Chriscrna
Valuable Member
I suppose it's about time to start my build thread. It has been in the planning stage for well over a year. I have gathered many opinions and suggestions in that time, and I invite you all to express your opinions and/or suggestions. Hopefully, together, we will cover all the bases in this endeavor.
WARNING: There will be A LOT of pictures, and I am long winded. So here we go......
I ordered a custom 150 gallon tank from Reef Savvy this past February which is on schedule to be delivered sometime the first week of September. This is a significant upgrade from my current non-drilled HOB siphon overflowing cheap used eBay skimming DIY 10 gallon sump pumping glass scratched used 50 gallon DT.
Here is my tank room:
The new tank will be going along the wall directly where the couch is.
The tank:
150 gallons custom built by Reef Savvy
72" long x 24" wide x 20" high
Rimless 3/4" glass with a high polish and beveled edges
Center mounted ghost overflow
Phantom bottom
3 sides low iron glass
Blacked out back
The sump:
I have a full, mostly finished basement. Fortunately, the room directly beneath my tank room is unfinished. Bada Bing......a dedicated basement sump room. I have a 150 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank I will be using as the sump....or kiddie pool.
The sump room in the basement is the same footprint as the tank room above.
Here is the sump room:
Unfortunately, the tank will run parallel with the floor joists instead of perpendicular. To support the weight of the tank and any number of people standing around it, I am building a support frame. Most of the inspiration for the support frame came from a very nice gentleman named Don, who had a similar setup as mine. Here is a picture of Don's support frame:
Now, on to the building part.
First things first. I put a couple coats of Dry Lock on the masonry.
I added an additional light (so I can see what I'm doing), and ran two dedicated 20 amp lines to the room. Each line has a GFCI breaker. There are 3 outlets on one line and 3 on the other. There will also be an additional outlet on each side of the support frame once it's completed. On a side note, I had to fish tape the Romex over 2 finished rooms to get from the circuit box to the sump room. THAT was not a fun chore!
Moisture concerns:
Aside from the Dry Lock on the masonry, I already have a dehumifier in the room set at 50%. I have ordered a Tjernlund ventilator with a dehumidistat that I will install in the far left space pictured above. It is rated at 110 CFM. I need a minimum of 85 CFM to fully ventilate this room in 15 minutes. I suppose I will set this at 50% as well. I may or may not sheet rock the rest of the room and install a vapor barrier. I think the dehumidifier and ventilator will be more than sufficient detouring mold and mildew issues. Of course, I'd like to hear your opinion on the matter.
Equipment:
I have a good idea what I want, but undecided on a number of things. Your opinions would be great (except on the items I already have because......it's too late, I already have them).
Here is the equipment I already have...
Return pump - Reeflo Barracuda/Hammerhead hybrid
Additional pump - Eheim 1260
Heater - Eheim Jager 300 watts x 2
Lights - Ocean Revive T247's x 4 (plan to hang them from the ceiling with a "floating" box around them)
RO/DI - 150 GPD BRS 6-stage Universal Water Saver Plus
Rock - 250 lbs of Marco Rock Key Largo dry rock (they will take a muriatic acid bath sometime this week)
Water containers - See below
Here is the equipment I need:
Skimmer - Reef Octopus SRO 3000 external (supplied by the Eheim 1260)
Powerheads - Maxspect Gyre XF 150 x 2
Controller - Neptune Apex
Dosing pumps - UNDECIDED
Reactors - UNDECIDED
Kalk - UNDECIDED (I use nothing but Kalk now....but it's only a 50 gallon tank with a handful of acros. The new tank will be somewhat SPS heavy)
ATO and Mixing station:
I have two 25 gallon ACE roto molded water containers which conform to NSF/ANSI standards. One will be used for a gravity fed ATO and the other for saltwater mixing. They will be on stands on each side of the support frame. I will post progress pictures as they come.
Tank stand:
Plan on building my own. Again, progress pictures as they come.
So there you have it. I've already knocked out a couple of the big chores and will be working on everything else over the next couple weeks. Hopefully, I can have this tank ready, or near ready, before the Smoky Mountain Coral Expo so I can load it up with eye candy!
A quick shout out to my club mate Darrell @dkccampbell, who will be helping me build the support frame, tank stand, and light box. I would be hiring this part out if not for him. He also does pretty nice tile work (not as nice as @Rob.D though) which we may lay on the tank stand.
Feel free to chime in. Thanks!
WARNING: There will be A LOT of pictures, and I am long winded. So here we go......
I ordered a custom 150 gallon tank from Reef Savvy this past February which is on schedule to be delivered sometime the first week of September. This is a significant upgrade from my current non-drilled HOB siphon overflowing cheap used eBay skimming DIY 10 gallon sump pumping glass scratched used 50 gallon DT.
Here is my tank room:
The new tank will be going along the wall directly where the couch is.
The tank:
150 gallons custom built by Reef Savvy
72" long x 24" wide x 20" high
Rimless 3/4" glass with a high polish and beveled edges
Center mounted ghost overflow
Phantom bottom
3 sides low iron glass
Blacked out back
The sump:
I have a full, mostly finished basement. Fortunately, the room directly beneath my tank room is unfinished. Bada Bing......a dedicated basement sump room. I have a 150 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank I will be using as the sump....or kiddie pool.
The sump room in the basement is the same footprint as the tank room above.
Here is the sump room:
Unfortunately, the tank will run parallel with the floor joists instead of perpendicular. To support the weight of the tank and any number of people standing around it, I am building a support frame. Most of the inspiration for the support frame came from a very nice gentleman named Don, who had a similar setup as mine. Here is a picture of Don's support frame:
Now, on to the building part.
First things first. I put a couple coats of Dry Lock on the masonry.
I added an additional light (so I can see what I'm doing), and ran two dedicated 20 amp lines to the room. Each line has a GFCI breaker. There are 3 outlets on one line and 3 on the other. There will also be an additional outlet on each side of the support frame once it's completed. On a side note, I had to fish tape the Romex over 2 finished rooms to get from the circuit box to the sump room. THAT was not a fun chore!
Moisture concerns:
Aside from the Dry Lock on the masonry, I already have a dehumifier in the room set at 50%. I have ordered a Tjernlund ventilator with a dehumidistat that I will install in the far left space pictured above. It is rated at 110 CFM. I need a minimum of 85 CFM to fully ventilate this room in 15 minutes. I suppose I will set this at 50% as well. I may or may not sheet rock the rest of the room and install a vapor barrier. I think the dehumidifier and ventilator will be more than sufficient detouring mold and mildew issues. Of course, I'd like to hear your opinion on the matter.
Equipment:
I have a good idea what I want, but undecided on a number of things. Your opinions would be great (except on the items I already have because......it's too late, I already have them).
Here is the equipment I already have...
Return pump - Reeflo Barracuda/Hammerhead hybrid
Additional pump - Eheim 1260
Heater - Eheim Jager 300 watts x 2
Lights - Ocean Revive T247's x 4 (plan to hang them from the ceiling with a "floating" box around them)
RO/DI - 150 GPD BRS 6-stage Universal Water Saver Plus
Rock - 250 lbs of Marco Rock Key Largo dry rock (they will take a muriatic acid bath sometime this week)
Water containers - See below
Here is the equipment I need:
Skimmer - Reef Octopus SRO 3000 external (supplied by the Eheim 1260)
Powerheads - Maxspect Gyre XF 150 x 2
Controller - Neptune Apex
Dosing pumps - UNDECIDED
Reactors - UNDECIDED
Kalk - UNDECIDED (I use nothing but Kalk now....but it's only a 50 gallon tank with a handful of acros. The new tank will be somewhat SPS heavy)
ATO and Mixing station:
I have two 25 gallon ACE roto molded water containers which conform to NSF/ANSI standards. One will be used for a gravity fed ATO and the other for saltwater mixing. They will be on stands on each side of the support frame. I will post progress pictures as they come.
Tank stand:
Plan on building my own. Again, progress pictures as they come.
So there you have it. I've already knocked out a couple of the big chores and will be working on everything else over the next couple weeks. Hopefully, I can have this tank ready, or near ready, before the Smoky Mountain Coral Expo so I can load it up with eye candy!
A quick shout out to my club mate Darrell @dkccampbell, who will be helping me build the support frame, tank stand, and light box. I would be hiring this part out if not for him. He also does pretty nice tile work (not as nice as @Rob.D though) which we may lay on the tank stand.
Feel free to chime in. Thanks!
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