Custom 240 Starphire Pennisula Tank: 5+ years planning

[BrettH]

Hello everyone.Wow, the addiction is starting to really come back now as I start writing this thread. Let's just say I've had a couple things come up in my life that caused me to patiently put this build on hold since 2005.

I've been planning this for a long, long, long time. In fact the Tank was actually purchased in 2004 from Aquariums For You. My hope is this build thread will be both educational for me and anyone else building a reef tank. This hobby is just as much art as it is science. Meaning there are numerous ways to achieve the same science. That's one of the great aspects of this hobby. With that said, a lot has changed since I had my last tank. GFO and carbon dosing has really taken off and LEDs have come a long way. Not to mention the actual species of corals being kept has grown considerably.

System

The total system volume will be approximately 325 gallons. The tank is located on the first floor with a remote sump room in the basement/garage. I plan on using a refugium on a reverse lighting schedule. I am also planning on using GFO and if nitrates become an issue then I will implement Bio-pellets. I plan on keeping SPS, LPS, clams and whatever else catches my eye. I will certainly have a lot of Fish. Love anthias, angels (reef safe ones), tangs, wrasses etc...I hope the Dialyseas I am planning will allow me to keep a rather large bio load in check.

We live on the coast of CT and are located in a flood plain. This creates some extra design considerations. For example, all the equipment in the garage/basement (approx 2000sqrft with radiant heat) has to be elevated at least 20" off the ground in case of a hurricane/flood. All electrical systems have to be at least 36" off the floor. During the most recent hurricane (hurricane Irene) our garage had about 15" of water in it.

Tank Dimensions: 72x30x25 Starphire glass on three sides with internal overflow. I believe this is considered a Herbie overflow with one drain acting as siphon and the second as a backup/control? I've already tested and it works great. I would have gone bigger, but the house has some design limitations taht didn't allow for it

Sump Dimensions: 36x24x16 (the final design and dimension are still a work in progress. I'll explain as we get into the pictures)
Refugium: 75 gallons "“ 48x21x18

Equipment

-Dialyseas from sea visions (automates water changes)
-Geo 818 Calcium Reactor w/aquarium plants Electronic regulator
-Bubble King Super Marin 200
-Two Vertex UF-20 media filters (GFO and maybe Bio-pellets)
-Three Ecotech Radions
-Controller: waiting for Vertex Cerebra
-Chiller is JBJ Artica 1/3HP
-Finnex heater 500watts to start
-Circulation: 4 way Ocean motions (considering tunze wave box and VorTechs)
-Dolphin 6250 Amp Master Diamond. I have about 14ft of head pressure, and with the 4700 I was getting ~1500 gph
-Lighting for fuge: TBD
-Substrate: 1" of Tropic Eden reef flakes
-Rock: BRS Reef saver and my Fiji and Tonga rock from my prior system ~225lbs. I plan on a minimalist layout
-Cabinet: custom built with recovered barnwood for the panels

Pictures to follow.

I hope everyone enjoys this thread.

Cheers
-Brett

 

[Adamc1303]

I love the equipment list. Tagging along!

 

[BrettH]

Here is rendering of the tank and cabinet. Our House is nantucket shingle style with a beach feel emphasis. The grey panels are supposed to represent some barnwood I got from VT.



Shot of the tank and the Oceans motions. The returns for the OM are plumbed through the euro bracing with one return in each corner. I can easily get 2000gph, but plan on running about 1500 GPH. And if I decide to add VorTechs then I'll probably dial the pump way down.





Drains and Return line going down to the Garage. I used Flex PVC, but I wasn't thrilled with it. The valves have all been changed out to Scheudle 80 true union valves, but I don't have a current picture.

 

[robferrari]

I'm interested to see how your stand comes out I like the idea!

 

[BrettH]

Thanks Adam. I love your tag line....couldn't agree more!! In fact I think I need a scotch right now to settle down my excitement to build this tank. I feel like a kid again!

 

[BrettH]

House Design/Layout consideration

The great thing about building a house is that you can really take advantage of designing the tank into the space. So with that in mind a main design consideration was that we wanted to be able to see the tank from just about anywhere on the first floor. Our floor plan is open, so you can see the tank from the kitchen, the dining room, great room and as soon as you walk in through the foyer. The only rooms you can't see the tank from on the first floor are the office and the family room. Here are some views of the tank around the room (we just moved in in December, so still buying furniture etc.):

 

[BrettH]

Robferrari - I am anxious to see how it comes out too. We have some of the barnwood on the ceilings of two of our bathrooms and it looks great IMHO. The wood trim running around the base of the tank is Sapele Mahogany. It's wide enough to sit a beer on it, a key design element of the stand! :beer:

 

[laredo300c]

Wow awesome build, will follow along closely, great living/family room, I am big on house design/floor plans and a tank really does feel like it belongs there. Good job

 

[BrettH]

Well it's been a week or so since I gave my last update. A few beers and some help from a buddy and here's where we are: I've completed the stand in the garage which will hold the 75 gallon refugium, a 60 gallon sump along with all the other equipment. And I've also completed some of the plumbing and electrical work


Here is a shot of the stand. I would love to get some feedback regarding what type of paint others have used with success. I've just painted it with two latex sealer coats for the time being. After I have all the equipment plumbed and working, then I'll put the final coats on with something more durable.


The blue Rubbermaid tub is only temporary to help with design and test water flow. This is the location of the sump that I am having built. Since the sump will be running with approximately 2000-3000gph, I would love some feedback from anyone who has this much flow going through their sump as to design ideas. Particularly spacing of baffles and how many. Currently planning 4 1" apart. The sump's dimensions are: 36x24x17 and will have an operating depth of 8". I will be running a BK 200 Supermarin. So if anyone has any experience with this skimmer and the appropriate sump depth, I would love to hear from you too! So many questions!!

Cheers!

 

[BrettH]

Wide Angle shot of the sump stand/area. The drain and return line penetrate the floor on the left side of the picture. You can see a hole in the soffit. They then run over to the right side of the picture and into the closet which is behind the sump stand.


The closet holds the return pump, two media filters (not plumbed) and a 300 GPD RO system that is really only about 200 GPD.



Shot of pumbing. One note this picture has changed a bit. I didn't relaize that pressure fittings (which are true sch 40) are different from "drain" fittings. I had to go back and change all the return lines to use pressure fittings. I still haven't changed all of them, but any enclosed in the walls or in the house have been changed for peace of mind. And Ultra/Flex PVC Sucks for tight turns IMHO. You really need to be careful when using it. In this shot, this is fine. Anything tighter, forget it. I personally think you are asking for trouble.


Return pump with basket. I see a lot of people not using a basket. It's cheap insurance. Since I have the space, it's a must. I can see why others might not given tight space restrictions.

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

A few things:

Are you having to support the tank from underneath structurally?

Did you already have the OM as I thought they were not being produced right now.

You want slow water movement through your fuge.... I am about to start a 1200 gallon project and my design only has 600 GPH (the number going through the Skimmer) in the sump and 350 GPH through the fuge for longer contact time. Flow in the tank should mostly be the closed loop and powerheads if added.

Paint...It really depends on how concerned you are with water....if you expect that every ten years or so you are going to have 12" of water in your basement...you may want to go out and use epoxy covering on the lower half, particularly on joints and end pieces.... you can get a way with 3 good coats of a gloss (repels water better) paint on top.....

What are you doing about humidity in the garage?

I am going to follow along as your build and mine are somewhat similar.....I live on the water in Florida...so flooding is a concern, I will have humidity problems, the tank is on the second floor with the equipment room on the first..... etc.....

 

[BrettH]

Hi FuzzyZipperbaum...good questions...see below...

Are you having to support the tank from underneath structurally?

If you mean the floor (i.e. not the tank stand), then yes. When we built the house, we added two 12W35 steel Ibeams about 6ft apart. Then TJIs 230s span between the steel beams approx 1ft on center. The tank sits perpendicular to the TJIs and parallel to the steel beams

Did you already have the OM as I thought they were not being produced right now.

Yes. It was purchased in 2004 and never used. I was going to scrap it, but I decided to keep it and if needed I can easily add a wave box and vortechs next to the overflow. I actually have water in the tank right now and the flow looks great.

You want slow water movement through your fuge....

Agreed! My old 75 system utilized a 20 gallon fuge and I turned it maybe once a day. Worked great!

I am about to start a 1200 gallon project

Sweet! :dance: So is the tank going to be 1200 gallons? I would have gone bigger, but I had some design limitations and a fiancee that didn't want her entire dinning room to be a fish tank!

and my design only has 600 GPH (the number going through the Skimmer) in the sump and 350 GPH through the fuge for longer contact time. Flow in the tank should mostly be the closed loop and powerheads if added.

Are you saying that you are planning on running half the volume of your tank through the sump per hour? i.e. flow through sump/total tank size = 600/1200 = .5x per hour. That seems a bit on the low side, especially for heating and skimming IMHO. I would think you would want to plan for at least 1200 x 3 = 3600 GPH through the sump. The Advanced Aquarist had an article on skimmer efficiency and one conclusion was that the max any skimmer could remove was ~30% of TOC (total organic carbon). So I would think that this would argue against a slow flow to the skimmer. If you process the same water three times, it doesn't matter becuase the skimmer can only remove 30% of TOC.

I peronsally don't believe you need to turn it 10x and every system is different, but I like the idea that hopefully a high sump turnover rate will help capture detritus before it disolves.

I did originally plan to do a closed loop, but I opted out of it becuase I wanted all equipement/noise in the garage. Now I just have a very high flow rate through the sump which is fine by me. If I decide to dial it back I'll definitely add vortech pumps.

Absolutley agree with the fuge. I had no issues with my prior tank running it that slow.

Paint...It really depends on how concerned you are with water....if you expect that every ten years or so you are going to have 12" of water in your basement...you may want to go out and use epoxy covering on the lower half, particularly on joints and end pieces.... you can get a way with 3 good coats of a gloss (repels water better) paint on top.....

Good point

What are you doing about humidity in the garage?

TBD - I am in a wait and see mode. If it's really bad then I am going to add an AC unit. I am open to any other suggestions.

I am going to follow along as your build and mine are somewhat similar.....I live on the water in Florida...so flooding is a concern, I will have humidity problems, the tank is on the second floor with the equipment room on the first..... etc.....

Great, glad to have you aboard...hopefully it will yield us both better systems! :fun4:

 

[BrettH]

Design Sketch

Design Sketch

Sketchup has nothing on me!! :lol: ...I figured I'd give everyone a hand drawn version of design.

 

[BrettH]

Equipment Update

Equipment Update

Well it's been raining UPS packages here at my house the last couple weeks since I lasted posted. Thank god I get home before my fiancée !

BK200 (Supermarin) - I am really impressed with the build quality. This is a solid skimmer, I can't wait to get it running. I could not believe how big the pump is. It's huge IMHO. And only use ~40watts. crazy

The calcium reactor is the GEO 818. Certainly oversized for my 325 gallons, but that means I can use less gas which will help with PH swings. And the addded bonus of not having to change the media that often which equals less mainatenace!!

 

[BrettH]

Dialyseas

Dialyseas

And the Dialyseas.

I was able to pick this up from another reefer here on RC. It's brand new now. When it got delivered, it got damage. Since Mike used the UPS store to "professionally" pack it, we got them to pay for the repairs. This went back to Seavisions and they completely rebuilt it. Basically I got a brand new unit for about 25% the cost of a new one!! :bounce1:

 

[BrettH]

Equipment Stand

Equipment Stand

Another shot of some of the equipment and it's location. I plumbed in two Vertex media reactors that feed into the sump off a manifold from the main pump. Up top is the Chiller, GEO and Dailyseas. The GEO and the Chiller are also feed by the manifold. Where the skimmer is currently sitting, I will be putting a 75 gallon refugium.

The sump I am using is only temporary. After I have had a chance to understand the Dialyseas and exactly where I want to locate all the sensors and return lines from the recator and dialyseas, I'll design the sump. Plus I want to see what the optimal water level is for the skimmer.

What a mess!!:hmm5:

 

[rjinct]

Following along. Keep the updates coming! Love the "old skool" sketchup.

 

[BrettH]

Thanks rjinct! So much quicker to just draw it right now!! No time to put it into Sketchup. plus I am sure my plan has changed a few times. theory vs. reality.

 

[BrettH]

Tank Shots

Tank Shots

And finally water is in the tank!!

 

[mseepman]

Wow is all I can say! Great build thread. I'm doing a very very similar build right now and so seeing you move so quickly has really got me itching to get things going.

You said you've had the tank for a long time already...was it just sitting empty and were you worried about the silicon after that time? Mine has been sitting (after being custom made for almost 2yrs and I'm worried) so I'm hoping you'll tell me that I shouldn't be!

Keep the pictures coming...I'm pumped to see what's next.