Choss' 96 Gallon Reef Savvy Tank Build
- Thread starter choss
- Start date
choss
New member
Thanks! Ask and you shall receive....
I'm digging it too. It will be tight in there. I'll reveal my plans for it shortly but I plan to keep that sump rock'n.
And speaking of...had some nice packages arrive yesterday. Can a grown man really get this excited over PVC? But man, it sexy stuff...
Plumbing full room shot by choerenz, on Flickr
Plumbing closeup by choerenz, on FlickrAnd a top down...
plumbing top down by choerenz, on Flickr
choss
New member
So while I feel like I did not accomplish much this weekend, I did manage to squeeze in several really important items. First, I installed a float switch in my salt reservoir. I'll be posting a much more detailed plan of how I have set up the salt refill station and how I will be managing the system to be as automated as possible. The float switch will shut down my AWC pump in case of a low water situation so this is one of many backups I am planning. More importantly, I took the plunge and drilled a 1" hole through my hard wood floor, through two sub floors (yeah, not sure why there were two sub floors) and into the room below where all of my water needs will be handled. I have to admit, this was knuckle biter.
While I wanted initially to go through the wall into the floor below, it quickly became apparent that, due to space limitations, I would be seriously challenged to pull this off correctly. So through the floor I decided to go.
First, I had to estimate exactly where to go through the floor. The issue is, the room below is a small utility room, that houses my refill tanks, a slop sink, and my HVAC unit. The area where I went through the floor needed to open exactly in a small 6-8" shaft between a massive duct and the actual heating unit. I did a lot of measuring, from all sides - outside, from walls, ceilings, etc. Then I drilled a small pilot hole. I put a flashlight over the hole, then went down to see if I had achieved success. Well first try and there was nothing! I tested a coat hanger and that showed me the problem. I had hit a second sub floor. SO I went to the hardware store and bought a 10" 3/32" drill bit. Now I was able to punch through. Turns out I would be drilling through 4.5 inches of solid wood.
My approach was to start with a 1" hole saw. I did this to save the oak piece to potentially use it later to patch the floor when I sell the house. I also ordered a few of these as backup
http://www.widgetco.com/oak-wood-floor-plugs-1-inch
Next, I grabbed a 1" spade bit. These bits look like this
spade drill by choerenz, on Flickr
This guy did the rest of the hard work. about 15 minutes later I was through and had a perfect hole to feed my plumbing through. Don't worry, the full plan will be in a post coming this week. It will be clear why I am only making a single hole and not running the full system through the floor.
While I wanted initially to go through the wall into the floor below, it quickly became apparent that, due to space limitations, I would be seriously challenged to pull this off correctly. So through the floor I decided to go.
First, I had to estimate exactly where to go through the floor. The issue is, the room below is a small utility room, that houses my refill tanks, a slop sink, and my HVAC unit. The area where I went through the floor needed to open exactly in a small 6-8" shaft between a massive duct and the actual heating unit. I did a lot of measuring, from all sides - outside, from walls, ceilings, etc. Then I drilled a small pilot hole. I put a flashlight over the hole, then went down to see if I had achieved success. Well first try and there was nothing! I tested a coat hanger and that showed me the problem. I had hit a second sub floor. SO I went to the hardware store and bought a 10" 3/32" drill bit. Now I was able to punch through. Turns out I would be drilling through 4.5 inches of solid wood.
My approach was to start with a 1" hole saw. I did this to save the oak piece to potentially use it later to patch the floor when I sell the house. I also ordered a few of these as backup
http://www.widgetco.com/oak-wood-floor-plugs-1-inch
Next, I grabbed a 1" spade bit. These bits look like this
spade drill by choerenz, on FlickrThis guy did the rest of the hard work. about 15 minutes later I was through and had a perfect hole to feed my plumbing through. Don't worry, the full plan will be in a post coming this week. It will be clear why I am only making a single hole and not running the full system through the floor.
Arkayology
Active member
That Reef Savvy is one sexy tank. I can't wait to see it out of the box.
choss
New member
Yeah I am excited to see that too. Right now I have a lot of prep work to do before I can get it on the stand. But each week making progress. Hope to have it wet soon enough. Thanks for following along.
choss
New member
Update!
Update!
A few pics to lead off the day. Look what arrived recently"¦
Arrival of Profilux by choerenz, on Flickr
Just like Choss"¦
Made in Germany by choerenz, on Flickr
P4 Mega Set!
P4 Mega Set by choerenz, on Flickr
Man there are a lot of goodies"¦
Profilux 4 stuff by choerenz, on Flickr
And here is the brain and heart of the Choss system"¦
Power strip 5.0 by choerenz, on Flickr
Man this thing is serious looking. And not small either"¦
Water Bottle & power strip by choerenz, on Flickr
Ok so by now you know that I am going with the GHL Profilux as the brains of my system. I did a ton of research as this is the first controller I've ever gone with so I wanted to be certain. So why GHL you ask?
"¢ Build quality & reliability "“ There were a ton of threads on the merits of both controllers. But in the end, the GHL guys were the happiest of the bunch. And I could not find a single "œGHL failure" thread or post. I travel a lot and this was critical to me.
"¢ Programming "“ I've read mostly how easy the GHL is to program. We shall see if this holds up!
"¢ Customer service "“ this was actually the deciding factor. When I started my research, I sent emails in to both companies. I called Neptune several times to no avail. I kept getting caught in a circular conversation with a pretty unfriendly type on the other end, who just couldn't connect me with the service rep who had reached out to me. With GHL different story. Vinny contacted me and the rest was history. Super friendly, great advice, and quick turnarounds on questions asked. I will be controlling devices on two levels in my house and he was able to help me figure out cables that I would need, etc. I believe these guys will be there if I have any issues. Not feeling that way about the Apex support. In any case, I'm sure they are both great products but this was the tie breaker for me.
"¢ Cost "“ Apex was definitely cheaper for what I wanted to do. But in the end, I have already invested heavily in the tank, furniture build, equipment, and not to mention the future investment in corals. I made a commitment to excellence in build and equipment selected so $100 or so more wasn't an issue for me.
Can't wait to hook this all up. Patience....
Update!
A few pics to lead off the day. Look what arrived recently"¦
Arrival of Profilux by choerenz, on FlickrJust like Choss"¦
Made in Germany by choerenz, on FlickrP4 Mega Set!
P4 Mega Set by choerenz, on FlickrMan there are a lot of goodies"¦
Profilux 4 stuff by choerenz, on FlickrAnd here is the brain and heart of the Choss system"¦
Power strip 5.0 by choerenz, on FlickrMan this thing is serious looking. And not small either"¦
Water Bottle & power strip by choerenz, on FlickrOk so by now you know that I am going with the GHL Profilux as the brains of my system. I did a ton of research as this is the first controller I've ever gone with so I wanted to be certain. So why GHL you ask?
"¢ Build quality & reliability "“ There were a ton of threads on the merits of both controllers. But in the end, the GHL guys were the happiest of the bunch. And I could not find a single "œGHL failure" thread or post. I travel a lot and this was critical to me.
"¢ Programming "“ I've read mostly how easy the GHL is to program. We shall see if this holds up!
"¢ Customer service "“ this was actually the deciding factor. When I started my research, I sent emails in to both companies. I called Neptune several times to no avail. I kept getting caught in a circular conversation with a pretty unfriendly type on the other end, who just couldn't connect me with the service rep who had reached out to me. With GHL different story. Vinny contacted me and the rest was history. Super friendly, great advice, and quick turnarounds on questions asked. I will be controlling devices on two levels in my house and he was able to help me figure out cables that I would need, etc. I believe these guys will be there if I have any issues. Not feeling that way about the Apex support. In any case, I'm sure they are both great products but this was the tie breaker for me.
"¢ Cost "“ Apex was definitely cheaper for what I wanted to do. But in the end, I have already invested heavily in the tank, furniture build, equipment, and not to mention the future investment in corals. I made a commitment to excellence in build and equipment selected so $100 or so more wasn't an issue for me.
Can't wait to hook this all up. Patience....
choss
New member
Update "“ System layout
System Overview Diagram by choerenz, on Flickr
Ok "“ sorry if the image isn't the easiest to understand but I wanted to show how the system will be set up and break down my maintenance plans and why I am setting things up this way. A few posts back I talked about the very difficult (and nerve wracking) decision to drill a hole through my hard wood floor. So let me start there.
The layout of my house is actually very much set up to support a fully separate equipment room right below where the display tank will be located. This is no accident. I purchased the house in Westchester NY back in 1996. The house was built in 1908 and needed a ton of work. My wife and I had the opportunity to renovate and add a few things that were very specific to our needs. At the time, I had just moved a really "œhappy" and thriving 30 gallon reef tank from my NY city apartment, into a 75 gallon holding tank in my basement.
I had every intention on setting up a 180-200 gallon tank in my office. I asked the contractors to add extra support in the floor of this room (which I'm not sure they did) and located a utility room right beneath in the garage area. The room was plumbed with a slop sink, and was ready to go. Then I found out that heating system in the house would need to be replaced and this opened the door up for duct work and central AC. The bad news is the heating unit had to go into my utility room. The room is still big enough to house a sump but it's a bit tighter and so I'll get into my decision to house the sump in the main display room rather than locating it in the room below.
One side bar, as things will happen, during the renovation, my holding tank was covered with a tarp during the construction in the basement. Well unfortunately the cover fell off, and the tank was exposed to massive amounts of dust from the sheetrock and demo work. Needless-to-say nothing survived and I was devastated. I never ended up setting up the 180 and got out of the hobby until 2014 when I bought the AIO 40 gallon. So that is the back story.
Sump Location
I really did not want to drill multiple holes in the floors. I'm running a bean animal and I would have needed an opening large enough to feed 4 pipes. I also wasn't psyched about getting a bigger pump, head pressure etc. In thinking things through, I opted for a different plan. I would go for a minimally invasive opening (in floor or wall) and set up an automatic water change system using small John Guest pipes, from a station below to a small sump hidden in a cabinet by the main display tank. I have studied a few of these setups and once these systems are in place, maintenance is pretty easy. In my case, I'll pretty much be cleaning my skimmer and harvesting Chaeto.
In reviewing the diagram above, let me first describe the setup so that the image makes a bit more sense.
In the main DT room, we have the three structures. The electrical cabinet to the left of the tank, the main display stand which is exposed steel pipes and walnut, and a cabinet to the right that hides a 24 gallon cube sump.
Then in the room directly below, we have the following items from right to left:
RODI water container: Because I will be feeding the system above using the Tunze Osmolator, I started thinking about whether I could locate this high enough in the room to feed the tank in the room above via the 7' of so max head height of the stock pump. It sits roughly 5-6 feet below the sump give or take. I will test this soon and if the pump cannot handle the distance and height, I will resort to adding a stronger pump to my refill system. Once I settled on this location for the RODI tank, I began considering the benefits of the setup:
"¢ I can leverage the RODI pressure to fill the tank that sits on a high shelf, and then leverage gravity to feed the salt mixing station
"¢ I can also use gravity to refill the frag tank (if necessary) that sits directly below the 35 RODI tank.
To find a tank, I went to a local tractor supply store and found this:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/leg-style-storage-tank-35-gal?cm_vc=-10005
The way I will run this setup, this tank should never be empty as it is continuously fed from the RODI unit which is shut off with a float valve in the RODI storage tank. Daily, for about 30 minutes, a solenoid will open and refill as necessary.
RODI container shelf: I built the stand for the container using the same design as the sump cabinet (rocketengineer design).
finished container stand by choerenz, on Flickr
RODI tank and stand by choerenz, on Flickr
As I was putting the stand together I was struck by an interesting idea that began to form. I had another small storage room that currently houses a fish QT tank, and what I was planning as setting up as a frag QT tank. But then I began to think, as I am pulling water out of my main display tank via the automatic water change pump, why drain it straight to the sink? So an idea was born"¦.
System Overview Diagram by choerenz, on FlickrOk "“ sorry if the image isn't the easiest to understand but I wanted to show how the system will be set up and break down my maintenance plans and why I am setting things up this way. A few posts back I talked about the very difficult (and nerve wracking) decision to drill a hole through my hard wood floor. So let me start there.
The layout of my house is actually very much set up to support a fully separate equipment room right below where the display tank will be located. This is no accident. I purchased the house in Westchester NY back in 1996. The house was built in 1908 and needed a ton of work. My wife and I had the opportunity to renovate and add a few things that were very specific to our needs. At the time, I had just moved a really "œhappy" and thriving 30 gallon reef tank from my NY city apartment, into a 75 gallon holding tank in my basement.
I had every intention on setting up a 180-200 gallon tank in my office. I asked the contractors to add extra support in the floor of this room (which I'm not sure they did) and located a utility room right beneath in the garage area. The room was plumbed with a slop sink, and was ready to go. Then I found out that heating system in the house would need to be replaced and this opened the door up for duct work and central AC. The bad news is the heating unit had to go into my utility room. The room is still big enough to house a sump but it's a bit tighter and so I'll get into my decision to house the sump in the main display room rather than locating it in the room below.
One side bar, as things will happen, during the renovation, my holding tank was covered with a tarp during the construction in the basement. Well unfortunately the cover fell off, and the tank was exposed to massive amounts of dust from the sheetrock and demo work. Needless-to-say nothing survived and I was devastated. I never ended up setting up the 180 and got out of the hobby until 2014 when I bought the AIO 40 gallon. So that is the back story.
Sump Location
I really did not want to drill multiple holes in the floors. I'm running a bean animal and I would have needed an opening large enough to feed 4 pipes. I also wasn't psyched about getting a bigger pump, head pressure etc. In thinking things through, I opted for a different plan. I would go for a minimally invasive opening (in floor or wall) and set up an automatic water change system using small John Guest pipes, from a station below to a small sump hidden in a cabinet by the main display tank. I have studied a few of these setups and once these systems are in place, maintenance is pretty easy. In my case, I'll pretty much be cleaning my skimmer and harvesting Chaeto.
In reviewing the diagram above, let me first describe the setup so that the image makes a bit more sense.
In the main DT room, we have the three structures. The electrical cabinet to the left of the tank, the main display stand which is exposed steel pipes and walnut, and a cabinet to the right that hides a 24 gallon cube sump.
Then in the room directly below, we have the following items from right to left:
RODI water container: Because I will be feeding the system above using the Tunze Osmolator, I started thinking about whether I could locate this high enough in the room to feed the tank in the room above via the 7' of so max head height of the stock pump. It sits roughly 5-6 feet below the sump give or take. I will test this soon and if the pump cannot handle the distance and height, I will resort to adding a stronger pump to my refill system. Once I settled on this location for the RODI tank, I began considering the benefits of the setup:
"¢ I can leverage the RODI pressure to fill the tank that sits on a high shelf, and then leverage gravity to feed the salt mixing station
"¢ I can also use gravity to refill the frag tank (if necessary) that sits directly below the 35 RODI tank.
To find a tank, I went to a local tractor supply store and found this:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/leg-style-storage-tank-35-gal?cm_vc=-10005
The way I will run this setup, this tank should never be empty as it is continuously fed from the RODI unit which is shut off with a float valve in the RODI storage tank. Daily, for about 30 minutes, a solenoid will open and refill as necessary.
RODI container shelf: I built the stand for the container using the same design as the sump cabinet (rocketengineer design).
finished container stand by choerenz, on FlickrRODI tank and stand by choerenz, on FlickrAs I was putting the stand together I was struck by an interesting idea that began to form. I had another small storage room that currently houses a fish QT tank, and what I was planning as setting up as a frag QT tank. But then I began to think, as I am pulling water out of my main display tank via the automatic water change pump, why drain it straight to the sink? So an idea was born"¦.
choss
New member
continued...
continued...
Frag Tank
Since I'm setting the main tank up with automated water changes (and dosing) it wouldn't make sense to then set up a frag tank that requires water changes and other maintenance. So I had a thought. What if I connected the frag tank to the main system in a one directional way. This last piece in important because I want to maintain corals in the same environment as the display tank, but without the risk of allowing any pests into the display.
So the solution I came up with is simple (and please send feedback if you see problems with it).
Step 1 drill the 20 long I was going to use as a frag tank. Attach a glass holes nano overflow. Paint bottom and back glass black "“ make it look awesome.
Preparing frag tank for drilling by choerenz, on Flickr
drilling frag tank by choerenz, on Flickr
clean hole for frag tank by choerenz, on Flickr
Nano overflow by choerenz, on Flickr
Step 2: Build a shelf into the water storage stand. Locate the frag tank under the RODI water storage tank.
shelf added to container stand by choerenz, on Flickr
Step 3: Connect a float value to the frag tank to allow for gravity fed RODI water.
Frag tank float valve by choerenz, on Flickr
Float valve from RODI by choerenz, on Flickr
continued...
Frag Tank
Since I'm setting the main tank up with automated water changes (and dosing) it wouldn't make sense to then set up a frag tank that requires water changes and other maintenance. So I had a thought. What if I connected the frag tank to the main system in a one directional way. This last piece in important because I want to maintain corals in the same environment as the display tank, but without the risk of allowing any pests into the display.
So the solution I came up with is simple (and please send feedback if you see problems with it).
Step 1 drill the 20 long I was going to use as a frag tank. Attach a glass holes nano overflow. Paint bottom and back glass black "“ make it look awesome.
Preparing frag tank for drilling by choerenz, on Flickrdrilling frag tank by choerenz, on Flickrclean hole for frag tank by choerenz, on FlickrNano overflow by choerenz, on FlickrStep 2: Build a shelf into the water storage stand. Locate the frag tank under the RODI water storage tank.
shelf added to container stand by choerenz, on FlickrStep 3: Connect a float value to the frag tank to allow for gravity fed RODI water.
Frag tank float valve by choerenz, on FlickrFloat valve from RODI by choerenz, on Flickr
choss
New member
continued...
continued...
Step 4: Rather than pouring the old water from the water change system down the drain, feed it into the frag tank in small doses (approximately 1.5 gallons a day, evenly throughout the day). As water enters the frag tank, the same amount flows out of the tank and into the sink.
Basically, the frag tank will get a consistent flow of water that has just left the main display. This water should have stable chemistry and quality (it is being drawn from the sump) and potentially allow me to avoid having to hook up a protein skimmer to the frag tank. Corals that are being held in the frag tank, should adjust well to the display since the chemistry should be similar. Yet no pests can enter the main display.
I was going to use a small 2 bulb T5 fixture for the frag tank but then I remembered that I had a metal halide, 175 W socket and ballast lying around from my old 30 gallon tank. This socket was not a mogul socket but I found an adaptor on Amazon. Then I ordered one of these
Ushio 14K by choerenz, on Flickr
Lamp warming up...
Ushio warming up by choerenz, on Flickr
Warmed up...
Ushio warmed up by choerenz, on Flickr
Here is the finished product. Since the main display is not yet hooked up (and feeding water to the frag tank) I am cycling the tank using some siporax in a HOB filter. I also have a heater and constructed a frag rack using black egg crate and some sexy red ¾" PVC. Right now my nitrite and ammonia is still a bit high so I'm dosing some MB7 and staying patient. Once the tank is stable I will move one or two frags from my holding tanks.
Frag tank FTS by choerenz, on Flickr
Frag rack by choerenz, on Flickr
continued...
Step 4: Rather than pouring the old water from the water change system down the drain, feed it into the frag tank in small doses (approximately 1.5 gallons a day, evenly throughout the day). As water enters the frag tank, the same amount flows out of the tank and into the sink.
Basically, the frag tank will get a consistent flow of water that has just left the main display. This water should have stable chemistry and quality (it is being drawn from the sump) and potentially allow me to avoid having to hook up a protein skimmer to the frag tank. Corals that are being held in the frag tank, should adjust well to the display since the chemistry should be similar. Yet no pests can enter the main display.
I was going to use a small 2 bulb T5 fixture for the frag tank but then I remembered that I had a metal halide, 175 W socket and ballast lying around from my old 30 gallon tank. This socket was not a mogul socket but I found an adaptor on Amazon. Then I ordered one of these
Ushio 14K by choerenz, on FlickrLamp warming up...
Ushio warming up by choerenz, on FlickrWarmed up...
Ushio warmed up by choerenz, on FlickrHere is the finished product. Since the main display is not yet hooked up (and feeding water to the frag tank) I am cycling the tank using some siporax in a HOB filter. I also have a heater and constructed a frag rack using black egg crate and some sexy red ¾" PVC. Right now my nitrite and ammonia is still a bit high so I'm dosing some MB7 and staying patient. Once the tank is stable I will move one or two frags from my holding tanks.
Frag tank FTS by choerenz, on FlickrFrag rack by choerenz, on Flickr
choss
New member
AZ - thanks for following along. Next steps....at times it is a bit overwhelming but here is a short list of what is to come:
* Glue up the back board for the main display stand (this will be fixed to the pipes in the back, perpendicular to the walnut top. The purpose for the board is simply to hide the PVC pipes and provide a way to run wires from the electrical cabinet to the sump cabinet. That project is almost done.
* Rally my local Westchester reef clubbers to come over and help me lift the tank onto the stand.
* Hang the light.
* Plumbing -I have it all but need to measure, cut and glue. I'm sure I'll be missing some critical piece but we'll see soon enough
* Rock - I have plenty of dry live rock sitting in a rubbermaid tub (right under the frag tank in the pic below)
Brute with live rock by choerenz, on FlickrI was thinking of going with live rock on this one. I had a lot of success with this approach many years ago but I'm also nervous about pests. This is probably the only piece of the puzzle that has left me undecided.
* move a few frags into the frag tank - I am testing daily as the tank cycles. Its almost there. I have three tanks running (a 40, a 20 long, and a 10) that have some livestock, rock etc. So I want to start by acclimating a few frags that are under LED to MH.
choss
New member
I do have an idea of what I want to do. I want to have two large Islands with a rift in the middle. SPS up top, some LPS on the outer edges to bring movement to the reef. I want to go somewhat minimalist with a clean sand bed. The picture that most inspires me right now s this one.
Islands by choerenz, on FlickrI can also share my scape from my 40 gallon Innovative Marine tank. Here are a few pics:
Scape 1 by choerenz, on Flickr
Scape 2 by choerenz, on Flickr
Scape 3 by choerenz, on Flickr
Scape 4 by choerenz, on FlickrAnd finally how it looks today
P5260234 by choerenz, on FlickrWill test a few designs out in the coming days and post some shots.
choss
New member
I appreciate that buddy. I would have been close to ready this weekend but I'm off to Saratoga Springs to check out some horse racing! Before I leave I will put one more coat of poly on the backboard for the main display stand and then once attached we just need to find some suction cups and get this baby in position.
P.S> you should add that sweet new frag tank to your signature. I'll check out your thread and see if you have any new shots of it!
choss
New member
Won 7 bucks on a 5 dollar bet. :rollface:
Looking forward to seeing your progress on the IM 40. Now that I'm barely paying attention to mine it's looking the best it's ever looked. :debi:
choss
New member
I was able to buy one 90 degree elbow from BRS for it but at this point I'll take whatever funding I can get!
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