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ArstenA's 75 Build Thread (1 Viewer)

Well I have made more progress on the stand!!

Before:
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I added LEDs to light the cabinet when I open the doors:
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Base cabinet finished:
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I get another year finish the canopy, right?!?
 
Looks great will have to check this out sometime.
 
I got the magnetic reed switches wired last night, so now the LEDs under my stand turn on when I open the doors.

I have to say for $15 everyone should add them!
 
ArstenA said:
I got the magnetic reed switches wired last night, so now the LEDs under my stand turn on when I open the doors.

I have to say for $15 everyone should add them!
Click to expand...

Totally agree!! A lot of reward for very little effort.
I would guess you stood there for a few moments opening and closing the door just to watch the lights turn on and off.
 
On Saturday morning I may have completed the most important step for any persons maintaining a fish tank and kids. I installed child safety locks on the doors to the stand.

This may sound like a joke but I have heard many horror stories about kids wanting to feed the fish among other things.
 
Well I setup a temporary 40B to house my remaining corals and most of the fish.

My plan is to get rid of most of the bio load in the 75. And hopefully with a lot of water changes I can get it turned around.

I also sold the two clowns, and two tangs so that should reduce the bioload quite a bit.

I have had a pretty large increase in aptaisia so I picked up some aptaisia eating nudibranchs tonight and got them going on it.

Trying to decide if I should just shut the lights off or dim them down to 5-10% during the "reset".

Also wondering if I should get more CUC or wait.

Any opinions on how I should get this thing back in order?
 
Yeah the only coral is two red mushrooms and two orange ricordias. I will try to remove them again but they were stuck tight.
 
So when battling the algae issues, I assume you dialed way down both the red and the green leds to 10% or even 0 ? Looks like you abadoned the algae fuge / scrubber, latest pics just show rocks in that area. If your not going to grow algae, I'd add alot of the cellpore/ceramic type material to grow anerobic bacteria rather than just LR especially in smaller realestate areas to get maximim anerobic zone. Now if you run or plan to run another ATS that would be counter productive but in absense you want as much denitfication as possible.
 
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I have my neutral whites, reds, and greens all turned off I believe.

With my reset I am trying to design an algae growing system back in.

I took my fuge offline because the light spilling out was growing algae in my skimmer creating a real maintenance nightmare.

But I am not happy with the results of my slimmer so I am thinking that entire section could be for algae growth.

If I grow algae is there no point in the ceramic/rubble rock for denitrification?

I think I should also try to reduce the amount of detritus I get building up in my sump, or make it easier to remove. With my sump sunken into the stand it is difficult to siphon it out.

I visited my father in law this weekend and he made an awesome dust separator for his wood shop. It got me thinking if the same concept would work for separating solids from our tanks...

Thanks for the comments Dave! They are very helpful!
 
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If no algae, you need denitrification and the ceramic will do way better than LR in that compartment. So yes, one or the other not both.

If you plan to run ATS/refugium, removing organics ( other than the skimmer ) usually isn't necessary becuase ATS will take care of once dissolved. For me, it's just one more thing to maintain.
 
ATS

Well it is official I am building an ATS for my 75 gallon.

I have decided to use the same Chinese full spectrum dimmable LED fixtures that David G. is using. The two fixtures are ordered and on their way.

The only down fall to the Chinese fixtures is the size. It makes for a fairly large scrubber and limits my clearance under the stand.

I have modeled the ATS with Google sketchup and already cut the acrylic. I hope to start gluing the acrylic today.

I will try to get some pictures up as I make progress.
 
I am working with someone to build me a new one and a Buddy sump. Using same lights as grigors. The one you built for me will go into storage. Sorry I didn't chime in sooner. I wasn't sure on my timing, otherwise I would have asked if you were interested in it.
 
Well here is a picture to show some progress. The Chinese LED fixtures have air inlets on the sides so I cut small windows to align with those. That way the fixture will still be able to get air.

Oh I had a NASTY surprise after I had all the acrylic cut and started to glue it, I started to take the paper off only to find out it wasn't black but smoke! Doh!! Also had a corner chip out due to a really dull saw blade.

I hope to get it all glued once the boys are in bed.

Comments welcome!

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Here is a picture after everything was glued. It is very dirty because the acrylic has a bad static charge after cutting it.

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The top and bottom edges overhang so I have room to add some means to hold the lights in.

I still have to drill and add drains, spray bar, cut the top lid, etc...

I am happy with the progress so far.

It does fit under my stand but will be very difficult to clean. So I do not look forward to that. That is the down fall to buying the Chinese LED fixtures. They dictated the size of the ATS.
 
Looks like a job that will need a few beers to complete. I'm out....no work getting done on my build!
 
Well, while trying to finish the ATS I managed to crack a big piece out (during drilling). So instead of fixing it I just decided to make a new one that is ACTUALLY BLACK!! I actually cut enough pieces for two just in case I had another issue.

The first black one is assembled and I hope to install it tomorrow.

I did get the Chinese Led fixtures on Friday and they fit perfectly into the ATS.

Plumbing is going to be a major PITA so I might have to drain the tank and move it... Yuck!
 
ATS is complete!!

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The acrylic is threaded so the fitting thread in. The "couplers" on the spray bar have gaskets that seal it. To remove simply loosen the "dead" end and the spray bar lifts out.

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