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

[AlexG]

Looks Amazing.. Im almost at the same stage of my build.. Curious what you are doing fro Humidity mitigation ? what are you doing on the ceiling.. or are you leaving it exposed?

My fish room will be @ 400 square ft. I'm installing a Panasonic ERV (FV-04VE1) and an in-wall humidifier (Innovative Dehumidifier IW-25-4). I'm lining the walls with Azek panels ( PVC) . flooring will be (https://www.motorcityfloorsandcoatings.com/basement-concrete-coatings)

Nice setup.

For humidity control I am sticking to my method from the last system of minimize, contain, and mitigate. The sump tanks will all be covered with tops to minimize the amount of humidity getting into the fish room. I am going to cover the ceiling in 6mil plastic, walls of the finished part of the basement will be covered in FRP boards then sealed to contain moisture in the fish room. Then I am planning to get a whole house dehumidifier that is ducted with vents drawing from the displays, frag tank, and refugium tank canopies to create a negative pressure over those tanks. This will force the moist air to travel through the dehumidifier before it can go back into the fish room. While this is the initial plan it is subject to change based on humidity levels in the fish room and the rest of the house once everything is running.

 

[AlexG]

Little update today. I have rough fitted my cross braces. I am using 3/8" threaded rods encased in 1/2" PVC which will be sealed on the inside with silicone or RTV to protect the threaded rod from the saltwater. If this works on this tank I will use the same method of the refugium and display tanks. I am thinking I will add an aluminum plate and an extra locking nut to the ends of the threaded rods. These rods will not have a lot of tension on them until the tank is filled. This method would also allow the threaded rods to be inspected/replaced or the PVC replaced if needed.

 

[NautiTang]

Thats ingenuity if I've ever seen it.

 

[AlexG]

Update time!

I have been working in my spare time to move the fish room build forward. The electrical rough in has been completed with 4 15amp circuits for the fish room. The frag tank has been moved a couple feed forward to accommodate water storage tanks that will go behind it. The "Dexter" ceiling is back in the new fish room. I have hung up 4mil plastic over most of the unfinished basement as part of the humidity containment/control plan. I still need to tape all the plastic seams around walls and around objects that will be protruding through the plastic. The first modification to the protein skimmer was completed and a router was used to remove a little over an inch of the PVC on the skimmer stand so the skimmer sits a little lower in the sump to assist the gravity feed. Work on the canopy of the frag tank has started with some 2x4 framing which should get done this week. A pond liner and pond felt has also come in for the frag tank along with a small tube of gold label sealer which I will test to see how it holds the pond liner to the glass against RTV 108 and 100% silicone. A utility sink is on order and I plan to get FRP boards for the back side of the stud walls this week. I am also thinking I will use the FRP boards as a liner for the frag tank canopy and refugium canopy. Here are some pictures of the progress.

 

[McPuff]

Your frag tank is 450 gal. Wow! It looks almost identical to what I want to build for my display. Great work so far!

 

[AlexG]

I have the frame of the frag tank canopy mostly done. Might add a support or two on the rear side of the canopy. I am sure this will easily hold 100lbs for the light rack, lights, pump controllers and electrical.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Nice!! I can't wait to see how this develops! Following!!

 

[AlexG]

For anyone that would like to get a detailed tour of the build I just put out this video.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Sweet! Thats a huge tank lol. What stocking plans do you have for this 2000g monster? Is it going to be live corals?
*Personally if I had a tank that size I would go with sharks. Epaulette or maybe baby reefs, then just switch them out when they got large.
Edit: Reef sharks if that wasnt clear. Does anyone know if its possible to keep pyjama sharks in a tank *large tanks*. (They are about a meter long, docile, kept popularly in public aquariums)

 

[najer]

Nice update, loads of information to absorb, can you do the frag tank and 720 to start, slowly tie things in to the 720 as it matures?

 

[AlexG]

Update:

The last FRP board was secured to the wall. The back side of the finished basement walls are now covered. Now it's on to sealing all the seams up and finishing the plastic on the ceiling. My utility sink also arrived and I am going to fast track getting it running along with a clean install of the RO/DI system.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Cant wait to see this baby set up and stocked!!

 

[fishlover1478]

do you have plans for fish yet?

 

[AlexG]

Nice update, loads of information to absorb, can you do the frag tank and 720 to start, slowly tie things in to the 720 as it matures?

The current plan is to get the frag tank and 265 sump online first so the temp tank can be taken down. Once that is done I plan to get the 720 and 150 online then start on the construction of the secondary sump. Once that is completed I will start work on the display tanks. My overall plan is that the fish room is 100% online and on its way to maturity when the display tanks are ready to be tied into the system.

 

[Dvanlier05]

Update:

The last FRP board was secured to the wall. The back side of the finished basement walls are now covered. Now it's on to sealing all the seams up and finishing the plastic on the ceiling. My utility sink also arrived and I am going to fast track getting it running along with a clean install of the RO/DI system.

I can't wait to see this beast of a system when its done. Great job.

 

[AlexG]

do you have plans for fish yet?

I do have some plans for the reef and the non-reef safe fish areas of the display but I don't have a specific list. Here are some of my must haves and thinking about it.

Must haves

• Royal Gramma group
• Purple pseudochromis group
• Anthias
• Triggers
• Tangs
• Angels
• Puffers
• Wrasses
• Clowns
• Damsels

Thinking about it

1. Epaulette Sharks
2. Small variety of ray
3. Lookdown group

 

[Thaxxx]

Gotta have a Harliquin Tusk.

 

[fishlover1478]

I do have some plans for the reef and the non-reef safe fish areas of the display but I don't have a specific list. Here are some of my must haves and thinking about it.

Must haves

• Royal Gramma group
• Purple pseudochromis group
• Anthias
• Triggers
• Tangs
• Angels
• Puffers
• Wrasses
• Clowns
• Damsels

Thinking about it

1. Epaulette Sharks
2. Small variety of ray
3. Lookdown group

pseudochromis and gramma groups? is that possible in a smaller tank(75)? have done it before?

 

[AlexG]

pseudochromis and gramma groups? is that possible in a smaller tank(75)? have done it before?

The Royal Grammas are more peaceful and I have kept a group of 3 in a 120 before. They will have a pecking order and in some cases a aggressive member of the group might not accept other royal grammas. In a 75 it might be possible but I would say there is some risk of inter-group aggression leading to fish loss. In my 480 the royal grammas had a good deal of space to separate if they were not getting along. As far as the purple pseodochromis these fish are highly aggressive (evil) which is why I had a group of 3 in my 720 with aggressive fish like big tangs and triggers. I would not recommend purple pseodochromis in a reef tank unless it is really large reef tank 300+ and even then they might harass other peaceful fish. It was really cool though to have purple pseodochromis in my 720 as they were actively breeding.

 

[Arthur_Dent]

I love this build. Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to watching it evolve.