Travi's 225 RR to Peninsula Conversion

[Travi]

Hey Everyone!

I posted in another thread some questions but thought I'd start my very first build thread (done multiple builds just never documented it) and since I haven't been keeping up with the latest and greatest in reefkeeping since having 3 kids (seriously, what the heck does bean animal have to do with overflows?? lol) so I'll take all the advice I can get.

So, the idea is to take our existing 225 RR with the standard dual back-wall overflows and convert it to a peninsula. We'll be reusing the tank (obviously) but that's about it. New lighting, pumps, sump, etc. The goal is to have it as aesthetically pleasing (wife) and automated (dumb husband, me) as possible.

Here's the current setup before I tore it down:

Why yes, that is a window right next it, about 20 feet of window actually. Oh, and it faces south. For that and some other, house renovation reasons I won't bore you with, we decided to move it, roughly here:

The tape is roughly where the stand will go. The white half wall will go and the tank and stand will actually sit partially on that second step you see in the picture. This is actually a main pathway into our living room from the kitchen so moving it over the step creates a little bit more space to get into the kitchen. There's an island right to the left that we want to leave plenty of room to walk around. The entire stand will be supported by the floor, it's just going to be a weird design, and I hope to build a small bookcase on the low side to blend the stand into the room, so to speak.

 

[Travi]

Here's the 225 pulled out and the rear overflow boxes removed (hey, only partially broke one!!).

I'm pretty sure I'm going to drill the side that's going to be against the wall for an external overflow (maybe one of those new fangled animal bean-types ) Maybe something like the Fiji Cube Lopro 1600gph?? Needs to be quiet, for sure. Green is proposed overflow, red is original drains and blue returns.

This is where it starts to get tricky...thanks to a great suggestion I'm thinking about repurposing the 4 bottom holes for a closed loop system. How should I place them? Great question, cause I have no idea! Keeping powerheads off the 3 viewing sides would be super great (wife). Need to research closed loops a bit more but I'd like to use as many of the existing holes as possible to keep the number of holes I need to drill down.

I'd love recommendations on what pumps you like for the CL and for the return. My current return is an Eheim that's pretty quiet, so I may keep it or repurpose it. I've heard good things about the Vectras but not much else besides Red Dragon's which are probably beyond my meager budget. There will be a sand bed so I could theoretically plump the CL returns under the sand to different areas of the tank.

Well, I've got some scraping and cleaning to do...

p.s. I didn't realize "scraping" was a magic word...briefly uttered that word and my wife disappears. Weird.

 

[reefez]

Sounds and looks like a great build keep posting pics as you go love pics

 

[Travi]

Well, rained cats and dogs today, not to mention a bit of hail, so not much tank cleaning got done. Mostly researching and picking up some used gear where I can find it. Going to build everything around an Apex controlled system. For lighting, I'm thinking something like the Aquatic Life hybrid 61" with T5s and 3 Kessil 360s.

Still researching pumps, sump/fuge options and closed loop ideas. Oh, and still designing the stand. Here's a pic of a rough layout of where the stand will go. BONUS, my wife let me add a bit to one side of the stand (the little L shape on the left) so I can have some more stand space!

 

[Travi]

Half wall and trim gone. Stand design coming soon!

 

[Travi]

Please forgive the crude 3d design, but it helps me and it's pretty close to scale.

And with the top and tank roughed out...

 

[reefez]

plans coming along nice
i use the 61' aquatic life hybrid with 3 ai hydras love it

 

[Travi]

plans coming along nice
i use the 61' aquatic life hybrid with 3 ai hydras love it

Thanks! How long and deep is your tank? Just curious how the coverage is.

 

[Sltloser]

Looking good, I like the planning and build so far! A few thoughts/questions:

1. Are you going to add a piece of wood to fill in the the gap between your steps and raised rim around the room (right side of post #5 pictures)?

2. A closed loop system is definitely an option for this aquarium, if you would like to go that route I would propose planning your rock work first. This will allow you to hide the closed loop plumbing within the rocks while still allowing you to manipulate flow throughout the aquarium. Once you have a rough concept of rock work it will be easier to plan the closed loop around that!

3. If you would rather just plug the old holes, you can also go with a combination of power heads to achieve the desired flow (I would suggest a combination of gyre/tunze pumps, or whichever brand you prefer).

 

[Travi]

Looking good, I like the planning and build so far! A few thoughts/questions:

1. Are you going to add a piece of wood to fill in the the gap between your steps and raised rim around the room (right side of post #5 pictures)?

2. A closed loop system is definitely an option for this aquarium, if you would like to go that route I would propose planning your rock work first. This will allow you to hide the closed loop plumbing within the rocks while still allowing you to manipulate flow throughout the aquarium. Once you have a rough concept of rock work it will be easier to plan the closed loop around that!

3. If you would rather just plug the old holes, you can also go with a combination of power heads to achieve the desired flow (I would suggest a combination of gyre/tunze pumps, or whichever brand you prefer).

Thanks! It's a pretty big project for us, so I'm trying to take the time to plan it out right ahead of time.

1. Yes, but I'm not sure what yet. Since this side will be more decorative, as in some shelving or lighted alcove or similar, I'm thinking about supporting it but adding some decorative feet to hide the bracing. Or maybe just 2x4s with some trim along the bottom.

2. Agree 100% on planning the rock work in advance. I'm doing some extremely fancy layouts right now using MS Paint I'll post those as soon as I'm done for feedback.

3. True, but I think I'm going to at least give the CL a shot, I can always convert a CL to powerheads later and it's just a waste of time, but kinda a PITA to try to add a CL after it's already set up.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Sltloser]

Thanks! It's a pretty big project for us, so I'm trying to take the time to plan it out right ahead of time.

1. Yes, but I'm not sure what yet. Since this side will be more decorative, as in some shelving or lighted alcove or similar, I'm thinking about supporting it but adding some decorative feet to hide the bracing. Or maybe just 2x4s with some trim along the bottom.

2. Agree 100% on planning the rock work in advance. I'm doing some extremely fancy layouts right now using MS Paint I'll post those as soon as I'm done for feedback.

3. True, but I think I'm going to at least give the CL a shot, I can always convert a CL to powerheads later and it's just a waste of time, but kinda a PITA to try to add a CL after it's already set up.

Thanks for the feedback!

Is the tank going have the long end providing weight to that beam? Or is there room between the step down, and the edge of the tank? (if that makes sense?)

Those all make sense to me! I look forward to the high definition rock work when you get it done !

Agreed, it's easy to take a CL offline, but a pain in the butt to get set up after filling the tank!

 

[reefez]

Thanks! How long and deep is your tank? Just curious how the coverage is.

I use 4 AI hydras not 3 tank is 72L x 30H x 24D

 

[reefez]

It’s about 12” above the water

 

[Travi]

So, slight modification to the stand design after my wife and I mocked up the stand to make it about 5" skinnier and reinforce the legs sitting on the step some.

 

[Travi]

Here's a couple of closed loop ideas I'm toying with. Need to figure it out in advance so we can plan the rockwork around it and blend it all in. Posted in a separate thread for feedback.

 

[Travi]

Quick update:

• The stand is framed out and the bottom installed. Still trying to decide on finishing ideas inside the stand.
• Tanks are mostly cleaned up. Got some hard water stains that I don't think will matter when it's filled, but I'd still like to clean as much as I can.
• Ordered this overflow:https://www.exoticmarinesystems.com/collections/overflows-systems/products/24-overflow-kit so when it gets here I can drill for it. Also, ordered 2 extra bulkheads for the bottom returns of the closed loop. Decided to go with dual CL pumps, each with its own drain and 2 returns.
• Started ordering as much used gear as I can to cut down on the cost as much as possible and should start arriving this week.

Progrss pic:

 

[Travi]

Got the back wall up and you can start to see the idea of the alcove on the living room side taking shape. We're thinking a beadboard backer for the alcove with shelving and some led lighting.

 

[Travi]

More progress, took a while to decide on finishing the inside of the stand but we finally made up our minds. Just a bit more trimming and then I'll put the 2x6s up and the top.

 

[Sltloser]

Things are looking good! I've been pondering the CL system, and haven't come up with a great idea for you. If you're planning to drill more holes for a CL system that will simplify things quite a bit. I would put the inputs either towards the back of the aquarium (by the overflow), and somewhere that they can be accessed if they ever needed to be. They can be hidden with rocks, and you can put a ringed piece of PVC or acrylic around them to cut down on how much sand they pull in. I think the biggest thing to remember with the closed loop system is you want to be able to reach what your returns/power heads cannot.

For reference I took your first drawing. Everything in red is where you'll be able to create ample flow, the green area is where you will be somewhat devoid of flow.

With the peninsula setup I highly suggest using tunze or gyre (any of the gyre type) power heads. They will allow you to have a more direct cone of flow that can push water to the front of your aquarium. In my experience vortech power heads have a much wider cone of flow, and turning them up to reach the other end of a 6' tank will typically blow up a bunch of sand 1/2-3/4 of the way towards the other end. Both gyre and tunze power heads are dynamic in where they can be placed, and where you're able to direct flow. A small vortech may be a good idea for under the overflow, it will put quite a bit of flow onto the first rock structure it encounters (even if different from this drawing).

I would try to keep the closed loop outputs pointing towards the center from both the left and right sides. If you keep the peninsula end rock work shorter you'll be able to push some of the CL water to the front side of the aquarium, allowing you to keep acros and other high flow corals on top of that island. The excess flow over the rock will then allow you to place lower flow/light corals under them (acanthastrea/lobophyllia/trachyphyllia/platygyra/any soft corals/etc.)

I hope this helps and I look forward to more updates!

 

[Travi]

@Sltloser , thanks for the input! I've got a roadtrip today and I imagine I'll spend most of the 6 hours on the road pondering your suggestions.

Also, I'll look into the gyres...I've been mostly staying away from them because I've heard some horror stories about maintenance, but getting proper flow and setting things up right from the beginning is the top priority.