270 Gallon SPS tank for JBNY

[melev]

You were fortunate to be there when it happened.

[piercho]

A lot of power supplies use electrolytic capacitors which don't last many years. That may not be your cause but it is a not uncommon cause of power supply failure. The main thing is to protect your stand and/or house from catching on fire. I put a line fuse on each of my fishtank power supplies, hopefully this cuts off the load before it knocks out the whole circuit by tripping the CB at the panel. And a 3 or 4 amp fuse will pop long before the 15 or 20 amp CB lifts. There are also arch-detecting CB comming available, but I have not researched or used these myself.

Scary story: a reef keeping coworker had an old 55G he was lighting with VHO. While the family was away, the ballast in the stand caught fire and the stand caught fire. The fire spread from the stand to the house and would have taken the whole house except that the fire cracked the tank and the spilling water put the fire out. He came home with his wife and promptly discovered the damage due to the soaked floor and smoke-blackened wall. To show you how resiliant this guy is, he promptly sent the wife out to buy a replacement tank to try and save some critters while he cleaned up the mess.

So Marc is right, you may have gotten very lucky.

[SunnyX]

Dont know if this will help but my tank is also 36" wide and this is how I have mine lighting setup:

[JB NY]

Marc, yeah I think I did get lucky.

Originally posted by piercho
I put a line fuse on each of my fishtank power supplies, hopefully this cuts off the load before it knocks out the whole circuit by tripping the CB at the panel. And a 3 or 4 amp fuse will pop long before the 15 or 20 amp CB lifts.

Thanks for the info Howard. But I'm not sure how to do what you are describing above. Could you clarify for me?

SunnyX Thanks for that picture, do you have one showing how you have everything mounted?

[piercho]

Square D® Arc-fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI)
The Truth About AFCIs I should point out these do not serve the same purpose as GFCIs, which are intended to keep you from doing the 60HZ shuffle. AFCIs are designed to detect arcing and open the circuit before a fire can start.
An inline fuse inside the ballast enclosure. The little black item with the red wire going into it is an in-line fuse housing. It would open the hot 120V circuit lead if the ballast starts pulling more current than it should. You can get the housing and fuse from radio shack. BTW, the tape you see is not on twisted wire, its over an insulated wire nut. I add the tape in boxes that vibrate, like magnetic ballasts or cieling fans.
Switch and Fuse. One has the fuse cover closed, one open. You can get these at Lowes. They mount in a standard handy box, and come prewired. I've also installed these right on the ballast enclosure. The fuse just screws out for replacement.

[bleedingthought]

Originally posted by piercho
Square D® Arc-fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI)
The Truth About AFCIs I should point out these do not serve the same purpose as GFCIs, which are intended to keep you from doing the 60HZ shuffle. AFCIs are designed to detect arcing and open the circuit before a fire can start.
An inline fuse inside the ballast enclosure. The little black item with the red wire going into it is an in-line fuse housing. It would open the hot 120V circuit lead if the ballast starts pulling more current than it should. You can get the housing and fuse from radio shack. BTW, the tape you see is not on twisted wire, its over an insulated wire nut. I add the tape in boxes that vibrate, like magnetic ballasts or cieling fans.
Switch and Fuse. One has the fuse cover closed, one open. You can get these at Lowes. They mount in a standard handy box, and come prewired. I've also installed these right on the ballast enclosure. The fuse just screws out for replacement.

Where do you get ballast enclosures?

[piercho]

I've never bought a metal case specifically called a ballast enclosure. I just look for metal boxes of about the right size. I've gotten them from hobby electronic stores, from Lowes in the electrical section, and from the scrap metal bin at work.

[bag151]

Joe- Noticed your big into automation so why not add linear actuators to raise your hood? This way you can get underneath your lighting to get in the tank without having to adjust or reconfigure your lighting. Bleadingthought it would work to make your hood move vertically as your looking for and there isn't really weight restrictions.

-Brett

[fishdoc11]

Would a GFCI not have turned off the power to the ballast? I know you have had problems with them tripping before and don't like them Joe......maybe that ballast was somehow linked? It's my understanding that if all electrical equipment is working a GFCI should not trip on it's own. I have used them for years on my tanks and not had any problems. Better to have the tank shut off than to burn the house down or get electrocuted
just a thought, Chris

[braid11]

Joe, great thread to learn from. Scary to hear the lights could short like that.

Sorry to interrupt, but could you help me understand your system flow. I understand the main display tank overflows to the refugium, then to the raceway frag tank, then to the sump/skimmer before return to display.

I read that Anthony Calfo checked out your system. Doesn’t he suggest the refugium should be fed water after the skimmer, for return to display? I guess if the purpose of the fuge is for nutrient export, it doesn’t matter. But if you’re also producing copepods, or other critters for feeding the display, wouldn’t the skimmer remove a lot of that?

I’m in the last stages of planning my system, and yours is a huge inspiration. Just trying to figure out the details.

Tom

[Mikigo]

How would you mount the hood to the actuator. Got pics?

[bag151]

I haven't built the hood yet because my tank won't be delivered for 6-8 weeks, but I will post a 3d model tomorrow.

[JB NY]

Originally posted by bag151
Joe- Noticed your big into automation so why not add linear actuators to raise your hood? This way you can get underneath your lighting to get in the tank without having to adjust or reconfigure your lighting. Bleadingthought it would work to make your hood move vertically as your looking for and there isn't really weight restrictions.

-Brett

I looked into them, after you posted this. I'm not really sure how they work though. But I am interested. Are they expensive?

[JB NY]

Originally posted by fishdoc11
Would a GFCI not have turned off the power to the ballast? I know you have had problems with them tripping before and don't like them Joe......maybe that ballast was somehow linked? It's my understanding that if all electrical equipment is working a GFCI should not trip on it's own. I have used them for years on my tanks and not had any problems. Better to have the tank shut off than to burn the house down or get electrocuted
just a thought, Chris

I have the lights on a GFCI, it didn't trip at all. Icecap fixed my ballast and I had it back on Friday. They said a high voltage cap blew and leaked oil into the main board, which what the smoke was from. They were not sure why it happened. but ruled out my wiring as the culprit.

I don't use GFCI for anything that has my main pumps now. For the reef lighting I still use it.

Originally posted by braid11
Joe, great thread to learn from. Scary to hear the lights could short like that.

Sorry to interrupt, but could you help me understand your system flow. I understand the main display tank overflows to the refugium, then to the raceway frag tank, then to the sump/skimmer before return to display.

I read that Anthony Calfo checked out your system. Doesn’t he suggest the refugium should be fed water after the skimmer, for return to display? I guess if the purpose of the fuge is for nutrient export, it doesn’t matter. But if you’re also producing copepods, or other critters for feeding the display, wouldn’t the skimmer remove a lot of that?

I’m in the last stages of planning my system, and yours is a huge inspiration. Just trying to figure out the details.

Tom

Tom, how you described my tank set up is correct.

Anthony has been to my house many times. When he first saw the system he felt the skimmer would be best put right after the main tank or after the refugium. After seeing it for a few years, we both agreed I probably would not get any better results by moving things around. I think if you set it up the way he suggested it, it is fine, but the way I have it works for me and I still get lots of pods and stuff from the refugium in the main tank.

[JB NY]

So I got the canopy done, well the outside anyway. My week was crazy busy so I wasn’t able to get much done with the lights. I did swap out the XM10K for some helios 20K that I had lying around just to see what it looks like.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the tank stand and cap finally done.







Close-up of the oak stained inlay.

[tanya72806]

I have a acuator in my canopy never use it because I messed up when i made my canopy running the return line through the back of the canopy. I paid like $350 for it w. the remote control and guide rails

[hawaiianwargod]

Joe,

I love the whole setup. The room look's amazing! Great design...love the modern look! Seem's like a picture taken from interior design magazine! Man, you're in the wrong profession....j/k..lol!

[ReefArtist]

JB NY - Love the look and great woodworking skills. My build is headed in the same design direction - slowly.

My IC660 last week had the same problem - white smoke and all. I was also lucky to be home at the time and no my GFCI didn't trip. I had VHO's on them - very strange that it happened, all my wires were in great shape as it had only been on for just over a year.

[fishdoc11]

Wow! Looks great Joe

[ycnibrc]

wow so nice and clean Joe.

I don't how you will not make a mess when you add corals in the tank. Probably a lot of towels on the floor.

[bag151]

The Actuators essentially work as a electric jack, there is a drive motor that spins as track either internally or externally to extend the actuator. In your case you could mount two guide rails to the wall behind your canopy and then mount a single actuator in the middle of the front to lift the canopy or one on each side of the front. They run $89 a actuator, $18 for the control unit and $39 for a guide rail. They can also be untilized to move your lighting from one side of the tank to the other to so that you are not saturating your corals with light from a fixed point but multiple points.

[melev]

Joe, it looks awesome. It reminds me of European furniture, a look I really like. You and your wife have done a great job decorating the entire room. That painting on the left is really interesting.

Oh yeah, the canopy is nice too.

[bag151]

here is a quick diagram of how I am going to utilize the Linear Actuators for my hood. The frame is MK Aluminium Profile and will be skinned in Cherry. There are 4 mini actuators missing from the sketch that will be used to open the doors on the hood.

[JB NY]

Originally posted by fishdoc11
Wow! Looks great Joe

Originally posted by ReefArtist
JB NY - Love the look and great woodworking skills. My build is headed in the same design direction - slowly.

Originally posted by hawaiianwargod
Joe,

I love the whole setup. The room look's amazing! Great design...love the modern look! Seem's like a picture taken from interior design magazine! Man, you're in the wrong profession....j/k..lol!

Originally posted by melev
Joe, it looks awesome. It reminds me of European furniture, a look I really like. You and your wife have done a great job decorating the entire room. That painting on the left is really interesting.

Oh yeah, the canopy is nice too.

Thanks a lot guys! Yeah I was really trying to get it to really fit in with the rest of the room which already has that "European" contemporary look. Almost all of our furniture is from over there so it was a bit of a challenge to come up with something that looks well and fits in. It was tough to make a lot of it, but it was a really good project to learn how to make a real furniture. Now my wife wants me to make a vanity for the master bathroom!

Marc. The painting is by an Iranian artist called Sabzi, he really does some beautiful work. We have a few other pieces of his as well.

[JB NY]

Originally posted by ycnibrc
I don't how you will not make a mess when you add corals in the tank. Probably a lot of towels on the floor.

The old tank was on the hardwood floors as well. I put down a few towels on the floor if I need to put anything in or take anything out that is big. Everyday stuff is no real problem.