220 Build! Follow Along!

[TheMillennialReefer]

Hey All!

So I am going to be documenting my build on youtube as well but figured I can start a thread on here for people who don't go to youtube as much as millennials do!

Anyways, recently my 125 cracked. I was in the process of upgrading the stand, I emptied the tank, removed the plumbing and went away for the weekend. I came back and the tank cracked from the overflow hole that was drilled in the tank. Although I am sad it cracked I am happy the tank was empty!

Anyways. I will share a picture of my stand below. I used 2x4's to do the support, 2x8's to create the upper frame, and 2x6's to create the lower frame.

Initially the idea was the put a 20 gallon refugium underneath the stand which is why you see a mini stand underneath the frame, and use a 40 gallon breeder tank I had previously converted into a sump to house the skimmer and any reactors.

We are moving in 5-6 months, building a house, and where I am putting the tank in the basement backs up to unfinished storage area! So I am going to drill through the wall and put my sump in the unfinished area. This means I have options.

Now to my (very) rough drawing of my sump idea. I already have the 40 sump and the 90 tank that I am plumbing into the system. Let me know what you think? My concern is when the return pump is shuts off and you get water that empties from the tank into the sump, I don't want to overfill the sump area! I thought about adding a drain incase of this but when the pump kicks on that will trigger the ATO to kick on and cause a salinity swing.

Help, ideas, anything is appreciated!

Thanks,

The Millennial Reefer

 

[Ranjib]

Looking good. Following along.

 

[RJinPV]

Your stand looks like it could support a tank. Are you going to put a skin on the outside? The question about the emergency drain is hard to answer since it is not clear to me if the 90 gal water line is in relation to the 40 gal sump. Seems like a good idea if needed. But when the return pumps shut off will the tank's overflow limit the water going to the sump before the sump overflows? If not then the emergency is optional. If so then you need it.

I'm jealous you'll have room for a 220 gallon. Good luck!

 

[TheMillennialReefer]

Your stand looks like it could support a tank. Are you going to put a skin on the outside? The question about the emergency drain is hard to answer since it is not clear to me if the 90 gal water line is in relation to the 40 gal sump. Seems like a good idea if needed. But when the return pumps shut off will the tank's overflow limit the water going to the sump before the sump overflows? If not then the emergency is optional. If so then you need it.

I'm jealous you'll have room for a 220 gallon. Good luck!

Well currently the 90 is set up with the 40 gallon as the sump. It doesn't fill up much. Still about 15-20 gallons of space left in the sump when the pump is off. I am putting doors underneath the tank and use it for storage for board games or whatever else we will need room for.

When I set up the 220, I just don't know how much it'll overflow into the sump. I don't imagine I'll get more than 10 gallons of back flow into the sump from the 220 but I'll have to calculate the volume when I get the tank. I'm trying to find the best deal with a built in external overflow. I want to limit my liability with drilling a tank just because my 125 cracked about a week ago, I did not drill it, the LFS did and did a crap of a job. lol. Aqueon nor the LFS will do anything about it.

 

[TheMillennialReefer]

So was able to see what the finished basement looks like, had to drive like 40 mins to find a model home with a finished basement, but we found one!

The area behind the tank is all unfinished basement so I’m going to drill into the wall and put the plumbing through there. Also, this is not drawn to scale, ceilings are 9 feet high and the tank with the stand will be 70 inches.

Question.. what should I do for lighting? Hang from ceiling? Mount the ceiling?

I have 3 ocean revives and I plan on adding T5s as well, going SPS dominated/mixed reef.

 

[DogsRule]

I personally would never rely on a check valve(s) to prevent your sump from overfilling, as just a sand grain is enough to prevent a good seal & allow water to keep draining into sump.
You won't really know how much water will drain into the sump, until you set up system & then simulate a power/ return pump failure- too many variables, such as in tank flow rate (wave height) flow rate of return pump.
I have a 220 & went with a low flow return pump ( basically I kept my 20+ year old Eheim pump from previous setups) just to keep the sump from overfilling in a power outage. A high volume return pump means more water is in the display tank while pump is running, but if pump shuts off all that extra water is going into the sump. Not trying to discourage you about your design, but we all know how Murphy's law works. HTH

 

[TheMillennialReefer]

I personally would never rely on a check valve(s) to prevent your sump from overfilling, as just a sand grain is enough to prevent a good seal & allow water to keep draining into sump.
You won't really know how much water will drain into the sump, until you set up system & then simulate a power/ return pump failure- too many variables, such as in tank flow rate (wave height) flow rate of return pump.
I have a 220 & went with a low flow return pump ( basically I kept my 20+ year old Eheim pump from previous setups) just to keep the sump from overfilling in a power outage. A high volume return pump means more water is in the display tank while pump is running, but if pump shuts off all that extra water is going into the sump. Not trying to discourage you about your design, but we all know how Murphy's law works. HTH

On a set up like this I’ll put two check valves in place just to have a back up, but I understand where you are coming from. I always like backups. Im going to be plumbing a 40-60 frag tank into this set up now because I see corals growing in the future that will need to be fragged. So that’s more water volume.

I just like having back ups for the backups Incase of failure.

I’m dealing with 400+ gallons of water and I don’t want it all over my basement floor.

 

[TheMillennialReefer]

QUESTION

So someone was giving away a 3 Ft T5 4-Bulb set up. I want to set this fixture up over a frag tank I am plumping into the system.

What would be the shortest photo period I can run the lights? And Best combination for coral growth for t5, I won't care about color to the eye because it'll be in a room no on will see, I just want growth!

Thanks

 

[TheMillennialReefer]

So Help!

I'm looking to add a valve in the build that drains roughly 50 gallons with the flip of a lever. I'm ok with drilling another hole in the tank if it means when I am done with emptying the water, I close it back up and fill up the tank. That way water changes take 10 minutes! Anyone have any idea on a best method to do this?

Thanks!