got ethical husbandry?

Cruz Mc5’s family reef tank

My AP700 power supply is going to be underneath the tank, as I don’t think I can run the power supply through the wall and into the garage. Same with my powerheads. I’m thinking about getting another Apex power bar for under the stand, but who knows. That’s a couple hundred bucks that might not be needed.

I can add a few washers to get the power supplies off of the wood though. Seems easy enough.
 
sfsuphysics said:
What's the AP700 use? Meanwell HLG drivers, or something along those lines?
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So that's a yes? I'm assuming that's what the AP700 uses since they didn't feel like rebranding the casing.

Man the pricing on those guys have dropped a lot, I seem to recall they were somewhere in the $130 range just for the driver, now they're half that cost. (I might be thinking of a different one mind you, but I do recall the price kept me away from those and more towards the more open, and not water tight designs)
 
Today was a good day. Got some salt water mixed up, although not enough to fill my tank. Finished my rodi system including the booster pump. Pretty much finished my salt water mixing station. And got my aquascaping epoxied and in the tank! Tomorrow I’ll finish filling the tank when my last pump arrives. I also started setting up my Apex. Tomorrow I’ll get all the probes in the tank.

And I finally got my return lines finished. I’m ended up using regular vinyl tubing instead of braided due to flexibility. But I tested it and it seems strong. I used those plastic ratchet clamps, so the connections all felt pretty solid.

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And we have water! My mixing station is done, my apex is controlling, and we’ve officially got salt water in the tank. As soon as my last batch if water finishes mixing, we’ll be able to run the tank.

Here’s some updated pictures.

The tanks still pretty cloudy.

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And here’s the rodi and water mixing station. The wires are coming out the top temporarily while I have a heater and a powerhead going to mix.

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The electronics are getting there (again some temporary wires for mixing)

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And I got my return line plumbed over to the sink for water changes.

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Everything is running smoothly. Starting to cycle. Fritz turbo start will be here Wednesday or Thursday. And the tank has cleared up nicely.

Any advice on where the water level should be in my sump though? That’s one of those things I can never really figure out. This is with the tank running.

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And here’s the tank all cleared up and cycling.

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Shut everything off, make sure your water doesn’t get overflow out of sump, and make sure your skimmer skimmage bubble doesn’t get flow out of your sump either. And from there work with your skimmer, once you locked down your water level, install ATO to ensure you always get topped off.


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I definitely have enough space in the sump so it doesn’t overflow during shutoff. I’m just not sure what the “right” water level would be. Should it be cascading over the barrier between my fuge and return pump?
 
I’m probably going to get a stand for the skimmer to raise it up a little bit. The only concern I have with going higher is that it makes it harder for an auto top off unit, as it takes a lot of water to evaporate in order to drop the level water level across the entire sump.
 
Cruz Mc5 said:
I’m probably going to get a stand for the skimmer to raise it up a little bit. The only concern I have with going higher is that it makes it harder for an auto top off unit, as it takes a lot of water to evaporate in order to drop the level water level across the entire sump.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but the compartment before the return section looks like it has an adjustable baffle to control water height for a skimmer. If that's the case, your fuge should be in the compartment right after your filter socks. Then put the skimmer in the other compartment and use the adjustable baffle to control the water height.
 
RandyC said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the compartment before the return section looks like it has an adjustable baffle to control water height for a skimmer. If that's the case, your fuge should be in the compartment right after your filter socks. Then put the skimmer in the other compartment and use the adjustable baffle to control the water height.
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It does, however, the baffle controls the water level for the entire sump. The divider between the 2 middle sections has slots cut into it, allowing water to flow freely through them. It’s one of the things I bought and didn’t necessarily have a good understanding of how it would function in the build.
 
Is there any way to tell if my return pump is strong enough? Right now my main siphon line is only open about halfway, so I feel like it’s dialed back a lot. There doesn’t seem to be a ton of flow through my sump either. All my lines are 1 inch.
 
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