North Dakota Mini-Ocean

[Elliott]

I prefer Pan World pumps, they are pressure rated pumps and very reliable.

The return pump from the sump should be adequate size to turn over your display tank volume 2 to 5 times per hour, but no more than that. Make sure your overflow will allow the same turnover volume.

The number of pumps and size depends on the setup you have planned. For your sumps, use in dwelling propeller pumps for agitation, one for each reservoir. Jebao WP 40 are cheap and move a lot of water, good for sump agitation

Without closed loops on a tank that size my guess is you will need more flow than the two surge tanks will provide. There are some rather large propeller pumps that Tunze and others make that would suffice. I run closed loops with Eductors with large 3 HP 220v Iwaki pumps, controlled with VFD's, all pipes hidden in the rock work, maintenance free, provides so much flow I have to run at 50% power, very cost efficient since the power usage runs up and down with VFD's

 

[Reefaquariumnut]

Okay so I received some information back today.

Tank - 10 x 6 x 5 - Acrylic and Fiberglass

Skimmer - RK50PE + 1000mg Ozone

Calcium - Schuran CR400

Kalk - MRC Nilsen Reactor

Surge Device - DIY

Powerhead Supplement- (2) Tunze Masterstream 6512

Lighting - (12) 1000W MH w/magnetic ballasts and LED supplement

Sump - MRC high flow sump with 4 chambers

Return Pumps - ?? 2-3 pumps with 10,000gph flow

Carbon Reactor - ??

Media Reactor - ??


Am I missing anything? Any better options or different suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Elliott]

well, there are many ways to set up a successful reef tank these days....

your list will certainly work fine, however if it were me I'd place LED's instead of MH's to avoid the excessive heat and bulb replacements every six months. Cannon pendants would certainly do nicely in your tank

 

[cdness]

Dave! Long time no talk. We need to get together and catch up one of these days.

Glad to see you are starting up a new build. I knew one day the itch would come back and you'd want another reef tank. I was right and in I see you are following your typical go extreme methods which is just awesome. I can't wait to see how this build materializes and turns into a gem.

As always I am around to help if you need any assistance with the tank. My number is the same as it always has been. For now I guess this thread gives me a reason to log onto ReefCentral again

 

[Reefaquariumnut]

Hey Curtis! Long time is right!! I knew I would be back at some point too, it was just a timing thing for me when I left. Now, I am in a much better place to care for the reef and watch it grow.

Well this go around I am going to be very detailed/conscience to make sure all the life-support systems go together perfectly.

The more I look into these Tunze Masterstreams the more I get excited...Not about the $3000 price tag, but the fact they can push some major flow (over 29k gph max!) It will be somewhat tricky hiding it as its over 1 foot long and 9" high. Wow. I think I can probably have a box incorporated into the tank to hide it all the while being able to access and maintenance the pump.

I should be able to get the ball rolling in the next month on ordering equipment. Sounds as though the tank and skimmer will be the longest to aquire at around 8-12 weeks. That should give me ample time to get the building shell up so we can continue throughout the winter.

The building plans will be finalized this weekend by my wife and then we should have a bid within a week or so.

 

[cdness]

Why don't you just get yourself a 65 lb thrust minnkota trolling motor and use the steering part to give to the "Swirler Stein" style random flow. The composite shaft would survive in the tank... I don't know about the drive head though as I believe it is cast alloy. Seems like it could be easily modified though

While I know not a true solution, but there are tons of them around this area...lol.

 

[Reefaquariumnut]

I got a bid from My Reef Creations to build everything. I'm very impressed with their setup!

From the sump to the Calcium, UV, Kalk, skimmer, and media reactors. It's all top notch. Probably going this route!

 

[biecacka]

David, I'm sure you have asked this but if not please ask them for glass thickness. I only mention this because I was getting quotes for my build 48/48/24 and I contacted them and the priced me an amazing price on a rimless tank. When they sent me the final proposal I read over it and it was 1/2 glass on a rimless tank. They assured me it would work but no other builder was using that thickness. Everyone else was using 3/4 inch. Well for them to jump up to 3/4in it almost doubled the price.
I have no doubts that they build beautiful stuff as I have seen some of their work but please double check.

Corey

 

[tcmfish]

I think kalk works better if made in a big batch in a barrel and pumped in via peristaltic pump or made up daily and dripped in over night. I haven't been sold on those reactors and I've used a few. I know it isn't as "classy" but I think it works better. There are a few successful people doing it that way now.

 

[Reefaquariumnut]

The tank will be acrylic for a couple reasons...

1 - The builder was having trouble finding glass thick enough to support the water weight. So he suggested a 11" sill. So I was not too fancy on that idea.

2 - With acrylic, the builder can use a standard 10' x 6' sheet and build around that.

 

[Reefaquariumnut]

So we cut out tank and components last night to see how they fit into the building space. The viewing room will be 22 x 15 and the equipment room about the same. So we are still playing around in the room but here is what the following components are:

Tank - 10L x 5W x 6T

Top off tank - 400g 48" dia

Salt mixing tank - 250g 32" dia

Water change drum - 325g 42" dia

MRC Media reactors (Bio and Carbon) - 2' x 2' footprint ea (stacked)

MRC Calcium reactor and Kalk reactor - 2' x 2' footprint ea (stacked)

MRC Protein Skimmer - 3' x 3' footprint

MRC Sump - 8'L x 4'W

Hamilton Lighting - (6) 1000W MH w/ 9 LED/T5 strips for supplement - Mounted on an aluminum rack system with automatic lift system.

Frag Tank - 5'L x 2'W x 18"H

Quarantine Tank - 5'L x 18"W x 2'H

Utility sink - 2' x 3'

1000gpd RO DI system

Dual floor drains covered by grate system.


Thoughts?

 

[Reefaquariumnut]

After some research, I noticed that David Saxby is running AI Sols (like 35+ of them) in a 60" deep tank.

Maybe I could run those for a more efficient method? Hmmmm

 

[Elliott]

yep, I run 12 AI sol blues over a 36" deep tank, lights are 10" above the water line, they are at 40% intensity white and 85% intensity blue, I have tried to increase the intensities but get bleaching, so yes, these lights are powerful and I highly recommend them

btw, Saxby ownes DD which caries AI's

 

[theReefKing]

Saxby is running AI SOL!!! Over 60" of water! Whaaaaa my mind is blown.

I had 4 vega's over my 180 and they wouldn't grow anything!

Maybe it was just me.....

 

[Reefaquariumnut]

Deposits going in the mail tomorrow.

15' x 6' x 6' (2-Side Viewable) from Waterdog Products.

The rest coming from MRC.

 

[bullitr]

Wow sir
This will be Epic

 

[lost in it all]

A little over 4k gallons? Wow. Are you still looking at the same layout as in the picture above? Which side is the second viewable? Is the building going to be any bigger since you went bigger with the tank?
Would this large of a tank benefit from solar tubes? Just a thought since you are starting from scratch they would be easy enough to add. Is the addition going off the north side of the house?
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[jlaudiofreak]

I would rethink the hole MRC things, Do some searches on them . They have bad customer service and alot of people are complaining about there quality. Have you looked into the GEO for your reactors I know he customes build stuff.

 

[biecacka]

I dont know about MRC stuff but I can tell you that the GEO stuff is second to none. He is a one man machine that builds awesome stuff. He built my new skimmer, ca reactor, tank and who knows what I'll get next.
Definitely check him out

Corey

 

[Reefaquariumnut]

The tank and equipment will determine the building/equipment size. The deposits are to get everything engineered to specs then I can get a concrete slab poured. Once that's in I can get tank and equipment set in place and build around them. The tank will be viewable on the front and right side panels. Building is on South and West side of my house.

Solar Tubes have been discussed. Placement might be an issue depending on architecture of the building.

I like MRC. I've had Geo and although its nice equipment, I wasn't blown away by any of it.

Every company has faults, but they have quality equipment and I've seen it in person to know that's what I want.