Self contained advanced reef tank possible?

[mmfish]

The key is to plan carefully and not go nuts with equipment. The stand should match the equipment used, and with the variety of equipment it should work. Yes it's better to have a basement room for all the stuff you can use with a reef tank. Keep in mind, as soon as you finish building, plumbing, buying, and setting up that basement aquarium support system, the clock starts ticking on when it will be broken down, or more often abandoned. Yes, I know most people that had a glorious build in system with all equipment in the basement could not take it when they moved, and we will all be moving one day, by the way. The sad part, I have observed, is that the new home owner just trashes the aquarium system as it is worthless at that point. My brother-in-law had a beautiful fish-only marine tank build into his study (in wall) maybe 250-300 gallons, with everything in a basement room. An aquarium service took care of it. When he was forced to move (downturn in his business-wow that's not so unusual) he offered me the system, as he could not take it or afford to extract it. I decided it was not practical, and the new owner ripped out the system and trashed it, which costs a lot of money too.

I want everything in a stand so if I move and can take it all with me, and set it up again. Thanks everyone.

 

[rendogg]

I have a 135g. upstairs and it's all self contained except electrical. My ballasts, power bars, and controllers are external to prevent damage from salt creep, potential spills, and limit the heat created by the ballasts. In the cabinet there is a sump with an in-sump skimmer, external return pump, Ca reactor, and phosphate reactor. My sump is divided and has a fuge area separate from the skimmer. My intention was to put a long shallow reservoir above my sump for ATO but it has yet to be done, it would fit but would probably only hold 5-10 gallons, it might be better to have an external reservoir or plumb your RO/DI straight to your tank. Right now I still manually top up this tank and it's a PITA. I hope this helps.

 

[Arati]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14763300#post14763300 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snorvich
Ok, let me be a contrarian here. I recommend keeping all equipment in the basement. Makes life much easier. It does require a return pump that has sufficient head, however.

Lets be realistic, If you want to go with an advanced system you need more room. You will want Halides and a chiller and a reactor

I want to ask the OP where he lives. I could never get my Chiller under my tank , with a reactor and a sump for macro. Room for a decent amount of top off water. a QT for new/sick fish. a frag area...dont be a slob and put a frag rack in your display. media reactors electric outlets.

I would say you can pull it off , but its not worth it if you have a basment. It so much nicer to not be trying to work inside a stand.

 

[rendogg]

I could have saved even more space by using an in-sump return pump, then there would be room for a kalk mixer.

 

[GSMguy]

this is rediculous, chillers are not necessary if he buys efficent equipment.

All he needs Is a couple well placed fans and a controller.

If he uses a powermodule or constellation t5 setup and low wattage return pumps/ powerheads, heat won't be a problem at all.

 

[Philwd]

Everything in my system, except for the RO/DI, fits under the stand. 150G 5 ft long. Topoff container holds enough for 4 days. No chiller. Use Vortechs, external return, open top and back canopy and sump fans. LM3 system for Alk/Ca. 2 fluidized reactors in sump for GFO and carbon. Use ATB small skimmer to get the best skimming for the size.

 

[GSMguy]

Exactly...it is 2009 and all we should all be thinking efficency first. Electricity ain't getting cheaper....

 

[Arati]

Calling people rediculous doesnt make your opinion any better. I salute the poeple who do keep it all under the stand. However I give advice based on my expriance and thats all I can do. IME its better to have more room and if its possible it sure is easier to have it in a cellar.

As for saving money by increasing your efficency, well here we go again. Things really dont work that way, maybe short term for individuals but not as a whole . Its a nice Ideal, but its a buncha bull. Once everyone spends the cash to buy the more efficiant equipment then the prices go up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/nyregion/03water.html?ref=todayspaper

IMO build the best sytem you can and make it as easy to use /maintian and work on as you can. and then look for ways to conserve. not the other way around.

 

[GSMguy]

I didn't call anyONE rediculous, I contend that you can build an energy efficent tank for the same or less money as a traditional energy hogging system. We don't all have fishrooms...

He asked if it was possible I say yes, absolutely it is possible, and not incredibly difficult.

I don't think that keeping equipment under the stand will limit his ability to keep anything he likes.

 

[kfick]

Chillers are an interesting topic, especially if you've never lived in California, Nevada or Arizona. It must be like living in a sauna to evap a tank enough keep a tank within reason in some areas that hit 115+ outside. It might be cheaper to keep the A/C set at 85 and run a chiller than try to keep the house at 78 and evap several gallons a day.

I always see tanks on here with 300w closed loop pumps and downdraft skimmers with huge Iwakis on them and that stuff just wouldn't fly out west.

Careful equipment choice and use of fans does make all the difference in the world to keep a chiller out of use, but I'd argue that the safety net is very valuable.

 

[GSMguy]

Or just set your aquacontroller to turn off the lights above a set temperature.

I have lived in arizona, new Mexico, Nevada and Florida, houses in those climates are usually kept cooler than a house in say upstate Ny in the dead of summer. I've seen a few setups where the chiller added most of the heat removed right back to the tank because it was cramped in the stand with no ventilation.

 

[kfick]

I hear ya. I can't imagine being in NY without A/C and having no way to pull the water out of the air in your house.

 

[luther1200]

I have 2-150w MH on a 65 with no chiller. And they are only 4-5" off the surface.

 

[crvz]

All of my hardware, with the exception of the RO/DI unit, is contained in the stand. This includes a 80 gallon sump, calcium reactor, fan, ballasts, controller, skimmer, kalkreactor, all electrical, etc. The display is a 150 (5'x2'x2') with a 43" tall stand. I employ a 3 fault tolerant auto top-off that does attach directly to the RO/DI unit, which I fully appreciate the risk, but it's worked well for me over the last 4 years that I've used this design. My water changes are done with a brute trash can that I fill in the garage.

so yes, I think you can keep it all together in one spot. click on the red house if you want to see more about my setup.

and snorvich, I'd love to keep everything in the basement, but I live at 22' elevation. Water table is a little too close!

 

[ALH]

I have a 180 gallon Uniquarium, with all the filtration in the back partition of the tank. So my stand is very uncluttered