Sam's 350 system build- 75g cuttlefish tank and 120 reef

[L8 2 RISE]

Hi,

I'm relatively new here (in terms of posting), however have been lurking for a while, but I figure I might as well introduce myself/my tanks.

I'm a sophmore in high school and have been in the hobby 2 years. I started with a 12 gallon nano with a pistol/watchman pair and a valentini puffer (no corals). That tank lasted 4-5 months, then I took it down because after realizing how many mistakes I made, right down to the tank that I used, it was more work than it was worth. I then didn't do anything for about 6 months, apart from set up a couple random tanks that came down pretty soon and really aren't worth talking about.

Right now I have a 50 gallon stock tank sitting on the bar in the basement that was meant for me to be able to just collect a bunch of LR, however turned into a semi reef tank... It's just a temporary tank with an RS-80 skimmer and some simple lighting.

As for the tank in the title:

I will have a total of four tanks in the system: a 75 gallon cuttlefish tank, a 120 cube reef tank, a 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank refugium (seen in stand pics below), and a 50 or so gallon sump. One of my main goals with the project was to incorporate the 100 gallon refugium because the height will give me the ability to put a 8 or so inch DSB in it as well as all the "regular" refugium stuff. In order to do this we had to make the stand a little bit wider.

For filtration, I have an ATI bubblemaster 200 skimmer specifically for the system as well as an ER RS-80 (which I will soon be modding to basically be an RC-80) that is now powering my temporary tank, however, if need be in the future, I can add it to the 350 system to help out with filtration. For lighting, I will probably be going with some sort of MH lighting over the cube which I would like to achieve using a single bulb/balast/reflector.

I'll start out with the stand. It's 7ft 2in* 3ft 5in * 3ft 3in tall. The tanks will be situated like so:

Right now, all I'm building is the "skeleton" due to the amount of plumbing and work needed to be done in order to plumb together the total of four tanks. I'll be finishing it up and getting into its "final home" this weekend, but until I have all the under tank work done, I'm not going to bother trying to "spiff it up". In order to transport such a monster of a stand, we created the separate "walls" individually and then lag bolted them together. Here's what I have so far:

 

[L8 2 RISE]

I also have in place a no bucket water change system that currently has the capacity to change 100 gallons, however it would not take much effort to add additional 50 gallon Pepsi barrels:

In the furnace room, I can do any number of things with the right combination of valves- stir one tank, move water from one tank to the other, draw water from one tank into the aquarium, draw water from both tanks into the aquarium, you get the idea. I plan on upgrading the pump. Once I have the stand and aquariums in place, I will send a line from the pipe on the cross pointing up, through the back wall to the aquarium. I will then attach a T to the line going from my return pump that can pump water out of the aquarium to the outside.
Close up of float valves:

The aquarium will be on the right side of this picture pushed up against the wall. For reference, those are just under 1ft tiles. The furnace room is on the other side of the wall on the right.

After I get the stand in the basement, the next step is to buy the sump, and plumb the system together. I will not be adding the 120 right away as I don’t have the funds to do so, however I’m hoping to start cycling all of the rock ASAP. Now that I mention it, that's another cool aspect of the system, I will be plumbing it so that ALL of the tanks are able to be removed with the switch of a couple of valves, and life will go on as if nothing were missing.

 

[L8 2 RISE]

So what do you all think?

 

[dreminon]

very cool setup. just wondering thou the cuttlefish tank in your drawing is nowhere near as wide(front to back) as the reef setup why dont make them same width? already have tank or other plans for area?

 

[EnderG60]

Umm, may want to rethink that stand design a bit....

 

[L8 2 RISE]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15030864#post15030864 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dreminon
very cool setup. just wondering thou the cuttlefish tank in your drawing is nowhere near as wide(front to back) as the reef setup why dont make them same width? already have tank or other plans for area?

For two reasons, #1, I need an area to bring my plumbing down beneath the stand, it also allows me to put my closed loop pumps and plumbing above the stand, still out of sight, less loss of flow, and not as much clutter under the stand. #2, I started out this whole set up as just a 75 gallon cuttlefish tank, so I went ahead and ordered the tank and whatnot about a year ago, I then realized that I would probably get bored of not being able to keep fish and some corals with cuttles, so added a 40g breeder (36*18 base) to the plans. The 40g breeder would be in the same system as the 75 and in the same sort of way the tanks will be on the stand in this set up (L shape), I then realized that I wanted bigger, so I kept the 36" wide idea, as that's all we have room for, just made it 36" long as well, so that's really how the whole thing evolved.

 

[L8 2 RISE]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15032040#post15032040 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EnderG60
Umm, may want to rethink that stand design a bit....

Not sure I understand, care to explain?

 

[ctenophors rule]

is the stand sturdy enough for those tanks?

 

[EnderG60]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15033201#post15033201 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by L8 2 RISE
Not sure I understand, care to explain?

sorry didnt have time to search till now. here ya go.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1169964

the way you did it will work, but wont be very stable. That way above, is rock solid and VERY strong.

 

[L8 2 RISE]

I don't know if I mentioned in my first poast, but since those pics I've added a big center brace as well as cross braces on the bottom. On top is a heavy 3/4 inch plywood sheet. I may add the 2/4's that are on the inside if need be, but apart from that, there's not much else I can do without starting over... Unless you guys think it's necessary. Remember the stand will also be against two walls along with some thick boards around the outside. What do you guys think? Really looking for opinions here, that's why I posted.

In other news, I've come up with the beginnings of a stocking list (In order of most wanted to "not so much"):
Regal Angel
Orange spot filefish pair (before anyone flames on this, I don't plan to even attempt these until I am able to get the cuttles weened onto frozen as well as the regal, after that I should have some good experience and will go ahead with the filefish if I feel confident, also, I intend to buy from an LFS so I can hopefully find some that eat- at least a little- in the store).
Anthias- not sure what type yet
B&W Clown pair
Tomini Tang
Watchman goby & pistol pair
Sixline wrasse
Copperband
Convict Tang (thinking it may actually be too big, so double guessing on this fish)