1000 Gallon Build- Here we go- Lots of Pictures

[Macropora]

Just went through your entire thread. My dream tank and house. Everything is well planned out. Can't wait to see the 800 gallon tank and the Dream Box set in place. I use a Bubble King 300 external skimmer and the dream box you are getting is esthetically pleasing with its red and white contrast. The extra height is not needed with the bubble plate which increases contact time. Great choice.

 

[Socaltoaz]

Thank you macropora. Appreciate the kind words.

 

[danrobberg]

That Dream Box looks amazing. I am in the process of getting one myself. A much smaller one though lol. I like the red welding and I chose that also. Glad I was able to see it on yours. Awesome thread by the way.

 

[LNell]

Epic home. Epic tank. Epic build.

If I may, I'd suggest you NOT glue stuff to the central overflow. Give yourself leeway to change things over time. A better way might be to create a frame of black eggcrate (light fixture diffuser) that fits around the central overflow and attach your rocks to that. That way you can cut holes out for returns/powerheads, and modify the equipment in the future.

Dave.M

Just spitballin' here, but you could create an acrylic "sleeve" that fits around your overflow and use the epoxy CuzzA mentioned to attach rocks to it. You could have the sleeve raised a bit above your sandbed (not sure if you're going DSB or shallow) for when/if you want to lift it out. Weight would probably be an issue this way though...

 

[Davycc]

Anyone wanna buy a 100ltr starter tank :headwally:

Seriously though Great set up

 

[jaylensdad06]

definatly folliwing. nice

 

[Socaltoaz]

That Dream Box looks amazing. I am in the process of getting one myself. A much smaller one though lol. I like the red welding and I chose that also. Glad I was able to see it on yours. Awesome thread by the way.

Thanks Dan. The dreambox sure does check all the boxes for function and esthetics. I just need to get the darn thing delivered now. Lol

Just spitballin' here, but you could create an acrylic "sleeve" that fits around your overflow and use the epoxy CuzzA mentioned to attach rocks to it. You could have the sleeve raised a bit above your sandbed (not sure if you're going DSB or shallow) for when/if you want to lift it out. Weight would probably be an issue this way though...

It's a god idea. I'll have to put my head around this more. Sometimes simplicity is best and au e just stacking rocks strategically is the proper solution.

Anyone wanna buy a 100ltr starter tank :headwally:

Seriously though Great set up

Thank you Davy. My first tank was about that size.

definatly folliwing. nice

Welcome aboard and thanks for following.

 

[alfaowner]

I'm watching from London. Can't wait to see this come together. I also want to see the size of you glass cleaning magnet ;-) hahaha

 

[sowildpaul]

The skimmer is integrated into the sump which fulfills the desire to keep everything clean and clutter free. There are a thousand different sumps, 1000 different skimmers, 1000 different powerheads and it will be impossible to justify why one piece of equipment was chosen over another.

At the end of the day, the equipment that is going into the build must fulfill the following criteria:
1- Reputable manufacturer
2- Well regarded brand
3- Esthetically pleasing to the eye

So a tall skimmer would be great but the skimmer Im getting is also great and well regarded.

Ill post more photos in the future as the build progresses.

Are you aware that people buy an in-sump skimmer because they have no room for an external tall skimmer?

Oh well, if I were you, I'd get a Turboflotor 5000 Twin Protein Skimmer by Aqua Medic which is also a Germany manufacturer.

 

[kirkaz]

Are you aware that people buy an in-sump skimmer because they have no room for an external tall skimmer?

Oh well, if I were you, I'd get a Turboflotor 5000 Twin Protein Skimmer by Aqua Medic which is also a Germany manufacturer.

That is only one reason people do in sump skimmers, many people do in sump to keep as much contained as they can. If something springs a small leak and is external = problem....small leak in sump = no problem. His sump has room to do anything he wants, I for one am a fan of keeping as much contained as possible which is why I'm doing my skimmers internal.

 

[ruidos99]

ohh my god thats nice!!! ill take it all!! [emoji6]

 

[Socaltoaz]

Are you aware that people buy an in-sump skimmer because they have no room for an external tall skimmer?

Oh well, if I were you, I'd get a Turboflotor 5000 Twin Protein Skimmer by Aqua Medic which is also a Germany manufacturer.

Hi, please reread my post again that you quoted. 1000 different types of equipment out there, tall short, fat wide. I'm not going to be able to please everyone with my equipment purchases nor am I interested in doing so.

There has been some great advice on this thread that has been very informative me to but at the end of the day, sorry if my choice of skimmers does not meet your approval.

 

[nuxx]

Hi, please reread my post again that you quoted. 1000 different types of equipment out there, tall short, fat wide. I'm not going to be able to please everyone with my equipment purchases nor am I interested in doing so.

There has been some great advice on this thread that has been very informative me to but at the end of the day, sorry if my choice of skimmers does not meet your approval.

Think you made great decisions so far

 

[klipprand]

Following along for the build. Everything is looking really nice. Thank you for sharing.

 

[sowildpaul]

Hi, please reread my post again that you quoted. 1000 different types of equipment out there, tall short, fat wide. I'm not going to be able to please everyone with my equipment purchases nor am I interested in doing so.

There has been some great advice on this thread that has been very informative me to but at the end of the day, sorry if my choice of skimmers does not meet your approval.

LOL, it's your money. I just wanted to share my thought. Can't wait to see the complete set-up. It will be FOWLR, correct?

 

[timnem70]

Are you worried about humidity in the canopy causing problems with the drywall?

Pay attention my man. Fully climate controlled and vented

Back in July of 2013, I posted on this site to get some advice on a large fish tank that I wanted to put into our new upcoming home. I want to thank many of you that chimed in with great advice. Its taken a bit longer than I expected but we are well under way and I wanted to finally post progress pictures of our new home that will contain a roughly 1000 gallon salt water tank system. The original thread can be referenced here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2313593

I wanted to start this thread new with pictures that I have managed to take so far and continue to update this thread as work progresses.

I used to keep salt water tanks back in the college days and really enjoyed the hobby. Time, constant moving from apartment to apartment and obviously budget really limited what I was able to do.

Now that Im a bit older, a bit wiser and have a few more dollars in the pocket this is going to be an all out build. The budget was supposed to be reasonable but I will tell you that the budget has completely been blown between the planning, plumping equipment, and all the other ancillary costs associated with building a large tank. Im fortunate in that my wife has put no restrictions on me for this build. We are going to try to do it right and not cut corners anywhere.

In the house we have a Great Room concept where the kitchen, family room and the bar area are all one long room. The large space (about 60 feet long by 25 feet wide) is separated by changes in ceiling height between the family room and kitchen.

A large two way fireplace was supposed to separate the family room and the bar. Well, as I was reviewing the construction plans I realized that instead of a fireplace separating the family room and bar, what a great location for a large fish tank. So after consulting with the architect and builder, this is exactly what we did.

Originally I was going to run the fish room where all the filtration was going to go in a extra auxiliary room in my office. But after planning and consulting, we realized that the room was just going to be too small so we decided to move the fish room into the garage by building a 3x20 foot room at the back of the garage. My garage is almost 30 feet in length so plenty of room to take a few feet in the back for all the equipment. This fish room is depressed by 3 inches so in case of any disasters or floods, the water will not flood the house. We also have a 10 inch drain in the fish room to take away any leaking water.

The fish room will have its own climate control- aka AC unit that is dedicated just to this room to keep the water temperature constant. All the filtration and supplies will go into this room. We will also paint the walls with a marine grade varnish that is water proof and will allow me to take a hose and hose the debris off.

We will have a built in water supply and sink to do any cleaning. The room is not deep so there will be 3 sets of doors for access to the room so that myself or any service individuals can have plenty of access to the room.

Attached is the original plan where we were going to run the equipment in the office. The second image is the schematic of where the fish room will be in relation to the garage. The distance is about 75 feet so we have some big pumps that will be pumping water back and forth.

One of the big concerns was that we were going to route the filtration to another room far away from the tank location. My contractor was very nervous about running piping under the slab. God forbid a pipe breaks- then what? The worst thing that could happen is if a leak occurred under the slab which would result in a monster repair bill.

Solution- heavy gauge flexible piping. Today, new modern homes use a material called PEX- its flexible piping. We used this to run 6 continuous pipes with no seams, no joints, nothing but a solid pipe from the tank to the filtration room in the garage. The pipes have been sealed off, we laid the foundation on top after covering the pipes with gravel and sand per code.

The plumber pressure tested the pipes for a couple of weeks to make sure there were no leaks before the foundation was laid on top.

Attached are the pictures of the pipes before and after laying the foundation.

 

[timnem70]

Anyone have experience with these? Might be a good option as well to supplement flow. Low profile and it appears to move a ton of water. Couple these will be sleek and hidden in the tank.

http://www.aquacave.com/maxspect-gyre-xf-150-generator-wavemaker.html

They are the greatest thing since sliced bread. These you can put up very close to the water line in that good space without worrimg about sucking air. They have excellent flow. Look at BRS TV maxxspect review for video. This is what you want!!!

 

[Socaltoaz]

Update: I was supposed to get the tracking number for the tank today but they didn't ship it. The shipping guy was out of the office apparently. So tomorrow the tank gets loaded and on the way to Scottsdale. IVe already arranged a rigging company to receive the tank and deliver and install (put in place- not the plumbing) the tank.

Once tank is installed, cabinet guys will come and take final measurements so they can fabricate the cabinetry that will match the rest of the house. I'm hoping to give you guys a major photo update by the end of the week on the tank.

As far as the rest of the house goes, tile is proceeding nicely. Closets are almost done. Wainscot in theater is finished. Hallway wainscot starts this week. All trim work is scheduled to be complete by second week of July at the latest along with cabinets counters and paint. The only thing left after that is flooring and finishes.

My filtration set up will also arrive middle of July hopefully and I'm hoping to get the tank wet and cycling by end of July. Planning a mid to late August move in date.

 

[Jason G]

Will there be a viewing party once the tank is installed? If so put me down for one. Lol JK. Beautiful home being built and like everyone else, I can't wait to see the tank up and running.

 

[Kaidman]

Do you have any concerns that you're creating a trap for detritus etc in the plumbing where it enters the fish room in the garage? I was considering a similar setup as yours, plumbing all my filtration to the garage. I was told it was a bad idea since I was going down (crawl space), then coming back up a few feet when the plumbing got into the garage. In particular I was hoping to do a BeanAnimal overflow, but they didn't think a siphon would ever start over that long of a distance and suggested detritus will build up in the pipes at the garage.

Here's my thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2508545