Mike’s 750 gallon build

[MikeInToronto]

In preparation for this tank, I was curing some rock in a trough in my crawlspace. I used that Marco rock mortar and cemented my rock work. That mortar is AMAZING! I made my structures and left them to dry in position and the next day, it was like concrete. No water yet.
Then I added 10 bags of live sand. I only used live because it was cheaper than dry.
I like to put the rock first because it anchors the rock. If I put sand first, it moves over time and little burrowing things tend to make things worse.


The tank is all cloudy but you can see the holes where the WAV plugs come out. They go along the bracing to the wall and into the EB382’s and 1Link. The returns go over the overflow. I debated whether to cut into the box to have them flush but my buddy told me I’d regret it. Anyway, this way there is minimal backflow if the pumps go off. In later pics you’ll see the the end of the return is submerged. In this pic above it’s exposed.

Here is the rock work. It’s a few different clusters of rock with lots of space between. The idea is the tank will get full of SPS everywhere so the fewer rocks the better.


Here a pic of the light because I forgot to add it in the lighting post. I don’t like all the wires so I’ll work on that later.

[DKoKoMan]

Nice! I’m liking the size of this tank, lots of real estate for fish and corals.

[lastlight]

Man those are some SWEET dimensions! I'll forgive the vortech diss it's so sweet lol. Looking forward to seeing this progress. I'm like you with regards to the Starfire however I've scratched the hell out of my tank all the same. Not sure if it was buying a used tunze strong magnet or if those things scratch when new as well.

[MikeInToronto]

In the equipment room (i.e. my laundry room) I have a 75 gallon refugium. The refugium is filthy. The thing is, a big, dirty refugium makes the dinoflagellates go away. All anecdotal but it’s worked for me every time. This is negatively lit using a couple old Mars LED lights. The red grow ones would be better but I had these lying around.


My sump needs work The original sump was a series of 5 50-gallon totes connected by PVC pipes. I found they leaked while I was doing the leak test. So I just bought a 135 gallon tank and partitioned it up. Just for a bit of history, the sump was originally under the tank so I have some limitations. If the sump was in the equipment room I would have made different choices. Anyway, the sump has 4 chambers.



Chamber 1: the tank drains into the sump via a beananimal overflow. I’m not using any filter socks because I’m extremely lazy. Instead I just siphon out detritus when it accumulates. There are 2 500W Finnex heaters in here.

Chamber 2: the next chamber houses 2 marine pure bricks. I don’t think I have enough rock in the tank for good filtration so these are supplemental. There are 2 500W Finnex heaters in here. A total of 2000W. I also have the Apex probes in here since the water level stays constant and the bubbles are minimal. As a side note, I put a sponge on the salinity probe and my readings are so much more consistent.


Chamber 3: this is the skimmer chamber. I’m using a Nyos 300 skimmer. This is another case where having the sump originally under the stand determined this skimmer choice. It’s a good skimmer but I would have picked a bigger skimmer if I knew I’d have more room.


Chamber 4: this is the return chamber. I’m using 2 Jecod 12000 pumps. They are really decent. We’ll we if they last. Also in there is a Simplicity pump (not shown) that acts as my manifold pump. This is a similar pump to the Jecods so if a return fails, I can swap in this one. The Apex ATO is in this chamber.

[MikeInToronto]

The mixing station is right beside the sump:


The ATO is connected directly to the freshwater reservoir. I have a couple extra safeguards to prevent flooding which have worked well (often too well). I love this AquaFX Octopus RODI, btw. It does everything.

[gregzz4]

Hey Mike. Excellent size build Having a 'fuge the size of my DT puts things in perspective. Outside of costs and maintenance I'm sure tons of us are very jealous.
I'm guessing each inch in your DT is 20g. How's your new 135g sump hold the back-flow?

Couple thoughts if you don't mind; I'd put tie wraps or clamps on the rest of those barbed fittings, but I'm paranoid.
And if you want to cut down on mulm build-up in the vinyl hoses pick up some split loom. The hoses will stay way cleaner when you block light.

Wish you were out here on Wet Coast so we could look in person.
Keep the pics coming!

[MikeInToronto]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Hey Mike. Excellent size build Having a 'fuge the size of my DT puts things in perspective. Outside of costs and maintenance I'm sure tons of us are very jealous. I'm guessing each inch in your DT is 20g. How's your new 135g sump hold the back-flow?

First of all, thank you

The returns are submerged only the slightest bit below the water surface - maybe 1/4” - so it’s enough to prevent bubbles but the backflow only raises the sump level by 2-3”.

Couple thoughts if you don't mind; I'd put tie wraps or clamps on the rest of those barbed fittings, but I'm paranoid.

The pic is a bit old. I’ve added cable ties to all of the barbs in the sump and clamps in the dry areas. What I’d really like is titanium clamps to put everywhere.

And if you want to cut down on mulm build-up in the vinyl hoses pick up some split loom. The hoses will stay way cleaner when you block light.

That’s a good idea. The intention is to use black tubing in the future. What I have now is stuff that was lying around. The future future plan is to rotate the sump against the wall perpendicular to the refugium so I can access everything more easily but that involves a bit of effort. Maybe a few hours of work, but I’m lazy.

Wish you were out here on Wet Coast so we could look in person.
Keep the pics coming!