abcha0s' 300G Ultimate Reef

[abcha0s]

So what’s an “Ultimate Reef”? – Well, I don’t know. I do have some ideas, but who can really say. I guess what I really mean is my ultimate reef. This is truly my dream tank. A creative outlet that has inspired me like nothing else before it.

I’ve enjoyed reading so many great build threads. I’ve been inspired. I’ve learned from the brilliant ideas of others and the huge mistakes they have made. This is my journey.

I’ve reserved the first 40 posts for content. I'll go back and edit them as I progress. Everything after that (post 40 forward) is discussion as normal. I know the system doesn't send out notifications when a post is edited, so I'll post a new comment referencing the updates.

Please note: The first 4 pages (40 posts) of this thread contain lots of pictures. These pictures are hosted on a somewhat slow server, so if the load times aren't great, then please just be patient. The good news is that you won't have to search through hundreds of posts to find the content.

Hope to hear from you.

- Brad

[abcha0s]

Quick Links : Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4

Forward.......................................Post 1
Milestones....................................Post 3
Guiding Principals............................Post 4
Hardware......................................Post 5
Prelude: Waves................................Post 6
Tank Builder..................................Post 7
Designing the Tank............................Post 8
Designing the Overflow........................Post 9
Designing the Stand...........................Post 10

Designing the Sump (100G).....................Post 11
Putting it all together.......................Post 12
The build.....................................Post 13
Tank Images...................................Post 14
Plumbing the Overflow and Return..............Post 15
Fresh water testing...........................Post 16
Details (Black, Floor, HRV, Screen Top).......Post 17
Tank Leveling.................................Post 18
Water Prep and Salt Mixing....................Post 19
Continuous Water Change.......................Post 20

Specialized Hardware
• Electrical..................................Post 21
• Sequencing and Automation...................Post 22
• Neptune Apex Controller(s)..................Post 23
• Flow (Tunze 6215, 6205 / VorTech MP60w ES)..Post 24
• Autofeeders.................................Post 25
• Lighting....................................Post 26
• Heating and Cooling.........................Post 27
• Reactor Loop (biopellets, carbon, phos).....Post 28
• Tunze Master DOC 9440 Skimmer...............Post 29
• ATO (Automatic Top Off).....................Post 30

Aquascaping - Part I of III...................Post 31
- Supporting the structure
Aquascaping - Part II of III..................Post 32
- Building the aquascape
Aquascaping - Part III of III.................Post 33
- Sandscape

Life
• Fish........................................Post 34
• Corals......................................Post 35
• Inverts.....................................Post 36
• Refugium....................................Post 37
• Quarantine..................................Post 38

Opperation
• Night Mode, other, .........................Post 39

Temporary Notes
• Post 39 - Currently an experimental CWC

Progressions
• Full Tank Shots (FTS).......................Post 40

Other Threads

My 90G Tank - http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...threadid=73619

[abcha0s]

2010
* March -- Inception
* May 09 – Agreement in principal with tank builder
* Jun 03 – Final draft of tank and sump
* Jun 09 – Final iteration of the stand delivered
* Jun 17 – Tank build starts
* Jul 14 – Tank build concludes
* Jul 31 - Overflow and return plumbing complete
* Aug 02 - Fresh water tests - the tank sees water!
* Aug 18 - Ordered 300 pounds of Dry Rock from BRS

2011
* Jan 03 - Aquascaping Complete
* Jan 06 - Began filling tank (100GPD RO/DI)
* Jan 09 - Tank is full / Tunze wavebox operational
* Jan 11 - SG at 1.024
* Jan 12 - Cycle started
* Jan 13 - Skimmer online (Breakin started) / Biopellets online
* Jan 16 - Neptune Apex online
* Jan 23 - Added 240 pounds of live sand to the tank.
* Feb 06 - First fish added
* Feb 22 - Continuous Water Chanage System - Opperational
* Feb 23 - Sand in Refugium
* Mar 03 - First frag in tank (SPS)
* Mar 25 - Let there be light - Vertex Illumina 260
* Apr 09 - School of Anthias arrive
* Apr 14 - Biopellets offline
* Apr 28 - Calcium Reactor Online
* Apr 28 - Added smallish cleanup crew
* Apr 29 - First fish transferred from 90G - Pair of Clowns

[abcha0s]

What makes the perfect tank? Ask a dozen people and I’m sure that you’ll get a dozen opinions.

I think it’s important to start with a set of guidelines for making decisions throughout the build. Any choice can be compared against these principals and it should either meet or exceed the minimums. It’s also important that there is some consideration to the overall cost basically ruling out things like Red Dragon pumps for my return lines.

Mechanics
• Extremely quiet – silent if possible
• Low power consumption
• Low maintenance – automate everything possible
• Redundancy and failure planning

Lighting and Flow
• Ridiculously High flow.
• Intense lighting but with consideration to heat transfer and power costs.

Filtration
• Live rock (about 1 pound per gallon) – Should be interesting without being dominant
• Shallow sand bed
• Powerful skimming
• Carbon and GFO as needed
• NP Biopellets or whatever comes next

Livestock
• Mixed reef. SPS dominated.
• High bio-load

Impact on house
• The system should be essentially self contained and not require any renovations to install or tear down. I have access to the ceiling and the furnace room for additional equipment, but building a fish room is not feasible.
• Impact on relative humidity must be managable.

[abcha0s]

This section might be a little dry and I don’t actually expect anyone to read it. Just thought I should list the hardware for completeness.

Control:
• Neptune Systems Apex
..Probes: Ph, ORP, Temp, Salinity
..Modules: 2 x EB8, Breakout Box (6 sensors), Probe Module 2, Wireless Expansion Module (WXM)
• Neptune Systems Apex Lite – For redundancy
..Probes: Ph, Temp
..EB8, DC8, DC4HD, Breakout Box (6 sensors)

Lighting:
• Main Display: Vertex Illimunia 260 - 6ft
• Refugium / Frag Tank: Coralife AquaLight Pro MH HQI Clamp-On Pendant (150W)

Skimming:
• Tunze Master DOC 9440 (.2010)
• BubbleKing Mini 180 v2 (.2008)

Flow:
• Tunze Wavebox 6215
• 2 x Tunze 6205 Powerheads
• 2 x Vortex MP60w ES Powerheads

Return Pumps:
• 2 x Eheim 1262 (900Gph – Max Head 11’6”)

Reactors:
• 2 x Vertex UF-20 Universal Media Reactors (Biopellets)
• 2 x TLF Phosban 150 (Carbon, GFO)
• Eheim Compact+ Pump 5000

Calcium:
• PM Kalkwasser Mixer
• Vertex RX-6 Duo Calcium Reactor

ATO:
• 2 x Tunze Osmolator

Heaters:
• 4 x Finnex 300W Titanium Heaters

Chiller:
• None

RO/DI:
• Kent Marine Maxxima 50GPD – Shutoff Kit and Manual Flush Bipass
• Vertex Puratek RO/DI 100GPD
• 2 x John Guest Solenoid

Water Change
• The LiterMeter III Paristaltic Pump
• LiterMeter III Remote Pump Module
• 2 x Quiet One 3000 Water Pump
• 1 x Pan World 150PS Water Pump

[abcha0s]

I’m not sure what triggered it, but at some point I became obsessed with having a wave in my tank. It would seem to be the ultimate in energy efficiency vs. total water movement and in my opinion provides a very natural look to the tank. However, waves come at a price. In particular, they place added strain on the tank and stand that needs to be considered as part of the design and directly translates to increased construction costs.

After considerable research to identify the pros and cons of the Tunze Wavebox vs. the Vortex power heads, I concluded that for pure wave generation the Tunze had several advantages. Most importantly it is thought to be somewhat quieter.

Tunze publishes the following warnings:

TUNZE® Nano Wavebox and Wavebox is not a conventional flow-producing device for aquariums. Misuse or faulty operation may cause a hazard for the aquarium. Under certain circumstances, Nano Wavebox and Wavebox may constitute a risk for unsuitable tanks and may lead to water damage.

Please observe the following warnings:

Nano Wavebox and Wavebox operate according to the resonance principle and produce large water movements at a very low energy consumption (1).


For such low electric power, the water circulation produced should never be underestimated! The aquarium should be high enough to hold the water variations (2)!


The glass bonding adhesive should be especially strong and stable. The load on the bonding adhesive of the aquarium panes and on the aquarium pane itself is higher than without wave operation (3).


The aquarium has to be produced on the basis of the Timoshenko formula (see <Tunze provides a dead link>) (4).


Most aquariums are produced according to this formula (glass thickness and bonding adhesion).

The cabinet or the aquarium furniture, if and when applicable, should be especially stable and should be able to withstand dynamic weights. Risk of breakage in case of weak constructions!

I took these cautions to heart. Everyone I talked with had their own opinion of how these considerations related to the tank design, but no one could offer anything more than an opinion. If all you have to rely on is the opinion of various non experts, then at the end of the day you have to do the research and come up with the answers that you are comfortable with. If no one can tell you definitively what the implications are, then overbuild.

No one I spoke with about the design even considered the stand as being impacted by the wave motion.

[abcha0s]

I talked to all of the LFS owners about my project, but in the end I actually just got lucky and through a fellow Canreefer I met the guys from Concept Aquarium. Honestly, after getting to know the owner, the decision to have them build my tank was an easy one. These guys are passionate about big tanks and quality builds. If you’re having a tank built, I highly recommend talking to them.

The hard part was telling the other stores that someone else was building my tank. It was somewhat awkward and I regret this aspect of the overall experience.

Please feel free to contact me if you are considering a custom tank. I’d be happy to share my experience in more detail.

[abcha0s]

The Inspiration - Everyone wants a bigger tank, right? I thought I’d be happy with my 90 gallon reef for a couple of years. I thought I would wait to see how life played out before investing in anything bigger. Maybe not.

I was in Big Al’s and they have an amazing 250G tank on display. My wife looked at it and said “that’s about what you want, isn’t it?”

The tank we were looking at was the Marinland Deep Dimension 250G with Starphire front and dual corner overflows. There is also a 300G version which is currently the largest tank available in mass manufacturing. While these tanks have some limitations, I must say they are absolutely beautiful. There are really only a couple of things which I don’t like about these tanks. The overflows are poorly designed. The cross bracing makes access to the tank awkward and limits lighting, and they are very heavy. Marineland told me that the dry weight of the 300G is 650 pounds.

I started asking around at various LFS’ (and searching Canreef) and the draw of the perfect tank began pulling at me. Why invest all of this time and money into something that is “nice”. It was at this point that I decided to have a custom tank built.

Tank Criteria – What makes a perfect tank? – I know there is no absolute answer to this question, but I had a pretty clear idea what I wanted.

• Designed for a wave. - This highlighted structural concerns for both the tank and the stand. It influenced the overflow design. This was the most expensive criteria and likely added over $2K+ to the build cost.
• Starphire on front and sides.
• Eurobracing with no cross bracing.
• Polished glass on all visible edges.
• Modified External Beananimal Overflow – Dead silent, completely stable and fully redundant.

Most importantly – If I was going to have a custom tank built, it had to be built on-site.

General Tank Specifications

Shape: Standard rectangle

Tank Dimensions: Length 72”, Depth 37 & ¼”, Height 28” panel + thickness of Eurobracing

Glass:
• Front - 5/8” Starphire Glass
• Sides - 5/8” Starphire Glass
• Bottom - ¾” Float Glass
• Back - 5/8” Float Glass
• Inside cleat - ½” or 5/8” Float Glass
• Top Euro - 5/8" Starphire Glass
• Overflow - ½” Float Glass

Edges: All visible edges polished. Micro beveled.

Bracing: Top Eurobracing, Bottom Cleats

Overflow: External Cup – 3 Bulkheads for Beananimal overflow

Extras: Polished Glass cover for overflow

Options: Black Silicon

Designing for a wave – Overflow size and placement
All else being equal, I would have designed a coast to coast overflow, or at least as long as I could possibly make it. I really believe this is the ideal design, but a wave creates a pivot point and a coast to coast overflow doesn’t really make sense here especially if the goal if for silent operation. I settled on a width of 1/3 the total tank length positioned in the centre. Also, making the overflow external makes sense for many reasons but is really a requirement for a wave tank.

Designing for a Wave - Glass Thickness
There is a good chart available at about.com here:

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/pla...Calculator.htm

The first question is whether this chart considers bracing. The answer appears to be that the chart is for rimless tanks and at the recommended thicknesses does not require bracing.

For a 6 foot span at 27" high, the chart suggests that 16mm glass would provide a safety factor of 4.04. At 30 inches high, 16mm glass would provide a safety factor of 3.20 - The recommended guideline for the safety factor is a minimum of 3.8.

My tank Is 28" high, but I'm not sure If you count the bottom 3/4" as this is the thickness of the bottom sheet. Also, with the overflow being 2" below the top of the tank, the water level when flat would be just over 25" from top to bottom. Therefore, I feel reasonably safe in the 27" calculation.

Side Note: Starphire glass is manufactured at a thickness of 15mm where normal float glass is standard at 16mm. I do believe that the 1mm difference in thickness is worthy of consideration when compared against a recommendation for 16mm, although I can only guess at how the numbers would change.

The consideration for the wave was really just to include the eurobracing in the design even though the calculations suggest that 16mm glass is sufficient for a rimless tank. While I was never able to figure out the math or find a calculator that considered eurobracing, I figure it is sufficiently overbuilt. Further, I opted for cleats on the bottom, which are sometimes called bottom eurobracing. I'm not sure these were necessary either, but with them I am certain that the tank will be strong enough.

Google Sketchup is my friend - If you haven't worked with google sketchup, let me tell you that it is a lot of fun. I had to go through several of the available tutorials to figure it out, but the end result was really helpful in visualizing various different design considerations.

These are the pictures that I gave to the builder:


Figure 1: Showing the tank dimensions


Figure 2: Placement of the return lines (3/4” bulkhead)


Figure 3a: Showing the external overflow dimensions and the overflow cover (right).


Figure 3b: Showing the placement and width of the overflow.


Figure 3c: Overflow bottom glass – Dimensions and bulkhead spacing.

Note: Holes are to be drilled for 1.5” Bulkheads requiring a 2.5” hole.

I understand that the minimum safe distance from the edge that a hole can be drilled in glass is the radius of the hole. For a 2.5” hole, the radius is 1.25”. The math is pretty easy when the hole is centered (2.5” + 1.25” + 1.25”) and works out to 5”


Figure 4: Glass cut sheets.

Addendum I - If I had a do over 

I love my tank, but perhaps it's not perfect. If I could do it over, I would have gone with a thicker glass (3/4" instead of 5/8"). I would have reduced the height by a couple of inches and I would have gone rimless. The Eurobracing would not be needed in this scenario and the added cost for the thicker glass would be offset by the savings in the Eurobracing.

Addendum II- Maybe not

I have changed my mind about the Eurobracing again. I love it. It's not just a structural thing. The bracing really helps to make to the tank managable. It creates a really nice platform for things like screen tops. It keeps splashes in the tank. It looks good too.

[abcha0s]

The basic concept for the overflow is based on an article by Beananimal. The article and subsequent discussion is also posted on RC. The original document can be found here:

http://www.beananimal.com/projects/s...ow-system.aspx

I built the overflow on my existing tank exactly as the article describes including a coast to coast internal overflow. From this, I know that it works and I am confident employing it on my new tank with some modifications.

Some key points:

• Use slip bulkheads within the overflow so that standpipes can be modified with relative ease. Do not glue/weld standpipe to bulkhead.
• Limit the distance which water falls freely within the overflow. A 1/4" should be sufficient.

Here is my design as a starting point:



At this time, I haven't drilled the holes into the overflow standpipe. I am not convinced it will make any difference, but I may revisit this. The holes were intended to be drilled into the top section of the secondary standpipe and should allow the flow of water to increase gradually as the water level rises. This is the variance and is the range between which the system can be tuned.

I had originally thought to put the emergency standpipe slightly higher than the top of the overflow, but it occurred to me that this increased the risk of a return pump running dry. The display tank and sump have inversely related water levels. To raise the water level above the overflow in the main tank, the water must come out of the sump system. I settled on positioning the emergency standpipe at exactly the height of the overflow.

[abcha0s]

Designing the stand was a lot easier than the tank, but not without its challenges and mistakes. In fact, I made some big mistakes. I started by talking to a welder who proposed a standard 6 leg stand built like a box with an open bottom. He recommended two inch square tubular steel. This was his design.



According to the welder, the bottom brace isn’t necessary as the downward force would prevent it from slipping. I think he’s probably correct, but I was happy with design because of the extra two inches of height that it affords assuming a plywood bottom.

The stand was designed with adjustable brackets for the lighting which are not shown in my sketchup diagrams. I don’t honestly know if I will use these, but I figured they would be nice to have (just in case). If I can use them I will, but it’s a little too early to say.

The first modification to the design that I made was to extend the platform beyond the back of the tank. The idea was to increase the under tank space and therefore maximize the space I would have available for a sump. The added benefit was that it provided a path for the overflow plumbing to enter the under tank area through the top of the stand at a straight vertical rather than through the back of the stand.



I had the stand shown above built, powder coated and delivered. It was sitting in my garage waiting to be moved to the basement.

I made the mistake of doing additional research after having the stand built. I came across a great thread on RC titled ‘Lets see those steel stands’ (My stand shows up towards the bottom of page 44)

For anyone researching stand construction, this thread is a must read. One of the common themes in the various designs is bracing or gussets. You will notice that my stand doesn’t have any bracing or gussets. Is that a problem? – Well, here again we are back to opinions of non experts and the ultimate responsibility being your own.

I asked everyone including posting my stand to the thread referenced above. The majority opinion was that the stand was strong enough, but it’s not so simple. My biggest concern was the oscillating nature of the weight distribution due to the wave action. I basically became paranoid about the possibility of repetitive stress on the stand. I equate the risk to two strong guys on either side of the tank, which weighs over 3000 pounds, pushing back and forth once every second for 10 years. Would the welds fail? Would the failure be catastrophic or observable before failure occurred?

I can only assume that the math involved in calculating the risk factor would be ridiculously complex. It would require knowing the breaking strength of the welds, the actual shift in weight due to the wave and the effects of repetitive stress on welds.

In the end, I had the bracing welded on. This required grinding off parts of the original powder coating, welding the braces and having the whole stand powder coated again.

This is the design I gave the welder:




The braces are intended to protect against the racking resulting from sway. The placement and number of braces was based on two considerations.

• The first consideration was minimal obstruction to the inside of the stand. Placement was based on the sump design and planned equipment.
• The second consideration was to reinforce the beams which run at spans of between 36” along the length and 40” front to back. This consideration actually backfired as welding the braces in place may have actually caused some deflection in the beams. I am trusting the plywood and stytrofoam to even this out.

Another lesson I learned is that it’s much cheaper to drop the stand off for powder coating yourself vs. having the welder do it for you. Having the powder coating redone is a lot more work because of the prep time required and the total cost was about half what the welder charged me. Ironically, when I dropped off the stand to be re powder coated, they recognized it having done it once already.

Here is a picture of the finished stand:



Stand Dimensions

Note: According to the tank builder, it is standard to add an extra ¼” in length and ¼” in depth to the stand dimensions.

Height – 30” – This is standard height for an aquarium stand. The stand has to be able to fit through all of the doorways!

Width – 72 ¼” – The aquarium will be 72” long + ¼” safety.

Depth – 42 ½” – The aquarium will be 37 ½” deep + ¼” safety + 2.5” + 2”