AlexGs 4200 Gallon Display + 2100 gallon fish room? --- New House = New Build

Scubafrog

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What is the model # of your Aprilaire dehumidifier?
 
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AlexG

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Never-mind, I watched the end of your video you posted. Thanks!
Thanks for making to the end of the video. It was really long, I am looking forward to seeing how this dehumidifier will work once its gets connected to the canopies of the 700, 400, and the display. So far it is doing a great job in the fish room.
 
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AlexG

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The fill test is underway for the 400 using the direct plumbing to the 265 gallon sump. I am in the process of filling the 2x250 gallon tanks so they can be tested. I did uncover some issues with the skimmer gravity feed that will need to be addressed. More or less the skimmer body always was a little leaky but needs to be sealed up better to maintain the proper waterlevel in the skimmer for this build.
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AlexG

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Thanks for sharing Alex! Great video, straight to the point! Keep going !
Thanks ATL REEF. Lots more work to do but getting closer everyday. I fired up the heating system yesterday to bring the water up to temp.
 
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AlexG

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Update time

After just under 5 months of construction and testing I have finally made my new aquarium system live and transferred everything over from the temp tank to the new system. All major components of they system were tested for at least 2 weeks and a triton ICP test gave me the final green light that the system was ready for adding salt. I started the process to get the system live by taking the light rack off the temp tank and modifying it to have 6 radions 2 x gen3 & 4x gen4. I also took my kessel tuna sun and put it over the refugium tank. The next morning I built some egg crate overflow covers on the 2" drains of the 400 gallon so no fish go for a ride. Then I tested alk again between the tanks as the new system was around 11 and the temp system was around 8.6. I spend about 4 hours doing water exchanges between the systems for acclimation. Then I started moving over everything in mass. All corals, clownfish and hawk fish went to the 400. The spanish hog was moved to the 150 since he ate all the snails I had in the temp tank and constantly rearranged corals every day which did not help coral health. The spanish hog will remain in the 150 there until the fish only part of the display goes online. Overall the tank transfer took about 10 hours since I spent a lot of time acclimating the corals to the higher alk in the new system. I have my apex running again and surprisingly it did not loose the configuration of any of the lights which made setting up the light rack a little less painful. Lots of cable management to get all the lights and flow pumps on the 400. I settled on the same level of flow I had on my old reef tank for now. Main return ~3-4k/gph, 2 x gyre 250s, and 2 x MP40s. I did have to do a repair to one of the MP40s though as it seems the magnet separated from the motor on the dry side which I superglued which is holding for now but I am not sure if it will last long term. The system is a little cloudy and some of the corals opened right up and others are looking a bit stressed but I think it will take a couple weeks for the system to settle in. The skimmer just overflowed foam to the cup today. In the refugium I took some egg crate that was in the temp tank and hung it up in the refugium as a medium for algae to grow on since it is already got lots of algae and marine life on it to see the tank. The refugium is using the kessel tuna sun and an amazon UFO light along with 2 rossmount MX4100s for flow. I am thinking that I might add some fresh live rock to the system in the future to get more micro fauna going in the system. The temp tank worked out well it just sucks I lost so much stuff during the two moves and if I ever have to move again I will do it differently and house a lot less in a temp tank. I will be disassembling the temp tank and using the wood to build out the secondary sump in the fish room which will be in front of the 400. Lots more work ahead to get the fish room completed so I can move on to the display.

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AlexG

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Worth the wait
Thanks Smarkow. The fun is just getting started now that the temp tank is down. The weird part for me is the silence in the finished area of my basement. I was so used to hearing the skimmer going down here now its almost too quiet. I will have to post some pictures of the new "work shop" I setup for building the main display tank.
 

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So I’m wondering with this new build/re-build if you’ve made any structural or design changes?
I only ask as I am in the middle of my own plywood build, and I did most things according to your 2017 build, just with slightly different bracing pattern.

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So I’m wondering with this new build/re-build if you’ve made any structural or design changes?
I only ask as I am in the middle of my own plywood build, and I did most things according to your 2017 build, just with slightly different bracing pattern.

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Whoa! An "L" tank? Please start a build thread if you haven't already. :0)
 
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AlexG

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So I’m wondering with this new build/re-build if you’ve made any structural or design changes?
I only ask as I am in the middle of my own plywood build, and I did most things according to your 2017 build, just with slightly different bracing pattern.

33A1239C-E5AD-4F9D-B5D6-1138A83CF614.jpeg
I made mostly minor changes this time around. I used on edge 2x4s for the front glass support bracing, threaded rods encased in PVC for cross braces, and pond liner for the water proofing. I also decided not to paint everything this time around as anything more than minor splash's on the paint last time around would make it peel. The cross brace changes and pond liner are just being used to try something new as the pond armor worked really well on the last builds and will be used again for my main display tank bottom.

Lesson learned from the last build I would not have any plywood that is cut on edge exposed to high humidity on the tank rim or euro brace. The one failure in water proofing was on the inside edge of the euro brace where the plywood was just coated in pond armor. Since pond armor does not adhere to glues my guess is that there was a small area where moisture was able to get into the plywood. I plan to just avoid on edge plywood from now on and use solid wood instead in places with this level of exposure but an alternative I would also consider fiberglass the on edge plywood to cover that exposed edge with another layer of protection.
 

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Wow thanks that is all good to know. I was planning on using the pond armor. But now I will do a more extensive fiberglass. I already eliminated any on-edge plywood spots. Re the 2x4 on edge... I set mine up for 2x8 on side bracing of the glass, I'm going to reinforce externally with galvanized metal braces with epoxy over everything.

My goal is a 5-7 year tank.

@McPuff I'll make a build thread for sure and tag you, but with me working out of town a lot it probably won't get wet until September. I don't want to HiJack the thread or I would share more, but I would not have had the confidence to attempt this build without following Alex and learning from him

Thanks :)
 
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AlexG

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Wow thanks that is all good to know. I was planning on using the pond armor. But now I will do a more extensive fiberglass. I already eliminated any on-edge plywood spots. Re the 2x4 on edge... I set mine up for 2x8 on side bracing of the glass, I'm going to reinforce externally with galvanized metal braces with epoxy over everything.

My goal is a 5-7 year tank.

@McPuff I'll make a build thread for sure and tag you, but with me working out of town a lot it probably won't get wet until September. I don't want to HiJack the thread or I would share more, but I would not have had the confidence to attempt this build without following Alex and learning from him

Thanks :)

Will be interested to read this build thread for an L shaped (drop off tank?). Feel free to post more here if you like as we are all a community and sharing is what makes R2R great.
 

Mixing lighting technologies: Do you use multiple types of lighting for your reef?

  • I currently use multiple types of lighting for my reef.

    Votes: 12 46.2%
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  • I haven’t used multiple types of lighting for my reef, but I plan to in the future.

    Votes: 5 19.2%
  • I have no plans to use multiple types of lighting for my reef.

    Votes: 7 26.9%
  • Other.

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