High Tide Aquatics

Arin's Reefer-S 850 Build

The final two lights arrived today and I got them up on the rail. Unfortunately one of the RMS slide packages was missing the screws… so I had to steal them from the Blues that used to light my frag tank.

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Also got the remaining plumbing parts I need. So, I’m hoping I’ll be able to get the uv, return pumps & mp40s all in this weekend. Odds are I’ll add a bit more rock too: a random arch or branch to mix things up.

After that it’ll just leave sand & water!
 
Finally got around to mounting the uv. Turns out I didn’t need to mount it to the ceiling after all. Fit just fine right above the main drain.

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2 clamps keep it snug but I might also zip tie it to the drain just in case
 
A few minor updates:
  • Heaters are in
  • Return pumps are in the sump (not plumbed yet)
  • Uv is mounted and ready
  • 4 mp40s are on the back glass
  • Apex was reset, breakout box installed and cabinet LED strip is programmed
Next “challenge” is to figure out where I want to mount the controllers and how to do the cable management.

The Reefer-S series has a pull out board which is kinda cool but that doesn’t really help with the power bricks and the wires. Once I decide what to do there it’s just sand & water.

I have a ReefMat pre-ordered at AC. Part of me thinks I should wait to get this wet after the roller is installed as cutting out the baffles will be easier without water etc… we’ll see
 
The ReefMat has been shipped from RedSea so AC should have them soon. I was kinda sorta waiting for that device before getting the tank up & running - I figured cutting up the sump while its wet would be harder than doing it while its dry.

Anyways... I've been putting off wire management & hardware install just b/c I can't see any way that it won't be a PITA but - it has to be done.

I don't have a master plan as things always change and I'm too lazy for that. The main principles im working with are:
  • hide the power bricks
  • use the Red Sea stand's pull out thing for 2x EB832
  • Mount all the controllers to an adaptive reef board and shove it in the back
  • Keep as much of the cabinet floor clear for misc storage (Trident & I have no idea what else)

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Basic view of the space I'm working with. Adaptive reef board is shoved in the back
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Starting to get the power bricks strapped to the back of the board's face. Ended up mounting a couple Apex modules back there later on
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A closer look at the back of the board. These work but since there's no back wall they do end up leaving a bit to be desired. A back wall would double the mountable surface & that would rule.
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Gotta take the MP40 controllers apart since they won't fit through the pre-cut holes
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Initial board layout with the mp40 controller shells just haphazardly tossed around

So that's my progress so far. I really want it to be easy to plug things in & out. I don't really care about it looking "cool" though I don't want it to be a mess either. Shooting for tidy & easy to maintain.

The dosers etc will live on the other side of the wall so I don't need to reserve any space for those. I've already put a healthy amount of holes in the wall. Once this side is setup I'll toss an Aquabus and EB832 on the other side of the wall for the mixing station, doser, AWC etc
 

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The setup is coming together nicely. Can you fill the tank part way with the water and sand to get the cycle going while you work on the rest?
 
nanoguy said:
The setup is coming together nicely. Can you fill the tank part way with the water and sand to get the cycle going while you work on the rest?
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I could. I'm actually talking to @Coral reefer about coming over to help me on the initial fill. He can bring a bunch of water plus I'd love the help - I'm sure I can do it solo but the peace of mind & additional eyes will be invaluable.

As far as the cycle goes - I have a 20g brut with all the live rock from my old system (50-70 lbs); it's been hanging out in there with a heater & flow for about 4 months and has been ghost fed 2-3 time / week. I'm fairly confident tossing that rock in my sump plus some bottled bacteria will get me a quick (or instant) cycle.

Hopefully I get this wire management sorted out this weekend; after that it'll just have to mod the sump to install the ReefMat and fill it up!
 
cleaned up the wires in the cabinet...

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Nothing fancy: just velcro ties and some J channel. I think I should be able to get this to a "good enough" spot tomorrow.

The next thing I have to figure out is how to wire the magnetic switches. I'm pretty sure I can just wire them in parallel and avoid running a million wires into the breakout box. We shall see...
 
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Finally got most of the wiring settled. It’s still threatening to be a mess tho. I shouldn’t have even bothered lol

Hopefully I can figure a way to make the power plugs neat. Worst case I can shove them in a wire sleeve

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phatduckk said:
Nice! Looks like you have good depth to work with. What kind of board is that? Did you DIY it or did you buy it?
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It’s one of those adaptive reef controller boards. I did put some legs on it so it can be free standing. The cabinet is about 20 inches deep. I try and make the front look nice but not tie down to much in the back of the board. Just in case I need to swap something I won’t have to undo a bunch of cable ties.
 
Devon said:
It’s one of those adaptive reef controller boards. I did put some legs on it so it can be free standing. The cabinet is about 20 inches deep. I try and make the front look nice but not tie down to much in the back of the board. Just in case I need to swap something I won’t have to undo a bunch of cable ties.
Click to expand...
Ya I think I’m gonna buy one of those now. I have a white one I used for my frag tank and they work quite well.

They’re on sale at saltwater aquarium so it’s worth snagging
 
Measured twice and ordered the cabinet. No clue why I did do this from the get go considering I used one on my previous build.

I guess I thought I could keep it tidy with the board in the back and the slide out. Oops.

Honestly I don’t see the point of that slide out drawer. It’s cool on paper but the second you start plugging stuff in or running dosing lines it’s gonna be a mess.
 
While I wait for the adaptive reef cabinet to show up I thought I’d figure out the magnetic switch wiring.

I experimented with the wiring to sort out how to get the stands light to turn on when any door is open and off when they’re all closed.

My first attempt was in parallel… fail. So turns out you need to wire them in series to get what I want.

With 2 switches it looks like this.

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The middle terminal on these switches is Normally Closed and the outer terminal is the common. That yields the following programming for the LED strip's outlet:

Code: 
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If LEDSW OPEN Then ON

Its probably obvious but the first switch from the breakout box is named: LEDSW
 
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