No. 1's 120 Gallon Upgrade

[Member No. 1]

And it has begun!
Over the course of the upcoming weeks/months, I will be replacing my current 80 gallon with a 120 gallon.
My current 80 gallon has been up and running for over 3 years, and while there aren't any problems with it, I wanted to redo a few things.
A few of the main reasons for the upgrade/redo:
1: Change the sump/overflow/plumbing to a easier to maintain, and quieter system.
2: Redo the current aquascape
3: Since all my SPS are overtaking each other and growing out of the water, time to weed the coral garden.
4: Reduce the current fish selection. No way in hell to catch them now.
5: And this is the main reason.... Rid my tank once and for all of all the PITA mushrooms that take over everything! Trust me, I've tried all the methods, only sure way is to never let them in in the first place.

The new 120 Deep Blue with a Synergy Shadow Ghost Overflow on the end will still be bare bottom, running (2) 250w DE MH with 2 T-5 Atinics, and Calcium reactor. Just the basics as this work perfectly for me.

My 80 currently is under full control of my Apex Classic, but the new 120 will get the full on Apex 2016 system. Flow meters, Cor Pump, new optic sensors, PMUP, etc...
However, I'll still be using my MP-40's for water movement.
A few new items will be:
Synergy CL-34 Sump White/Red
Eshopps new S-200 Skimmer
Vertex RX-6D Calcium Reactor

So follow along if you want... enjoy the adventure with me.

It's a start!

 

[Member No. 1]

For reference, this was taken 02-Feb-17.
Pretty much all the coral at the top of the tank is now at the water line.
Hence the redo.
Sorry to say, I don't have any up to date pics, since I already started the weeding process.

 

[FishD@ddy]

Following... good luck with the build.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Reefpuck]

Based on your prior tank...excited to see how this one turns out!

 

[Member No. 1]

Following... good luck with the build.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks!

 

[Member No. 1]

Based on your prior tank...excited to see how this one turns out!

Thanks, so am I!

 

[Albertan_Reef]

Subbed, love living threw amazing builds until i can do my own.

Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk

 

[JUNBUG361]

Following along

 

[Member No. 1]

***** UPDATE 19-Dec-17 *****

***** UPDATE 19-Dec-17 *****

Diamonds are a girl's best friend...

Unless of course you're a Reefer and it's a diamond tipped hole saw!

More goodies have arrived!

 

[Member No. 1]

***** update 20-dec-17 *****

***** update 20-dec-17 *****

More stuff.....

1½" Schedule 80 Unions for the plumbing from The Shadow Overflow to the Synergy Sump.

2" x 2" Raceway to help manage/hide the wires and cables.

 

[Member No. 1]

***** Update 21-Dec-17 *****

***** Update 21-Dec-17 *****

My new Margarita Mixer arrived!

Eshopps S200 - very well made. Looking forward to the day I can fire this baby up!

With a Sicce pump, this should not give me any troubles what so ever.
Notice the bubble plate on top of the pump. Eshopps claims it rotates the water to give it more dwell time. We shall see.

Note the clear venturi. Easy to see any calcium buildup. A nice feature!

Hope it works as good as it looks!

 

[Member No. 1]

***** Update 22-Dec-17 *****

***** Update 22-Dec-17 *****

Lots of goodies today!

Tank arrived, drilling two holes in the end for the Synergy Shadow Overflow.

Drilling....

First hole done! No cracks!

Hole 2 done! My heart started up again!

It's getting hot up in here! (2) 250watt Eheim (Ebo) Jägers.

EcoTech Driver Mounts.

HDPE - I run a bare bottom! ½" for the bottom of the tank, ¼" will be to build the mounting board for the Apex and modules.

Red 1½" for the drains, 1" for the returns under the stand, 1" black for the returns inside the tank.

Misc. 1" black fittings.

 

[Reefpuck]

Doesn't look like you're holding back on anything! Following along.

BTW that drill guide sure comes in handy. One thing I regret not getting a while ago. Comes in handy with a lot of other projects I have outside reefing.

 

[Member No. 1]

***** Update 29-Dec-17 *****

***** Update 29-Dec-17 *****

Nothing like the sound the back-up alarm makes as the UPS truck backs into my driveway! 5 Big boxes!

Opened the first one, pictures of the other stuff tomorrow!

Such a pretty box!

Well packed!

I'll post an assembled picture when I set it up in a few weeks.

 

[fishdip22]

Lots of goodies today!

Hole 2 done! My heart started up again!

This looked like you cracked the tank lol

 

[Member No. 1]

This looked like you cracked the tank lol

Thankfully I didn't!

 

[Member No. 1]

***** UPDATE 27-Jan-18 *****

***** UPDATE 27-Jan-18 *****

Well it's been about a month since my last update. Lot's going on, new stuff arriving weekly, just been to busy with priority stuff.

One item on my "Upgrade Tank" To Do list was to upgrade my RO/DI system and increase my water supply storage tanks. I had (2) 44 gallon brutes and (2) 55 gallon drums, but I wanted to upgrade to all 55 gallon drums. Also redo the transfer system from my mixing barrel to my storage barrel.
So I upgraded my RO unit to a second RO membrane plumbed in series to increase my daily production from 75 gallons to 150 gallons. Now I know the values are probably lower, but you get my drift. Because of the second membrane, I needed to get a larger Booster Pump. So the Aquatec 8800 is replacing the 6800 I had. That is being used on the 3 stage Di to push water thru. See below. I also put in a Auto Flush valve. I run this in parallel to the manual flush valve. I installed a manual by-pass to bleed off the product that is high in TDS so it doesn't go into my RO water storage barrel. I use a Triple In Line TDS meter to determine when to close the by-pass an open the flow to the RO storage. One meter is on each product line coming out of each membrane, then the 3rd is on the product line of the 3 Stage DI.
I have well water which is high in Co2. This will burn thru DI resin like crazy. So I have to produce RO only water that goes into a 55 gallon drum which gets aerated to de-gas the Co2 before I pump it thru the 3 Stage DI. From there it then goes to either the make up water barrel or the salt mix barrel. Since I do AWC of 4 gallons a day, I can't be mixing salt in the same barrel that I draw the NSW for the daily changes from. So I mix in one barrel, then with a 3-way ball valve, divert the water to the holding barrel.
So here is the set up with added details.

RO Unit. Right to Left - 5 micron pre filter(filter is clean, plastic housing is stained) into the boosting pump, then thru 1 micron final filter, then thru a 1 micron carbon filter. The (2) 75 gallon/day membranes are plumbed in series. Waste from the first is plumbing to the inlet of the second. Then product water from both are sent to the RO barrel for de-gassing.

RO storage on the left which in turn get pumped thru the 3 stage DI to the salt mix barrel on the right or the fresh water make-up barrel (not shown).

Salt mixing pump and 3 way ball valve. This makes transfer to the holding barrel a snap! (Tank on right is a friends that is here only temporary. In other words, not my mess of wires!)

3 Stage DI. Since my well water is high in Co2, I de-gas before I pump it thru the resin. Left is Cation Resin, Middle is Anion, Right is mixed bed. BRS did a great video on why this is a good way to process the RO water.

Entire RO/DI Unit

 

[Member No. 1]

***** UPDATE 25-Feb-18 *****

***** UPDATE 25-Feb-18 *****

A few more pieces of the puzzle arrived!

I'm on a first name basis with the UPS Driver!

Look at all the pretty Aluminum! Erector set for adults!
80/20 tank stand. My design, lets hope I figured right!

If your stock in Ecotech went up, you can thank me!
(Shameless plug to BRS lower left)

Aqua Ultraviolet Classic 25 Watt UV.

 

[pelphrey]

How did the 80s0 stand come along?

 

[Member No. 1]

How did the 80s0 stand come along?

It came out better than I thought.
It is rock solid.
Sorry no pics, this build is taking longer than I thought.
I will post pics in the next few weeks.
Last few pieces of the puzzle arrived!