carefully mine is 40mm I really wanted smaller however it cost more as it was not as popular. When its assembled its very strong.
 
V

'vspec'

Guest
An automation new dude ~ nice.
Welcome
Lets see how long till your ism's start translating just like the rest of us ;)

Having this in the kitchen and stocking it full of goodies within a small footprint is challenging sometimes. The retractable hood is a great touch for the coolness factor, as well as practical.
Good work
 

Rob

Member
Apr 26, 2012
743
424
MTG. My pics are crap in colour, I run the ATI tubes. I only run 4 tubes for about 5 hours with the 2 tubes on for 3 hours sunrise sunset. I have two rear blues as I typically only run 2 lights or the 4 lights at a time. There is 3 hour overlap when all 6 tubes are on. Although now the tubes are getting tired I should extend the over lap and have 6 tubes on for longer. However at the moment, growth is OK and no algae.

Front to back
1. Blue Plus
2. Aquablue Special
3. Purple Plus
4. Aquablue Special
5. Blue Plus
6. Blue Plus

Josh, Its a purple Tang.... The only 1/2 decent picture I've been able to "fluke" with the new camera. Plays well with the Blue tang well. Ultimate plan is to retire the blue tang and replace it with a powder blue... as suggested by macca_95

Vspec. Automation, been doing it for 30 years as a job although time poor now. I will however be implementing the new "Raspberry PI" embedded platform communicating to the Atlas scientific ph, orp modules and 1wire temperature. This will collect data and post to an internet cloud historian (pachube) for trending etc. However better leave that for another thread I ahve done some testing on the new Atlas gear which is quite good for the money.
 

TJReid

Member
May 21, 2012
218
49
Frankston
nice tank mate ! purple pig def has some the nicest colouring i'v seen in a while top purchase ! and sps is looking great, cant wait to see grow out on the tank..
 
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Rob

Member
Apr 26, 2012
743
424
Got both the tangs from SECA in Springvale......Macca has convinced me to retire the blue and swap it out for a powderblue. Bit concerned over tank size however if I can get 18 months out of the tangs I can try and trade them and start again to grow out a couple more juvi's.
 

Rob

Member
Apr 26, 2012
743
424
Understand they maybe closing down ? So maybe my last purchase from there... shame as they just moved closer to me, although do not buy very much Live stock at all, still looking for aquascape.
 

Rob

Member
Apr 26, 2012
743
424
Picked up a Rose BTA today. Shot was only 15 minutes after I put it in the tank.

whats the chances of it staying there ??????? I hope pretty good as it should be a nice spot for it to settle its foot in between the two ajoining rock faces.

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This is a shot of the RHS
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Also a bit of hardware. The feeding ring is fantastic. Its quite complex to turn the vortech's into feeding mode (when the family is in charge of feeding) without changing the actual program. This way when i go away they can simply put a spoon full into the ring. Or its a better way for my auto feeder. 80% of all food from my feeder goes into the return. Its made very well and looks OK in the tank. I will probably take it off on the weekends.
aimg.photobucket.com_albums_v319_rjconway_redBTA_3.jpg
 

macca_75

Member
Apr 22, 2012
2,125
844
Looking great Rob. Hopefully it stays where you want it. I wonder how long until the clowns start hosting in it.

The fact it has already "come out" is a great start.

For those who can't see it, middle shot - the highest coral is a Duncan (from memory). Gives you an idea of the Polyp extension Rob's getting :-) The tank also look smuch better in person (as hard to believe as it is).

I see you finally got your feeder ring to.
 

vpreef

Member
Jul 28, 2011
627
471
Nice Rob, love that RBTA.

Where did you get that feeding ring, looks good?