Osric's 220 Gallon
- Thread starter Osric
- Start date
Thanks. Miracles built the stand and the tank for me, and I am getting a custom cabinet built around it. Plumbing through the floor to a dedicated sump room is visible behind the left corner of the stand; I have yet to actually hook things up.
jbvdhp
Active member
What's the dimension of the steel tubing, 2x2"?
Yep, hollow steel. Stand arrived complete with plywood and styrofoam.
Next steps for me will be to install the plumbing, most of which I hope to get done over the easter long weekend. Unfortunately reefsupplies.ca has "processed" my order but no sign of it shipping yet - anyone have experience with this supplier? I only ordered the parts that I deemed hard to find at the local big box stores - two true union check valves, a gate valve for my BeanAnimal return, and loc-line. It's amazing how just those parts can add up to $200.
Once I have some plumbing in place I plan to fill the tank with freshwater to check level, and then start to make saltwater. And that leads me to my first big debate of setting up the system: live rock or dry rock?
All the systems I have started before I've used live rock and frankly enjoyed the attendant hitchhikers and instant life in the tank. But for this system - an overwhelmingly big system to me - I think the HH might be a much bigger problem than ever before. Catching an undesired crab in my 34 gallon was an interesting evening; catching an undesired crab in my 220G sounds like a giant PITA. So I was debating going with Dr Tim's and dry rock and am keen to hear from people who have tried both and any cons of the artificial approach.
I realize I can't entirely prevent HH from coral frags and so on, but my past experience would indicate that the really big problem critters come from live rock, not from coral.
Thanks in advance for your opinions/experience!
Once I have some plumbing in place I plan to fill the tank with freshwater to check level, and then start to make saltwater. And that leads me to my first big debate of setting up the system: live rock or dry rock?
All the systems I have started before I've used live rock and frankly enjoyed the attendant hitchhikers and instant life in the tank. But for this system - an overwhelmingly big system to me - I think the HH might be a much bigger problem than ever before. Catching an undesired crab in my 34 gallon was an interesting evening; catching an undesired crab in my 220G sounds like a giant PITA. So I was debating going with Dr Tim's and dry rock and am keen to hear from people who have tried both and any cons of the artificial approach.
I realize I can't entirely prevent HH from coral frags and so on, but my past experience would indicate that the really big problem critters come from live rock, not from coral.
Thanks in advance for your opinions/experience!
dave.m
Active member
I agree with the joys of hitchhikers. One way to avoid unpleasant surprises would be to get one or two cheapo kiddy wading pools and start your live rock in them for a couple of weeks.
It's like a quarantine process just for live rock. You can easily monitor what comes out to play and determine if it's something you will want in the display tank. Use a red light at night to see what only comes out after dark.
Dave.M
It's like a quarantine process just for live rock. You can easily monitor what comes out to play and determine if it's something you will want in the display tank. Use a red light at night to see what only comes out after dark.
Dave.M
deepblue68
Premium Member
Looking forward to your build iam in the process of setting up 180g myself which has been stalled for awhile and I have just started it back up.
Rybren
Well-known member
I've ordered from reefsupplies a few times. If the items are in stock, I get them within a day or two. Of course, if they're back ordered, then it takes longer, but they've always sent me an email to advise if there's a delay.
Looking forward to seeing the build come together.
Looking forward to seeing the build come together.
So today I decided that even if my specialty plumbing hasn't come through I can get started on plumbing the tank, fill it with freshwater to check level, and drain it again. You'd think this could be easily accomplished given that I had the whole day to do it but it was a frustrating circuit of Lowe's, Home Depot, Rona's, and Lowe's again just trying to find the basics I needed for the plumbing. Almost made me wish I'd ordered everything from reefsupplies.ca though who knows when the package will come ... it is, at least, shipped as of Thursday.
Here's the fish closet in the basement:
Both the ABS and the floor drain go to the same P-trap under the tile, and the tile in this room can hold a fair bit of water (I haven't actually measured, but definitely at least a 20 gallon spill should drain pretty harmlessly). The flexible tubing at the top of the picture will feed my RO/DI unit, and the pipes are the bottom half of the plumbing from the office down into the basement, which consist of one ABS drain pipe, two 3/4" return lines, three 1.5" drain lines (BeanAnimal style), and one 2" electrical wire conduit so that I can put automation in both the fish room and under the tank in the cabinet.
The top of the plumbing from the basement fish room comes out of a hole in the tile in the office like this:
and from this angle the wire chase is top, then BA drains, then return lines, and finally the ABS drain to sewage.
I started by building out the BeanAnimal drains. Here's what the overflow box looks like from underneath with two bulkheads installed and the third yet to come:
and I want the tubing that's back here to be removable easily from under the cabinet so every one is threaded at the top and has a true union valve at the bottom. Here's two of the three drain top pipes, that'll be completely inaccessible unless removed once the cabinet is built:
As you can see in the second picture, when installed the bottom of the pipes stick below the stand, so that it's possible to reach back and unscrew it from the bulkhead with one hand to remove it, if the valve is removed. With the valves on the emergency drain (rightmost) has to be rotated so that it can be shut off because the stand interferes a bit:
And finally, here's two of the three drains dry fit:
I couldn't complete the third one because I am short one 45 degree 1.5" elbow - I cleaned out Lowe's, and no other big box store had any at all.
So not a ton to show for a day of running around, though I think I have what I need to do my return lines tomorrow, and my plan there is a bit complicated.
I'll have two return pumps, each running one side of the return lines, with valves so that if a pump fails I can have one pump drive both sides, and a cleanout to the drain that I can use to completely empty a section of water for repair and inspection of the check valves, which I will install to try to make failures less of an annoyance. If power and check valves fail, the effect will be to siphon off the top of the tank into the sump, which will most likely trigger overflow into the sewer, so I'm trying to make that scenario vanishingly unlikely (and yet, dry if it occurs). More tomorrow...
Here's the fish closet in the basement:
Both the ABS and the floor drain go to the same P-trap under the tile, and the tile in this room can hold a fair bit of water (I haven't actually measured, but definitely at least a 20 gallon spill should drain pretty harmlessly). The flexible tubing at the top of the picture will feed my RO/DI unit, and the pipes are the bottom half of the plumbing from the office down into the basement, which consist of one ABS drain pipe, two 3/4" return lines, three 1.5" drain lines (BeanAnimal style), and one 2" electrical wire conduit so that I can put automation in both the fish room and under the tank in the cabinet.
The top of the plumbing from the basement fish room comes out of a hole in the tile in the office like this:
and from this angle the wire chase is top, then BA drains, then return lines, and finally the ABS drain to sewage.
I started by building out the BeanAnimal drains. Here's what the overflow box looks like from underneath with two bulkheads installed and the third yet to come:
and I want the tubing that's back here to be removable easily from under the cabinet so every one is threaded at the top and has a true union valve at the bottom. Here's two of the three drain top pipes, that'll be completely inaccessible unless removed once the cabinet is built:
As you can see in the second picture, when installed the bottom of the pipes stick below the stand, so that it's possible to reach back and unscrew it from the bulkhead with one hand to remove it, if the valve is removed. With the valves on the emergency drain (rightmost) has to be rotated so that it can be shut off because the stand interferes a bit:
And finally, here's two of the three drains dry fit:
I couldn't complete the third one because I am short one 45 degree 1.5" elbow - I cleaned out Lowe's, and no other big box store had any at all.
So not a ton to show for a day of running around, though I think I have what I need to do my return lines tomorrow, and my plan there is a bit complicated.
I'll have two return pumps, each running one side of the return lines, with valves so that if a pump fails I can have one pump drive both sides, and a cleanout to the drain that I can use to completely empty a section of water for repair and inspection of the check valves, which I will install to try to make failures less of an annoyance. If power and check valves fail, the effect will be to siphon off the top of the tank into the sump, which will most likely trigger overflow into the sewer, so I'm trying to make that scenario vanishingly unlikely (and yet, dry if it occurs). More tomorrow...
Is this the tank from 2013? Glad to see you're getting back to it. Maybe start a new thread for it as your pics are all broken from the old one. Any changes in equipment plans in the intervening time? In particular I plan to run Radions over mine, with Kessils as the runners-up, would be keen to hear your thinking on the LED choices.
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Thanks! Glad to know you've found them good as I think I might spend quite a lot of money with them and didn't find my first order as promptly shipped as I'd have wanted...
You spend so much time in the lounge I can't find pics of your 120G mixed reef anywhere (except I did see one of broken trim on a tank, which I assume is the tank you're using). Pointer to your build thread, if you have one?
Rybren
Well-known member
I've been very happy with reefsupplies. What I have found, however, is that you have to pay close attention to the Availability Status for the item that you are ordering. I've been caught a couple of times.
Yeah, I don't have a build thread. Just never got around to it.
Marineland was great for the broken trim - they sent me a new one for free and it was a breeze to swap out.
The 120G is only about 5 months old. I had a 75G and a 10G running and combined them into the 120. I used all new rock because the old ones were covered in GSP, Xenia, mushrooms, Palys, and Zoas that I didn't want to move into the new tank.
Not to derail your thread, but here are a couple of pics. I'm running an internal BA and absolutely love it it.
Yeah, I don't have a build thread. Just never got around to it.
Marineland was great for the broken trim - they sent me a new one for free and it was a breeze to swap out.
The 120G is only about 5 months old. I had a 75G and a 10G running and combined them into the 120. I used all new rock because the old ones were covered in GSP, Xenia, mushrooms, Palys, and Zoas that I didn't want to move into the new tank.
Not to derail your thread, but here are a couple of pics. I'm running an internal BA and absolutely love it it.
Nice!
I'll watch the stock from now on when ordering from reefsupplies.ca - glad to hear the good review. It really hasn't taken them that long to ship, but in these early days nothing can move fast enough
dave.m
Active member
When you're running back and forth between the big box stores, take a few minutes to check out your local TSC Store. They stock all manner of plumbing stuff for wells, etc. and have proven an excellent source for obscure fittings I didn't even know existed. Got me out of several plumbing jams.
Dave.M
Dave.M
Wish I'd remembered that earlier, I have been to a TSC before but it just didn't occur to me.
The reefsupplies order finally came but had the wrong valves - ball valves instead of check valves - so I'm still waiting on more plumbing. Meanwhile, I put water in the tank to check for level and it's at least level within 2mm from edge to edge, which I imagine is close enough to perfect given that it's 6' long.
So I guess it'll be another week before I make any more progress
