400 gallon sps reef 1000 water volume

[nvfishman]

trying to line up aquascaping
looks like I will go with 3 rock piles on the egg crate pvc platform
middle will be 36 inches
both sides will be 28 inches
8inch spacing from middle to sides and 6 inches rocks to side of tank

 

[brahm]

If you are still looking for advice.

Honestly. I would get rid of all the clutter. My old system was about 500g. You don't need to over engineer it. Bins & Tanks for rock/fuge/plumbing everywhere.

The cleanest fish rooms are the simplest. Even with a big gallon system if you try to do to much it just makes more work for you.

If it was my tank.

I would simplify the whole system down to. RK2 bin for a sump (or 2 plumbed in line so it's clean), and a return pump split with a single T one going to the DT and the other going to the frag tank with a gate between them so you can regulate flow. Where the returns come back in from the frag and display. I sink an acrylic tank in one of the RK2 bins having it sit just above the water line so it always has a constant level. In that tank I put your skimmer (unless it's external then it's not needed). If you want more rock in the RK2 bins there is plenty of room @ 200 or so gallons a piece.

The softy tank, the fuge, the remote sand bed all that stuff just adds unnecessary complexity to an SPS system. imop.

Here are some really old pictures of when I first setup my system. I eventually swapped out my frag tank for a different one and used that acrylic tank to sit above the water line and keep a constant level for my Bubble Master I also fed my calcium reactor into there as well.

2 Drains going into one, coming out of the tank with temp return line.

Shot of the initial RK2 bin.. Showing Lines going to the frag tank, and DT as well as return lines

Lines going in and out of for the Frag tank

Everything was run by a single in sump pump for about 200w.

 

[UFreefer]

I have to agree, all of the plumbing and wires is giving me anxiety just looking at it. Seems a bit over complicated

 

[-Logzor]

Hook up everything to your Apex / Reef Keeper. I noticed that there were numerous timers but empty slots on the powerbar of your controller

 

[Ch3tt]

That is an intense build! looking good!

 

[nvfishman]

fishroom is pretty messy right now trying to pull out the live rock out of bin and sort through old rock, mixing salt and ro filling trash cans.

I like simple plumbing as well, but vats work pretty good as sumps. less likly to have leaks then using pond liner and connecting through.

decided to cut remote sandbed, decided to keep external skimmer and will put a pan under with overflow back to tank if power outage
Finally attached apex but the fishroom is tempory so dont want to connect to much stuff. Unsure what i will connest as my power draw is to much when all lights and pumps on.

ill get pic of humidity regulator with vent and solor tube light and plumbing attachments

thansk for imput

 

[brahm]

RK2 bins shouldn't leak. It's what they use a most fish stores, and wholesalers. I damaged it when moving it, and since I live in a remote location my only option was to line the bin a pond liner as a temporary solution. I had torn down and sold my tank to setup the new tank and had no where else to put the live stock. So please ignore the pond liner I was not suggesting using it.

Here is a picture w/out pond liner. The outside of the bin is padded with 2" insulation, as the underside since my garage is unheated and doesn't seal well, (I live @ 8800' and we typically have 8 months of winter here)

 

[nvfishman]

where do u get rk2 bins?

 

[brahm]

Honestly, I don't know anymore. I don't think most people call them RK2 bins anymore either and I don't recall what there proper name is. I've always got mine used from stores, or when they sell equpiment at wholesalers. I have no idea where to get them new. I tried to find them online but had no luck.

 

[revhtree]

This is crazy!

 

[nvfishman]

hope that crazy in a good way :wink:

Finally figured out vat situation 2 old grey vats I used before as the walls a thinner then rubbermaid more plyable and less round on the sides will get pics in a few day

well got a set back on a temporary 100 gallon bin. Learned the hard way not to over tighten bulkheads as there was water all over the floor and I couldnt find where it was coming from flet bulkhead had a slow drip then tightened alittle more and had a fast drip.

Had to tear it all apart and put water and rock in whater I could find broke a line on skimmer waiting for glue to dry hope all works

gonna put a 24inch platform behind the tank and put plumbing under it

 

[VegasRick]

Looking good. I like the way the rock work is shaping up. Keep it as simple as possible. Better to start off simple and make it more complex as needed.
I have a socket expansion for the Apex that I no longer use. You can plug a couple of halides into it to take some of the load off the energy bar. I had trouble with the third 400w firing so I used one of these to fix the problem. Now with only 2 250s and all rest LEDs this isn't an issue for me.

 

[nvfishman]

here are a few updated pics
plumbing drains in
platform behind tank in
sump sockholder built

rockwork resting on pvc supports to get off tank floor

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

I would hate to see you electric bill. Lol

 

[CoralFragZ]

Very Nice. I look forward to your build.

 

[nvfishman]

heres the light rack im working on

any imput would be appreciated thinking on 5 single ended 250watt mh had 4 on the last setup

 

[Reef Breeders]

I would go for 3-4 mh pendents, and add some LED strips or T-5s to finish it up, you will save a ton on energy for sure

 

[nvfishman]

here are some fishroom pictures
thinking on moving skimmer to other side of water tanks knida tight

solar tube and ductless heat/ac

Plumbing mess tempory sump under tank with blowhole feeding 2 frag tanks with corals from old system

attatched 2 105 gallon water tanks to system for easy water changes
plumbed directly to the drain

put new gate valve to adjust flow

 

[nvfishman]

Any imput on placement of stuff would be appreciated tommorow I might cut out the skimmer and going to reroute plumbing to fuge by the window
maybe put on a algae scrubber for fun

 

[nvfishman]

Here is a crummy video of the tank after I put a few corals in