Our 375 Gallon project

Scott,
You are correct about the 2 tanks. My wife and I both love the reef but I have quite the hankering for some of the larger non reef friendly fish. My saying of "there ain't no fences on the ocean floor" just isn't convincing and so 1 reef and 1 fish. My problem is I had actually started my construction and then stopped to build the wholesale room instead. I already have in place a 100 gal RODI and 100 gal salt mix vat along with a nice sink area. 3x8 with a 50gal rubbermaid tub dropped in as the sink. Plenty of double sided room. Seeing your setup has really got me thinking of doing a 200-300 gal reef upstairs plumbed to the basement to a controle center. I can still run my frag vats for the corals that I grow and maybe run a 600gal vat as a lookdown for some of my non friendly swimmers.:p You can get some cheap volume using large rubbermaid type tubs with a nice seating structure built around them. I will then have room to experiment with all my ideas.

Bottom line is I need to just decide which way to go and get started. Might be cool to post as a thread like this now that I have a bit more time.

Thanks for the interest and I would probably like to pick your brain sometime when I start my project. Looks like you have some very good ideas and take pride in doing it right. Very commendable. I wish I would have been reading your thread all along. I wouldn't have to stay up so late playing catch up. :lol:
 
tigershark4- Got a picture of the stand skin attaching for ya. Not very good since I had to hold the camera at the back of the stand and guess at it. Anyway- Here it is I think you shouls get the idea but if you need a clearer shot let me know-

skinattaching.jpg


mussel20- The pendants are PFO 250w attached to a DIY light rack. I will try to get a closer shot of the light racks for people today as well.

joe findell- Sounds like a cool project. It's amazing how long mine has taken. Over a year now and still not done!!
 
Here is a little better shot of the skin attachment. I basically did this in multiple places. I used a pocket hole jig to attach small blocks of wood to the faceframe and then screwed that to an adjoining piece of faceframe or just wrapped around the steel stand if I didn't.- ....looks like I forgot to remove a shim :).

skinattaching2.jpg


Here is the light rack that I made for my pendants. I have 2 racks with a total of 4 lights. Hopefully soon these will have some T5's as well :D

lightrack.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7134227#post7134227 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by joe findell
Scott,
You are correct about the 2 tanks. My wife and I both love the reef but I have quite the hankering for some of the larger non reef friendly fish. My saying of "there ain't no fences on the ocean floor" just isn't convincing and so 1 reef and 1 fish. My problem is I had actually started my construction and then stopped to build the wholesale room instead. I already have in place a 100 gal RODI and 100 gal salt mix vat along with a nice sink area. 3x8 with a 50gal rubbermaid tub dropped in as the sink. Plenty of double sided room. Seeing your setup has really got me thinking of doing a 200-300 gal reef upstairs plumbed to the basement to a controle center. I can still run my frag vats for the corals that I grow and maybe run a 600gal vat as a lookdown for some of my non friendly swimmers.:p You can get some cheap volume using large rubbermaid type tubs with a nice seating structure built around them. I will then have room to experiment with all my ideas.

Bottom line is I need to just decide which way to go and get started. Might be cool to post as a thread like this now that I have a bit more time.

Thanks for the interest and I would probably like to pick your brain sometime when I start my project. Looks like you have some very good ideas and take pride in doing it right. Very commendable. I wish I would have been reading your thread all along. I wouldn't have to stay up so late playing catch up. :lol:
Click to expand...

Joe-

It sounds like you have some really cool ideas! :)

I cant wait to read you thread, when you get your setup up and running. :)
 
Yup- hole in steel = rust :). Actually almost everything with this setup is like that- no holes. Not in the stand or the wall behind it. It's free standing but looks like a built in. That way when I move I don't have to patch holes and it's all held together with screws or bolts so it comes apart easy. I'll try to get a pic of the work completed this weekend up soon. This is taking forever but looking good so far.

Thanks Melev and aquajohn. We'll see if it holds together when I'm done :). Done.....now that's something I know nothing about, is anything ever 'DONE' in this hobby? :rolleyes:
 
Got an updated pic but it's not the best- kind of hard to see much detail but oh well. I'm working on getting the doors sanded and stained this week and maybe have some of them on the lower section by this weekend. I did get the "hockey puck lights" installed in the upper section of the side cabinets although it's kind of hard to see them in this picture. I'll also be working on the upper trim and crown moulding which will take a while. Unfortunately it looks to be another week where I won't be able to get much done. Actually, other than the doors, I probably won't get anything done for a while.....darn life keeps getting in the way :)

standwork.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7131152#post7131152 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sidewinder770
maxxII- Keep in mind that is total house usage. We actually had snow 20 minutes from me a few weeks ago so needless to say the house heater was on a bit as well as any other variable use items in the house. I also added 280w of T5 lighting on the frag tank about a month or so ago so that added a little. I do have a chiller but it hasn't been on since October.....actually it ran for the first time 2 days ago but only for about 30 minutes. It's a DIY chiller using a mini-split AC system which draws about 600-700 watts total- simply an amazing chiller I think and an item I am very happy with. In total I have 5 sequence pumps- 3 darts, 1 hammerhead, 1 barracuda. I also have a mag5 for the CR and one in the mixing tank. Actual water volume is 550g.
Click to expand...

Scott,
Thanks for pointing that out to me, as I hadnt realized that. Reviewing our own electrical bills over the past 4 months, I see our largest usage was in January of this year and we used 1630 KWH. However, we're approaching the warmer months here, and I'd like to see what our worst case scenario is for total usage w/ the home AC running constantly. I found a 8500 watt gas unit by Troy built at Lowes for $1299.00 that appears like it would handle most of my needs, but its kinda noisy IIRC. I'm still looking around and doing the research on it.

Thanks for giving me the info on your Electrical usage.

Tank looks great, slow and steady will get you there. Dont sweat not having the skin done yet...you've already got the tank going well and thats the tough part.

Nick
 
I just went through 23 pages of good ideas, great design, excellent links & nice people. What a great hobby. Really nice work & the process is part of the result. Documenting it for everyone deserves you & the lady all the praise I can give. Great job!!!
 
I just went through 23 pages of good ideas, great design, excellent links & nice people. What a great hobby. Really nice work & the process is part of the result. Documenting it for everyone deserves you & the lady all the praise I can give. Great job!!!
 
The long build

The long build

I just went through 23 pages of good ideas, great design, excellent links & nice people. What a great hobby. Really nice work & the process is part of the result. Documenting it for everyone deserves you & the lady all the praise I can give. Great job!!!
 
woah... triple post. You don't see that everyday.

Sweet tank. I know you have probably answered this before, but did you use the black pond foam or 'Great Stuff'? How long did it take for the coraline to grip it?
 
Just spent the last 3 hours reading this entire thread and I am simply astonished. You have done an incredible job from design to set up.

My one desire is to see a shot of the rest of the room its in. Where do you sit to enjoy such a beatiful setup?

Matt
 
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