The RONCO 150 (In-Wall 150 Gallon Mixed Reef)

[45commando]

Awesome tank.I've had a reef tank for about 9 years now & couldn't imagine not having some softies in it.I love SPS,but my Toadstool is still one of my favs.It's about 18" across now & literally is the centerpiece of my tank.Great set up.Love the TV too.

 

[clown fanatic]

nice tank! i love it

 

[jdsabin1]

The Guts

The Guts

Thanks all . Amy - you're a doll. Let me know when you wanna send and I'll PayPal you some $$$.

For those of you that wanted to see behind the tank, get ready to be UNDERwhelmed! Seriously, it's pretty basic back there so don't say I didn't warn you.

Without further adieu;

Walking behind the tank from the right side, looking up at the ceiling. This back area was covered in green sheet rock. I left the insulation like the builders had it when it was unfinished as it is covered in a thick plastic. Behind the front tank wall, I have green sheet rock, a thick layer of plastic and then cement board. Absolute overkill but I was paranoid of splashing and the like at the time. Oh well. In this picture you can see the humidistat, the wiring from the lighting coming from the canopy, and the Icecap ballasts. They are up out of the way and mounted to a board, per the manufacturers instructions. I have the humidistat set to 40% and it runs normally a few hours per 24 hour period. I've never seen any moisture in this area at all. You can also see one of the chains that is bolted to the ceiling that helps support the canopy (hinges on the front wall/canopy which you will see later).

Just a closer view of the ballasts is all.

Looking straight down the tank from the right side entrance. Canopy is a simple, cheap, wooden (painted white inside and out) box. It has vents on the top and sides, and is mounted so there is a small space all the way around the tank for ventings sake. Two ball bearing fans provide air flow in and out also (across the lights). The canopy is attached via heavy duty hinges to the front wall and chains (bolted to studs in the ceiling). I have an attached hook that allows me to lift and keep the the canopy open (believe it or not, it's not very heavy) when it's time to feed, clean or aquascape.

Stainless steel shelves behind the tank. You can see the outlets halfway up the wall (all 20 amp circuits) some GFI, others aren't (based on what I am running). All attached to surge protecters, all cords labeled so I know what the heck they are. All plugs off the floor in case I get water on the floor. I painted the walls black to make sure I wouldn't get any light bouncing off the walls. Probably didn't need to do that actually.

 

[jdsabin1]

More guts

More guts

Entering from the left hand side of the 'tank closet' now, here you can see the overflows. Sort of like a 'reverse durso' I suppose. The tops of the PVC's have small holes so I don't get gurgling, using flex PVC that dumps water into the sump. The flex hose is modular. I can take it completely off should an alligator or something get stuck in the tubing.

I use some plastic needlework grid material you can buy at WalMart and stitched together caps for the overflows inside the tank so wandering snails couldn't escape into the sump.

Same thing, only looking from the other side. I didn't need to silicone the bulkheads and stuff but I did anyway. In fact, I siliconed wherever I could based on the fear that the tank would spontaneously explode while I was sleeping. I'm paranoid that way.

This view just shows you the Humidistat hose that leads out of the house (attached to the outside is a small, inconspicuous vent that is located behind landscape). Again, the humidistat was cheap, easy to install, and it works.

Here is the sump. It's a 40 long and fits perfectly under the stand. I even have a spot for the calcium reactor that would fit perfectly that I am never going to get because I don't need it . You can see the topoff hose coming in from the left side, the ebo heaters on the back of the tank, an Eheim return pump sending water to the spray bar running along the back of the tank, and the phosban reactors can be seen here. In another picture you'll be able to see the drop in fuge that is full of chaeto with a light over it that runs 24/7, and the EuroReef skimmer that is on the other side of the fuge (where the overflows are returning water). This is as full as I ever have it based on tests with the check valve and a power outage scenario.

 

[rtcpenguin]

Awesome setup, and excellent photography. I'm amazed anyone can keep cyano/algae free without massive amounts of work for such an extended period of time. I think the fact that your sand bed is mostly covered may help.

It'd be sweet if you could post captions below the coral photos though, since I'm still somewhat of a newbie when it comes to identifying them.

 

[jdsabin1]

Guts #3

Guts #3

The other side of the sump. Here you can see the Euroreef skimmer, the drop-in fuge and fuge light, and the return flex PVC pipes.

A pic of the PVC going into the center hole in the bottom of the tank. A gate valve to stop flow completely (or regulate it), and you can see where I have beefed up the stand some too. There's that paranoia setting in again.

Just a closer view of the outlets is all.

Another shot of the return pump end of the sump. Here you can see the topoff float valve clearly, and you can also make out the actual check valve coming from the return pump. The phosban reactors both have hoses that rest on top of the return pump so the carbon and rowa go directly into the main tank. The amount of feather dusters in the sump is amazing. They are everywhere on the bare bottom sump. As a sidenote, the phosban reactors both run off a single mj 1200, and so does the drop-in fuge.

 

[jdsabin1]

Last of the guts

Last of the guts

Hope you enjoyed seeing the 'bowels' of the system. Not very exciting eh?

This pic is really aimed at the rocket scientists in the house as an advanced degree is probably required to fully grasp the concept of this water topoff design . A 3 gallon container, a MJ 1200 pump, sends RO/DI water to the sump. I only fill it two gallons at a time in case the float valve gets stuck. If it dumps all the water into the sump it won't make a difference.

Another canopy shot.

The shelves and stuff from the left hand side.

Now I'll get back to taking pics of the critters in the main tank.

 

[jdsabin1]

Awesome setup, and excellent photography. I'm amazed anyone can keep cyano/algae free without massive amounts of work for such an extended period of time. I think the fact that your sand bed is mostly covered may help.

It'd be sweet if you could post captions below the coral photos though, since I'm still somewhat of a newbie when it comes to identifying them.

Thanks! Interesting observation about cyano/algae. You could be right!

I'll post captions as far as coral ID's as I continue to post pics in the thread. I have some new stuff coming this week so hopefully I'll get some good shots of the new coral.

 

[@LVIN]

nice looking tank! how deep is your sandbed?


@LVIN

 

[twins6511]

Future TOOM!!!!!

 

[jdsabin1]

nice looking tank! how deep is your sandbed?


@LVIN

Thanks. The sandbed is not very deep, just a few inches for aesthetic purposes. So far that has worked well.

 

[jdsabin1]

Necessity...

Necessity...

Necessity is the mother of invention. I use these to clean the front of the tank. One is a standard long scraper, the other is a paint scraper actually (found at Home Depot, etc), attached with a stainless screw, washer, and nut, to a broom handle. It works very well.

I had to do something as the coralline in my tank grows at an alarming rate.

 

[saltym3]

great writeup. excellent photos. That purple featherduster is sweet!

 

[drgabe]

Thanks for the time spent writing up your tank and taking some spectacular pictures. While I have great admiration for the SPS keepers in our hobby, it just isn't me. I am sucker for softies and your tank is no exception. Your comments about your friends coming over and googling over the little yellow tang, couldn't be more right!

Can't wait to see more, especially the blue throat trigger in this beast!

 

[atram]

Jeff,

I notice that you are using reverse durso's, it doesn't
look like theres any internal overflows. How are you
preventing critters from getting sucked in? Is the some
kind of screen or barrier on your bulkhead? The tank that
I am preparing would require a similar configuration
because the bottom is tempered.

Al

 

[Flanders]

I love this tank. Those clove polyps in the foreground are some of the best I've ever seen.

 

[Pike]

Beautiful system Jeff. You're a bit more handy than you give yourself credit. Nice picture taking skills too!

"But honey, they're Polks!!" That cracks me up

 

[Im Lon 2]

Do the lights get out of the way enough to work on the tank? I'm getting ready to start my Box for lights and was wanting to know thanks.

How tall is the canopy? What type of wood did you use?

BTW - Sweet setup!! Looks great

 

[jdsabin1]

Thanks everyone .

Salty - yeah the featherduster is actually quite large. Does anyone know what their lifespan is? It's one of the first things I put in the tank so it's been nearly a year. I love these ornamental critters. I have two larger feather dusters and a co-co worm. They really add some uniqueness to the tank I think.

dgrabe - I am really going to work hard to figure out how to take good shots of the fish. I have some real characters in this tank and would love to be able to take some nice pictures of them. If I can get them to stay still that is .

Al - Yes I have some screen on the 'overflows' in the tank. It works wonderfully well. I'll snap a pic of that tonight and post it.

Flanders - Thanks .... I have three types of clove in the tank ATM. They grow like weeds.

Pike - Yeah, the wife doesn't understand that you can sacrifice a color for sound quality. There are so many things admirable people don't understand. Good thing I love her .

Lonnie - Yes the lights/canopy sure does get out of the way enough for me to work on the tank. I will measure the canopy and post those dimensions tonight or tomorrow. I will also snap a pic with the canopy up to give you an idea of how that works. I believe I used heavier plywood is all and painted it a bright white.

I added a Leptastrea this week and hope to get some good pics of it soon too. I also pickd up a large UPS to give me some uptime should a power outage occur. I am currently researching generators so we'll see what I come up with.

 

[jdsabin1]

The canopy is: 19 1/2" deep, 73 1/2" across, and 8 1/2" tall.

Here's a pic with the canopy open. Sorry for the poor quality. My camera struggled with the bright light so I tried to darken it to make it look like something. As you can see it opens at a very nice angle and I can fiddle around in the tank from front to back to glue frags, clean, feed, etc.

Here is a pic of the overflow sleeve-screen that I made with plastic grid and fishing line from materials found at WalMart. The only drawback to these is that coralline grows on them everywhere and I have to poke the holes through again (on the top anyway) with something sharp to make sure water can flow through. It does keep the snails and stuff out though .