New Build: 186 Gallon Custom Acrylic

dosdiverz

New member
I just ordered my next project. It's a custom acrylic I'm putting into a wall. The dimensions are 58x24x36 high which, from my estimation puts it at about 186 gallons taking into account the inner dimensions. I'm going with one inch walls with a eurobraced top. The sump is going to be huge... 48x18x20 high which, and my math may be wrong, would be around 86 gallons. That would bring the total system volume to 272 gallons.

I'm going with a DSB for this setup and I used a calculator I found on the forums to guestimate the amount of sand I would need for a 5 inch deep bed. I'm going with 180 pounds of cheap aragonite and I plan on seeding it with 40 pounds of live sand. I'm getting the base rock from an LFS at about $1.25 a pound and I'm getting a few prime pieces of live rock from the same place. I'll be shooting for 200 pounds of rock. I don't have a great eye for aquascapes so I'm going with my wife's idea of what it should look like.

It's going to have a closed loop system driven by two separate pumps with four returns. I'm still working on the details there but I've got the pumps setup already. Being new to the hobby I went with a ReeFlo Snapper/Dart Hybrid 3600/2600GPH and a Fluval Sea SP6 3434 GPH. I plan on running a manifold so that either of these can run the flow through the sump if my third pump fails.

The sump will have a Fluval Sea SP4 1822 GPH pump in it. I've got a Bubble Magus Curve 9 skimmer here which is a beast. The thing is huge! I'm throwing a few 300 watt heaters in the sump. I plan on running a refugium in the center section of the sump which is about 34 inches long. I also bought a Skimz Monzter FM150 Media Reactor for carbon and, potentially, anything else that needs to go into it.

For a controller I went with the Apex Controller Gold System and the DŌS Dosing and Fluid Metering System that just came out for an automatic water change setup. I got another 8 outlet power strip, the wi-fi, leak sensor, and automatic feeder mods for it. I pushed the button on that this morning. Really excited about not having to move buckets of water anymore.

I went with some cheap, Chinese made LED's. They're programmable and dim-able but they're not your $1K Radions. I may upgrade to those when I get the thing going in a few years for SPS's. The LED's I went with are 24 inch "Eupohoticas".

I've probably lost a few of you by now so I'll get to the questions. I'm stuck on what to do for a stand. I've been all over the forums and I've read through the entire Rocket Engineer build thread multiple times over the last month. I can't seem to find a design I'm comfortable with. The problem I am having is the height of the tank. It definitely adds a large amount of weight not typically present in your standard 24 inch high tanks.

I also DO NOT WANT to go with any supports in the front. I want to be able to remove the sump if necessary for maintenance, cleaning, etc... Just an option. Maybe it's not the way I should go. Anyone with experience care to chime in?

I'm also curious about the different pump styles. I went with the arrangement due to the fact that I don't know how loud any of these things are and they will be sitting adjacent to my living room. I figure that if a pump is loud I can replace it. If I have 3 of the same loud pumps, that's a problem.

I'm planning on putting all of this in the area pictured below. If anyone has any suggestions, questions, or criticism, I would love to here it.

Thanks for listening. By the way, the photo was taken a few months ago. The wife's nativity scene is no longer there. As a concerned neighbor, I take my Christmas lights down in April... :beer: Those who pay close attention may notice that the molding around the floor is missing. I just spent three months replacing flooring. I went with deluxe vinyl around the area where the tank will be due to the potential for flooding.

:bounce2: Yeah. I'm excited...
 
Maybe this will give you some build ideas.
As you can see I used the space intended for a direct vent fireplace in the basement. Used Greenboard drywall and all has been fine for 9 yrs. Spanning 48 " is no problem for easy access to the sump, however you may want to leave room for topoff container unless you can put elsewhere (I only have room for 3g ATO container and that gets me 2 days ATO).







 
Thanks for the input and you have a beautiful tank.

Would you be able to recommend a dimension of wood that you would feel comfortable putting in the 54 inch span that the tank is going to sit over? I was thinking an 4x8 would suffice. The span tables for #1 douglas fir seem to suggest that it could hold about twice that much weight without much deflection.

I know this isn't a woodworking or engineering forum but does anyone have any experience with 36" high tanks? Everything I see for stands including the Rocket Engineer thread seems to be geared towards 24" high tanks. Would the extra weight be an issue?

I think that's where I'm stuck. I don't want this thing falling over on me.

I might spill my beer.
 
I just got an email from the guy building my tank. He sent me a picture of his progress. It looks like the sump is being put together now.

 
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