New build upgrade! Planning a 500+ DT Mixed reef

[shawn.short]

I have a large system now but due to a renovation the wife says " whatever, just make it look good". So I am building a wall tank that will be connected to a fish room to house all of the fish stuff, and all else. I am soo excited. So I thought I would share. I am hoping for some ideas all are welcome. In the fish room I will do a frag tank. And all of my sumps, I just picked up (2) 150gallon rubbermade agriculture tubs, for sumps and rock. This will take a few but I am soo ready. I need info , what do u go about humidity in the fish room, and should I do a closed loop? What's the pros and cons for both?
And so it begins...........

 

[shawn.short]

So far I measured for a 96-108x48x36-48

 

[shawn.short]

Gonna need some help

 

[theguy67]

I am not an expert by any means, but here it goes...

The agriculture tubs/troughs sound like a great idea. I would ensure that they are washed out and cleaned though. Humidity shouldn't be a HUGE problem as long as you make some sort of cover for the tubs. There are several ways you can tackle humidity problems. Thick plexy glass would work best as it is easier to cut, and possibly less expensive than glass. Also, will cut back on topping off. If you still have humidity problems you can put a bathroom fan/vent leading outside, or utilize a de-humidifier. I think the vent would work best.

As far as The closed loop v.s Open, I am not as familar with. As far as I know a closed loop uses a drain to run water to a pump, back to the aquarium for maximum water flow, open would include a sump with a return pump. ( correct me if I am wrong). It sounds like you will be using an open loop system with your 2 sumps, but inorder to create more flow ( with out ugly power heads) you can also do a closed loop system on the back of the tank on top of the return pumps from the sump. Now that may seem to make things complicated, while you could just drain and pump more water from the sumps, BUT the way I see it, if you allow low flow in the sump, it will act as a place for waste to settle, and make it easy to siphon out, while more flow will keep it suspended throughout the tank. Just ensure the turn over is more than adequate.

Other things to consider-

- Will the sump room have a drain? ( in case of over flow)
- Are you looking to run the Frag tank off of the Display?
- Natural lighting?Best lighting out there. I've heard of very good growth, and no cost after install ( especially this size) You can alway include blues/acintics for "looks".

 

[Conspiculatus]

Anything over 96" L is going to substantially increase the cost of the aquarium. Additionally keeping the hight to a minimum will help control cost.

 

[Conspiculatus]

Do you have any plans for lighting? LED? Thats a tall tank for aquascaping.

 

[shawn.short]

i have 6 new AI sol Blue LEDS that do an awesome job on my tank now, its 32 tall and i have them set to only 60% and the corals are stellar! i will pry need a few more just because of the depth?

 

[shawn.short]

how do i pevent back flow with a closed system if the power fails?. with a normal rr if the water level drops to low a hiole in the return breaks the siphon.

 

[SPotter]

With that much water humidity is going to be an issue. What floor of your home will this be on? will the fishroom have a window?

My system is a total of close to 500g with the fish room right behind the tank. not only will you have the sumps and other tanks in the fish room, the dt will be open to the fish room. I would look into a mini split ac system for the fish room it will control the humidity and potentially eliminate the need for a chiller. I didmt do this and regret it. I had significant heat issues over the summer.

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[shawn.short]

it will be in the basement and the basement is temp controlled. heat is not an issue with my dt that is set up now. The place i am going to put the room in has 2 windows. I might cut an exhaust hole and put a fan in. But for sure all of the tanks will have a top on them. the DT will have glass but the 2 rock/sump vats will have acrylic tops on them, that should cut it down substantially. not sure though, i ma hoping for some help on the design, today i am going to take photos of the room so the forum can help

 

[SPotter]

I wish i had windows in my fish room. My finished area of the basement is temp controlled and never got over 70 during the summer but the fish room isnt temp controlled and the temps in there got as high as 85. I put in an air exchanger and that controlled the humidity but no help with the temps. Having a window will allow you to put a window ac unit if you need to.

As far as cl or ph....even though they are ugly...I would go with ph's. As your corals grow or you change your aquascape ph's will allow you the most amount of flexibility. You will be able to move them as needed.

 

[shawn.short]

Cl? Ph?

 

[nbgen12]

Closed loop and powerhead i believe

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[shawn.short]

Hows a 96x36x36 sound

 

[Osteoclast]

I am a fan of your proposal. Tall is dramatic as noted by many out there on RC. My tank utilizes both a CL and multiple MPs for flow. I also have a sump loop. It is good to plan redundancy with your circulation and water loops. My Fish room is behind the tank and humidity is well maintained and controlled with a chiller and also this part of my home is on a separate AC. Additionally, my fish room is tiled from the the floor to about 3 feet up (great for spills with a floor drain) the ceiling is high at 12', and my viewing room is a library with a ceiling at 23'. All these modifications help to diffuse heat. I do not have any windows into the fish room nor any exhaust system but that would help although I am fine at the present time. Best of luck to you.

 

[shawn.short]

Can u post some pics for ideas? My house isnt that big my basement cieling is only 8 1/2 ft tall

 

[shawn.short]

I talked to glass cages and they set me up with a 96X37.5x36.5 ? what do u guys think
glass.

 

[SPotter]

I would do a search for reviews about them on here. you will find some threads where they have really good reviews but then you will find some that are really bad and unfortunately I think the bad outweighs the good. They produce a lot of tanks on a weekly basis and the sometimes the craftsmen ship will suffer.

They are by far the least expensive in custom tank builders but you get what you pay for. I would look to get quotes from A.G.E, Miracles, DAS, ReefSavvy and see if Marineland/Perfecto can do something like that. My LFS gets all of his custom tanks thru Marineland/Perfecto now. I know its tempting to go with glasscages and I almost did because of the savings but the tank you are talking about is big and the last thing you want is to come home one day to a busted seem. I am not saying that it cant happen with these other builders but I think the likelihood of it happening is far less than it is with glasscages. If it becomes a budget issue, I would then consider going with a smaller tank built by company with a better reputation before ordering a big tank from them.

Just my two cents.

 

[shawn.short]

what would be a good size frag tank to go with my new system?

500+ DT, (2) 150g Rubbermaid tubs with DSB and rock, (1) 100 gallon tube with DSb and only rock and refugium only? I dont know if i should make the frag tank seperate of part of the system?

 

[Jon01]

Where are you at?
There are several places around the country that build custom acrylic tanks for reasonable prices.