After a 15 year hiatus, Starting a 60W x 22D x 20H Custom

tang_man_montreal

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First post!
Been lurking for a few weeks trying to catch up on everything that has changed in my 15 years away from the hobby.
I had a 180gal dual overflow back then with a mixed reef.

Jumping back in with both feet!

Stumbled upon a local deal for a 60w x 22d x 20h low iron glass custom tank and custom stand. The previous owner had it built to spec, but never had a chance to get it wet. It is brand new.
He was a carpenter, and built a beautiful stand and canopy. Pics are coming.
- Came with ~100lbs dry base rock, and ~40lbs 15yr old Fiji Live rock that has been curing in a tank with flow. From previous take down.
- I will be buying CaribSea Live Special Grade sand

Still finalizing my equipment list, and looking for opinions.
This will be a mixed reef with a heavy fish load

Display tank: Custom 60w x 22d x 20h, approx 114 gal, low iron 1/2" glass with eurobracing. Center Overflow with cover, 2x 1.5" drains, 2x 3/4" LocLine returns

Sump: DIY 60" x 20" x 20" sump with eurobracing, meant for a basement setup with two 7" Filter socks.
- Not sure I will keep it. It came with the tank, but I find the baffles are way too high. Running water level is just 2.5" from the rim; allowing for 10gal power outage safety. I may modify the running height to be a little lower, and run two Klir Fleece DI-7. I don't like filter socks and know how lazy I am.
- Considering a Icecap 36" reef sump with a Klir Fleece Di-7

Sump Fuge light: Maxsi Sun MT300
- Also came with the tank, brand new

Return pump: Basement sump, approximately 10-11ft head. I was considering a manifold, (ie: one outlet to UV) but the high head may be a limiting factor.
Update - Ecotech M1, should yield about 8x turn-over. I'll need to run the UV and any reactors off a separate pump and manifold.

Skimmer: Eshopps X-350
- Also came with the tank. Seems to be an ok skimmer from what I have read?

Battery backup: Tripplite 1500va UPS, will power one flow pump inside DT.

Flow: Update - 2x Neptune Apex WAV (due to ability to angle off back wall, and control with Apex)

Lights: Update - 2x Ecotech XR30 G5 Pro

Heaters: InkBird Heater controller, and further controller via Apex. with 2x 250w ebo-jager heaters for redundancy

UV Sterilizer: AquaUV Classic 25 Watt

ATO: Neptune APEX ATK

AWC: Neptune DOS, Water mixing station in basement

DOSER: Update - Kamoer KSP-F03A - 3 channel Master unit and Kamoer KSP-F04 4 channel Slave unit
Still deciding if I will go with Red Sea system or Fauna Marin for dosing and trace

RODI: 100gpd with inline TDS meter, and Tunze 8555 Water controller

Controller: Neptune Apex and LDK for basement and DP

Media Reactor: Nyos TORQ
- Considering this down the road


Thanks for this great space. I was (and still am) a long time member with the same name at ReefCentral, but I'm really liking the community here.
Looking forward to exchanging with you all!
 
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Peace River

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#WelcometoR2R!!! Thanks for sharing - we're glad you're here!
 

CMMorgan

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Welcome to the fishy family!!
big eyes fish GIF
 

cilyjr

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I think it's still the big external pumps that will give the head pressure.
Reflo gold and iwaki that will do it. The better internal dc pumps will work but you won't save any energy because they will need to run at 100%.

This is what I've read so someone with more knowledge should chime in.
 

MNFish

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Welcome to R2R.

I do not think you can go wrong with either one of theses, Personally I like the MP40 as they as super easy to clean and maintain long term.

Flow: Need help here. Considering
- 2x Ecotech MP40
- 2x Neptune Apex WAV (due to ability to angle off back wall, and control with Apex)
 

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Welcome to R2R..

Pumping from the basement, I would go with an external pump like Iwaki or Panworld. Little noisy but very reliable.

For tank flow, I would go with the Vortech or even the Reef Oct Pulse. I run Vortech MP40QDW, but just got my hands on a used Reef Oct Pulse 2 and really like it. Quieter than the Vortechs and nice wide flow.

I was thinking about the Neptune Wav but have seen a number of bad reviews about them.
 
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tang_man_montreal

tang_man_montreal

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Thank you everyone for the warm welcome! :)

As promised, here is a first pic of the tank in it's intended location.

20210125_075001_resized.jpg


The tank is sitting against an outside wall, and it just so happens that there is a main structural crossbeam for the house being held up by a steel jackpost 6 ft from the wall directly below the tank. I believe I am ok for weight. :)

The stand itself was constructed by a carpenter using 3/4" Russian (Baltic) Plywood with waterproof bonding. The inside of the tank has been waterproofed. There is an access panel from the front, and a door on hinges on the right side. The stand was conceived with a basement sump in mind. As such it has cutouts for the plumbing to go down through the floor, and for electrical. The stand was skinned using composite (plastic) deck boarding.

The canopy flips open and back onto itself. It is rather heavy and awkward to open so I will look into some sort of strut to help with the opening. The top of the canopy is open and will allow for ventilation and heat dissipation of the lighting.

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I started reflecting on my plumbing... With regards to plumbing a basement sump with a full siphon drain; Is it advisable to have the gate valve under the tank, or near the sump in the basement?
 
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tang_man_montreal

tang_man_montreal

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My thoughts on the return pump is that I'd like the flexibility to dial down the output to have a feed mode.

Looking at the flow of a Ecotech M1/M2, I should be able to achieve about 8x turnover @10ft head if used strictly for the tank. This means I would need some other pump to push a manifold for UV and media reactor(s).
I'm still not sold on that idea, so an external pump may be in my future.

As for flow, I have been leaning towards the MP40's as well, I just wish they could be angled off the back wall like the Apex WAV for visual appeal. The bad reviews of the WAV mentioned above has me re-thinking that as well.
 

HD_Reefer

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Once I get my little issues resolved tonight, I'll take some video of the pumps and MP40s. Just from the little trial run last night, I can honestly say the concern about not being able to angle the wavepumps was wiped from my mind. I have them placed on the back wall and they create plenty of movement across the entire tank at their lowest setting. I will need to move them a little because at 75%, they both blow water out of the tank in multiple places!

On the pump, the M2 is a beast! I have the M2 running my returns to create very high flow in the sump and the S2 running a media reactor, biopellets and UV. Both reactors are plumbed into the skimmer section and UV is plumbed directly over the M2 inlet. I ran the M2 at 5% during the test last night and it was putting out a massive amount of return to the tank, so I don't think you can go wrong there. Another benefit of the EcoTech pumps.....they are dead silent!

My Build Thread
 
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tang_man_montreal

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Went shopping today.

Picked up two Vectra M1 pumps from a local reefer. Will be using one for the return, and one for my water mix station. This will allow me the flexibility of having an extra pump on hand should the return pump fail.

Speaking of mixing stations, picked up two Brute 32gal from home depot, along with all the plumbing necessary for the job.

And finally, I ordered a Spectrapure 100gpd Maxcap RODI filter, which should arrive before the weekend.

So, there's my weekend project...
 
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tang_man_montreal

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Progress over the week-end...

Built my sump stand and mixing station.
Installed my RODI
Electrical is temporary. Will be running a dedicated circuit or two for the tank.

The little 30 gallon next to the sump is running some liverock. I'll be mixing it with all my baserock once I have water mixed up.

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tang_man_montreal

tang_man_montreal

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Sorry for the slow updates.
My wife wanted a pantry built into the kitchen and a bathroom reno. Finding a contractor in these covid times is not easy, so I ended up doing it myself.

There has been some slow progress.

- Added two dedicated 15 amp circuits for the tank. I just need to finish running the lines and installing the GFI outlets this week

- Picked up an additional 50 lbs of 10 year old established Fiji live rock. Currently circulating and reading 0 ammonia, and 25ppm nitrates. I'll be putting this rock in the sump to help seed the pod population, and mixing in the cured base rock with the dry base rock in the display
20210215_213318_resized.jpg


- Picked up all my plumbing fittings
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- I cut the hole through the floor to the basement to run the plumbing, and installed the Herbie overflow and return pipes in the overflow.
20210215_211526_resized.jpg


- And I picked up my first tank addition. A Bullet-hole clownfish from a local reefer. He's been chilling out in the tank with my established base rock for the last week. Eating like a champ
20210215_215010_resized.jpg
 
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tang_man_montreal

tang_man_montreal

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Tonight after dinner I finally got around to levelling the tank. Being an older house, the tank was leaning away from the wall by 1/2". Used a car jack to lift the stand and placed 1/2" strip of maple that I painted black. Also used wood shims along the sides.

20210216_220435_resized.jpg


Also got started with the plumbing as well. 2x 1.5" drains (Herbie overflow), with a 1" return line teeing off and reducing to 3/4 dual outlets. Does anyone have a quick trick to removing those ugly store labels from the PVC fittings?
20210216_220054_resized.jpg
 

HD_Reefer

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Tonight after dinner I finally got around to levelling the tank. Being an older house, the tank was leaning away from the wall by 1/2". Used a car jack to lift the stand and placed 1/2" strip of maple that I painted black. Also used wood shims along the sides.

20210216_220435_resized.jpg


Also got started with the plumbing as well. 2x 1.5" drains (Herbie overflow), with a 1" return line teeing off and reducing to 3/4 dual outlets. Does anyone have a quick trick to removing those ugly store labels from the PVC fittings?
20210216_220054_resized.jpg
Acetone...nail polish remover if the wife will let you borrow it.
 
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