Carlso63's 225 Reef Build Thread!

[carlso63]

I recently had the opportunity present itself to "upgrade" from my 125g Mixed Reef (see below)

to something a little larger... I found an online classified ad for a 225g tank/stand/canopy combo that was a display in a prominent local doctors office / medical building... when the doctor decided to retire, none of the junior partners were interested in keeping the setup, and they did not want to continue paying for the (professional) maintenance guys to service the aquarium. So they put it up for sale. Cheap. And I got it!

The tank itself is a 225g (72L X 24W X 30H) Reef - Ready acrylic that is in remarkably good shape (other than some coralline remains on the back)... almost no discernable scratches, no stress marks or cracks, looks almost like new. Inch thick acrylic construction, "Eurobrace" style top, drilled and ready.

But the main attraction is the stand and canopy. Solid mahogany. And I mean solid ... the canopy we placed on a heavy - duty floor scale and it weighed 142 lbs... the stand? Forget it. It took 5 grown men to get it out of the office and into the truck... if I had to estimate it I would say over 450 lbs, maybe 500 lbs. One of the docs in the office said he was there when it was delivered a few years back and it was a custom job that cost major $$$... I had a furniture builder friend from my local club over to look at it; his estimate - based on the type of wood used, finish, trim added, and "extra" touches like hand carvings, heavy duty door hinges, solid brass handles, built in fan slots in both the stand and canopy - he estimates the cost for the stand / canopy set at around 3 grand :eek1: I paid alot less than that!!!

And the thing is just plain HUGE... I am 6' 1" tall and tip the scales close to 300 lbs... and I look small next to it. It measures 83" tall and when I open the canopy it clears the 8' ceiling by only a couple of inches... in this pic you can see my 125 on the other side of the room and this baby dwarfs it:

But I am totally psyched about the prospect of getting this beauty up and running - so here we go!

 

[carlso63]

STEP 1: FLOOR SUPPORT 101


First I took on the task of shoring up the flooring underneath the setup. Went online and ordered a couple of these:

"Floor jacks", "Basement jacks", whatever you want to call them... they adjust up to 7.5 feet tall and are rated at 16,000 lb each @ 36" extension and 11,000 lb each at 72" extension - so 2 jacks at around 84" extension should be able to support maybe 18,000 lb total - way more than the tank will weigh out when full. I used 4 X 4 wood supports only for my 125; I thought these would be a better long-term solution to deal with the added loads the 225 will put on the floor...

It was actually kind of hard to find these out here in UT. Back east, these supports where commonplace and you could just go out to HD and get them locally. No such luck here, had to order them online. Not too bad though, $75 for the pair (including shipping)... Then I'll just pick up 2 of those preformed concrete "deck supports" (they kind of look like a pyramid with a flat top) to put under the jacks, and a decent 8 ft 4 X 6 to use as a header between the top of the jacks and the floor joists.

Once they arrive, it should only take maybe an hour or 2 to set them up. Once I do I'll post a pic for anyone interested in seeing how to set them up...

 

[carlso63]

The floor support ended up being a little more work than I anticipated, as the location of the new 225 was such that the tank footprint runs parallel to the floor joists rather than perpendicular to them. Not wanting to relocate the tank, I had to add in extra joists, basically, like so:

You can see where I added 2 additional 6 foot 2X12s to serve as extra joists under the tank... this means there are now 3 joists under full load (instead of just the 1) and 2 more joists under partial load, for a total of 5 supporting joists. I also added 2X12 'blocking' perpendicular to the joists to prevent any joist twisting or rolling under the load. All supported on each side of the tank footprint by 1 of those basement jacks on a 4X6 header post; each jack rated at 9,000 lb @ 7 ft extension - so the pair should be able to support up to 18,000 lb... as heavy as this tank will be, it will top out at around maybe 4,000 lb full with a sump, etc - so I think we are good as far as floor support goes

The concrete bases under the screwjacks:

Overall view of the supports:

Now that we have a solid, steady floor I can concentrate on adding weight to the tank (that means things like sand, rocks, water :dance: )

 

[carlso63]

Step #2: Collecting Rock & Sand

Out here in UT we are fortunate to have access to an abundant free supply of both coralline calcareous limestone rock and oolitic aragonite sand.

How? Well, millions of years ago Utah was completely under the waters of a prehistoric coral sea. Seriously. Geologists called it "Lake Bonneville" (think Bonneville Salt Flats). When the waters receded all that was left was that super-salty body of water we know today as the Great Salt Lake. In the region surrounding the GSL there are ancient cliffs containing layers of ancient coral skeletons that have morphed into limestone rock known as LBTR (Lake Bonneville Tufa Rock)... anyway, local hobbyists have found this rock an excellent substitute for the more commonly used imported Fiji and Tonga "live rock" you would normally pick up for $7 - $8 / lb at your local LFS. Of course, LBTR is not "live" and should be treated as a "base" rock; but, still, it is just a simple matter of "seeding" your LBTR with a few lbs. of LR.

We also have remnants of an ancient Carribean-style aragonite beach located on nearby Stansbury Island. This sand is comprised of aragonite based oolites and again is a perfect (and free) substitute for your usual bagged aragonite that the LFS will charge close to $1 / lb, if not more.

Having already used LBTR and Utah oolitic sand successfully in my 125 Mixed Reef, it was an easy decision to go on another collection run to gather some for the 225... I mean, on a tank of this size, you would want / need maybe 200 - 250 lb of rock and maybe 300 lb of sand, right? How much would that set you back if you went and bought it from the LFS? Well over $1000... vs. - FREE - well, alright, maybe 2 hours of driving roundtrip; and then an hour or 2 of work collecting... but still almost free, anyway...

So we set out last weekend to go out and get us some rock (and sand)... here's some shots of the last time I went (last September - left my camera at home this time)... First a shot of our group heading toward the rock site. You go off-road maybe 1000 ft and then up a steep incline to a plateau maybe 100 ft up:

[/I]

Now up that trail to the top!

Like I said, the LBTR is in outcroppings that literally are sticking right out of the ground:

A view from the top of the plateau:

Here's a shot of the sand collection site on Stansbury Island -
You just bring a shovel and some buckets and you got sand!

Now here's some pics of my personal haul from this past weekend... 4 rubbermaid totes full of LBTR. Each tote was over 100 lbs, easy:

You can see all the nooks and crannies in the LBTR - just like "regular" LR!

Also came away with 5 buckets of oolitic sand totalling over 300 lb:

All in all, not bad for 4 hours of my time and 20 bucks worth of gas

 

[SkyPapa]

I'm ready to upgrade my 120 to a big tank.
I need to move to Utah.
On second thought, nah.
I like Florida. We have good rock but it's illegal to pick.
I'll just have to pony up the bucks.

 

[SkyPapa]

Double post. wouldn't let me delete.

 

[carlso63]

Step #3: Installing a Plenumed Sandbed

Now that I have my sand and rock, the next step for me is to work on the aquascaping design. First up, the sandbed. But not just any ordinary DSB... a plenumed sandbed.

Yeah, yeah, I know... plenums don't "work"; plenums aren't as "good"as a DSB, blah blah blah... All i know is I have been doing plenumed tanks since High School and they "work" just fine for me!

"0" nitrates. "0" phosphates. Permanently , for the life of the setup. And the longest I have run a setup, without a teardown or a 'crash', is 11+ years. And with a plenum you avoid the possiblity of that unpleasant HS2 (hydrogen sulfide) buildup that you will find present in every DSB. Repeat, every. May not be enough to kill your livestock or crash your tank, but it IS there...

OK, enough with the bullhorn and soapbox. For those of you who have never used a plenum - or even seen one - here's how it goes:

A) Parts List
- 'Eggcrate' (flourescent light diffuser panels) 48" X 24"; Home Depot, $11.89 each
- Fiberglass window screen, not aluminum or "pet screen"; Home Depot, $6.49 a roll
- PVC elbows, either 1/2", 3/4", or 1" diameter (depends on tank size); Home Depot, $1.79 / bag

I'm sure Lowe's or Ace Hardware would carry all the supplies you need as well.

So, in my case, the plenum for my 225g cost around $40. Smaller tanks are (of course) cheaper to do; a 4' X 2' X 2' 120g (or smaller) is usually under $25...

Here's a pic of all the parts:

B) Place PVC elbows on tank bottom to act as 'supports' for the plenum base. I like to use elbows rather than straight PVC because they can't roll around the bottom and don't need to have any holes drilled into them to allow for water to flow... the diameter depends on tank size and how high / deep a plenum space you want under your sandbed. On a large tank like this, I use full 1" elbows. On tanks of 75 - 125g, I would use 3/4"... less than 75g I would use 1/2" elbows. Arrange your elbows about 5" apart to make sure you have adequate and even support for the eggcrate (which acts as your plenum base). Some folks use plastic ties to secure their PVC to the eggcrate; again, if you use elbows instead you don't need to do that. Just arrange them like this:

C) Next, cut your eggcrate to fit your tank bottom. A regular rectangular tank is a pretty easy fit. This tank, with the "Reef Ready" overflow built in, was a little more work. You can use any type of tin snip or heavy scissor to cut the eggcrate. Just measure carefully and cut slowly so you don't snap the eggcrate. Place the eggcrate right on top of your PVC elbows:

I needed to use 2 pieces on the 225. Here is the completed plenum base:

D) Now, roll out your fiberglass screening and cut to fit over the plenum base. You want to leave an extra inch or so on all sides to allow the screen to hang over the base and prevent any of the sandbed from getting under the base and filling in the void space you are making between the plenum base and the tank bottom glass. Again, the "Reef Ready" tank is a little more complicated than a normal rectangular tank... just take your time. Fit the screening right over the eggcrate like so:

E) Now add your clean rinsed sand right over the screening. Don't let it "plop in" as you don't want to move or bunch up the screening... of course, if you were using "live" sand you need to have a few inches of aged SW in the tank before adding the sand; but my Utah oolitic is "dead" sand so no need for that:

I use what is called a "bilayer plenum" which means 2 separate layers of sand with screening in between. You can use 2 different granule sizes of sand if you like; a coarser aragonite for the first (lower) layer, with a finer grained sand up top. I used the same Utah oolitic sand for both layers but either way is OK. The bottom layer should be about 2.5" - 3" deep:

F) Once the bottom layer is in and relatively flat, cut a 2nd layer of screening to go over the bottom layer of sand. This screen does not need to be oversized at all; it just separates the 2 sand layers like so:

The function of this second screen is to keep all your crabs, snails, stars, cukes, burrowing fish, etc. - anything larger than a baby pod, basically - keeps them from disturbing the bacteria in the bottom sand layer or introducing detritus into that sand... This lower layer ends up becoming full of that elusive denitrifying bacteria that turns your nitrates into free nitrogen, fed via the low oxygen, very low flow water that moves through the "void space" under your plenum base.

G) After installing the second screen, add another 2.5" - 4" of sand as your final layer:

H) The finished plenumed sandbed. In my case, about 5.5" of sand over a 1.25" total plenumed space - or close to 7" total depth from top of sandbed to tank bottom glass

Properly installed, this plenumed sandbed should last basically forever... No need to replace or "recharge" any of the sand like a DSB. And no worries about any possible hydrogen sulfide (HS2) buildup. Ever. because with a plenumed bed it just isn't possible...

Maintenance-wise, there isn't much to it... should your fish or inverts burrow down to that second screen, you can just cover it back up... Some folks who advocate vacumming sandbeds would vacuum out that top layer periodically; you can if you want to - just be careful not to disturb that bottom layer... Any questions?

 

[widmer]

Wow nice unique build thread. I also love to keep the money spent on upgrades to a minimum, it's basically a sport for me. My tank? 80% off, from craigslist. My metal halide? Free after I got a package deal on two from ebay and sold the other one. My LR? Manmade (widmermade). My frags? "Rented" (growing them out, giving a frag back to the supplier).

Not trying to be a destraction, just sharing the thrifty glee....

 

[spleify]

Great, Great job!! I am definitely subscribing to this build.

Thanks for sharing your knoledge with us.

Spleify

 

[beba]

very nice start!
I'm starting 150g RR so this is very helpful post

keep it coming!

 

[carlso63]

Step #4/ Part 1: Aquascaping

At this point on the process I took a look at what I should do next. The ultimate goal being a transfer of all the livestock from my 125 to the 225. I (obviously) have the tank / stand / canopy up. I have reinforced the flooring below. I have installed the plenumed sandbed. So my choices for what to do next range from plumbing the tank, adding a sump, a skimmer, return pump, then aquascaping, filling the tank, and - ultimately - stocking the tank with the stuff in the 125...

I decided to go with starting the aquascaping simply because I need to buy the plumbing, the sump, the skimmer, the return pump, etc. - and the funding isn't available for all that right now. (The skimmer alone will most likely be over $500...)

On the other hand, I have 500+ lbs of rock sitting in 4 totes in the garage. Easy decision :lol:

Anyway, I had seen a few setups that featured a "Suspended Reef" where all the live rock was off of the sandbed. I thought it was an interesting concept; plenty of open sandbed, good water flow to the sandbed (especially good with a plenumed tank), and it certainly looks different from your standard Reef setup.
One thing I didn't like though, was that, no matter how hard the tank owner tried, you could still see parts of the eggcrate and PVC 'pillars' that were holding up the Reef even when covered with coralline I still did not like the look of it.

So, what I am going to do then is attempt a sort of "Semi-Suspended Reef" look using only rock to hold everything up and off the sandbed - I think I can make it work. Here's what I did...

First I arranged small rock 'pillars' to act as supports for the rest of the rockwork:

Then I chose some flatter pieces of LBTR to use as a 'flooring' for the main rockwork:

Here's a couple of fuller shots so you an see the overall concept. Notice that although the rockwork takes up maybe 50% of the total footprint of the tank, there is almost no rock actually in contact with the sandbed (less than 10% of the sandbed is covered with rock):

I will end up with 2 rock "islands"; the left side will be the larger one and will be teardrop-shaped (when viewed from above), the right side will be a more classic rounded pyramid shape.

It may look alittle skimpy now - I think I placed only about 100 lbs of rock so far - but, remember, I have another 150+ lbs of year-old rock inside my 125 that has to go on top of all this. In the end, the rockwork islands should reach to within 5 - 6" of the waterline (that's almost 30" tall); right now it is less than halfway up. So alot more rock to be added... will probably end up with 250 - 270 lbs total once it is finished.

 

[Reeftanks6]

This is going to be a great tank. I cant wait. Love the idea of the sand and rock.

 

[vietcu]

wow, nice setup. Off topic but I have a question about your plenum. If I do a 75g setup, is it easier to do a 1" SB or setup a plenum like what you have here?

 

[carlso63]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12194003#post12194003 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by vietcu
wow, nice setup. Off topic but I have a question about your plenum. If I do a 75g setup, is it easier to do a 1" SB or setup a plenum like what you have here?

A 1" sandbed is easier (and cheaper) to do than a plenum with 4 or more inches of sandbed over it; but a 1" sandbed is too shallow to have any denitrifying properties...

So it really depends on what you want your sandbed to do for you. If it is just for "looks" because you don't want a bare bottom than 1" will do it.

If you want some water quality management out of your sandbed 1" is not nearly enough sand...

 

[carlso63]

Been a while since I updated...

- Ordered a "budget" skimmer that I will mod out to handle the tanks water volume and bioload; should arrive around April 14th

- Decided on the sump setup (pretty much anyway)... keeping with the whole "sensible budget buildup" concept I'll be doing an in-stand sump based on a 55g sized Rubbermaid container

- Need to go out and get my 3 bulkheads then I can install all the plumbing and the Dursos for the overflow

- After that I'm basically a return pump and a few buckets of Reef Crystals away from filling this baby up :fun4:

 

[Steve 926]

Im In PLENUM Heaven !! :inlove: :inlove: :inlove: :inlove:

Great Tank !!

Best Of Luck !!!

Steve

:smokin:

 

[carlso63]

Thanks for all the kind comments, guys! Glad to have you all along for the ride!

Steve926 -

I was glad to hear your CPW - style plenum setup is working out so well! Keep fighting the "good fight"!

On my local site http://www.utahreefs.com there are maybe 2 or 3 of us doing plenums and we always get pummeled with the same Qs / comments from the rest of the club -

"Oh.... well that doesn't work ..."

"A DSB is better; why don't you just run a DSB?"

" Prove that your 'plenum' makes your tanks better..."

But I do have G.A.R.F. up in Idaho on my side (they are BIG plenum advocates)

If you've never seen them check out their site:

http://www.garf.org

They grow amazing corals in their plenumed tanks!!!

 

[carlso63]

STEP 5: PLUMBING THE OVERFLOW AND SUMP - Part 1

As I said I ordered a skimmer... I went with a Reef Octopus NW200. A little "undersized", perhaps, but there is a simple mod thread here on RC that gets you 40 scfh from this unit... and you just flat out can't beat the price. I mean, an 8" diameter body and an 850 gph Octo Needlewheel pump for under $200...?!!! At this price, if I do the mods and still feel it's not enough - I could just buy a 2nd one, right ?

And, in keeping with the whole "Budget Build up / DIY / I'm a cheap #$%!" theme of this thread... I will be designing my sump around a 54g Rubbermaid Brute tote container. I figure I will run this "sump" with about 10 inches of water, so the actual sump water volume should be around 40g... I picked the tote up from HD for a whopping 18 bucks...

Being a cheapskate is SO AWESOME sometimes
:lol:


------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, here I have the skimmer assembled (no mods yet) and the sump under the stand:

But, before I can do anything else I have to set up and install all the plumbing, right? Right.

So I went to the local LFS and picked up 3 1.75" bulkhead fittings for t he 3 holes that are drilled inside my overflow. I will use 2 for drains to the sump, and one for the return back to the display.

Next, off to Home Depot for all the PVC pipe, valves and fittings to set up dual Durso's for the drains and a 4-point return from the sump... here's what I ended up with:

So, first thing I did was install the bulkheads. Hand tightened only; don't want to warp those gaskets:

Next, I built the 2 Durso standpipes, like so:

Then I just set up the return piping to put a nozzle into the tank at each of the 4 pre-drilled spots that go through the top brace, along the back wall of the tank.

Here's a shot of what I am talking about:

And here's a closeup of the overflow plumbing (and, yes, I drilled the caps on the Durso's):

And that was about as far as I got with the project today...

Next up, Part II - installing the in stand plumbing

 

[Steve 926]

Looking Good :bigeyes:

Here's something I did with my Dorso's
2 X 90* airline fittings held together by 1/4 airline tubing.
There is a longer piece of tubing extended into the overfill above the waterline. Should one of the Dorso's become restricted or clogged, the water line will rise over the tube causing a vacuum in the Dorso to help clear it

Steve

:smokin:

 

[carlso63]

Thanks, Steve - I'll have to give that a try!