A Cautionary Tale...... Tank Build

[biggles]

Sorry if i ramble but I hope my tank build thread will serve as a strong warning to all those husbands, wives or partners of ex SPS reefers NOT to make your partners clean out their forgotten and neglected garden sheds ( also applies to any closet or garage ).
Although not urged to do so by anyone i decided to clean out my shed after 5 years of not opening the door - after clearing the cobwebs with a broom i see two polystyrene boxes which when dragged into the sunlight contained such items as a 250W and a 400W HPS ballast, brand new in the box Eheim 1060, 1250 pumps and heaps of reefing 'stuff' from when i gave up SPS keeping about 10 years ago. Hmmmm i thought.... i rejoined RC that night and confirmed what i already knew - that the 10X tank volume turnover formula also applied to found reefing gear so in a pinch i had my budget ( thanks RC ). I estimated that i had $0-$600-$500 in gear so dropping the two numbers either side of the $600 left me with 10 x $600 = $6600 don't forget to carry the $600), really can't thank you enough for all these helpful calculators RC.
My case merely confirms the precedent set by my friend a few years back who was made to 'fix the tires on that rusty old trail bike and sell it' - 2 weeks later he owned a $16,000 KTM trail bike AND the rusty old one was still in the back yard......

Tank ordered: 100x61x45cm 10mm euro braced
Sump: 100x50x35cm 6mm
Will drill and baffle these myself ( 4 tubes of Bostik V2 ordered )
Pumps: Eheim 1060 return and 1250 to run carbon and phosphate media reactors
Skimmer ordered: H&S Ext A-150-F2001
Lighting: Found one 250W ballast so apply the 2X bulb to number of ballasts found formula = 2 x 250W radiums ordered. It is simple common sense that if you order 2 bulbs and have one ballast you therefore need another ballast......ordered
Supplemental lighting: i saw all the beautiful T5 SPS tanks and ordered a 36" twin 39W fixture just to see how bright they were - tested it, 'wow that's bright'. I will use it with the radiums otherwise it's a wasted purchase ( it doesn't count in the budget though because i was only buying it to evaluate T5 technology )
I found nice Lumenarc type reflectors online measuring 40cm square so........

Tank front to back = 60cm
Halide reflector = 40cm
Twin 39W T5 unit = 10cm

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that there is a 10cm gap and i need to find something to fill it, now what is also 10cm wide.... hang on that T5 unit is 10cm so i'll grab another one and bingo - how easy is this tank lighting when you just use common sense. My last 4x2x2 had 2x400W radiums over it so just in case anyone suggests - no i don't think my lighting setup is excessive...... i have no idea what T5 tubes to run but ATI look the goods - obviously i can be excused for buying more than the required 4 as i have no experience with T5. It goes without saying that excess tubes do not count in the original $7700 budget........

Will use Tunze for circulation unless MP40wES go on sale half price or i find a pair on display in the front window of a LFS....... i'm joking.... or am i .....
Educational ( budget exempt ) $200 in reef aquarium books ordered

Sorry for the large post and no pics but i'll get one of where my stand build is at tomorrow, it is very tall but needs to be to allow for the 30"x30"x16" that obviously needs to be purchased to hold up the 400W radium fixture and bulb that need to be purchased due to the presence of the 400W ballast - because we are talking two entirely different bulb wattages i think it might be best if a start another budget for the tank that will run in between the DT and the sump.

Feel free to show this thread to your partner next time they suggest you go clean out your shed etc.......

Really looking forward to getting back into SPS reefing, i actually stopped smoking to fund this venture so i might have to look into if i can claim it as a health expense.........

 

[dvanacker]

Welcome back! Must be exiting. A lot has changed in 10yrs but a lot of the principles are the same. Some equipment is significantly cheaper and better.....

Stick around and we will help you blow your coral budget out of the water too!

 

[biggles]

Thanks for the welcome dvanacker, the main changes i have seen are all positive for me living in Aus. At the time i left reef keeping the only SPS available were all wild colonies and i had to beg and plead with my LFS to actually order colonies as the survival rate was not good. Many times i had to pay for the 3-4 colonies ordered sight unseen and if any arrived dead i still paid the LFS cost price for the dead stuff as the collectors were shipping them 'at your own risk'. Now we finally have online live coral shipping businesses in Aus and aquaculture of fish and corals is becoming established. I can actually go online and pick frags and or colonies from photos rather than hope that the 'branchy acro - purple' is actually anything like that when it arrives.
Much more of the equipment that was once only available overseas is now stocked locally and at prices much lower due to the strong Aus dollar.

The DT stand i am in the process of building is 41" high to allow me enough fall in plumbing to add a second tank to the system.

I will have 2 x 32mm drains in each and run Herbie overflows - 1 1/4" because i found these tank fittings along with a new glass hole saw to match in one of my treasure boxes ( was planning a new tank when life went bad and i lost everything in a power failure ). I will be able add or to take the frag tank offline at any time with the use of inline valves - i did a sketch of the basic system i have in mind.

I am extremely lucky to be renting a house located beside the business i work for - the house is not metered separately so my usage can't and isn't monitored and i haven't had a power bill to worry about in years which is great considering the skyrocketing electricity charges in Aus. I am not the 'greenest' person around in regards to electricity conservation so power consumption will not be a factor in any way for my new tank system. I have a large reverse cycle aircon in the house so temp issues will not exist even when we hit 40C + temps i can keep the house below 27C.

 

[biggles]

Update:

40x24x18" DT and 40x20x14" sump tank picked up from the LFS. Drilled the back right corner for two 1.25" tank fittings for my Herbie overflow setup - really think more reefers would drill their own if they knew how simple it is to do as long as you use water and go slow.

Rolled the backs and one end of both tanks with 3 coats of black rust guard enamel - sticks like **** to a blanket.....

Used 1/4" glass and installed a corner overflow in the DT.

Used 1/8" black acrylic to cover and raise the overflow to operating height, i never use combs etc as they don't tend to serve any useful purpose that i have seen.

I used 1/4" glass to baffle the sump - i hate putting baffles in sumps as i usually spread silicone everywhere :facepalm: This time i glued the bottom and put a dob of silicone on the top of each end and waited until the baffle was firmly locked in place prior to siliconing the ends, was way less traumatic than my previous baffling.

Because a 20x20x10" area of the sump will be a frag tank i used more black acrylic to cover the baffles to lessen light spillage and nuisance algae in the sump.

DT and sump placed into position on the stand so i can work out where any holes need to go for wires and return plumbing.

I will wait another week for the silicon to fully cure and then fresh water test both tanks with the return running and then it will be time to get the salt water in and the cycle underway with LR - i am way to impatient to do it with a prawn - yes it is called a prawn not a bloody shrimp.........:crazy1:

I have decided on the following for in tank circulation both for the DT and the frag tank. I have only ever used powerheads so dropping a grand on wave pumps is a tad more than i am used to allocating for circulation lol..... From reading members opions here and seeing your SPS tanks i am more than convinced as to the benefits of random flow in reef tanks. :beer: Basically everyone on RC with a great SPS tank just cost me a grand.......

1 x Tunze Multicontroller USB 7096
3 x Tunze Turbelle nanostream 6095 WIDEFLOW - 528 to 2,642 US gal/h.
2 x Tunze Turbelle nanostream 6025 - will mod both just because i can......

I chose the 6095's over 6105's purely for the smaller overall size. I'm pretty confident i have the circulation well sorted but if i have missed something please let me know as i will order the Tunze gear from Germany on Friday. Why Germany, well the cheapest online Aus price was over $1500- without shipping and i can get the same with shipping for under $1000- from Germany and only need Ger-Aus plug converters which are on half the Tunze pumps supplied from Aus retailers anyway.... I always try to buy from Aus retailers but i can't throw $500 away for no good reason.
Thanks for looking and i will hopefully have water in it soon - xmas is getting in my way lol........

 

[jerpa]

Beautiful build so far. The Tunze's won't disappoint but I would reconsider the 6105's. My tank is a bit larger(48"x24"x24") and I currently have two modded 6045's, a 6055 with the 6095 shroud and a Koralia 1400. I've decided to replace the Koralia with a 6105. I debated for a long time between the 6095 and 6105. The 6105 with the wide flow shroud is slightly larger but will definitely give me the flow I need as my small frags hopefully get larger. In your situation I would get two 6105's and reduce the number of powerheads. I think 4 points of flow would be plenty and you may be able to get away without the second 6025 as well. Although the two would be larger I feel less powerheads overall will still have less of a visual impact. Less cords to hide and such. With the black backgrounds the tunze wont show up much anyway. The ability to direct them 360 degrees can give you some flexibility as to where to mount them as well.

 

[biggles]

Thanks for the feedback re the Tunze's jerpa. The plan was to use 2 x 6095's and a modded 6025 in the DT and place another 6095 in the frag tank so i can still have changing flow around the frags as well. The display is only 60 gal so nearly half your tank's size which is why i thought the 6095's would be more than adequate flow. The second 6025 would be added to the DT if i thought it was needed. On max flow the 3 streams give me over 90X my DT volume which i thought would be plenty. I intend to hide all the pumps as much as possible so the slightly larger pumps still don't appeal much for what looks to be a small increase in flow......

 

[CharlieBB]

I will really enjoy watching this develop, who built your tank mate? It looks great

 

[jerpa]

You will be fine with the 6095's. I thought you were putting three in the DT. I also misread that your tank was 48" instead of the 40" it actually is. Those tanks really are beautiful.

 

[reefSTC]

following, looks like a very promising build

 

[biggles]

I will really enjoy watching this develop, who built your tank mate? It looks great

I asked that the silicon not be finger wiped in the seams so it would be easier to cut the silicon back to nice clean edges - not only did the builder wipe it but i think he used a gorilla sized finger as it was 3/4" wide. Took me ages to cut the silicon back to a nice clean finish. I used Reeflections in Melbourne for the DT and sump Charlie as i have always had good service from Ernie. The edges are clean cut not flat polished and very good so no need to hide them behind plastic trim.

You will be fine with the 6095's. I thought you were putting three in the DT. I also misread that your tank was 48" instead of the 40" it actually is. Those tanks really are beautiful.

Thanks for the confirmation on the streams mate, appreciate your input since you're using a similar circulation setup.

following, looks like a very promising build

Thanks mate, hopefully i won't disappoint :beer:

I had another rummage in the shed and found a JG goldmine lol. I was planning on making a heap of acrylic gear such as calcium reactor, skimmer etc when everything went bad - the plastic needle valves are way way better for minute air and water adjustments. I found 20 beckett fountain heads too and have zero use for them.......

 

[biggles]

After reading a few DIY topics where reefers have been using car blue LED's as moonlights i thought hmmm i better have a crack at that. I dropped into the local Autobarn shop and went straight to the aisle marked ' How to make yourself a traffic cop target ' and found an 8 x blue LED 10" 12V hoon strip which is in a small clear weatherproof tube for $20- The light is powered by a car cig lighter plug with a very long lead.
A quick look in my retired mobile phone charger drawer yielded an old Nokia 12V power supply so snip, snip, join, join and i was ready to go.

Taped it to a piece of timber and placed it over the DT which is empty of water.

Freshwater tested the sump and put it over the 20x20x10" frag section.

The actual color is not as garish as the pics show, it's like a very subdued actinic with no purple at all - it will be great for night snooping in the DT and can sit in between the two halides. I tried it on a 6V charger and it was too dim for the DT. I will prob buy a variable voltage power supply to power it and end up spending more on my DIY than a retail aquarium moonlight :bounce1: no fun in just buying stuff though is there.........

 

[biggles]

Update:

Added water around Xmas and cycled the tank with LR. The cycle only took about 3 weeks and and i have a good algae bloom going on but since i'm not adding any food and have no fish it can only grow so much and isn't worrying my SPS - yep i added a few colonies at the 4 week stage and they are all happy campers after 2 weeks in the tank. No skimmer as yet but i will get one so i can start feeding the acros and get rid of the algae.
I did buy some test kits after a month and have had to start dosing 30ml of alk and calcium a day to keep levels stable. Mg was 1200 so i have raised that to 1350 and keep it there with dosing. Running a single 250W radium on the display until i remove the algae and a cheapo blue/white 120W LED over the frag section of the sump.
Anyway that's where i'm at and i have done the exact same thing with 2 previous SPS tanks so whilst i don't advocate this distinctly 'un-anal' approach to SPS tanks for everyone i can assure you that waiting a month rather than a year to add SPS can work - just don't stress the small things like skimmers that are ordered and never delivered etc lol.

Nitrates are 2.5 and no idea what phos is but i'm sure it's there so i threw half a cup of rowaphos in a bag in the sump a week ago - i ordered 1L of carbon and they sent me 1L of rowaphos instead for $20 - gotta love incompetent suppliers when they goof in your favor. :celeb1:

Going to the LFS this weekend and i won't buy any more SPS for such a young tank with no skimmer - i'm lying of course :smokin: