My new 120

[Chrisrush]

Well, a buddy of mine came over yesterday and we were able to move the tank and stand into the kitchen for a test fit.

Everything went fine except that I have to take it off and enlarge 2 of the holes in the plywood for the bulkhead nuts. I've learned a lot in setting this tank up so far, and I'm sure there will be more learning to come.

I have more pictures of the tank and the equipment at home but I wanted to post some for the morning crew and I'll list the equipment here in case anyone wants to make any suggestions.

- 120 gallon (4x2x2) Oceanic RR tank barebottom tank
- HDPE bottom cut by DFW plastics
- DIY steel stand (1.5" square steel tubing, designed by grim-bob and
welding by my father-in-law, painted by myself with 2 coats of primer
and 3 coats of black steel paint)
- 58 gallon (36x21x18) DIY sump with skimmer-->return-->fuge setup
- MRC MR-2 skimmer powered by a Gen-X PCX-55 pump
- Mag 9.5 return pump feeding 2 3/4" returns and my soon to be DIY Ca
reactor
- CL (based on Melev and Keith's suggestions) powered by a second
Gen-X PCX-55 pump into 2 penductors
- Reeftanklighting 48" enclosure w/ 2x250w 10k XM MH and 2x46.5 110w
VHO actinics w/ 3 LED (autoillumination.com) moonlights w/ 2 92mm
fans in the canopy
- 2x200w heaters
- Reefkeeper controller
- Fuge filled w/ cheato and possibly mangroves powered by a Melev
special fuge bulb
- RO/DI unit installed in laundry room w/ hose routed through attic to
back of tank along with 2 20 amp dedicated GFCI circuits (installed by
myself and my father-in-law)
- Dr. Foster's & Smith Refractormeter

Still to complete:

- Skin stand and build trim around lighting enclosure
- Hook up electrical DJ panels
- DIY Ca reactor, Kalk reactor, carbon & phosphate remover
- Put water and fish in

These aren't as good as the mermaid pictures on some people's threads, but it's all I've got.

 

[Chrisrush]

BTW, the stand is 39" tall. I didn't realize how tall the top of the tank would be after it was sitting on the stand, but it tops out right around 5'5". My wife can see right under the black trim on the top of the tank. I think that it'll look real good once it's done, but I'll need to buy a new step ladder.

My old setup was a 58 gallon Oceanic, drilled in the back left corner. I had a really hard time with the flow in this tank, but hopefully the penductors will take care of that on this tank. I am using the 58 as a sump tank now, which will replace my old Rubbermaid sump. I have some pictures of the old setup but Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m kinda embarrassed to show them as they are pretty ugly.

Right now, all my corals and fish are in those same Rubbermaid tubs awaiting the completion of the new tank. Here is a picture of the temp. setup:

My wife really wants her dining room back. One day at a time, I tell her. I was originally going to drill through the wall and put all the equip. in the garage w/ the display tank in the dining room. After several discussions with my wife, we decided that it would be better served in the kitchen.

I have my rock and mangroves in the garage until I can figure out what to do with them. I might be selling the mangroves as I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t plan to have sand in the fuge in this tank. If anyone wants them, Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll trade them for some frags in a few weeks. I believe there are around 12 mangroves, all with 2-3 leaf divisons per plant.

 

[Chrisrush]

Before we could move the tank into the house, I wanted to do some home improvements, even though this is a brand new house. My father in law came up to visit so while he was here, I figured that we could climb up in the attic and run some power and h2o lines to the kitchen. Well, after several hot and sweaty hours up in the attic, we installed 2 20 amp dedicated GFCI circuits. While we were up there we ran the RO/DI line from the laundry room to behind the tank.

So, after we got that installed, I needed to work on the stand and the sump. Like I said earlier, I built the sump out of my old 58. It fit nicely under the stand with a little room left on the side to put the skimmer pump and the CL pump. I still need to build a little stand to hold one of the pumps off the floor (probably the CL pump). Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve got a question on pump mounting though, can you mount them vertically or on there side?

I made the sump by buying some Ã"šÃ‚¼Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ clear acrylic from DFW Plastics (contact Barbara and tell her I sent you). I have bought several things from them including clear plastic tube (kalk reactor, carbon chamber, etc.), clear acrylic sheeting, and HDPE for the BB. They are very competitive and on my way home from work. They are a little slow sometimes, but very good in pricing.

Here is a picture of the sump and after filling. I still need to install the probes and JG fittings for the top-off h2o, ca reactor, etc. I also need to get another bead of silicone on the baffles. Anyone know how to get silicone b/w baffles? I was thinking of getting a straw or something imbetween the baffles.

Here is a picture of the skimmer in the sump:

 

[Chrisrush]

As I said before, Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m going with a MRC MR-2 skimmer fed with a Gen-X PCX-55 pump. I think that this skimmer will be a little overkill for my system, but at least I wonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have to buy another skimmer for a while. I bought the tank and the skimmer from a guy in Houston who was going with a different setup. Got a great deal on a brand new tank and a used skimmer. The skimmer has been drilled for 2 beckett injectors but at this point, Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m only going to use a single beckett. I need to drill out the Ã"šÃ‚¾Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ beckett or upgrade to the 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ version that Andy at MRC has come out with, only problem is that $80 price tag.

I also DIYââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ed a skimmer collection container from a 1 gallon tea bottle. It was pretty easy after I found all the parts. I will probably need to upgrade to a larger bucket after a while, but this will suffice for now.

Like I said before, I am going BB w/ HDPE from Nationwide Plastics. This was the cheapest place that I could find it locally and other that having it shipped from the cuttingboardcompany.com, which in the end would have costed more, I decided to call up Barbara and have Nationwide Plastics cut me some. I actually had a brain fart and mis quoted them on the dimensions but they were able to cut me a larger piece and substitute it for me. I cut out the overflows and installed it. I had this same color on my old 58 and really liked how it looked after a few months w/ coralline covering it. I plan on having some zoas and maybe GSP covering the bottom of this new tank.

For circulation, I decieded to keep my Mag 9.5 that was from my 58 and use it as a sump return. I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t want that much flow through the sump to avoid the microbubble issue and to give my skimmer, fuge, and other reactors time to clean the water. This mag 9 will be split into 2 Ã"šÃ‚¾Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ returns finishing in loclines provided by Oceanic.

In tank circulation will be provided by a Gen-X PCX-55 powering 2 penductors. I contacted Andy at MRC and we talked about these along w/ Keith here on DFWMAS. I figure that I can get about 2000 gph out of each penductor w/ adding any powerheads to the display. I might later on add a Seio on a wavemaker (6hrs on, 6 hrs. off) to add some random currents. The penductors will be attached using locline as well so that I can aim the flow throughout the tank.

 

[Chrisrush]

Once I got the stand painted with this paint:

I was able to cut out the bulkhead holes in the Ã"šÃ‚¾Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ foam and the Ã"šÃ‚¾Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ plywood. This was suggested to me by several people and I think that itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s probably the safest way to build a proper setup, especially with a steel stand. The only problem that I had was cutting out the holes. I measured the bulkheads and then I measured from the wood, not accounting the stand and the trim. I had to remove the tank off the stand 3x to redrill the holes so that I could get the bulkhead nuts on. My friends werenââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t too happy about that, but thatââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s what they get for being friends.

Here is a picture of the wood, painted with Kilz to protect it. I plan on putting the sump on the smaller piece of plywood along w/ some foam to protect it as well.

I plan on putting a wooden skin on the stand and Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll protect the inside of the wood with Kilz as well.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I've posted this on DFWMAS as well.

Chris

 

[tgunn]

Great job on everything so far!

How do you like the steel stand? I'm quite glad I went with a steel stand for my tank. It's so clean and lightweight compared to anything I'd have made out of wood...

Heh, funny picture of the dog in the tank. My wife wanted to take a similar picture, but I wouldn't let her; I have a feeling my dog would not take too kindly to being in the tank. :lol:

Nice clean way of installing the RO/DI water outlet! I like it!

Later,
Tyler

 

[Chrisrush]

Thanks Tyler.

I figured that since I was up in the attic, I'd go ahead and run a line for the RO/DI. I wanted to keep it as clean as I could in order to gain as much approval from the wife. I don't think she would have appreciated having 50 ft. of tubing run throughout the house.

It was actually my wife's idea to put the dog in the tank. He kinda just sat there and stared out at us. He's our little dogfaced puffer.

I like the steel stand. I agree with the weight, I can move it around by myself. Next tank I will definitely use steel again.

Chris

 

[tgunn]

Thanks Tyler.

I figured that since I was up in the attic, I'd go ahead and run a line for the RO/DI. I wanted to keep it as clean as I could in order to gain as much approval from the wife. I don't think she would have appreciated having 50 ft. of tubing run throughout the house.

It was actually my wife's idea to put the dog in the tank. He kinda just sat there and stared out at us. He's our little dogfaced puffer.

I like the steel stand. I agree with the weight, I can move it around by myself. Next tank I will definitely use steel again.

Chris

The wife approval factor is important. That's why there's fish stencils on the walls in the fish room for my build. :lol:

Heh, I think with a puffer that size you'd need a tank upgrade already! :lol:

Yes, I'm definitely going to go with steel for the next tank I do as well. Do you mind if I ask how much you spent on materials for your stand? Mine was $525 CDN including a powder coat finish. I'm just curious how much I could've saved by getting the steel myself and having my friend weld it...

Later,
Tyler

 

[Chrisrush]

Materials - Steel: $70 US
Paint: $10 US
Accessories: $10 US

Probably around $100 or so.

My father in law did a great job but I think that I'll get it done professionally next time, just too much stress trying to get it down to his house and back (~3 drive, one-way).

Yea, that puffer is full grown, but we have to keep him trimmed back or he will clog the skimmer and overflows.

I'll have to show those fish stencils to my wife, she'll get a kick out of them. I'm trying to get my wife to piant some reef pictures if she can get some time.

Chris

 

[tgunn]

My father in law did a great job but I think that I'll get it done professionally next time, just too much stress trying to get it down to his house and back (~3 drive, one-way).

Yeah, there's something to be said for stress-free convenience when working with things like that.. Heh..

I ended up just buying a skimmer premade instead of building one myself... I had thought to build my own but realized that I've NEVER worked with acrylic before and knowing my luck I'd shatter the acrylic tube and be out more than having just bought a skimmer.

Heh, yeah, the fish stencils were funny. I don't mind, it's just the fish room.

Tyler

 

[Chrisrush]

Very true. I was originally going to have everything by the display tank in the dining room and then put all the equip in the garage, didn't work out, but it was worth a shot.

I think working w/ acrylic just takes practice. I've been trying my hand at it on a few scrap pieces at home and it's really not that difficult to get a good seal, now making it look good is a different story. I'm going to try and build a kalk reactor and a carbon/phosphate remover reactor soon.

Yea, I was originally going to have a friend here in Dallas take it to a friend who could weld, but it fell through. My father in law can weld but he hasn't done it in a while, so it was more of a learning experience for both of us. Lots of grinding was involved.

Chris

 

[daistarya]

I just have to say that that is such a cute doggie!!!!

Oh and the tank is nice too.

 

[NoSchwag]

Just so you know for future reference, I am pretty sure you can "piggyback" 7 regular oulets to 1 GFI making all 8 GFI.

The guy I got my tank from had a very simular setup, he seemed to do very well with it.

question..

Did you test run the pumps to see how loud both 55's will be in your kitchen?

 

[Chrisrush]

daistarya,
Thanks. I'm quite fond of both of them.

NoSchwag,
Those are 2 seperate circuits, so I can still run up to 15 amps off each GFCI, correct? I haven't finished w/ the electrical panel yet, probably something similar to what Lunarcubes did.

I haven't run any of my pumps yet. I talked to Andy at MRC and he said that pump is pretty quiet. I guess we will see.

Chris

 

[NoSchwag]

That's cool that you have 2 circuits in the same place, I only have 1 stupid circuit. :/

 

[Chrisrush]

Yea, two dedicated circuits should make things easier. I'm hoping to have h2o in it this week. Just gotta finish up the plumbing and hang the lights.

Chris

 

[Puffers]

I believe any number of outlets down stream of a GFI won't affect the performance of the GFI. The question I have Chris is do you live in a cold weather state? I didn't get a chance to check out your profile. If you have the RO/DI line in attic is there any chance for the line to freeze or break due to the differences in temperature? Other than that looks sweet.

 

[FATDUBS]

120

120

nice setup you have going, will you have the sump area open or close? I have the same size tank as you I started it in January hope you had as much fun plumbing as i did heir is a few pic
this is a full shot

a few things added some new and some from my 55

this is my sump I used all the space under the stand to max I have a 29 gallon diy tub four external pumps two for return one for skimmer[also external] and UV and one for reactor one of the return pumps also run through the chiller that's under there also

 

[Chrisrush]

Puffers,
I'm in TX so the extreme cold won't be much of a problem. I'm considering putting better tubing in the attic if I get around to it, probably once it cools down some. I covered the tubing w/ insulation so that should help some too.

Fatdubs,
Looks good. I plan on covering the sump area w/ some sort of wood skin. Your space under your stand is full. I bet mine will be like that once I get it plumbed. What do you have running your eductor?

Chris

 

[FATDUBS]

I have a little giant 2qmdx I think I know between the two I have a lot of water rushing into the sump giving me so micro bubble problems I even have one turned down some from full. I know is enough to see the fishes get moved around when they swim in the path of it