Initial planning stages for tank and fish room

[sfsuphysics]

That is one of the purposes. To have an area that it will collect and a mechanism inside each that will reduce/process it.

A 30 gallon DSB inside a brute container with a flow of water over the top is supposed to process this material in the same manner that a beach/sand bed would.

I am still reading also.

would that be a wise choice of volume to surface area though? Is there an effective depth where your DSB won't be any more use? Seems a 30g brute would be too tall to be of much use but who knows.

I know there are sand filtering systems that work on the concept of a really large volume of sand, but they don't work like a DSB.

 

[dmaynard2]

cool set up

 

[Bilk]

Thanks dmaynard. Moving right along - the Elite Aquatics sump arrived last night and unboxed it this morning

A few pics of it on the rollout platform.

I have to say, for an off the shelf model, it's really well made and finished nicely. The packaging was super and provided a fringe benefit too I used the rigid insulation it was packed with to insulate and finish the wall under the tank on the inside of the fish room. Save me from having to go out and pick some up :dance:

They were really nice at EA and when I asked them if they could provide an additional threaded hole on the eurobracing, they did so and at no additional charge. So thumbs up all around for Elite Aquatics :thumbsup:

Worm here's what I'm thinking of doing for the secondary sump. It will be supplied from a manifold fed off of the main return and gravity feed back to the sump.

I'm still on the fence about the DSB and might just put a few lbs. of live rock there. I am pretty sure I'm going with minimal aquascaping in the display. Guess I'll cross that bridge down the road.

As of now, with this configuration, I only need to drill two holes in the sump for the skimmer - well unless I use the Jebao DC1200 as an external, which I might do for heat considerations. I also may used a media filter for carbon which will also be fed from the manifold and be external to the sump. I want the sump to remain free of equipment for ease of maintenance. I hate pulling wet equipment out of the sump and I find connections in the sump to be a pain.

Next up is to paint the stand and make a panel to hold the Apex, ballasts and other stuff. Then I'll plumb everything. It may be wet by the weekend for a water test! Oh I still have to make the remote sump too.


Edit: The secondary sump will actually be 20" deep. The main sump is 15" deep.

 

[worm5406]

Nice... that is about what I was thinking of too. Just let the water come into the RDSB and gravity flow out.

Nice... getting wet this weekend maybe huh? Nice!

 

[SantaMonica]

First tank I've seen with strip light accents; very nice

 

[wet records]

What an awesome build! I love the fish room, great ideas and pics all around.

I also like your accent lights around the tank. A friend of mine is prototyping a lamp of sort with similar lights, it's fun stuff!



...............nice Paradigm's, too

 

[Bilk]

Don't try this at home kids :crazy1:

So I wanted to put the insulation under the tank, but didn't have a second/third pair of hands.


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The power of the lever LOL Oh and a strong back

 

[worm5406]

What no pictures while you were lifting?

 

[Bilk]

What no pictures while you were lifting?

LOL well what do you think the second and third hands were for anyway? Helping to lift? Nah. Pics

Sand is on UPS truck as are some other supplies, and will be delivered today. I still need a few fittings though from US Plastics, so wetness may not happen this weekend

Going to try Tropic Eden Mini Flakes. I hope I don't regret it LOL 150lbs worth, which should make about 1.5". Now I need to figure out who I want to order rock from and what type. Has anyone purchased from golfliverock dot com? I was thinking of using the coralline rock which is cycled but no critters, or so they say. I hate cycling with live rock and then having to clean up the die-off and remove any baddies that come onboard. So if anyone has a suggestion I'm open. Otherwise I'm going with dead rock from MacroRocks.

 

[Bilk]

Thanks SantaMonica and wet records. I thought the recessed LEDs would add a little pizzazz. Great for parties too :celeb1:

 

[reefish123]

Sorry for joining alittle late to the party? may I ask your personal opinion as to why you decided to go with Acrylic opose to a Glass tank? Build is comming nicely great job.

 

[Bilk]

Sorry for joining alittle late to the party? may I ask your personal opinion as to why you decided to go with Acrylic opose to a Glass tank? Build is comming nicely great job.

There were a few reasons. The first reason was getting the tank down the stairs to the location. It's only a half a flight, but it wasn't something I really wanted to do. I also knew I'd be moving it around a bit during the construction and build phase. The same size tank in glass would weigh +200lbs more. The floor structure wasn't an issue as the subfloor is concrete. It was the moving around stuff that was at issue.

Only one side is exposed, so scratching isn't that much of a concern. I realize I'll have to clean the inside, and well, I guess I'll find out more about acrylic LOL Heck I've scratched glass tanks, so nothing is bulletproof.

Lastly, a glass tank of similar design priced out to be twice as much. I'd rather spend that money on corals or some good dinners I didn't see the justification of spending that much more for what is essentially the same thing.

I guess I'll find out if I made a good choice ....... or not

Thanks for the props. Having some fun with this.

 

[Mysticalknight]

nice build so far, that rolling sump platform is an awesome idea!

 

[reefish123]

There were a few reasons. The first reason was getting the tank down the stairs to the location. It's only a half a flight, but it wasn't something I really wanted to do. I also knew I'd be moving it around a bit during the construction and build phase. The same size tank in glass would weigh +200lbs more. The floor structure wasn't an issue as the subfloor is concrete. It was the moving around stuff that was at issue.

Only one side is exposed, so scratching isn't that much of a concern. I realize I'll have to clean the inside, and well, I guess I'll find out more about acrylic LOL Heck I've scratched glass tanks, so nothing is bulletproof.

Lastly, a glass tank of similar design priced out to be twice as much. I'd rather spend that money on corals or some good dinners I didn't see the justification of spending that much more for what is essentially the same thing.

I guess I'll find out if I made a good choice ....... or not

Thanks for the props. Having some fun with this.

For sure on the dinner side I love food. Hahaha

Im currently undecided for my new build 84-36-24 thinking really hard on to which material to go with. Lucky for me we have plenty tank builders to it gives me different options.

Just a question now that your set on acrylic...

sand? If so what kind? Any thoughts on crushed coral?

Turbo snails? Y/N.

Anyway where is the like button for the light fixture? Great job im contemplating ecoexotics 100w cannons.

Anyway subscribed.

 

[Bilk]

For sure on the dinner side I love food. Hahaha

Im currently undecided for my new build 84-36-24 thinking really hard on to which material to go with. Lucky for me we have plenty tank builders to it gives me different options.

Just a question now that your set on acrylic...

sand? If so what kind? Any thoughts on crushed coral?

Turbo snails? Y/N.

Anyway where is the like button for the light fixture? Great job im contemplating ecoexotics 100w cannons.

Anyway subscribed.

I ordered Tropic Eden Mini Reef Flakes for the "sand"/substrate. We'll see how that goes I'll also put a small cleanup crew in, mostly those I already have in the 50g tank I have running now. I had good luck in the past with sand sifting cucs so may add one or two as well. Did a really great job of keeping the sand clean of detritus and looking white. Starfish are always cool, but sometimes difficult to keep for various and unknown reasons, but I'll try one and see how that goes. Gobies will also be included.

Tank is clean and ready for plumbing, which commences today :celeb3:

Edit: Well I wanted to try the Cannons. I know that they're used on public displays. Hopefully they work well for growing corals.

 

[Bilk]

nice build so far, that rolling sump platform is an awesome idea!

Thanks. I hate having to reach/crawl under a tank. I think the platform will work as planned. I needed/wanted to put something for the equipment to sit on anyway, so adding a few casters wasn't much addition work.

 

[reefish123]

Sweet man happy for you..

I was talking to Tony Vargas this last weekend at ReefaPalooza he actually did recommend the cannons he's has his tank for a few months and as noticed great sps growing well. He highly recommend them.

I have basically tried just about every light out in the market my current lighting is ATI T5 led powermodule.

Anyhow be sure to keep those pictures comming.

 

[reefish123]

As for rock I use cerameco great company for ceramic rock no critters just be sure to cycle also ask for their detox blocks 10x more pourous than live rock.

 

[DrHarryLopez]

Amazing build you have going there Bill. Very nice having you over to our club meeting. Keep up the great work. Hope to see soon.

 

[acesq]

Great build you have going! I'd love to know more about the construction of the light support assembly. Can you refer me to the CanReef thread or give me more details of how you constructed it? Thanks.

Art