My 75G starfire display refugium feeding by gravity my 150G starfire reef tank build up

[basile]

A bit about me , just retired at 51 i had enough!! My doctor said i was stressed out so i'm taking the year OFF. Semi retired i should say because i don't think i can stay put. Because my trade, Chef onships; i couldn't have a permanent saltwater tank . This time i gave myself a retirement gift. I'm having a custom made system from Concept Aquariums from Calgary. A starfire 150 G reef tank and a 75 G display refugium . This next picture was my old 65 G tank the one i lost in a blow out because of the stand a few years ago.

Now going semi retired, staying home i'll do catering for the elderly. Cooking home and delivering for sceniors. I'll have plenty of time to care for those tanks and those living in it. And I have care takers with me.

Lulu and Theo on the right and the tank is going to be in their play room, Meow!

I started with a concept of two tank on top of each other like so

But then i discovered that the floor where i live, in a condo ; second floor couldn't take the load. I had a civil engineer survey the building plans and we came up with a new configuration. Sorry for the rough sketch, i can't draw well with sketch up so i used a simpler program.

The floor plan that I've obtain from the city archives shows the floors to be reinforced concrete 6 inches thick, OUFFF. That's a relief!! My tanks are now side by sides in a reverse "L" shape position with the 72 inch long 6 feet 21" high Rimless , 28" from the floor on one side and the display refugium , Rimless on a custom steel stand 6 feet high on the other side dumping by gravity into the reef tank. The sump will be under the reef. Now since the fuge is no longer on top of the main reef tank I've scale down to a 48x18x21 =75G starphire display tank and the stand being that high i'll have a shelf with my QT on it and my controllers. In the corner will be the RO tank and mixing tank.

 

[basile]

I'm redoing the fishroom ; the cat room, actually the computer room, the multifunction room! This is the dam room! By the way the white tape is where the Reef tank will be.

I'm doing the floor in Italian terracotta where carpet use to be. Salt water and carpet don't mix.

Never done this before so no complaint please! Besides these are hand made cost a bundle and are not the same to start with; so the guy at the store told me not to try to get them straight or i'd go crazy.

The inspector's here!

The jumping, climbing pole

Details of this beautifull Italian tile, cost 10k for the whole condo.

On the level

It was a left over of a line because they were having trouble selling it. It was too crooked, too many complaints from consumers. People are used to straight lines here in America, in Europe they know about these hand made tiles and rustic looks. So they were getting rid of the stock so they had only so much of certain kind. So i didn't have enough of one size to do the whole condo, so i bought all size and mix and match on the floor to make a sort of mozaïc with different sizes.

 

[basile]

Part of the play room not finished yet

How am I suppose to do any work in that room with these guy climbing all around me!

An extension of the play room

 

[basile]

Got my plans from Concept Aquariums from Calgary, great guy Denny. Very professional and full of options and designs.


My Reef tank first draft;

Reef stand; 2" rods powder coated , the 60G sump will go underneath

My refugium first draft

Refugium stand first draft

 

[basile]

Concept Aquarium being very professional and interested in your project asked you about your project and what you want to do. Mine is to basically fusing an old filtering based system of refugium and reef tank with new the technology of powerfull skimming machines. So Concept redesigned the tanks like so for me.




The refugium has a C2C because its feeding by gravity the reef tank and at the same time dumping into the sump, its a split herbie drain.

My refugium stand had its shelf too hight to put my QT so they put in at 30" instead, ideal for my controllers as well.

The main reef tank they put a C2C, a weird because since i have ceramic panels covering the backwall i'll have less cutting to do, less lost space better plumbing room to redirect my pipes toward the sump and no salt creep on them. Plus if something happens is easier to work from behind too than underneath.

 

[basile]

I got new rock for my sculpture, flat shelves from Marco's rock and i have some more comming this friday the 13....ya i know. Plus lots of goodies, for the sculpting, rods and mortar, diamond drill bits , some macro algae are also comming for my little tank i've started for the refugium, the live rock i have in there will help jumpstart the big system so a combination of live rock, well secured, i've taken precautions, to irradicate potential pest and with the dry rock, sculpture and my ceramic walls , i'll start the system on a good foot hopefully.

All those and the ones comming will be drilled and set with rods and mortar into a specific sculpture , i'm taking my time on this because i don't want to have to restack those rock in 18 months time because i don't like the way they look anymore. Plus tonight i'm getting my Vertex RO/DI unit so i can get that organized and set up right for the upcomming tanks in 2 1/2 weeks time Yippee!

 

[TJ's Reef]

VERY NICE! What a great restart to the hobby and a BIG CONGRATS on your semi-retirement. I'm semi or temporarily retired myself now for four years and have nearly completed a 600 pg 'Honey Do' list while catching up on some lost Salmon Fishing days of the past. You'll really like having the Coast-to-Coast setup, very clean and unobstructing to the display. A refugium display is something I've wanted for some time as well with so many incredable macro-algaes available now. Going to a sweeet setup.

Cheers, Todd

 

[basile]

VERY NICE! What a great restart to the hobby and a BIG CONGRATS on your semi-retirement. I'm semi or temporarily retired myself now for four years and have nearly completed a 600 pg 'Honey Do' list while catching up on some lost Salmon Fishing days of the past. You'll really like having the Coast-to-Coast setup, very clean and unobstructing to the display. A refugium display is something I've wanted for some time as well with so many incredable macro-algaes available now. Going to a sweeet setup.

Cheers, Todd

Hey tanks very much, yes it was time tolet go and now i've realise how fast i was moving without seing a lot of small thing in live we take for granted and well no more of that and s slower paste is a nice welcome in life. Well keep in touch i've got much more to upload . :wink:

 

[basile]

I just came back from picking up my stuff from the UPS store, and my sand is sooooooooooooo cool!!!!! Very pretty,Tropic Eden Tonga miniflakes and flakes. With these pinkish pebbles really nice stuff i can't tank the guy enough who suggested that to me. i can't even remember now who did either lol and from which sites lol. When i set up everything i'll have a shot of it for now its stays in its bag, its not live sand no. I have to rinse it before using it.Cost me $ 410.00

 

[basile]

Here are some of my goodies for my sculptures.


My Nylon rods to hold my rocks in place

http://www.marcorocks.com/aquascape-supplies/3-8-16-nylon-thread-rod-24-includes-10-pk-nuts-10-pk-washers/


The mortar to stick the rock permanently and to strengthen the sculpture.


http://www.marcorocks.com/aquascape-supplies/e-marco-400/


The diamond coated hole saw to make those holes i need for a pvc rod


http://www.marcorocks.com/aquascape-supplies/7-8-diamond-coated-hole-saw-qty-1/


I'm all set to do the sculpture as soon as all the rock are here

 

[basile]

Concept Aquariums has sent me some pictures of my tank being done.


You can see my custom made wavebox, i just have to put a powerhead in there and voila!

My 150 G Reef tank , 72"X24"X21" with 3/4" starphire glass all around.

A nice external Coast to coast , that wont take any room in the tank.

This external wavebox cost me $20 to have made compare to the $610 from Tunze, i just have to buy their powerhead, $300 so i save lots and the thing is out of the tank, out of sight, and will be blacked out to prevent algae along with the external overflow.

Thats my starfire display Refugium 75 G , 48"X18"X21" and it also has a C2C and a Herbie system because it'll be connected directly to the sump since it wont only host macro-algae but seahorses and anglers. Both species are very messy and will need the help of the skimmer for filtration. You can also see the connecting hole by which it will feed the Reef tank by gravity. The reason for my refugium tank stand to be higher than the Reef tank, and the price tag lol.

 

[basile]

150 gallons starfire tank 72"X24"X21" = $ 1680.51
75 gallons starfire tank 48"X18"X21"= $ 843.09
60 gallong sump tank 48"X20"x16"= $ 200




2 " steel powder coated stand 72"x24"x28" = $450.00


2" steel powder coated stand 48"x21"x83" = $550.00


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
$3723.60 +( $850.00 shipping ) = $ 4 573.60


Super Reef Octopus 3000 Skimmer $564


3 X Tunze Turbelle nanostream 6095 ($ 279 ) $983.25
2 X Tunze Turbelle nanostream 6055 ($249) $575
Tunze osmolator universal 3155 $ 219
salt mix pump $ 48
QT pump $ 36


Heaters $ 91,97


2 X Diablo DC 3500 Variable Speed ( $ 170) $339.98


Lighting; Razors


2X 16 k 27 inch Maspect Razors ($ 539) $ 1 078 Reef tank
1X 10k 27 inch Maspect Razors $ 539 Refugium
1 X 10 k 20 inch Maspect Razors $ 449 Refugium


Neptune Systems Apex w/ Display Module, PH & Temp Probe & EB8 (Lab Grade PH) =$619.85




QT ; $101


Mixing Drum Canus 30 G $ 145




Little equipment( valves, strainers, etc) $466.62
Supplies ( testing) $210.32


Vertex Puratek Reverse Osmosis/Deionization (RO/DI) Filter - 100GPD = $ 330






MUD ; $101


German Ceramic panels $ 3/LB 197 LB = $666.70




Live rock; 20lb $289




Tonga branch; $ 115 Sculpture




Marco's rock supplies;


$352.97 Sculpture
$210.46 Sculpture
$73.86 Sculpture


sand = $409.90


Plumbing PVC Flex = $323.84
= $73.33
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
= $ 14 221.65

 

[basile]

Ok so i've started my videos on how i do my sculptures, i still have to edit them before uploading them, so in the mean time here's some of the pictures i took of the buildup of the Marco's rock sculpture with PVC and Nylon rods.

This my drill with a 7/16 diamond coated bit; worth every penny less than 10 second to go through that rock.

I use a saw for the nylons because the cutters squeezed the nylons and the nuts i used are harder to fit in after so the saw leave the shape of the nylon intack.

I use a wooden board in a tub with water; i place my rock on the board, and the water cools my bit and also prevent pieces of rock from flying into my eyes and also splashing mud all over the place. When you reach the board, 10 sec later you feel it right away.

I've align the holes and put the rods and cut them almost flush. I left just enough to twist those two nuts in place. This is all done prior to put the ciment mortar and to make sure your structure looks good . After all this is your only personal touch in the whole system all the rest is bought or will be done by the corals. And you'll be looking at it for a very long time. So you might as well take the time to view and review your designs all day or for a few days because this baby will be there for years to come, and playing with it when you have critters and fish in there isn't doing any good to the stress level of your inhabitants.

The Bat cave!!

With nylons and mortar its nice to be able to extend plates and edges, i'm however careful not to take too much room to overshadow the sandbed too much, i do it within reason and the structure will be at its lowest point 1" above the sand to give it waterfow clearance.

The cave

The central piece will be the highest so it can carry the stalactite in the end.

Without the mortar the rock look unstable and are only holding in place because of the nylon; in the end the nylon will be cut to fit under the rock being the ceiling of the cave and the top rock with a nut. At each step mortar will be added and i'll wait that each level is dry and stable to make sure the rocks don't wable under the stress.

Other kinds of rocks gives you options for other things. it didn't work in this case but i still have a 75 Gallon fuge to do. So always have more to have options to work with.

 

[basile]

My Videos

Well here are my first videos , they're on my sculptures ; don't mind the fat guy, lol.







[video=youtube;CZavioityVQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZavioityVQ&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K&index=19[/video]



[video=youtube;VwE7byazB7E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwE7byazB7E&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K[/video]



[video=youtube;sPlp0XVroUM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPlp0XVroUM&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K[/video]


[video=youtube;CLeAqLPwhOw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLeAqLPwhOw&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K[/video]

[video=youtube;2M6b0np_rtM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M6b0np_rtM&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K[/video]

[video=youtube;Io9E6rmhdx8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io9E6rmhdx8&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K[/video]

[video=youtube;J-_peMIS-ow]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-_peMIS-ow&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFdfdxt3LnuihwIJUGqREF5K[/video]

More will follow when i have time i'm not comfortable infront of a camera so be nice lol.

 

[basile]

Concept Aquariums from Calgary Canada

A few more pictures, the sump this time and the stands before shipping.

The 60" high stand with the 83"high extension to provide support behind the refugium tank and to secure it to the wall.

The refugium stand 48" X 23" wide has a shelf at 30" height for the QT and underneath will be the future fridge feeder and rotifer factory much later.... lol.

They gave me a board that is suppose to hold a 40 gallons tank like i asked, i'll painted totally black, like the rest of the stand.

Thats my sump60G; 48"X20X16" with its socket for the socks, the first chamber receives the water from the quiet Herbie, controlled with a gate valve on both the Reef tank and the display refugium and as the water rises it unloads into the socks. Now i may or may not use them there as i find the use of sock before the skimmer unwaranted, i rather use them after. To each is own.

My sump has 4 baffles to stop the Bubble Blasters micro bubbles to invade my return pumps, like i've heard so many people complaining about, so i've added a extra one.

 

[basile]

The tonga Sculpture

Using nylon rods to secure the next level of rocks, mortar will be put in between; do not over screw the nut, you'll squeeze out the mortar, allow a few milimeters of the stuff for better bonding. In addition this mortar is hydrofuge it can be used underwater so it better to wet your rocks( if your doing this dry) to help the mortar to bond better with both rocks.

To repair a rock like this Tonga Branch rock soak the branch 30 min in water the apply the mortar . If its a prefect fit tilt it or twist it to make a gap so the mortar can have room and a chance to bond between the two pieces.

Wrapping it gives it time to really bond better by controlling the humidity, drying to quickly is not good. the next day unwrap it and let dry naturally.

Only mix what you need this stuff bond fast; they say 15 to 20 min but in less than 5 i couldn't pull my nylon rod , it had already bond and i had to leav it like that. So progress one rock at a time.

Dont scrape ciment its looks bad and sloppy, instead sprinkle it with crushed coral it looks much more natural and blends in very easy.

Sometimes contrast can be an eye soar or a point of discussion in any case, it'll start a conversation; and thats the point, you don't want people to indifferent to your creation do you....lol. Notice the crush coral , now what could that mean...

Starting this sculpture i realised that the weight was going to be superior to what i was expecting in my original plans. So to accomodate that and disperse this weight i've extended the feet into an elaborated tubing structure to diffuse that weight in a larger area of the tank, otherwise the whole weight of the sculpture would of been focused on those four small point and potentially ruptured the tank floor. So be aware of that if you make a support for a solid rock structure.

Changing one rock to a different , darker rock, both for mechanical and esthetic reason brought me to a change of direction in the design, so completing your sculpture too quickly is not always a good thing.

The second sculpture is about an often misused rock; the Tonga branch rock.
Here i'm doing a artificial root system with pvc, egg crates, wrapping the branches with Zip ties and foaming the feet. The structure will of course be under the sand you'll only see the branch as a tree as it should be.

Remember the mended branch? The reason for this sculpture is that it will be covered with Green star polyp, which with a wavebox movement will be awsome to watch. When ever you make a sculpture ; Have a purpose for it, nothing worse than a useless piece that takes space in your tank for no particular reason.

Each foot of each branch goes through the egg crates , for two reasons. Stability of the branches, and so i can apply a first layer of foam and make a sort of perimeter where the cement will be poured in .

Using foam to glue my branches on to the pvc is easyer than cement in this particular instance, but the feet will get cement to lock them together.After the foam has harden the zip ties will be cut and the foam will receive a coat of resin and sand to better hide and blend it in.

The sand will cover all the egg crate and cement only the the branches will be visible

The Tonga project;


Tonga branches are a real problem for most people. No one seem to know what to do with them.So on this video i'm giving you a way to make a great sculpture that's not really hard to do cost very little and look amazing, well i think it does. The difficulty with the tonga branches is that they have no way to support themselves, so i give them an artificial root system with pvc and egg crates, coupled with zip ties for temporary holding and foam for support, its quickly becomes a self standing sculpture that can be part of your aquascape, for a few buck.










To use mortar you have to be quick and know where your going or mistake can happen i found that out last night. They say you have 15-20 minutes to of work with the cement but sometimes the material bond much more quickly so be aware of that. So have a plan and a back up plan. you'll see what i mean.

 

[basile]

Photo shoot

A bit of directional phots shoot to see where this is going with a bit of intrusion from the directors....

Director # 1 taking a leasurely approach to the job and in charge of plumbing

Director # 2 opening every boxes, opening everything in sight to make sure it ok on set

 

[basile]

Photo shoot

So my sculpture is finished, just have to rebuild the support with 1" pvc which i got as you can see i just need elbows ,lol. Then just got to hide those nuts and put it in the tank with a plexi glass in the bottom. The sculpture is 36" longX20"wideX 20" hight. My tank is 21" hight, but the structure was suppose to be built with 1/2" pvc now its with 1" so my last rock will be floating, i'll put a mini palm tree and a lodge for the snails.

At the end of the ramp a stalactite will come down.

 

[basile]

Christmass time

Its Christmass time!






You like my Tunze family?


The mud is only used for medicinal purposes, i still do my weekly water changes. The bacterial count of the mud and its composition is the only thing that interest me for my refugium; i do my own miracles, lol.

I have 2 Razors at 16K 27" and 2 at 10K one 27" and 20" for the refugium

The octopus is rated for a 300 g tank i have a 150+75+65=265 total.

Its christmass time the tanks are arriving tomorrow and i'm ready for them; The whole thing cost.....$ 450 + 0

 

[basile]

Sculpture set up

Here's the room where the sculptures go; not quite done yet but in their real positions with the backwalls. The green tape is the tank edges the middle green tape is the wavebox trajectory and mid tank mark 12"

The cat wall will be behind the refugium tank stand which is almost 7 feet tall.Those are the panels going in the refugium.Only 3 are necessary.

Eye level

Left to right perspective

Right to left perspective

This is what i was explaining in the videos about having your tank as a refference for scale. You can see now my feet are too big and large, one of the sculpture could be too wide and i may have to break some feature of my ceramic wall to place one of those sculptures. The green tapes are just a refference, it could all ok but only when the tanks are here will i truely know, dangerous game to play without all the pieces. The middle green tape indicate the wavebox trajectory.

$ 1 700 worth of German ceramic on this wall i got it for $ 333., it was a good catch that day.

How can i forget, the inspector clawless....