My New 800G System Build

57buick · Feb 9, 2016

So, after the devastating loss of our 300g due to buying a used tank with a double pane bottom where previous owner drilled a sloppy hole we are starting over. Yes apparently the sloppy hole the previous owner drilled in bottom cracked a week after we set it up and we lost so much stuff. Although our huge 14" Unicorn Tang I saved and sold to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and we go visit him occasionally on display there.

Now we are buying a new tank this time. Decided to go with a 400g display and plan to add a 200g perpendicular to it.

Follow along on the new Journey!! Here is a pic of the old tank just a few days old before it cracked

Cleo642 · Feb 9, 2016

57buick said:
So, after the devastating loss of our 300g due to buying a used tank with a double pane bottom where previous owner drilled a sloppy hole we are starting over. Yes apparently the sloppy hole the previous owner drilled in bottom cracked a week after we set it up and we lost so much stuff. Although our huge 14" Unicorn Tang I saved and sold to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and we go visit him occasionally on display there.

Now we are buying a new tank this time. Decided to go with a 400g display and plan to add a 200g perpendicular to it.

Follow along on the new Journey!! Here is a pic of the old tank just a few days old before it cracked

Was the unicorn tang friendly? Personable?

Cleo642 · Feb 9, 2016

I am sure the new tank will come out beautiful.

57buick · Feb 9, 2016

Oh Yes! his name is Bubba although we found out later he was a female lol He always let us pet his nose and would follow me everywhere in the tank. He's about 15 years old

Cleo642 · Feb 9, 2016

57buick said:
Oh Yes! his name is Bubba although we found out later he was a female lol He always let us pet his nose and would follow me everywhere in the tank. He's about 15 years old

That's awesome. I would love a friendly fish life one day. You could call her Bubbette. Lol

57buick · Feb 9, 2016

Well we already bought a replacement, a Blue Spine Unicorn this time. We named him Charlie. We were told males have the streamers on their tail fin which you cant see in this pic and the females do not. I hope this guy will be just as friendly. He is being shy right now but hopefully he will acclimate, I try to hand feed him every day to get him used to me. Currently he is in my 250G sump

57buick · Feb 9, 2016

He's about 8 or 9 inches right now

57buick · Feb 9, 2016

So excuse the mess as I'm figuring out the wiring and how I want everything placed.
I decided this time to have a large remote sump in the garage and it will be plumbed under the house to the tank. We are laying new wood floors in the house right now before the new tank gets here. I used IBC totes. One is for the sump and the other one to the right will be fresh salt water mix because Im installing a Genesis Renew automatic water change system next week

Cleo642 · Feb 9, 2016

57buick said:
Well we already bought a replacement, a Blue Spine Unicorn this time. We named him Charlie. We were told males have the streamers on their tail fin which you cant see in this pic and the females do not. I hope this guy will be just as friendly. He is being shy right now but hopefully he will acclimate, I try to hand feed him every day to get him used to me. Currently he is in my 250G sump

He is a beauty.

57buick · Feb 9, 2016

I had a 55g reef tank sitting around wondering what to do with it. I realized it would make a perfect refugium over the sump. So I built a steel frame that sits on top of sump the size of the 55g and set it up. Nice thing about using a reef ready tank is the plumbing is pretty much hidden underneath leaving the view open with no hoses hanging everywhere. I spend hours a day in the garage working on projects and on the computer so its nice to have something to look at too.

I didn't just want a bunch of ugly chaeto so Im planting Halameda, shaving brush, mermaid fans, and some sea grass. Also got a few red mangroves floating in Styrofoam on top that I hope will grow down to the sandbed eventually and stand on their own. The sand came from 3 totes of live sand I pulled out of the cracked tank. Been sitting a few months in sealed totes and there was lots of moisture in the totes when I opened them up a couple months later.

57buick · Feb 9, 2016

Im already keeping some stuff in the sump and fuge that I needed a place for like a unicorn tang, a couple really large clowns and a foxface and a few of my corals I didn't have room for anywhere else. And the huge banded urchin in the fuge helping eat some of the algae that flared up the first week

57buick · Feb 9, 2016

I already ran most of the plumbing under the house and then tied it into a loop so the return pump is running a loop under and back to the sump for now. I used large 4 inch pipe for the drain under the house so I will never run into a restriction in the future and plenty of flow for the 400g and the planned 200g later

57buick · Feb 9, 2016

Notice I used about 4 blue pepsi 2 liter plastic crates to set the skimmer at the right height. they are perfect. and they lock together so makes a perfect stand in the sump

57buick · Feb 9, 2016

so to start the wiring I bought some Panduit wiring channels and have been installing my apex brain and modules and running all the power cords, its still a mess at the moment but will look super clean in the end.
Also I ran new power from the main breaker box using 6 gauge wire and 1 inch conduit from a 50 amp breaker to this remote breaker box so the aquarium will have dedicated power. that will make it easy to hook up a transfer switch and generator later for power outages

57buick · Feb 9, 2016

for fuge lighting I just installed some 1\2" gas pipe to flange bases and screwed that to the wall. Then I hung a few home depot $8 light fixtures(zip tied to the bar for safety from falling) and picked up a few of the $20 5000k LED bulbs that put out 1100 lumens each, hoping that will be sufficient and power efficient

57buick · Feb 9, 2016

I hung my new Kessil Ap700 light over the sump to keep the fish and corals happy in there for now. I know a kessil seems like overkill for a sump lol but figured id put it to use and continue to grow some stuff here for now.