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FishyFishy!'s 210g of Fantasmic! Fishalicious! Fauna!
Finally getting to post this process. The beginning was a lot smaller system and a Volcano replica tank... But after seeing the size of the small 50 Gallon tank.... I just couldn't do it. I needed to go big again.
So now i'm going permanent, and slow. Making sure things are done right to the best of my abilities (and budget lol). Unfortunately I was going to use a 7.5 foot X 20" X 20" display that I purchsed, but it incurred some damage sitting in my garage, chips on the corners, so I will get more into that later. But needless to say I think i'm in for buying a new display. Goals: Easy water changes. This is HUGE for me, as I absolutely hate lugging around hoses and buckets. So this system will have a full water change system with a built in drain. Nothing but a couple of valves turned and switches flipped for a full water change. System Volume. I want a lot of filtration water volume. Lots of room to add things like different types of fuges, remote DSB, Mangroves etc etc. I could go the simplistic way here, but thats not what I like to see when I see fishrooms. I like to see large, multi-tank filtration systems with ease of access to all of them. I like having multiple tanks with lots of different types of macro etc. Access. No more bending over to try and squeeze under a stand to get at something in the back of the sump. Anyone who has met me knows that me and tight spaces simply wouldn't work lol! Simplistic design in the DT. I'm going with the simple, minimal open space look in my display. I've always had tanks with lots of live rock in them, so this time I'm going for a few smaller island stacks of rock, and lots of swimming room for the big fishies. Ventillation. Becauseall of my filtration will be housed in a closet type environment, I will need to be able to vent the humidity out. Luckily, the way my house is designed, it will be easy to do this. Quarantine. My biggest change, will be having a large quarantine setup. In my last FOWLR, I lost an emperor angel, flame angel, cleaner wrasse, and others because I introduced a Powder Blue Tang without quarantine. Stupidest mistake ever. I will be utilizing 3 48" tanks in this setup (one un-divided for larger fish, one divided for smaller fish and a DSB for wrasses, and the sump). Excuse the Paint drawings... for some reason I like the simplicity of it VS. sketchup! Here is the basic design for the system. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps07bb500f.png And the Quarrantine tanks. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pse3270f99.png |
Paint? How the F did you make the drawing in Paint? I can barely write my name in spray paint.
I'm new to this, but the set-up looks impressive to me! |
Here is my equipment list so far:
SWC 250 S2 Skimmer 3 X 250W Sunlight Supply Reef Optix 3 pendants & 3 X Icecap 250W MH Ballasts Mag 24 Return Pump (display) Mag 18 (salt mixing/water changes) Mag 9.5 (quarantine) 2 X WP40 powerheads from fish-street 2 X Koralia 3's for frag tank 2 X Koralia 2's for RO storage/mixing tank 2 X JBJ ATO w/ MJ1200 (display and quarantine) JBJ True Temp 1000W Titanium heater & controller (display) Jager 300W heater (quarantine) Jager 200W heater (salt mixing bucket) Cadlights Cone Biopellet reactor 4 X TLF Phosban 150 reactors 3 X American DJ switchable powerbars BRS chloramines deluxe 6 stage RO Unit 2 X 35 Gallon Brute mixing bins 8 X 4" filter socks |
Wow, that looks like a serious build!!! I like the set up, should make for somewhat easy maintenance!!
Subscribed!! :lol: |
Started the closet for my original build (50 gallon, small tank).
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps22ffc084.jpg It turned out like this: http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...aterCloset.jpg |
BUT.... then I decided to go big again. So the design changed. Here is where I am at now.
Both closets are painted with Kills Premium. All wood work in the main sump closet (right) is done. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps87ead359.jpg The challenge was getting the drain, electrical, water and ventillation into/out of the closet. Luckily, I live in a 4 level split house, so the beams run all the way into my basement laundry/furnace room. So I cut a hole in the drywall, and ran the 1.5 ABS drain, 4" vent, electrical from 1 of the 3 circuits, and 1/2 pex water line for my RO. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps92b42bd9.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psfee788cd.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps8eb6fe8c.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psdc534022.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps8c236812.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psf7a84052.jpg I made a panel (that needs a good cleaning after touching it with dirty hands lol) for everything to come through the wall. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps0b11d14f.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps501f86e8.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps0b84370f.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psf39fbe79.jpg AND YES I KNOW ITS A BRASS FITTING.... BUT IT'S GOING BEFORE THE RO UNIT LOL |
Building the left closet's stand for the frag tank, DSB/Fuge, and ATO holding tank.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps9e4e8613.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps9fbce26f.jpg Also decided to reinforce two of the legs on the Brute storage bin stand. The other side I wont bother, as these will be bolted to wall studs on that side. Here are the stands, still have to paint the reinforced Brute stand. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psf1eafff2.jpg SO thats where I am at now. This weekend I am going to start drilling holes for the plumbing to go through the walls between the closets, and probably start plumbing! Yaaaay! |
Wow...looking great! I'm subscribed.
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And heres an old pic that kinda shows the location of the new tank. Level on the right is my kitchen where the tank goes. Left is the room housing the closets where the fish room is.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...0720-00045.jpg Here is where my old 155 bowfront was. This is the same location, only this display will be 7.5-8 foot, not 6 foot. I miss the old 155 bowfront... but it met it's demise during a party... http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...28-00227-1.jpg |
Following along!
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looking good Mango like the progress
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Looks awesome! Great setup you have there. Are you worried about moisture issues though in the closets at all?
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The 4" vent will have a large in-line fan sucking air out of the closet, which vents outside. There is a large hole with a fan in it, for air to pass through the adjacent walls inbetween closets. Plus I run a de-humidifier in that room outside the closets as well. Moisture shouldnt be an issue at this point. But once I'm done all the other projects in the house, I will be planning an HRV. It's just not in the budget right now. |
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When you do your water changes, are you just dumping the volume of the sump or do you drain part of your DT as well? I hear you about the hoses and pumps and buckets. I like the ease of your setup... |
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The first skimmer tank will be the one that gets drained. It is about 30 gallons. It has a hole drilled into the middle that goes right to the drain in the laundry room. Then gets filled by changing the flow in the saltwater mixing pail from re-circ to fill. I figure this is the best one, as it is the point of entry from the main display, and will probably build up a lot of detritus and stuff. So i'll just give the water a mix to stir it all up then dump it. This tank: http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps66389125.jpg I am already planning on an upgrade for that first skimmer sump. The current one is around 50X15X10, and will turn into a frag tank outside the closet. I will get a new one very similar, but a bit bigger for larger water changes. I was thinking something like 50X24X12 for the new one |
TAGGING ALONG.
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I wish I could get a deeper tank. But 24" is my max otherwise it gets in the way of walking inbetween the tank and my kitchen island |
Set up is looking amazing. I am the one that should be jealous.:wink: keep up the good work. We'll all be watching ya!
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Bored... SO I figured I'd post pics of how I re-built my bottom return sump.
It looked like this when I started. I think it was designed for freshwater, with the shelves on the left etc. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps75a416cf.jpg So I stripped all the baffles: http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...02_resized.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...46_resized.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...14_resized.jpg Then got a couple more baffles and a dual 4" filter sock holder from concepts and started putting everything back together: Love the spacers/supports!! http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps2f03d1ce.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps7e223b23.jpg All Done! http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps7149cd4c.jpg |
And... I'm done painting the stand for the BRUTES and the filtration tanks for the left closet. Going to test fit it all tonight... Hopefully I measured correctly lol.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps00fc396e.jpg And also rescued this little guy from a fellow reefers tank that was leaking and threw him into my 39g Bowfront. No idea why he would choose the powerhead only minutes after being put in... but to each their own! http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps28744a61.jpg |
Talk a bout DIY GOLD!!! Subscribed, loved the previous builds even more stoked on this one!
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So tried to move the stands into place tonight.......hmmmm
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psb2c1a9ad.jpg So after some mad Jenga, I squeezed them in there to check the fit. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps7a8cec20.jpg Closet Door closes without issue. Lots of clearance actually. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psbf62561d.jpg And I have another issue..... Where the heck do I put the RO unit now?????? It did go on that crooked mounting panel behind the frag tank. I think I'm going to mount it higher above the frag tank. I could still mount it behind the frag tank, as there is lots of room, but then replacing filters and viewing my TDS meters would be ridiculous. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps0ab29fca.jpg And a scope of the closets together: http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psdb3fe856.jpg |
Nothing beats doing reef maintenance at waist height! Setup is looking sweet!!!
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Nicely done! Waist height maintenance is pretty awesome. I like how it's all hidden behind closets, that's almost like a chapter out of chingchai's build. I can't wait till its all up and running. It's gonna be great!
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I only wish this was even close to the scope of chingchai's build!!! Everything about it was top of the line. I think one of his shiney cabinet doors cost more than my whole system. LOL |
So. A tonne has changed. But now this build is on in full force. The winter really sucked. I hate the cold weather. And working out in my garage would have sucked. Now that the weather is nice... it's on! My main issue with my water change design, was standing water after a water change. I hate that idea. Call me OCD, but I hate it. There was simply knowhere to drain access sitting water. So the Basement it was. Details below.
Some major changes to my design: http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps5423f380.jpg And the typical plumbing supply pictures! I took this after the water change system... So it could have been cooler :-) - Let the plumbing begin! http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps6or7uxeg.jpg |
1. Water change station is now down in my laundry room. I will pump the water up via a Mag24 into the water change tank. This allows me much more space for my frag and DSB/Fuge tanks. Hopefully when I get to water test this weekend, the Mag24 will be ok with the 10 ft head. The pump is plugged in to an extension cord that I ran from the laundry room and hooked up to my American DJ switchable power bars. this allows me to be upstairs to turn the pump on and off when the tank is full. The drain system remains the same.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps95zefl1t.jpg I still have to drill the holes for the uni-seals in the Brutes. Out of the 10 hole saws I have... I don't have a 1.75" for the Uni-Seals. So thats next. Here is the Mag24 all hooked up. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps2yozxvq1.jpg Goes up to the roof http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psk5yaxynl.jpg Along the roof http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psgq91jfl0.jpg And towards the tank through the floor http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pstdbgtuh4.jpg You can kinda see the depths of the floor here. On the other side about 8 feet away is the tank. Here you can also see my dryer hose for the vent fan, and the black ABS drain pipe. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psv7jmrcou.jpg |
2. I had Concepts build me a new 1st stage sump tank. This tank is designed to be the settling/skimmer/calcium reactor/water change tank. New dimensions are 50"X24"X12". Doing this, I can now use the original 50"X15"X9" as a perfect frag tank!
Check it out in all it's glory! Makes my monster skimmer look tiny! http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps2oslb2cc.jpg Concepts as usual did a fantastic job. I'm going to get them to build me a new bottom sump thats a little shorter in the future. |
I also made this little acrylic holder/protector for my power supply. The nice thing about this build, is that I'm using three different circuits for the power, so I won't be overloading any one circuit, and I don't have to add a whole new dedicated set of breakers.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps96cf92dd.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psed9a1d34.jpg Next up, I have to go get my three new RO canisters from Eli (he was kind enough to order them in for me!). For anyone who missed my other post, I left them in the garage over winter and they exploded. Must have had water inside that froze. Here is the damage: http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps1f8d6c71.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps0bd0a80e.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps249ebcb2.jpg |
Holy Paint Skills Batman!! I like the look of that way better than sketch up ... awesome work!
Set up looks very well planned. I really like the way you have your support tanks set up, very smart idea. Pretty sure when I plumb in my frag tanks and ATO Res and Fuge during my move in the fall ... I'll be coming back to this thread. Pure genius in terms of simplifying maintenance. And if there is one thing that ends up being an absolute truth in this hobby for me after 10 years ... if maintenance is difficult to do, it likely won't get done. The easier it is, the more frequent it will be kept on, and the better your system will be as a result of that. So, in all, awesome job!! |
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Took a head pressure measurement for the 2400 GPH Mag24. Looks like I should be getting 628 GPH out of the end of the pipe into the water change tank. That means I should be roughly 4 minutes to fill again.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps42454537.jpg |
It's Wet!
Got the water change tank all set up and running.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psk9dfujgq.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psqr7xnaq4.jpg http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psyci85tgs.jpg The Mag24 sure does push water. I did find one small leak though. After about 15 minutes of running, it was only one small drip. It's coming from the middle joint on the verticle pipe here, right before the ball valve. Any ideas on how to seal that? Should I just try more glue around the joint? http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psecmw7ug1.jpg |
That looks awesome! I like the spinny water exit pipe thing on the left side bucket.
Yeah, you could just try more cement around the joint in question. It might look like butt afterwards but it should work. Alternatively you could hacksaw it apart, pry the pipe pieces out of the joints and redo it. Takes a bit of elbow grease but it's do-able. Or if you can get some clear PVC cement, you could just use that. You can get clear at Western Pump. |
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Yeah I'm going to try some more cement for now. It's definitely a small leak. I don't really care what it looks like, because it's in the laundry room. I have to run to western pump for some spaflex anyways, so I'll pick up some clear while i'm there! |
that looks BOSS! I need to make one of these !
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Got the drain all connected and plumbed. I decided to tap into an existing drain pipe in the laundry room instead of using the floor drain. I thought that the flow from the water change sump might be too much for the floor drain, and I would have to wait for it to drain at a certain speed. This was a little more difficult because there was paint on the pipes. So lots of primer later to get a good solid surface, it looks solid. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psguqrzomc.jpg Drain comes out into the laundry room http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psm2grvmn5.jpg Then goes into an existing drain pipe (from the kitchen sink). http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps7xpnpt86.jpg Also go the return lines from the water changing station back into the tanks. The one on the left will be for saltwater to fill the water change tank. The one on the right is to fill my ATO container with RO water. I will leave it all hooked up and ready to top up my ATO resevoir until I have to do a water change. I also ran an extension cord so that I can just flip a switch on my American DJ powerbar to activate the Mag24 to top up the RO water from upstairs. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pst2yjejed.jpg |
Another upset with my RO/DI system though.... I had a vendor order me 3 replacement canisters for the RO side. Came in.... and the threads are different!!! They won't screw in to my BRS unit. The threads on these seem a lot more coarse.
These are now for sale... Anyone need any?? Cheap! http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psdg0r4tw5.jpg And my poor RO unit :-( http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps8he1apwr.jpg Looks like I will have to bite the bullet and order them for $20 a pop from BRS. And deal with the ridiculous shipping charges and the silly UPS wait times.... .UURRRGGGH |
They didn't send new top parts? ?? :neutral: That seems ... somewhat suboptimal...
For each one I've had to replace (a few now) I replaced the clear part and the top bracket it threads into (it's just held on the metal bracket by screws). |
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