that's coming along nicely! "just 270g" ? LOL.

Looking good! Curious what your finishing plans are around the tank as I thought it was all just going to be drywalled in with some casing around the tank.

I had multiple people tell me not to have the drywall against the tank with the non supported ~5 inches between tank top and framing. So I am going to get the cabinetry contractor to build our wood wrap down over the gap. The bottom section is tile up to the sand line, and the top is an espresso wood with a brushed metal trim. The two doors on the front will have a built in overlap so no light leaks out.

Big question Steve, cement fibre board or good ol' drywall to tile to? I originally thought cement board but have had a couple people tell me it's not necessary and is only really used in shower installs. Tiled back splashes use drywall.

Opinions?

Drywall is fine for a tile backer for this purpose. If you have extra lying around, better to use that than sending it to the landfill. Two reasons people might stay clear from drywall for a tile backer is moisture (not an issue here) and weight (a large wall of heavy tile could in theory pull the paper off the wall board, again not an issue here). Other options to consider is the cement board which is a PITA so say the least or a tile backer board which is much lighter and easier to work with. Also consider using OBS board as it's cheap and will offer a great surface for adhesive. If it was me I wouldn't bother with using messy mortar either, PL premium or a tile adhesive would be my choice.

Thanks Steve. Unfortunately I have to deal with some cement board around the fireplace. But if I can save myself some hassle around the tank that's great!

Are you sure? I have drywall around both our fireplaces. It's non combustible, perfectly acceptable by code.

Nope, I am not sure. The fireplace manufacturer's instructions state where the non-combustible zone is and then gave an example of an acceptable material which was cement fibre board. I will give the city a call and ask them if fire rated gypsum is ok.

This is how my fireplace was originally finished by the builders, pretty sure it's just standard drywall as well, not fire rated.

Just spoke with the City building inspector and as far as he's concerned the paper on the drywall is a combustible. Cement fibre board it is!

Always interesting to hear what different inspectors have to say. I've always been told drywall is non-combustible and even though I would agree the paper is combustible that really doesn't have much to do with it. In reality it has to meet a certain standard probably something like ASTM E136. In any case, no big deal, best to keep the inspectors happy IME.

Man developing the basement is taking forever! I finally had time to put in the floor drain, build the sump stand, and silicone the overflow back on. I won't likely get a chance to plumb it before I go back to work but we shall see what happens on monday!

Rigging to hold over flow in place while silicone dried.
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-jr2Tts4-L.jpg

General arrangement. The floor drain will have the water change valve and emergency overflow plumbed directly to it.
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-82knJRQ-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-RhGfsGb-L.jpg
I will try to describe the flow of water through the sumps. You can see the primary frag chamber top left, return pump chamber top middle, and overflow top right. The skimmer chamber is bottom right, filter basket chamber bottom middle, return pump chamber bottom left, refugium bottom far left.

The refugium will be fed off a manifold powered by the lower sumps return pump. The manifold will also feed a couple reactors for bio pellets and GFO.

Slowly but surely it's coming together.

I just picked up these beauties! Avast Marine Works MR5 & MR10 media reactors, a Mutiny II ozone reactor, and the Kraken!

MR5
http://www.avastmarine.com/ssc/image.../mr5_18_md.png

MR10
http://www.avastmarine.com/ssc/image...mr10_18_md.png

Mutiny II
http://www.avastmarine.com/ssc/image..._series_md.png

The Kraken
http://www.avastmarine.com/ssc/image.../kraken_md.png

The MR5 is for GFO, the Mutiny II will drain it's effluent into the MR10 which will be packed with GAC. The Kraken is a biopellet reactor I plan on running. I still need to chose which biopellets to run, as well as which ozone generator/air dryer/pump to use. Any suggestions?

I'm pretty stoked though!

Looking good Scott, coming together nicely.

Thanks Steve, I am really excited to put your concept/design into action! I'm just trying to make sure the parts I buy are of a high enough quality that I shouldn't have to replace them in a couple years. With proper maintenance they should last as long as the system is up I hope.

Are you going to upgrade your Mitras' to the new LED configuration? I haven't given it much thought, as it's another $900.

Nope, seems rather pointless for that kind of money. I might consider it the new version if I was buying new fixtures but upgrading all clusters for a couple more white LEDs in place of the red and yellow won't make a difference IMO. I don't run the whites full as it is so adding more won't really add any more light in my case. Even though the new LEDs names seem to suggest they are more of a blue white I'm still not convinced. Plus the yellow is nice for making orange sunrises and the extra red spectrum seems to have value as well. So between the two I'm still leaning towards the original.

I am hoping someone puts out a comparison of both systems running. I tend to agree with your colour preferences though. I run KZ Fiji purple and 10K's more than super blues on my current T5 systems.

I agree with you there. I've only got my cool whites at 50% and don't want anymore white. Not unless they give me more rb, b and hv lol.

Suspended ceiling is in. I am happy with how it turned out!

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DSC_3929-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DSC_3930-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DSC_3931-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DSC_3932-L.jpg

Not really tank update per say but I got the wallpaper feature wall done today and the tile guy is coming tuesday/wednesday.

I am also picking up ~8' of 2" spaflex up tomorrow and rigging the tank to the sumps. Maybe plumb the durso's.

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DSC_3933-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DSC_3940-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DSC_3942-L.jpg

Liking the wall and ceiling textures

Have you thought about some kind of alarm for the emerg overflow as it flows down the drain ? Or did I mis-understand where it goes ?
Hate to hear about your tank crashing 'cause it filled with top-off water :surprise:

The emergency overflow he speaks off is in the lower sump, it's not part of a herbie or other overflow box system for circulation. It's only the to prevent the sump from overflowing in situations like shut down when the tank is overfilled for whatever reason.

Scott, basement looks awesome. I agree the slate ceiling tiles look great, one of the betters ones for sure. I like the floor tiles too.

Thanks guys! Greg, I do plan on having a small switch in the overflow to alert me when water is going down it. That being in the event that an auto top off stuck on or something along those lines. I just 95% of the lighting in the basement. I also wired up the Mitras on an aluminum frame and am working on the suspension system now.

Cheers,
Scott

That's exactly why I asked
Glad to hear it's in your plans

WOW!
Great progress on an awesome build! Definatly following this one.

So here's a question for all you pro's out there. Are these safe to use as the pulleys above my tank that will suspend the lights? They are rated for 110lbs each (according to the package), so weight isn't an issue. My biggest concern is the metal they are made from. It doesn't say anything specific on the packaging. I am worried about flaking metal into the tank after repetitive use. Am I being to concerned? If you think they are an unwise choice, could you suggest a safe pulley alternative?

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i.../L/image-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...e%20copy-L.jpg

Cheers,
Scott

Subscribed, excited to see where this goes.

As for the hanging pulleys the interior component looks like Muntz metal which is 60% copper. I doubt any will chafe off but if your keeping all that poppin LPS like you used to I wouldn't take the risk.

+1

I'd go for sailing blocks for over top of the tank - something like these: http://www.harken.com/productcategory.aspx?taxid=363

Awesome, I know of a great boat shop that probably carries just this item!

I bought stainless aircraft cable with crush fittings to suspend the lights, any objections to using it?

Thanks for the help all!

Tile is up, grouting tomorrow.

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DSC_3944-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DSC_3945-L.jpg

Bad view of the lighting rig

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DSC_3946-L.jpg

Fireplace tile matching the fish tank

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DSC_3948-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...DSC_3951-L.jpg

Wow this build is awesome, Iam definitely following along to see your progression!

~Tony

Friggin nice man i have a great idea for my new 250 gal inwall

Beautiful so far! Loving the look of the tile.
I ended up using something very similar to those pulley's knowing that they were Zinc plated. I plan to upgrade to stainless or aluminum in the future.

Here is the new gear.

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...copy%202-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...copy%203-L.jpg

*goosebumps* !! :)

That's all lookin' pretty sweet!

Grouting is done, lights are rudimentarily up. I plan on cleaning up the wiring and probably raising the lights up to the main support beam to give me a little more head room when I raise the lights to the roof for maintenance. All I have to do is tighten up the aircraft cable between the lights and the beam.

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-zhfpH9q-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-TKrfxnF-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-M7b5Nvv-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-XzRdxpK-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-mKRgF3G-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-LN9HzQh-L.jpg

Just bought the beauty on the right, a BK Double Cone 250 with RD speedy 3. Should be here next week!

http://reefbuilders.com/wp-content/b...ble-cone-1.jpg

I am really having a dilemma right now on choosing a return pump and manifold pump. I was waiting for the Waveline DC12000 but I am getting a little scared of the rumours of spotty customer service and reports of the new DC6000 having flow issues. I really like the Abyzz pumps but they are a lot of cash. I need reliability, over anything else, it needs to be reliable. I am going for long stretches and I don't expect my wife to change pumps out for me.

Can anyone rationalize one pump over another? Waveline, RD3's, Abyzz A400...

Thanks!

This probably sounds familiar but I think the Abyzz is overpriced, in terms of reliability the price tag just simply isn't justified. The most reliable and steady pump I've ever owned was a RD6.5 so I'd consider an RD pump DC or AC over the Abyzz given they cost less than half. Plus it'll match your new skimmer :mrgreen:

I agree the wavelines and speedwaves reliability is questionable, while the pumps I have seem to run pretty solid they have developed more noise suggesting wear and I've had two of the 3 controllers burn out, which I'm suspecting relates to the crappy power supply they come with. The power supplies should really be regulated and given the juice they require a fan cooled unit would be nice. I originally ran all my pumps of a single regulated power supply as I originally suspected the power supplies to be problematic but later switched back to the originals so each pump would run off it's own supply with the idea of better redundancy, however now I'm thinking of grabbing one or two more more regulated power supplies to prevent future issues.

With that all said the advantage off these cheaper alternatives is their significantly lower price tag allowing the ability to run two or more pumps in parallel allowing more flow opportunities and the added reliability that comes with multiple pumps, if one fails your system essentially remains unaffected. They are also the most popular so easy to get replacements and claim warranty. While a pumps like Abyzz have better warranties if it's your only pump it'll be much more inconvenient if it does have issues.

In regards to the newer versions of wavelines, you could purchase the old versions to run for a while, they are cheap enough and will actually hold decent value to make a later upgrades quite reasonable once issues are sorted.

Thanks Steve, I appreciate your view on the matter! I may go with the RD3's and still run the top sump pumps in tandem for redundancy. If I go lower priced DC pumps I will just go with whatever Colby has the best supply of. But you're right, at least I can get water flowing and replace the pumps with a high quality unit down the road.

I just have to see what the pocket book and accountant (aka. Wendy) will allow.

How's the little man doing?!