Basement Remodel... Ohh & a 320+ Gallon - 96x30x26 In-Wall SPS Tank

[btb72]

tagging along so when we build my dream house my wife will have eye candy and make sure a fish room is installed

 

[Babyfaceur]

Great build. The lighting is great!!!

 

[rickcasa]

Ahh, fellow Canuck, Go Leafs!!

Parts list of heating system:
-(1) Watts Brass & Tubular 500-800 Hot Water Recirculating Pump
-(1) 110V Normally Closed Water/Air/Gas Solenoid Valave - ebay it!
-(1) 100 foot roll of 1/2" pex water suppluy line
-(?) Fittings to tie into a hot supply copper line already in the house. (Best would be furthest from the Hot Water Tank) so that you have hot water at those far fossits where you have to run them for 2 minutes to get hot water.
-(?) Fittings to tie back into the drain of your hot water tank. You will have to remove the current spiggot thats there and T into it.
-(?) Fittings to adapt to the Watts pump and solenoid valve from your supply line.
-(?) Fittings to go from copper to PEX. I used Shark Bite push lock fittings.
-Contoller to turn the solenoid valve and pump on/off at the same time within a 0.1 degree interval.
-Some way to make an efficiant coil out of the PEX. I used (3) x 1" ID x 8" long PVC pipe that I drilled 5/8" holes in 1 inch apart and pulled my PEX line through each hole, one at a time to make a coil. Wear gloves and be patient as this was the most difficult part. I have 8 loops of PEX x 18" diamater which = 38 feet.
-Pipe inslulate the whole assembly to save heat loss.
-(1 or 2) Friends where at least (1) is a pipe fitter to help you sweat some copper and lots of beer.

Cheers, PM me if you would like more details.

You can always search for Hot Water Tank Closed Loop Heat Reef and find more theads on it.

Thanks for looking

Oh hey, so we share the shame of being taken for a Belieber! lol

But I digress...you got me excited about my build again. Was just :dance: sitting back just enjoying the tank but I had planned so much more than what I've managed thus far, including this closed loop from the hot water tank for heat but found too many excuses to put things off. So thanks for the details, just what I need to get DIYing again...and I love soldering copper but this will be my first working with PEX.

Carry on with this epic build!

Yeay, Leafs won tonight!

 

[KniLLifer]

Oh hey, so we share the shame of being taken for a Belieber! lol

But I digress...you got me excited about my build again. Was just :dance: sitting back just enjoying the tank but I had planned so much more than what I've managed thus far, including this closed loop from the hot water tank for heat but found too many excuses to put things off. So thanks for the details, just what I need to get DIYing again...and I love soldering copper but this will be my first working with PEX.

Carry on with this epic build!

Yeay, Leafs won tonight!

Let me know if you need a better explanation I'll be glad to help.

 

[dotcommer]

Wow, that fish room looks so clean. Glad to hear you have fish swimming around. Now the fun begins.

 

[KniLLifer]

Wow, that fish room looks so clean. Glad to hear you have fish swimming around. Now the fun begins.

Thank you, I'm trying to keep it clean, and yes the fun has began.

I had my buddy take some pictures with his camera yesterday, still cant capture the blue from the LED,s (looks purplish) but here is the outcome:

FTS:





ORA Black Snowflake - I called them Picasso Clown in an earlier post! Sorry...





Good Fish Room Shot:


Doser:




My ORA Hawkins (shipped a frag to my buddy who took these pictures when my 120 was taken down in 2010). He grew the frag to a huge colony and I got a piece of it back yesterday. Its kind of cool that's its my original coral.



Here is mother colony from 2010 in my 120:



My old tank:



http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1555231

Thanks,

 

[dotcommer]

Thanks for the posts with updated pics. Your previous tank looked incredible. I really like the black clowns.

 

[TravelinLight]

I saved my first post for this thread. Holy Mother of Reef Tanks! I cannot wait until we buy our next house! I bought our current one without considering a massive tank. I love how much room and how neat everything is. My OCD is impressed!

 

[Blown 346]

What will your final plan be for the back and sides of the tank so you dont see the fish room?

 

[Osama]

Very nice new and gorgeous old tanl

 

[SPotter]

Looks great! I love how organized the fish room is!!!!

 

[johnpasternak]

You did an incredible job looks great
Did you put a drain in the floor any where ?

 

[KniLLifer]

What will your final plan be for the back and sides of the tank so you dont see the fish room?

Funny you ask because Im in the process of doing this.
I still have to do the left side but the back and right panel are complete!

I wanted a black background but at the same time wanted to be able to view in to the tank from the fish room. I decided to use privacy home window tint. It applies really easy and can be removed if needed.

The stuff is called: Gila 3 ft. x 6.5 ft. Black Privacy Window Film. I needed 2 rolls = $33 bucks... Done!

It looks awesome and it did an amazing job on blacking out the back. I cant see through my tank when viewing from the front but I can see in from the fish room. Of course there will be those times at night when the fish room lights are on and the tank light are off but far and few between.

 

[Blown 346]

Awesome. I went with the vinyl stuff. its nice but when i had to peel some back thats it with that stuff. thats for the description, Ill have to use that when i redo the back of my tank. My vinyl for my 90 gallon was more than $33. lol

 

[KniLLifer]

Awesome. I went with the vinyl stuff. its nice but when i had to peel some back thats it with that stuff. thats for the description, Ill have to use that when i redo the back of my tank. My vinyl for my 90 gallon was more than $33. lol

Glad u like it. This stuff is great because you can take it off and with a soapy solution and squeegee you can re apply. It's basically car tint but thicker and self clinging.

 

[KniLLifer]

You did an incredible job looks great
Did you put a drain in the floor any where ?

The Fish room shares its space with the laundry room and there is a drain right in the middle of the room. Its perfect as I use the floor drain when I do my water changes.

 

[duncangweller]

Do you ever find yourself in Canada? When I buy my next place and have a fish room I'm gonna fly you this way to build mine. Keep up the great work and I'll keep on following along.

 

[KniLLifer]

Do you ever find yourself in Canada? When I buy my next place and have a fish room I'm gonna fly you this way to build mine. Keep up the great work and I'll keep on following along.

Actually, I'm headed to Windsor this weekend with my boys to visit family for 2 days. Thanks for the nice comments.

 

[KniLLifer]

Ahhh! Conductivity Probe/ Salinity Probe Apex

Ahhh! Conductivity Probe/ Salinity Probe Apex

What a waste of money. I'm about to send this thing back to BRS. After calibrating it twice and following strict instructions I can't get it right.
Its reading way low. I spent too much time and money on this thing not to be accurate. The numbers never settle when calibrating (anyone with experience please chime in)! @#$%, the calibration could go on for days!!!
Both of my refractometers read 35PPT and this thing is no where close. I trust my handy dandy swing arm before I trust this thing.

Sorry to vent on here but for 130 bucks I would expect more than what I got. Should have spent the money on the VorTech Wireless Module. At least I could go into feed mode with one push of a button on the iPhone.

I hope BRS can take this thing back.

On a happy note the tank is doing great. I added a six line Wrasse and a Royal Gramma to the mix. Hot Water Tank Closed Loop heater is awesome and I should have thought of this when I started planning the tank.
The Michigan Lansing Swap is coming up 2/16 and I hope to come back with at least 20 nice SPS frags to add to the tank.

Again, sorry for venting about the probe. Useless; unless you don't care what the read out is and use it just to monitor changes in Salinity. Its like the local network on your TV reporting temperature in Kelvin.. It may mean something to some but not to most unless you add 273 C° and then convert to °F.

@#$%^ the conductivity probe!

 

[dave.m]

I would expect the conductivity measure to change constantly. You are looking for just a ballpark or average measure with it. The salinity should not change however. I have had pH monitors that behaved like this. I guess the odd bad one occurs. I hope you can get a refund or replacement.

Dave.M