5 feet Immersive Build (slow and steady updates)

[Picesduh]

I am going through the same decision. I'll be starting a 63" peninsula soon.

I was very close to planning out my CL. I wasn't going to do any drilling and considered just running PVC internally under the rock/sand to the far end. My current plan is to place a powerful, but low form factor powerhead at the waterline on the far side of the tank, with the cord running under the substrate. I'm going to wait on the final decision until I get the tank. Then I'll throw in my gyres and return and watch the water flow pattern before I begin cycling. If I notice a problem at that point then I can reconsider the CL. I really think I can avoid that with a Neptune Wave or Tunze nanostream at the water line or bottom of the tank. either of those options should be pretty hard to notice.

That's going to be a cool office. I like the desk.

At some point the cord is going to have to come out of the top of the tank, no?
I also decided not to do a CL because I didn’t want to drill the bottom but you have an interesting suggestion with the PVC running on the bottom of the tank. Where is this pvc entering the tank from the return?

Same, I’ll prob use a gyre at the far end of the tank but I was going to run the cord on the lighting track that I’ll use to mount my AI primes on. Thinking of using the T5 hybrid with the AI primes but I am waiting to see what else is out there when I visit reefapalooza in a month.

Btw, my office desk does not look anything like that, the focus was more on the aquarium stand and tank lol

 

[bairdimusprime]

loving this!
cant wait to watch this build! best of luck!

 

[OriginalUserName]

At some point the cord is going to have to come out of the top of the tank, no?
I also decided not to do a CL because I didn’t want to drill the bottom but you have an interesting suggestion with the PVC running on the bottom of the tank. Where is this pvc entering the tank from the return?

Same, I’ll prob use a gyre at the far end of the tank but I was going to run the cord on the lighting track that I’ll use to mount my AI primes on. Thinking of using the T5 hybrid with the AI primes but I am waiting to see what else is out there when I visit reefapalooza in a month.

Btw, my office desk does not look anything like that, the focus was more on the aquarium stand and tank lol

So my thought on the CL would be to run a pump in the overflow, space permitting, either in taking from the overflow water or through a bulkhead. You wouldn't need a huge pump to keep a steady turnover on the far end.

Regarding the power head, if I can mount it towards the bottom I'd run the cord down the overflow and along the tank bottom. Some pumps like the Wav offer a 15 foot cord.

Same on the lights. I am planning on a kessil t5 hybrid. The t5s aren't strictly necessary, but why not add them of they help optimize color and growth?

 

[Picesduh]

So my thought on the CL would be to run a pump in the overflow, space permitting, either in taking from the overflow water or through a bulkhead. You wouldn't need a huge pump to keep a steady turnover on the far end.

Regarding the power head, if I can mount it towards the bottom I'd run the cord down the overflow and along the tank bottom. Some pumps like the Wav offer a 15 foot cord.

Same on the lights. I am planning on a kessil t5 hybrid. The t5s aren't strictly necessary, but why not add them of they help optimize color and growth?

Feel the same, the t5 help with the evenness of the lights

 

[Picesduh]

So I’ve decided on a sump for this tank, it’s a little monster at 36x23.5x16. Picture to come tomorrow.

 

[Picesduh]

This thing is BIG. Okay it’s not the biggest sump but it’s wide and had a 12G reservoir for top off water and a fuge chamber. I’m planning to hook up a display fuge to the sump separately and put marine pure blocks into the fuge area of this sump.

 

[Picesduh]

A bit of placement to get a sense of how everything will look inside the stand.

 

[PiscesPower]

Looks like this will be an awesome build. Looking forward to watching it grow. The only thing I might reconsider is the Bubble Magus Curve 5. I love mine but its on a tank with a total volume of about 60g with a heavy bio-load. Not sure what your stocking plan is but I would go with one of the bigger Curve models for your tank.

 

[Picesduh]

I do agree with you. I plan on having a medium bio load and will be running a fuge as well as a ATS so I though I could get away with the small skimmer. Plus, it’s just that I already am using the curve 5 on my current 45G. Perhaps if it can’t keep up I’ll need to upgrade it to something more powerful. Here is a pic of my current tank.

 

[Picesduh]

Almost forgot the ATO...

 

[PiscesPower]

I hear you about trying to re-use things!! Looks great, didn't realize you were up-sizing, that makes perfect sense now!

 

[Picesduh]

Just got the external Refugium and the dosing chamber. Tempted to peel the sticker off this bad boy but will wait till it’s almost set up first

Edit: One hour later...

 

[Picesduh]

I’m on the wall about setting up the external fuge to actually be a second display tank, maybe a species only tank with something that may not make sense to put into the main display. What would you put into a second display or keep it a fuge?

 

[mch1984]

I’m on the wall about setting up the external fuge to actually be a second display tank, maybe a species only tank with something that may not make sense to put into the main display. What would you put into a second display or keep it a fuge?

I would keep it a fuge, but just my opinion. I think your tank would benefit from that more.

 

[Picesduh]

A few items arrived in the mail this week. I received 22lbs of Walt Smith cured Pukani love rock from Premium Aquatics. I am happy with the pieces they sent me - about 5 medium pieces and 2 large pieces. I immediately mixing up a batch of salt water and placed it in there to cure some more until it’s ready for the display. This rock is very clean and hopefully I won’t have the same issues others have with algae when starting out new tanks with Pukani rock.

Also received the return pump from Premium Aquatics. Went with the Sicce Syncra Advanced 7 Pump - 1900gph. After a lot of research I went with an AC pump because I hear they are more reliable than DC pumps. This pump is solid!

Also ordered the stand from TNUTZ and a couple of pieces from 8020.net, these should arrive next week. Then will start the plumbing. Sorry no pictures yet but I’ll post some when I get home.

Edit: almost forgot to add that I also got the power heads delivered but FeDEx didn’t leave it at the door since they want a signature. More on that later.

 

[Picesduh]

 

[Picesduh]

New shipments of the aluminum t slot stand components have arrived!

(Largest box unopened - not shown)
All hardware still hasn’t arrived as I ordered them separately.

Also, had a great conversation with David from @AquaticLifeProducts at RAP over the weekend and even bought the Aquatic Life 48 inch T5 Hybrid from WETPETS (one of their distributors). I was also able to get the latest addition wire end covers for the lights.

Stay tuned for the next update when the stand it up. Give me about a week for that.

 

[Picesduh]

Looking forward to watching this build. Just a thought since the idea is to change this to a true peninsula one day. Why not use vinyl or window tint on the back glass. Then when are ready for the back to be clear again its just a matter of pealing it off and cleaning it up a little. Less permanent than paint but would still cover the back for you.

Thinking about this more and more. Cleaning the back glass is not something I want to do constantly. It’s not that I don’t want to do it but it will be difficult to access the back of the tank. I have another idea in mind for the back of the tank now. Let’s see if I can make my idea into reality. Basically it’s a acrylic sheet that will hold extra return outlets and be attached to the back side of the tank.

Front view of tank:

I can have the acrylic sheet black or something custom.

 

[mch1984]

Interesting idea, looking forward to seeing how that turns out. I know there are some websites you can order black acrylic from. The only concern I could see is that acrylic has a tendency to bow if it's not attached to another piece. If you intend to just have it hanging it could be a problem.

 

[Picesduh]

The acrylic is going to be vertical up against the back of the tank and a few inches taller than the display to accommodate the holes for the additional return lines. Hopefully it will not bow but I do need to find a way to keep it against the glass. I’ll likely go to a local distributor for the piece and see if they can also make a tray for my sump area. Thanks for the feedback.