325 gal set up on a budget!!

[duhfactor]

Greetings!
I have been reading threads for over a year now, and believe it or not, haven't included myself in any of the discussion..primarily because of the sheer volume of information available on these forums.

I do need some personalized advise however. I have enjoyed a 75 gal reef set up for 2 years, and stumbled upon a great deal.
I have purchased what apears to be a 325 gal acrylic tank with all of the live rock, sand, fish, minnimal coral, filtration equipment, pumps, etc......all for 800.00!!!!!! It even came with an R/O unit. (already had one, but what the heck...)

Unfortunately, the individual wanted it out of his building asap, so I had to scramble to tear it down. In addition, I had just sold my home, and two weeks previous had moved my 75 gal tank over to my brother in laws, and it's full......so I had no real place to put the contents of the 325...... here's some pics.

I am in the process of building a new home, and have designed a separate room in the basement for equipment, and have a perfect spot upstairs for the tank. (I'm thinking of ripping off some of HOP's ideas...only he doesn't know it yet.....)

Does anyone recognize the manufacturer of this tank? It is 72" x32"x38" tall, has approx. 1" thick acrylic, and a central overflow with dual 1.5" bulkheads for drainage, and dual 1" return line bulkheads. I have built most of my equipment in the past, and will do so with this project, as well as my home, so progress may be slow. I'll post some pics of the tank now unloaded so it's easier to see, I have a ton of questions and will ask them soon.

Thanks,

Damon

 

[TCU Reefer]

$800 bucks? I'd say you got a deal.

 

[duhfactor]

TCU Reefer,
I'll list all the stuff I aquired with this system in the next day or two...you won't believe it. The guy who I purchased it from bought a building with this tank in it, and didn't know what to do with it.. He had a servicing company care for it. He is the brother of a guy my brother in law flies with as a pilot...Word got around that he didn't want it, and my brother in law called me......He wanted 1000.00 bucks for it, can you belive I had the guts to talk him down another 200.00 bucks!!! That was even before he threw in the RO/DI system......

Damon

 

[Hop]

Looks like a score! Congrats!

I'll be looking forward to the rebuild and I think Hop knows now And thanks I hope my little thread has been of some help... It was a huge learning experience for me and I'm still learning:thumbsup:

 

[Hop]

Oh yeah and even though you've been here around a year, it looks like you just started posting today...

SO...
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

or at least welcome to posting on RC

 

[duhfactor]

Thanks HOP!
You have no idea how helpful your thread has been...I have so many questions for you.......I didn't want to derail your thread...so I patiently just watched and read.......What a great journey your project has been. I have a very similar situation in terms of the equipment room being in the basement, and I'm a little worried about how far the water has to travel to get back upstairs. I'm pouring concrete tomorrow after work, so won't be able to post pics of the equipment room until tuesday. How far in total does your water go from your return pump to the top of your tank?

Thanks,

D

 

[Hop]

Wow thanks. Don't worry about derailing it I've been neglecting to post for a while... Waiting for something to actually change, right now the coraline is just starting to take off and the few corals I have seem to be growing..

Anyway back to your project... Sounds like yours is more work In regards to your question, the total height is about 9 feet and the total pipe run I'm guessing is about 21'. I doubt you will have any of the troubles I expected as I had to go down and then back up 2', which called for a plumber friend to help with planning, venting and stuff. All and all it works so I can't complain. There are better, smarter people here to help, but if you need anything fire off a PM or I just subscribed to this thread...

 

[duhfactor]

HOP,
I'm going to measure the exact lateral run distance today, and do the best I can to measure the vertical height. I suppose it always can be done, just a matter of how big of pump I'm willing to run. I will post some pics of the sub rough plumming for the equipment room, showing the drains. I need to figure out a way to post a picture of the general layout of the house, as I'm planning a refugium placed above the tank in a closet behind the tank. It will then be gravity fed into the tank.....I'll post pictures hopefully soon.

Thanks,

D

 

[duhfactor]

The project has began with the house, this first pic shows the footings, and the second shows the picture of the sub-rough plumming for the fish tank equipment room. The drain in the floor will be for crisis management :eek1: and the drain up the wall will be for a sink for cleaning equipment, etc. :thumbsup:

This picture shows a bigger view of the fish tank equipment room, which is to the side of the location the fish tank will be, only the fish tank will be up on the main floor. The second pic is of the same room, but with the floor poured. The grey circle on the floor is the floor drain covered in duct tape.

It's cold as heck in Utah right now.....check out the ice....Framers are supposed to start either this friday, or the latest next week. I can't wait!!!

 

[duhfactor]

The following picture is the main floor where the tank will be in the great room just on the other side of the closets. The Architect drew in several GFCI outlets. I plan on running at least (1) 20 amp circuit underneath the tank. Most of the electrical needs will be in the equipment room below.

Here is a close up of where the tank will be. I plan on a gravity feed refugium located in the upper closet labeled "Linen". It will be built up on a shelf. Notice the outlets on the plan for up there. People have asked me why I would ever want so many outlets in the closets????
I'm hoping to put a 4ft tank up there somehow as I already have PC lights set up for that size.
I prefer to pump water up to the refugium and let the critters gravity slide down into the main display tank..I've always wondered how many get chopped up in the pump when the refugium is placed under the tank...Any thoughts?

And finally, a pic of the equipment room under the main floor. I hope that the distance to pump water isn't unreasonable, because I really would like to have the space to work, etc. etc.

I'm still not sure which pump systems to use. I know that with the current overflows available on the tank, I should be able to flow around 2500 gph to the sump, and the rest I would like to set up on closed loops. Any thoughts on how much flow above that would be recommended? :hmm5:

I searched the forums for acrylic drilling info, but didn't find much. Anybody know if it's possible to safely drill larger holes for 2" bulkheads into an existing acrylic tank that's 1" thick? :hmm1:

Thanks for any help,

D

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

nice,good luck.

 

[CTS]

Wow what a house, that thing is massive. This is one thread that I will be following. Good Luck!!!

 

[corb66]

looks like you might have a nice view.

How many dedicated circuits are you going with?

 

[duhfactor]

CTS,
The picture makes it look bigger than it is........It's a rambler design, about 2600 sq. feet. It's funny, I asked the architect to make it 1800 sq. feet, but by the time I picked up the plans, it had grown to 2600.........then I could'nt live without the room, so thus it is. Oh well.

I can't wait, this coming week the framing should start, and thus the fish equipment room should be done.

Thanks,

D

 

[duhfactor]

Corb66,
I plan on (1) 20 amp circuit under the tank, perhaps (2). I'll have at least (2) 20 amp circuits in the closet overhead for the refugium, and I may plug the ballasts in the closet outlets for the metal halides and PC's. Down in the equipment room, I havent fully made up my mind. I do all my own electrical circuits, and will wire the house myself (second time doing this.....crazy enough I've actually built a home before and wonder why I put myself through it again......slow learner I guess). I'm struggling right now deciding how I want to set up my sump, skimmer box, water change system, etc. etc. I will likely have (3) 20amp circuits down there. I would like to position everything close to where the equipment will be, and I haven't fully designed that yet. I've been reading good threads regarding this issue, any Ideas? I'm considering trying a different skimmer design, one with inclined or rather partially horizontal reaction chambers. Check out this thread.....

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=6158393#post6158393

There is also a very good thread on skimmer tuning, so I'm toying with just building a nilsen design. It's proven, but labor intensive, which I don't mind.... Check it out.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showt...&highlight=How to drill acrylic&pagenumber=13

Thanks!

D

 

[GP]

Damon,
You run into deals like that once in a lifetime! Congrats. And yes, the foundation of your house looks deceiving. Definitely looks more than 2600.

 

[motoxracing782]

800, nice find

 

[duhfactor]

Unfortunately the weather has been bad here the last week, no new news yet. I'm looking for a good thread on drilling acrylic tanks----that is, thick 1" material. I've searched this forum, but can't seem to find it. I'm thinking about running approx. 2500 gph through the sump, skimmers, etc., and running another 5000-6000 gph in closed loops. I've gone through the calculators on the main page which has suggested ~ 4500 gph. Does anyone have a recommendation on how much flow would be ideal for this tank? I've read many threads who have insane flow.....but none who have a similar tank size and shape as mine. Any thoughts? :twitch:

D

 

[Hop]

I think you will want to throttle back the flow through the sump to 3 to 5 X the system volume. Otherwise you are going to have some serious microbubble issues. I over estimated my return pump and the 3000 + gph are causing some bubble issues. If I could do it over, I would get a smaller return pump and add either a second closed loop or a larger pump for the closed loop that I have.

Also drilling acrylic is pretty easy. Just take your time. I used a regular hole saw from the local hardware store. I just kept a bucket of cold water close by and cooled the bit periodically and cleaned out the teeth. My overflow cover is two 3/4" pieces glued together and it took my about 10 minutes to get each of the 1.5" holes punched into the 1.5" of material.

 

[duhfactor]

HOP,
Thanks, That sounds easy enough. I think I can do that. How do you like your OM 4 way? I've read threads on Pauls forum at OM, and it seems some people have had problems with water hammer when their OM changed ports as the internal drum rotates. Have you had any trouble with this? I'm designing the closed loops now, and would like to run OM 4-ways to create side to side water flow, or front to back...... :smokin:
I would like to create a push of flow and then receed back flow simulating what appears to be the natural flow of water in shallower ocean current. I really want to hide all the plumbing, so I'm playing with concealed PVC racks like NEXDOG, and eductors or penductors. Man, too many options! :reading:

Thanks for your help!
D