Ok I'm still hooked DD911's 60 cube build...

[dailydriven911]

Looks great brotha! Mind helping me build a stand?

Thanks Sarang! I can help but only remotely lol. I have to watch my 3 little ones while the wife works and we usually have something going on during her off days. I really want to but I don't have much free time anymore lol. Plus the wife is a bit upset with me doing all this reef tank stuff again pm me and I can give you the plans I used for mine.

 

[roscoe]

I totally understand brotha! WOW you got me beat by one. Twins?

 

[dailydriven911]

I totally understand brotha! WOW you got me beat by one. Twins?

Haha nope 2 girls five and two and a 10 month old boy.

 

[dailydriven911]

Some thoughts and goings on with the tank...

I rinsed the rock pretty good but definitely a lot of die off...didn't need to throw a raw shrimp in but I did anyway just for peace of mind. Water is pretty clear but still has a little haze to it that I'm attributing to bacteria and high levels of ammonia/nitrite. Going to add some live rock rubble to seed the tank as wellas bio spira when I see the nitrates come down and do a large water change. Also have a spare reactor to run PO4 remover. Still a month or so away from fish and I'm going to wait a few months for corals.

I decided I'm going to go with a new return pump also. Currently I'm running an Aqueon 2300 (690 gph) I got on an Amazon special $36. It works fine just a little loud for my liking. The Jeabo DC3000 I hear is super quiet and pushes a tad more water as well as its controllable.

I'm still going back and forth on the controller I want. Apex lite or the DA Reefkeeper lite. I want something simple for temp control, lighting and eventually dosing. Never had an Apex so feedback appreciated.

Next thing I want is the Kessil spectral controller although I could control on the Apex or RKL the ease of a simple controller/adjustability is appealing to me. Then I can run another device on the controller while keeping the lights on the Kessil.

I added a couple elbows and a smaller nozzle for the return to raise it in case the return fails. I will be ordering a check valve soon though. Flow is pretty good coming out of the return. I'd estimate around 4-500 gph. Anything more and the drain will get a bit too loud for my liking

 

[mfinn]

So I'll be picking up a check valve and also coming up with some sort of return nozzle that I can extend upward and then out. Probably use an a couple elbows and a reducer to strengthen the flow.

I don't recommend using a check valve, but if you are looking for one, check out the Wye check valves. They have to be one of the better ones. They can be cleaned and maintained.
And even though I wouldn't recommend someone using one, I do have one installed on both my tanks.

 

[mfinn]

I decided I'm going to go with a new return pump also. Currently I'm running an Aqueon 2300 (690 gph) I got on an Amazon special $36. It works fine just a little loud for my liking. The Jeabo DC3000 I hear is super quiet and pushes a tad more water as well as its controllable.

I'm not a fan of the jeabo dc pumps. I have seen a few threads on different forums where people are having controller issues.

I mentioned on another thread, checkout the Sicce Syncra Silent pumps. The #2 is 634 gph and the #3 is 714 gph.
I have a #3 and a #4. Very quiet.

 

[dailydriven911]

Quick shot in its current state



And the heartbeat

 

[dailydriven911]

I don't recommend using a check valve, but if you are looking for one, check out the Wye check valves. They have to be one of the better ones. They can be cleaned and maintained.
And even though I wouldn't recommend someone using one, I do have one installed on both my tanks.

I know it was an error in planning on my part. I'm doing it more for piece of mind in case the pump fails or power goes out. I'll have enough room in my sump for excess water but I don't want to have to worry about a potential disaster.
I know they can fail over time so I'm going to get a true union check valve so I can clean it and replace if necessary.

 

[dailydriven911]

I'm not a fan of the jeabo dc pumps. I have seen a few threads on different forums where people are having controller issues.

I mentioned on another thread, checkout the Sicce Syncra Silent pumps. The #2 is 634 gph and the #3 is 714 gph.
I have a #3 and a #4. Very quiet.

Hmm I've heard good things about the Sicce pumps but some people complained about noise so I looked around and found the Jeabo. I did hear there are issues with the controller but noise is the biggest issue for me. I'll take another look at the pumps you recommended. Thanks!

 

[mfinn]

I know it was an error in planning on my part. I'm doing it more for piece of mind in case the pump fails or power goes out. I'll have enough room in my sump for excess water but I don't want to have to worry about a potential disaster.
I know they can fail over time so I'm going to get a true union check valve so I can clean it and replace if necessary.

Like I said, I have the wye check valve on my tanks, so I really can't preach about the evils of using them. lol
The wye check valves can be cleaned too.

 

[mfinn]

Hmm I've heard good things about the Sicce pumps but some people complained about noise so I looked around and found the Jeabo. I did hear there are issues with the controller but noise is the biggest issue for me. I'll take another look at the pumps you recommended. Thanks!

The Sicce Syncra's are very quiet.
Pump noise is a major issue to me too.

 

[kpiotrowski]

I have the apex full version so of course I love it, and a reefkeeper lite. If you want to stop by and check them out and how I use them you are welcome.

 

[dailydriven911]

I have the apex full version so of course I love it, and a reefkeeper lite. If you want to stop by and check them out and how I use them you are welcome.

Yeah would love to if I can ever get away from the kids lol. I had the RKL but not familiar with the Apex although I hear great things. So you run both on your system?

 

[dailydriven911]

That's a interesting overflow design. I'm curious as to how it's going to work for you.

Well when I first had it running without the gasket for the drain it was pretty loud. I put a medium gasket in and instantly the sound was better. The loudest part is the water going down the pvc. It surface skims really well too and I love that it has a removable top and that snails, fish etc can't get in. It has enough surface area even if a nem got stuck water can flow directly over the top if the tank starts to fill up. So so far so good very happy.

 

[roscoe]

Looks great!

 

[dailydriven911]

Thanks buddy just a quick update on some goodies I chose to go with...

Luckily MD price matches as I was able to save 10-15% on my order so here's what I got...

Kessil Spectral controller to finally get my lights dialed in so I don't have to turn them on/off and control via fingers lol.
Decided to go with the DA RKL mainly because I don't need all the crazy stuff the Apex does and it was only $100 plus I have a new ph probe from my old one.
This will be used to control the heater, fuge light and a doser down the road.
Last goodie I decided on was Tunzes new controllable nano stream 6040 pump. At 15% off I wanted to try something different than the Vortechs. And for half the price it pushes almost the same amount of water (1200gph). It's small and can hide well so that's a plus also. I could of went with a Jeabo pump for $70 but I really like Tunze quality and its something new to the market I wanted to try.

Here is a quick picture not much has changed yet though...

 

[1guydude]

Looks great 911! Wats in it? Is there a reason you didn't just route your return up and over? Just how I've always done it.
Glad to see some tanks here.
D

 

[dailydriven911]

Looks great 911! Wats in it? Is there a reason you didn't just route your return up and over? Just how I've always done it.
Glad to see some tanks here.
D

Haha thanks just pukani rock day 7 of the cycle I drilled the tank for a 3/4 return. Just looks a bit cleaner IMO but I guess I could of gone that route too.

 

[tike]

Clean looking set up!

 

[dailydriven911]

Clean looking set up!

Thank you that's what I'm trying to accomplish...trying lol