A Reefaholic's 1000+ Gallon Mixed Reef System Build

[Dustin1300]

I got pulled off tank duty early again....wife said we had to go out for her birthday so I got concrete anchors in wall, hung light for fish room, and one of the plywood cuts made. Hopefully start heading home soon so I can at least finish the plywood!

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[david00061]

Go have fun with the wife

 

[Dustin1300]

Go have fun with the wife

Check

Had to buy the wife lots to keep her happy and allow me to keep this project going at a fast pace!:bounce1:

 

[Dustin1300]

Got most of the To Do List done today (...minus getting the plywood primed/tacked down)!

Propagation stand with plywood shelf on bottom:

Three tier stand with plywood sheets on it:

New light installed so I can better see in the basement fish room:

 

[Dustin1300]

As for the bracketing. I used four brackets (1 for tier 2/3 on the right/left sides) that tied into the stand and the concrete wall. Masonry bit got a great workout on this and the screws are each rated at 1090 lbs of holding force (8720 lbs total) so that should prevent any wracking!

Brackets on left side tied into the wall:

...and close up:

 

[Dustin1300]

No pictures to add but got the stand caulked and filled all the screw holes with wood putty to ensure rust does not leak out. While I did use triple coated deck screws I still don't want rust around my reef. They just don't quite get along!

Next on the To Do List is:

1) Get stands finished with primer/paint
2) Dig sump pit and run the ejector pump up to the sewage atop the three tier stand

 

[david00061]

The brackets were simple enough. Good idea

 

[david00061]

Dustin what was that program you use for drawing

 

[Dustin1300]

I've been using Google Sketchup. It's what I've drawn all the 3d models with and was very easy to pick up. I'm pretty quick with it now and it helps show what you are thinking so everyone has a clear idea of what you are talking about. I'm an obsessive planner too so it works well for me

Here you go. They have great tutorials on using it if you need some training:reading:

 

[Dustin1300]

I've been really busy this week but have managed to get coat of primer and paint on the plywood. Hope to wrap up the remainder of painting of stands tomorrow morning and then I'll have to get sump pit dug and plumbed so I have good drainage and seperate the SW tank from the sewage ejector pump for my sewage in basement...

To Do List:

- Dig sump pit and install pump/plumbing
- Pull trigger on buying some tanks for water storage/mixing stations (See below and feel free to comment.)

I'm wanting to have a descent amount of water ready/prepared for any unexpected disasters. I originally thought of storing a tank outside to hold a large amount of RO/DI and then minimizing the space required in basement but am worried about the winter months here in Indiana and the fact that the lines would freeze. If someone has any inventive ideas please let me know as I'm welcome to suggestions.

Right now I'm planning on ordering 3 X 55 gallon vertical tanks and 1 X 165 gallon vertical tank from Tank Depot (Link to tanks

With this configuration I'd have; 1) 165 gallon for SW @ 1.025, 2) 55 gallon for SW @ 1.009 for my QT tanks, 3) 55 gallon for RO/DI res, and 4) 55 gallon for top off water which will be lime water.

Any thoughts/suggestions on what I should do with water changing stations/reservoirs? I'd like to have my system built/planned for adding the 450 gallon DT later down the road but will just be supporting a ~350 gallon system for now with big frag tank.

 

[david00061]

You have to put them in your basement. Its to cold there

 

[Dustin1300]

You have to put them in your basement. Its to cold there

I was just considering having a pump that circulates the water and having a heater in the tank to keep it from freezing. Think I need to look around and see if it has been done It would just give me a place to have a very large RO/DI res so I could be prepared for any disasters!

 

[Dustin1300]

Any more recommendations on post # 90 above? Work/Life have been getting in way of project and I've not had much spare time to work on the project. Got to wrap up last of bathroom tomorrow and headed over to PA to check out the 3 LED fixtures since last weekend it did not happen!

 

[Dustin1300]

Made it to PA today and spoke to Jeremy B. for a while. The Vertex Illumina fixture really had a great spread on it comparing to the Radion and especially the AI SOL Blues. I'm still banging my head on whether I should go with tried and true MH and make the leap and go LEDs...

 

[david00061]

you might as well use led

 

[lilredwuck]

You can always use metal halides and buy an led unit every so often to replace the MHs so the cost isn't so high all at once. Then if they all go out at once if bought at the same time, you aren't replacing every single one at once. Just an option. As the technology gets older it gets less expensive as well.

 

[Dustin1300]

I think my frag tank is going to be my experiment for leds. I've got a mh/t5 fixture I will use on half and think I will try radion on a quarter of it. I will then buy multiples of some frags and have one on tried and true and the other on the new. Based on what growth and coloration I get I will decide on direction. I also agree that technology drops priced with time but I'm not so sure led will drop anytime soon. The demand its too high....I will let David be tester of the radions on dt first since he will have his lit next week! I have enough things to keep me busy in the interim.

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[CMM23]

Looking good

 

[Dustin1300]

...Some Progress

...Some Progress

Been a quiet past couple of weeks with the reef but got the wife's bathroom painted, tiled, and completely finished yesterday. Now that's off the list I decided this afternoon I'd start making some progress on the reef project.

Today's start to a new project is getting the sump in place so I can keep all my reef related liquids separate from my main ejector pump in the basement. I bought basin/lid, sand, concrete, mason bit, pump, backup pump, and Watchdog system with battery from Lowes today.

 

[Dustin1300]

...cont'd

...cont'd

Next, I laid out where the basin would go so I could start the CRAPPY job of drilling through concrete.

Ten holes later I fried my Dewalt Drill and it started leaking oil. Luckily drill is 3 weeks old so they said they exchange right away so I'm headed there to pick up a fresh one. Hopefully I can get 5 or so more holes drilled tonight and can finish the rest of the holes tomorrow when I make it home from work. It's a job but once I get the holes drilled and basin dug I'll be happy I went with this route!