RODSTAR'S REEF ROOM - 561G Display Tank

[rodstar]

PREAMBLE: I am so psyched to be posting a build thread in this forum. It is a culmination of years of planning and my personal REEF Tank Gateway Drug Syndrome. I started with a 14g Biocube which led to a 125g display tank in the living room plumbed through the wall and into the basement to the filtration and now, the big boy! Some of this banter was taken from my personal blog at www.reefdisorder.com, so there may be a few references to older posts which won't make sense, but I plan to post the full build here so no need to worry.

PART 1: JUST ANOTHER HOLE IN THE WALL
Wow, its been a long time since I posted. But, fear not, my friends, I am back. And, you definitely need to strap yourself in, because it's about to get a little crazy in here!!!

When I last left you, I was tankless. My last post was almost a year ago! If you recall, I had a 125g tank that was plumbed through the floor into the basement where I used 3 40g stock tanks as a refugium, a sump and a frag tank.

Well, all of that went away in March of last year as my wife and I put our house on the market.

The house miraculously sold in just 2 weeks and we started on our journey to build our dream home. Well, not our dream home, but as close as we could get without winning the Powerball. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we spent years planning it. For my part, I wanted my dream reef room. My wife wanted the tank in the basement as she felt there was too much risk moving that much water between floors. And, she's right.

So, as part of the new house construction, I designed in a few things. First, a dedicated reef room in the basement. Next, make sure it has its own sink and plumbing. After that, slope the whole floor to a center drain. I call that "œThe Divorce Preventer". Lastly, networking and power. Networking is hard-wired for the Reefkeeper of course. As for power, the room started with 2 dedicated 20-amp circuits. And, both of those circuits are on a separate panel that can be powered by a 10,000 w generator.

Cut to: December 16, 20111. Settlement! That's right! We are in already. My wife and I (and her family) helped clear over 100 trees in July. The builder broke ground on September 1 (and again on Septmber 9 after all the rain flooded the property.)

Below are some pictures of the room. But, don't go just yet. A week after Christmas I loaded in a 75g tank, a 40g stock tank (sump) and a 90g frag tank. These were at my friend's house storing all of my fish and coral while the construction happened. So, that is running well today. Go ahead, look at the pictures now. And, stay tuned, because I have started working on the room some more!!!

 

[rodstar]

PART 2: 561G DISPLAY TANK, THE PLAN (originally written in March, 2012)

I have set the stage for RODSTAR's REEF ROOM and my dream tank. So, without further delay, let's talk about the contents of said Reef Room.

First, the display tank. This beast is being made by Miracles Aquariums up in Toronto. I didn't choose them because the owner and I share a rather uncommon first name. I chose them because I think they make one of the best tanks in North America. I looked at a bunch of custom manufacturers and they stood out for me, because of their customer service, their quality builds, their online reputation, and their cost. All of those were excellent.

The tank itself will be 120″ x 36″ x 30″ or 561 gallons. I wanted to go 130″ x 48″ x 30″, but just couldn't justify the jump in price. Anyway, the tank will have Starphire glass on the front and two Bean Animal overflows on the side. It will sit on a steel frame also built by Derek and Miracles.

Under the tank will be the sump. The sump will be 72″ x 24″ x 24″. I expect it to be a little over half full and hold about 130g of water when running. The sump will be the center of the hub and spoke type system where everything goes in and out of that tank. Not much will actually be IN the sump itself besides the heaters and a few pumps, along with some live rock.

I plan a 48″ x 30″ x 24″ refugium holding macro algae and adding an additional 140 gallons of water.

I also have a 72″ x 24″ x 12″ acrylic frag tank and a 48″ x 18″ x 24″ 90 gallon tank that will hold a deep sand bed and garden eels or sea horses, depending on what the kids decide they want.

Finally, there will be a smaller tank for QT.

My skimmer is an external skimmer made by Marine Technical Concepts (MTC). It is the HSA-3000 that I bought used from Manhattan Aquariums up in Manhattan.

My carbon and phosphate filters will go through a combination of the Next Reef MR1 "“ Monster and Bulk Reef Supply Reactors.

Calcium will be delivered via Geo's Reef 818 Reactor.

I have two 135g tanks to be used for saltwater mixing and ATO. They came from Plastic Mart.

What am I missing?

As yes, lights!!!! Well, I made a commitment last year to the Aqua Illumination SOL Blues and I LOVE them. I started with 6 last year on my old tank (a little overkill, but I knew this build was in my future). I have since added 8 more. That gives me 14 total. 12 for the display tank and 2 for the frag tank. I figure I need 2 more for the frag tank and 2 for the eel/sea horse tank. I will use a compact fluorescent over the fuge.

As far as water movement, I am going with Ecotech Marine Vortechs. I love them. I currently have 2 MP40s. Plan to pick up at least 2 MP60s, plus a few more MP40s over time.

Not sure what pumps I will use yet.

 

[rodstar]

PART 3: THE ROOM

Building out a new reef room is a project in and of itself. Without a single tank in the room, there is lots to do. Unfortunately, I have two tanks, a sump, 2 Brute trash cans and a couple of shelving units in my way. So, its not a pretty room right now. And, its barely functional.

As I mentioned, the room was built with the following features:

Dedicated sink
2 20amp dedicated circuits in a breaker panel supported by a 10,000w generator
sloping floor to a center drain, just in case
half wall for where the tank will be located (more on that later)
Otherwise, the room is empty. First things first. Since I was bringing livestock into the room in a hurry, I needed RO/DI. So, the first task was to set-up a permanent connection. Check. I really like the PEX plumbing and it was super eay to work with. I now have a dedicated full time line to my RO/DI system. And, I added a shut off valve as well, just in case.

Now, on to the construction.

I realized first that I needed more power. So, I ran two more dedicated 20 amp circuits into the room. You will notice that all of the outlets in the room are at head height. I did that on purpose. Electricity and water don't mix, yet we are forced to run them together in a fish tank. By putting all of the electricity UP, I plan to have the power above the water line at all times. So, if something ever goes wrong, its just water, not electrical that gets impacted. I plan to add shelves around the entire room and they will act as the conduits for the power and hold any ballasts or power bricks that are necessary.

The ceiling isn't done yet, but I knew I needed more than just one light so I added a second switch and a second light, this one over the sink area where I will also have a workbench. I also ran power for a bathroom exhaust fan that I plan to have running 24/7.

The walls were just framed. That made it nice to run my extra power, but the outside walls are Superior walls and have metal studs and I don't want to run the risk of anything rusting or corroding. So, I have started drywalling the entire room using green board. Green board is mold resistant and what they use in bathrooms. I was happy with that and figured a few coats of spackle and paint and it would be perfect, right?

No of course not. Drywall is not water proof. Wait. Full Stop. Before I go further, take a look at this fish room from GlassReef(Tom). http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1482007

This is bookmarked (for me) as the "BEST FISH ROOM". His attention to detail is phenomenal. So, that is my goal. If my room can be as half as neat and clean and well thought out, then I am in good shape.

So, back to our topic at hand. You will notice that Tom used something called FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) on the walls. That is a great idea. It is completely waterproof and it eliminates the need for lots of spackling and painting. So, back to Lowes and Home Depot I went and got me some (expensive) FRP board.

The room is not complete yet. But, I got started. So, here are some pictures!!

 

[kalgra]

Oh Man I wish I had that kind of room to work with on my build.

Looks like its going to be awesome!

 

[jeremyml]

Looking good so far, cant wait to see the final result.

 

[Aquatron]

Wow you will enjoy that My old fish room built on the back side of my 750 was 12 x 8 and had a window too Spent alot of time in that room over 3 years so be ready for fun times ahead! Lot's of room to buy lot's of things...............haha.

Best of Luck!

 

[rodstar]

Thanks for the comments all.

At this point you are all pretty much up to speed. The room is fully done in terms of build out. I will post some pictures in a moment. New lights added to the ceiling. 2 additional 20-amp circuits are in. I added an exhaust fan vented outside.

One other thing I added which I knew was going to happen, but I didn't think it would be so soon was the addition of a dehumidifier. That room was really damp. My PC4s had visible condensation on them. So, I did some searching on Consumer Reports and bought a Frigidaire off Amazon.com. It has an option to drain to a drain, so I have that running into my divorce preventer drain. When I installed it my humidity was at 74%. Its now down to 51%.

Last week all of the equipment arrived as well. I ordered everything from Premium Aquatics. Jeremy and the rest of the guys are great. I needed a lot of equipment for the main tank and for the other, supporting tanks as well.

The plan is to do a little more preparation plumbing this weekend and drill the holes in the sump. The sump is a new 180g tank 72x24x24. Its currently sitting int he backyard much to my wife's dismay. It will go under the display tank in the stand. Derek at Miracles designed the stand so two of the supports could be temporarily removed should I have to remove the 180. Of course, I will have to drain half the display tank to do that. But, at least I won't have to remove it altogether.

Here are some of the pictures I mentioned. In my next post you can help me design my sump. I have questions and no definitive answer (if that is even possible).

 

[rodstar]

Now to my sump question(s).

First of all, I have built the main tank to have 2 sets of bean animal overflows. They are external and on each end of the tank. That means I will have 6 drain lines going into the sump.

Next, I have planned for 2 super dart golds to manage the returns. I am starting to think that is too much flow, considering each is capable of 4300gph. I already plan to have 2 mp60s and 2 mp40s in the display tank.

I also need to drill a hole in the sump for the skimmer pump. It is an iwaki 100rlt. I also want to drill a hole for my drain line. That means up to 4 holes in the sump. No big deal, except I have to drill them.

The frag tank, the refugium and the garden eel tank will also be fed from the sump and drain back to the sump, but I plan to use Mag 18s for those and don't need to drill holes. But, that leads to another 3 return lines. That means 9 return lines.

Besides the three mag 18s, the sump will hold heaters only (and maybe some live rock).


QUESTION 1: Should I plumb in both Super Dart Golds or just one?
QUESTION2: So, how would you set up the sump? (Option 1 and 2 below)

Here are two options. Option 1 has each of the bean animal overflows draining to each side of the sump and then the returns coming out the center. This is a simple and easy design, but I am concerned about there being dead spots in the center chamber.

Option 2 has all of the drains coming into one end of the sump and the returns on the other end. This is better for flow, methinks, but makes the plumbing a potential nightmare. I have to run 6, possibly nine drain lines into a single area.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Aquatron]

Hello,

What a stack of toy's I would hook up both Dart pumps and run other items off a manifold and not use the other pumps. I like the idea of feeding sump from both ends from overflows the manifold should be 1 1/2" then downsize at each use. I also like to feed my skimmer from DT overflow

Nice Build!

 

[FishyFishy69]

Amazing! I can't imagine having that much space to work with. It's the kind of thing that dreams are made out of!

 

[rodstar]

Hello,

What a stack of toy's I would hook up both Dart pumps and run other items off a manifold and not use the other pumps. I like the idea of feeding sump from both ends from overflows the manifold should be 1 1/2" then downsize at each use. I also like to feed my skimmer from DT overflow

Nice Build!

This is a great idea. Instead of the 3 mag18 pumps I can use 1 of the darts.

 

[Prospec1]

alot of work ahead

 

[rodstar]

Work is what I do to pay for the tank. Building this is fun...for me anyway.

 

[milonedp]

I have a sump now much smaller than yours of course but I have the drains coming in on each side like option 1, I'm not a big fan, I feel like I lose too much space because each side has to have the inflow, additionally I'm always having to reach over the plumbing to get into it (the only space for my pump was right in-front of the sump, so whatever you decide don't put the pump there). If I were you I'd go with option 2. The downside of option 2 though won't just be your plumbing everything into that space but with the longer run you'll have a slower throughput, no idea how to measure that but I'd still go for that option.

I'm upgrading myself to about 350g and planning to use a Rubbermaid 150 Stocktank for the sump not sure if you've considered that as an option.

I'm following along and will likely steal some ideas ;-) we are building a new house so the real fun for me won't start for a few months yet, just deciding on the tank...

Good luck!

 

[dainiusiva]

Rodstar, i really like your build. Best of luck to you.

 

[rodstar]

The countdown timer is on for the arrival of the display tank.

I spoke to Kim at Miracles last week and the tank will ship today!!! The plan is to pick it up from the shipping terminal (about an hour away) either Friday evening or first thing Saturday morning!!!

I have a few pictures of the tank in process from Derek and Kim at Miracles that I will put at the bottom of the post.

But, let's get back to the sump for a second. Based on recommendations from my fellow reefers here and at DVRC, I decided to go with Option 2. So it will mean a lot more plumbing, but that is okay.

Also, based on Aquatron's suggestion, I am thinking that the second super dart gold will be used as a manifold to supply water to the other three tanks (refugium, frag tank, eel tank) each with its own valve and unions, so I can isolate any of them.

I was really hoping to be much further along in my plumbing at this point. I wanted to have all fo the tanks basically plumbed up to the area where the display tank, stand and sump were going, so all I had to do with do a final run of each of them. But, that has not happened.

As I think about the plumbing that I have to do, I am starting to think that this system won't actually be running until September!!! WHAT?

Well, here is a list of plumbing connections I will need to do:
1. Modified Bean Animal Overflow System for left of DT
2. Modified Bean Animal Overflow System for right of DT
3. Feed and return for Frag Tank
4. Feed and Return for Refugium
5. Feed and Return for Eel Tank
6. Returns for Display tank
7. Tons of locline work on all tanks
8. Feed and return for skimmer
9. Litermeter ATO setup
10. Litermeter continuous water change setup

Not to mention making all that water, acquiring live/dry rock, aquascaping just right, etc.

Oh, and I am not independently wealthy. So, I have a full time job in there. Plus add one 3 kids, its summer time, lots of yard work, etc...

I know I know, get my priorities straight. I will try!

 

[cdrewferd]

Dang. Can't wait to see the rest of the build. Great equipment list.

 

[rodstar]

Just a quick update. The tank was suppose to arrived last weekend, but right before they shipped they realized that they messed up the steel stand.

I designed the stand to be able to remove two legs so I could slide my 180g sump out from under the display tank if absolutely necessary. (Of course, the display would have to be drained to at least half full to pull this off).

They forgot to make the legs removable. So, Miracles rebuilt it and it is out for powder coating now. I am hoping it arrives next Thursday so I can spend my long weekend putting it in and start the plumbing.

Thanks to that new show in NatGeo, Tank Kings, I went out and bought a hydraulic lift table on wheels. This baby holds 1500lbs. The plan is to put the DT on that to move it from the truck and into place. Well, that and 10 guys will help too!

 

[Alex T.]

This is going to be sick!

Tagging along.

 

[danfeig]

Looks like a great build!

I am following along with much interest!!!