I'm a big believer in DIY...so I would be talking to Modularled and see if Martin has some suggestions.
If you can hold out for the controller, the Cerebra should still be the bomb (if it is ever really released)

Stopped in at Levi's place today to check out his mind blowing tank. I have to say, seeing those radions over top of a tank like that makes a world of difference. They are out of this world. A small part of me was worried the tank wouldn't look as good in real life as it does in pictures, but holy crap was I wrong. It looks even better.

My mind must have been playing tricks on me when I was in Edmonton, because the brightness, colour rendition, and basically everything I care about in tank lighting was spot- on perfect. Then the pre-built software...

Took all of 8 seconds in front of that living piece of art to make up my mind. Radions it is. My tank is 5 inches taller though, so I am considering adding an extra inch of sand, and i'll build the hanging rack so that I can buy two extra units if I think I need it.

Thanks so much for letting me come over Levi, you solved in 20 minutes a dilemma I've been losing sleep over for 3 months.

So. Close.

I can practically taste the salt water:

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/IMG_2292.jpg

Except for the doors (which you can see stacked on the other side of the tank in the office) which will be hung last to give us as much room as possible to work, the enclosure is finished from the builder's point of view. I had no idea the p-trap they needed to install for the under tank drain was going to be so obtrusive and obnoxious, but after I took this pic I had them to re-work it so that it's not jutting out directly in to the cabinet space.

I'm hoping to start the plumbing this weekend. I am losing my mind with anticipation.

Doors got hung today!

Dining room:
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/f49b1795.jpg
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/a05e5307.jpg

Office side:
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/a98c8eef.jpg

Looks great. Why didnt you go for a basement sump?

Looks Awesome! Can't wait to see you getting that wet. Take lots of pictures of the plumbing too!

Originally because my fiancé was only willing to go so far. We're not planning on spending the rest of our lives in this house (though after how much it's cost I'm starting to re-consider that!), so the compromise was to build something that could be relatively easy to remove.

Then later in the design stage we ended up needing to move some stuff around, so instead of having a laundry room with tons of space for fish equipment right beneath the tank, we ended up with the most jam packed utility room I've ever seen. It's barely got enough free space for the R/O reservoir. The laundry room got moved to another part of the basement, walled in on 3 sides by concrete foundation.


Oh you know I will! Had to reschedule the plumbing to Monday so the floor guys could work all weekend without people kicking up dust. I can't wait.

Wow, I cant wait to see wait your set up looks like once it's filled with water and lights and rock and some awesome corals and fish.

The day has finally come!

First, a massive thanks to Kevin from Red Coral, when I said 'come over on Saturday and we'll plumb the tank!' I fully intended to be more helpful than I was, but I really could have said 'come over on Saturday, and you'll plumb the tank, while I sit around offering suggestions and otherwise being annoying', and still have been correct.

The display is filling with tap water as we speak, but first, here's some photos!

I came last night and spent 2 hours cleaning the entire set-up. There was like a solid inch of construction dust on everything.
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/701da16b.jpg
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/4a8ab87f.jpg
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/cc5afa84.jpg

Bulkheads go in:
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/a1a4c28b.jpg

Checking to see that the hose attachment works
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/baaee848.jpg

All sorts of 2 inch plumbing:
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/b02c98f5.jpg

We went with the Reeflo Dart. This thing is whisper quiet
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/91f45286.jpg

The two overflows needed to be teed together to feed to the gigantic three-way gate we installed.
South end (office and dining room side)
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/d86e3327.jpg
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/4096050d.jpg

North end (office and dining room side)
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/8f7b31df.jpg
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/d5d66552.jpg
We put gate valves on both sides in the hopes that we can make a herbie work. Since the two overflows join in to each other then flow in to a 3 way valve, it might not happen (in which case we'll do Dursos), but here's for leaving your options open!

And the main event - the three way valve. The ones on our pool in California are smaller than this! Everything was positioned to provide maximum access, and to not interfere with the skimmer chamber.
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/5f60eb44.jpg

Filling the return chamber for a leak test. One minor adjustment and we're leak free on the return side!
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/836239ce.jpg

Started filling the sump for real.
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/68ff6193.jpg

This is the part I was most worried about, the water exiting the skimmer chamber has to split in two and fill both the frag chamber and the water change chamber. Turns out it works perfectly :)
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/e0960438.jpg

And now to fill the main tank... This is where I'm at now, so far it's been an hour and it's not full!
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/c16f910d.jpg

Next up - testing the overflow system, and that monster 3 way valve...

looking good man

Wow, looks good! Always inspiring to hear an LFS getting as involved in helping you as that.

Holy smokes Adam, this thing looks freaking amazing!!!

Kind off topic but what are you guys doing for appliances? Is that a Miele double WO with a built in Thermador F/F combo?

Looks fantastic...now you have me thinking...I needs to build a new house:wink:

Thanks, many more updates to come ;)

Kevin has been freaking fantastic. He's been involved since day one, helping me figure out the design, and then the re-design, then the re-re-design, the install, coordinating with the builder and the plumber, coming to my place on his days off, being otherwise awesome, etc. I couldn't have done it without him.

Thanks. I actually dreamed about it last night, the same way I use to dream about tetris when I played too much. And the appliances - I'm gonna admit I have no idea what you just said lol. The stacked combo on the back wall of the kitchen is a 30inch (I think) Miele oven, with a 24 inch Miele steam oven above it with two side panels to make it look like it's the same size. The fridge is also a Miele, and it's the tall cabinet doors to the right of the ovens (we went with built in as opposed to stainless).

How do you know so much about appliances?

If you enjoy your time, sanity, and money, I recommend against it.


I'm gonna take some more pics now that the plumbing is *almost* complete, and the tank is running with water in it

K, the plumbing is almost complete, and it's currently running with tap water. I'm going to keep that going until the inspection.

Dining room side
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/58dd5b11.jpg
the long white PVC pipe is the alternate flow path. When the handle on that huge valve turns to the left, water from the tank flows straight in to the first part of the bubble trap, and bypasses the rest of the sump. However, when I started testing the system, I realized that I had made a critical error when I designed the sump: I didn't account for the fact that when 100% of the flow of the tank is entering the bubble trap/return chamber, it actually raises the level of water in that chamber by a full 3 inches, above the level of the baffle that separates it from the water change chamber. Essentially, as the plumbing is set up now, I can't isolate the water change chamber if there is the correct amount of water in the sump. This was terrifying at first, and had three possible solutions:

1. pull out the silicone on two of the bubble trap baffle, cut the baffle that sets the height of the return chamber down by three inches, and re-silicone it all in. This would mean that the water exiting from the water change chamber would fall 4 inches, and would be loud and splashy. This is the crappiest solution

2. use the herbies to manipulate the water level in the sump when the flow is diverted. I figured out that when I divert the flow, the water level in the over flow chambers falls by a couple of inches (which compounds the existing water level in the sump problem). I'm sure this has something to do with a principle of fluid dynamics that I barely understand. But, I also found that if I go and tighten the herbies up when the flow is diverted, I can cause the overflows to completely fill, then raise the water level in the display tank by about 1/16 of an inch, which is enough to drop the water level in the return chamber low enough to isolate the water change chamber, but still not reach the emergency overflow standpipe. This allows me to use the sump the way I designed it, but leads to 30 freaking minutes of tweaking the herbies to get them back to where I want after after every water change. huge PITA, and not really what I want to do.

3. The solution that we're going to move forward with, that I think is pretty elegant and simple. We're going to install a third gate valve here:
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/2bcd4ceb.jpg
Essentially, it will act like a herbie on the herbies. During normal operation, water from the tank will flow in to the skimmer chamber, and the two main herbie gate valves will be set to the perfect spot and never touched. When I want to do a water change, I'll divert water in to the bubble trap/return chamber, and use the third gate valve to restrict the flow in to the sump even further. This way I can use that third gate valve to make the water in the return chamber set at whatever height I want. I'm sure with some playing, I can figure out exactly what setting it needs to be and leave it that way, so when I divert the water, the levels all just set themselves automatically. This will save me from having to fiddle around with the main overflow gate valves, plus, it puts the water change controls all on the same side of the tank, so I won't have to go running around in circle adjusting anything.

phew, that was a whole lot of typing. I hope that made sense.

Office side:
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/af03f584.jpg
I assume the reason the herbies naturally set at a different level when I divert the flow from the skimmer chamber is because water has to travel different distances in the pipes between the two outputs. or something. I dropped physics.

I was and am shocked at how much water moves through this sump. I was afraid my design wouldn't work at all, but other than one minor modification to the water change system, it works better than I expected. because the sump is so deep, I'm going to need to put a couple of koralias in the frag chamber and WC chamber to to prevent any dead spots, but I have a closet full of koralias from my first tank, and I'm not worried at all. The koralia in the WC chamber will serve double duty as the salt mixing pump!

And finally: a FTS from the office
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/6a4a7507.jpg
I am happier and happier with the choice to go Starphire. It probably wouldn't have mattered if it was only open on one side, but the cumulative effect of looking through two panes made it soooo worth it. The bottom panel isn't Starphire, so it's reflecting a little green, but once the bottom is covered in white sand, the glass will be nearly invisible.

Looks awesome, glad to see water in it :biggrin:

Wow it looks amazing

*sigh*, I wish this was happening faster! But between not actually being allowed to move in to this house yet (the convoluted web of city permitting is infuriating), grad school, and daily commitments, I'm getting maybe one solid evening a week to work on it.

Anyway, here's an update, and I hope everyone has all sorts of comments on my rock work, because I'm not totally sold on it.

Kevin came over last week and installed my R/O unit:
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/14956c30.jpg
Because I'm impatient, I immediately filled the sump with R/O water. It took a day and a half.

I also picked up up some plexi and cut long, 5 inch high stripes and caulked it to the euro-bracing
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/429ab6d7.jpg
There was a small gap between the euro-bracing and the framing for the doors above that would have allowed splashed water to seep under the frame structure and run down the front glass of the tank. There was also a 3 inch cavity in the frame itself that I had visions of jumping wrasses getting trapped in. That's all sealed up now.

Then I went overkill with the sand:
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/614ebc02.jpg
8 bags was excessive. I needed 5. Note to self: I bought enough to give me a 3 inch sand bed without rock.

Then on Friday I picked up 207 pounds of Marco rock from Kevin at RCC. Note to anyone who's ever wondered: Yes, Marco rock WILL punch large, unsightly holes in the leather of your car's back seats. Take appropriate precautions.

I didn't have the tools or the patience to do any fancy drilling of the rock, so what you see is simply rocks that are resting on top of one another. I hate the 'pile o' rocks' look, so I really tried to avoid that, while creating at least two major cavities that can't be seen from either side of the tank for a larger fish to sleep in (they're against the overflow boxes), and a relatively open structure, with a central 'canyon' down the middle. I'm not 100% sold on it, so any input would be appreciated. The plan is to eventually add about 50 pounds of real live rock from Walt Smith, so I'll likely end up removing some of the Marco rock (or sending it to the sump) rather than just adding 50 more pounds, as it's already a little cluttered for my taste.

Dining room FTS
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/32d5030d.jpg

DR south end
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/25919889.jpg

DR north end
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/0d1a3575.jpg

I'm not as happy with the office side, but also keep in mind that without real lights on, the shadowing from the room makes the office side look WAY more like a 'pile o' rocks' than it does in real life.

Office side FTS
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/1d9f7b6d.jpg

OS South end
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/bef9906c.jpg

OS north end
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/71c884a2.jpg

And here's how it looked when I shut the R/O unit down on Friday (I'm now in saskatchewan for a family thing)
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/866827b3.jpg

Hey what does RC charge for that Marco Rock?

What are your plans for the extra sand you ordered? or did you just dump all the bags in there?

Looks great so far. I have huge tank envy right now.

Looks great in my opinion.

That's a very good question lol. I think it's around 3.80 per pound, but don't quote me on that. Since I had to get so much stuff special ordered, Kevin just made me one large invoice. The rock was on it, but I can't remember exactly how it broke down. I do know that on Friday he received a shipment of 1500 pounds or something ridiculous like that, so if your'e looking for some he's got TONS of selection right now.

I'm not sure, I've got three bags left that I might return. I'm considering doing a DSB in my frag chamber, but the relative surface area of that chamber compared to the tank is tiny, so I don't know if there's a point. I'm not sure if to will just cause problems down the line.

Thanks :) I needed to do this all on a ladder, so the fact that I didn't drop a piece of rock right through the bottom of my glass was a small miracle in and of itself. I've never gotten so sweaty working on a tank.

Rock looks good as does everything else. I certainly couldn't add any more rock in there... in fact when adding the live rock I'd take more out than I added to achieve a slightly more open look.

Yah I think I will for sure. It will all depend on what the actual pieces look like I suppose.

Awesome build! Keep the pics coming!

Started the RO unit last night again. tank is still less than half full :(

100GPD - Thats a good wait! Can't wait to see that tank all setup. Would love to see it in person some day if you are ever doing tours.

I will happily give tours! Hopefully it's worth looking at sooner than later. Right now it's sitting there, running with fresh R/O water as though it were a real tank. It's teasing me, but it's end of term and I haven't had 3 minutes to breath, let alone go and get salt and get the salinity where it needs to be to start the cycle. grrrrrr!

As I age I'm turning more and more in to a weekend reefer.

Try tossing a couple kids into the mix lol.

Pure awesomeness!! Really good job Adam!

gimme the keys.....I'll go put salt in the beast for ya:wink:

It's lookin' great from here. Only thing I'd suggest is, because you haven't drilled the rock, you might consider using epoxy to stave off the risk of rockslides.
That is, once you have your live rock in place and are happy with it.

I used small acrylic rods and epoxy to attach my base rocks to squares of acrylic. I didn't want to cover the tank bottom with eggcrate. In my case, even just 1" of sand will cover what I have done.

Thanks!


hehe, beat you to it. Specific gravity = 1.025 :) It took a bucket and a third, plus 24 hours to add, dissolve, test, then add some more.


Yah I'm thinking I'm going to do that when i get the live rock. I'm hoping I'm able to open up the structure a bit, and I can banish some of the cycled marco rock to the sump

and speaking of the cycle... It's started! I added enough pure ammonium chloride to get the ammonium up to 2ppm, and I've got 10 cocktail shrimp in a mesh bag in the sump. I then dumped in a 250ml bottle of Dr. Tim's 1 and only live nitrifying bacteria. I'm not convinced it will 'eliminate' the cycle, but I am expecting it to speed it up a little.

Presently:
Ammonia = 2.0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
Phosphate = 0.10 (I assume it's leaching from my rock and sand)

I didn't have time to test the other ions except Alk, and the salt mixed up to a dKh of 10.3

Next steps:

1. I need to sort out the remote R/O reservoir and top off system. The float valve for the R/O unit is right in the sump right now. That makes me hella nervous

2. The lights are scheduled for arrival in Calgary on Monday, and I need to get the hanging situation figured out soon.

3. The heaters. I have ordered 3 300 watt heaters, but the more I read about heaters, the less I think that was a good idea. I'm thinking I need a larger titanium heater that's controlled by a controller? Any thoughts? I've got two temporary heaters on the tank right now, a 300W loaner, and a fluval digital (e-series I think I can't remember the wattage) from my 90, but together they can't get the water past 23.5 degrees.

4. I need to set up my skimmer and reactors. The Deltec is sitting on the floor begging to go in the tank and suck out the cloudiness from my sand, but the water in the skimmer chamber is 19.5 inches deep. I have the egg crate and PVC I need to make the stand the skimmer will sit on, but it turns out I have neither the tools, nor the skill to cut 4 pieces of pvc the same length and with flat edges. I also don't have the tools I need to affix the egg crate to the legs.
Does anyone know of a place where I can go to get PVC cut so that the ends are perfectly flat? My hand saw skills have no kung fu.

About cutting the PVC ...
Ask around your neighbourhood for someone with a mitre/chop saw.
I ended up buying one of these as I had tons of cuts to make and didn't want rough edges

http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/Hom...1200_300_4.jpg

As for your heaters ....
3-5 watts/g is a good idea. I don't know what your total water volume is or I'd suggest a heater group.
I like having multiple smaller heaters so no single one can cook the tank if it is stuck on and I'm not relying so much on a few to do the job of many.
I have my heaters connected to a controller and they are set 1-2 degrees above my target temp so they always engage.
Also, this way if something goes sideways and they are all permanently on, there's less chance they will thoroughly cook everyone.

I ran my heaters one at a time in a bucket with a powerhead and a trusted thermometer to pre-set them

It turns out I go to school in a faculty that has a fully equipped shop, so I got one of my master's of Architecture friends to cut lengths for me on the saw, worked out perfectly!


Yah, I wanted more heaters to spread out the risk. My total volume is somewhere in the 350-400 gallon range, so I don't think the 900 watts that I was planning is going to cut it.

Here's the tank as seen from my desk :)
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/07cc1a72.jpg

I can't wait to get lights over it!

I also got my new toy running
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...n/8b616f70.jpg

Hopefully it will pull some of the cloudiness out of the water over the next couple of days.

The cocktail shrimp in the sump are starting to stink to high heaven. I've got the ceiling fan (which is unacceptably loud, we'll see what my options for fixing that are) running to keep the sump from gagging me every time I open the doors.

Ammonia: 3ppm
Nitirite: Between 0.25 and 0.50ppm
Nitrate: Between 0 and 5ppm. API test kits are sort of crappy for that. It's closer to zero.

The Dr. Tim's appears to have sped the process up at least.

I'm starting to think that 10 rotting cocktail shrimp might have been a tad excessive...

Day 5 of the cycle, and the shrimp in the bag are starting to melt.

Ammonia: between 1 and 2ppm, but probably closer to 2
Nitrite: off the chart. It goes to 5ppm, and my vial is even darker and more brilliant than that. It's quite pretty actually.
Nitrate: Between 10 and 20ppm

So the bacterial conveyor belt is working, I think I've just overloaded it :)

Oh well, the rocks will be more than able to support life when it's done.

I'm picking up my lights today!