Reef Savvy Retirement Build

[hawkeyejp82]

Thanks. Haven't dropped paperwork yet but will this summer/fall.

The only thing that could change my plans at this point is the promotion board. Will know by Memorial Day for sure. If that happened the date would change to 3yrs from my pin on date. Right now my date is when the tractor is paid off.

Will check out your build thread. Judging by location I'm guessing you work in the DC area as well.

Yeah I bounce from DC to Norfolk and such.

 

[inetjnky]

I just setup my reef savvy this year. I’m also doing a SPS main display bare bottom. Just from experience you may want to consider adding a 5th MP60 that sits on the bottom and kicks up the flow a few times a day to push detritus and snail shells, etc out to the side or front of the tank where you can reach it to suck it out.

what are your electrical plans for the heaters? 800w finnex pull like 9 amp so on a 15 amp circuit your almost maxing out the circuit. Even a 20amp circuit you aren’t leaving yourself much room. I’m running around 320 gallons and was going to go with 800w as well but dropped down to two 500w which use half the power leaving room for other equipment and room to grow. You might even consider 3 500w instead of the 800w.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Planning on four 20 amp circuits in the fish room right now. I think I'll only need two of the heaters but got four a few years ago when there was a good deal on them so I have back ups. They have their own controllers so I was thinking one on each of two circuits.

For the MP 60s, the current plan was to have them along the back of the tank near the bottom to push water forward then up the front glass. Originally, the overflow was going to be in the back but I moved it to the right side to help alleviate some logistical issues Felix had w/ blacking out the external overflow portion (back panel too large for the standard smoked glass thicknesses).

With the overflow on the right I plan to have the return on the left in one corner and the UV closed loop return in the other. This should push about 3000 gph towards the overflow with the MP60s pushing water across the bottom and up. Plan to pick up one or two extra MP60s as well before I can't afford them.

However, I'm not really sure we finalized moving the overflow to the right as I have not heard back from Felix for confirmation.

When did you order and receive your tank? Was it during this COVID mess? I'm at the 14 month mark now so would like to take delivery relatively soon. Finally framing walls in the house so a good time to get the tank in.

 

[inetjnky]

Planning on four 20 amp circuits in the fish room right now. I think I'll only need two of the heaters but got four a few years ago when there was a good deal on them so I have back ups. They have their own controllers so I was thinking one on each of two circuits.

For the MP 60s, the current plan was to have them along the back of the tank near the bottom to push water forward then up the front glass. Originally, the overflow was going to be in the back but I moved it to the right side to help alleviate some logistical issues Felix had w/ blacking out the external overflow portion (back panel too large for the standard smoked glass thicknesses).

With the overflow on the right I plan to have the return on the left in one corner and the UV closed loop return in the other. This should push about 3000 gph towards the overflow with the MP60s pushing water across the bottom and up. Plan to pick up one or two extra MP60s as well before I can't afford them.

However, I'm not really sure we finalized moving the overflow to the right as I have not heard back from Felix for confirmation.

When did you order and receive your tank? Was it during this COVID mess? I'm at the 14 month mark now so would like to take delivery relatively soon. Finally framing walls in the house so a good time to get the tank in.

Yeah I ordered mine before the Covid mess. It took almost 2 years for me to get my tank in due to Covid. My tank was delivered april time last year approx. Felix was great to work with. You won’t be disappointed when you get it.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Hopefully COVID doesn't add another year for me but I won't be setting up in earnest until the summer/fall of 2023 so I have time. Luckily we put French doors to the porch in the living area so getting the tank in place shouldn't be an issue regardless of how far along we are on the house. Would almost be better to take delivery when I'm living up there anyway.

COVID is adding another year to the house build too. We really cut off both our legs to remove a splinter from our toe!

Where in PA are you? Our farm is in Bedford, PA, 20 or 30 miles south of Altoona.

 

[hawkeyejp82]

My tank is the 200g Innovative Marine peninsula with external flow. The thing weighed 880 lbs with the packaging and probably north of 600lbs to move it into our basement. It took 5 of us with 5 pressurized glass lifting handles and a furniture dolly (not the handtruck kind but the kind that sits low to the ground) to get the thing into place and it was also through a sliding door in basement but Ill tell you now its no joke (not easy) to move these things around. I couldve hired professionals to do it but the cost was higher than the pressure cups so I choose to use friends.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Our builders will help when it arrives. House is slab on grade and the porch is concrete as well so no steps. All level from unloading to the placement spot. Only obstacle will be making the turn into the 6ft open French doors. Porch is 8 feet wide so should be easy enough. They have little skid steers and such we can use to help move I think.

But yeah, this will be the hardest part of the build!

 

[inetjnky]

Hopefully COVID doesn't add another year for me but I won't be setting up in earnest until the summer/fall of 2023 so I have time. Luckily we put French doors to the porch in the living area so getting the tank in place shouldn't be an issue regardless of how far along we are on the house. Would almost be better to take delivery when I'm living up there anyway.

COVID is adding another year to the house build too. We really cut off both our legs to remove a splinter from our toe!

Where in PA are you? Our farm is in Bedford, PA, 20 or 30 miles south of Altoona.

I’m just outside of Hershey. Harrisburg address.

 

[inetjnky]

Our builders will help when it arrives. House is slab on grade and the porch is concrete as well so no steps. All level from unloading to the placement spot. Only obstacle will be making the turn into the 6ft open French doors. Porch is 8 feet wide so should be easy enough. They have little skid steers and such we can use to help move I think.

But yeah, this will be the hardest part of the build!

Could also get some hydraulic lift tables to set it on and maneuver around if you have no stairs. My 185 weighed over 500lbs and we used a heavy duty furniture dolly and suction cups to lift mine up a flight of stairs and onto the stand. It about killed us. I’m not getting any younger! Lol

 

[Clarkjw2002]

The plan for the refugium:

The refugium will be a 125gal tank with the overflow plumbed directly into the return section of the sump. One of the most maintenance free tanks I ever had was a deep sand bed (DSB) tank so this is what the refugium will recreate. It is intended to be a biodiversity sink to feed the main system. The tank will sit in front of a 6 ft east facing window so will be partially sun lit. I have two 72" Reefbrite 50/50s that will be used for supplemental light in the afternoon.

The refugium will have an under gravel filter to serve as a plenum with a thin layer of crushed coral on top. Above that will be the DSB. I will have one tube on each end of the under gravel filter that will slowly move water under the DSB. The goal is to allow this space to serve as a cryptic zone and prevent it from going anoxic. An air stone will be used to create a gentle flow through this zone.

I will also use some miracle mud sand in this system. Was planning to mix with the DSB but am now thinking of making two compartments to place this sand on top of the DSB. That way, when I refresh, I'll just need to remove one compartment and replace the sand and put back in, avoiding the need to disturb half the DSB. Not exactly sure how I will do this yet.

This refugium is also part of the move plan as well. Right now I have a 40 gal breeder tank full of KP aquatics rock, sand, and some frags. This will be moved to the 125 as the start. I then plan to use 2 40 breeders as temp fish housing for the fish in the Reefer 450 while I set up the main tank, plumb, mature, and introduce the regal angel. After all that, the fish will move to the main system. The corals in the 450 will be fragged and kept in the 125 until the main tank is ready for them.

Still now word on the star of the show, the tank!

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Some pics of the biodiversity tank.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Well this build is already a year old so time for an update.

We are at T-19 weeks until I am officially off the clock and we are finally moving along on the house. Here are some pics of the tank stands. The first is a view from the living room showing the frame out for the tank. The second pic shows the display tank stand and the stand for the 125 in front of the window. The last pic you can see my floor drain (still needs cut down) and the wall drain. These are plumbed to a dry drain emptying into an underground soakage pit so I'm not putting salt water into our septic system.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

You really can't tell but the stands are made up of 2x6 headers on each side.

The tank:

Talked with Felix last month and we changed the overflow to make it a coast to coast on the right side with four 1.5" bulkheads going through the bottom. While this will reduce real estate inside the tank a little, I have piece of mind in knowing I don't have to worry about an external overflow side seal failing in the future. The overflow is for a bean animal with the fourth hole for UV.

The UV will also have a bulkhead at the bottom front of the overflow panel to make a closed loop that will return via a sea swirl on the opposite end of the tank. I did this, one, to not have to drill holes anywhere else other than the inside bottom of the overflow and, two, to avoid complicating operation when the return pump is off (the intake is directly from the tank via the bulkhead at the bottom of the inner overflow wall, not via the weir.

Oh yeah, and the weir will be removable with a second back up weir to facilitate cleaning maintenance.

We are shooting for a June/July delivery of the tank which will coincide with when I move in full time.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Having this much time allowed me to fully cure my rock. Rock is mostly natural Fiji rock with some flat cut base rock and some other old rock I had lying around. Maybe 200lbs total. Ran a skimmer while it cured to pull organics out. After that I ran GFO for about a year to suck bound phosphates out of the rock. Pics show the rock with GFO after curing.

The stock tank will be used to house my current fish while I set up the new tank.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

It's been a while but we're finally doing something. Set up the stock tank to temporarily house my current fish while I set everything up. Below are pics of the temporary RODI set up and the fish room sink. Yes, I have a sub-panel for the fish room w/ 4 dedicated circuits. Fish room wiring is done. Those other wires are for kitchen breakers--which I didn't think about putting there but makes sense since it is right across the hall from the kitchen.

The 40 gal to the right will be the temporary frag holding tank. Will finish setting up when I move the fish up. Corals are fragged and the frags doing good.

Need to figure out how to set up an automatic fish feeder above the stock tank for the two weeks the fish will be there before we move in.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

The stock tank has 20 or 30lbs of dead rock and I moved about 20lbs of live rock from my system to seed. Will move some more live rock and the two 4" marine pure blocks in my sump with the fish.

The pics show how I transported the live rock. Worked well. Will do the same for the fish but will use two 30 gal Brute cans with the rock and marine pure blocks (one large rock and one block in each).

 

[Clarkjw2002]

And here are some pics of my living Room wall hole. Working with Felix now on exact placement of bulkhead holes so they line up with the cut out in the stand.

 

[drtechno]

Hah! Did pretty much exactly this on my tank as well. How thick is your wall and are you doing a front top euro brace to protect the wood header? Our wall was made of 2x6 so we ended up doing an 8” wide piece of glass along the top front of the tank to prevent splashing up and to provide a “landing zone” for the fish tank lids.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

I know. When I first saw your pics I thought "huh, that's weird". Then when I saw our finished walls I thought "huh, that's a really good idea". When I mentioned it to Felix he brought up your tank w/ the large front eurobrace.

The wall is 9 inches total. It has 6x6 posts supporting the dormers, then 2x4 stripping with half inch sheet rock hung. Thinking a 10" brace should do it.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Things have been really busy getting the house packed out and moved up here but all the boxes are finally in the farm house. Was so hectic that I completely forgot to snap pics of moving fish and corals.

Fish were moved in two 30 gal brutes with one large live rock and a 4" marine pure block for filtration in each brute. Each brute also had a 100 watt heater and an air stone pumping air in. Fish were split between the two brutes and loaded in the truck the night before. During the drive up to the farm the heaters were plugged into a 400 watt inverter built into my truck. It was still cool out so the heaters were needed. Air pump was battery operated.

All fish made it and are fat and happy in the stock tank. They are fed twice daily via an Eheim auto-feeder. I covered the top of the stock tank with greenhouse plastic to prevent evaporation so the need for top-off was almost non-existent. I did start them on a salinity of about 30ppt so I had some wiggle room just in case. This set up was unsupervised for two weeks before the move up here.