# Gareth's 185 Gallon Robotank



## Jaye (Mar 11, 2015)

Gorgeous tank, and pretty amazing for five weeks in.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Bump:


Jaye said:


> Gorgeous tank, and pretty amazing for five weeks in.


Thanks! Weeks two to four were really bad, algae everywhere. It has taken a lot of work to get it cleaned up and dialled in.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

I've watched your videos on Youtube. Glad to see you are here.

Your tank is really spectacular, but in a different kind of way than most. You have created what I would describe as a very natural, serene environment. Love the presentation and looking forward to more details.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

Awesome tank


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## rabbichou (Nov 16, 2015)

GDominy said:


> Weeks two to four were really bad, algae everywhere. It has taken a lot of work to get it cleaned up and dialled in.



How did you get rid of algae?


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## IntotheWRX2 (Sep 13, 2016)

that color light in the back makes this tank go into the galaxies


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## nel (Jan 23, 2016)

It's just too much! I want to know everything about how you made it! One of best looking tanks ever, love it.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

rabbichou said:


> How did you get rid of algae?


Several things!

1.) I overbuilt my light. I will get into this in more detail in subsequent posts, but I had way too much light. I turned it down to about 40%of what it is capable of.

2.) I improved my CO2 injection. My aquamedic Co2 Reactor 1000 could not keep up with this tank given the new over/sump configuration. I replaced it with an ADA Pollen Glass Beetle 50

3.) I changed my fertilizing regime (I had my Nitrate/Phosphate ratio completely out of whack)

4.) I manually removed as much Clado as I could, scrubbed every piece of wood and rock to remove BBA

5.) Increased my Glute dosing to help prevent algae growth

Bump:


IntotheWRX2 said:


> that color light in the back makes this tank go into the galaxies


I'm going to go into detail about that in a few posts, I really love the effect

Bump:


nel said:


> It's just too much! I want to know everything about how you made it! One of best looking tanks ever, love it.


Stay tuned! :wink2:


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Lets start with Lighting.

I had to completely rebuild my canopy. Previously I had my LED strips sitting on a glass top that was built into a canopy frame. This layout wouldnt work for what I wanted to do this time so I did a ton of reworking.









Here is the canopy with its fresh piece of plywood for a top. This is hinged at the back so I can open it in case I need to move large hardscape pieces in and out of the tank easily, without having to remove the entire thing (It's extremely heavy)









Next, I cut in a vent hole/strip.









Here you can see a perforated metal sheet that I am using as a vent cover. I am simply test fitting at this point.









Here I am test fitting my reflectors and heatsinks to make sure they all fit, and that the lid can still open.

Now the fun begins.. Many repairs had to be made, and a TON of wiring had to happen.









Here are the old LED strips. Very beat up, several burnt out LED's and sloppy solder work on several of them. Instead of trying to bandaid this rig back together I decided to strip them and start over.









I managed to pry off all the LED's but it left behind a ton of residue from the adhesive









An hour of sanding later, they were cleaned up and ready to be reused.

Now for the fans... They were disgusting.









The fans were totally caked in salt creep from my old reef tank, dust, and cat hair. They were barely functional.









Completely taken apart, cleaned and reassembled with replaced fan grills and acorn nuts.









The units cleaned up nicely. You would never know how awful they were before.









Heatsinks and Reflectors added for the T5's mounted in the canopy.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Then I had to wire things. I didn't take a lot of photos during this process, as my father had a heart attack (he's ok) and I was focused on other things at the time.









LED drivers came first. I needed 6 drivers to power the LED arrays I was installing. 2 x Drivers for white, 2 x Drivers for Blue, 1 x Driver for Red/Green, and 1 x Driver for UV









Test Fitting power and T5 Ballasts with the Profilux Expansion Box.









Starting to come together









Everything installed. There are 4 LED spotlights on the back of the canopy that provide part of the backlighting.









I rebuilt another fan unit to mount on top to aid in heat extraction from the canopy.









Looks cool when lit.









T5's are working!









Now I needed to add the LED's I used 4 x Rapid LED freshwater Aurora pucks for this.









LED's installed, full brightness test

Bump: Before I move into the plumbing and wet sort of stuff, here is a picture of the lower backlight. It is simply an RGB strip that turns on/off by the profilux. Tis is used exclusively for night viewing, as the back of the tank turns opaque when the primary lights are on


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## ScubaSteve (Jun 30, 2012)

Gorgeous tank...love the way you arranged all of the plants...very well done. BTW...some of your pics aren't coming up. Saying the image does not exist or is no longer available.


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## Aftica (Nov 26, 2003)

ScubaSteve said:


> Gorgeous tank...love the way you arranged all of the plants...very well done. BTW...some of your pics aren't coming up. Saying the image does not exist or is no longer available.



Agreed.... absolutely Gorgeous... and yes some image issues as Steve said.

I am waiting on every breath to see your thread continue... so very very interested!


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## IntotheWRX (May 13, 2016)

nice build you natural engineer


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## Jaye (Mar 11, 2015)

Beautiful tank!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

ScubaSteve said:


> Gorgeous tank...love the way you arranged all of the plants...very well done. BTW...some of your pics aren't coming up. Saying the image does not exist or is no longer available.


The pictures should all be working now. imgur ate my first post for some reason

Bump: Here you can see how the canopy fits over the tank. I took this before I mounted the LED's just to see how the clearance was between the heatsinks and the water. I ended up using wide angles lenses due to the low mounting point.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Greggz said:


> I've watched your videos on Youtube. Glad to see you are here.
> 
> Your tank is really spectacular, but in a different kind of way than most. You have created what I would describe as a very natural, serene environment. Love the presentation and looking forward to more details.


Still here :wink2:

I've been here since the board was created. I come and go depending on what crazy things I get up to, but I keep coming back.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

absolutely stunning tank, I've seen many aquascapes and this beats them all! im not sure why, but it has that natural feel, but not to natural. just the right amounts of both, good job! very good job!  keep us posted, also what's the youtube channel? would love to watch some videos!


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## don87brunswick (Aug 18, 2016)

Subscribed. Beautiful tank and I love reading about custom builds too! Glad to hear about your rapid algae recovery, took me much longer and still have a little hair/fuzz.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I put a few pictures out of order, so this post will be a catch up on a few things that happened before the canopy build occurred. 

This was the tank before teardown. Pretty boring


























Tearing it down wasn't as hard as I thought, and you can see how cluttered the wiring was before the redo.










Here it is being sent off for repairs










Time to gut it!










Cleaned out, ready to rebuild










Under the stand has been rebuilt, touch panel mounted to stand, and repaired tank in place.










Now on to the plumbing etc.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

The first thing I had to do was figure out my overflow and return pump situation.

I was tired of canister filters struggling to keep up with how I do things, so I opted for a sump this time around. I happened to have an extra 30 gallon sump just laying around so I made use of it.

Overflows, I decided to use an Eshopps PF-1200, and matched a Quiet One 6000 return pump to it. The quiet one 6000 was rated to push around 950 gallons per hour at the head height and tubing diameter I was using. More on this shortly. In order for the Eshopps overflow to maintain a good syphon capable of purging air from its U tubes, you need to maintain 450 gph per tube (it has two). THis pump turned out perfect for this application (Matching pumps to syphon based overflows is a big challenge that many people get wrong, leading to problems)










The sump represented a few challenges. As most people know, surface disruption is a huge problem for outgassing CO2, and adding a wet/dry chamber to this design was obviously going to provide some challenges. Most people typically Duct tape their sump shut, or have some Acrylic shield made to help prevent this. I went a different direction and had a special chamber made.










I had the local tank manufacturer whip this guy up using the top and bottom frame from a standard 2.5 gallon, but made it taller, and with a thick bottom.










The bottom is drilled for 1" bulkheads. The tank will be inverted so the open end is down (under water) and the sealed top is above, allowing the drain tubes to connect.










Here is the wet/dry section installed in the sump. I have allowed for a small air bleed to prevent back pressure, but it doesn't appear to enable much CO2 loss










The Eshopps box was mounted on the back left side of the tank, and Eshopps flexible drains were connected.










Drain lines were attached to the stand for safety using Conduit straps.










The return line assembly was something I'm pretty happy about. I decided against rigid PVC as I wanted something I could service if I had to. I decided on Fluval FX5/6 Hose and the associated clamp and return nozzle. I just like this design as it secures to the tank really well and the parts are available at many places if I want to make changes.










Another added bonus is that the Fluval hose (with its Rubber ends) slips perfectly over the suppled hose barb that comes with the Quiet One pump

















(This was later secured with a hose clamp)

Pump and tubing fit nicely in the sump, no kinks










In this photo you can see the plumbing all secured to the tank










Bump: Next came the Auto Top off, Dosing, CO2 and control side.

This photo shows the Profilux and some of its peripherals in teh shelf I have been using for several years. I keep modifying it for each tank (it doesnt look pretty, but it serves a purpose).










The shelf lets my profilux gear be mounted above my Auto Top off Reservoir which is just a 14 gallon tank. This tank holds enough water that I can let the tank run for about 8 days without intervention.

The top off tank has a small Eheim pump in it that the profilux controls. When the water level in the sump drops below a certain point it automatically turns on hte pump and tops it up to the optical sensor.

The top off line runs behind the stand and fills the sump in the pump side of the sump, pictured here.










In this photo you can see my dosing pump mounted on top of the Shelf where it draws from 3 storage containers.

The first chamber contains my EI macro solution, the second (darker) chamber contains CSM+B and the third is simply a 4 litre jug of flourish excel. The excel is simply there for algae control, and to help combat any problems I have with Low CO2 periodically (I dose a small amount daily).


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Here is the whole rig put together, from about 2 weeks ago










I added a dedicated computer that is directly connected to the Profilux and a Seneye Reef for monitoring and controlling the aquarium. It makes it much easier to keep an eye on things havig a PC over here, and I've managed to keep it fairly discrete.










Bump: I took this video last night:


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

GDominy........you have succeeded in making what most of us do look like child's play. Are you on sabbatical from NASA? That is some very well thought out engineering. Bravo!!

On the bright side for me, I can show my wife your thread and she will think I am relatively normal!:grin2::grin2:

Subscribed!


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## _alex_ (Apr 22, 2016)

One of the best tanks I have ever seen. And actually makes me want to use our 240 in the garage as a planted tank vs moving our 120 salt into it. Amazing job. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Ben Belton (Dec 12, 2008)

All the plumbing and hardware is completely beyond me. I wish I could do all that. So I'll comment on what I know and that is that I love your aquascape. Very inspirational thread.


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## Nexgen (Jul 1, 2015)

I agree with everyone else, this is one of the best tanks on the forum. I am currently doing a 40b build and this is exactly what I'm aiming for, in terms of automation, I'm using the MrMan iAqua controlled though.
I have to ask, are you an engineer? Only reason for asking is most non-engineers don't put this much thought into a project, I'm an Electrical Engineer myself.


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## sohankpatel (Jul 10, 2015)

I have no words. Everthing about this is awesome, from the scale to the equipment. You act as if it is nothing to have a scape like that, I would kill to have those skills.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Nexgen said:


> I agree with everyone else, this is one of the best tanks on the forum. I am currently doing a 40b build and this is exactly what I'm aiming for, in terms of automation, I'm using the MrMan iAqua controlled though.
> I have to ask, are you an engineer? Only reason for asking is most non-engineers don't put this much thought into a project, I'm an Electrical Engineer myself.


Close, but no. I'm actually a designer/programmer for automated AV and Control Systems. I build crazy complicated AV systems for businesses, universities, rec centers etc. Building the aquarium stuff is a breeze by comparison, but way more fun.

Even before I did this stuff for work I was always building cool stuff for fun. I'm just a big nerd at heart.

Bump:


sohankpatel said:


> I have no words. Everthing about this is awesome, from the scale to the equipment. You act as if it is nothing to have a scape like that, I would kill to have those skills.


Make it a goal to learn something new about the hobby every day. It doesn't have to be much, every little thing helps. After a couple of years it's amazing what you find yourself knowing.

I've been doing this for 20 years, and I'm still learning something new every day. It all comes in time.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Night and Day


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## Milkman (Dec 26, 2011)

GDominy said:


> Night and Day




Dope [emoji108]


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## flyfshrmn98 (Oct 20, 2011)

What are the brackets you used on the heatsinks in this pic? I could use something like that


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

flyfshrmn98 said:


> What are the brackets you used on the heatsinks in this pic? I could use something like that


Those were part of the bracket assembly that came with my GHL Fan units, I dont think I have seen them available separately.


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## Aftica (Nov 26, 2003)

GDominy said:


> Overflows, I decided to use an Eshopps PF-1200, and matched a Quiet One 6000 return pump to it. The quiet one 6000 was rated to push around 950 gallons per hour at the head height and tubing diameter I was using. More on this shortly. In order for the Eshopps overflow to maintain a good siphon capable of purging air from its U tubes, you need to maintain 450 gph per tube (it has two). This pump turned out perfect for this application (Matching pumps to siphon based overflows is a big challenge that many people get wrong, leading to problems)


Hey Gareth;

I am planning a similar build (180G LED/CO2) and was wondering about a sump for a CO2 injected tank as well… I was wondering what your feelings are of the Sump and Overflow now that it’s been running for a while now… Firstly I guess is how much CO2 are you running through vs what you used to with the canister filters in the past? I am not looking to be a shareholder in Praxair once underway 

Also – how do you have the Eshopps PF1200 Overflow installed? (Stock out of the box or is it Herbieized inside that we can’t see in the pics?) If it is stock… and at that flow rate… does it suck a lot of air down the pipes? ..... reasoning follows....



GDominy said:


> The sump represented a few challenges. As most people know, surface disruption is a huge problem for outgassing CO2, and adding a wet/dry chamber to this design was obviously going to provide some challenges. Most people typically Duct tape their sump shut, or have some Acrylic shield made to help prevent this. I went a different direction and had a special chamber made.


I was looking for an off the shelf solution to a sump that won't be an open invitation to the CO2 Degassing Gods…. And was kinda looking at the Aqueon Proflex Model 4... it has it's "revolutionary bubble diffuser chamber where bubbles are expelled" as well as it's kinda flexible with the way it's set up etc... (lots of videos showing this thing on Youtube etc..) I kinda want to avoid the use of duct tape to seal the thing up etc... and if the Eshopps Overflow is not sucking down too much air then when the water enters the sump under the waterline in that "chamber" it should / could / would / kinda / possibly not off-gas too much?


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## Milkman (Dec 26, 2011)

For your background light did you use frosted window film and led lights? I've got film on mine and I'm looking to add a soft coloured light. Just wondering how you went about it


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Milkman said:


> For your background light did you use frosted window film and led lights? I've got film on mine and I'm looking to add a soft coloured light. Just wondering how you went about it


That's exactly it.

I used frosted privacy film from home depot to do the rear of the tank. I mounted a cheapo set of RGB+W Led's along the bottom of the tank that light up the wall behind the tank, and the film directly. The top lights are 4 GHL Simu Spots to provide some red, this is how the gradient effect is made. Yellow from bottom, red from top.

Bump:


Aftica said:


> Hey Gareth;
> 
> I am planning a similar build (180G LED/CO2) and was wondering about a sump for a CO2 injected tank as well… I was wondering what your feelings are of the Sump and Overflow now that it’s been running for a while now… Firstly I guess is how much CO2 are you running through vs what you used to with the canister filters in the past? I am not looking to be a shareholder in Praxair once underway
> 
> ...


I burn through about 5lbs of CO2 every 4-6 weeks. I have not herbied the overflow box as it inhales small fish and fish constantly, so I need to keep it as-is to rescue them once a week. I do seal the top of the box with Gaff tape (no duct tape, that stuff is terrible) and that helps lower CO2 loss.

That sump will outgas a bit of Co2 as it uses filter socks in an overflow/flow through chamber. You would need to seal that up.

Honestly Gas is cheap though, I keep two bottles around so I just swap mine once a month


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)




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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Thanks a lot GDominy, you've succeeded in making me hate my tank! Mine and most others look more like a golf fish bowl compared to what you have accomplished there.

Now that I have the gratuitous compliments out of the way, I would love to know more details about your tank.

You said you have turned down your lights, any idea of the par? Lighting schedule? CO2 PH drop? Fert schedule? Glut dosing? Water parameters, Gh? Kh? You know, just everything.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Greggz said:


> Thanks a lot GDominy, you've succeeded in making me hate my tank! Mine and most others look more like a golf fish bowl compared to what you have accomplished there.
> 
> Now that I have the gratuitous compliments out of the way, I would love to know more details about your tank.
> 
> You said you have turned down your lights, any idea of the par? Lighting schedule? CO2 PH drop? Fert schedule? Glut dosing? Water parameters, Gh? Kh? You know, just everything.


My Par is measuring around 60 at the substrate now. Before reducing my lights it was sitting at around 220-300 in parts.

Lighting schedule is a bit complicated, as I have several different controllable lighting channels, in total I have 10 different schedules to control all of the in tank lighting. Basically, my lights run from 2pm-10pm, gradually increasing from 0% at 2pm, to 65% at 4pm, then at 8pm they begin to ramp back down to 0% at 10pm

My Ph is very difficult to measure. The hardscape I am using is raising my Kh and it hasn't really stabilized yet. I basically see a full 1.0 swing in Ph currently. I dont have a current Kh or Gh reading to give you as I am still testing over time to find an average (my Kh is climbing still)

I'm dosing Nitrate/Phosphate manually once a week at about 5ppm Nitrate to 1ppm Phosphate. CSM+B is dosed every 2 days. I dose 20ml of Glut daily


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## sfshrimp (May 24, 2016)

Wow. Incredible.


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## PortalMasteryRy (Oct 16, 2012)

Nice tank!


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## Leon Pham (Sep 1, 2016)

How did you plant all those plants on the bottom with the tank being that tall and did u plant all of that in one go?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Leon Pham said:


> How did you plant all those plants on the bottom with the tank being that tall and did u plant all of that in one go?


I use 12-14" tweezers/tongs. The tank was planted initially all at once, then I pulled out a few plants that were infested with clado. I added new plants in September and it has been mostly hands off since then.

Bump:


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

My custom Co2 regulator arrived yesterday! Alan Le built this for me, and I am blown away at the quality of everything. This thing is a monster.

Built around a stainless Victor SGT 500, Wika Fluid filled guages, Parker NM series needle valves connected to independent Burkert 6011 solenoids (so I can run two different diffusers at different times. Will let me ramp up co2 concentration during peak hours).


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## tatersalad (Dec 7, 2011)

Awesome setup! I have a question for you about your overflow box. How does the Eshopps overflow act when you loose power to your return pump? Does it somehow hold water in the u-tubes and restart the siphon when power returns? Getting ready to setup a 120 and would like to know how your system operates in the event you loose power and/or you clog the u-tubes of the Eshopps box.
Thank you


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

tatersalad said:


> Awesome setup! I have a question for you about your overflow box. How does the Eshopps overflow act when you loose power to your return pump? Does it somehow hold water in the u-tubes and restart the siphon when power returns? Getting ready to setup a 120 and would like to know how your system operates in the event you loose power and/or you clog the u-tubes of the Eshopps box.
> Thank you


The rear chamber of the eshopps box has raised partitions that keep the U tubes submerged at all times. If power is cut the tubes stay full of water and keep the syphon going when water starts flowing again.

The design of this box does require weekly maintenance in a planted tank. The pre Filter sponges need to be cleaned regularly to keep the water flow through the drains consistent or the water level will rise in the main display. I clean these every week or two.

With this style of box it becomes very important to correctly size your return pump for the size of the U tube. The box I am using uses two U tubes, and to correctly purge air from the tubes you need to maintain about 400+ gallons per hour PER TUBE. There are a number of flow rate calculators out there to figure this out. You need to account for head loss due to bends in your return line, size of the return line, and the head height from the pump.

I am pushing 950 gph at the tank for my rig, so this gets me 475 gph per tube in my overflow, which is plenty to keep the tubes free of air bubbles. Other than having to clean it regularly, it works like a charm


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## tatersalad (Dec 7, 2011)

GDominy said:


> The rear chamber of the eshopps box has raised partitions that keep the U tubes submerged at all times. If power is cut the tubes stay full of water and keep the syphon going when water starts flowing again.
> 
> The design of this box does require weekly maintenance in a planted tank. The pre Filter sponges need to be cleaned regularly to keep the water flow through the drains consistent or the water level will rise in the main display. I clean these every week or two.
> 
> ...


Thank you, that makes sense to me. Can't wait to see how this tank develops in the future.


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## SingAlongWithTsing (Jun 11, 2015)

@GDominy are you still using the Macro Aqua Flow on your return line or did you decide to ditch it? if you did, why?


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

GDominy said:


> Those were part of the bracket assembly that came with my GHL Fan units, I dont think I have seen them available separately.


Id like to know more about these lights!


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## chayos00 (Sep 22, 2013)

Tank looks awesome! I've been wondering how a large tank with a sump would do running CO2. I'm glad to see you gave feedback about how long your C02 lasts! I'm going with a DIY ghost reef overflow using a beananimal plumbing setup. I tried to google for the 80W T5 bulbs that you have in your setup. I've been wanting to find some sort of bulbs that would work on a 6 foot tank and these look like they would fit the bill perfectly. Much better than my idea of using regular house florescent tubes or the newer LED bulbs if I can find some in the right spectrum.


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

chayos00 said:


> Tank looks awesome! I've been wondering how a large tank with a sump would do running CO2. I'm glad to see you gave feedback about how long your C02 lasts! I'm going with a DIY ghost reef overflow using a beananimal plumbing setup. I tried to google for the 80W T5 bulbs that you have in your setup. I've been wanting to find some sort of bulbs that would work on a 6 foot tank and these look like they would fit the bill perfectly. Much better than my idea of using regular house florescent tubes or the newer LED bulbs if I can find some in the right spectrum.


You found 6ft t5 bulbs?


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## chayos00 (Sep 22, 2013)

Sean W. said:


> You found 6ft t5 bulbs?


From what I could tell they are more of 4.75' length T5's. But I can really only find specs on these bulbs, but not really a supplier for them.

http://download.p4c.philips.com/lfb/f/fp-927929584018/fp-927929584018_pss_en_aa_001.pdf


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

SingAlongWithTsing said:


> @GDominy are you still using the Macro Aqua Flow on your return line or did you decide to ditch it? if you did, why?


I ditched it. It stopped working smoothly after just a couple of weeks and became very noisy. It was too annoying to listen to it clattered and sputter along.

Bump:


chayos00 said:


> Tank looks awesome! I've been wondering how a large tank with a sump would do running CO2. I'm glad to see you gave feedback about how long your C02 lasts! I'm going with a DIY ghost reef overflow using a beananimal plumbing setup. I tried to google for the 80W T5 bulbs that you have in your setup. I've been wanting to find some sort of bulbs that would work on a 6 foot tank and these look like they would fit the bill perfectly. Much better than my idea of using regular house florescent tubes or the newer LED bulbs if I can find some in the right spectrum.


I use these bulbs:

Giesemann Tropic

Giesemann Super Flora

They work really well, but I honestly rarely even turn them on. The LED's are plenty bright on their own

Bump:


Sean W. said:


> You found 6ft t5 bulbs?


No, they are 5 foot bulbs.

Bump:


Sean W. said:


> Id like to know more about these lights!


That was the before picture. I scrapped those and rebuilt them using RapidLED Freshwater Aurora LED arrays


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

GDominy said:


> That was the before picture. I scrapped those and rebuilt them using RapidLED Freshwater Aurora LED arrays


Just curious to hear more about the RapidLED's. How many arrays did you need to provide coverage for your 180G? How do you like them?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Greggz said:


> Just curious to hear more about the RapidLED's. How many arrays did you need to provide coverage for your 180G? How do you like them?


I only needed 4 with wide angle lenses, and I dont even run them full up. They produce a ton of light.

My only complaint is that they are very blue. I don't mind a bluer tint, but I think these would be better with more red to them. The price is great for what you get though.


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## Econde (Oct 13, 2015)

You have a gorgeous tank. Subscribed.


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## Cornishrooster (Mar 3, 2016)

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## Cornishrooster (Mar 3, 2016)

chayos00 said:


> Tank looks awesome! I've been wondering how a large tank with a sump would do running CO2. I'm glad to see you gave feedback about how long your C02 lasts! I'm going with a DIY ghost reef overflow using a beananimal plumbing setup. I tried to google for the 80W T5 bulbs that you have in your setup. I've been wanting to find some sort of bulbs that would work on a 6 foot tank and these look like they would fit the bill perfectly. Much better than my idea of using regular house florescent tubes or the newer LED bulbs if I can find some in the right spectrum.[/
> 
> I can tell you from my 125 gallon that's filled with plants that a 5lb co2 tank (40psi about) lasts me about two months. I have a Rex griggs reactor and rarely have any bubbles in my display.
> 
> ...


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## kilauea91 (Sep 19, 2013)

GDominy said:


> I only needed 4 with wide angle lenses, and I dont even run them full up. They produce a ton of light.
> 
> My only complaint is that they are very blue. I don't mind a bluer tint, but I think these would be better with more red to them. The price is great for what you get though.


You can replace 1 each of royal blue and blue in channel 2 with (2700~3000K)warm white, or 2 of each if you want it even warmer color. That's what I did with my ecotech XR15FW puck. One of the 5W OSRAM royal blue was replaced by warm white, the effect is quite dramatic and I like it. It will give much more "play" room when adjusting the color. Plenty of video on Youtube showing how to reflow SMT LED. It is a piece of cake to mod with your caliber. Last but not least, beautiful tank!


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

I just watched your thunderstorm video. It was very, very nicely done. Of course, it helps to have the subject matter that you start with.

Why didn't you post a link here? Are you holding back on us??

We want to see it all!!:grin2::grin2:


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Greggz said:


> I just watched your thunderstorm video. It was very, very nicely done. Of course, it helps to have the subject matter that you start with.
> 
> Why didn't you post a link here? Are you holding back on us??
> 
> We want to see it all!!:grin2::grin2:


I admit I keep forgetting to post here. I am pretty active in a few facebook groups and reddit as content sharing on those platforms is quite easy/fast. I'll post a few videos up here in a bit. I am planning on doing a nice proper photo set this week once I finish up my pruning.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)




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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)




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## chayos00 (Sep 22, 2013)

GDominy said:


> I use these bulbs:
> 
> Giesemann Tropic
> 
> ...


I thought I had replied about this yesterday, but guess taptalk didn't submit it. LOL

So I have to ask as I was looking at using CFL lights for my initial setup for my 125g planted tank (don't have CO2 yet, but would like to). Since I had such a hard time trying to find either 3' or a 6' fluorescent tube light setup, I like seeing that you have 5' long T5's that would fully light a 6' tank. Do you think these fluorescent bulbs by themselves would be sufficient for a planted tank of this depth? I was thinking a 2, 3, or 4 bulb setup, but would have the lights switch on from like 0 - 1 - 12 - 123 - 1234 - 123 - 12 - 1 - 0 during the day. One day I do want to make an LED setup for the tank like your original one, however I don't like the idea behind the pucks as you can't customize your lights. I wonder if I should just stick with the CFL's for now and one day build an LED setup or just go with the florescent bulbs that you've got.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

GDominy said:


> http://youtu.be/P1oLcizlutM


WOW, can't really even put into to words the final product and work involved.. 

Bravo..

but... snicker....
you are missing ONE thing..

Where is the rain???

Have you considered a solenoid and small amount of water diverted to a drip bar????

I do realize that logistically it is a bit difficult and totally unnecessary.. but hey.. just a thought..

Again ZERO taken away from that tank...

BRAVO!!!!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

jeffkrol said:


> WOW, can't really even put into to words the final product and work involved..
> 
> Bravo..
> 
> ...


I actually used to do that on my reef tank. I had it set up so that auto-top off would only run when a thunderstorm was running. It wouldnt always rain (if the tank was full enough already), but if the tank needed to top off and a thunderstorm was active it would rain over the main display. The top off reservoir pump was connected to a PVC manifold I had made around the top of the tank with many hydroponic drip heads.

The effect is really cool on an open top tank, but its not super noticeable with a canopy. It also runs the risk of splashing on the lights, which I would like to avoid.

Bump:


chayos00 said:


> I thought I had replied about this yesterday, but guess taptalk didn't submit it. LOL
> 
> So I have to ask as I was looking at using CFL lights for my initial setup for my 125g planted tank (don't have CO2 yet, but would like to). Since I had such a hard time trying to find either 3' or a 6' fluorescent tube light setup, I like seeing that you have 5' long T5's that would fully light a 6' tank. Do you think these fluorescent bulbs by themselves would be sufficient for a planted tank of this depth? I was thinking a 2, 3, or 4 bulb setup, but would have the lights switch on from like 0 - 1 - 12 - 123 - 1234 - 123 - 12 - 1 - 0 during the day. One day I do want to make an LED setup for the tank like your original one, however I don't like the idea behind the pucks as you can't customize your lights. I wonder if I should just stick with the CFL's for now and one day build an LED setup or just go with the florescent bulbs that you've got.


4 bulbs will be plenty with good reflectors. The reflectors do actually make a huge difference, especially with the depth. Ballasts for the 5 foot bulbs are tricky to find, but usable. It's much better bang for your buck to get a ballast that can drive 2 bulbs then to try and find a ballast that does a single lamp. I would usually encourage people to do bulbs in pairs like I did. If you use flora and daylight bulbs, I would start your day with the flora bulbs as they are redder, then have your daylight bulbs kick on for that bright "noon" sort of look.

The LED pucks are pretty controllable. I have 4 colour channels on each puck that are separately dimmable, so I can change the appearance pretty easily. I used to build my own rigs out of strings of LED's but the ongoing maintenance was a huge pain (lots of solder points that need to be perfect, lots of exposed junction points that can short if they get wet and burn out led's, etc). I wouldnt hesitate to build a small rig again, but on something this large the arrays simplified the build considerably.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

stunning, absolutely stunning. the diy lights really pay off and are rewarding in the end as I can see lol! im not good with wires an stuff so custom lighting I wouldn't be to nifty at, not saying its not possible but it would be hard for me. Love your plants in the tank as well they just seem to perfectly go an grow together!  nice job!


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

OK I have to ask. How are getting the video embedded instead of just linked?

Tried to figure it out on this site one time but no luck.


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## Sean W. (Oct 12, 2013)

Greggz said:


> OK I have to ask. How are getting the video embedded instead of just linked?
> 
> Tried to figure it out on this site one time but no luck.


wrap the link with url tags minus https://


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## Leon Pham (Sep 1, 2016)

What did you use for substrate? Most of been expensive to add substrate to that tank.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Leon Pham said:


> What did you use for substrate? Most of been expensive to add substrate to that tank.


Most of the visible substrate is Carib Sea Sunset gold sand. The hills are created with crushed Lava Rock, then capped with Flourite


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

Must say; one of the best aquariums I've seen in a while. Execution is perfect from the filtration to the aquascape.; water looks crystal clear. But why bioballs over filter socks for example? 

I like your use of a sump system; honestly, it's the best thing I've adopted from the reef hobbyists - makes everything centralized for easy access. Would never setup another aquarium without one. 


Any reason you went with Profilux over the Apex? I had the Profilux III, but honestly the lack of support and freedom to program killed it for me. Although I do love their doser.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Raul-7 said:


> Must say; one of the best aquariums I've seen in a while. Execution is perfect from the filtration to the aquascape.; water looks crystal clear. But why bioballs over filter socks for example?
> 
> I like your use of a sump system; honestly, it's the best thing I've adopted from the reef hobbyists - makes everything centralized for easy access. Would never setup another aquarium without one.
> 
> ...


I wanted a sealed chamber to trap CO2 instead of outgassing it with turbulence. This actually works exactly as intended.

I have been a Profilux user forever (over ten years), and I used to sell them (I ran Progressive Reef and GHL Direct). You can program a profilux in just as many ways as an apex, but you have to be a decent logic programmer to combine the elements in the ways that you can do straight from a command line in an apex. I program automated AV and control systems for a living though, so this comes pretty easy to me. Profilux programming is more designed for my style.


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## Akaliman (Jul 28, 2014)

Hello GDominy,

I am amazed how you technology to aquarium. Bravo!!

I have few question, I was hoping you can enlighten:

1. how do I contact Alan Le, and what is the different between good and bad CO2 regulator? All this time I am thinking only the size of the bubble matters, as smaller bubble increase gas transfer efficiency. Even better, use reactor.

2. what program and hardware do you use in the computer to monitor your aquarium?

3. can the overflow unit used with canister filter?

thanks


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## chayos00 (Sep 22, 2013)

Hi! I've got another question. Can I ask you what ballasts you are currently using with your setup for the T5's, I seem to be having a hard time finding 80W rated ones. If you could post a model # or a closeup of the ballast that would be very helpful!

Edit: Nevermind with this question, as I've moved on with a DIY LED setup.


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## Axelrodi202 (Jul 29, 2008)

Amazing tank. I wonder what your experiences with the Profilux over the years have been. I recently got a GHL Doser 2.1 and had a rough time setting it up (though I'm not a very technical person by nature). Still unable to get the Wifi connectivity feature working; will have to play around with some signal extenders or looking at potential interference from other devices (as per the tech support folks I spoke to). I'd like to incorporate more of the high tech stuff into my tanks, but I spent two days trying to set up the darn thing and didn't even get all the functionality I wanted...


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## Ben Belton (Dec 12, 2008)

Sorry if this is posted elsewhere. I looked around at your old threads. Can you describe how you make your hills? I assume you make a circle of rocks and put media in the middle, but how do you get them so high without the media spilling over the sides?


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## RichE (Sep 15, 2013)

On your sump, is that all your using for filtration is the wet/dry style filter?

Im in the planning stages of a 180 build and will be using a custom built diy sump, and was under the impression that you would want more then just the bio balls

Btw the way your tank scape is my dream lay out


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## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

GDominy said:


> Bump:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks! Weeks two to four were really bad, algae everywhere. It has taken a lot of work to get it cleaned up and dialled in.



Very nice work.

What are you using to monitor your tank (I see a panel of some type upfront underneath the tank)?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Aftica (Nov 26, 2003)

GDominy said:


> I'm dosing Nitrate/Phosphate manually once a week at about 5ppm Nitrate to 1ppm Phosphate. CSM+B is dosed every 2 days. I dose 20ml of Glut daily


I saw early in the thread you stated you were dosing Seachem Excel, and it does seem rather evident as you have the big bottle of Excel hooked up to your doser... but I see you refer to dosing Glutaraldehyde (20ml daily for a 180-gallon tank)... 

so I am curious... as I understand I think Excel is 1.5% Glutaraldehyde, but if you're using a product such as Metricide 14, which I think is 2.6%, Are you diluting it? Based on your dosing amount of 20ml daily I believe that would coincide with the recommended dosage for Excel at 1.5%.


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## chayos00 (Sep 22, 2013)

Aftica said:


> I saw early in the thread you stated you were dosing Seachem Excel, and it does seem rather evident as you have the big bottle of Excel hooked up to your doser... but I see you refer to dosing Glutaraldehyde (20ml daily for a 180-gallon tank)...
> 
> so I am curious... as I understand I think Excel is 1.5% Glutaraldehyde, but if you're using a product such as Metricide 14, which I think is 2.6%, Are you diluting it? Based on your dosing amount of 20ml daily I believe that would coincide with the recommended dosage for Excel at 1.5%.


You could decrease the amount dosed vs a diluted amount. That's what I did when I dosed it. 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

Oh my gosh, YOUR BACK. I swear to you I have been looking all over for your threads, then I finally found this, can’t believe I missed it these months. Every time you set up a tank it’s beautiful, I don’t get it. Your very talented (at many things actually, as this thread goes over lol) at this hobby. I’m very glad to find your thread. Keep us updated (;


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Aftica (Nov 26, 2003)

chayos00 said:


> You could decrease the amount dosed vs a diluted amount. That's what I did when I dosed it.


Agreed... You certainly could... I actually was leading to the next question which is because Gareth is in Canada like myself... and if he was using Glutaraldehyde then I was wondering what brand and where he obtained it. LOL often here in Canada finding some products is arduous at the very least and downright next to impossible at the best... Excel is not cheap - even on Amazon.ca, it sells for about $80.00 for a 4 liter / 1-gallon jug (Shipping included) - so at 20 ml a day you should run through almost 2 jugs a year.

For those looking for info on using Glut and percentages etc... here is a good link ---> GLUTE INFO


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## Ben Belton (Dec 12, 2008)

SKYE.__.HIGH said:


> Oh my gosh, YOUR BACK


I don't think he's back. I think someone just found the thread. I love this tank as well.


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

Ben Belton said:


> I don't think he's back. I think someone just found the thread. I love this tank as well.




Well what I mean to say is Hes alive? I couldn’t find one of his threads and now I have  but this was updated before the last time I saw him


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## chayos00 (Sep 22, 2013)

I saw a post from H2O plants that seems he has an Instagram that has updates on there. However since I don't use IG, I can't see them. 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

chayos00 said:


> I saw a post from H2O plants that seems he has an Instagram that has updates on there. However since I don't use IG, I can't see them.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk




Indeed, Gareth has been updating his posts on Instagram. He has several posts from the last week. What about TPT???? ): lol


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