A Golden Reef Tank

[halmus]

I added flip up doors on both sides and the front for quick access that doesn't require a lot of access into the tank.

 

[halmus]

The finished "dry-bar" area

 

[halmus]

The hood extended out so that I can crawl into the aquarium when needed.

automatic feeder hooked up to the Apex

Lastly for the display hood, this is what it looks like laying on the floor staring up at the lights when the hood is extended.

 

[halmus]

A few shots of the display. There's nothing to exciting here yet. I have three Bartlets, a yellow tank, and a Springeri Damsel.

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A few shots of the back filtration room.

 

[halmus]

And the refugium

 

[halmus]

sooooo much good stuff!
I can't wait to go back and read in detail! I love the light rack. I am still considered and 80/20 solution for my 335.
Also, the beer shelf! Totally my favorite thing!

Thanks Stacey. Unfortunately, I don't have time to narrate all of the pictures a second time around. I'll be happy to answer questions as they come up.

I'm really happy with 80/20 products. They aren't cheep but incredibly versatile.

We'll get a lot of use out of that beer shelf. We've been eating meals at it when we have time to sit down.

 

[spieszak]

Thanks Stacey. Unfortunately, I don't have time to narrate all of the pictures a second time around. I'll be happy to answer questions as they come up.

Pictures worth a thousand words. Looks incredible.
How many gallons do you think you have in addition to the actual tank? Just out of curiosity. I'm betting the far exceed

 

[halmus]

The display is 350g. The refugium is roughly 120g. The total volume of the display system is about 600g.

The coral QT is roughly 50g total (20g in the sump, 30 in the coral QT tank).

The fish QT is pretty modular. Each fish QT tank is 30g with a sump section of about 20g. I'm only running a single fish QT tank off of that sump currently. I'm making some modifications. Once the two Gramma's are out of QT, I'm going to modify the other tank and add some bioballs into the filtration mix. I don't use bioballs much but for a fish QT, they should be OK.

 

[mfinn]

All I can say is OMG, OMG!!!

The equipment room is like the Kennedy Space Center.

 

[mfinn]

Love the mounting for the RODI. I was going to move mine in my garage so that it was over my slop sink because over the years it has dripped and had spills, and caused some water damage to the wood in the garage. But it would be difficult and kind of in the way. But after seeing your mount/shelf idea I'm going to copy that, but maybe add a drain in the bottom and run it to the sink.

I did notice that you plumbed the pressure pump into the pre filters first. It's the way mine have been for 6+ years.
I spoke with BRS, Melvesreef and Buckeye today and they all say that it should be after the pre filters.
So?

 

[halmus]

Hey Finn. I didn?t do a lot of research on the pressure pump. I thought I had followed BRS?s videos when I built the RODI system.

I?m not trying anything fancy in going against the recommended install. I guess I didn?t know what the recommended install was.

This setup has worked well for me 6 months no issues.

I guess, follow the recommendations from BRS, and Buckeye. As manufacturers and sales, they should have a good idea.


Thanks for following and glad you like the little drip tray for the RODI. I haven?t needed to catch any drips yet but I?m using it as a convenient shelf for the refractometer. Thanks

 

[mfinn]

Hey Finn. I didn?t do a lot of research on the pressure pump. I thought I had followed BRS?s videos when I built the RODI system.

I?m not trying anything fancy in going against the recommended install. I guess I didn?t know what the recommended install was.

This setup has worked well for me 6 months no issues.

I guess, follow the recommendations from BRS, and Buckeye. As manufacturers and sales, they should have a good idea.


Thanks for following and glad you like the little drip tray for the RODI. I haven?t needed to catch any drips yet but I?m using it as a convenient shelf for the refractometer. Thanks

Having it the way you have it in the picture is exactly how I've done it for 6+ years, so it can't be all bad.

Although I'm having a horrible time with my BRS rodi unit right now.

 

[halmus]

What kind of issues are you seeing with the RODI? Leaks? I haven?t had a problem yet. It?s been rock solid.

 

[mfinn]

What kind of issues are you seeing with the RODI? Leaks? I haven?t had a problem yet. It?s been rock solid.

Well, all was fine until last June when my TDS started going up after the membrane. Up to 9-10 TDS ( It was always 1-2, and even sometimes 0 ) So I placed a order with BRS for a new membrane and new filters and resin.
Installed everything and let the new membrane run water for 24 hours before diverting to the resin.
Even after letting it break in it I was still getting 9-10 TDS.
So I blew through a couple orders of resin and prefilters because I needed water for some big changes. During this time I called 3-4 times. Switched out a few things.
Finally I had time to order a new membrane ( I figured maybe got a bad one) and more pre filters.
So installed them and it was the same thing, again. So I called BRS a few weeks ago and went through all their phones, etc.
They sent me a new membrane ( even though the 2nd one was only 2 weeks old) ( didn't offer to send new pre filters or resin ) and told me to try it again.
So last Friday I installed it and ran water for 24 hours and it was the same deal. Over the weekend I collected about a 90 gallons of 0TDS water and my di resin container was about 1/3 used up.
So I called them again for the 6th-7th time and told them I was done spending money on this unit. ( $240 in membranes, pre filters, flow restrictors, valves membrane containers, o-rings, new TDS meter, and fittings and resin since last July). And after all that it still leaked in multiple places and wasn't acceptable.
I asked the guy on the phone what they were willing to do about it. I did everything they asked for. Took pictures of tests, readings, everything they asked for.
He said the only thing they would do is if I sent the unit in to them, they would run tests on it. Like they didn't believe me or my pictures.
He said if they find anything wrong with it they could rebuild it.
I said at this point I don't want that one any more and I thought they should replace it. I didn't think that would be that big of a thing. I've been a 7+ year customer and have spent thousands on their web site.
He said they would not do that.
So I said I would be buying a new one elsewhere.
I did at http://www.melevsreef.com/

 

[halmus]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. It sounds like there is some seal or gasket native to the RODI itself (not replaced with the cartridges) that has started to fail and is letting a little junk water seep by. That could be hard to track down. I guess I?ll keep an eye on mine.

I suppose, it could be how the pressure pump interacts with the system. If what you said is true, that I?ve installed the pump between the wrong stages, it might be putting more pressure on some seals than they were intended to face. I did dial down my pump quite a bit. I think it?s running about 80psi now. Not sure what the final ended up at.

 

[mfinn]

I had 6 years of it working just great.
You could be right about the pump.
I started out at close to 90 psi but dialed it back to 85-86 psi.
One of the things the help at BRS thought was puzzling was, the product to waste water was 3:1.
I thought it was great.

I was also looking at a new Spectrapure rodi.
Theirs is a 2:1 waste ratio.
But they are alot more.

 

[halmus]

I had 6 years of it working just great.
You could be right about the pump.
I started out at close to 90 psi but dialed it back to 85-86 psi.
One of the things the help at BRS thought was puzzling was, the product to waste water was 3:1.
I thought it was great.

I was also looking at a new Spectrapure rodi.
Theirs is a 2:1 waste ratio.
But they are alot more.

This year we donated a 2001 Corolla to charity with +215k miles. Still running. In fairness, it was burning a quart a month and didn?t shine like it once did. However it had almost no unexpected shop time throughout the life of the vehicle.

This year we also return to the Toyota dealership for the 100th time to have more electronics repair on our 2012 highlander. (Only slightly exaggerating) More shop time on that vehicle than any other vehicle I?ve ever owned and it?s still supposed to be in the prime of life.

I?m almost scared to go shopping to replace my 2005 truck and I can guarantee it won?t be a Toyota.

Point being, you know you?re getting older when you catch yourself using the phrase ?they don?t make them like they used to?.

I?m an old fart trapped in a middle aged body. At least my body is catching up with my mind. I was an old fart in my 20?s.

 

[halmus]

Here is an updated video tour of the tank and fish room.

https://youtu.be/9g7GCa_4SQg