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alcoolaid's 200g Reef Build
So after a few years of having my 6' 125g with triple 25g sumps running, I felt it was time for an upgrade.
Decided to go with a custom tank from Concept Aquariums so I could have a large quiet overflow and starfire glass. Everything will be on a steel stand comprising of mostly 2x2" steel for the base and 1.5x1.5" steel for the canopy. The canopy is mounted on 4 sliders and goes up and down on two electric actuators that can be remotely controlled. The base is 96"x26"x38". Custom fabricated by my friend and I. Display tank: 200g 72"x26"x26", 48" external overflow, starfire glass, bean animal overflow Frag tank: 30g 20"x 26"x 14", 10" external overflow. herbie overflow Sump tank: 100g 60"x20"x20" 25g refugium section All plumbing will be done in SCH80. Cepex union ball valves. Return pump is a ReeFlo Dart Flow will be provided by 2 of my current MP40's and 4x Jebao WP40's Lighting will be my old custom led setup (650w+ of LED power) More details later as the build goes on.... |
Here is a shot of my current tank from a while ago
http://i.imgur.com/U3Q5YGXl.jpg The custom LED array with cool whites, neutral whites, royal blues, blues, cyan, green, red, uv. Will be adding 4x 60" T5 bulbs later on http://i.imgur.com/8mjgVLwl.jpg |
Steel stand fab
http://i.imgur.com/uqqEbc9l.jpg http://i.imgur.com/c25X9yel.jpg http://i.imgur.com/tqt6rmQl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/eHmgar9l.jpg http://i.imgur.com/MiFnrKpl.jpg Curing some extra live rock from a month ago http://i.imgur.com/B64fGrEl.jpg |
Picking up the tank at Vancouver Purolator
http://i.imgur.com/qNivD1zl.jpg Had to wait inside for a while because they couldn't find a huge wooden crate http://i.imgur.com/kL08Q4El.jpg Video of the pick up http://youtu.be/RbFWZURzGQ8 http://i.imgur.com/WCiXSlnl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/6AiLws7l.jpg http://i.imgur.com/8QsDNbql.jpg Three tanks made it safe! http://i.imgur.com/lptPusXl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Ldt9tRIl.jpg Starfire http://i.imgur.com/mY67q7Dl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/dw4K3ADl.jpg 48" overflow, 3x 1.5" drains, 4x 3/4" returns http://i.imgur.com/cWiJUZcl.jpg Getting ready to test the pump for leaks http://i.imgur.com/nZQXs50l.jpg http://i.imgur.com/XZFYIoel.jpg Video of the test http://youtu.be/pwrmBeeWB2A |
So much work to do...
http://i.imgur.com/Cv4GGgpl.jpg Messy http://i.imgur.com/1zKWKk6l.jpg Cutting 3/4" plywood http://i.imgur.com/8mOE6Mpl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Mjptzq0l.jpg Measure once, cut 3 times http://i.imgur.com/K2bpO4Ml.jpg Success http://i.imgur.com/vzbVr8Vl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/fWkCLvml.jpg http://i.imgur.com/WrZ9Atbl.jpg 1" foam cut http://i.imgur.com/817URyFl.jpg Acetone wiped and ready for primer and paint.... this is as far as I got so far. http://i.imgur.com/XU8LNAcl.jpg |
Holy crap... this is going to be huge!!! Subscribed for sure! :pop2:
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out of this whole thread so far.... all I notice is that sweet sweet Subaru of yours in the background :mrgreen:
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Nice. Will also be following along.
And yea sweet car too. |
Looking sweet.
Subscribed! |
Painting. Had to do it inside because temps too cold and humidity too high.
http://i.imgur.com/ws8bOAdl.jpg Called 3 friends over and moved the tank. Had to go sideways through the back door. http://i.imgur.com/TmjwVQ2l.jpg http://i.imgur.com/c1WM5lhl.jpg Reflection from the 125g. Pretty cool. New tank will be going where the current one is. http://i.imgur.com/KeSm3VXl.jpg Going to be doing LOTS of plumbing now. Also these 3 pin connectors arrived... now I can control the WP40's I have with a 0-10v input from the apex. Will make a box for each pair. http://i.imgur.com/vRUvq7sl.jpg |
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Plumbing fun! .... not
Some pictures of the parts... this isn't even all of it :( SCH80 is $$$$$ http://i.imgur.com/YdzMwEel.jpg http://i.imgur.com/aHREEz6l.jpg http://i.imgur.com/mkOsWn2l.jpg Starting off http://i.imgur.com/XUGYsITl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/0e9O4qll.jpg http://i.imgur.com/6sXiCagl.jpg Returns almost done http://i.imgur.com/6IeYJ3Hl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/z5A1721l.jpg Finished http://i.imgur.com/M9fU6Ohl.jpg Doing the drains now http://i.imgur.com/WN0nkOnl.jpg |
wow wow wow wow.
That plumbing might be expensive but it looks freaking amazing. Did you do your own plumbing plan before hand? How long did it take to plan that? |
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I did draw something up really quickly on scrap paper after I finalized on the tank/sump design. Kind of envisioned it the best I could in my head and put it down on paper... where I should put a valve, union, t, 90, 45, reducer bushing, thread adapter, etc. I bought a little extra just in case because for instance on the stand, some of the vertical supports got in the way of one of the returns and one of the drains. I think it took me like 20-30 min to draw it all out on paper. |
Drains complete!
http://i.imgur.com/iwjYYJgl.jpg Full siphon drains in the corner bubble trap http://i.imgur.com/rADG6JYl.jpg Had to use some pipe straps to hold the piping up on some of the longer runs. Has a good weight to it when it's full of water! http://i.imgur.com/OQZLj9gl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/N5JZkUYl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Ic8RBSDl.jpg This was a tight squeeze http://i.imgur.com/gdMWPRNl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/pchuuWel.jpg Overflow box. Bean animal setup. Super quiet! http://i.imgur.com/uYEqmpfl.jpg Fresh water testing http://i.imgur.com/E65PUjTl.jpg No leaks! And I'm not even a plumber... lol |
Your plumbing looks great. Good work
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I love your build so far.
Great job. I am a huge fan of tidy well organized systems. Looking forward to see how you manage all your wiring and etc |
Wow... Plumbing looks awesome. :biggrin:
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Did you get all the plumbing supplies locally?
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No plan for the wiring yet but will be planning it out as I go I guess. Have some energy bar 8's to mount, vdm modules, led drivers, power heads, etc... will be probably using a lot of cable mounts/ties. Quote:
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Funny thing is the fork lift operator asked me how I was going to get it off the truck. Just called 3 friends over to help break the crate apart on the bed so only the display was left, and then we just lifted it off! Salty23 helped. Quote:
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I'm in Vancouver so I'm close to the USA border, hence I can easily order from Bulk Reef Supply, ship it to Point Roberts, WA and pick it up from there. I bought 75% of the plumbing parts during black friday when they had 15% off so they were pretty much the cheapest for cepex union ball valves, spears unions, fittings, pipe, etc. They were sold out of some unions so the next cheapest place I found was http://www.completeplumbingsource.com/ The ones from BRS (spears brand) actually have a larger ID though... but still better than sch40. Locally, I got some fittings from Andrew Sheret Ltd. http://www.sheret.com/ Another place is Corix Water Products but they were closed for the holidays so I didn't get anything from them. I did drive by and they have a large location in Richmond! |
Well done I am in
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Are you going to skin the stand? With a plumbing job that nice I might want to show it off.
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Also the reeflo dart pump isn't that quiet... unless I have a dud. So I will skin the stand as well. Planning to use magnets. |
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Wicked! Your build is getting really cool. No cat?
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No, I have a dog :wink: |
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Piece of advice - order replacement seals now. Yours will eventually start to rust and it sucks knowing that the need replacing (evidenced by the rust and salt creep starting to appear outside of the pump - very disconcerting) while you wait for the new ones to show up in the mail. |
PS that lift is sick.
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I might sell this one and try the gold version with the baldor motor.... Anyone here have a reeflo dart gold that can chime in on the noise vs the regular reeflo dart? And good tip on the seals! Guess I can swap them out with the ones I buy while I wait for the warranty ones to come in the mail haha Quote:
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Actually did the big move on Monday. Started at noon and finished around 9pm.
Filling water after scaping http://i.imgur.com/TJvjbkHl.jpg Putting in some coral http://i.imgur.com/TZVZvWLl.jpg Hooked up the moon lights really quickly because it's the easiest http://i.imgur.com/x1KEGrbl.jpg Some of the tangs are happy with their new larger home http://i.imgur.com/dpyv83ll.jpg http://i.imgur.com/lujWZAql.jpg Mounting up some of the electrical stuff from old tank http://i.imgur.com/CCmU38Wl.jpg Hastily hooked it all back together quickly because I needed light quick! Originally the drivers were mounted behind the canopy but now I relocated them under the stand so 36 wires had to be extended :( http://i.imgur.com/SfnHOMXl.jpg Will clean this up soon http://i.imgur.com/UcQ3TLVl.jpg How it sits for now. Need to glue more coral down. http://i.imgur.com/JNtCFeHl.jpg Still need a new skimmer. Only running an XP2000 right now. Looking at a Vertex Alpha 250 if I can ever find one or a Bubble King Double Cone 250 with the RD3 pump... a little expensive so thats why I'm waiting to see the new DC pump coming out from reef octopus as the current ones aren't reliable. |
Looking real good! :mrgreen:
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Made 2 boxes to control my WP40's via the Apex. Output is 0-10v from Apex, WP40's go on a 0-5v scale. Used linear potentiometer to cut voltage in half.
http://i.imgur.com/q2t3xGnl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/uUDX03el.jpg Blue ethernet cable goes to one of my VDM modules. MP40 power and controllability for 25% of the cost. Plus no noise and finicky wet sides.... http://i.imgur.com/MqX39DBl.jpg Tank as of now... added an achilles tang, hawaiian flame wrasse pair, 3 purple queens, 3 dispars. http://i.imgur.com/ygOq209l.jpg Hung my new Hydra FiftyTwo.... so nice... lots of power and control, amazing colour spectrum.... better than the G3 radions in my opinion as the AI lights have much better efficiency. http://i.imgur.com/7spf6R1l.jpg New frags from big show frags http://i.imgur.com/krYDI1hl.jpg |
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