Build Thread: TKERacer619's 600gal SPS Tank
- Thread starter tkeracer619
- Start date
tkeracer619
New member
Thanks! I've been staring at this problem for almost 4 years, about 90% sure it's going to work :lol:
tkeracer619
New member
In the basement I did but for those steps I didn't. The wood I took off had been on there for 15 or so years without any moisture barrier so I just put these back on the same way.
OurCoralReef
New member
Use a piece of tar paper
if you can get a small piece from a roofer or construction friend
if you can get a small piece from a roofer or construction friend
tkeracer619
New member
Having just done my roof I have plenty of it. Thanks for the tip.
tkeracer619
New member
Obstacle Number Two 
Obstacle Number Two
The 2nd obstacle in the plumbing challenge is this bathroom. It's tiny, has a free standing sink that is directly in the way of plumbing, has drywall slapped directly onto concrete, and is the only way without cutting the concrete slab to route the plumbing into the basement. Dig my trash can!
Cut a hole to see exactly where the plumbing from Obstacle One comes through.
Cut out and disconnect the sink plumbing.
Move the sink out of the room and cover the floor drain.
Cut the hole where the plumbing shall flow into Obstacle Number Three!
Use a level, mark the cut lines, sawsall!
Pull out the chunks of drywall and clean up the concrete. The reason I cut all of this drywall out is because the plumbing cannot be recessed into the wall. I will need to make a ledge around the already small room to cover the piping and any bit of space I can gain is welcome. This of course will be done immediately... within a month or two.
Onward to Obstacle Number Three!
I'd like to give a big shout out to local hobbyist and most dedicated newbie Atul aka BigBlueTang. He came over and worked on this for 8 solid hours this past Sunday. Didn't complain once! Thanks bud, I appreciate all the help you have put into this project!
Obstacle Number Two
The 2nd obstacle in the plumbing challenge is this bathroom. It's tiny, has a free standing sink that is directly in the way of plumbing, has drywall slapped directly onto concrete, and is the only way without cutting the concrete slab to route the plumbing into the basement. Dig my trash can!
Cut a hole to see exactly where the plumbing from Obstacle One comes through.
Cut out and disconnect the sink plumbing.
Move the sink out of the room and cover the floor drain.
Cut the hole where the plumbing shall flow into Obstacle Number Three!
Use a level, mark the cut lines, sawsall!
Pull out the chunks of drywall and clean up the concrete. The reason I cut all of this drywall out is because the plumbing cannot be recessed into the wall. I will need to make a ledge around the already small room to cover the piping and any bit of space I can gain is welcome. This of course will be done immediately... within a month or two.
Onward to Obstacle Number Three!
I'd like to give a big shout out to local hobbyist and most dedicated newbie Atul aka BigBlueTang. He came over and worked on this for 8 solid hours this past Sunday. Didn't complain once! Thanks bud, I appreciate all the help you have put into this project!
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tkeracer619
New member
Obstacle Number Three
Obstacle Number Three
The utility closet...
Conveniently they left just enough room for me to run 2" pvc behind the furnace. Almost as if they knew I would be installing a ridiculous saltwater aquarium and needed that space to run the plumbing.
The plumbing enters this room behind the water heater up high, goes behind the furnace, then out the bottom left side of the furnace. It's about a 7 foot drop. It will then go through the wall to Obstacle Number Four!
Obstacle Number Three
The utility closet...
Conveniently they left just enough room for me to run 2" pvc behind the furnace. Almost as if they knew I would be installing a ridiculous saltwater aquarium and needed that space to run the plumbing.
The plumbing enters this room behind the water heater up high, goes behind the furnace, then out the bottom left side of the furnace. It's about a 7 foot drop. It will then go through the wall to Obstacle Number Four!
tkeracer619
New member
Obstacle Number Four - We're almost there!
Obstacle Number Four - We're almost there!
The final obstacle is this staircase and the wall going into the filtration room!
We tore out the second step, cut a hole to pass two pipes through, and took a lot of precaution from then on out using the staircase. I've almost fallen in twice, the cat got stuck in there, and i've dumped a bit of water a few times since trying to mind the gap with a 5gal bucket full of water.
Remember when I had to move the doorway? This is why. To cross this staircase I need to make a landing at the top of step two and to be to code it is going to need to be at least 36" long. I wish we could have gone higher up but no go unless you want to duck every time you walk down the stairs. Trying to make everyone happy, stair two gets the landing.
We sized up the location of the sump and where the plumbing should go through the wall. Cut out a bit of drywall which I will cover then cover with FRP before plumbing. Using a long bit I marked and piloted the hole saw locations from the sump side. The sump is a spectacular 3/4" thick acrylic sump custom with museum grade seams made by AGE for a buddy of mine who is no longer in the hobby. It was a gift to the build! Thank you dude, it's going to good use!!
Using the pilots I used the correct size hole saw to drill from the step side. From bottom to top we have... The Emergency drain, full siphon 1, full siphon 2, and the return. These are just test pipes we used throughout the process to make sure stuff would fit.
Plumbing will have to wait for another day. We were tired and beat up from the day of work. We did however source about 90% of the plumbing parts as the day went by. We only had to make 2 trips to 5 separate stores to make it happen :beer:.
Something exciting is showing up today! I'm like a dog staring out the front window waiting for their owner to show up! Eta is within 3 hours :crazy1:
Obstacle Number Four - We're almost there!
The final obstacle is this staircase and the wall going into the filtration room!
We tore out the second step, cut a hole to pass two pipes through, and took a lot of precaution from then on out using the staircase. I've almost fallen in twice, the cat got stuck in there, and i've dumped a bit of water a few times since trying to mind the gap with a 5gal bucket full of water.
Remember when I had to move the doorway? This is why. To cross this staircase I need to make a landing at the top of step two and to be to code it is going to need to be at least 36" long. I wish we could have gone higher up but no go unless you want to duck every time you walk down the stairs. Trying to make everyone happy, stair two gets the landing.
We sized up the location of the sump and where the plumbing should go through the wall. Cut out a bit of drywall which I will cover then cover with FRP before plumbing. Using a long bit I marked and piloted the hole saw locations from the sump side. The sump is a spectacular 3/4" thick acrylic sump custom with museum grade seams made by AGE for a buddy of mine who is no longer in the hobby. It was a gift to the build! Thank you dude, it's going to good use!!
Using the pilots I used the correct size hole saw to drill from the step side. From bottom to top we have... The Emergency drain, full siphon 1, full siphon 2, and the return. These are just test pipes we used throughout the process to make sure stuff would fit.
Plumbing will have to wait for another day. We were tired and beat up from the day of work. We did however source about 90% of the plumbing parts as the day went by. We only had to make 2 trips to 5 separate stores to make it happen :beer:.
Something exciting is showing up today
! I'm like a dog staring out the front window waiting for their owner to show up! Eta is within 3 hours :crazy1:
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OurCoralReef
New member
tkeracer619
New member
It Was Time For A Lighting Refresh - Hamilton Lighting Tech!
It Was Time For A Lighting Refresh - Hamilton Lighting Tech!
Many years ago I made my own reflectors and pieced together components to get the lighting I desired. They worked great and still have some life left but the ballasts are all on their last legs. MarineDepot had a 20% off sale last month on these particular lights so I took the opportunity to refresh my lighting with a brand new set of four Hamilton Lighting Cabo Sun reflectors, M80 ballasts, and Radium 250w 20k bulbs! :bounce1: :xlbirthday:
This is the setup, I think it is a great way to go for SPS tanks and Hamilton is one of those companies I like to support! http://hamiltontechnology.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=100&search=cabo+sun
Very good packaging from Hamilton! Impressed!
These reflectors have a very good and even light spread. The use of both hammertone and flat polished material give the best of both worlds in regards to reducing peaks as well as getting the most par out of your bulbs.
We'll get to the actual lighting fixture as installation and assembly is taking place. It's a pretty trick setup but will have to wait until my next paycheck, this set of updates ate up the last of my aquarium budget for the month :lol:
It Was Time For A Lighting Refresh - Hamilton Lighting Tech!
Many years ago I made my own reflectors and pieced together components to get the lighting I desired. They worked great and still have some life left but the ballasts are all on their last legs. MarineDepot had a 20% off sale last month on these particular lights so I took the opportunity to refresh my lighting with a brand new set of four Hamilton Lighting Cabo Sun reflectors, M80 ballasts, and Radium 250w 20k bulbs! :bounce1:
:xlbirthday:This is the setup, I think it is a great way to go for SPS tanks and Hamilton is one of those companies I like to support! http://hamiltontechnology.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=100&search=cabo+sun
Very good packaging from Hamilton! Impressed!
These reflectors have a very good and even light spread. The use of both hammertone and flat polished material give the best of both worlds in regards to reducing peaks as well as getting the most par out of your bulbs.
We'll get to the actual lighting fixture as installation and assembly is taking place. It's a pretty trick setup but will have to wait until my next paycheck, this set of updates ate up the last of my aquarium budget for the month :lol:
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BigBlueTang
Active member
Any updates?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
tkeracer619
New member
The Sump and a Few Pieces of PVC.
The Sump and a Few Pieces of PVC.
Two weekends ago BigBlueTang and I made three trips to Home Depot, two trips to Lowes, and a trip to a spa supply store. We picked up roughly 120ft of 1.5in PVC, 40ft of 2in PVC, 25ft of 1.5in SpaFlex, 20ft of 2in SpaFlex, some strapping, a couple screws, some pipe mounting bracket, and a bucket of fittings.
We thought we may actually get in a fair amount of plumbing but demolition, driving, planning, and eating took up a good part of the day. We did get four pipes behind the furnace. It was a PITA and as of this past Saturday I realized the 45deg fittings we put on the bottom end of the pipes the weekend before were not going to work :headwally:. I ended up having to cut off the ends in a space that is about as skinny as I am fat.
This past Saturday I devoted my efforts to getting the sump in it's final resting place. I put up FRP back splashes, drilled the sump, installed the bulkheads, glued in the pvc, and slid the sump into place. The sump is custom made by AGE out of 3/4 inch acrylic.
There isn't much room to spare here...
I wrapped up on Saturday with 3 pipes through the wall.
Between Sunday night and tonight (Monday) I finished linking the pipes we had in place behind the furnace and the sump. It's really satisfying seeing these pipes in place. I've been thinking about this for almost 4 years.
Since I am running two full siphons I needed some valves. I wish they could have been closer to the sump but there just wasn't enough room. They have to be located in the mechanical room. You can see signs of a struggle (45deg elbows and PVC primer on the ground).
I'll secure the plumbing once it is completely dry and I get the first run in the bathroom complete. Should happen tomorrow. I'll need more SpaFlex to complete the bathroom and the run to the tank but we're getting close to water!!!! :beer:
The Sump and a Few Pieces of PVC.
Two weekends ago BigBlueTang and I made three trips to Home Depot, two trips to Lowes, and a trip to a spa supply store. We picked up roughly 120ft of 1.5in PVC, 40ft of 2in PVC, 25ft of 1.5in SpaFlex, 20ft of 2in SpaFlex, some strapping, a couple screws, some pipe mounting bracket, and a bucket of fittings.
We thought we may actually get in a fair amount of plumbing but demolition, driving, planning, and eating took up a good part of the day. We did get four pipes behind the furnace. It was a PITA and as of this past Saturday I realized the 45deg fittings we put on the bottom end of the pipes the weekend before were not going to work :headwally:. I ended up having to cut off the ends in a space that is about as skinny as I am fat.
This past Saturday I devoted my efforts to getting the sump in it's final resting place. I put up FRP back splashes, drilled the sump, installed the bulkheads, glued in the pvc, and slid the sump into place. The sump is custom made by AGE out of 3/4 inch acrylic.
There isn't much room to spare here...
I wrapped up on Saturday with 3 pipes through the wall.
Between Sunday night and tonight (Monday) I finished linking the pipes we had in place behind the furnace and the sump. It's really satisfying seeing these pipes in place. I've been thinking about this for almost 4 years.
Since I am running two full siphons I needed some valves. I wish they could have been closer to the sump but there just wasn't enough room. They have to be located in the mechanical room. You can see signs of a struggle (45deg elbows and PVC primer on the ground).
I'll secure the plumbing once it is completely dry and I get the first run in the bathroom complete. Should happen tomorrow. I'll need more SpaFlex to complete the bathroom and the run to the tank but we're getting close to water!!!! :beer:
BigBlueTang
Active member
The first two lines crack me up :lmao: That's why my skinny self is useful I guess..
Water! So excited!! Everything looks great! Post pictures of the bathroom when you're done with it!
tkeracer619
New member
Imagine your struggles in that area then imagine mine :lol:
The Best! I'm super excited to light up the tank with them. I'm also going to use 8 T5HO and will see if I can work some LED somewhere.
This is how I'm going to mount them to the ceiling. I've gone through a few iterations and discussed it with 80/20 engineers but this setup will allow me to pull the fixture out the front of the tank as well as give me something to hang the wood paneling from.
ISO
From the bottom through the tank.
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tkeracer619
New member
There is water!
There is water!
Don't get too excited, it's just a QT. I'm almost done plumbing the main tank but have been taking my time. It's been a challenge to say the least. Will have all Sunday to finish that job... But for now... this will have to do :beer:
I purchased an Eheim 1250 for the return but it wouldn't fit once the returns were in place so I decided to use dual Eheim Compact 1000 pumps. They are silent and pushing a lot of water. Probably too much but they are adjustable so we will see once I get my first round of fish in it.
This is an all in one tank thats chamber behind the weirs is setup to use a blue sponge then flow water through media. I am using Seachem Pond Matrix for bio media.
Right now I have a 100micron filter pad in there to catch any dust. Tomorrow I will pull that filter, add the matrix, blue pad, and bring ammonia up to 4ppm with lab grade ammonia. I'll then dump in a bottle of Bio Spira to get try and speed it up a bit. We'll see how that goes.
The tank also has an Eheim heater. Once I add fish I'll get a temp controller for it.
There is water!
Don't get too excited, it's just a QT
. I'm almost done plumbing the main tank but have been taking my time. It's been a challenge to say the least. Will have all Sunday to finish that job... But for now... this will have to do :beer:
I purchased an Eheim 1250 for the return but it wouldn't fit once the returns were in place so I decided to use dual Eheim Compact 1000 pumps. They are silent and pushing a lot of water. Probably too much but they are adjustable so we will see once I get my first round of fish in it.
This is an all in one tank thats chamber behind the weirs is setup to use a blue sponge then flow water through media. I am using Seachem Pond Matrix for bio media.
Right now I have a 100micron filter pad in there to catch any dust. Tomorrow I will pull that filter, add the matrix, blue pad, and bring ammonia up to 4ppm with lab grade ammonia. I'll then dump in a bottle of Bio Spira to get try and speed it up a bit. We'll see how that goes.
The tank also has an Eheim heater. Once I add fish I'll get a temp controller for it.
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BigBlueTang
Active member
This is sweet. Looks like all of that hard work we put in building those shelves has gone to good use!! Can't wait to see the fish you get, hopefully I'll get to edit the stock list some too :lmao:
Everything looks great, and you're moving along impressively fast.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Everything looks great, and you're moving along impressively fast.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
tkeracer619
New member
Thanks bud. The last month has been trying for pets so it has taken me a little extra time to get stuff done. We lost our two cats 4 weeks apart. Simon would have turned 14 today and Paco turned 13 last week a day before he passed. We miss those dudes something serious.
Mrs. Music
New member
aw, Sorry for your loss. That is just plain sad.
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