Custom Cabinet for 90g Reef (Build Thread)

[Suzukibusa06]

Excellent Build Red I will be using this as my model when I build my 300gallon fowler

[nanoguy]

It is absolutely gorgeous!!! You should be very proud of yourself. Beutiful build.......I'm jealous .

[RedEDGE2k1]

I am curious if your electricity in these switches and GFIs continues past the first switch/GFI that is supplied electricity, if the first one trips? I'm assuming you must have tied each GFI into the main power wire coming in, is this right? or did you tie into each one down the line, if so, is your power cut off to GFI devices further down the line?

I wired the GFIs in parallel, not in series, so that if one trips the others do not trip. That's why I used four GFI outlets, I didn't want one tripping in the future and shutting down everything in my tank. The way I have it, if one trips, at the most only two devices will stop running.

Good eye

Take care,
Dustin

[RedEDGE2k1]

We added a 3" Regal Blue Tang and a 2" Flame Angel yesterday. Hopefully the flame will leave my corals alone in the future; as it's one of the most attractive fish I've seen. I think my next addition will be a small yellow tang. I know those are probably the most common fish to see in a reef tank, but it's still one of my favorites. You can count on them to stay out in the open and not spend all their time hiding behind rocks.

[Hopeful Reefer]

I have a flame in my 75g...I agree, one beautiful fish...mine goes around grazing on the algae on the rocks all day...have yet to see him nip at any of the corals...

[lakee911]

Originally posted by MeuserReef
Red -

Im not trying to spar with you but....

Realistic would be to put a 20A breaker on a circuit that "will require only 13 amps of current".

My original concern was that the receptacles that you choose to put in to the house wall were probably not rated to 30A. Code would require them to be if they're they only yoke device on the entire circuit.

The other comments about the smaller sized wire are definately a concern as well.

I'd fix it and do it right, if I were you. Even so for peace of mind. Accidents do happen. One day maybe you'll get a chiller or something and forget that you have undersized wiring.

You essentially have a marine envirnment there. The increased resistance due to corrosion could cause a fire with undersized wiring/devices or oversized breakers--however you want to look at it.

As the comment indicated, your insurance company would probably not pay out if the fault was your wiring that wasn't up to code and done without permit.

I'm going to drop it at this point though.

Jason

[RedEDGE2k1]

Thanks.

[ccampo]

Inspiring job, great design.
I joined back in Sept. and I've been following this thread since then, I can't wait to see more pictures. I've learned a lot from this and other RC threads and now I'm planning to build a canopy with lights and your ideas will help me a lot.
Keep your enthusiasm and good work and don't forget new pictures, the tank should be almost ready by now.
good luck,
Cesar

[jjakes24]

Originally posted by RedEDGE2k1
I wired the GFIs in parallel, not in series, so that if one trips the others do not trip. That's why I used four GFI outlets, I didn't want one tripping in the future and shutting down everything in my tank. The way I have it, if one trips, at the most only two devices will stop running.

Good eye

Take care,
Dustin

There is no such thing as wiring an outlet in series, if you tried to do that, you would have voltage drops on the circuit. Anyway, GFCI's will protect all other outlets downstream from themselves. So, If you have 4 GFCI outlets and the first one trips, your other three stop working as well. To do what you wanted, you needed separate circuits.

[Hopeful Reefer]

Originally posted by jjakes24
There is no such thing as wiring an outlet in series, if you tried to do that, you would have voltage drops on the circuit. Anyway, GFCI's will protect all other outlets downstream from themselves. So, If you have 4 GFCI outlets and the first one trips, your other three stop working as well. To do what you wanted, you needed separate circuits.

He has that...1 power wire, split off to 4 seperate GFCI outlets with 1 outlet downstream from each of those...that way if 1 of the GFCI's trips, it will only affect that part of the system and not the rest of the system...

[RedEDGE2k1]

Originally posted by jjakes24
So, If you have 4 GFCI outlets and the first one trips, your other three stop working as well. To do what you wanted, you needed separate circuits.

No, they won't, not the way I have them wired. Nothing is "downstream" from the GFI outlets. Go back and read my posts from the panel build.



If one of the GFI outlets inside the cabinet trips, the remaining three stay on. All four outlets are wired, in parallel, to a power cord which is in turn plugged into a standard wall outlet. The DC8 is not plugged into the in-cabinet GFI outlets; it is plugged into a GFI outlet on the wall behind the cabinet.

[mlrtime99]

Originally posted by jjakes24
There is no such thing as wiring an outlet in series

And there definitely is, this is exacly how you retro wire a seperate dimming control on a fan lighting circuit.

[RedEDGE2k1]

Not to mention wiring standard outlets "downstream" from a GFI outlet, as he refers to, causing all outlets to lose power when the GFI trips.

[mlrtime99]

Which would kind of go against the point of having the breaker local to the plug BUTTTT anyways the stand is looking great. I completely and unshamefully copied your plans, learned google sketch to adjust for my tank and am now waiting on doors. Will post since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

[RedEDGE2k1]

Originally posted by mlrtime99
Which would kind of go against the point of having the breaker local to the plug

What do you mean? My four GFI outlets in the cabinet are wired in parallel and plugged into a standard, non-GFI wall outlet. The DC8 is plugged into a GFI wall outlet, since it is not plugged into the "power panel" built into the tank (where the four GFIs are).

Originally posted by mlrtime99
I completely and unshamefully copied your plans, learned google sketch to adjust for my tank and am now waiting on doors. Will post since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Awesome! Glad I could help. I had fun drawing the cabinet in SketchUp, I love that program. I can't imagine how much $$$ it saved me drawing it 100% before ever buying/cutting a single piece of plywood.

But remember...if you're going to paint it, BUY BIRCH PLYWOOD NOT OAK!

And of course, I demand a build thread of your own! It'd be fun to follow along with pictures.

[RedEDGE2k1]

WOW....I finally plumbed my 18w "Turbo-Twist" UV sterilizer to my sump last night....and again, WOW...the difference in water clarity this morning was amazing. My girlfriend even noticed a difference last night, after it had only been running for 2 or 3 hours. And that wasn't just wishful thinking, she wasn't even home when I was hooking it up, nor does she have a clue what the crap a UV sterilizer is/does.

To anyone looking at UV systems, I can highly recommend them!

[samtheman]

That's great advice with only a few hours experience. A UV light doesn't clean your water.

[RedEDGE2k1]

Originally posted by samtheman
That's great advice with only a few hours experience. A UV light doesn't clean your water.

Do your research before commenting.

UV sterilizers kill bacteria, free-swimming parasites, help control algae blooms, and eliminate green water. Overall water clarity is greatly improved. If you ignore those aspects of "clean" water, then you are right, UV doesn't clean your water.

[opiumpipez]

hmm some people just love to hate.

great thread. beautiful setup.

[James11]

All I can say is I hate you , beautiful build. The stand came out awesome, wish I had the money to do that. Congrats on the sweet new setup.

[glitzyone]

WOW! Wish I had that cabinet. Looks awesome.

[RedEDGE2k1]

Coralife 18w "Turbo-Twist" UV sterilizer plumbed to the sump with a MJ1200 feed pump.



I picked up an additional 30lbs of Caribbean live rock from my LFS, two large pieces (12 and 18lbs)



I installed a 6" clip-on fan above the tank, blowing down onto the water to keep the temp down.



I didn't spend a great deal of time aquascaping, as I know I'll be adding more rock slowly over the next couple of weeks. I'll wait until the tank is full of rock to do the final 'scaping.



Cabinet with access door open:



Cabinet as of 12/5/07:

[cannarella]

Dude, that looks awesome. Well done.

[Schwe]

Your tank is an inspiration. I've been tagging along to this thread and watching your progress with baited breath. Congrats on the completion of the build and the start of the fun stuff.

[swjim]

That really does look incredible! Great job!