440g System Setup

[DThompson]

I've had the tank running for 3 days now with the Ultima to cycle media, only 1 day with the sump because I had some tweaking to do on that. One of the big positives I've seen so far is the reeflo pumps run warm and have actually increased the tank temperature 4 degrees Fahrenheit so far. When I 1st started the tank the water temp was at 64. Now it's showing 68 after 3 days. I haven't added any heaters to the system yet so I think I'll keep going without them until the tank hits a max temperature and see how much more heat I need to add.

 

[Potato Patatto]

What’re you putting in this bad boy again?

 

[DThompson]

I've got 7 red head tapajo geophagus and 4 silver dollars that are all about 3-4 inches long so far haha they would look tiny if I put them in right now but eventually I'll put those in and I'd like to get 1 or 2 stingrays. Maybe a pleco also. not really sure besides that. Open for suggestions for a 400+ gallon tank!

 

[nzafi]

I've had the tank running for 3 days now with the Ultima to cycle media, only 1 day with the sump because I had some tweaking to do on that. One of the big positives I've seen so far is the reeflo pumps run warm and have actually increased the tank temperature 4 degrees Fahrenheit so far. When I 1st started the tank the water temp was at 64. Now it's showing 68 after 3 days. I haven't added any heaters to the system yet so I think I'll keep going without them until the tank hits a max temperature and see how much more heat I need to add.
View attachment 1454267

Stupid question, but why are you running two reeflo pumps? One is for the sump and the other for the ultima? I don't think I have seen them used for sumps that often if you are. They tend to require a lot of wattage.

You are right about the reeflo's running hot. I did not do a test to see how much they will heat the water but on my 535g tank they would help keep the temperature up. I keep lower temps of 76-77, but my heaters would barely turn on even in winter and when they do it is not for long periods of time. I was glad for this because I was also running a coldwater drip into the tank and I was worried about power usage. My total heater capacity was only 600 watts btw.

 

[DThompson]

Stupid question, but why are you running two reeflo pumps? One is for the sump and the other for the ultima? I don't think I have seen them used for sumps that often if you are. They tend to require a lot of wattage.

You are right about the reeflo's running hot. I did not do a test to see how much they will heat the water but on my 535g tank they would help keep the temperature up. I keep lower temps of 76-77, but my heaters would barely turn on even in winter and when they do it is not for long periods of time. I was glad for this because I was also running a coldwater drip into the tank and I was worried about power usage. My total heater capacity was only 600 watts btw.

Yes I'm running a reeflo on both the Ultima and Sump. I wouldn't normally have put one on the sump but I got this 90g sump for free and it already had holes drilled in the side and I had an extra reeflo pump so I hooked it up. It pushes a lot of water through the sump so I've got the gate valve turned almost all the way closed to let the K1 bubble correctly.

Once I move my Apex system over to this tank I'll plug the reeflo pumps into that and it will tell me exactly how much watts/amps they are both drawing. I've read before they actually consume less amps/watts when you restrict the flow and create backpressure. So I'll test that theory and see how much (If any).

Right now the tank is at 70.3 degrees F and it's been running for 5 days I think? So it's risen about 1 degree per day. Will continue to monitor temps over the next week to see if I need a heater.

 

[DThompson]

Tank has been running for about 11 days now and It looks like the tank temperature has stabilized at 72 degrees. So 2 Reeflo Dart/Snapper Hybrids increased the temperature from 64 to 72 degrees without any heaters. Not sure if there are any linear comparisons for other people keeping their houses at different temperatures but it's a data point none the less.

Now I need to figure out how I want to heat the tank from 72 to 78 for the fish/rays.

 

[nzafi]

I just used two 300w ebo jager heaters on my 535g. Between the reeflo pump and acrylic tank fully covered, the tank was able to easily stay at 77 degrees even in the winter with a cold water drip and room temperature around 68-69 degrees.

 

[Potato Patatto]

FISH NOW

 

[Humphreys91]

Cracking build so far look forward to more updates

 

[DThompson]

Sorry it's been almost a month since my last post. Had to do a bathroom remodel to keep the wife happy so that took a couple weeks of time that I was unable to work on the fish tank.

Tank has been completely cycled for 2 weeks and I moved all the Geo's (7) and Silver Dollars (4) over to the big tank a week ago. They look tiny in the new tank but luckily they are able to find the pellet food when it sinks to the bottom. Here's a couple pictures of them in the tank. I need to get some curtains on the windows to get rid of the glare in all my pictures.

Last week I secured the front façade and installed the doors. I might need to get 1 more door hinge per door because they are a little heavy for only 2 hinges per door and sage some but it's not very noticeable. Also need to put one final coat of paint on the front, you can see where I filled all the nail holes. Once all the painting is done I'll put some tall trim around the top and sides to clean up all corners and hide the exposed wood at the bottom of the tank.


I also started insulating the stand with 2" thick sound dampening foam which keeps the stand/sump super warm and it seems like my heater doesn't have to turn on very often to keep the tank at 79 degrees F which is nice. Once I get the apex system moved over to this tank, I'll work on my cable management.

I used rare earth magnets to hold the MDF board to the steel stand around the back side. This is very helpful for when I need to work on something under the backside of the stand. The panels come off very easily.