Zeeter's Dream Tank

Leak problem appears to be solved. Might be a moot point, though. I'm thinking about changing out two of the 110G stock tanks for a 300. This will alleviate the constant worry that it'll start leaking again at any time or that the flow will be greater than the pvc connections allow. Will keep the 3rd 110 to be used as the refugium.

What I'm struggling with now is the plumbing on the return.

The tank is set up for two 1" returns. I'm trying to figure out how to get from the sump to the tank.
  • Should I use one 1" tube from the pump to the tank and then split it?
    • If doing so, should I reduce to 1/2" at the split? Or maybe 3/4"?
  • Should I run two pumps and use two 1" tubes? I only see return nozzles for 1/2" or 3/4"
The pump I have now is 1300-3100 gph on DC. This should be more than enough to provide for the head pressure.
Always run the biggest pipe you can for as far as you can. If you need to reduce, do it at the very end of your run.
 
I've officially ditched the idea of running the sump in the basement. Just too much aggravation and worry about the stock tanks potentially leaking. Not only that, but my basement isn't finished and despite putting up plastic drop cloths on the walls there's still debris that gets in there. Finally, I'd need 2-2.5" holes and 2-1.5" holes in the floor. That's a lot of large holes.

A sump gives me everything I need other than water volume. This is the one I got:
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48" Bashsea Pro sump. This will allow me to use filter socks for now and then potentially upgrade to a fleece roller at a later date. It also will house my twisted skimmer, which is a problem with other sump brands due to its footprint.

I went through a lot of struggles looking for a sump and was pretty close to spending $2100 for a Hmahli. When looking at that, though, the only difference I saw was the big Hmahli logo on the front. It probably is better made, but I'll be able to get this sump plus a KH Carer or an Alkatronic for less than the Hmahli.

The plan now is to use two 32 gallon containers in the basement to house my saltwater for a persistent water change. Say, two gallons per day using stepper pumps. That will give me about 60gl a month or about 1/4 total volume. I'll run fresh water up to an ATO reservoir directly from the RODI - that head room is only going to be about 5 feet. This will need about a 1" hole to cover the ATO, water change, and run-off lines from the skimmer and Mastertronic.

In total I'll have a minimum of 80 gallons and maximum of 110 gallons of water to handle any catastrophes.
 
The dream tank hit a snag. The tank order was cancelled and I don't want to get into the details.

As of right now, I'm wondering if I should sell my about $5000 worth of gear at likely a huge loss or order a different brand. Looking at Waterbox. Now, I know that I've had my issues with them in the past, but their products look good and they claim to ship within three days.

What I'm wondering is about the sump. They won't remove it and thus lower the price, and I already have the Bashsea sump. On the other hand, if I order one custom without a sump it costs about $2000 more than the pre-packaged one.

Does anyone have a Waterbox sump, and if so - what do you think of it?
 
The tank is back on track. I reinvested the money into a Waterbox.
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It's a 230.6 model. 167 gallons, but has the same measurements as the 180 I had previously ordered. That said, I am not the least bit pleased with Waterbox's customer service. They give very short answers to complex questions and then do not stick around for followup questions. I called them and mentioned that I asked online and needed additional information. The person I talked to basically said that it's whatever the online people said as they had more information. This begs the question: Why do you even post your number online? They kind of made me feel like my questions were silly and wanted to move on from me.

On the other hand, I was extremely impressed by their processing. I ordered the tank late Tuesday night. By around noon on Wednesday I got a message saying it had been shipped. Received the tracking number later that night and Fedex called me the next day to arrange the delivery.

So we're cooking with grease now. I have movers arranged for next Tuesday - hopefully I'll have time put the stand together before they arrive. This is another thing with Waterbox; their attitude on chat and on the phone was so off-putting that I forgot to ask if the stand comes pre-assembled or not.

Waterbox stated that the tank alone is 650lbs. This does not seem right, as a 180 with the same dimensions is 450lbs at most. I even used a glass weight calculator to see if perhaps the 19mm would make it 200lbs heavier. It did not. When I called, they said that I need to include the overflow. I doubt the overflow adds 200lbs to the tank, plus isn't it acrylic, anyway?

Look, when I pay $4499 for a fishtank I want to talk to someone who is interested in selling to me and not just processing paperwork. So while I like the tank and the processing speed for Waterbox, I expect more from their service. They might deal with people who spend thousands on a tank every day. I don't buy a tank like this but once, maybe twice a lifetime.
 
The above said, I'm onto lights. When ordering the tank I included the Ecotech RMS Rail system.

Options are:

Two Kessil a500x and a third later
Three Radion XR15s and a fourth later

Kessils have a maximum coverage of 36" and an effective coverage of 24"
XR15s have a max coverage of 24" and an effective coverage of 18"

One thing I wonder about the XR15s is whether to go blue or pro. I like the look of the pro better, but this is just looking at Youtube. It may be too white IRL.
 
One thing I wonder about the XR15s is whether to go blue or pro.
If you want the AB+ blue that most people run and the corals all glow then get the blues. If you want a closer to natural look and growth is a priority get the pros. FWIW coral farms use the pros. I don't mind the AB+ look for dusk and dawn but the rest of the day I like things pretty white.
 
I've bitten the proverbial bullet.

Three Ecotech XR15 Pro lights (FYI: Aquacave has these for about $30 less than most places)
RMS Rail system

Will either get a fourth XR15 later or might supplement it with a couple of Kessil lights in between.

The three lights will get me through the cycle and work fine until I want to start growing SPS.

Edit: Received a surprise $1300 check from the mortgage company for an overage. Wondering now if I should get a couple of Kessil lights or add the extra XR15.
 
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It's finally arrived and in place. I put the lights on tonight. Kind of too blue for the moment. I think my camera was compensating for the light intensity.

Lights are 4XRadion XR15s on the RMS Rail.

Edit: Alright, well the server doesn't seem to want to allow me to upload an image tonight. Will upload it tomorrow.
 

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Kind of too blue for the moment. I think my camera was compensating for the light intensity.
It's normal. You need an orange lens filter for the picture to more closely match what our eyes see. T5 was bad but leds are worse for the effect.
 
Been a while since I've posted. Here's an update on what's gone one.

The tank could not be placed where I originally wanted due to concerns about the floor. Instead, I've moved it back to the addition. This is not near a water source, and so I had to get a hose adapter for the RODI unit and run it in from the backdoor.

Obviously this is not a long term solution. I drilled up from the basement into the dining room where the tank was supposed to go, then through the wall, through the bathroom with no sink (don't ask - long story), and then into the fish room. The lines for my RODI and water change will run through all this.

So with the tank filled with sand I started adding water in stages so-as not to stir up the sand too much and prevent it from getting into the sump. I then filled the sump and put in the gear: Filter roller, heaters, skimmer, ATO system, and bio reactor. Was going to run a refugium in the sump, but found that they are almost useless down there. A refugium needs to be at least 1/4 the volume of the tank to be worthwhile. Instead, I'm going to run biopellets, GFO, and carbon. Currently I'm designing a manifest for all that.

I started the cycle by adding turbostart and some ammonia. Too much ammonia, in fact. Way too much. Using an ATI kit, it was so dark green that it was almost black. Removing the filter roller, I added some Dr Tim's and a few days later the ammonia dropped to zero while nitrite went up and then down and nitrates are currently 21.96 mg/L.

I ordered fish from a quarantine place and they will be here tomorrow! First ones are a Percula and Onyx Percula. Couldn't get two regular ones as they're hard to come by these days, but the Onyx is almost the same - just a bit darker. I always start off a tank with true Perculas; it's a tradition for me. Meantime I'm going to change out about 20gl water tonight to bring the nitrates down.

I'm happy with the Waterbox. Thus far there have been no leeks in the plumbing. In fact, the only leak has been caused by me being stupid and turning the pump for the bio reactor up too high.

Here's my control center in the closet next to the tank. Don't mind the poor wire management - it's a work in progress:
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Added since this picture is a Mastertronic. Running Nitrite and Nitrate daily for now, and Phosphates, Magnesium, and Calcium weekly. I probably don't need the last three for quite a while, but I want to get the history going before adding corals later on down the road.

In the coming days I'll be adding the carbon reactors and my 2-part dosing system. Again, don't need the latter for a while but want it ready. I also need to set up the alkalinity and salinity testing on the Hydros iV.

Oh! Forgot about the lights. One of the XR15 lights is bad. It cannot be unplugged and plugged back in without a struggle to get it working again. I called Ecotech and a few emails aside, they're replacing it. Good customer service on their part.

I'll get another picture of the tank once the new inhabitants arrive.
 
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