Starting ~800 Gallon Custom Reef Tank Build

ravi197699 · Feb 29, 2020

Thank you guys, I will be starting youtube video channel and upload link to my tank in this thread so that I have track of ups and downs and progression with this tank.

crusso1993 · Feb 29, 2020

ravi197699 said:
new is that my frag tank overflowed due to Mexican turbo snail blocked the drain and my ato dumped 120 gallon of fresh water and alk, mag, cal took dip and nutrients went down and dino took over and went downhill from there, lost all my sps and lps stressed out, setting up 60 gallon low boy stand alone frag tank this weekend, It has been very un pleasant so far but I will overcome this and bring it back on track soon, sorry for not many updates but every weekend was project for this tank.

Oh man, sorry to hear about your troubles, Ravi. Thanks for sharing as I know not everyone shares their problems on here.

As usual, I'll be looking forward to what you do moving forward!

ravi197699 · Feb 29, 2020

thank you bud, but it is part of what are in for, we like challenges and our tanks keep us busy with challenges, I will be doing water changes after I am done doing dino cure regime by Cruze.

Ashish Patel · Aug 10, 2020

ravi197699 said:
I bought 2 pumps and these are AC variable speed pumps, I came across a video on youtube about these pumps and I really liked what I saw, I know everyone uses D/C pump and I am using and have used DC pumps in the past as well with good and bad experiences, so I wanted to give pump try, brand is Periha Variable speed AC pump, it does 5900 gallons/ hr at highest setting at 160w and lowest I can go is 5000 gallon/ hr at lowest wattage, pumps seems like built well and driver is built out of aluminum housing with heatsink, driver feels really heavy and nicely built, tank is not small pump either and it heavy and built nicely, it comes with all the plumbing adapters, I have 2 pumps, 1 for my DIY protein skimmer and it is going to drive 1.5" venturi and this skimmer is big that I built 2 years before. I will upload pictures later when it comes to tackling that project and 2nd pump is going to drive my sea swirls in the sump for water agitation and over rock work in sump water movement.. here are the pictures of the box opening of the pump...

HI Ravi - How did this pump turn out? Never heard of it but pond pumps are generally build better than Non-pond pumps. Plus price is good I could have a spare or run 2 possibly.

tippin.turtle · Aug 10, 2020

Just when a fella thinks he's got himself into a super hot mess he stumbles upon another who has it far worse...lol! This is great! Has anyone from the utility company paid you a visit? This has got to be a major energy suck on the grid..lol! BRAVO!!!

ravi197699 · Aug 11, 2020

Ashish Patel said:
HI Ravi - How did this pump turn out? Never heard of it but pond pumps are generally build better than Non-pond pumps. Plus price is good I could have a spare or run 2 possibly.

I love these pump, 1 month before my Ecotech Vectra L1 stopped working and during the build i bought 2 of the Periha PB25000 model pumps, 1 is running closed loop for sump and 2nd was back up in case if the 1st pump craps out on me since i never heard much about these pumps but Vectra gave up on me and Periha pump still running as closed loop pump, I pulled out the second back up pump and installed where vectra was sitting and sent vectra out to ecotech and they sent be brand new vectra l2 mobious ready but I am going to keep the periha pump running and currenty it is running at 140w lowest setting and pumping 4500 gph. Super happy with the pump and performance, reason why these pumps are not known in hobby is due to lack of marketing and advertisement but these are solid pump and built well, these pump will make any branded pump look bad when it comes to performance and these are super quiet and run very cool

JR Bodyman · Aug 11, 2020

excited to see this build! I’m sure it’s gonna be awesome! I’m following!!!

Ashish Patel · Aug 11, 2020

ravi197699 said:
I love these pump, 1 month before my Ecotech Vectra L1 stopped working and during the build i bought 2 of the Periha PB25000 model pumps, 1 is running closed loop for sump and 2nd was back up in case if the 1st pump craps out on me since i never heard much about these pumps but Vectra gave up on me and Periha pump still running as closed loop pump, I pulled out the second back up pump and installed where vectra was sitting and sent vectra out to ecotech and they sent be brand new vectra l2 mobious ready but I am going to keep the periha pump running and currenty it is running at 140w lowest setting and pumping 4500 gph. Super happy with the pump and performance, reason why these pumps are not known in hobby is due to lack of marketing and advertisement but these are solid pump and built well, these pump will make any branded pump look bad when it comes to performance and these are super quiet and run very cool

Hi Ravi
Thanks for the feedback, I did watch all the videos online and can say I was very impressed with one person who measured flow and watts used, they where spot on. They also seem to be better build and if I ever want to upgrade can use this for mixing salt. I actually just bought a Vectra l2 last week and then saw you post you where selling it. I am using it for a closed loop. Where did you get your sump from? I ordered from Pentair but looking for something similiar but half the size.

JMM744 · Aug 11, 2020

Very impressive stuff!! Love the skimmer. Question please, I am interested in the Periha pumps. I currently run a mag36 for my lifereef skimmer but it’s very noisey. I see that Periha makes one that would put out the flow I need (3600 gph). Are you running one submersed or both external and do you think it matters for production? I would love to replace the mag 36 with a quiet pump for sure. I am running immersed in my sump.
Thank you, Jim

ravi197699 · Aug 12, 2020

JMM744 said:
Very impressive stuff!! Love the skimmer. Question please, I am interested in the Periha pumps. I currently run a mag36 for my lifereef skimmer but it’s very noisey. I see that Periha makes one that would put out the flow I need (3600 gph). Are you running one submersed or both external and do you think it matters for production? I would love to replace the mag 36 with a quiet pump for sure. I am running immersed in my sump.
Thank you, Jim

I am running both external but these can be used external or internal, buy the 25000 model, it does minimum of 4200 and max of 6000 at 160w. I am going to be buying 2 more of these pumps, I extra and 1 for my salt water mixing station. these are super quiet and built very well. when I touch my periha return pump I can't even feel the heat, if I compare these produce same heat as Vectra and noise level is same as Vectra. Skimmer was diy and still running like it should. Mag 36 must be power hog due to wattage it sucks but periha pump looks nice and works great. they come with screen if you are going to use internal and barb fitting if you are going to use external, barb can be cut to match the pvc you want to go with, for example it comes with 1 inch to 2 inch. I am using 1.5 inch and connected the pump with 1.5 inch rubber couplings from Lowes. let me know if any question, If I were you I would check prices online, I found 25000 model on google for 196.00 which is great for the pump that pushes 6000 gph and head pressure is awesome as well.

JMM744 · Aug 12, 2020

ravi197699 said:
I am running both external but these can be used external or internal, buy the 25000 model, it does minimum of 4200 and max of 6000 at 160w. I am going to be buying 2 more of these pumps, I extra and 1 for my salt water mixing station. these are super quiet and built very well. when I touch my periha return pump I can't even feel the heat, if I compare these produce same heat as Vectra and noise level is same as Vectra. Skimmer was diy and still running like it should. Mag 36 must be power hog due to wattage it sucks but periha pump looks nice and works great. they come with screen if you are going to use internal and barb fitting if you are going to use external, barb can be cut to match the pvc you want to go with, for example it comes with 1 inch to 2 inch. I am using 1.5 inch and connected the pump with 1.5 inch rubber couplings from Lowes. let me know if any question, If I were you I would check prices online, I found 25000 model on google for 196.00 which is great for the pump that pushes 6000 gph and head pressure is awesome as well.

thank you very much. great to find a quiet pump.