Brian's 520 gal. Plywood Build + Fish Room

[Brian Crook]

Things are starting to settle down around the house again and I've had a bit of time to play with the dry rock I have. In my previous aquariums I went with the tried and true "stacked rock" approach to aquascaping but this time around I decided I wanted to make it look a little more exotic, with some gravity-defying ledges and spires.

Over the past couple months I had been tinkering with acrylic rods to see if I could accomplish what I wanted, but just couldn't get it to be as strong as I required when it came to attaching more than two pieces together. I decided to use PVC pipe and fittings to create a skeleton for my rockwork, and then attach the rocks using zip-ties. I will also be using an epoxy/sand paste to join the pieces together for added stability, fit small decorative pieces, and adhere sand and rock bits to any exposed PVC pipe.

This will take quite a bit of time, and I really don't mind either because (for the first time ever) I am actually enjoying the aquascaping! I only wish I had taken this approach sooner with previous tanks. Here's a look at what I have done so far using about 180 lbs of dry rock. My ~200 lbs of live rock will fill in most of the remainder... though I may need to purchase a bit more dry rock.

 

[Fish'InMN]

Remember to leave vertical room for coral growth! That arrangement looks great but is much too close to the water level in my experience. Chop off the bottom six inches or more of rock on the whole thing and I think you'd be much better off for long term, large-colony coral growth.

 

[dave.m]

+1

A common mistake I see over and over with most rockwork designs here is that people are trying to use the rock to visually fill the space now that the whole reef will occupy eventually. No room is left for actual growth of the coral. Remember that within two years (barring any disaster) your little coral fingerlings are going to be six inches long. Where have you left them room to grow to the point where they actually start to look like real colonies on the reef?

I would suggest rockwork is best limited to no more than 1/3 the height of the tank, and if that's too big a knot in your rope, then maximum no higher than 1/2 the height of the tank.

IMHO

Dave.M

 

[Brian Crook]

Remember to leave vertical room for coral growth! That arrangement looks great but is much too close to the water level in my experience. Chop off the bottom six inches or more of rock on the whole thing and I think you'd be much better off for long term, large-colony coral growth.

+1
A common mistake I see over and over with most rockwork designs here is that people are trying to use the rock to visually fill the space now that the whole reef will occupy eventually. No room is left for actual growth of the coral. Remember that within two years (barring any disaster) your little coral fingerlings are going to be six inches long. Where have you left them room to grow to the point where they actually start to look like real colonies on the reef?

I would suggest rockwork is best limited to no more than 1/3 the height of the tank, and if that's too big a knot in your rope, then maximum no higher than 1/2 the height of the tank.

Good advice, thanks. It was easy to get carried away upon discovering the awesome power of PVC pipe for aquascaping. I'm going to have another look and see about making a couple adjustments. I've only ever grown a couple of SPS corals in the past and this time around I'm planning on quite a few more so space for them is important. Though taller than 1/2 tank height is definitely okay by me in certain places.

I was modelling my approach after another tank I admire:

Marc's 1k gallon system (canreef.com forum)

 

[ramasule]

Congrats!
Now you get to discover how much free time you actually had!

Sleep when you can. Wash clothes every chance you get.
If someone got your child a special outfit or something adorable and cute to wear, hurry up and put the child in it and take a picture of it. Because the child will probably outgrow the outfit in a few weeks and you will be so busy with day to day stuff that may be the only time your child gets to wear the outfit. Serious.
Most importantly, take care of your wife.
We'll be here when you get back.

This guy ^

 

[Laura.Christina]

This build is absolutely stunning Brian. As a fairly new hobbyist, this is the ultimate end game! I think every one of us wishes we could have a set up like this. I can't wait to see the finished product and continue to pick your brain to build my knowledge of the hobby. Mostly, I can't wait to see this setup in person! I'm sure the pictures don't even begin to do it justice. Thank you again for offering to show it to me. That's right, you can all be jealous... I won the lottery cause this guy lives in my community! Score!

Good luck and I'll be tuning in to see how this thing develops. I know I'm a newbie but if you ever need a hand with your tank I would LOVE to help!

 

[m0nkie]

Good advice, thanks. It was easy to get carried away upon discovering the awesome power of PVC pipe for aquascaping.

Have you tried Emarco 400? It's a type of cement, but does not need to be cured. takes an hour to completely dry and you can toss it in tank.

You can use it to connect rocks or make a base. Won't need so much rocks on the bottom for support. No PVC either. We used thin acrylic rods to build a base around the rocks, then used Emarco to cover it. The lighter rock structures we just made a cement stub. More flow under the rocks = less detritus

I'm in the process of making my own 500+ gal. got to buy all the rocks still and more Emarco. rockscaping is fun!

http://www.marcorocks.com/aquascape-supplies/e-marco-400/









here's someone else's tank, using the same material

 

[m0nkie]

I really like your sump! John is currently designing mine too

Can I ask what is the red slider for? Is it for adjusting the height of the tube holder?

 

[Brian Crook]

This build is absolutely stunning Brian. As a fairly new hobbyist, this is the ultimate end game! I think every one of us wishes we could have a set up like this. I can't wait to see the finished product and continue to pick your brain to build my knowledge of the hobby. Mostly, I can't wait to see this setup in person! I'm sure the pictures don't even begin to do it justice. Thank you again for offering to show it to me. That's right, you can all be jealous... I won the lottery cause this guy lives in my community! Score!

Good luck and I'll be tuning in to see how this thing develops. I know I'm a newbie but if you ever need a hand with your tank I would LOVE to help!

Thanks Laura! Let me know if you have any other questions, and this forum is definitely an excellent resource.

I really like your sump! John is currently designing mine too

Can I ask what is the red slider for? Is it for adjusting the height of the tube holder?

Thanks! And that cement stuff is pretty cool, not to mention the photos you shared; it looks great. I would probably be looking into it if I wasn't already done getting my rock into the tank and aquascaping (for the most part). I'll be posting an update soon I think it's just been so busy around here lately.

If you're referring to the red plastic baffle, it is adjustable so that you can control the desired water level in the main section of the tank. This is useful to accommodate the optimum water level for the protein skimmer. The probe holder is just conveniently attached there so that it is always submersed at the correct level regardless of where it's set.

 

[Brian Crook]

I did try a little bit of cement for a couple areas when I was first testing out some techniques with the dry rock I had, but I found it kept chipping off when put under pressure. This Emarco stuff looks quite a bit more robust.

 

[Theokie]

I did try a little bit of cement for a couple areas when I was first testing out some techniques with the dry rock I had, but I found it kept chipping off when put under pressure. This Emarco stuff looks quite a bit more robust.

I had trouble tracking down the Emco product up here in Canada. Contact Eli @ Fijireefrock his Fijicrete is a similar product and will cure underwater. It is even safe to use in a stocked tank

 

[Brian Crook]

A lot has happened over the past several weeks. My old 220 gallon aquarium was powered down and completely dismantled and my live rock and livestock was transferred over to their new home. As of today I sold my 220 gallon to a fellow hobbyist and it has been removed from my house and on its way to its new home; hopefully to see many more years of enjoyable reefkeeping. I'm relieved to see it go though, as having TWO massive tanks in my house was starting to make me think that I'd gone a little aquarium crazy... Now I'm back to a normal life with just a 500 gallon tank..

Over the next while I can spend some time mending the wall to the utility room, and then give that room a complete make-over as well (ceiling, tile floors, storage cabinets, new sink, etc...). Anyways, I don't think you're hear to read about my utility room plans, so onto the aquarium!

I drilled four return holes for 1" bulkheads on the back wall of the tank. The principle for my return plumbing was to gradually decrease the diameter of each pipe at each "T" junction. It starts off with a 1.5" discharge from the pump, which T's into four 1" lines that each feed 3/4" loc-line plumbing. Next I plumbed the drains and return lines using ultra-flexible PVC pipe. I actually had a minor setback here as for some reason all of my 1" PVC pipe did not seal properly and leaked. I had to cut it all out and replace it with a slightly different product, which the vendor was kind enough to send to me free of charge.

I used unions throughout and tried to plan things out strategically, using the lessons I learned from plumbing my previous tank. I also created a manifold of sorts which has a 1" valve on either end for future expansion. One end will eventually feed my frag tank and refugium and the other end will remain unused for the time being. I toned back some of my high rockwork per the advice received on this thread, however I decided to keep a couple areas pretty tall because I simply like the way it looks. Transferring over my live rock and livestock was messy business, and required me to get into the aquarium on more than one occasion... ugh. But, it's done! And I think it turned out alright.

Next up is the return pump. I purchased a Reeflo Hammerhead/Barracuda Gold Hybrid and so far I am very impressed. Granted it's noisier than my old DC10000 return pump... but it's also about 5 times the size haha. It's actually pretty quiet all things considered and because I put sound-reducing insulation in the walls it's barely audible outside the room. This thing moves some serious water, too! I elected to toggle the discharge valve partially closed to reduce the flow and power consumption (per the recommendation from the manufacturer). The overflows and sump are more than capable of handling the full flow though, I think I just need some time to adjust to the size of this system though before I go full throttle.

I spent a great deal of time checking for leaks and inspecting the tank. A couple fittings needed to be re-threaded but nothing too crazy. Pipe Dope seems to be working a whole lot better than Teflon tape so I've been replacing my Teflon threaded fittings with pipe dope when required.

On the display side of things, I purchased some bullnose trim which just so happened to be the perfect dimensions to overlap the exposed plywood edge and wrap around the front. I very carefully nailed it into the aquarium with a brad nailer... Yikes! I used nails sparingly but it was the only effective way of securing the trim properly. Later this week we'll finally be receiving our sectional couch which has been on order for almost two months. I recently purchased a big screen TV and sound bar and have those mounted in the room too. It's really starting to come together!

What do you think of my cable management so far? :lmao:

 

[frankabagnale]

It's looking awesome!

 

[ramasule]

That rock looks like a dog lol.

 

[dave.m]

Speaking of getting your sectional on, how about a full frontal... er... full tank shot?

Dave.M

 

[txdragonslayer]

Any updates?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JoeMomma]

Folks, this tank looks even better in person, take my word for it.

The 220 arrived home safely and I'm waiting to take possession of our new home before setting it up.

Brian is an A+ hobbyist. It was nice meeting you.

 

[Lavoisier]

Wonderful, Brian. I just came across you build and love it. I'm a plywood man myself. Looking good.

 

[Brian Crook]

Speaking of getting your sectional on, how about a full frontal... er... full tank shot?

Any updates?

Another update is in the works, just need a bit more time.

Folks, this tank looks even better in person, take my word for it.

The 220 arrived home safely and I'm waiting to take possession of our new home before setting it up.

Brian is an A+ hobbyist. It was nice meeting you.

Thanks a lot; it was great meeting you too and I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the 220. Keep me posted with an update when you take possession of your new place and get the tank setup!

 

[rpjaws74]

cant get enough of your set up...congrats on the baby as well