Elliott's Reef: 900 DT , 400 sumps

so, first I took a lid from a Brute trash can and cut out a circle with a dremel, drilled holes the size of the lumen of 1" pvc, then cut and glued pvc over the holes, with pvc glue, as shown below:



next, I cut out the bottom fixed tray and glued the feet on as shown below, then glued the feet down to the freezer:



I used a pool timer and just bent the pointer up so it would turn the tray, and glued the timer down in the middle of the trays with silicone glue, note that the top turning tray has notches it it that accepts the timer, note I modified a plastic housing that comes with the timer for use as a holder:

 

I then drilled a hole from the freezer to the cooler to accept the pvc pipe and plumbed a 4" pvc sump at the bottom to accept the pipe. I then calculated the time it takes to move one pvc feeding unit to the next and programmed the Apex according, followed by a one minute heating period using the hair dryer shown to assure the frozen food is released. The auto feeder has worked flawlessly for about a year ;D

 

Thanks Elliot. This is madness. I like it. So am I looking at a hair-dryer in a freezer?
How does the black union in the fridge work? Tank water flows through here?
matt

 

yes, the hair dryer in the freezer runs for one minute to assure the frozen food is released, has not presented any problems working in this manner and the receptacles have not had food accumulating in them over time

the black 4" pvc fitting at the bottom of the fridge has tank water running through it in the same manner that any sump would, so if one looks into it you would see water that has risen up part way, this is located between the last sump and the return pump so that any liquid or frozen food deposited into it goes directly into the display tank

 

Amazing. Thanks for sharing

 

my pleasure, it's the reason I started this thread ;D

 

Awesome tank Elliot. Looks intimidating. Question for you: What kind of par numbers do you have with the sol's? I have a 3' tall tank with Blueline(Chinese) led fixtures. Bloke at the LFS said they would grow any coral I wanted. Now a year later, I got my hands on a par meter and the numbers are CRAP! Needless to say, I'm now in the market for new led's but am skeptical with such a tall tank. Judging by your tank, the sol's will do the trick, but am still curious of the par numbers.

Thanks mate,
Jeff

 

This is a gem of thread which I some how missed.

Following because it is an inspiring tank and system.

Stunning corals and fish.

 

Absolutely ace setup, Elliott.

Enjoy it!

 

New Video: Elliott's Reef V2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNqiW1gJjTQ