Well, how do you start a build thread??? About 37 years ago Mom gave me a 10 gallon guppy tank and now I'm working on a 390 gallon mixed reef. As I build, PLEASE feel free to make suggestions. I KNOW THAT I DON'T KNOW IT ALL. The stand is 1.5 inch square tube 3/16 thick. It took 240 feet to build the stand, hood and hood supports. Welding was done by Jeff, a friend from work. I had it powdercoated white, moved it into the billiards room and assembled it. The tank is a Glass Cages 390 gallon glass, with three overflow boxes. In each box is a 2 inch and a 1.5 inch bulkhead. On the backwall are two 2 inch bulkheads. The three 2 inch holes in the boxes drain through 1.5 inch Durso standpipes into a manifold that will feed the sump skimmer section and the refugium. The sump will return through a Sequence Dart through the center box 1.5 inch hole and then to 4 Lock-line 3/4 inch fittings into the center section of the eurobracing. The two 2 inch holes on the back will feed 2 closed loops. Each will have a Sequence Dart and an Ocean Motion 4-way. The OM 4-ways will be fed from the pumps through the two 1.5 inch holes in the end overflow boxes. Each OM 4-way outlet will feed two 3/4 inch Lock-line fittings, which will surround the end eurobraced sections. There will be a total of 20 Lock-line fittings feeding the tank, with 16 from 2 separate OM 4-ways. The back wall is sprayed with black pond foam. I liked the way it looks on Sidewinder770's tank. The skimmer is a JDM Technologies dual beckett, sized to fit in my stand. It's 38 inches tall x 8 inch diameter with a 8 inch waste collector. I'll power it with 2 GenX PCX55HP pumps as recommended by the manufacturer. In the garage are two 65 gallon barrels plumbed through one pump and 2 pipes to the sump. One is RO/DI water for top-off and one is for mixing salt water for water changes. I'm a water change freak, so the simpler the better. I'll use dry sand, about 4-5 inches, and DIY GARF style rock. I have 344 lbs of it curing in the swimming pool. I need to make about another 150 lbs or so. I'll bring it to life with 65 lbs of GARF Grunge, and some live sand from some friends tanks. Lighting will be three 250 watt metal halide 10K and some T5 actinics. Electricity is supplied by four 20 amp decicated circuits. Also and yet to be purchased will bea calcium reactor, ozone generator and reactor, controller w/pc interface, phosphate reactor, and who knows what else. The sump will be DIY similar to melev model H. After some advice from a friend, I decided to wait to build it until I know EXACTLY how much space I have for the sump, since all equipment will be in the stand or hood. I have a 50 gallon quarantine for safety. Also, I still need a RO/DI unit. The stand/hood will be covered in Mohogany to match my pool table.
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