Soulpatch's 150 SC build

[soulpatch]

OK where to begin. I got my feet wet with my own salt tank last year getting a biocube. That thread is here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2476475

Suffice to say I quickly outgrew my biocube and started looking online for a larger tank. I finally decided on the 150 gallon SC Aquarium with an all wood stand. Within a week or so the tank and stand were delivered:



Here it is unboxed in my man cave:



And of course the requisite daughter in the tank pic:



The stand was great but I wanted to redo the interior. Having it sealed and painted white was important so I could see better and not worry as much about spills. So I taped off the "trim", sanded off the poly inside, sealed the corners and seams, and finally primed then painted white with appliance paint which formed a hard shell. LED lighting was added to light up the internals and allow me to see everything and neoprene on the floor for sound dampening:














I put in the sump (needed to remove the one support to get it in) and began to plan out my plumbing. I decided to go herbie and use the third hole in the overflow for my return. I know I want reactors, frag tank, and potentially other equipment to run off of the pump so I planned for a manifold as well. So thus far my sump and equipment are:

Trigger ruby elite 30 sump
fluval SP6 pump
life reef svs 24 skimmer
2 heaters
rw4 to be moved to the refugium area of sump
Pac Sun kore 5th doser
Building an obsession dosing containers with float sensor
Building an obsession ATO container with float sensor
Tunze ATO
Apex
Cabinet temp control fans

 

[soulpatch]

Plumbing was finished this weekend and water tested with success which was a huge relief. I need to finish the overflow drains and install the locline but otherwise tank is complete plumbing wise.









Marinepure blocks were added to the sump (and also a few to the biocube so I can seed from there)





Next steps:

I need to get in my rock from reef cleaners, set up my aquascape and put it into the tank. Then begin the process of moving over my controller to the big tank. I have a few suprises on how I am going to install all electrical in the stand which you can see later but it should be super neat and save a ton of space. In the tank I need to put in my WAV powerheads once I set up the rock scape and see where I need things aimed. Also awaiting my ATI T5 6x54 fixture to mount in my canopy along with 2 Kessil A360WEs I already have.

Finally I need to finish my AWC station in my utility room. I have 2 storage containers at this point but need to plumb them together and get an additional pump to make moving water back and forth easier. I did get the AWC module from Pac Sun for my doser so that will handle my daily water changes but I want pumps for large changes weekly to the tank.

My biocube once emptied of fish and corals will be emptied, drilled, and added to my big tank sump via my manifold as it switches to a frag tank. I have the IM coral frag rack so will use that in there and some marine pure plates to aid further in filtration for the system as a whole. And yes I have a separate QT set up which will house fish and corals in transfer as well as new purchases.

The tank was freshly filled this past weekend with RODI water for a water test and sits baren till I get in my rock. This thread will continue to develop as the build goes on much like my nano thread.

 

[ReefWreak]

Glad to see the other thread here, and it's coming along nicely. Seeing page one of this thread and that thread, both your daughter and your tank have grown immensely since that thread was started. How quickly they grow! Best of luck on the new tank!

 

[soulpatch]

I would like her to stay the size I can put into my tanks for quite a long time though.

 

[ReefWreak]

I would like her to stay the size I can put into my tanks for quite a long time though.

Adorably said.

 

[mav3rick478]

Subscribed to watch in awe! One day I'll do a big tank again.

 

[DarthReefer27]

Subscribed. I also started with a biocube 29 a littl less than a year ago and I am in the process of building a 120 gallon system. I am planning to purchase a 120 from SC aquariums as well. Did you have a good experience with them?

 

[soulpatch]

Honestly I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Steve goes above and beyond to deal with questions and ensure you are getting what you want. I was a bit skeptical going in about the tank and especially going with the all wood stand but I have been pleasantly surprised. I do wish they had non metric plumbing and the standard bulkheads that they include for those of us not wanting to run metric leave a bit to be desired. I ordered in new bulk heads from BRS.

The thing I love the most though is that these tanks are at a reasonable price and include the 3 holes (120 and 150 have 3 holes in overflow now) allowing for an easy herbie install and return line. I was even toying with the idea to do a bean animal but with the canopy I decided to stick with Herbie and not try to run a return line over the top.


Another update on the actual tank. Tonight I did the overflow plumbing and ran it to ensure it runs quiet. I cut the emergency pipe about an inch too short (should have measured twice) so I need to cut another one tomorrow (college football on so butt is on couch). I also need the rest of my loc line fitings for the return so I can do some power off tests and ensure no flooding.

As of now the tank is running pretty quiet though once I fix the emergency to be taller thus having more water in overflow things will be MUCH better.

I will power up the pump and heaters tomorrow night once I get the emergency and loc line in place so I can get the tank up to temp and ready for sand and rock to begin cycle. I will obviously add salt to get the tank up to 1.025 by mixing in the tank before sand and rock.

 

[RobTheReefer]

I would like her to stay the size I can put into my tanks for quite a long time though.

Ain't that the truth. But going from just her father, to her father and her friend is priceless. I hope that made sense. Guys with daughters in their late teens will understand.

 

[soulpatch]

I can wait for that stage as boys come with that or are close behind. For now I will cherish the time she spends helping me move hoses, feed the fish, and just sit and watch with me. Never thought I would be a sap of a guy playing sports all my life and even racing motorcycles. But kids change things.

 

[DarthReefer27]

Honestly I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Steve goes above and beyond to deal with questions and ensure you are getting what you want. I was a bit skeptical going in about the tank and especially going with the all wood stand but I have been pleasantly surprised. I do wish they had non metric plumbing and the standard bulkheads that they include for those of us not wanting to run metric leave a bit to be desired. I ordered in new bulk heads from BRS.

The thing I love the most though is that these tanks are at a reasonable price and include the 3 holes (120 and 150 have 3 holes in overflow now) allowing for an easy herbie install and return line. I was even toying with the idea to do a bean animal but with the canopy I decided to stick with Herbie and not try to run a return line over the top.


Another update on the actual tank. Tonight I did the overflow plumbing and ran it to ensure it runs quiet. I cut the emergency pipe about an inch too short (should have measured twice) so I need to cut another one tomorrow (college football on so butt is on couch). I also need the rest of my loc line fitings for the return so I can do some power off tests and ensure no flooding.

As of now the tank is running pretty quiet though once I fix the emergency to be taller thus having more water in overflow things will be MUCH better.

I will power up the pump and heaters tomorrow night once I get the emergency and loc line in place so I can get the tank up to temp and ready for sand and rock to begin cycle. I will obviously add salt to get the tank up to 1.025 by mixing in the tank before sand and rock.

So which bulkheads did you end up getting from BRS?

 

[soulpatch]

So which bulkheads did you end up getting from BRS?

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulkhead-abs-slip-x-slip-1-7c63a554c36ea63c77723a472b7ca20f.html

1" bulkheads.

 

[soulpatch]

I have the tank pumps pumping tonight. Everything is about as silent as one could expect. I hear the slightest trickle of water as it goes through my overflow teeth but that is it. Such a relaxing sound.

Pumps in the cabinet make the slightest hum that I can hear when right next to the tank but on my couch 3 feet away are silent. I do need to paint my return plumbing black so it does not stick out but otherwise those pipes are good to go.

I have done quite a few power out scenarios and the sump held everything perfectly. Now I await my rock delivery this week so I can lay that out to aquascape and then the tank gets loaded with sand and rock to begin the cycle.

I have some speciality hinges coming so I can install my electrical center in the stand and all of my conduit is painted so I will be able to easily hide any and all wires in the stand. My ATI fixture is also shipping this week which is awesome. So some canopy work will be happening this weekend to get the lights all mounted up with the ATI in the center (48" fixture) and my 2 Kessil A360WE on both ends aimed inwards. So like this:

\ - /

Should give me awesome shimmer but with all the color and growth that T5 provide. My acans are excited for the T5s...

 

[soulpatch]

Here is a short video of the inital plumbing setup this past weekend. As posted above I have fixed the pipe in the overflow and now runs silent. I will try to shoot a new video this weekend with some of my new edits to the tank:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2KlLvs9ls8

 

[soulpatch]

Well I think the first night leaving a tank running is one of the hardest to get through. You are unsure if you glued everything (even though one does multiple tests), you worry about failure somewhere (pump, drain, ect) and all that.

Well I might be one of the only ones with worries like that but regardless the tank ran all night last night without issue. Left her on today to further the run. Given no surprises the heaters will go on tonight to begin heating the water. I am hoping my rock shows up today/tomorrow and if so I plan to have the controller and such moved to the big tank this weekend and begin breaking down the biocube as the big tank cycles.

 

[JRR1285]

Great thread. This is the exact setup I am hoping to get eventually. I love the look of the tank.

I would be worried leak testing a tank like that as well. It is a huge amount of water when it's all over the floor.

 

[soulpatch]

Thankfully this is in a basement so while I would need to replace carpeting and some trim the damage would be minimized at least.



On another note the Electrician is coming in a couple weeks to run my dedicated lines for the tank on GFI breakers. Going 20 amp breakers to have enough juice for everything. Also getting a generator transfer switch installed at the same time so I no longer need to run power cords into the home during power outages.

Trying to figure out how I want to do my water change station as well. I dont think I will be setting up my AWC pumps right away as I want hands on and to ensure stability before I automate that process. Just less things out of my hands to worry about at first as the big tank comes online. As it sits I am currently thinking of the following:

my 32 gall brute left as is collecting RODI water. Leave in my pump to pump water into my new 35 gallon holding tank. Holding tank has a bulkhead to tie off of that with on/off valve into a T fitting. One end of the T to the pump and the other end to another T which has valve with camber fitting to plug in a hose and valve to pipe returning to holding tank for mixing. Output from pump would be another valve and camber fitting to plug in hose line.

The way I think about this is that I could turn off water from the res and open the line from the camber valve to pump water out of the tank. The hose output on the pump would be to the sink. When I drained enough close off the input camber, flip the hoses, and turn on the res valve to pump water back in.

The stand for the salt res woudl be on wheels so I could wheel it out of the wifes way as needed or to do maintenance on other things.

 

[JRR1285]

Any updates?

 

[soulpatch]

updates:

Water change pump comes in tomorrow.
I got plumbing and wood for the water change station
80 of the 180 pounds of rock came in today and the other 100 should be in tomorrow
Water is heated and simply need to add some more salt to it to get it to the right level
Sand goes in tomorrow so it can settle before I put the rock scape in
Mounts for the Kessils came in so they go in the canopy tomorrow.
ATI fixture has shipped so should be in early next week (need to order bulbs yet)
My hinges came in for my electrical area to be built so that happens tomorrow as well.

Placing order tomorrow for the screen top and bulbs
Stopping off tomorrow night for black spray paint for the return lines so they no longer stick out in the overflow.

 

[soulpatch]

Sand is in the tank and it is now a cloudy mess. Should clear up in a couple hours which gives me time to build the water change station this afternoon