Hi, my real name is (pm me), but I've had the online name of Biff forever, so that's what I'm going with for now. Before this build, about 10 years ago I had a 40g LPS tank that had no automation. Auto top off was done by hand when I heard the pump blowing bubbles out, lol. I was barely out of college and couldn't afford much. The tank lived for 6 years before it met its 2nd demise where the sump shattered. I decided to sell everything and take a break. The first demise of that tank was 'fun'. One night while sleeping (always while sleeping) I heard a splash ... aka instant anxiety for any reefer. I come out to the living room and it's soaked (***) look over at the tank and I see sparks and smoke (*** x2), and then I see all the live rock, corals, and freshly electrocuted fish all in the stand spilling out onto the floor (*** x3). The bottom shattered out and I decided to rebuild it because I loved reefing. When the sump went after a move I decided to just take a break, that was a lot to deal with within 6 years. Now, when I left the hobby I told myself I'd come back and 'do it right'. So that's what I'm doing now. Those 6 years taught me a few things- I'm lazy and hate doing water changes. I'm lazy and hate testing params. I'm lazy and was very lax about maintaining the tank. So my goal with this tank is to not be lazy but also automate as much as possible so I have fun reefing and do less maintenance. I'm also at a different phase in my life to where I can afford nicer things, so I'm sort of going 'all out' with this one. Besides reefing I'm a serial hobbyist, my friends say I have issues haha. I'm also into race cars (building a custom one), weight lifting, poker, gaming, drone racing, home improvements, home theater, just to name a few. Well, when COVID hit I got bored and decided 'it was time'. I asked the boss if I could buy a fish tank, she had no idea what she gave me permission to do. Although I was smart about it, I involved her from the beginning. Mainly so she can't complain when I buy x, y, or z, but also so I have a backup in case I cant maintain the tank and I actually have someone around who knows more than me asking my mom or something.
Anyway, here are some specs before I move into the pics. The fish tank is located in the basement which is a walkout purchased it used on 7/12/20, been building ever since.
(tank, sump, skimmer, and some various equipment was purchased used)
233g GLA (Great Lakes Aquarium) starphire tank, 60"L x30"W x30"H
100g custom sump, only using 2/3 of it
2x MP60's + 2x QP-9's for flow + battery backups
AquaticLife 4x T5 HO 60" fixture
5x Kessil A360WE's
150lbs live rock was aquacultured/cooked from a mature tank
Alkatronic
Mastertronic (pre-ordered)
Apex ph, orp, ph2, sal, temp
2x DOS
WXM
PM1
EB832
EB8
AFS
3x PMUP's, 1 for ATO water, 1 for SWTO water, 1 for skimmate drain
Bubble Magus Curve 9 skimmer
Swabbie
Davey jones skimmate locker (5g)
Tunze ATO
GEO 818 CaRx
Carbondoser w/10lb c02 tank
FX-STP dosing pump for CaRx
BRS dual reactor w/carbon
Clarisea sk5000 roller filter
Roller motor
Custom screen top
Sicce SDC 7.0 wifi return pump
2x Finnex 800w heaters
Avast breakout box
DIY leak detectors
DIY float valves for RO & SW low alerts
5 stage RODI
2 stage TDS meter
cheap fuge light off amazon
hanna testers
Thing's automated-
DT water changes
Coral QT water changes
Roller filter (NO SOCKS)
Roller motor for light fixture (up/down)
ATO (RO)
Saltwater ATO (I skim wet so salt drops slowly, I switch between RO and SW to slowly bring it back up as water evaps)
Skimmer cleaning & empty - swabbie cleans the neck, wet skimming so nothing gunks up, a float in the avast Davey Jones locker, then a PMUP to send it to the drain
on to the pics!
p.s. I'd like to thank everyone here who's helped me thus far and who will help me in the future, you forget a lot after 10 years!
I had 3 friends help me get this into the house, it barely fit between the doorwall. 2 of my friends are weaklings so it was basically me and my buddy doing all the lifting.
Gotta make sure she's level before I do much more..
Time to clean! Lots -o- vinegar, some bleach, some acid.
Urchin marks...
Found my OLD RODI! With water in it (ew). Cleaned and ordered new filters..
All cleaned up
The sump was built into the stand, so I had to disassemble the stand and get it out. I then placed it behind the wall where my poverty fish room will exist. Oh, and the sump was WAY dirtier than the tank (no pics tho)
Bought some live rock...RODI wasn't setup yet so I kept the water the guy gave me and threw some towels over it.
Also bought an apex
Needed to make some water, so hooked up the RODI
Ordered some new ATI bulbs for the fixture....they don't ship well lol.
The skimmer didn't come with a pump. Note, the DC pump for the bubble magus fit perfectly where an AC one would go..
Started to plumb, old tank used tubes so this was all new territory for me
Needed power in the fish room, so I added a circuit
Needed a light too
Time to make a hole so the tank could empty to the sump behind the wall
Mocking up the plumbing
I needed to cut things, so I bought a cutty thing. Probably overkill, I should have just got one of those hand cutters, but I like power tools. Yes, I used it inside. Yes, my wife hates me. Yes, the roomba hated me more.
4'x2' panel for all the equipment (or most), laying it out
mounted it - used some hinges so I could lift it up from the bottom and get access behind it
Assembling the light fixture, I hate small screws
more broken bulbs
closer
since this pic I changed pumps - the pump in this pic is now for the mixing room
Finally, done
Placing the CaRx in its spot, but I needed to build a shelf for it and just some workspace, so, off to home depot...again
Decided to tap this for the AWC drain
Mounting some of the electronics
I decided I wanted easier access to the tank, so I decided to install a roller motor above it and mount the fixture to that. With a remote the lights go up and down.
Had to make my own mount
Nice and even
Mounting this without help was 'fun'
Put it on a different circuit so I tapped into an existing one
Bam, done
test fitting the overflow pipes
mounting and mocking more things
to be continued...
Anyway, here are some specs before I move into the pics. The fish tank is located in the basement which is a walkout purchased it used on 7/12/20, been building ever since.
(tank, sump, skimmer, and some various equipment was purchased used)
233g GLA (Great Lakes Aquarium) starphire tank, 60"L x30"W x30"H
100g custom sump, only using 2/3 of it
2x MP60's + 2x QP-9's for flow + battery backups
AquaticLife 4x T5 HO 60" fixture
5x Kessil A360WE's
150lbs live rock was aquacultured/cooked from a mature tank
Alkatronic
Mastertronic (pre-ordered)
Apex ph, orp, ph2, sal, temp
2x DOS
WXM
PM1
EB832
EB8
AFS
3x PMUP's, 1 for ATO water, 1 for SWTO water, 1 for skimmate drain
Bubble Magus Curve 9 skimmer
Swabbie
Davey jones skimmate locker (5g)
Tunze ATO
GEO 818 CaRx
Carbondoser w/10lb c02 tank
FX-STP dosing pump for CaRx
BRS dual reactor w/carbon
Clarisea sk5000 roller filter
Roller motor
Custom screen top
Sicce SDC 7.0 wifi return pump
2x Finnex 800w heaters
Avast breakout box
DIY leak detectors
DIY float valves for RO & SW low alerts
5 stage RODI
2 stage TDS meter
cheap fuge light off amazon
hanna testers
Thing's automated-
DT water changes
Coral QT water changes
Roller filter (NO SOCKS)
Roller motor for light fixture (up/down)
ATO (RO)
Saltwater ATO (I skim wet so salt drops slowly, I switch between RO and SW to slowly bring it back up as water evaps)
Skimmer cleaning & empty - swabbie cleans the neck, wet skimming so nothing gunks up, a float in the avast Davey Jones locker, then a PMUP to send it to the drain
on to the pics!
p.s. I'd like to thank everyone here who's helped me thus far and who will help me in the future, you forget a lot after 10 years!
I had 3 friends help me get this into the house, it barely fit between the doorwall. 2 of my friends are weaklings so it was basically me and my buddy doing all the lifting.
Gotta make sure she's level before I do much more..
Time to clean! Lots -o- vinegar, some bleach, some acid.
Urchin marks...
Found my OLD RODI! With water in it (ew). Cleaned and ordered new filters..
All cleaned up
The sump was built into the stand, so I had to disassemble the stand and get it out. I then placed it behind the wall where my poverty fish room will exist. Oh, and the sump was WAY dirtier than the tank (no pics tho)
Bought some live rock...RODI wasn't setup yet so I kept the water the guy gave me and threw some towels over it.
Also bought an apex
Needed to make some water, so hooked up the RODI
Ordered some new ATI bulbs for the fixture....they don't ship well lol.
The skimmer didn't come with a pump. Note, the DC pump for the bubble magus fit perfectly where an AC one would go..
Started to plumb, old tank used tubes so this was all new territory for me
Needed power in the fish room, so I added a circuit
Needed a light too
Time to make a hole so the tank could empty to the sump behind the wall
Mocking up the plumbing
I needed to cut things, so I bought a cutty thing. Probably overkill, I should have just got one of those hand cutters, but I like power tools. Yes, I used it inside. Yes, my wife hates me. Yes, the roomba hated me more.
4'x2' panel for all the equipment (or most), laying it out
mounted it - used some hinges so I could lift it up from the bottom and get access behind it
Assembling the light fixture, I hate small screws
more broken bulbs
closer
since this pic I changed pumps - the pump in this pic is now for the mixing room
Finally, done
Placing the CaRx in its spot, but I needed to build a shelf for it and just some workspace, so, off to home depot...again
Decided to tap this for the AWC drain
Mounting some of the electronics
I decided I wanted easier access to the tank, so I decided to install a roller motor above it and mount the fixture to that. With a remote the lights go up and down.
Had to make my own mount
Nice and even
Mounting this without help was 'fun'
Put it on a different circuit so I tapped into an existing one
Bam, done
test fitting the overflow pipes
mounting and mocking more things
to be continued...
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