550G Display + Fish Room Frag Tanks = 900G of Fun

Ashish Patel

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Sweet setup...Not sure your budget on plumbing but that gets expensive very quick with those valves. PVC pipefitting online is the best store and will probably save you 70% of the cost. Those Union ball valves are nice but due to the price and size I figured having more union in key places would serve me more well for future maintenance. On my future setup I'll use those union ball valves only for running a closed loop pump or external return pump. Looking forward to your setup...

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Blue Tang Clan

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Sweet setup...Not sure your budget on plumbing but that gets expensive very quick with those valves. PVC pipefitting online is the best store and will probably save you 70% of the cost. Those Union ball valves are nice but due to the price and size I figured having more union in key places would serve me more well for future maintenance. On my future setup I'll use those union ball valves only for running a closed loop pump or external return pump. Looking forward to your setup...

Beautiful setup!

I'm going to be using 1.5" true union valves on the drains and on the two return pipes. The difference in price between 1" and 1.5" is certainly not 50% more -- it's sometimes 3x!

I've settled on the CEPEX e-Qua series true union valves -- purchased through USPlastics.com. They are $12.50 a piece so if one leaks, I can still replace it THREE TIMES and still be money ahead vs. paying for just one of the standard $44 valves on BRS in the 1.5" size. I trust CEPEX, and the blue handle versions are rated for everything except for commercial chemical use. CEPEX even says that they are idea for swimming pool plumbing. I believe this model only comes in 1.5" and 2.0" sizes, so I decided to go big.

The part that really crushes my spirit is that Home Depot sells all of the same colored piping as BRS for less money, and a full 60" length. BUT, it only goes up to 1.25" -- what the heck!! Piping isn't the end of the world, but that stuff adds up too!
 
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jlfalin

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For large tank manufacturers I would say you can use AGE with caution. About 18 months ago I had them build me a custom 475 gallon tank. I also paid for the stand and for installation since they are pros at moving them. Since the tank was deliver well before my fish room was done it was wrapped and protected and I finished my fish room. After delivery I did notice many linear scratches about 1/2”from the aquarium frame. My guess was from cutting the glass. Since I plan on framing in the tank I figured no big deal. But some would say unacceptable on a tank/stand/ install I paid almost 10k for. In all honesty I wasn’t happy about this but what could I do at this point. The bigger issues was with bubbles I need the glass. I had no idea these were present during initial inspection. They were small and difficult to see without water and light on the tank. Although I had difficulty seeing them I would expect a professional tank building company to look for them and spot them. These inclusions and right in the middle of my main viewing panel and they catch the light leading to small bright blue spots in the viewing panel. When I confronted them about this they basically just said tough luck. So although the tank is build very well and is a quality tank I am disappointed with their lack of attention to detail and their response to what I consider a major flaw. I mean we buy the tanks to view what we put in them. We don’t want our view obscured but multiple tiny glowing blue dots from the light.
 
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Blue Tang Clan

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Check out tankme. Just got my 325 from him and it's beautiful. It's too nice to put water in

Will do - they haven't been on my radar before, but I hear more and more good things about them. "Too nice to put water in" is exactly what I'm going for! Miracles in Canada should also be on my list.

For the stand, I am likely going to do a beefed up extruded aluminum stand through a company like Framingtech.com -- I don't know why that option is more appealing than a standard steel stand (I don't trust my ability to do wood properly) so if anyone has any experience with a 300+ gallon tank on an aluminum stand -- share your thoughts!
 

HolisticBear

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(I don't trust my ability to do wood properly) so if anyone has any experience with a 300+ gallon tank on an aluminum stand -- share your thoughts!

I have a FramingTech stand. This guy posted a video of his FramingTech stand for his monster tank. He's on R2R, so you may have seen it already

 

ca1ore

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As far a valves are concerned, just stay away from the red flag branded ones. Absolute crap. Also keep in mind that only one of your tank dimensions needs to be able to fit through the door. I chose a tank 36" wide and 30" tall ..... and just flipped it on its back to go through the doorway.
 
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Blue Tang Clan

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As far a valves are concerned, just stay away from the red flag branded ones. Absolute crap. Also keep in mind that only one of your tank dimensions needs to be able to fit through the door. I chose a tank 36" wide and 30" tall ..... and just flipped it on its back to go through the doorway.
I thought about flipping it, but I'm also scared of moving anything that large and heavy on its side. 28" is the most I want to reach down, and I figured 34" wide was the most I would want to reach across, and then down. Plus, I have leave room for an upgrade in the future! 120x48x28 could be in my distant future
 

Echomsp

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Interested in what other items you're incorporating into your house plans for the fish room. I'm aslo building a house around my tank, but it's only 250 gallon. I was planning on putting a few drains in the floor below, but I like the idea of using a trench drain instead.
 
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Blue Tang Clan

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Interested in what other items you're incorporating into your house plans for the fish room. I'm aslo building a house around my tank, but it's only 250 gallon. I was planning on putting a few drains in the floor below, but I like the idea of using a trench drain instead.

If you are building from scratch, a trench drain makes a lot of sense, if the aesthetic works wherever you plan to have it. They are really easy to install, and just go to your existing home drain lines.
nds-drain-grates-764-64_1000.jpg
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Echomsp

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Absolutely. My tank will be in/between a wall and a cabinet face on the other side the length of the wall. So I can install a trench drain for the entire run about 14' long. I'll be using an NDS product for the materials.

How much power are you planning on supplying to the area?
 
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Blue Tang Clan

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How much power are you planning on supplying to the area?

I totaled up all of the devices that I thought I could ever have and I think I could do three 20-amp lines with room to spare. Does this seem reasonable?

Circuit 1 - primary return pump powerheads, etc. - 1006 Watts
200 Submerged Return Pump
250 Heater
250 Heater
100 H380 Light
50 Exhaust Fan
80 UV Sterilizer
38 MP40
38 MP40

Circuit 2 - redundant return pump, powerheads, etc. - 1006 Watts
372 Reeflo Gold Return Pump
250 Heater
128 Pump for Skimmer
100 H380 Light
20 Tunze ATO
80 UV Sterilizer
38 MP40
38 MP40

Lights (mainly overhead/ceiling outlets) + fan and exhaust - 1540 Watts
800 - (8) XR15 LEDs at 100w/each
640 - (8) T5 bulbs at 80w/each
50 Exhaust Fan
50 Ceiling Fan
 
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Blue Tang Clan

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For the walls of the fish room, the Operations VP on my house build (who happens to also have a saltwater tank!) was suggesting that instead of doing standard drywall that I do 1/2" plywood all the way up instead. That way, I could screw PVC clamps etc. into the wall.

Is there any wisdom or danger in that? It would just be painted like a normal wall. Or, I could do plywood on top of drywall, but that would just be added cost.
 

MoKan Reefer

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HAVE to tag along on this build thread. Have a feeling its going to be epic! Looks great so far!
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 43 48.9%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 47 53.4%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 20 22.7%
  • None.

    Votes: 22 25.0%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 10.2%
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