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

Steph72 · Nov 5, 2022

This build is absolutely incredible! Thanks for sharing videos on YouTube about the process. When we move into our “old age” house in a few years I plan on making a monster tank the centerpiece of that house (don’t tell hubby hahaha). All these amazing diy builds on R2R are so inspiring and helpful. Awesome job!

AlexG · Nov 5, 2022

Sltloser said:
What is behind your thought on waiting 3-6 months before the water in the display can be circulated with the water in the fish room?

The current fish room system is ~2100 gallons running. This system has been up since May 2021 and is just getting over a high zinc issue so the corals are bouncing back now. In a few months the fish room system should be stabilized. The new display being 4200 gallons will also be loaded with mostly dry rock. I plan to transfer a few pieces of seed rock from the running system and a few hundred lbs of sand. It will take a few months for the new display to stabilize before its biologically balanced. With the display being 2/3s larger than the running system it can cause a stability shock with the corals and fish which might result in a crash or overstress event. I want to make sure the water in the display is full of micro fauna, growing algae, and has matching chemistry to the running system. I also plan to send out ICP tests to verify there are no issues with the display water before mixing it into the running system. Then I can move a couple of fish from the existing system to the display and start mixing water between the systems as water changes between them. Once I am happy with how everything looks I will tie in the final plumbing and get it running as a single system. Nothing good will come from trying to do this too fast.

If this was in reverse and I was adding a smaller volume of water to the running system for example I added a 60gallon frag tank to my previous 1600 gallon system. Then I can get the empty tank running bare bottom and just integrate that aquarium into the system as it would be like a small water change.

AlexG · Nov 9, 2022

Small update

I have started working on the interior of the canopy to get it sealed up with one FRP and the rest is NRP boards. I have 1/3 of the panels installed and the remaining 12 cut to size and ready for installation. Once that is complete I will add more J hangers for plumbing support and start on electrical for the canopy. Once electrical is complete I will build the light racks to complete the canopy interior hopefully in the next 2-3 weeks. Then I am going to finalize prep work for the glass arrival as I need to build a ramp and sled to get the glass into the basement through the escape window and staged for installation.

On a side note the aquarium system is continuing to improve and I will send out another ICP test in a few weeks to check zinc levels.

On my 25 gallon lagoon I have moved most of my soft corals to this tank and picked up a few new ones. I also swapped out the XR15 freshwater light to an XR15 standard to get the blues back on that tank although during the day I am running with the whites turned up.

AlexG · Nov 15, 2022

Update

I have completed the installation of the waterproof panels for the canopy. I only left out sections with ceiling LED lights for now. Once I get lighting in the canopy I will remove the LED pucks on the ceiling and put on cover plates then seal up those sections of the canopy. I have now moved on to building the glass sled and ramp track for getting the glass into the basement. I am at the point where I need to remove the basement window again and build the ramp trestle. Then I have to do some testing. I am also getting quotes from movers to be prepared for the glass when it ships. I will start on work for the canopy electrical and light racks once this glass sled/ramp is finished up and tested. The running system seems to be doing well but I am going to do another ICP test soon to determine if zinc levels have finally bottomed out. I had to add some eye candy pictures today.

Sean Clark · Nov 15, 2022

I'll take the candy on the right please

Jerry Barnes · Nov 15, 2022

You are going to be one buff guy after this build. Major amount of lifting going on with this build.

FMF0331 · Nov 15, 2022

Good Gosh !!!

How long will it take to fill that up with RO/DI water and what would be your water change volume

Sltloser · Nov 15, 2022

On the topic of RODI water, have you thought of having a company come fill it for you? I've heard it's a lot cheaper than using your own water, but haven't ever needed that much to look I to it haha.

AlexG · Nov 16, 2022

FMF0331 said:
Good Gosh !!!

How long will it take to fill that up with RO/DI water and what would be your water change volume

With my current unit only producing ~200-250gpd I will take some where around 21 days to fill. There is a good chance I will get a new RO unit with higher capacity before then maybe a 500 or 1000gpd unit. My inline water change system is setup for a 500gallon water change but I can make that a 1000 gallon water change if needed. I am planning to minimize water changes to once a month or two if I can.

AlexG · Nov 16, 2022

Sltloser said:
On the topic of RODI water, have you thought of having a company come fill it for you? I've heard it's a lot cheaper than using your own water, but haven't ever needed that much to look I to it haha.

No I have not consider this more or less because I want to be in complete control of the water that is being put in the aquarium for the final fill. The first fill test in the aquarium will be with tap water to verify the aquarium hold water then I will drain and clean the aquarium then start aquascaping. Once the aquarium is aquascaped I will start filling with RO/DI. Its a long process to get this done but will be well worth it.

Sltloser · Nov 16, 2022

AlexG said:
No I have not consider this more or less because I want to be in complete control of the water that is being put in the aquarium for the final fill. The first fill test in the aquarium will be with tap water to verify the aquarium hold water then I will drain and clean the aquarium then start aquascaping. Once the aquarium is aquascaped I will start filling with RO/DI. Its a long process to get this done but will be well worth it.

That makes sense, I understand wanting control over the filling process with a new build like this!

FMF0331 · Nov 16, 2022

AlexG said:
No I have not consider this more or less because I want to be in complete control of the water that is being put in the aquarium for the final fill. The first fill test in the aquarium will be with tap water to verify the aquarium hold water then I will drain and clean the aquarium then start aquascaping. Once the aquarium is aquascaped I will start filling with RO/DI. Its a long process to get this done but will be well worth it.

I agree with you 100000%

swilliams2207 · Nov 17, 2022

This is absolutely fascinating. Vicariously living through your every post. Amazing craftsmanship and innovation here. Keep it up. Cannot wait to see this full of water.

squidarcher · Dec 15, 2022

any update?

nuxx · Dec 15, 2022

Crazy build!

You're super committed

I had two friends in the Austin area build in massive tanks and even have special rooms built for QT / maintenance and then they were out of the hobby a few years later left with weird spaces to deal with.

I'd be worried about that if I did something like that. I was ALL in with my 470, even got into the business and a few years later after I had some fish deaths I couldn't explain I washed my hands. Luckily we didn't build the tank in.

Also, we tend to change our minds rather fast. We did actually live in a house for 10 years (where the 470 was) and ended up moving to a 100 year old + house we had that was going to be an airbnb in a town 50 minutes west of Austin. After being there for 3-4 years we gut renovated that house and renovated an even older building in the town square and started a brewpub. Now we just sold all that and moved back to the Austin area. A few months in, we already realize we want a different house...

Maybe all people aren't like us...

#endrant

Jerry Barnes · Dec 15, 2022

My wife happened to notice this thread on my screen and I showed her your picture of the basement and aquarium. Here response "trust me, I'd shoot you".