My plan of a 125 gallon build

SimonSKL said:
You are right about model 1450 being discontinued by Reeflo. In fact they have discontinued all models below 2700 which is really disappointing. The pump is a great pump, quiet and efficient. Good thing is I bought a backup pump with extra impeller from the Used Equipment forum so I am okay for a few more years.

The pump did get hot one day last month and I took it out to clean it (I haven't cleaned it for over a year since I started last March) and it is now running fine. May be you should look into a DC return pump. From what I heard, they are also extremely quiet and very efficient with variable speed control. Price has come down considerably and you can use it both inside and outside the sump.
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Hi Simon,

I have to say you are very lucky with your pump.
The reason they discontinued that pump its because its junk.
I have nothing but problems with my 1450. in 6 months i got 3 replacements. First one was working fine for couple of months and one day just stopped. Locked impeller. Pump got so hot that burned my finger! got a replacement (used) but on high setting it was creating tons of micro bubbles! i mean tons!!! got a replacement (used) it was working fine till couple of weeks ago. It got locked up again and super hot in minutes. lucky for me i was home.

And its not just me there is a lot of complaints about it on the forum.
Simon, hope you dont mind me posting in your thread.
And if you need a spare parts let me know i have 2 broken pumps sitting in my basement.
 
drukkosz said:
Hi Simon,

I have to say you are very lucky with your pump.
The reason they discontinued that pump its because its junk.
I have nothing but problems with my 1450. in 6 months i got 3 replacements. First one was working fine for couple of months and one day just stopped. Locked impeller. Pump got so hot that burned my finger! got a replacement (used) but on high setting it was creating tons of micro bubbles! i mean tons!!! got a replacement (used) it was working fine till couple of weeks ago. It got locked up again and super hot in minutes. lucky for me i was home.

And its not just me there is a lot of complaints about it on the forum.
Simon, hope you dont mind me posting in your thread.
And if you need a spare parts let me know i have 2 broken pumps sitting in my basement.
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drukkosz, Thanks for sharing your experience. I am keeping my fingers crossed and eyes opened on this pump. So far it has been running fine and just slightly warm to the touch since I cleaned it two months ago. I am going to start a polling thread in the equipment forum to gather some data from other Blowhole 1450 users of their experience.
 
I run mine on high all the time because I am also driving a GFO, a Carbon, calcium reactor, and a UV sterilizer with my manifold.
 
Do you have any dimension for your stand and canopy? I want to try to do the same.....
Is it really much cheaper than store price?
Thank you
 
Jufon said:
Do you have any dimension for your stand and canopy? I want to try to do the same.....
Is it really much cheaper than store price?
Thank you
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Jufon, first of all welcome to RC!!

The commercial stand and canopy is just too low for my preference and not as sturdy in my opinion but you can't beat the price as a custom made stand and canopy like mine cost more than the commercially made one, especially if you have to pay someone to build one.

As far as dimension they are all based on the size of the tank except the height of the stand and canopy. A custom built one allows you to make it to the height that you want to accommodate various types of equipment used beneath the tank and inside the canopy.

When deciding on the height of the canopy, you should consider the proportion among the stand, tank and canopy. I have seen many tanks with very tall canopy which draws the attention away from the display tank.
 
Im really new to saltwater filtration.
Currently I have 46G freshwater and it works fine for last 4 years and i have a BioCube 29 which is also fine for last year.
But I want to change my fresh to salt and looking for 75/90G 48" tanks with water-flow.
I went to Aquarium Adventure and they have custom stand for $500 and canopy for another $500. But that canopy is just two piece and front one (where to feed fish) is really heavy to open...

I think if i'll go and do it by myself I'll save some money for another stuff. Am i'm right?
.
 
Jufon said:
Im really new to saltwater filtration.
Currently I have 46G freshwater and it works fine for last 4 years and i have a BioCube 29 which is also fine for last year.
But I want to change my fresh to salt and looking for 75/90G 48" tanks with water-flow.
I went to Aquarium Adventure and they have custom stand for $500 and canopy for another $500. But that canopy is just two piece and front one (where to feed fish) is really heavy to open...

I think if i'll go and do it by myself I'll save some money for another stuff. Am i'm right?
.
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There is a lot of satisfaction in building your own if you are handy and have some basic woodworking skills. There are a lot of posts and threads on how to build a sturdy stand in RC. Most are built with 2x4 and are quite inexpensive.
 
Hey Simon, how's it going? How's the tank? - Believe it or not, i'm going to be upgrading in the near future so will need your guidance once again if you dont mind. It probably wont be for another 4-6 months but I will be getting a 225 gallon. Same lenght as my current tank but 30" wide and 24" tall. I'll start a new build thread when the time comes. My livestock is just growing to fast and need more space especially for my carpet anemones.
 
tassod said:
Hey Simon, how's it going? How's the tank? - Believe it or not, i'm going to be upgrading in the near future so will need your guidance once again if you dont mind. It probably wont be for another 4-6 months but I will be getting a 225 gallon. Same lenght as my current tank but 30" wide and 24" tall. I'll start a new build thread when the time comes. My livestock is just growing to fast and need more space especially for my carpet anemones.
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Wow! Upgrade already after just a few months. Congratulations in doing such a great job with your current tank. You must be doing everything right to see coral growth like that. A 225g tank can definitely give you the space that you need. You will need a whole new set of equipment to handle the additional water volume. Can't wait to see your new upgrade.:beer:
 
Tassod,
Here is a picture of my tank taken just a few minutes ago. Still fighting cyano but I think the worse is over.

 
SimonSKL said:
Wow! Upgrade already after just a few months. Congratulations in doing such a great job with your current tank. You must be doing everything right to see coral growth like that. A 225g tank can definitely give you the space that you need. You will need a whole new set of equipment to handle the additional water volume. Can't wait to see your new upgrade.:beer:
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Hopefully i wont need to get that much new equipment. As far as my return pump, I was thinking of using both my BH1450, one for each return. That should be plenty of flow along with my mp40's correct? My reactors should also be adequate and I will be using a 75g sump...but also wondering if my current 45g would be fine also. What do you think. My UV probably wont be adequate, but my reactors are the TLF 550's which should be plenty. As far as my lights go, do you think they would be adequate?
 
it looks nice and expensive :)
Just in case, what is the minimum amount of money need to be spend to have something like this (not including time)?
 
Jufon said:
it looks nice and expensive :)
Just in case, what is the minimum amount of money need to be spend to have something like this (not including time)?
Click to expand...

Assuming you are buying everything new, here are some minimum estimates for those big ticket items to get you started:
Tank - >$400 (less if smaller than 125g)
Stand / Canopy - >$250
Rocks/Sands - >$400
Lights - >$500
Wavemakers/Powerheads - >$200
Return pump - >$150
Protein skimmer - >$200
Sump - $50
Plumbing supplies - $100

You will spend more if you plan to automate many of the daily tasks like auto top off, calcium and alk supplementation...etc.
 
Started my project at this weekends.
Bought 90 gal tank and made frame for it :)
can you point me where i can read about
"automate many of the daily tasks like auto top off, calcium and alk supplementation...etc"
Click to expand...
?
 
Jufon said:
Started my project at this weekends.
Bought 90 gal tank and made frame for it :)
can you point me where i can read about ?
Click to expand...

Jufon, your tank will evaporate water everyday which must be replenish or your salinity will continue to rise. You can either do it manually by adding pure water (not saltwater) everyday or set up an automatic system to add pure water. For a medium size tank (~100g), you may have to replenish up to 1 gallon of water each day depending on room humidity.

In order for coral (SPS or some LPS) growth, they need calcium carbonate to build their skeleton. Routine or daily supplementation of calcium and carbonate is necessary. Again they can be added manually or automatically with the right equipment.

Just do a search on ATO in RC and it will give you all kinds of ideas and suggestions on how to set one up.

As far as calcium and alkalinity, go to the Chemistry forum for more info. Good luck!
 
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