Will's 100 Gallon Reef Tank

[padilla95624]

Posting my 100 gallon mixed reef tank here. I have been at it for years but recently figured out that good lighting means I can grow more corals. Now its time to move the tank to replace the flooring in the house. Maybe I can get some tips on how to improve upon the tank. I have some great ideas.

 

[blaxsun]

We’ll probably need a bit more information to go on.

 

[padilla95624]

We’ll probably need a bit more information to go on.

When I move the tank I will finally be able to replace the sump as the access is only from the back. I want to add another sump tank I just picked used as well as build my own manually turning fleece filter.

The tank will move to a wall adjacent to the garage so I plan to plumb lines through the wall. I have a freezer I want to run a chiller line through. I also have 50 gallon drums for salt water and fresh water I can use for auto top offs and auto water changes. The rodi filter should get moved there too instead of under the kitchen sink.

I hope to post pictures of all this as I progress and get some tips from everyone.

 

[padilla95624]

Here is how it looks at the moment

 

[padilla95624]

I have had a small clown tank for years. This 100 gallon talk was given to me when a priest died and left his guppy tank to no-one. I hauled it off and immediately drilled holes in the back for plumbing and painted the back black. I have made changes to it over the years as I learn more about reef keeping. Now that it is time to move it I have a new set of challenges and opportunities.

The first immediate challenge is how to move the tank and all it's inhabitants safely and quickly enough so not to over stress the corals. I will first build most of the new flooring where the tank will and then complete the floor after the move. I have several 50 gallon food grade plastic barrels I use for RODI and salt water. Most of the water and bulk rock will go in those along with the fish. I will place the corrals in large plastic storage bins and place the lights over them along with heaters and circulation pumps. My goal is to get the talk light enough to lift with four people and shift it across the room. I want to then rearrange the rock structure and glue them all together apposed to dry stacking them as they are now. This method will generate extra rock which will go down in the sump. I also think this will create a lot of accidental coral frags. What is the best way to trade or sell the frags I will not be able to use? How do I stack and glue all of that coral in the tank when there is no water in it?

 

[padilla95624]

The current sump works well but I want to improve on it now that I will have access from the back when the tank is empty. otherwise I cannot add or remove tanks from under the stand. The current sump is a plastic 50 gallon tank, single chamber. One filter sock hangs from the inlet pipe. Live rock and a mangrove tree fill in the middle. The return pump and heaters sit on the other end separated from the rock by a plastic screen. I top it off manually about once a week.

My plan is to add a second tank as shown in the photos below. it will house a fleece roller custom built by me. It will be manually turned as needed. I look at the tank every day so turning a wheel by hand is no big deal. I have included my plans for the roller in the attached photos. I also plan to plumb the two tanks together with two bulkheads. the return tank will be attached to a manifold, which will feed the return, protein skimmer, chiller line, and a spare.

There will not be any more room below so I also plan to plumb the auto top off, dosing lines, and chiller lines through the wall to the adjacent garage.

 

[padilla95624]

The dosing pump and reservoirs will go on the wall in the garage and run through the wall. I may build new plastic reservoirs to make it a cleaner looking build. The auto top off will be gravity fed from the 50 gallon tanks and a float valve to control it. RODI water will need to be plumbed into the house waterline in the wall behind the tanks. Right now the filters are under the sink in the kitchen and I have to drag tubing through the house to make it work. I plan to run a plastic chiller line into the beer keezer. I think an Inkbird controller will work best to switch the pump on and off.

My goal with these changes is to create more stability in the tank and make it easier for me to maintain. The last upgrade I am not yet ready for is an auto water changer.

 

[padilla95624]

I am happy with the lighting so I will probably not make any changes at this point. I built a steel frame to hang three LED units of unknown brand I bought on Craigslist. They work great. I also bought two $60 German made T5 grow lights, chopped them in half and re-wired them to run on a mechanical timer. They have a mix of ATI Blue Plus bulbs, purples and whites. I get a good clean looking spectrum and good coral growth. I hope to move some of the stick corals closer to the lights when I rearrange the rock structure.

 

[padilla95624]

Here are a few more closeups of some of the corals.

 

[padilla95624]

And a couple more of my 30 gallon clown tank.

 

[padilla95624]

I have some nasty scratches in the front glass. Has anyone ever tried to buff them out while still partially full of rock/sand?

 

[padilla95624]

It has been a couple years and I have a few updates to my 100 gallon tank. A lot of the corals are filling in and some need a new home.

 

[padilla95624]

I built a window screen cover, which lets more light in and helps keep the tank at a stable temp. I designed and 3D printed reverse corners to make room for pump wires and keep the cover flush.

 

[padilla95624]

I picked up a blue LED strip light from BRS that was a return. It was a good deal and adds the PARs I needed to grow SPS's. I have noticed that the coral colors are less across the color spectrum but are more vibrant.

 

[padilla95624]

I built a manual roller filter that uses any 6 inch wide roll. I give it a full turn every few days and I have seen a large difference in water clarity and quality. The rolls last about 4-6 months depending on the brand. The design functions well but does not move as smoothly as I expected. I am working on version 2 for my 30 gallon tank, which will be 4 inches wide.

 

[padilla95624]

I moved the dosing pump and water barrels to the garage just on the other side of the wall. The auto top off is on a float and gravity fed.

 

[padilla95624]

The return pump is connected to a manifold that feeds water to the protein skimmer and carbon/GFO canister. The skimmer has a plastic venturi in line to inject air so not additional pump is needed. The venturi is normally used to inject liquid fertilizer into an irrigation system. I am planning to design and 3D print custom sizes so I can run a smaller one in my 30 gallon.

The skimmer only seems to work when I do not advance the roller mat for at least a week. I only empty it once a year.

The canister has a PVC pipe and fittings inserted in the middle to force the flow through the medium creating better contact than just a filter bag.

I may not use the additional valves but i feel more comfortable knowing I have room to expand. Quick couplers also make it easy to remove if needed.

The mangrove tree is alive but grows extremely slow. It have the proper lighting but probably not enough nurturance in the water. I have trouble growing macro algae as well. Keto just shrinks to nothing.

 

[padilla95624]

BTA's have overtaken my 30 gallon and the clown fish hide all day so I can never enjoy watching them!

 

[padilla95624]

Next on my list is to set up an auto water changer. I am thinking of using two identical pumps attached to the same timer that runs once a day to exchange 1 gallon. One pump will be in the saltwater bin and the other in the sump. This should give me an exact 1:1 exchange. The only problem is if one pump burns out and the other keeps running. I would like to look into a Raspberry PI unit. It could monitor voltage draw and disable the pumps if they are not both functioning correctly.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

BTA's have overtaken my 30 gallon and the clown fish hide all day so I can never enjoy watching them!

Those are huge!