An Architect's Aquarium - ProClear 200 Build

Drewker · Jan 8, 2021

So this happened...

Santa brought me a ProStar Rimless 200 from ProClear Aquariums. Dimensions are 60" x 26" x 24", low-iron glass.
Stand is an aluminum frame, with glass doors on overlay hinges. Underneath is a 35G glass sump. Typical of tanks in this class (i.e. Waterbox), it comes pre-plumbed.

Santa is under the impression, apparently, that I have been very good.

If you've not been good, this tank is a steal, priced below the competitors in its class. I'm quite impressed, and chuffed beyond belief.

Architects are, in general, both creative and quite fussy. We like things precise. So come along with me on the build, and we'll see where it leads...

DC Reefer · Jan 8, 2021

Congrats on the tank and welcome to R2R!!!! Looking forward to following the build

Lemon · Jan 8, 2021

have fun

Camaro Show Corals · Jan 8, 2021

Congrats on the tank and welcome to R2R!

Drewker · Jan 9, 2021

DC Reefer said:
Congrats on the tank and welcome to R2R!!!! Looking forward to following the build

Thanks! I am too! Time to get wonky on plumbing

Drewker · Jan 9, 2021

The Camaro Show said:
Congrats on the tank and welcome to R2R!

Thank you! Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Drewker · Jan 10, 2021

So, little about my background in the hobby. I put my toe in the saltwater tank way back in 1990. A 55 gallon acrylic hex, with an under gravel filter and an Eheim canister. Bleached white dead coral for decoration, dechlorinated water from my Chicago faucet and Instant Ocean salt. A homemade T8 fixture in the canopy

I had read several books. Talked to my LFS. I was confident.

It would be kind to say I kept everything alive for six months. It might be more accurate to say the fish clung to life for six months. Eventually algae and ich wiped me out. And that was the end of my saltwater experiment.

Flash forward 25 years, and my firm designed the renovations to a major US public aquarium. I got to peek behind the curtain of the professionals. But I also had a new family, and a saltwater tank did not fit.

Bought a new house a year ago. New wife is a fish-aholic too. She's always wanted saltwater, but knew her limits. I started researching again, this time with the power of the internet. Game on. The plan is a mixed reef, with a good balance between fish and corals. I'll start with easier corals, soft and LPS, and hope to work my knowledge and experience until I feel confident with SPS.

WirelessMike · Jan 10, 2021

Welcome to the reef! This should be good!

Drewker · Jan 10, 2021

One of the limitation of the the ProClear tank is the metric plumbing. It's all pre-installed, and set in a bed of sealant. There are two 32mm drains, and a 25mm return, all plumbed up through the bottom of the tank. There are low quality ball valves at the bottom of each return. All-in-all, pretty rudimentary.

The return line is fine - it come up into a tee fitting, and then transitions to loc-line on both sides. Seems fine, I'm hoping it won't need any alterations on this side of the bulkhead, because there's no room in there, and it's all metric.

The drains are pretty odd in the overflow. There are two 50mm standpipes, both the same height, with these little propeller looking things sitting in them. No strainer, per se.

I guess the idea is they will both be open drains, neither one in full siphon. Sounds like it will be pretty loud, and not very consistent. Everything is glued together, so I'm not sure what can be easily altered. I might be able to cut one of the drains with a Dremel, and get a Herbie style drain set up. A 2" strainer could probably be modified to fit, or I could model and 3D print one.

A crazy idea would be to repurpose the return bulkhead as the third standpipe in a Bean Animal drain. The additional redundancy would be nice, but the added danger of drilling the back wall of the tank for a new return line doesn't seem like it's worth the risk/hassle.

Thoughts?

Next up: Plumbing plans in the stand

Drewker · Jan 10, 2021

WirelessMike said:
Welcome to the reef! This should be good!

thanks! I hope so!

Drewker · Jan 22, 2021

Out Of The Mouth Of Babes

This metric plumbing on theses drains/returns presents some challenges. I was considering a few solutions…

BRS sells metric transition fittings. These would work, but the problem is the metric side of the fitting is a socket, not a slip end*. The plumbing which comes with the tank is already glued up, so I do not have a metric slip fitting to work with. Gary at ProClear is great to work with, and will sell you metric fittings if you need them. You can also order them from China, and get them a bajillion weeks later, if you really like staring at an empty tank.
On @craftbrews thread, he found a supplier which offers metric/inch conversion unions. This will definitely work, but they are spendy.

This weekend, I was explaining the problem to my fiancé. She picked up the 32mm drain line, and a 1” union I had on hand, and said, “Why don’t you just screw the two sizes together?”

“That won’t work,” I explain, “they are different sizes. See, if you try to screw them together they won’t….”

Except it did. It went together flawlessly.

I was gob-smacked.

I grabbed the 25mm union and a ¾” union, and excitedly screwed them togeth….

Except it didn’t. Completely different sizes.

So I grabbed a ¾” full union ball valve I had on hand, and…

Perfect.

I ordered these fittings from PVCFittingsonline.com. The FUBV is model #FP-PRO-TUBV-ST-007. The 1” union was model number #897-010. You can see the faint imprint of the gasket lube on the union seat, so it's definitely making the seal as it should.

NEXT UP: Dry fitting the returns

*A little bit about PVC plumbing: I see some confusion over terms, people buying the wrong things, and ending up with stuff they can’t use. So here are some terms that might help.

Slip – these are the typical fittings you are used to seeing. The pipe slides into a slip fitting. Connection is made with PVC cement.

Spigot a.k.a. Street fitting – this fitting is the same outside diameter as the pipe. They fit into a slip fitting. You cannot connect a spigot fitting directly to the pipe. When you have an elbow that is spigot on one end and slip on the other, it is known as a Street elbow. These are very handy when space is tight. Connection is made with PVC cement.

NPT (National Pipe Threads) – these fittings have a slightly tapered thread. You will also see them referred to as FPT (Female Pipe Thread), meaning the threads are on the inside wall of the fitting, MPT (Male Pipe Thread), meaning the threads are on the outside wall of the fitting. To make a threaded connection, you will need male and female ended fittings.

You’ll see tons of threads hotly debating the use of Teflon (PTFE) tape on PVC threaded connections. This is not is the preferred method, the reason being it makes it too easy to overtighten the threads, and results in a less forgiving seal. Will it work? Yes. The tape packs down into the thread valleys, which creates a seal, but it puts a lot of shear stress on the fitting, and it will not be as tolerant of vibration and/or loosening without leaking.

But threaded PVC joints should be made with a non-hardening pipe sealant. Many “pipe dopes” look the same; they are not. Read the label and look for the manufacturer’s recommendation for use on PVC. When you tighten a threaded joint, apply the pipe sealant to the threads of both fittings. Tighten to finger-tight. Not full hand, just until it is snug. Now tighten the fitting 1-2 more turns and no more. As little as 4 turns can crack the fitting.

My personal opinion, as an Architect and reefer, is threaded connections should be avoided. Threaded fittings are designed to rely on pipe sealant. Putting them together without something on the threads will result in a leak – they threads marry together in a way which creates a small gap in the bottom of the threads, which the sealant fills. Teflon tape will pack into this gap, but it’s not what it’s meant for. I don’t want the tank water coming into contact with the sealing compound, and leaching chemicals into the water, and I don’t like to use Teflon tape, because it’s a crappy seal, long term. Lasco systems dives more deeply into this subject, if you need more convincing. www.Lascofittings.com/threads