SUPPOReefer's 280g Starphire Build (AKA: The Home Wrecker)

SUPPOReefer

SUPPOReefer

New member
Well, I have been trolling this forum for several years dreaming of the day when I would finally be able to have my own thread with the big boys.
I have learned much from the countless hours I have spent reading of others experience about the unique challenges involved with keeping larger systems. I have incorporated several ideas from many of your tanks. Since no two systems are alike, I had to adapt them to my specific needs.
I have one specific requirement that dictated the majority of my decisions: space. I don't live in a 1,000 sf condo or anything that extreme. I am in the Navy. Due to this, I might be forced to move every few years. For me, it is an absolute necessity that all equipment (with the exception of the RO/DI unit) fit under the tank. While my current house allows for me to have a remote sump and equipment room, I have no idea what the layout of my next house will allow for, and want to make sure that as long as i have a 7' wall, I can set up my tank.

A few specifics about the system:

Display:

My dream tank was 84 long x 36 deep x 24 tall. I called around to several tank manufacturers and received quotes varying from $3,500 to $5,000. I was prepared to pay the premium but had a used 84 long x 32 deep x 24 tall three sided starphire fall into my lap at a price too good to be passed up. The other difference between this tank and the one I was getting quotes on was I was planning on having an internal C2C overflow, and this came with a right side overflow.

Since everyone wants pics here are a few of the tank sitting in its permanent resting place (for at least the next nine months).

20120909_003620.jpg


20120909_003609.jpg
 
Thanks, salali. I have several updates to make. I am almost completed with plumbing. I should have posted this thread a few months ago when I picked the tank up, but have been too busy. More updates coming.
 
Tile done! Waiting on cabinets to be made.

Sump arrives Wednesday.

I need to post pictures from what I did this weekend :)
 
Okay. Where to start? It is hard to summarize several months of waking up in the middle of the night with ideas and not being able to go back to sleep worrying that I am doing something wrong.

Since I believe that the heart of my system is the skimmer, I guess I should start there. I really wanted to go internal. It is a huge savings on space. But every month when I tore apart my sump to clean it, I was amazed at how much detritus would get trapped around my skimmer. Even though it meant dedicating a huge portion of the stand to a skimmer, I went external. I selected the SRO-5000XP. I am worried about being able to maintain a consistent head for the first several months it is set up, as I slowly introduce new livestock.

The papillion is for size reference.

20121001_205137.jpg
 
After selecting an external skimmer, my size needs for a sump went down drastically. I was originally planning on having a custom acrylic sump built that would incorporate a RO/DI reservoir and a salt water mixing reservoir. After receiving a few quotes, the wife put her foot down. The only down side to getting the tank at such a good price is it is hard to explain to the wife why the sump is going to cost more than the tank did.
Wound up locating a 65 gallon oceanic tank. It will meet my needs. After picking up the tank, I discovered that it is a low iron glass tank. Seems like a waste to use it for a sump, but no one in the area had a non-drilled one to trade.

20121020_123245.jpg


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When moving the tank into the house, I neglected to place a piece
of plywood on top of the stand. The previous owner never had one,
and it probably would have been fine without it (the stand is constructed
of 2" steel), but better safe than sorry. The plywood support also gave
me something to drill into from the bottom to support pipes and wires.

Had to move the tank off of the metal stand on to a temporary rolling stand
(necessary because I only had two friends helping and we could not lift the
tank by ourselves)

20121028_120236.jpg


20121028_120232.jpg


All back together

20121028_140925.jpg
 
Man I have to respect the fact you are doing this build and serving. But why do it if you know you are transferring soon? Nice dimensions on the system.


Sent from my iPhone using Siri and Tapatalk.
 
I am still hoping that I am able to stay local. But looking at the billet list, it doesn't look like that is going to work out. My only options at this point is to go to Afghanistan or Iraq for a year or be an Admirals aide. I would rather dodge bullets for a year.
While on active duty, there really isn't a good time to to set up a tank. Doesn't matter if I kept my 90 up and running or completed the upgrade to the 280. Every time I move, I am going to have to break down the tank. If I am going to have to break down and put a tank together the tank every couple years, it might as well be my dream tank. I fear that if I just kept my 90, I would just sell everything off as opposed to tearing it down and setting back up. After all of the work and planning I have put into this tank, I will set it up every time I move. I have invested too much time, energy, and money to not enjoy it for every moment that I can.
 
SUPPOReefer said:
I am still hoping that I am able to stay local. But looking at the billet list, it doesn't look like that is going to work out. My only options at this point is to go to Afghanistan or Iraq for a year or be an Admirals aide. I would rather dodge bullets for a year.
While on active duty, there really isn't a good time to to set up a tank. Doesn't matter if I kept my 90 up and running or completed the upgrade to the 280. Every time I move, I am going to have to break down the tank. If I am going to have to break down and put a tank together the tank every couple years, it might as well be my dream tank. I fear that if I just kept my 90, I would just sell everything off as opposed to tearing it down and setting back up. After all of the work and planning I have put into this tank, I will set it up every time I move. I have invested too much time, energy, and money to not enjoy it for every moment that I can.
Click to expand...

True true.
 
After being confident that the stand was structurally sound enough to support the ton and a half of weight, it was time to start worrying about plumbing.

In order to get water to the tank, it necessitated cutting a hole in the wall. There was already an unused cable outlet behind the tank, so I decided to use it.

After pulling the dishwasher out, it was as simple as cutting a hole, tying into the house's sewage line, and keeping the wife distracted so she didn't see the mess I was making in the kitchen.

20121028_104835.jpg


The only thing that travels through the wall is a 3/4" receptacle for drain water when I complete water changes and a 1/4" RO/DI line.

20121028_104854.jpg



It is imperative if you do this, to install a check valve and gas trap. The check valve ensures that sewage water does not back flow into the tank but does not prevent gasses from stinking up the house (thus the gas trap).
 
The RO/DI unit is stored under the kitchen sink. It is fed by the cold water line. After passing through the hole in the wall it is split into three outlets.

-One outlet goes directly to the sump. It flows through a bulkhead and float valve to replenish any evaporation water and keep the water level in the sump at 9".

-The second goes to the 29 gallon water change tank. It flows through a float valve to keep the water level at 25 gallons.

-The last outlet is for sending RO/DI water outside of my system. It is simply 5' of hose with a ball valve on the end.

I installed a shut of valve, so that the RO is not constantly producing waste water.

I also installed ball valves inline to the sump and water change tank. This way, I can control when and where water goes at any time.
 
Plumbing:

Brando, here is a little explanation on the plumbing for the skimmer:

Since I am running an external skimmer under the stand, I had to drill a bulkhead
for the skimmer return to pass through. The first task was to raise the skimmer
up so that the return would be above the waterline of the sump. Didn't want any
back pressure on the skimmer effecting performance.

20121028_140932.jpg


The skimmer feed is teed off of the return pump. I didn't want the additional
power draw and maintenance of another pump. The return pump is a Dolphin
Ampmaster 3000. The output goes to a wye gate and is reduced to 1".

20121028_213313.jpg


One of the 1" outlets feeds a wavy sea for return to the tank. The other goes
to the input of a 40w uv sterilizer. The output of the uv feeds the skimmer.
Hopefeully everything that is killed by the uv will be skimmed out.

20121028_213344.jpg


Since all of my plumbing is sch40 and the skimmer uses metric, I just used a rubber
coupling to attach the skimmer to 1.5" PVC to travel through the bulkhead.
 
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