Cali Kid Corals

"The Lab" - Josh and Tiffany's IM Nuvo EXT 200

popper said:
new complete setup with tank\stand\sump includes full plumbing

Since mine was ordered Nov '22, don't have the pipes, just these

  • (1) 1" Slip x Slip Bulkhead (Overflow)
  • (1) 1" Slip x Slip Bulkhead w/ 1" Diameter E-Drain Pipe (Overflow)
  • (1) 1" Slip x Slip Bulkhead w/ 1" Diameter secondary E-Drain Pipe (Overflow)
  • (2) 3/4" Bulkheads with LOC-LINE and Flare Nozzles (Return)
Click to expand...
Much appreciated. No bulkheads were included that aren't attached to the plumbing lines, so now I'm debating whether I want to just have cut the inluded fittings and have the "last mile" to/from the tank be dark grey Sch80 plumbing (which matches my lighter grey/white PVC plumbing), or if I just want to get bulkheads and plumb it in two-tone grey PVC + white fittings.
 
Still coordinating help for moving the tank, so I figured I'd chip away at some other projects. First off: the stand.

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@popper Thanks for the heads up on the base measurements (~6" between each one for even spacing). Made it one heck of a lot easier. I love the stand: it looks good, it's lightweight, it's solidly built, it's easy to assemble, and as an added bonus...

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God bless competent new construction + perfectly level floors on a concrete slab. Checked it multiple ways, because I'm *super* paranoid after my Red Sea's near-failure, and it's bang-on level in every way.

Now that the stand's up, I can start tinkering around with equipment layout and organization as well. I'm trying to prevent the rat's nest of wires that have plagued my prior builds, so I've kept our 3D printer running pretty much constantly to make power brick mounts for XR30s/Vortech/Vectras, as well as controller mounts for the MP40s and Vectras. In addition to the Adaptive Reef controller board I got from @phatduckk (thank you!), I'll probably mount a small piece of MDF on the back of the tank and mount the power bricks there.

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Finally: aquascaping and plumbing. I'll need to wait for the weekend and when my wife has some free time to do this together, but I've been noodling around with a few designs.

Manifold, showing off our plumbing color scheme:

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Random portion of scapes (fortunately, that table is almost the exact size of the tank):

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IOnceWasLegend said:
So, I could be off base (and if I am, I welcome the correction) because I don't have experience keeping a CBB, but my interpretation of the comments were less "CBBs are hard to get to eat' and more 'they're peaceful/passive enough that tangs would bully them away from food'. So I thought the purpose of that gizmo was to make sure the CBB has a source of food that only it can access.
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I have a CBB with a bunch of tangs and it does just fine. Got mine from AC and it was eating frozen at the store. It was in my 45gal originally along with a single blue tang and some other smaller fish. I'd add the CBB early on to give it a chance to get comfortable. But mine keeps up with feedings and is able to get his/her fair share. I do also feed very heavily so food is everywhere in the tank.
 
Arvin R said:
I have a CBB with a bunch of tangs and it does just fine. Got mine from AC and it was eating frozen at the store. It was in my 45gal originally along with a single blue tang and some other smaller fish. I'd add the CBB early on to give it a chance to get comfortable. But mine keeps up with feedings and is able to get his/her fair share. I do also feed very heavily so food is everywhere in the tank.
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Will do; thanks for the input!
 
IOnceWasLegend said:
Aquascaping, round two. Getting close to the finish line, still gotta tweak the middle and right sections a little more.View attachment 47445

Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z-zM13NxYEgo2wocRLtyFZqLOBu9i6N3/view?usp=sharing
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Looks good! Possible minor tweak suggestions (if not cemented already):

Maybe try turning the left edge to put more a kink in it? Hard to tell from the pic, but it might look more varied if the lines weren't straight from back to front, but had a kink.

If you turned that back section, it could also could help avoid the two raised sections pointing directly at each other, which feels like it's causing a mental collision in the middle of them, versus having them pointing your eye somewhere.

Second general one, again hard to tell with the angle, but it might help to have some more open open (negative) space between the rock formations. Eg move the center area a bit more to the right. Drop the arch between the far right and the center. Have the center section's edge be pointing between the two rocks on the right.

With some of those tweaks the lines the rocks would be making would be more like these blue lines:


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IOnceWasLegend said:
Unfortunately the arch is staying; I'm okay with it aesthetically, and I need more places for coral
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Sounds good. Looks good. I'm just curious what the arch would look like it is was going between the rocks on the right side. Such as going from the getting right rock over to the one it's currently on. Create a bit of a visual pointing from the front right, to the center back, which then points towards the final section.

Your setup looks good though, and it'll be cool to see it grow out
 
Mostly reached the limit of what I can do before the sump gets here, and when I reuse equipment running the holding tank right now. I taped the edges of the stand bottom board with waterproof Gorilla tape, we finished mortaring the aquascape, I've got some of the layout work done on the control boards, and I'm ~99% sure I know how everything will fit together inside the stand.

The primary control board is set up and mounted on the inside door using Command strips. I'll have my Apex head unit in the upper left, and the EB832 on the bottom open area. I have two MP40 drivers on there right now in a 3D printed bracket, and those will be mounted to the left side panel of the tank.
ControlBoardLayout.jpg

ControlBoardClosed.jpg

ControlBoardOpen.jpg


The secondary control board was made using this material cut to 24" wide (using my new table saw for the first time which, hot damn, I'm loving) and holes drilled with a forstner bit. The two double brackets will hold the drivers for my M2 and L2 return pumps, as well as an MP40, with the option to add a 4th MP40 (and other equipment as needed). The bracket on the rear is a 3D printed quadruple power brick holder for everything.

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2ndControlBoardLayoutRear.jpg

ControllerBoardInstalled.jpg

2ndControlBoardRear.jpg


I went ahead and started plumbing (dry fitting) the UV, since it'll sit behind the sump, and also mounted an iPad case to the front of the stand. I'll drill a small, non-visible hole for the iPad power supply, and will rig it to run ReefTiles to keep an eye on what's going on in the tank. For safety's sake, since it's going to be out of view behind the sump, I'm planning on getting a couple leak detectors as well for peace of mind.

UV MockupReal.jpg

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Started working on the plumbing in earnest. Manifold and skimmer positioned. Hoping I'll be able to spend some time this weekend getting as much plumbing done as possible, and then - since my stepmom has movers moving her stuff June 1st - I'm chipping in for the cost and they'll be moving the tank from the garage to the stand. Hoping to get it wet by the first weekend in June!


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Aquamaxx reactor manifold is attached to two clamps tapped into the stand; it'll be further supported by another clamp on each side for the plumbing going into/exiting from the manifold.

The reactors themselves are hanging; but it's something I've seen done in previous large builds so I'm not too worried about it.
 
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