Rev's 400+ Gallon Basement Inwall

schooleyosis · Apr 11, 2016

Congrats on home ownership!

IronVulture · Apr 11, 2016

Check out lifereef for the skimmer. Just call and talk to Jeff for a little while he is full of useful information.

cameronh · Apr 12, 2016

Awesome! Will be looking forward to this!
Congrats on the new home!

hybridazn · Apr 12, 2016

Just don't forget to keep this updated @revhtree lol

ScottMyers123 · Apr 12, 2016

Congratulations on the new home purchase and looking forward to seeing your build.

fragit · Apr 12, 2016

Congrats on the new home. As @Reeflogic said plan, plan, and plan again. With a tank that size upgrading any of the equipment could be costly. Also consider access for sure. Perhaps in the garage side a cat walk for maintenance, in the finished side you may want one too that slides into the wall. And as your gonna have a lot of water volume to change definitely think about ease of water changes. Maybe a valve from the sump and plumbing directly to the sink or floor drain and let gravity do the heavy lifting. If you decide to go with the 30" depth consider Orphek for lighting.

shornik · Apr 12, 2016

Congrats! Can't wait to see this tank go up. Definitely following.

TD13 · Apr 12, 2016

120reefkeeper said:
If you've got the room..... Pick one lol

Umm the brunette?

jt17 · Apr 12, 2016

Congrats you two. So happy for you. I am in the process of building a new house with dedicated fish room and a monster tank as well. I'm still researching as well. So far here's my requirements for my fish room.

Purple dry wall for exterior locations.
2-3 dedicated circuits for the room
Center floor drain
Countertop with utility sink (RODI unit can be plumbed there)
High volume exhaust fan controlled by humidistat.
Mitsubishi ductless air conditioner
Tank stank will be a foot wider than the tank to provide a platform to stand on to work in the tank.
2 frag tanks plumbing into the main system (one for SPS the other for lower flow LPS and shrooms)
I plan on constructing a light rack that can be raised or lowered for maintenance.
Lighting-redion gen 3 down the center supplemented with T5
GEO calcium reactor (on a system your size a ca reactor might be more efficient)
Still shopping the skimmer
While I love my refugium I've run for the last couple of years I have come to the conclusion that it's more maintenance than I want. It does a great job but requires attention every few days. I don't mind the work but sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you have to be away for family tragedies. Which happened to me twice last year. So I'm designing for ease of maintenance, label everything so you can walk anyone through problem solving should you have any problems when you're away.
For flow I plan on 3 MP 60 on the back wall and one Medium Panta Rhei power head on one end. Also toying with the idea of a surge tank

If I had your space I'd consider an elevated sump that's not under the tank but to the side. Your days of being hunched over under your tank could be over and your return pumps would operate more efficiently.

While I was I inquiring about my custom tank I learned that big tanks are usually cut from a piece of glass 130" long. I was told that going from 8 ' to 10' the cost goes up but not proportionally per gallon. Same goes for 10' to 130". Something to think about.
Sorry to ramble on but you've helped us all so much I just want to return the favor.

kschweer · Apr 12, 2016

Congrats on the home rev!!!

Daniel@R2R · Apr 12, 2016

revhtree said:
Well don't get too excited! There isn't much of anything to show yet but I am planning this big tank and I need your help!

The wife and I have leased a house for the past 8 years and this Friday we will be owners of a new home. More importantly it has a huge finished basement with plenty of wall space and there is already an exterior area between the basement walls and the outside house walls. BIG spaces for a dedicated tank room behind the tank.

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS TO BECOME A REALITY SINCE I HAVE BEEN IN THE HOBBY!

This will be my first build of this size and I need your help to figure it all out.

Tank: The tank is a 400+ (finalizing sizes) @Planet Aquarium tank. It will be 96" long, 30" tall. and haven't finalized the width which will be somewhere between 30 and 36".

Before I get to any more details. What are some things I need to do to prepare for a tank this size?

I am thinking these are some things:

1. Install a floor drain
2. Install dedicated power box
3. Install ventilation
4. Waterline and Sink

What else?

Woohoo!!! So happy for you guys, and excited for the new tank!!

d2mini · Apr 12, 2016

jt17 said:
2-3 dedicated circuits for the room

At a minimum. If you are starting from scratch, might as well add 4-6.
You can spread powerheads and return pump across these. If you run a chiller it's a good idea to have that on it's own circuit.
What about non-tank related items like fans, dehumidifier, room lights, etc? Keep those on their own circuit.
Circuits (and outlets) can fill up fast. Better to over do it than under do it.
My little 7x9' fish room in my garage had 4 dedicated circuits that I added plus one that already existed and I used them all.

Daniel@R2R · Apr 12, 2016

hybridazn said:
Skimmer? I know what I would choose...

Nyos 300

Yes!! I'm researching skimmers, and right now I'm torn between Tunze 9430 and the NYOS 300 (with a Bubble Magus being a third option, but not what I think I'll be going with at this point). The Tunze is less expensive, but the NYOS is EYE CANDY!

If money isn't an issue when I buy, I'll probably go with the NYOS.

redfishbluefish · Apr 12, 2016

Wow! First off congratulations on the house (and forthcoming upgrade).

I don't have much advise because I only have a 90 gallon nano!

I'm not sure I saw it in the picture, and if might be an obvious need, but a slop sink should be included in the fish room.

As far as your comment about a floor drain, (that I would think would be a costly addition), that should not be necessary if the floor was poured properly. The floor should be pitched towards the garage door.

I'll be following this build.

luke33 · Apr 12, 2016

Congrats Rev! Looks like its going to be a nice and expensive build : ) If you are looking for a skimmer that will be on the lower end cash wise but high end performance wise its tough to beat this guy. There are a handful of these skimmers out that are really all the same, just branded a bit different or have slightly diff features. The Jebao DC pump's are pretty solid overall, and I would argue most skimmer DC pump's are just rebranded Jebao pump's(have verified this with a few different high end manu's). I have been running one for well over a year and it just keeps working. There really isn't one brand that sticks out over the other these days as most have evolved into the same beast, so its really about price.

http://www.aquacave.com/skimz-sm253-monzter-dc-series-in-sump-protein-skimmer-with-dc-pump.html

Myka · Apr 12, 2016

revhtree said:
Oh I also plan on EASY water changes!!

I'd suggest you elevate your sump so it's at an easy working level. Plus, if it's off the ground then you can siphon out detritus very easily. Pay attention to sump water height compared to display water height though - you can run into complications. There are several really good water station/water change designs in this thread. I own an aquarium maintenance company and deal with tanks this size, so I can appreciate the ability to do water changes easily.

Btw, if you design everything well, cleaning the glass will take you longer than anything else. That's a pretty good argument for buying the "Lamborghini" skimmer to help keep your nutrients low so you don't have to clean the glass more than once a week. It will get old fast.

Fwiw, if you do want to save a few bucks on a skimmer, there are plenty of big-body skimmers out there that can perform like nobody's business if you put a bigger, better pump on them.

What are your plans for coral stocking? Mixed reef, SPS, or softies? What's your plan for "the big three" parameters? If you're planning a high-demand tank, then a typical doser won't keep up to the demand because the pumps won't turn fast enough. There are lots of options, and it's something to think about in the design as well.

What are your thoughts on lighting right now? I don't think LEDs are a good option for tanks this size unless there is a really, really, really big lighting budget.

revhtree said:
A couple grand? Yea I need another route!

Spending a couple grand on airflow isn't unusual. I'd consider it the most important component to the system because it saves your house. The damage a tank that size can do with humidity isn't something to slough off. On a tank the size that you're planning, I wouldn't skimp on anything or it will become a giant nightmare taking you many hours a week to maintain. Pretty much every component will be a couple grand, haha!

I have no idea where you live, since "heaven on earth" isn't somewhere I know, but a heat exchanger may be a good option for you. It's usually the most economic solution for us up here in Canadia. Your outdoor pic looks like you live in a place that gets at least some snow, so this is probably a good solution for you too. Your route for dealing with humidity will be highly influenced by the temperature of that room - will it need help staying warm or staying cool?

Josh King · Apr 12, 2016

Congrats Rev! Will be following along.

I would waterproof the entire basement side of the fish room to protect your really nice basement! And if the concrete is pitched that may save on a floor drain, but I would make sure of that. 400+ gallons is a lot of water.

sNaFu · Apr 12, 2016

CONGRATS REV, A HOME OF YOU OWN IS A GREAT THING, THERE IS NOTHING QUITE LIKE IT. I BUILT MINE BACK IN 95', AT THAT TIME I WAS MUCH MORE INTO HARLEYS THAN FISH OR I WOULD HAVE DEFINITELY DONE A FEW THINGS DIFFERENTLY, LOL