Troy's 270 Gallon plus Fishroom

[troyholl]

Well here goes nothing! I've decided to take some Bonus money and put it into a major upgrade! A couple years ago my wife kicked me out of my office I built in the basement of our house... so she could expand her collection of gym equipment. Well... the room is now too full so she is moving to 1/2 of the family room. Now that I've got my office back I'm going to put in a 72" x 36" x 24" tank with Star-fire glass on 2 sides. In addition I'm taking over a closet behind the wall where the tank will go for a small fish room. It's about 10'x12' in size.

I have to say that reading this forum is to blame for this plan!! My checkbook will never forgive you guys!

So here is what I've determined so far:

Custom tanks -- local builder 72" x 36" x 24" (on order; arrives in about 3 weeks)
Ecotech Radion LEDs (probably 4 units but I need guidance on if that is enough)
Ecotech MP40 (2) and MP10 (2). I have the MP40's on my current tank; will at the MP10s
Large custom sump... likely 48" x 24" x 18" deep
Custom Stand -- to match the bookshelves that exist in the room already
Frag Tank (Size TBD)
QT (size TBD)
I'll move my RODI and water storage into the room

I'll post some pics of the existing area and my progress so far as soon as I figure out how!

All ideas welcome!

 

[troyholl]

Current tank

Current tank

Here are a few pics of the current 90-gallon.

 

[troyholl]

The other pics are of the office/library. The 1st picture shows the wall the tank will go on. The gym equipment is still being relocated. The 2nd picture is from the door into the room. The 3' side of the tank will be aligned with the wall there. The 3rd picture is of the closet/future fish room. I've now cleaned that closet out and I'm moving out most of the existing shelving to make room for a sink, RODI, and stands for the frag tank, QTank, and some work area for fragging/etc.

 

[troyholl]

Family Room

Family Room

Here is the family room where the current 90 gallon sits and where the wives gym equipment is moving to. Most of it is moved. We had to move out a cabinet that was in the way and have a tile guy coming over tomorrow to put in some matching tile where the cabinet sat.

 

[TheFishTeen]

Nice! Kickin' the wife out of for a fish room. I like!

 

[SPotter]

tagging along!!! great start!

 

[troyholl]

Skimmer and Sump

Skimmer and Sump

Okay; I'm looking at having a custom sump built for me. Here is the layout I'm looking at. Couple items; I like the drain water flowing over the filter bags rather than directly into them. In addition I want as large a Refugium as I can get. I have about 48" length to make this fit with room for 2 external pumps (initially just a Reeflo Hammerhead but later a backup).



For the Skimmer I'm leaning towards a Coralvue SUPER REEF 6000SSS or SUPER REEF 5000SSS. The 6000 is rated around 500-600 gallons while the 5000 is 400 gallons. The 6000 is probably overkill but I'd rather have too large than pushing it. Does anyone have experience with these models and especially the Super Space Saver version with the pump inside the skimmer?

 

[mjhall85]

Gonna be another awesome tank! As far as your checkbook that is not our fault . I'll trade you, you setup my 670 and I'll pay for the 270 LOL look forward to your build tagging along

 

[SPotter]

For a sump like that I would contact MyReefCreations and get a quote from them. Something like that is not going to be cheap and shipping is going to be really expensive because anything over 36" needs to go on a pallet. You could save some money by doing a remote Fuge that dumps into the sump.

Okay; I'm looking at having a custom sump built for me. Here is the layout I'm looking at. Couple items; I like the drain water flowing over the filter bags rather than directly into them. In addition I want as large a Refugium as I can get. I have about 48" length to make this fit with room for 2 external pumps (initially just a Reeflo Hammerhead but later a backup).

View attachment 180695

For the Skimmer I'm leaning towards a Coralvue SUPER REEF 6000SSS or SUPER REEF 5000SSS. The 6000 is rated around 500-600 gallons while the 5000 is 400 gallons. The 6000 is probably overkill but I'd rather have too large than pushing it. Does anyone have experience with these models and especially the Super Space Saver version with the pump inside the skimmer?

 

[troyholl]

For a sump like that I would contact MyReefCreations and get a quote from them. Something like that is not going to be cheap and shipping is going to be really expensive because anything over 36" needs to go on a pallet. You could save some money by doing a remote Fuge that dumps into the sump.

I'm having a local builder quote the Sump and a Frag tank. They do incredible work! Not sure if I'll be violating a rule by providing a link but I'll give it a try.... look at www.elite-aquatics.net

 

[troyholl]

For a sump like that I would contact MyReefCreations and get a quote from them. Something like that is not going to be cheap and shipping is going to be really expensive because anything over 36" needs to go on a pallet. You could save some money by doing a remote Fuge that dumps into the sump.

Wow.. nice stuff at MyReefCreations as well!!

 

[SPotter]

I reached out to the place you are getting a quote from and it looks like they do very good work. Shipping is what kills it with sumps this large. It can be anywhere from $300 to $500 so I would seriously consider the local guy. I got lucky and found someone in my local club selling and MRC 48" high flow sump that normally goes for $900 plus shipping. I bought it for $400 and it was only 6 months old. I would definitely do acrylic for something that large no matter who builds it.

 

[troyholl]

I reached out to the place you are getting a quote from and it looks like they do very good work. Shipping is what kills it with sumps this large. It can be anywhere from $300 to $500 so I would seriously consider the local guy. I got lucky and found someone in my local club selling and MRC 48" high flow sump that normally goes for $900 plus shipping. I bought it for $400 and it was only 6 months old. I would definitely do acrylic for something that large no matter who builds it.

Agreed. He owes me a quote tonight but haven't seen anything yet. My tank is also a custom build - local builder. Its about the same size as yours only 24" tall instead of 28" and Starfire on just 2-sides as it will sit against two walls. My fish room layout looks darn similar to yours as well!

 

[troyholl]

Small progress

Small progress

Not too much to report other than the tile guy finished up putting in a couple tiles where the cabinet used to be to make room for the wife's last piece of exercise equipment that we now need to tear down and move. Also had 2 custom stand builders come take measurements and talk through ideas on a stand. Lastly still waiting on a quote for a custom sump. I also made a bit more progress tearing down the closet cabinets in what will be the fish room! Wont make any more progress until next week as we are headed to Vegas for the Nascar race this weekend!

 

[troyholl]

I do need advice on how many Ecotech Radians to put over the tank... remember its 72" x 37" x 24". Using the 40-gallons per fixture advise and I would need 6 maybe 7 lights (there goes the checkbook). I was hoping 4 or no more than 5 would work. Any thoughts?

 

[SPotter]

When I spoke with them and from looking at other builds I was told a minimum of 4 but I should plan on having 6 if I wanted to be able to keep anything I want in my tank.

 

[troyholl]

Ok, I was gone for the weekend having a blast at the LV Nascar race this weekend! But that doesn't mean there hasn't been progress! In fact lots is going on....

1st and the most exciting... the Glass has arrived for the tank build. I'm having Aquarium Creations here in SLC Utah (Eric Davis) build the tank. The tank has the front and one side using Starfire glass!



In addition I've got the Sump, a Frag tank, and a skimmer all being custom built. I'll provide details on that shortly.

Lastly... I've picked a tank stand builder and I'm meeting with him this evening for final measurements and decisions. I'll also post the drawing for the stand later!

 

[troyholl]

More progress. Pics to follow. The tank stand has been designed and ordered. Construction starts Monday. The hardwood floor gets installed tomorrow. Finally my return pump arrived today, I'm going with a Reeflo Hammerhead Gold!

Pics tomorrow!

 

[pgaudreau]

My tank is 84x24x30 and I am using 4 radeons and thats plenty.
I would get an MP 60 and transfer your 2 MP 40's
Great start on the build definetely following

 

[troyholl]

I'm worried about shadows if I only go with 4 because of the 36" width of the tank.