Mr Aqua 22 Long

[AlanM]

I'm getting back into the game.

 

Starting a build thread here for Isaac's 22 long (https://wamas.org/forums/topic/83271-living-room-nano-peninsula/ ) that is coming to my house soon.  It will be a very long journey to get it to look as good as it did when he ran it.

 

 

It will go here, where the tape on the floor is, so viewable from all sides instead of peninsula:

 

The spot is kind of in the doorway between our family room and dining room.  The overflow will be on the right, so I guess it's still technically viewable from three sides.  The stand goes directly up to the top of the back of the couch.

 

I'm excited to run my DIY LEDs again.  I always had fun tinkering with them.  I'm also excited to bring in the amazing stand that Ben A made for Isaac.

 

[Denis]

Congratulations on the tank! Glad to see it go to a good home. I run the exact same tank and honestly can’t see myself changing it any time soon. Excited to see what you turn it into. 

[YHSublime]

Love to see this tank continuing, with a build thread ❤️❤️❤️

[AlanM]

So many decisions to make when starting a new one.

 

Gotta decide on sand vs bare.

 

I might get live Florida rock to start it. I've always wanted to do that instead of starting with dry.

[howaboutme]

You still have your pico?

 

How about sump in the basement? Just like old times... Congrats and good luck! ?

[AlanM]

2 hours ago, howaboutme said:

You still have your pico?

 

How about sump in the basement? Just like old times... Congrats and good luck! ?

 

I do still have the pico, but it is sad.  Like 5 zoas left in it and a few snails.

 

No chance for sump in the basement on this one.  It will be in our addition with just a really unpleasant crawlspace below it.  I'll miss the basement sump for sure, so I will end up spending money to get it really quiet.  

 

Since it will be so close to our dining room my wife is concerned about fishy smells and gross stuff happening in there.  The stakes are high on this one!

[YHSublime]

FWIW, the only real fishy smell that I ever got out of the tank was when the skimmer cup needed to be emptied and cleaned  

[howaboutme]

My tank is technically in our dining room although we have kind of an open floor plan so it's not right up against the dining area. The only smells that come are when I stop the pumps for maintenance or feeding. If everything is up and running, no smell at all.....Well, sometimes the frozen food I feed smell like the ocean.

Edited November 30, 2022 by howaboutme

[BowieReefer84]

Look forward to following this.

[flooddc]

tagging along!

[AlanM]

The tank and stand are in my house.  It ended up being a heck of a deal.  I didn't expect the sump to be so nice, and the stand is really pretty.  

 

I'm flipping the sump around the other direction from how it was so that the plumbing can go straight down and the return will go across the stand.  I ordered some fittings to plumb it that way and am reusing some of the bits that came with it.  Once I get it plumbed I'll post a sump picture. 

 

The stand is open on the right, which is the side that previously faced the wall.  I'll make a panel for that side and maybe put controllers and things on it.

 

[YHSublime]

Love to see it getting setup again, looks great there! Ben builds some nice stands! 

[AlanM]

On 12/11/2022 at 2:42 PM, YHSublime said:

Love to see it getting setup again, looks great there! Ben builds some nice stands! 

 

It's really nice.  I'm probably going to hang stuff inside it, so since I won't use the doors on the other side I'll put some 1x6 across or something for a screwing surface.

 

On that note, lets go with stuff to install arriving:

 

Have to learn Apex again after a long interlude with ReefAngel/Arduino.

 

[YHSublime]

I’m also needing to set mine up (Apex)

 

i think they are pretty plug and play these days

[AlanM]

31 minutes ago, YHSublime said:

I’m also needing to set mine up (Apex)

 

i think they are pretty plug and play these days

 

It has some quirks, but I don't know if that's because I've been out of the Apex world for 8 years or because it's really quirky.  It's an A3 Apex Pro.  I assumed it would have the latest version of the OS to support all of the hardware that is in the box like the liquid level sensor, but I was wrong, lol.  

 

I struggled with calibrating that level sensor for a while.  The automatic calibration never worked.  Manual worked on the third try.  It uses one of the voltage input ports on the integrated FMM module that is included now in the A3 Apex.  

 

I feel like they need a "So you got an Apex, what should you do first to set it up" type of document.

 

Should I calibrate the new temp, pH, and ORP probes or did they come pre-calibrated and I should leave them alone?  No idea.  I'll ask on the neptune forums. 

 

I definitely did need to calibrate the liquid level sensor.  It works well now.  I had hoped to use it for an ATO sensor, but I don't think it's sensitive enough for that.  It has a long lag before updating the value and it's only accurate to about .25 inches, which is at the outer edge of what I'm comfortable with for ATO.

[howaboutme]

On 11/29/2022 at 6:17 PM, AlanM said:

So many decisions to make when starting a new one.

 

Gotta decide on sand vs bare.

 

I might get live Florida rock to start it. I've always wanted to do that instead of starting with dry.

 

Made a decision yet? Also, what are you putting in it?

[AlanM]

24 minutes ago, howaboutme said:

 

Made a decision yet? Also, what are you putting in it?

 

I should get the rest of the plumbing parts today in the mail.  Now to start straightening the vinyl tubing...

 

I'm going to get live rock and sand from Tampa Bay Saltwater.  I just don't like bare bottom even though Isaac was really successful with it.  I've always wanted to try Tampa Bay rock, so I think this is the tank to do it on.

 

I'm putting an mp10 at each end so I'll have lots of flow, but I'm hoping the relatively coarse sand from Tampa Bay will stay in place.

 

I am leaning toward an LPS and nem tank with basic fish and inverts.  Torches, hammers, frogspawn, and a couple of nice colored nems plus some clowns and maybe a royal gramma which I've always liked.  No jumpers cause it's rimless without a lid.  I'd be open to an acrylic/mesh lid for it.  Maybe from clearviewlids.com since Artfully is out of the game.

 

It will be hard to resist getting lots of colorful SPS.  Every time someone posts a sale thread before a meeting I'll be tempted again.  Maybe just a couple...

[howaboutme]

2 hours ago, AlanM said:

 

I should get the rest of the plumbing parts today in the mail.  Now to start straightening the vinyl tubing...

 

I'm going to get live rock and sand from Tampa Bay Saltwater.  I just don't like bare bottom even though Isaac was really successful with it.  I've always wanted to try Tampa Bay rock, so I think this is the tank to do it on.

 

I'm putting an mp10 at each end so I'll have lots of flow, but I'm hoping the relatively coarse sand from Tampa Bay will stay in place.

 

I am leaning toward an LPS and nem tank with basic fish and inverts.  Torches, hammers, frogspawn, and a couple of nice colored nems plus some clowns and maybe a royal gramma which I've always liked.  No jumpers cause it's rimless without a lid.  I'd be open to an acrylic/mesh lid for it.  Maybe from clearviewlids.com since Artfully is out of the game.

 

It will be hard to resist getting lots of colorful SPS.  Every time someone posts a sale thread before a meeting I'll be tempted again.  Maybe just a couple...

 

Sounds good! Looking forward to it.

 

Isn't clearview lids by adam at artfully acrylic or am I getting another lid company mixed up?

[AlanM]

1 hour ago, howaboutme said:

 

Sounds good! Looking forward to it.

 

Isn't clearview lids by adam at artfully acrylic or am I getting another lid company mixed up?

 

Duh, I guess it is!  I didn't realize that it was the same.

[AlanM]

Closer to getting it wet!  It's not the world's best plumbing or neatest wiring, but I think it will do.  Rather than routing the wires extremely neatly I made sure I could easily get each probe or control wire out if I needed to while keeping them out of the way of the work area.  

 

Since it's sitting out in the middle of the room I'm sneaking the power cord for it under the rug to the wall on the right.  I'll make a panel to cover up the end that used to be on the wall that will attach with magnets.

 

 

 

 

 

It's all plumbed and wired.  I think it's ready, but I'm not going to start filling this close to bedtime. 8)

[YHSublime]

It’s already starting to look cleaner than my build! Love to see it

[AlanM]

8 hours ago, YHSublime said:

It’s already starting to look cleaner than my build! Love to see it

 

Thanks! Not yet ready to declare success until I see where it leaks and what terrible noises I've created by putting things on hard surfaces that will vibrate with the pumps. 

 

It's my first time plumbing with flexible tubing and barbed fittings rather than glued spa-flex or hard PVC.  I have a feeling that as I keep it running I will be battling salt creep constantly because that stuff is insidious, but at least all of the fittings are easy to see and clean.

[howaboutme]

I can't imagine the vibration would be that bad. I didn't add anything to soften the vibration in mine and it's pretty silent. I did add some 12x12 acoustical panels inside of the cabinet to help but I don't know if it actually does because I don't have a "before" as I put them in first day.

[AlanM]

6 hours ago, howaboutme said:

I can't imagine the vibration would be that bad. I didn't add anything to soften the vibration in mine and it's pretty silent. I did add some 12x12 acoustical panels inside of the cabinet to help but I don't know if it actually does because I don't have a "before" as I put them in first day.

 

Hope not.  I am waiting to see if I need a silicone trivet under the return pump.  

[YHSublime]

Are you using the mag 5? I think you'll be fine. I found the loudest piece was the skimmer pulling air.