jpsika08
New member
When younger I had my share of freshwater tanks and loved every bit of the hobby, though, always dreaming of owning a saltwater tank someday; puberty came in and had to deal with girlfriends, partying and all sort of distracting things that took me away from the fish world for quite some time.
Time passed, I got married, produced kids and finally established; this is when the little saltwater bug began appearing again, so six months ago I bought a black shiny Red Sea Max 250 saltwater tank (64 gallons total system), great plug-n-play, but after changing lights, replaced skimmer, add powerheads, put in a chiller and all sort of add-ons, the plug n play was no more.
So, recently I sold my RSM250 and decided to take the leap into a larger tank (at least large comparable to the RSM250). So, before I began planning equipment and all the systems requirements I decided to sketch it up in 3DSMax and step-by-step the project began taking shape, also I had my share of reading through all the wonderful and incredible projects here at RC and took many ideas from them (BTW Thank you
).
So, after that long story, I will begin by showing you the complete project, first, in render mode and then, the real project as it goes.
First off the Tank statistics:
Dimensions:
Made out of: Glass
Thickness: 1/2"
DT: 72" x 34" x 26" (275g)
Sump: 48"x10"x18" (40 gal)
Fuge: 48"x16"x18" (60g)
Total system: 375 gallons
Plumbing and overflow and water connectivity:
- Internal coast to coast overflow system.
- BeanAnimal siphon system
- Hayward Bulkheads
- All plumbing has 1.5" tubing.
Rock and Sand:
205 Pounds of Marco Rocks
200 Aragonite sand
Lightning:
3x LumenMax Elite Reflectors with Hamilton M80 HQI Metal Halide Ballasts and Radium 20k Bulbs
2x VHO 72" Retrofit kit with IceCap 660 Ballast.
2x Neptune Systems Lunar Sim (3LED/each) Total 6 LEDS with real moon cycles.
Skimmer:
Super Reef Octopus XP-5000 External Skimmer
Pumps:
1x Reeflo Dart Gold for Return
1x PanWorld 100PX-X for Skimmer and Fuge feed.
1x Vortech MP60w Powerheads (When released)
Controller / Monitor:
Neptune systems APEX controller
RO/DI unit:
Vertex Puratek 100GPD RO/DI system w/booster pump.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cabinet:
All cabinet was made out of cypress wood.
Most of the cabinet's wood planks dimensions are 4x2 inches.
Because I live within an earthquake area, to hold the cabinet together I used screws instead of nails.
Once finished it was completely painted with G77 Epoxy for water protection and then painted white for visual purposes.
Render Mode:
1. Lower part of the cabinet 2x2 and 4x2 planks used:
2. Support columns are 4x2:
3. Upper part of the cabinet and middle section completed:
4. Added lateral sections to hold skimmer and electronics:
5. Completed floor for the whole cabinet as well as right compairtment with wall dividing from rest so electronics can be kept safely without salt or water damage:
6. Finished cabinet with lateral sections, the green glasses on each side are sandblasted for visual purposes, also, these will be removable for skimmer maintenance:
7. Lots of access for easy maintenance:
Time passed, I got married, produced kids and finally established; this is when the little saltwater bug began appearing again, so six months ago I bought a black shiny Red Sea Max 250 saltwater tank (64 gallons total system), great plug-n-play, but after changing lights, replaced skimmer, add powerheads, put in a chiller and all sort of add-ons, the plug n play was no more.
So, recently I sold my RSM250 and decided to take the leap into a larger tank (at least large comparable to the RSM250). So, before I began planning equipment and all the systems requirements I decided to sketch it up in 3DSMax and step-by-step the project began taking shape, also I had my share of reading through all the wonderful and incredible projects here at RC and took many ideas from them (BTW Thank you
).So, after that long story, I will begin by showing you the complete project, first, in render mode and then, the real project as it goes.
First off the Tank statistics:
Dimensions:
Made out of: Glass
Thickness: 1/2"
DT: 72" x 34" x 26" (275g)
Sump: 48"x10"x18" (40 gal)
Fuge: 48"x16"x18" (60g)
Total system: 375 gallons
Plumbing and overflow and water connectivity:
- Internal coast to coast overflow system.
- BeanAnimal siphon system
- Hayward Bulkheads
- All plumbing has 1.5" tubing.
Rock and Sand:
205 Pounds of Marco Rocks
200 Aragonite sand
Lightning:
3x LumenMax Elite Reflectors with Hamilton M80 HQI Metal Halide Ballasts and Radium 20k Bulbs
2x VHO 72" Retrofit kit with IceCap 660 Ballast.
2x Neptune Systems Lunar Sim (3LED/each) Total 6 LEDS with real moon cycles.
Skimmer:
Super Reef Octopus XP-5000 External Skimmer
Pumps:
1x Reeflo Dart Gold for Return
1x PanWorld 100PX-X for Skimmer and Fuge feed.
1x Vortech MP60w Powerheads (When released)
Controller / Monitor:
Neptune systems APEX controller
RO/DI unit:
Vertex Puratek 100GPD RO/DI system w/booster pump.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cabinet:
All cabinet was made out of cypress wood.
Most of the cabinet's wood planks dimensions are 4x2 inches.
Because I live within an earthquake area, to hold the cabinet together I used screws instead of nails.
Once finished it was completely painted with G77 Epoxy for water protection and then painted white for visual purposes.
Render Mode:
1. Lower part of the cabinet 2x2 and 4x2 planks used:
2. Support columns are 4x2:
3. Upper part of the cabinet and middle section completed:
4. Added lateral sections to hold skimmer and electronics:
5. Completed floor for the whole cabinet as well as right compairtment with wall dividing from rest so electronics can be kept safely without salt or water damage:
6. Finished cabinet with lateral sections, the green glasses on each side are sandblasted for visual purposes, also, these will be removable for skimmer maintenance:
7. Lots of access for easy maintenance:
)
