ReeferChris's In-Wall Thread

[ReeferChris]

Well I just ordered the aquarium from Felix at ReefSavvy. Originally I was just going to upgrade my 36 bow front to a oceanic tech 120 and had begun to order some stuff, but when my dad brought up the idea of putting a bigger aquarium it in the wall in our family room I decided this was a much better idea, lol.

Specs:
Tank- 84x28x28, front glass starphire with the glass-holes 1500 overflow kit.
Skimmer- ATB 840 v1.5 (I had ordered this for the 120).
Sump- I'm planning on using a 100 gallon rubbermaid stock tank.
Lights- I still haven't decided, but I am probably going to run 3 250 mh, and maybe some t5 for supplemental lighting if I see that I need them.

I've had my 36 gallon running for the last 2 years, so I'm still new and always learning. Any help you guys can give me would be great. I plan on having a lot of questions. Still looking at lights, and return pumps, so any suggestions would be great.

Still looking at lights, and return pumps, so any suggestions would be great.

 

[Jgoal55]

awesome man...sounds like a fun build......youll be super happy with the Reef Savvy quality.

 

[nismo_32]

those are awesome dimensions....

 

[ReeferChris]

Yea I saw a few of the ones he had in his workshop and the quality was amazing, and that is why I went with him, and he is great to talk to about any questions and concerns.

-Chris

 

[Rogger Castells]

Tank sounds awesome, Why are you choosing a rubbermaid stock tank, is this going to be set up in your garage?

 

[ReeferChris]

Tank sounds awesome, Why are you choosing a rubbermaid stock tank, is this going to be set up in your garage?

Well it's going in the utility room which is behind the wall to the family room. I had seen a few people here on RC using them and liked the idea and saw that they were more affordable than the usual sumps. Also Have enough room that I don't need to place the sump underneath the aquarium, it will be located to the side. Would you see anything going wrong by using the stock tank?

-Chris

 

[Rogger Castells]

Well it's going in the utility room which is behind the wall to the family room. I had seen a few people here on RC using them and liked the idea and saw that they were more affordable than the usual sumps. Also Have enough room that I don't need to place the sump underneath the aquarium, it will be located to the side. Would you see anything going wrong by using the stock tank?

-Chris

I have never used one as a sump, I have use them to extend a sump and give it more water volume, I think they give a rough look which I am not particularly a fan of but most of all, they can be hard to use when using an in-sump skimmer as you will need to install shelves and try to maintain constant level, this will be very difficult also it will be very difficult to install baffles to divert micro bubble.
IMO the headaches will out-weight the savings, I would look into a used standard 120 or 180 gal glass tank that you can easily install baffles and dirt traps, drill holes were ever you want (side panels)

 

[coralfragger101]

Take pics of the whole process.

 

[brians4671]

awesome man...sounds like a fun build......youll be super happy with the Reef Savvy quality.

ditto!

get us some pics Chris.

 

[Lacy]

What a great dad!

 

[ReeferChris]

I have never used one as a sump, I have use them to extend a sump and give it more water volume, I think they give a rough look which I am not particularly a fan of but most of all, they can be hard to use when using an in-sump skimmer as you will need to install shelves and try to maintain constant level, this will be very difficult also it will be very difficult to install baffles to divert micro bubble.
IMO the headaches will out-weight the savings, I would look into a used standard 120 or 180 gal glass tank that you can easily install baffles and dirt traps, drill holes were ever you want (side panels)

You bring up a couple of good points. The only problem is that I already ordered the stock tank. I'll set it up with that since it's already ordered, but if I see that it will not work I will definitely use your idea.

I will be posting pics but at the moment all I have are the skimmer, and some marco rock but will be ordering more rock since i had originally planned on only needing enough for the 120 tech. I'll see about putting up some pictures of the skimmer later.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a pump to use for the return? I'm leaning towards external so I can limit the amount of heat going into the water.

 

[ReeferChris]

Take pics of the whole process.

ditto!

get us some pics Chris.

I'll see if I have enough time today to take some pics of the skimmer but that is all I have so far. But I will be posting a ton of pics of the build process.

What a great dad!

Yea he can be when he wants to (like all dads, lol), but yea he is. Although it wasn't to hard to convince him, he loves the ocean just as much as I do and we try to go out on the water as much as we can. Although lately with this weather we have been having, we have not gone out that much.

 

[ReeferChris]

Here is the skimmer

And here is my current set up that I have right now.

 

[ReeferChris]

Ok I don't think those pictures uploaded. Let's see if these come up now.

 

[coralfragger101]

Return pump. You probably should look at the Reeflo line of pumps. Maybe a Dart Gold.

 

[ReeferChris]

Return pump. You probably should look at the Reeflo line of pumps. Maybe a Dart Gold.

Thanks coralfragger

Ok I looked at the Dart return and using the head loss calc here on RC i got 1567 GPH. This is what I inputed:
Vertical length in feet - 6.42
Horizontal length in feet - 10
Pipe diameter in inches -1.5
Choose your pump: - sequence 3600SEQ12
Number of 90 degree elbows - 4
Number of 45 degree elbows -2
Number of gate valves - 1
Number of ball valves - 0
Number of union couplings - 2
Number of swing check valves - 0
Number of pipe exits - 6
Number of pipe entrances - 1

I'll see about making some sketch of what I have in my head so you guys can let me know what to change. I also was going to be using a separate pump for the separate refugium ( probably a 20 gallon) that I plan on placing above the sump so the water would be pumped up and then gravity fed back into the sump. However, I thing i may be able to just T off some of the flow from the return pump for this (this would eliminate an extra pump).

Please feel free throughout this whole build to let me know where to make changes, this is the first time I do anything like this and I am nervous and don't want to mess up.

 

[ReeferChris]

Ok I know its been a while since I've updated anything but not a lot has happened because of school and other stuff. Ok here are some pics of the stand and the rock scape which is still not done. The stand is pretty much done except that the plywood is not cut to size yet (the saw burned out as my dad and I were cutting it, so my dad is off to buy a replacement. Felix said the tank should be done in the next couple of day so i'll put up pictures of that when it is here. For whatever reason I can't upload pics from my mac so I created a Flicker account lets see if this works. Oh yea let me know what you guys think of the rockscape.

 

[ReeferChris]

Guess the first time it didn't work this should work though
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48958930@N07/?saved=1

 

[ReeferChris]

Ok so the aquarium is finished and in place. Felix did a great job. Ok here are some pictures of it. Tomorrow I will hopefully be putting in th erocks and sand and start making water.

 

[ReeferChris]

more pictures