Another Build Thread! 125g Peninsula Mixed Reef

[SaltyVisions]

Well, I know this community loves seeing build threads and R2R enticed me with a badge so come with me on my journey during setup of this 125 gallon (future) mixed reef.
Specs so far:
125g glass eurobraced tank, black silicone seams - dimensions 48"L x 30"W x 20"T
Stand - 2x4 construction, white laminated exterior panels and doors, double door access from the long sides,single door access from the short side, and a large opening on the back side to allow for air movement.
3x Hydra32HD, Vectra M2 Return Pump, BM Curve7 Skimmer, Trigger Systems Triton34 V1, 2x MP40QD, 40W AquaUV Sterilizer, Neptune Classic system, TLF250 Reactor, BM T11 Dosing pump, Herbie style overflow, and that's all I can think of at this moment while on a break in the office.

My last tank was a 180g acrylic peninsula reef. I got tired of bruising the inside of my arm scrubbing the tank and the troubles that come with acrylic so decided to break that down and start fresh. The last tank was thrown together with Franken-plumbing and I've always been jealous of tanks that people took their time to set up, I.E. beautiful plumbing, clean electronics, etcetera, so I'll be going slow with this build and will update as I go along.

Here's what we've got so far:
Tank and Stand

Dry fitting drain plumbing (return is almost complete but don't have a picture yet until the UV is plumbed in)

ATO and Dosing/Water Change Lines - I have 4 - 1/4" JG lines running from my garage, through the roof, into the pillar that the tank butts up against. One line is the ATO and the other 3 haven't been used yet. Initially I had planned for dosing from the garage but the liquid would evap almost instantly in the AZ summer lol. I figure if I ever do the slow auto water change approach these blanks will be useful. At any rate, prior to this build the lines were pulled through a rough opening in the wall and ugly with green JG line. So, used a blank to mount the push fittings with black line on the exterior to clean it up. I'll have to put an access/vent panel in the column in the event there's a leak (detector WILL be going in the column) so I can repair it.

Here's my little electronics/controller cabinet. I wasn't able to dedicate the whole short side for the cabinet since I'll need the opening to the right to replace the UV bulb but I mounted everything last night, drilled the cord plug holes, and started painting. Here's just the frame and how it sits in the stand. Ugly right now but should get prettied up soon.

So yeah, that's about it for now. Might have some more updates over the weekend.

 

[Peace River]

Excellent! This will be fun to watch as this tank matures. A lot of things to like here - great work!

 

[Jaebster]

ATO and Dosing/Water Change Lines - I have 4 - 1/4" JG lines running from my garage, through the roof, into the pillar that the tank butts up against. One line is the ATO and the other 3 haven't been used yet. Initially I had planned for dosing from the garage but the liquid would evap almost instantly in the AZ summer lol. I figure if I ever do the slow auto water change approach these blanks will be useful. At any rate, prior to this build the lines were pulled through a rough opening in the wall and ugly with green JG line. So, used a blank to mount the push fittings with black line on the exterior to clean it up. I'll have to put an access/vent panel in the column in the event there's a leak (detector WILL be going in the column) so I can repair it.

Nice build! Can you give some details on the parts you used for the ATO/AWC wall panel? Gonna do something similar so looking for ideas. Thx!

 

[SaltyVisions]

Excellent! This will be fun to watch as this tank matures. A lot of things to like here - great work!

Thanks Peace River!

Nice build! Can you give some details on the parts you used for the ATO/AWC wall panel? Gonna do something similar so looking for ideas. Thx!

Thanks Jaebster! The "bulkhead fittings" are from Amazon. Then the single gang low voltage box and metal blank from Home Depot. I got plastic at first but that did NOT withstand the 5/8" drill bit lol. Links to the 3 parts below:

Carlon 1-Gang Non-Metallic Low-Voltage Old Work Bracket SC100RR - The Home Depot

The Carlon 1-Gang Low-Voltage Old-Work Bracket is specially designed for the installation of Low-Voltage devices in an existing wall. The backless box design accommodates the space and bend-radius requirements

www.homedepot.com

Commercial Electric 1-Gang Blank Midway/Maxi Sized Metal Wall Plate, White (Textured/Paintable Finish) PMTW-B - The Home Depot

Commercial Electric's line of metal wall plates offer a durable and versatile alternative to traditional plastic wall plates. Made of all steel, they are Maxi sized to provide extra-large wall coverage

www.homedepot.com

 

[Jaebster]

Thanks Peace River!



Thanks Jaebster! The "bulkhead fittings" are from Amazon. Then the single gang low voltage box and metal blank from Home Depot. I got plastic at first but that did NOT withstand the 5/8" drill bit lol. Links to the 3 parts below:

Carlon 1-Gang Non-Metallic Low-Voltage Old Work Bracket SC100RR - The Home Depot

The Carlon 1-Gang Low-Voltage Old-Work Bracket is specially designed for the installation of Low-Voltage devices in an existing wall. The backless box design accommodates the space and bend-radius requirements

www.homedepot.com

Commercial Electric 1-Gang Blank Midway/Maxi Sized Metal Wall Plate, White (Textured/Paintable Finish) PMTW-B - The Home Depot

Commercial Electric's line of metal wall plates offer a durable and versatile alternative to traditional plastic wall plates. Made of all steel, they are Maxi sized to provide extra-large wall coverage

www.homedepot.com

Great thanks! Got 1 more question, with those bulkheads, theres no issues with the hard RO tubing bending inside the wall? No kinking and enough flexibility in the RO tubing?

 

[SaltyVisions]

Great thanks! Got 1 more question, with those bulkheads, theres no issues with the hard RO tubing bending inside the wall? No kinking and enough flexibility in the RO tubing?

I don’t have any issues with it but the pillar has more depth than a standard wall as it’s 30”w and 15-20”d. Not sure if you’ll get kinking within a wall. One option could be to use less rigid line like drip irrigation tubing but I can’t confirm if that will work on these fittings or if it’s safe to use.

 

[Jaebster]

Ok. Thanks! I guess with those bulkheads I'll have to add elbows. Dont want to increase the # of joints, but dont want the lines linking later in the wall. Guess ill silicone the joints inside the wall too. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/mur-lok-ro-elbow-union-push-connect.html

 

[SaltyVisions]

Made some progress this weekend. Electronics cabinet is done but won’t be able to fully clean up likes until the rest of the equipment is installed. I have to add an extension to the right exterior so I can mount two brackets for the dosing pump (BM t11) and ATO (Spectrapure LM3).

Plumbing has all been dry fit. Waiting on a sch80 reducer for the UV drain but had a spare sch40 to use just to finish dry fitting. Please don’t pay attention to the cable nonsense lol

Mounted the Hydra32 power supplies and tucked away the cables in a channel. I’m not very smart as I buttoned everything up then realized I had to take down 2 lights that will be used on my temp tank when my buddy buys the old 26’s

That’s about it for now. Not sure how much time I’ll have in the coming weeks as my MIL is coming to town for 3 weeks and the wife and I are going on travel end of March.

 

[SaltyVisions]

After taking last week off for a "staycation" (wife and I were supposed to go to Cayman Islands for the week but trip was cancelled, for obvious reasons) I found some time to get the tank mostly finished and cycling. Prior to putting in sand and rock I did a leak test and dialed in the Herbie overflow and after 48 hours of running no leaks. Biggest issue I had was when one of the MP40 wetsides separated from its base. I had to check out a few things but this was toast. It was quite a few years old with an upgraded QD driver so it was due for a "final" upgrade. The plumbing was a pleasant surprise considering I'm pretty weak at the PVC game. Anyway, drained the tank, loaded two (of 6) bags of sand and started on the aquascape. I ended up with 120 lbs of Caribsea sand and 100 lbs of misc. Caribsea Life Rock rock, shapes, and donuts. Insert kiddo for dramatic effect (this was the first 80 lbs, had to get another 20 lb box)

I used some TLF epoxy to keep the rock piles in place, for obvious reasons.

The LM3 ATO and BM T11 w/ dosing containers set up and cleaned up

Slightly cleaned up equipment cabinet w/ side view of ATO & Dosing Equipment

Not sure what the heck to do with all these cords on the backside of the equipment cabinet but I'm OK with this "clean up" since it's off the bottom of the stand haha

and finally: a one light cycling shot just for aesthetic purposes (other two lights are being used to keep fish and coral happy in the temp tank). Will NOT be keeping any light on the new tank during the cycle

Can't wait to move everything over, put up the other two lights to clean up the light rail & cable track, along with the skimmer and the GFO reactor, and get things truly rockin' and rollin' with this tank.

Thanks for checking out or following this build y'all! It's been a PITA but also some fun and a great experience to actually take my time on a new tank. I'm pretty sure this will be my last build thread otherwise I'll get stabbed by my wife lol.

I'll update again once I move the remaining equipment and coral over, just as a final post, unless something else happens I feel the need to update along the cycling process. Thanks again for tuning in