Reid's 120g Oceanic Tech Build

[reidcrandall]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15069971#post15069971 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Taqpol
Did you know that you had crabs in the rock, or was it just a prophylactic step?

Oh man I wish i had a fish room right now. That setup looks so clean and simple!

Thanks, it's definately a mess at the moment, but I hope it will be nice and clean when I'm done.

I didn't know that I had crabs in there, but any time you get live rock, I feel it's better safe than sorry. I want a crab free and mantis free tank.

 

[reidcrandall]

I also got the egg crate cut and put on the bottom of the tank:

And the dry substrate on the bottom:

It is a lot deeper than I expected... and I am still going to have to dig it out to rest the rock on the egg crate (I am planning to let the tank run for a week or so before putting the LR in place). And that's not to mention the 40 lbs of Fiji Pink Aragalive that I still have to put in when the water is flowing.

Remote deep sandbed anyone? I may be heading toward one when I get mad and scoop this crap back out.

 

[melev]

I wouldn't remove it. Just place the rock in the sand until it hits the eggcrate.

That looks like a good depth to me.

 

[crvz]

Why the eggcrate?

I know there's some debate on live rock and phosphate binding, but I would personally recommend against burying any liverock because of that (proponents will tell you that the rock will "wick" wastes from the sand bed, which will bind into the rock... over time this can lead to a source of nutrients and the resultant nuisance algae). My own experience with sand beds, hair algae, and cooking rock lead me to this recommendation. Have you seen acrylic rock lifts? They allow for a deep sand bed, but when implemented well they lift the rock slightly off the sand to allow good water flow throughout the rock structure and avoid any contact. I'm sure there are better links around here, but this is the build thread that I'm familiar with. I know it would be a bit of work, but much better NOW then after you get the rock/corals/fish in the tank.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f76/diy-group-project-invisible-rock-lifts-85616.html

 

[reidcrandall]

I put the eggcrate in there to even the weight of the rock over the bottom of the tank rather than having any pressure points on the glass. What I will do is keep the rock on top of the sand, and then if it sinks for any reason, the eggcrate will be there to disburse the weight.

 

[crvz]

That should be fine. The sand distributes weight very well, so you won't have any pressure points on the glass with rock on top of the sand. If you have any borrowing fish, I guess that may cause the rock to sink.

 

[Taqpol]

I always thought you placed the rock before the sand and made it stable. That way if any burrowing fish or invertebrates disturbed your sand bed they wouldn't cause a total avalanche.

 

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15072548#post15072548 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Taqpol
I always thought you placed the rock before the sand and made it stable. That way if any burrowing fish or invertebrates disturbed your sand bed they wouldn't cause a total avalanche.

Same thought that I had.....

 

[ludnix]

I had put my rock in before the sand directly on top of the egg crate but I think you'd you be fine just doing what melev said by pushing your supports rocks down into the sand until they reach the eggcrate.

My goby has dug out under several rocks so I'm glad they were resting on something more stable than sand alone.

I've been subscribed to your thread for a while now, I always enjoy seeing threads where owners put a lot of thought into their tanks. :thumbsup:

 

[melev]

Some of us like to live dangerously, that's all.

 

[reidcrandall]

That's what they call him... Marc Dangerously.

Working on an update now while I let the last of the plumbing cure. Maybe water in tonight... MAybe tomorrow, but we're close... so very close.

 

[reidcrandall]

The progress so far...

The progress so far...

We began the day working on the drain. We had to change the plan a little bit because of the space we were working with. We had a little less height to work with than we planned, because of the fall needed from the tank side to the sump side so that water would flow with the gravity. Those of you who have seen the diagram (page 13 or 14, I believe) know that originally, I wanted to have the drain come out in the middle of the sump and then split to the skimmer and refugium side. We had to place the sump entirely to the right of the drain and return lines to make everything fit.

We ran the drain into a T and the first line travels all the way to the sump and the second gore directly to the skimmer section a few inches away. We used true union valves to both control the flow going to each sump section, and also allow for disassembly if need be. We staggered the valves for ease of operation.

Here is the completed drain side:

Then we got the pumps for the return / manifold plumbed in:

We used a 3/4" threaded to 1" slip reducer screwed directly onto the pump. Above tht is a check valve to prevent back flow when the pumps are off (there are also anti-siphon holes drilled on the tank side for dual protection. Above the check valve is a union so that the pumps can be easily removed.

We also added a crossover valve system between the 2 return lines for backup purposes. If one of the pumps goes down, the other pump can run both returns and manifolds (at a reduced capacity, of course) temporarily.

 

[reidcrandall]

Next, we plumbed in the flow to the frag tank off of one of the returns:

A shot of the return / manifold plumbing in progress:

The valve farm:

We added a drain that can be connected to a hose at the bottom of the tank in case of emergency:

This will also allow me to connect the skimmer and return pump sections to pump out more water during water changes.

Completed plumbing from the right:

Completed plumbing from the left:

The return lines to the tank are not located ideally, but the dimensions of the stand and the requirements of construction and the gravity return line necessitated it. We shouldn't lose add too much head with the downward curvature of the flexible PVC.

We also added valves and unions to each of the return lines right at the wall for isolation and to allow me to disconnect the entire manufold plumbing if need be. I wish I would have had a true union valve to keep this all in one, but these were the materials I had purchased, so it is what I used. I also used the gate valves for the return at Chris' suggestion for increased return flow control.

 

[Padrino]

Sweet man, Did you use pvc ball check valves. i had one installed on my return line and it didn't last 24 the noise was unbearable sooo annoying i took it out the next morning

 

[crvz]

Looks nice and simple. What's the size of the wetroom, Reid? I forget the square foot dimensions.

 

[melev]

I like it. Looking forward to your water test to see if you like the flow to each item planned.

 

[reidcrandall]

It's going to take a few days to fill this thing up. Tank = big. RODI = slow.

 

[reidcrandall]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15076140#post15076140 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by crvz
Looks nice and simple. What's the size of the wetroom, Reid? I forget the square foot dimensions.

Wetroom is about 6 feet wide by about 10 feet long. It's not quite as wide as I would like, but it does the job

 

[reidcrandall]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15075935#post15075935 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Padrino
Sweet man, Did you use pvc ball check valves. i had one installed on my return line and it didn't last 24 the noise was unbearable sooo annoying i took it out the next morning

I hope it doesn't come to that with them being in the wetroom away from the living area. I guess we will find out!

 

[Guy340]

Very nice thread and attention to detail. Good luck and hopefully you get everything up and running pretty soon.