UK 400G Peninsular Reef & Remote Sump

[fragit]

Nice work on the stand, don't see too many people employing traditional wood working in their builds. I used to be a custom cabinet maker/furniture/architectural millworker and the companies I worked for did all traditional wood working joinery. Very nice job! Love it will be following along for sure!

 

[Dazza0685]

I don't think this stand will accomplish this, THAT LOOKS AWESOME!

Somebody has some wood working skills!

Great job so far!

Thanks for the comments, I'm learning as I go so hope it turns out well.

Nice work on the stand, don't see too many people employing traditional wood working in their builds. I used to be a custom cabinet maker/furniture/architectural millworker and the companies I worked for did all traditional wood working joinery. Very nice job! Love it will be following along for sure!

Thanks, I agree its something that is very rare from what i can see. I had some concerns with movement but I feel I have designed it in such a way to avoid any problems with that I hope.

 

[kidtango]

Some reefers are insanely talented lol. I truly admire your handy work with the stand and overall design of your reef. Looking forward to seeing more. Thanks for sharing.

Kid

 

[hotnickz07]

Wow. This is going to be an animal of a tank. Following

 

[Dazza0685]

The stand is getting closer to completion, here is the final test fit with the plywood top on, It is not all glued, just the 3 leg frames, the main supports along the length of the stand will be glued when in place.
As you will see i have recessed the ply into the top, this will then get 2 layers of foam to take the tank, i have done this to avoid having trims around the edge of the tank.. (I hope.)





Next step is to lift the floor and strengthen, then i can put the stand in place.

Thanks

 

[TUSI]

Welcome to the family. Great that you are sharing with us your beautyfull work. Love your vision of carpentry. Very old school and impressive.

 

[Dazza0685]

After what seems to be an age i have finally made a little more progress.
On the weekend i took up the floor to strengthen the joists and put new ones in exactly where the tank will sit, unfortunately i completely forgot to take a photo of the new beams but here is the start of the day:



With that job done it meant i could finally move the room around and bring the stand in. Since the stand weighs approx 300KG it was in kit form when brought in, i have now glued the whole thing together and oiled the oak ready for use. Finally the tank and stand meet for the first time:





I have also decided that the back half of the frame will be enclosed to make use of the space. On the left of the stand there will be a cupboard which will house the closed loop pump and on the right hand side there will be drawers for all the reefing paraphernalia this hobby brings.





Sorry about the rubbish photos, space is tight around the stand at the moment.

Next step is to put the foam on the top, then finally get people around to help move the tank on to the stand.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Awesome build!

 

[Dazza0685]

Update!

The tank is now finally on its stand! Which means that work can progress a little further.





Thanks for looking!

 

[trickedout900]

You have some skills man. Great job!

 

[fragit]

Nice let there be water! I've been wondering what are the little black discs on the bottom of your tank?

 

[reef_ranch]

Wow! The stand is beautiful and compliments the room perfectly. Great job so far!!

 

[Dazza0685]

You have some skills man. Great job!

Haha .. I try .. Thanks

Nice let there be water! I've been wondering what are the little black discs on the bottom of your tank?

Thanks, unfortunately water will be some way off yet.
The little black discs are just blobs of silicone where the base is laminated together.

Thanks

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Stand looks great. Those dimensions are awesome

 

[Dazza0685]

Progress is happening very slowly. Over the last couple of days i have made a start on the rock work, and hung the lights.

For the rock i have gone with real reef rock due as i want to have as long as i need for getting the rock scape correct. So far i have 85kg in there but this has only done a little over half of the tank. I will pick up another 30-40 kg at some point to get the rest done. I haven't taken any photos of the rock work as its not finished. Also i feel its very hard to represent how it looks by photo.

Here is how the tank stands today:

 

[fragit]

Looks awesome!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Awesome tank and room!

 

[Dazza0685]

More progress!

Well yesterday I went and collected my new sump Yay, another piece of the puzzle has arrived. I have just put it in place, however the work on the sump room is barely started so please ignore the complete mess!
This morning i made a stand to put the roller mats on so they will be at the right height to feed into the sump and I feel it will work very well.



Here is my water change station that i built last year. It is filled by a 600GPD RO unit. The top tank is fresh water and the bottom is the salt mixing tank, Each tank hold around 200L. It sits right next to the sump so water changes will be as simple as pumping out old water and then opening a tap to refill. However i may look at automated daily water changes.



Also i have made myself a manifold for the closed loop system, It consists of 6 x 50mm reducing tees down to the 25mm i need. The plumbing behind the tank will have to be very creative as there are a lot of pipes and not a lot of room!



Thanks for looking.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

More progress!

Well yesterday I went and collected my new sump Yay, another piece of the puzzle has arrived. I have just put it in place, however the work on the sump room is barely started so please ignore the complete mess!
This morning i made a stand to put the roller mats on so they will be at the right height to feed into the sump and I feel it will work very well.



Here is my water change station that i built last year. It is filled by a 600GPD RO unit. The top tank is fresh water and the bottom is the salt mixing tank, Each tank hold around 200L. It sits right next to the sump so water changes will be as simple as pumping out old water and then opening a tap to refill. However i may look at automated daily water changes.



Also i have made myself a manifold for the closed loop system, It consists of 6 x 50mm reducing tees down to the 25mm i need. The plumbing behind the tank will have to be very creative as there are a lot of pipes and not a lot of room!



Thanks for looking.

AHHH I CANT WAIT! We're moving into a house with a basement and a tank room and this water change set up excites me! Water changes are going to be so easy.

 

[Dazza0685]

Today I have been busy trying to make a start on the task of plumbing! I knew with this tank it would be far from a simple affair with no fewer than 12 pipes needing to fit behind the tank in the 100mm gap between the wall and the tank.

First up after much twisting and stretching i have managed to install all 7 valves for the closed loop system.. no easy feat in a small gap when the tank is 4ft wide. I will now just have to pray none of them leak otherwise the remedy will be very difficult indeed.



As i am still waiting on a few items to arrive for the plumbing for the weirs and the rest of the CL system i then moved on to the sump area. I have started to clad the walls for easy cleaning and also providing me with places to mount equipment, I also removed the old sockets and have fitted 4 double sockets which are more suitable for the environment they will live in.
I have also started to plumb in the heat exchanger which will be run from our heating system in winer to help reduce energy costs (I will go into more detail on this at a later date). The water then flows through my new metal halide UV and will return to the sump.





I have also now finished the rock work in the tank so really all that is holding my up is the plumbing.

Thanks for looking