Room Divider Peninsula Tank Build

[SEWIreefer]

We bought our house with the basement mostly finished but have remodeled almost everything in the last few years. The basement is long and the different areas never seemed cohesive so I was lucky enough to get my wife on-board for a room divider aquarium! The tank itself is 72x24x30 custom acrylic with ghost overflow and 2 closed loops planned to help with flow.

 

[Gedxin]

Location looks great. Can't wait to see it setup.

 

[SEWIreefer]

After ordering the tank and having my contractor look at where we wanted to put it, we came up with room behind the tank to create a sump closet and keep things out from under the tank. We also were able to create a water change station in the unfinished part of the basement and ran hose line through the ceiling so I can fill the tank directly from the station with no buckets. I also ran lines for a Neptune Dos so water changes can happen automatically.

 

[Devaji]

^ epic perfect way to divide the space!

 

[SEWIreefer]

I opted for a NSA style aquascape built in about 9 separate pieces that allowed a channel through the center for the closed loop pumps to move water. I used caribsea liferock and Marco pink mortar. I followed the video on BRS, used their superglue and insta-set but skipped putting sand into the mortar. I think the pink Marco mortar looks great with the life rock!

 

[SEWIreefer]

Plumbing the closed loops was more challenging than I anticipated. I have a lifeguard pro max 90 watt high output UV plumbed into the loop that draws water in from the hole nearest the overflows and returns water at the far end of the peninsula. The second closed loop draws in water from the next closest hole to the return. Both returns direct water back towards the overflow.

 

[rowdyreefing]

Excited to follow!

 

[SEWIreefer]

I got a Pro-Clear Aquatics RedFlex 400 Sump for this system. After some research I decided to retrofit the filter sock areas with the Klir roller-mat filters for two of the slots and then I plan to plug the third hole (it comes with three, 4" filter socks. The only modification I had to do was to Dremel the area above the filter socks to accomidate the rectangular shape of the Klir filters. I also had to plug the wave shaped slots that allow water to exit the top of the filter sock chamber. This was necessary because the Klir need to the ability for 1.5" of water above the holes for the filter socks in order for the optical sensors to work properly. I used flextape for starters. I may eventually glue pvcboard over these slots if I want a more permanent solution. I also increased the built-in intakes from above. The Redflex came with 1" bulkheads, I went up to 1 1/2" to match my main overflow.

 

[SEWIreefer]

after initially placing the sump in position I decided I wanted the sump closet to have a more finished look and also wanted servicing the sump to be very easy. I made a base of cinderblocks evenly spaced and then did a plywood platform above that and then used expanded PVC board to encase that entire base structure and caulk it to the floor and walls.

 

[SEWIreefer]

I also purchased the matching 10 gallon ATO reservoir and it fit perfectly next to the sump in the space I had. I had a 6" space behind the sump so I built an elevated area and then cut a PVC board to fit

and be even with the top of the sump. The piece can come out if I need to route cords or anything else behind the sump but it also creates a nice shelf and further makes the whole thing look clean and intentional.

 

[SEWIreefer]

Plumbing took forever and I was busy so I did it a little bit at a time. Due to a communication error with Proclear, the overflow that came with the tank only had room for 3/4" bulkheads. I was able to use hole saws and increase these so that two of the holes were able to fit 1 1/2" bulkheads and one would be 1". I set it up bean-animal style with the primary and emergency drains being the large pipe and the secondary being the 1".

I opted for a dual return and was able to integrate an additional Lifeguard 90 watt UV sterilizer into one of the returns while the other one went right to the tank. I plumbed Neptune flow meters into both returns so I know the actual flow rate back into the tank. I also make the rookie mistake with the dry fitting of the UV return and the last piece was about an inch short of where I needed it to be. I was able to cut it apart and install a coupler so it worked out in the end.

 

[SEWIreefer]

Dry-fit vs Glue error

 

[SEWIreefer]

I had four circuits run to the sump closet so deciding how the electrical load would be divided and allocated took some thought. The goal is that no single circuit has too much load and if any breakers trip the tank will not be taken completely offline. The sump closet will have 2 EB 832s, an EB4 for the lights, and a regular power strip for all the things that don't need a smart plug. I got two of the adaptive reef controller boards that I am mounting side by side and high up on the wall and then I am making my own board to mount 3 of the 4 energy bars onto. I had everything spread out on my dining room table for far longer than my wife would have preferred.

I installed all the modules on the board but don't think they will all be placed into service right away.

 

[SEWIreefer]

Installing the aquascape was quite a project. This tank is just tall enough that placing the pieces properly was quite an acrobatic event. I'm happy I went with a 6" lip all around the tank as it is substantial enough to stand on while leaning into the tank to make adjustments. I used cardboard to prevent scratching the acrylic as I moved each element of the rockscape into the tank. Once I got all the rocks in I used a combination of Oceandirect sand and special grade dry sand. I used less than 100 pounds of sand overall and it looks deeper than I expected

.

 

[Devaji]

heck yeah! great work man! nice and clean.

 

[Paul Kachirsky]

How do you like the Klir 4 rollers? I have the Red Flex 300 sump and am curious if they would fit and how you like them?

 

[Paul Kachirsky]

I got a Pro-Clear Aquatics RedFlex 400 Sump for this system. After some research I decided to retrofit the filter sock areas with the Klir roller-mat filters for two of the slots and then I plan to plug the third hole (it comes with three, 4" filter socks. The only modification I had to do was to Dremel the area above the filter socks to accomidate the rectangular shape of the Klir filters. I also had to plug the wave shaped slots that allow water to exit the top of the filter sock chamber. This was necessary because the Klir need to the ability for 1.5" of water above the holes for the filter socks in order for the optical sensors to work properly. I used flextape for starters. I may eventually glue pvcboard over these slots if I want a more permanent solution. I also increased the built-in intakes from above. The Redflex came with 1" bulkheads, I went up to 1 1/2" to match my main overflow.

How do you like the Klir 4 rollers? I have the Red Flex 300 sump and am curious if they would fit and how you like them?