Bills 150 Reef

[Bill Howard]

Well this is my first build thread and I'm a little new at this. I have posted a few questions in various forms but never really documented anything involving my tanks. So, I figured this would be a good start.

Well I guess it all starts with the tank, and I just placed my order for a 60x24x24 euro braced 150-gallon tank. The tank is being built by Crystal Reef Aquatics. Just a little shout out to Mike O'Brien at CRA he has a pleasure to work with and a great help getting the specs for this tank figured out and within my budget. The tank will be assembled with 1/2" glass, the front and sides will be Starfire and tank will include their floating bottom and corner protectors. It will be drilled for two 1” returns in the upper back corners and a 20” Synergy Reef overflow, which by the way, I won here on R2R in their giveaway about two years ago.

Now that tank has been ordered time to get started on the stand and sump.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Sounds great! I'm going to follow your thread and watch the progression. Congrats!

 

[Bill Howard]

Well I got word yesterday that Crystal Reef Aquatics received the glass for my tank and has started assembly. Today Mike sent me a couple of pictures with the walls up. Can't wait to see more.

 

[Crystal Reef Aquatics]

Thanks for the support Bill! We'll keep you posted on the progress.

 

[Bill Howard]

It’s been awhile since I have posted anything on my build and for lack of a better excuse, I’ll just say summer sort of got in the way. I have been doing little things here and there, but I’m back at it now and really looking forward to getting this build finished. Here are some updates as to where I’m at now.

Access hole to basement has been cut in and floor has been prepped and tiled.


Completed the assembly of my Framing TECH stand. Many thanks to Anthony at Framing Tech for all his help, I can’t say enough about how helpful he was and how nice this stand is..



Finished skin for stand, but still need to work on the doors.



Tank arrived from Crystal Reef Aquatics. It was packed incredibly well and the crate looked like it was handled with white gloves, not a scratch on it. Unbelievably, the freight truck driver turns out to be one of my neighbors! We had a nice chat while I unscrewed the top and inspected the condition of the tank, and he was more than helpful assisting me in getting the crate into my garage.



Tank is in the house and on the stand. And holy S*%^, this tank is absolutely stunning! I can’t thank Mike O’Brien of Crystal Reef Aquatics enough. This is the nicest tank I have ever seen.



So now it’s on to finishing the sump and plumbing this thing!

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Sweet, that tank is going to look great!

 

[Bill Howard]

Thanks, I'm really excited to get this up and running.

 

[Captain Quint]

Bill Howard I am really stoked for you and impressed with the construction and shipping from Crystal Reef Aquatics

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to progress pics.

 

[Bill Howard]

Bill Howard I am really stoked for you and impressed with the construction and shipping from Crystal Reef Aquatics

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to progress pics.

Captain Quint,
Thanks, busy day today but I hope to have more pics up soon.

BTW, Happy thanksgiving to All.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Captain Quint,
Thanks, busy day today but I hope to have more pics up soon.

BTW, Happy thanksgiving to All.

Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!

 

[GtiKyle]

Looks great, can't wait to see some more updates

 

[Bill Howard]

So now it’s on to finishing the sump and plumbing this thing.

The sump is a standard Aqueon 75-gallon tank I got during the Petco $/gallon sale. I will post some pics of the sump as soon as I get the glass baffles back from the glass shop and have them installed. The tank is drilled for the Synergy Reef 20” overflow and two 1” inch returns. I plan on plumbing the drains as 1.5” all the way to the sump using a combination of hard and flexible PVC.

As far as for the returns, I am struggling with how to do these. I was planning on running dual Jebao DCP-18000 return pumps for redundancy. Each pump would be on its own separate circuit with one of the circuits being tee’d off for a manifold. Each circuit would be plumbed using 1.5” PVC all the way to the return bulkheads and then reduced to 1”. Each return will have a Vivid Creative Aquatics random flow generator inside the tank. In addition, each circuit would have a 2” Neptune flow monitor to help monitor and balance flow.

So far, I have a few 1.5” true union ball valves and one of the 2” flow monitors. I ordered these so I would have them on hand to help with the layout and spacing of the plumbing. OMG are these things huge! This has got me thinking weather I need 1.5” or if 1” plumbing would be sufficient. Also, does running dual return pumps offer a significant advantage over a single pump? Anyone see an issue with this plan? I would like to hear your thoughts, comments, and suggestions.