Ron's 90gal Reef Build

[Simon.Kruger]

before you think im being negative :-) I love the cabinetary work. Awesome job.

[WILLIAM1]

Very nice build. Its gonna be an awsome tank when its all said and done. Keep the pictures coming.

[mysterybox]

beautiful tank!

[wbrown]

Originally Posted by Simon.Kruger

I will leave it up to others to comment further but I have a few questions;

1) modifying the feed power distribution box, is that legal, i thought they belong to the power company?
2) did you turn off the power before doing this modification, if so how?
3) im not 100% on the local code requirements but shouldnt all external cables be armoured? I see you put yours in a protective pipe.
4) 30 amps, what guage cable are you using? It looks like 15 or 20 amp cable.

I was an electrician in a previous life ;-) and my questions are based on other international experience. I just dont want you to have any problems.

1.)Once you get downstream of the meter, you can do as you wish within the NEC and local ordinances.
2.) See the main breaker in the pic, I'd guess he did, however it's optional as long as you keep your head out of your shorts.
3.) weathertite conduit, non metallic is per NEC. *EDIT* Primary wiring prior to breaker or disconnect is required to be armored,not downstream of a breaker or fuse.
4.) should be 12G min., 10G optimal for 30A circuit. I can't tell either what gauge from the photo.

Looks better than my subpanel added to the garage- slash frag room. Good job!

[Rbredding]

Originally Posted by Simon.Kruger

I will leave it up to others to comment further but I have a few questions;

1) modifying the feed power distribution box, is that legal, i thought they belong to the power company?
2) did you turn off the power before doing this modification, if so how?
3) im not 100% on the local code requirements but shouldnt all external cables be armoured? I see you put yours in a protective pipe.
4) 30 amps, what guage cable are you using? It looks like 15 or 20 amp cable.

I was an electrician in a previous life ;-) and my questions are based on other international experience. I just dont want you to have any problems.

HAHA.. thanks for the kudos on the millwork... and for your concern. I consulted a master electrician to help verify that my intent was both legal and met all required codes...
Here's what I used for the electrical work..

1 - yes, it's legal because it is a disconnect, the EC owns the meter itself, the combination socket/loadcenter is/was installed by the electrical contractor when the house was built.
2 - no, but I have extensive experience working in a "hot" panel both on commercial sites and in residential work (I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE)
3 - The conduit used was carflex 1" liquidtight flexible conduit with the appropriate watertight fittings. The use of this conduit system is only limited in the number and size of conductors that are allowed to be used within the conduit (due to heat buildup - the same thing that limits other conduits). External conduits do not have to be metal for residential applications. Most residential service entrances are PVC and direct burial cable.
4 - The conductor used was #10 Romex shielded cabling, I could have also used #10 THHN individual conductors, but chose the Romes shielded cabling because I had some left over from when I added a circuit to a home remodel for the AC Condensing unit.

[Rbredding]

Originally Posted by wbrown

Looks better than my subpanel added to the garage- slash frag room. Good job!

THANKS!! (I know that you KNOW your stuff, I appreciate it..)

when I ran the 4 circuits to the third bay of my garage, I used EMT, fully shielded and commercial steel boxes... my shop has external EMT conduit with individual conductors and flexible MC cabling.. it's a beautiful thing..

LOL

it's like walking into an industrial manufacturing facility..

[Hackman72]

got any updates?

[Rbredding]

not with the new job, training for the Chicago Marathon next weekend and building out my parents basement...

but stay tuned..

I've got all the parts, I just need to put them together in an intelligent manner..

[wbrown]

after 10 months I landed a job in my field of expertise, but at a substantial decrease in pay.
Hopefully the pain will end soon, even if you have to set your sights a bit lower.
good luck!

[Rbredding]

The 30gal is now in it's home... (the kitchen)

Here are some shots..
Inhabitants:
Pair of Ocellaris Clowns
Midas Blenny
Regal Blue Tang
Longhorn Cowfish
Blue Damsel
Flame Angelfish
Pair of Cleaner Shrimp
Fire Shrimp

[Amici]

Beautiful fish selection. That cowfish is really cool. One thing though, if he goes missing then find him quick! We had one die in a store and it nuked the tank. FYI if you need more LR, I have a ton!

[Rbredding]

Originally Posted by dawgdude

Beautiful fish selection. That cowfish is really cool. One thing though, if he goes missing then find him quick! We had one die in a store and it nuked the tank. FYI if you need more LR, I have a ton!

LOL I've heard about the cowfish... He's the first little guy we all look for.. I know it doesn't look like it, but there's over 40# of LR in there.. I may take yo up on that when I have the 90 up and running...

Glad you liked the pics..

[atreyu917]

Tank is looking good!

But definitely be careful with that Cowfish!
The way you have it set up makes it look bigger than a 30!

[Rbredding]

Today I got the chance to move the stand and tank inside.. I had to finish up the power supply system and mount the MH Ballasts on the back.. I think It was a pretty good setup that I came up with, it will allow me to change the ballasts out, should they go bad without moving the tank (you just slide them up and off the screws and then the bottom will tilt out..) I've got a piece of Acrylic that will mount over the ballasts and make sure that any splashes from overhead don't touch them.

I also mounted the light for the refugium..

For the Power Supply system, I'd already mounted the 30A outlet, but had to build the power cord, mount the distribution box, and add the GFCI's. Since it took me so long to get to this point, I had the Apex Energy Bar and DC4HD to install also..
First I figured out which outlets should serve which components, then I labeled everything with the label-maker. I laid out everything to make sure that it would all fit and it would all stay as far from the water as possible. Next I built the distribution box and set up two 15A circuits (each circuit will power 4 GFCI protected outlets) the Right breaker handles the double gang box on the right and the Left breaker handles the double gang box on the left. The Energy Bar will run on one circuit and the DC4HD will run on the other.

Here are some pictures of the initial setup and steps involved..

[Rbredding]

.....ALMOST...



The Apex is setup and connected to the computer (did that Sunday afternoon). The temperature probe is installed, but I've still got the PH Probes in their boxes.. (one for CA Reactor, one for sump)

I've also renamed all the outlets and I'm going to work on finalizing the programming for everything over the long weekend..

I can take sand anytime I get it... (I'm planning on Seachem Meridian)...

I'm filling the 35gal with RO water...



I feel like I should hear a building instrumental in the background...

[Rbredding]

I put the first batch of mixed salt water in lastnight... I'll post the pictures later..

it's time to get wet...

[blu_devl_06]

Slacker!!

[Rbredding]

filtering RO water now for the final push to fill it up... tomorrow night probably..

Here are a couple shots of the fill up and just over 60# of live rock. I'll probably get another 40 or so this weekend.

[Rbredding]

Lastnight I was having an issue with the drains......


Both the drains at the right and left ends are 1" and they plumb together under the tank, all the drain lines were 1" PVC...

I was getting the gurgle and uneven flow coming out of the drains so I increased the size of them to 1.5" from the point they come together to where they flow into the sump. That did away with the problem, but I was plumbing new drains for the tank at 10:00 while it was filled with water.. (not the ideal situation)

I also don't think the durso style overflows are working very well (with the return pump running on full, the overflows can't keep up) I'm going to increase the size of the top 6" of the overflow to 1.5" also. This will give more surface area for the water in the overflow to enter the drain and keep the 1" drains running at top efficiency..

[bratliff]

Why are you plumbing your drains together at all? Just asking...