VGT's 105 Build

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VGT

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Starting my first 'bigger' reef. Been in the hobby for about six years now. Started off with a six gallon fluval edge with a DIY LED fixture, and then upgraded to a Nuvo 16, a Nuvo 30 (after the 16 sprung a leak), and now with my first 'real' tank.

Picked up a Eurobraced RR 48x24x21 off craigslist for a steal.



So far, I've just added some hardware to the doors and started to clean up the tank a little. Want to get some of the coralline off, even though it'll grow back. I'd like to start if off looking somewhat clean :)

Plan to start off with dry rock, and transferring some of my live rock from the current tank as seed rocks. Livestock will grow slowly so as to not outpace the biological filtration of the larger tank. Plans for mostly LPS/Zoas, and perhaps some SPS at the top of the tank. Only have a pair of clowns and a purple dottyback for now in the 30.

Lighting: 2x Hydra 26HD
Sump: Trigger Ruby 30
Skimmer: REEF OCTOPUS CLASSIC 150SSS
Return Pump: Eheim 1262
Circulation: 1 MP10 for now. Trying to sort out the rest, but will deal with that after the tank is cycled. Return pump is plenty powerful, and will be split into two 3" flares.
Will be transferring the reefkeeper lite over (2 powerbars, pH, temp, ATO)

Plumbing bits arrive tomorrow, will hopefully get that all squared away without incident (herbie). Hopefully getting it wet in a week or two. It's placed in my home office with a view from my desk. I'm stoked.



 
Lots of goodies showed up today. Glad I went with the Ruby 30 and not 36, wouldn't have gotten anything bigger into the stand. Unfortunately UPS lost the PVC I ordered, so can't do much else yet.



Installed the master power strip and some rope lights for additional lighting, too.
 
Thanks. Twiddling my thumbs at the moment, UPS sent my package to the other side of the country, so can't really get anything done. Installed some shelving in an adjacent closet to store stuff, and ran an RODI line in there so I can stop doing the 5-gallon bucket shuffle from downstairs. Gonna work on de-corallining it tomorrow.
 
Sketch of my plumbing plans.



Blue - 1" Drains, one with a gate valve
Red - 3/4" Returns. Branch back to fuge will have a valve, future plans for possible reactors or other needs, but for now will redirect some flow back to fuge if needed, so as to not throttle the return way down - Spears ball valve on that, gate valve up to dual returns.

Unions abound to help with any needed disassembly/plan changes in the future.
 
Skimmer assembled, fits in there perfectly. Need to raise it up a bit to get to an optimal water level. Chamber is a 9.5" depth, Skimmer like 7-8". Few 2" pieces of PVC ought to do the job nicely.

 
VGT said:
Skimmer assembled, fits in there perfectly. Need to raise it up a bit to get to an optimal water level. Chamber is a 9.5" depth, Skimmer like 7-8". Few 2" pieces of PVC ought to do the job nicely.

Click to expand...



You could build a little acrylic stand and shove a couple marine pure plates under it for a little extra biofiltration?

Can't wait to see your progress.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Rope lighting wasn't going to do the trick, especially once you lost the light coming through the bottom of the tank. Stopped by Home Depot and got an undercabinet lighting kit for $40.

Need to clean up the wires, but I could probably grow chaeto with this, lol.



Can't wait to get it setup and transfer the little guy.

 
Whelp, started mocking up the plumbing - not quite how I planned (stupid three dimensions :) ). Will need to get some pipe straps to support the return plumbing and manifold. Will be adding more unions as well, I think. There's a ball valve on the return line that goes toward the refugium.

 
Busy weekend.

Took care of most of the algae on the overflow. Still some there, and its going to grow back anyway, just wanted to start it off looking a bit better. Mounted the vertical supports for lighting.




Plumbing is finished, light wires tidied up. Couple of schedule 40 fittings will get swapped out to schedule 80, ran out of what I needed.








Now the long process of making a ton of saltwater. Will hopefully get it filled this weekend.

 
Almost done making water! Need to pick up some sand and sort out a live rock source.

Picked up a pair of secondhand MP40s and a secondhand MP10 to add to the MP10 I already have. 40s on the sides, 10s on the back - should be more than enough flow, even dialed down.

Designed a support for the eurobracing to hold up a screen top that I will build. Nice and sturdy. I have the 3D file for 1/4" and 3/8" glass in case anyone needs it.

 
Things are coming along nice. I love waiting an eternity to make water when you are ready to finally fill the tank. You did an awesome job on the plumbing too.
 
Built a screen tonight, not really pleased with how it came out. I wanted to have a cutout for my automatic feeder, but the off the shelf screen braces aren't really built for inside corners, and then the additional tension from the mesh screws it up even more. Going to look at 3D printing the U-Shaped area for the feeder, which should provide the rigidity needed for it to be a nice solid frame.

On better news, picked up my sand, and found a great price on some live rock at a fish store near where I used to live. Hopefully going to pick some up this weekend :)

Here's the screen... for now.

 
First thing's first. Picked up a 3D printer and currently printing a fixed bracket to go around the automatic feeder, so that my screen can look a bit less embarrassing. More on that later.



The big news? It's coming to life. Mounted one of my Hydra 26HDs (other one is on the current tank), finished making water, and got it running today. Took awhile to get the drain/return dialed in, and was super annoying being my first time, but once I started figuring out what was doing what, was pretty easy to get the return pump dialed most of the way up and the return bringing it away adequately. About 4" of room left in the sump after power turned off, so good there.









Picking up rock tomorrow. Gettin there.
 
3D Printed mounts for the Vortech controllers, and got some rock in. Not the final scape, as I'll need to integrate my old rock once this gets going.



 
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