Bigger, better, faster - 350 gallon

[fazilosman]

:thumbsup: well, its been two years since selling my 90g and moving from Albuquerque to Houston. Guess you could say I have relapsed back onto the drug that's called reefing. I have been prowling the reef sites and online retailers. Picked the perfect spot in my house and requested price quotes from manufacturers. The lady boss has green lighted the project and so here we go again.

Before talking about my future plans, let me describe my previous experiences. My previous system consisted of a 90g allglass rr, 30g reef devil sump, iswaki return pump, VHO and 250w MH, reef octopus skimmer, ecosystem and miracle mud refugium, Knop calcium reactor, digital aquatics reef keeper, vortech mp40, home made kalk reactor and a few other items.

I love to tinker and enjoy the technical aspects of this hobby. The only problem is my results SUCKED... I was impatient and although reading volumes and understanding the content, could not stop the urge to change things like water paramters in search of perfection.

I am hoping to change that behavior this go around and using this support group as a sounding board. I will start posting pictures and plans tomorrow and looking forward to your constructive feedback.

I have read many build threads recently and in the past on RC and if i can achieve 50% of the awesome results that would be GREAT. So my fellow reefers, join, guide and steer me in this new quest.

Cheers, fazil.
:dance:

 

[Rascalson]

I'm a tankless newbie ReefCentral readaholic(1-2 hours, almost everyday), and I would say definitely take the "fast" out of the equation. Wanting to tweak towards the perfect tank is ok, doing it fast is bad.

 

[fazilosman]

I'm a tankless newbie ReefCentral readaholic(1-2 hours, almost everyday), and I would say definitely take the "fast" out of the equation. Wanting to tweak towards the perfect tank is ok, doing it fast is bad.

Amen, my play on words was a poor choice. I am committed to having my choices and decisions peer reviewed and not repeating the past. Got some prices back today and waiting for two more before deciding.

F.

 

[fazilosman]

Location

Location

Location: The tank will be used as a room divide between my formal dining room and front entry way. It will be viewable from three sides and I am strongly motivated to use starfire glass for these sides. The overflow will be on the exterior wall side and I will leave all viewable aread clear of pumps, returns and coralline algae.

The pics below show my proposed location taped out and the stand will be 40" high, see tape against the wall.

 

[fazilosman]

Tank

Tank

Tank: I am leaning towards glass construction due to my fear of scratches. The tank dimensions will be 72"L x 36"W x 32"H. This equates to about 350g of DT without factoring rock, sand and out displacement.

I have requested quotes from three custom builders. They are Acrylic and Glass Exhibits (AGE), Coast to Coast Aquariums and Deep Sea Aquatics (DSA). I would love to hear your opinions and experiences with these builders both good and bad. I am looking for the manufacturer to provide tank, powder coated metal stand, sump and drip tray. These items represent the first stage of my build and procurement.

Overflow: I am planning on using a beananimal type overflow with two 1.5" durso's and two 1" return lines. The overflow box will be approx. 19"L x 6"W. Both durso's will be active and turned down. Water levels will be regulated with adjusted with adjustable gate valves on each overflow. Both returns will empty into 100 micron socks in the first compartment of the sump.

The tank return will be via a 1.5" return which will split into two 1" lines at the overflow box. The 1.5" line will have a visual check valve that prevents back siphons. Each 1" return riser will split into two 3/4" loclines at the tank water level so that flow can be directed accurately.

 

[Adamc1303]

I think you are referring to a herbie style over flow. A Bean Animal over flow requires 3 drains.

 

[fazilosman]

overflow

overflow

Yes, you are correct. I have read a few different threads on overflows over the last month and weighing my options. I wanted to put in an emergency drain line but space would become an issue. So, Herbie style it is then...

 

[TheFishTeen]

Nice! I'll follow.

Where will the filtration be located? Under the tank?

 

[nine8taco]

Looks like a good location!

 

[fazilosman]

Thanks

Thanks

Nice! I'll follow.

Where will the filtration be located? Under the tank?

Mostly, in the stand but will have an adjacent cabinetry for storage of: top off reservoir, balling containers, calc reactor, fluidized reactor and kalk. I am going to take up most of the stand with a sump which will hold the skimmer and refugium. The only other equip in the stand would be the return pump.

 

[TheFishTeen]

Mostly, in the stand but will have an adjacent cabinetry for storage of: top off reservoir, balling containers, calc reactor, fluidized reactor and kalk. I am going to take up most of the stand with a sump which will hold the skimmer and refugium. The only other equip in the stand would be the return pump.

Sounds good!

Beautiful house by the way.

 

[laredo300c]

Wow, I am planning on doing same with almost identical dimensions, 72x36x27 dd tank. I will definately be following this. My new home is yet to be constructed, but my entry way will be designed around this exact plan.

Be careful with placement of tank, can't tell by pics if wood is hardwood or Laminate but I believe the weight of either one will not be the same as the other side on tile. I think wood or Laminate will absorb some of the weight compared to tile which won't absorb any weight. This might cause unleveling over time.

 

[fazilosman]

Wow, I am planning on doing same with almost identical dimensions, 72x36x27 dd tank. I will definately be following this. My new home is yet to be constructed, but my entry way will be designed around this exact plan.

Be careful with placement of tank, can't tell by pics if wood is hardwood or Laminate but I believe the weight of either one will not be the same as the other side on tile. I think wood or Laminate will absorb some of the weight compared to tile which won't absorb any weight. This might cause unleveling over time.

Great advice, what if any guidance on preventing or stalizing this? The dinning room side is hard wood not laminate and very solid. I was going to use some material like small carpet squares under the stand feet to prevent scuffing to the tile and wood.

 

[fazilosman]

Sounds good!

Beautiful house by the way.

Thanks Kovy. The addition of the aquarium is going to make our entry pop and I can't wait to get it going.

 

[laredo300c]

The only advice that was given to me was to install the stand first, then try to add similar weight onto stand( barbells is the only thing that comes to mind) and leave for a couple of days, if it is unleveled , then adjust accordingly. I find it hard to equal The weight of this tank once filled with water so, I will have tile on both entry and dining room.

My brother does floor installs for a living and he strongly recomends adding tile to the dining room. Trust me, he saw the pictures and loves your entry very much but too much risk in his opinion. If it Was all wood or all tile , you would be fine, but half tile/half wood, is a leveling issue. Just so you know, my brother is also a big reefer, as crazy as the rest of us here.

 

[fazilosman]

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks lerado for the advice. I will make sure that this is tested. Got some more tank quotes and wonder what y'all think:

Tank with starfire ~$5k
Tank without starfire ~$3.5k

Still waiting for two more builders for comparative prices.

 

[fazilosman]

Sump

Sump

Sump: As mentioned before I want to take up monst of the stand space with a large sump and return pump. I currently own a Reeflo Hammerhead that puts out about 5,500 gallons per hour. My plan is to use a single pump for all returns and feeds - and dont want any other pumps adding heat to the tank. That means that the Reeflo would run:

• Tank return
• Skimmer feed
• Fluidized reactor
• Calcium reactor

Given that the Reeflo may have too much flow, I plan on having a loop back into the sump for the extra flow. I will use gate valves to fine tune the exact flow to each device and returns. The sump itself is specified as follows:

• 52"L x 24"W x 24”H
• Four Bulkheads Installed:
• 1x 1 ½" external return pump bulkhead
• 2x 1 ½" tank drain bulkheads with Micron bags
• 1x 1½” return pump pressure relief
• Includes Probe holders
• Includes 2x 100 Micron Filter Bags

The layout of the sump is shown below:

The refugium will hold Miracle Mud and Chaeto which I have used previously on my 90g aslo. My chaeto growth was insane before and my fish were all happy with the Miracle Mud. I plan on using Macro Grow Lights in the sump for lighting on a reverse cycle. On the question of sandbeds, I am planning a 5" DSB in the main display aslo. That means that the DSB together with Miracle Mud, skimmer and N+P reactor should be sufficient to control nitrates. I had a HUGE outbreak of hair algea in my previous system that only got controlled with vodka/suger. I am hoping to avert this with these methods and thus seek a very low nutrient system.

 

[fazilosman]

Lighting

Lighting

Lighting: I have considered two lighting options - Radion's or AI's. Both seem very capable and I will only use LED to keep the heat down. I dont plan on adding a chiller to my system (unless absolutely needed). My previous 90g used VHO and MH which generated alot of heat.

I prefer the Radion's right now because of the additional RED channels. The AI Sol's dont have reds and I think this would be an issue to my eye. That said, I have seen the video of AI Vega and that looks VERY NICE. I will hold tight for a month or so before purchasing the lights and hopefully the AI Vega's will be out by then.

I plan on adding six Radions as follows:

• EcoTech Radion XR30W
• 6x Modules
• 8x Cree Cool White
• 8x Cree Blue
• 10x Cree Royal Blue
• 4x Cree Green
• 4x Osram Oslon Hyper Red

The mounting hardware will be via two EZTube light racks. I estimated the light rack at 60"L x 5"W and will mount it on a rail system for sliding out.

 

[fazilosman]

Flow

Flow

Flow: As mentioned before, I will be using my Reeflo Hammerhead (5,800GPH) as the return pump. I expect to get ~4,000 to 4,500 GPH factoring in head loss and overhead for supplying other devices like the fluidized reactor.

• Reeflo Hammerhead
• Primary return pump and feedfor all ancillary systems
• Skimmer
• BioPellet Reactor
• Maximum Flow Rate: 5800gph
• Inlet/Outlet: 1.5" FNPT / 1.5" FNPT
• 14.20"œL x 8.33"œW x 7.54"œH

Additional flow within the tank will be provided by two Vortech MP60's located on either side of the overflows. These will be controlled by the APEX controller using the wireless module.

 

[laredo300c]

Wow six radions, two mp60's , I think even my wallet is hurting thinking of this, but well worth it in the end. I really like your sketches. A man with a plan