Ron and Deanna's 225 Gallon Starphire Build

[RonMidtownStomp]

There was a request in another thread for some pictures of our tank. It's been up for a year and a half at this point, but I'll start with some history shots.

Concept:

We bought the tank used and in need of a rebuild.

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Rawr -- heavy tank:

First full tank shot:

The start of the plumbing out to the garage.

I had to plumb this distance outside to get around the bathroom in between the tank and the garage.

The spot in the garage where the fish closet was going to go:

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

OM 4-way and return pump pre-closet.

Bulkhead coming together:

I guess if you're going to destroy a tank, it's best that it's a not-reef-ready scratched-to-hell old glass tank. It was going to make a really nice water change chamber or frag tank. Now it's garbage. Oops. I slipped. At least I didn't cut myself in half:

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Very first shot of my maxi-bonzai:

After some good input from Karl Unarc on my rock design, I made a few changes.

 

[m and m]

Thats a monster buid but i have one question when its cold out side and the pipes running out side wont that mess wityh your temp alot?

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Support closet all nice and finished:

I need to take a good, recent full tank shot of the display tank! I can't find one anywhere! Here are some recent coral shots:

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

I've been working on eradicating the polyps in the background:

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

I'm still working on the perfect plan to put doors on the display tank stand. Recently added frag tank:

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Thats a monster buid but i have one question when its cold out side and the pipes running out side wont that mess wityh your temp alot?

It's California, it doesn't get THAT cold. If display tank water temp is 75 degrees in the "winter" like this and outside absolute coldest it gets is 40 degrees, it doesn't chill it that much during the brief period of time it's outside. Another way of considering it is that I have about 500 gallons of water inside and about 5 gallons of water outside. It can only cool it so much. I put a window AC unit in the garage closet for the summer and I have a chiller standing by if I need to use it. House AC + garage AC is adequate to not let it get above 82 in the summer. I'll hook the chiller up this summer and see if I can do it more efficiently.

 

[m and m]

Sorry didnt even see4 that you luckey dog. Im over here in Nj but i would rather be over there in CA. Great looking build looks like it came together like you wanted in your scetch. Also where did you get that frag tank?

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Also where did you get that frag tank?

Someone posted it for sale on RC. They'd never set it up. I think they said it was used by a dealer when going to shows, but it's perfect for the spot I put it in. Anything higher would look weird next to the display tank, but that one's low enough that I like it there. I had a 2x2x1 frag tank in the garage system but it's really hard to maintain when it's out there. This one's been much easier to keep a closer eye on.

It's important to note that I designed everything to be QUIET. The MP40 is currently the loudest thing in the system in the house. I ordered a maintenance kit and bearing hoping that the bearing is what's making the noise and that I can rebuild it and quiet it down. I'm OK with the dry side noise, but the wet side is pretty loud. The rest of the tank is almost silent.

 

[litenyaup]

looking great!! have a lot going on under the that stand...huh!!

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

looking great!! have a lot going on under the that stand...huh!!

Just the water change chamber, the CaRx and a bunch of stuff stuck in there. I need to get it all behind doors.

 

[aalvarado87]

wow that is some intense plumbing i like the set up. How long did it take to plan that out? i dig the frag tank it looks realy clean. So you had to rebuild the whole tank? How thick is that glass? and is the only brace on it the one across the middle?

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

The tank is H braced. It was still being constructed in that one photo. It's 1/2" starphire.

I spent months planning. Sketchup helped a lot with the rock design. Most of the plumbing was in my head.

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Oh and the frag tank top fts was before the lights for the frag tank. Hopefully some day I'll go all LED on the Frag tank and get a nice clean look like that back. Right now it doesn't look very clean. The top down shot is representative of what it looks like, though. We're keeping it pretty clean.

 

[skinz78]

Looking great! I would love to see more coral pic's and especially a recent FTS!

 

[sprinklerdudes]

noticed the set up in the garage, is that a cryptic fuge on top of the set up?

 

[MimicOcto8]

dang dude thats cool. plumbing is intense! haha. I too would love some recent FTS. My "fish room" in my house is right next to the garage and I so badly want to plumb it thru the wall but there's no good way to do it Once you get those LEDs up post the shots. thanks