New tank build

[bampi]

So I got permission from the lady to buy a QT. I interpreted that to mean I can buy a much larger tank and convert my old tank into a QT. So at the moment I have an acrylic 90 and a glass 55 waiting for something to do. My plan was to use the 55 as my sump. I've drawn up some initial plans; if I could get some input on it that would be much appreciated.

 

[dbl]

I personally don't see any issues with your layout as drawn. I actually like it because you can control the flow rate through the fuge. But I'll add that I used a 55 as a sump and hate it. If it's going under your stand as mine is, I've found it to be too tall and too narrow. I've had acrylic for some time now to build myself something different.

Yes the 55 works but it's a real pain to get in to it. It also limits your skimmer choices due to it being narrow. You may already have a skimmer that will fit, but you may want to replace it someday and you have to stay with one with a smaller footprint.

Just food for thought and obviously just my opinion.

 

[bampi]

I appreciate your input though. It is things like that that I'd like to hear before I get stared on the project. It was already something that I was debating on using because it is so similar length wise to my DT; will make the cabinet build more of a challenge. The reason I was hinking of using the 55 is I had the oppertunity to buy a cheap 1HP chiller. The flow requirements for that are 1000-2000 GPH, so I figured the long tank would provide ample space for moving water through. Are there other sizes you've used that you like more?

 

[dbl]

My recommendation is to go as large as your can comfortably fit given your space, while still leaving room for other equipment (like ATO reservoir, dosing containers, etc). Other thing to consider is to leave enough room for the back flow during pump outage. A ton of people use the 40g breeder as a sump and they happen to be on sale in the $1/g at Petco.

One other thing I just noticed in your drawing. The first set of baffles, after the drain/sock area, are not needed. You can have your skimmer in the same compartment with your bubble trap after that and before the return section. It will save a a few inches.

Again, these are just my opinions.

 

[bampi]

So the build has finally begun! Started drilling some of my pocket screws last night and the stand is coming along nicely today. Looking forward to having it completely skinned and starting the cycle on the new tank.

 

[bampi]

So I had to get the new tank out of the car before my trip to Yosemite this weekend. Stand still needs a lot of work. Needs to be skinned have the cabinets added to the sides, doors put on the front and everything trimmed. But it is coming along. After seeing this 55Gal under the stand for the first time I'm a little nervous. It takes pretty much the entire height of the stand. Ordered some baffles to be cut, so I'll wait and see what happens after I get those. My plan for the plumbing is to modify that weir to allow much more flow through the back mechanical filtration. Drill holes on the opposite end as the weirs for my drain lines. Then I'll just need to decide when to plumb return lines too. Should be a simple drill some holes solution, which is why I went acrylic.

My nano has hair algae growing all over the "real reef rock" so I think my plan is to pull the rock, H2O2 bath them with the new rock, let them sit in the sun for a week then rinse and rinse and rinse before setting them into the new tank for curing. I'm trying to get things done with a little haste since I need to medicate my fish, but waiting to transfer my ******* coral banded out. He is a terrible shrimp. Attacks the fish, territorial over the entire back quarter of his tank. But he was my first inhabitant; so I'll keep him as long as he lives. As far as sand goes I have 30 lbs in the nano, but I'm planning on throwing it out. Want no chance of transferring the ich parasite over.

Would like to get a couple of opinions. Initially I was looking at an external sump pump seems to be best bang for the buck. However after seeing my limited space I'm now considering the Vectra L1. Should be able to drop it right into the sump and be alright with that output. Any experience with Vectra? Any better recommendations? As always thanks for looking and input is appreciated.

 

[bampi]

so got some work done on the stand over the holiday weekend! Looking forward to getting the base complete and start getting some water/rock/sand into the tank and start letting it cycle! Here are some updated photos!


cabinet doors are completed, just need the magnets to be set in place, sanded, and stained!


They are 1x2 border frame with 1/8 door skin behind for a nice staining surface; keeping them light yet effective doors.


skinning has been completed, holes filled, and ready for staining. I only used 3/8'' ply for this because it's not for structural integrity, only aesthetics. Figured save some cash keep dimensions and cost down.
Interior will remain open, as I plan to install an array of computer fans on the bottom and sides to move air in and out since I have to keep the chiller in the stand.


Lastly, the back skin needs a few rough holes cut for plumbing/electrical access! Otherwise nearly ready for staining next weekend!

 

[bampi]

So stand is complete! I've recently acquired some new equipment after getting good advice from a few members. The next step of this process is to get some baffles made for this sump. Just waiting on equipment to arrive so I can get an idea of how big to make the different compartments. Here's a list of equipment that is on its way:

BRS 6 stage RODI 150GPD
Apex DOS/DDR
Apex controller (new model)
Reef Octopus SRO2000 Int
Jebao DCT-6000x2
Jebao CP-40
KessilA360Wx2
KessilA150 Amazon sun for fuge

I'm designing my sump to have a hopeful turn over of about 800 gph so about 10x then running the second pump on a closed loop for the chiller and returning it to the sump after cooling. Any issues you all see with equipment or ideas please let me know. Anyways photos of tank on stand should be up in the next couple of days.

 

[dbl]

Sounds good Doug. I personally don't see any issues with your equipment choises. Let's see some pictures of that completed stand please!

 

[bampi]

Stand photos, It all started stained, and looked great. Then a wrecked the urethane coating and stripped it all down. After resanding and prepping for urethane again, then stain came out really blothcy. I made the decision to paint the cabinet black but leave the doors stained. The photos don't look great, but more will come once the tank is on top.

 

[bampi]

Made a lot of progress this week! My lady is even on board and excited now I had a motorcycle accident that led me to have my left arm amputated almost 1 year ago now. Because of that she calls me, "Her special starfish," because my limbs don't grow back Well I bought her a blue Linckia and she is super excited and even helping get everything set up now. I got a lot of my equipment in, and I can't believe how fast BRS ships out orders. Anyways I recieved stuff, got permission to put the RODI in the bathroom permanently (since we have no laundry room in the apartment). I wanted it lower so I could hang a towel over it, but having it always connected and easily accessible is still a win.
I got the sump designed and put together, then leak tested. I had enough acrylic left over to make a top for the sump too! Hopefully will help with the evaporation. I still need to dry fit the equipment with the lid on, so I can cut the smallest holes needed for all the cords and skimmer. Tomorrow everything will be going under the stand. I have a few modifications to make to the display tank. Then that will go on and plumbing will be completed. I got my rock in yesterday. Going to give it a nice bleach bath/scrub tomorrow. Then rinse and llet it sit in the sun for a few days. Going to cure it in the tank while I wait for the cycle to complete. Still trying to decide if I'll add cheato right away to take some of the phosphates that I'll inevitably get. But progress is going and I'm getting excited that this is finally getting to the point that my girlfriend is excited about too (no more parts/wood taking up the living room) Photos are always worth a thousand words, so heres the progress for this week!


all the equipent waiting to be placed in it's new home


RODI that I was allowed to permanently install somewhere instead of stashing in a closet and taking outside on water days then chasing the sun. Although we are wwater conscious so mt waste water line gets routed to flower beds on those days.


How the sump came out. The small first section i'm hoping to slide a filter sock into the keep it out of the skimmers way. It's not 4 inches because I'm still not completely sold on socks, but wanted the option. Skimmer section follows. Just big enough for my current skimmer, so if I ever upgrade a new better (not tall and skinny) sump will get bought. Return section in the middle. Houses both pumps fine, just hoping water volume will be enough to compensate for when chiller pump kicks on. Then the Refugium on the end, it's only 13 gallons (16x16x12) but should still give ample space to grow some pods/cheato and any other little critters I can.


Finally to the lid on top! Already doing it's job and catching some condensation

 

[bampi]

Been a while since I updated; things are progressing slowly! Finally got the plumbing done. Leak tested everything and put some water in it for the night. After sitting for a while I loaded with some rocks/sand/and fugemud. Wiring is still a mess at the moment, but photos of how it looks are coming.







put the emergency drain into the fuge as it was the shortest run, and hopefully will never have to be used. Otherwise next on the list is the build the canopy, and do some wire management/apex controls set up. For now I'm just going to leave it sit for a few weeks. Maybe add a dead shrimp to kickstart things, but otherwise I'm happy for now.

The rock scaping may change, I like the way the left side of the tank came out, but less in love with the rest of it. We'll see what happens.

 

[Chrisfish]

Tank is looking good. Personally I like your rock scape. Looking forward to seeing more

 

[Ljaus]

Looking good!

 

[bampi]

Update time!

Diatom bloom is outrageous! Tested params, did a 20 gal water change, waited a week and tested params. Right now they are:

pH, 8.1 at the moment
Nitrate, 0 PPM
Nitrite, 2.o PPM
Ammonia, 0 PPM
phosphate, .5 PPM
salinity, 1.024

So a couple things to note. I didn't clean my rocks as well as I thought. Must have had some dead things on it still. And cycle has a few more weeks to grow. Seems like the first bacteria is alive and well. Just need to see my nitrites come down and start the conversion into nitrates.

I did add some snails to start to help sift the sand and clean my rocks a bit. Just over night they have done a ton. They are all still alive and well, and seem to really be enjoying the diatom feast.

I will continue to monitor params for a few more weeks then add one or two of the damsels I have in te other tank. So far I have a few regrets. I didn;t get a big enough return pump. I'm running my current dc pump at full capacity and it keeps up with both drains when they're chocked back a little. Will be upgrading that in the near future. I gave my chiller pump away to a friend for their main return pump, so I have room in the sump to upgrade

I want to point out @bulkreefsupply for their amazing customer service. I ordered my t5 retro and api bulbs from them. When I received the boxes looked great. I put them in the closet and waited to build the canopy/install the retro kits. Today I opened the bulbs and all 4 of them sounded broken. I contacted customer support who helped me with replacements no questions asked. I've been very impressed with Bulk reef supply for not only their shipping but now also their great customer service! Looking forward to the bulbs arriving and seeing how the tank looks with Kessil T5 combo!

Will continue to update as params change!

 

[bampi]

Another update to the build. It has been a little over 4 weeks since cycling began. After good looking results last week, I went ahead and transfered2 fish from quarantine into the tank. They've been in there for 3 days now. params are currently:

pH, 8.3
Nitrate, 50
Nitrite, 0.5
Ammonia, 0.2
CA 440
Dkh, 8/2.9 meq/L

I'm a little worried with the results of the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings. I'm guessing it's from the addition of a 3'' maroon clown and 2'' yellow tang to the system. Plus feeding frozen mysis Friday/Saturday and frozen Brine on Sunday. Plan is to do a 30 gal water change today to reduce ammonia and try to let the bacteria catch up with the bio load addition. Will increase water tests and water changes to make sure what is there stays alive, and wait for the bacteria to catch up to the current bioload before making any big changes.

I pulled my Nikon out last night so some photos of the tank we be going up here in a couple of hours! Until then I wish the best evening for you all and any advice would be appreciated.

 

[bampi]

So I'm still learning to use cameras. Not the worlds greatest photographer, but here are a few quick shots I just took of the tank.

 

[bampi]

Final update for the night! I finally made it through my first bucket of red sea coral pro salt mix. Thought that bucket would last forever when I bought it. Turns out; only lasted about a month between the 30 gal and the new build. Still buying salt water on occasion due to not having a mixing room.....yet .

I finished the water change. Will probably do another one tomorrow, until my ammonia is down to an acceptable range. This was the first water change I've done while leaving the system running. Turns out another area to consider on my next build. I'm only able to pull 15 gallons from the system before my return section is low enough for comfort level. My main concern when building was water volume that would drain into the sump on a power outage. Next time I will also consider water volume to be pulled. Possibly just a really low bulkhead that's valved only for water changes. Anyways, another water test before work tomorrow to see where params have gone.

I'm also moving a sponge filter from the 30 gal to the new sump to try and move over some additional bacteria life. We'll see what happens!