My 900 gallon "dream" is coming to life!!

[Reef_Hobbyist]

This pic is from under the tank and shows the 4 bulkhead holes drilled in the bottom of the tank. The tank is 42" above the floor so I wanted to get the 2 closed loop pumps up high as close to the bulkheads as possible for the shortest run of plumbing rather than sit them on the floor. I built this shelf to hold the pumps. I went through (melted) 3 drill bits trying to drill holes into the stainless steel tank stand including bits designed for hardened steel. Managed to only make 2 holes and finally gave up. So I went with "gorilla" tape and wrapped the gorilla tap around the shelf supports and steel tank stand. It is amazing stuff and the shelf is rock solid. I guess only time will tell if it holds up over the year but at least it won't rust....

Plumbing starts tomorrow!!!

 

[ryan weiland]

Sweet tank and setup

 

[ReeferJohn408]

Nice set up. Congrats!

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

Sweet tank and setup

Thanks.

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

Nice set up. Congrats!

Thanks, appreciate that.

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

Made some more progress today. The two CL pumps are plumbed in and plan to complete the remainder of the plumbing on Friday. This was the highest we could go to get them up and out of the way and also the cleanest approach but I am a little concerned that the back end of the 2 pumps are only 4" apart (blowing heat on each other). The other option separates the pumps better but is not as clean of a setup. Once the sump and the rest of the gear is in place it is going to fill up quickly so I hope this arrangement works out (I haven't glued them in yet. Wanted to get some input first.

 

[booth2010]

What if you push one back a little and pull one forward a little so the air will blow past them?

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

What if you push one back a little and pull one forward a little so the air will blow past them?

Great idea. I also tried setting them askew a little bit so they are not blowing directly at each other. Do you think there could be a heat issue? Others have suggested the fans might actually generate better cooling by more air movement being close together. Not sure if I agree with that??

 

[booth2010]

Well if there trying to cool with already hot air idk how much that would help. But maybe an additional fan near them sucking the air away might help.

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

It has been a productive weekend on the build. I roughed in the plumbing under the tank. My legs and back are killing me today!!

It is not glued in yet because I wanted to make sure everything was going to fit according to plan. That came in handy because I came up with some better ideas along the way after seeing how things were lining up and had a chance to move things around. I made a trip to Lowes each day to pick up a few pieces that I needed for the following day but for the most part I had everything I needed and it came out as I had visualized. I really wanted to get it right on the first try because it will not be easy to go back and change things afterwards since it is so tight.

I tapped into an existing drain line. Once the sheetrock is replaced I will add onto the drainpipe with a bend and piece of 2" pipe. This drain will be used for several things including RODI system waste water, skimmate drained from collection cup, water changes, tank cleaning and vacuuming gravel, etc.

I have a manifold with 4 outputs. The one facing downward is going to feed the refugium below it. The other 3 will have gate valves feeding to 3/8" tubing going to reactors. Yes, I really do need 5 big pumps to move 900 gallons around.

Looking through the sump...

The box on the right is the thermostat for the chiller. It is connected to a temperature probe on the intake into the heat exchanger. It a self contained unit that turns on the compressor outside based on the temp you set but I would like to figure out a way to tap into the wiring somehow and be able to turn it off with my Apex (in the event of a temp issue). Even if I cannot override the temp setting on the box it would be a safety measure to turn off the chiller if something went wrong. If not, the best I can do is set an alert based on the tank temperature and then deal with it manually. It is a 3 wire low voltage cable between the thermostat and the compressor. Any suggestions?
,

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

Finishing some plumbing and other "odds and ends" today. Will post pics of the final build later today.

Next step will be aquascaping and substrate. I hope to wrap that up and have water in the tank by the end of next week!!

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

It's done!!! Finally!!! All plumbing is in place.

For the overflow box I went with 2 durso drains plus one emergency drain in the middle which is about 3" higher than the durso drains. This emergency drain should be dry unless there is some sort of issue with a clogged pipe or perhaps when the pumps first start up before the suction in the durso drains starts running full and takes over.

For the siphon breaks I used a small piece of 3/8" lock line with a small nozzle which will not waste too much water while it is running but will act as a suction break when the pumps stop. The return lines over the top of the tank will also work as suction breaks if the water level goes below the output nozzles.

Top view looking down over the returns on the right half of the tank. 4 over the top, 1 in the middle and 4 at the bottom. You can also see the closed loop drain and returns on the bottom of the tank. The plan is to cover all the plumbing with rock while threading the lock lines through the crevices of the rock. Same configuration on the other half of the tank.

Also finished my water storage closet. I have my LAN cable for the Apex ready to go. I also plumbed the skimmer through the back wall to the sump under the tank. The plumbing was a little tricky on the skimmer but luckily Reef Octopus includes connectors to convert from their metric sized pipes to english sizing.

The tanks are 55 gallon and I have one more for the bottom as well.

Next up will be to haul 700 pounds of rock into the house and aquascape the tank. Its been curing in bins for over 2 months. I also plan to rinse off 320 pounds of sand in RODI water before adding it to the tank. That should be fun!!

Surprisingly, all 3 of my sons are too busy to come by this week??? Perhaps a keg party will change their minds.

 

[kles]

That's incredible very nice setup wish I could help be a fun experience to help with

 

[thelastfrag]

I am just OMG - LOVE YOUR AVARTA LOVE YOUR TANK LOVE EVERYTHING. Sorry for cap but yea im screaming in jealousy haha

 

[armetas]

Why I cannot see images?

 

[Reef UP]

I can't either :-\

 

[hybridazn]

Same here :-(

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

That's incredible very nice setup wish I could help be a fun experience to help with

Thanks, appreciate that!!

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

I am just OMG - LOVE YOUR AVARTA LOVE YOUR TANK LOVE EVERYTHING. Sorry for cap but yea im screaming in jealousy haha

THANKS

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

Same here :-(

Can you see any of them within this thread?