Ted_C's 150 Gallon Frag / Quarantine Build

[Ted_C]

I'm pretty much nearing the completion of re-building JMonk's 150 gallon to serve as my quarantine / frag tank.

Still to do:
Purchase and plumb a Spectrapure UPLC II ATO
Purchase and plumb a kalk stirrer
Purchase 100 pounds of sand (should be about a 1.5" sand bed)
Purchase a MaxSpect Gyre 150
Re-do the canopy (the light will be mounted outside of the canopy) - to do this I need a table saw and I just dont have the cash to spare at the moment.
Cover up the overflows with some scrap acrylic

What's already done:
99% of the plumbing is completed. Had a few leaks on a water test and am waiting for some parts. Re-did all of the plumbing.

Running dual Herbie's in the overflows. All overflows go into filter socks before it hits the skimmer.

While I wont go into too much step by step detail on what was re-done (which was all plumbing) - here's some before shots of what the aquarium looked like

As you can see, it was heavily encrusted with dead corralaine and dead corals. that needed cleaned out. I filled the aquarium up with RO water (ran through the spectrapure without the two DI stages) - 2 PPM TDS was the final output water and added two gallons of 21 baume muriatic acid. I let that run for 12 hours and scrubbed up the interior as best I could.

What the system looks like today:
FTS:

Sump:

Pump + electrical side

All of the electrical:

Canopy:

 

[Ted_C]

Oh - I forgot - the neptune Apex had some troubles on first start up - I couldn't control any of the outlets. I soaked the ends of the wires in some Diet Coke to remove some of the corrosion + I reset the system and everything came together as expected.

The neptune was also updated to the latest firmware without issue (with explicit detail to the instructions on their website) - so it is connected to their fusion service now.

Also to do:
recalibrate the pH probe and the salinity probe. Temp probes appear to be spot on.

 

[viper12775]

looking good its a shame its only going to be quarantine system lol

 

[rogergolf66]

Interesting a qt setup with sand? Looks good.

 

[Ted_C]

it'll be non-medicated. Think of it as an observation tank for 6 months before the fish go into the 320...

This way - if I do decide to get gobies or other creatures that require a sandbed for security - no big deal.

 

[CrazyEyes]

What are your plans if you do infact need to medicate?

 

[rogergolf66]

it'll be non-medicated. Think of it as an observation tank for 6 months before the fish go into the 320...

This way - if I do decide to get gobies or other creatures that require a sandbed for security - no big deal.

I c

 

[Htfdwhaler]

That is one big frag tank!! LOL..

 

[snake1]

I believe you said your tds meter is reading 2 ppm ....just wondering what's different i have always been told to change my di resin once I see the meter reading 1 to bring it back to 0 .....I know the numbers are low but thats what I do per the LFS. So do I have to change so much di resin or can I let it go to 2ppm?

 

[rogergolf66]

I believe you said your tds meter is reading 2 ppm ....just wondering what's different i have always been told to change my di resin once I see the meter reading 1 to bring it back to 0 .....I know the numbers are low but thats what I do per the LFS. So do I have to change so much di resin or can I let it go to 2ppm?

I believe he said that was his a leak test on the tank. I don't think he's going to use that water

 

[snake1]

Oops sorry was quick read this morning half asleep

 

[Ted_C]

I believe he said that was his a leak test on the tank. I don't think he's going to use that water

Yeppers. It was only a plumbing test (which failed) and to run 2 gallons of muriatic acid through the system. I'll be doing another fill up of the dirty water this week for a second plumbing test. That'll allow me to drain out my mixing tanks and start making the "good stuff" - 0 PPM TDS saltwater

What are your plans if you do infact need to medicate?

As of this point Mike - I have none. I've actually lost more fish to improper medication techniques than I have to disease coming in from the LFS. The fish where medication might have been useful (like Bangaii) - went too quick for medication to make a difference.

What do I mean by improper medication technique? I tried setting up a medication tank as per the instructions laid out here: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/quarantining-marine-fish-made-simple

I tried a set-up just like it was pictured w/ a ten gallon and a hang on back filter. I also tried a Biocube 29. I treated mainly with prazipro and Copper.

The issue was - and I'm guessing here - but it's an educated guess - when I started the cupramine treatment - it acted as an algacide - killing all of the algae that might have been growing in the tank. That caused an ammonia spike. That also rapidly depleted the dissolved O2 - visible via a sharp drop in pH (or the dissolved O2 was never good enough in the biocube).

That issue was posted here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2307467&highlight=quarantine

 

[CuzzA]

Ted if you get all of your wood measured and marked your more than welcome to come by and use my table saw.

 

[viper12775]

or I can bring you my skill saw

 

[Ted_C]

Thanks guys- but that's ok. I'll need one for the 320 build too - so I'll be putting it to good use. I need to make tongue and groove for the panels w/ 1x6's (ripped in half) and 1/4" plywood - so I'll need a Dado set as well.

There's also the need for long rip mitre cuts - looking at the stand skin I got from JMonk's - there's some nice beveling on the kick plate and the shelf at the base of the aquarium that I'd like to replicate in the 320 stand skin.

 

[Ted_C]

barring any leaks from my next water test - I think I'm pretty much finished with the build.

As you can see, the plumbing is pretty complex - with a recirculating / water change pump (four valves to control whether it goes through the UV/Chiller or if it's sent to the drain). DC12000 as the return - split into two sea swirls

All drains and recirculating water is directed back into two filter socks. I've used 12" nipples to get the outlet of the water below the water line in the sump to reduce noise. I capped the nipples with couplings to avoid sharp edges tearing up the filter socks.

The display frag racks were pretty fun to put together. the biomeda blocks are in the back of the lowest level - should provide excellent areas for bacterial populations with good flow all around them.

 

[viper12775]

looking good ted

 

[anbosu]

Good idea with the ceramic media, I might have to steal that.

 

[Ted_C]

Running water now. Leak test passed. A few unions were leaking - but that was it.

It's a bit noisier than I'd like - but I think with a dual overflow and herbies and limited space in the sump- I'm pretty much stuck with what I got.

I've got waterfall noises from the main drains in the display - left hand full siphon is full open with the dc12000 running around 75% - gives me a bit of water through the 1.5" standpipe. Right hand full siphon is running around 75% capacity with the standpipe having a trickle of water.

Waterfall noises are due to the fact that the herbie's standpipe is set-up so it's below the level of the drain. It's the only way I could fit a strainer on the top of it to avoid critters going into the sump. Figure the standpipe's drain level is around 4 inches below the level of the display's drain. The full siphon's are around 10" below the level of the display drain.

I'm also getting some waterfall noise from the sump - from the standpipes. all I have down there is a street 90 to direct the water into the filter sock. There's just no room to set it up with a 12" nipple below the sump's water line.

 

[rogergolf66]

be careful with the media blocks there they grow algae really quickly if there in light.