So Ive finally started getting enough of my equipment together to begin building my "dream" reef tank. I bought this "non-standard" acrylic tank in the spring and its been sitting in the garage ever since, just waiting for the overtime checks to pile up enough to start the cashflow on this bad boy. I had/have three big components coming in this week, so I figured I'd start a build thread and share the blunders... errr my experiences for others to enjoy.
So, to start, a brief description of the tank. Its a un-named 3/4" acrylic pennisula style 180 gallon tank measuring 60" x 24" x 30". The tank is drilled for a 2" and a 1 1/2" drain and a single 1" return. Below are a bunch of random pictures I took to try and get a feeling for the tank itself. Sorry its not all pretty, but Im keeping it wrapped until Im ready to get stuff wet.
The stand is quite large for the tank... the previous owner had the tank sitting at "eye level" which is apparently above 4' tall. This complicates matters for me slightly, as Im placing this tank in the same place as where I have my current 70 gallon tank - which is in the basement... complete with drop ceiling.
So, I'll need to cut down the stand a bit in order to make it work. I was able to play around with Google Sketch and mock up a decent idea of what I have to do in order to make things fit.
This also is going to create some other problems down the road, as the canopy is within an inch of the drop ceiling, so theres not a whole lot of "wiggle" room. Im not entirely concerned with cutting the stand short, as Im not really planning on much of the equipment to go underneath the stand - instead, Im going to substantially increase my water volume by using a 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank and run all the plumbing through the wall into my utility room. I already have my water mixing station setup in there, so its not much of a stretch to setup the sump in that room either. This gives me the opportunity to get the rock and water conditioning while Im still in the working stages of the project.
Filtration and Media
Vertex Omega 150 Protein Skimmer (x2 at the moment)
Avast Marine Works K1 Kalk Stirrer
Avast Marine Works Sea Bones Calcium Reactor
Avast Marine Works Deluxe Auto Top Off System
BRS Dual Media Reactor (GFO and Carbon)
Pumps
ReeFlo Snapper/Dart Hybrid 3600/2600GPH
Sicce Syncra 1.0 and 1.5 pumps for media
Lighting
250w Metal Halide pendant (x2)
175w Metal Halide pendant
Im still waiting for the Reeflo to show up from BRS later this week, but I did get my order from Avast and BRS today! Its pretty exciting to get all this cool stuff. Never had a reef controller before, Im really looking forward to playing around with this thing. Im also having some issues with the lighting choice. First off - the halides arent really pendants. The former owner had the moguls attached to a 2"x 8" and strung up above the tank. This is bad for several reasons - no glass = no UV protection from the lights, and no splash protection for the bulbs from the tank as well. Second, the canopy is only 19" tall, the moguls hang about 8" down... Im afraid it'll fry the livestock - not to mention how much heat these guys will add to the water. With the tank being in the basement, I dont have a whole lot of options for air circulation either. I think what will probably end up happening, is I'm going to start working a bit more overtime in order to save up for 3 AI Hydra 52's and use those as my lights. Ive been reading a lot about the Hydra's and I really like what Im seeing. Still... $1500... Oye.
Anyhow, as I start putting things together, I'll update this thread. I just needed to get it started first! Once I get the pump, I can start planning out the plumbing.
Awesome build! If interested check out Reef Radiance - Home Their LED units are awesome! Plus the customer service is some of the best. They're having a great sale right now! The lights are APEX controllable You at least have to check out the DM165p. This unit is insane!
I was under the impression that the reef radiance lights were manually controllable. If they have similar functionality to the AIs or Radions - that would be a much more wallet friendly option
The DM165p are APEX controllable as are a few other of their units. I only mention the DM165p because it is their newest model.
I have the LumenTek Pro180 (no longer available) and is also controllable via remote included. I've got mine set to ramp up/down every 10min Way cool!!
I am a first time LED user so my experience with them is limited. But I gotta say that so far I am very impressed. My corals are doing wonderful! All LPS/SPS. Acclimation was a breeze and I've not bleached/burned 1 coral yet-lol. And they all came from under T5HO.
If you do check em out and have any questions. Rick is always available! I thought he'd get sick of me and all my questions but he has the patients of a saint
Did some wiring tonight, installing a pair of 20Amp GCFI outlets on a new breaker in the house for the sump room. I also decided that since I wont be painting the back of the tank, I need to repaint the room that the tank is going in.
So I need to patch some drywall and then paint the room. After that, it'll be time to lay a layer of brick pavers down to raise up the stock tank a few inches. I'll drill the hole for the 2" bulkhead for the drain to the pump return. My next real issue is going to be figuring out how to work my drain from the tank itself. It was suggested to simply have the drain pipes hang over the edge of the stock tank. Or, I can drill a few more holes in the tank, and plumb the drains into bulkheads as well. I can see the advantage in either. Letting the drainpipes just hand is less work and fewer holes drilled in the tank. Using bulkheads would prevent spills from bumping the stock tank or drains and would also give the drain pipes a bit more rigidity. I'll have to look into it more this weekend.
And, I looked into the Reef Radiance LEDs, and Im speaking with Rick to see what he recommends. He initially stated that two of the DM165p's would be sufficent, but I dont think thats right on, as the 60" tank would need at least three lights in my estimation. But we'll see. I still really like the AquaIlluminations products too, but I dont think that Im going to be winning the lottery anytime soon - lol. So we'll see where this ends up. Thanks for the tip on the lights, Jaime!
More to come as I get some free time to work on it.
So, the stand that I inherited needed quite a bit of work. The stand was not braced at all, nor was it really built that well. Honestly, Im surprised it didnt collapse when the tanks weight was on it. So, this weekend I got a bit or free time and some borrowed power tools, I cobbled together a pretty sturdy stand. Here's a few pictures of the unskinned beast. Now that Ive got it home, I need to move the current tank out of the way and get the new stand into place, then I can start running the lines for the plumbing.