Disclaimer!!! Im copying and posting this from my local reef club website. I actually began researching this build back in February and started actually putting it together around July. I have been taking my time and trying to do it right the first time. I owe a lot of thanks to some guys on here as well for not only help but also inspiration. I would not have been able to do this build without the help from you guys and my local Club ARC. Thank you all
Ok everyone I'm finally going to try to start an official build thread! As you already Know a lot of my work has been completed, but I still have a bit more to go overall. I will continue adding until I get it caught up to where I am now.
The Process officially started around January of this year, we first started to get a mainland 180 from Pure Reef I believe. Then some genius on here said you can get a red sea for the same price and still save a bit, thanks a lot!!! I started the process in stages, as so I wouldn't get overwhelmed. I will try to tell everything in stages along with pictures, please be patient with me. Thanks
Stage 1 - Floor support
I ended up doing this myself, as a company quoted me $3,000 to do it for me. Im a working man and not rich by any means! I picked up 6-15k pound rated floor support jacks, 6 cinder blocks, and 3-3' 4*4 post. Unfortunately the tank runs parallel with the floor joist, so I wanted to try to put in overkill. So I ran 1-3' post across 3 joist at every 2ft to support the entire length of the tank. I placed a jack at each end of the post for a total of 3 columns using 6 jacks. The hardest part was just being under the crawl space in July, dang I should have waited until Fall! Most of my equipment I bought new, a few items used, sold some items before I even used them, changed my mind several times and still doing it on some items, drove all the way to Charlotte N.C to get a deal on some equipment, drove to Macon for some lights just to turn around and sale them! So this has been a very fun journey already, I really appreciate all of the help, support, motivation, encouragement, knowledge, and guidance that I have received here already and look forward to more. Thank you all!
Stage 2 - Water Station
I was actually lucky enough to find a six stage BRS RODI system with extra filters and pump on R2R. I order 2 75 gallon vertical storage tanks from a place out in Griffin, GA, which was a pain o pick up! I did get a card for a store that can get them for you out there, so you don't have to wait for semis to be loaded. I plumbed this using a Jebao DCP 5000, which I got off of ARC. Im still not completely happy with it, I may make some changes as far as adding an auto flush, auto cut off to my rodi system. If I were to do it again, I may have just went with old fashioned brute cans but I was not going to pay almost the same price for brute cans. I would have gone with the cans if I found them used. I put a coupler on the end of my pic for a quick connect like on a fireman's house which I love. I have 50ft of hose that I use, I will need to get a reel or something to put this on when not in use. Later I will also have to order some actually heavier grade hose as my is kinda flimsy. I also took the tanks off of the blocks and just placed them on the ground. I only pump fresh water into the left tank and use a pump to move it to the right tank for mixing.
Stage 3 - Electrical
This was a fun one, as my electrical panel was a disaster. I had to have an electrician come in and re run all of my grounds and neutrals, as they were all bundled together before. After that was completed I went in added a whole house surge protector, replaced some 1 in breakers with 1/2 inch breakers so I would have space for the surge protector and another dedicated 20 amp circuit for the tank. Once that was completed I was able to run a dedicated 20 amp circuit with a gfci outlet, I only put in a double plug at first then common sense hit me so I switched it out for a quad receptacle which I'm already glad I did. I was really happy with the whole way the electrical turned out as it was needed plus I had never ran a circuit or switched out breakers before. I consider it a success as I didn't burn the house down or kill myself!!!
Stage 4 - Rocks!!!!!
Ok everyone I'm finally going to try to start an official build thread! As you already Know a lot of my work has been completed, but I still have a bit more to go overall. I will continue adding until I get it caught up to where I am now.
The Process officially started around January of this year, we first started to get a mainland 180 from Pure Reef I believe. Then some genius on here said you can get a red sea for the same price and still save a bit, thanks a lot!!! I started the process in stages, as so I wouldn't get overwhelmed. I will try to tell everything in stages along with pictures, please be patient with me. Thanks
Stage 1 - Floor support
I ended up doing this myself, as a company quoted me $3,000 to do it for me. Im a working man and not rich by any means! I picked up 6-15k pound rated floor support jacks, 6 cinder blocks, and 3-3' 4*4 post. Unfortunately the tank runs parallel with the floor joist, so I wanted to try to put in overkill. So I ran 1-3' post across 3 joist at every 2ft to support the entire length of the tank. I placed a jack at each end of the post for a total of 3 columns using 6 jacks. The hardest part was just being under the crawl space in July, dang I should have waited until Fall! Most of my equipment I bought new, a few items used, sold some items before I even used them, changed my mind several times and still doing it on some items, drove all the way to Charlotte N.C to get a deal on some equipment, drove to Macon for some lights just to turn around and sale them! So this has been a very fun journey already, I really appreciate all of the help, support, motivation, encouragement, knowledge, and guidance that I have received here already and look forward to more. Thank you all!
Stage 2 - Water Station
I was actually lucky enough to find a six stage BRS RODI system with extra filters and pump on R2R. I order 2 75 gallon vertical storage tanks from a place out in Griffin, GA, which was a pain o pick up! I did get a card for a store that can get them for you out there, so you don't have to wait for semis to be loaded. I plumbed this using a Jebao DCP 5000, which I got off of ARC. Im still not completely happy with it, I may make some changes as far as adding an auto flush, auto cut off to my rodi system. If I were to do it again, I may have just went with old fashioned brute cans but I was not going to pay almost the same price for brute cans. I would have gone with the cans if I found them used. I put a coupler on the end of my pic for a quick connect like on a fireman's house which I love. I have 50ft of hose that I use, I will need to get a reel or something to put this on when not in use. Later I will also have to order some actually heavier grade hose as my is kinda flimsy. I also took the tanks off of the blocks and just placed them on the ground. I only pump fresh water into the left tank and use a pump to move it to the right tank for mixing.
Stage 3 - Electrical
This was a fun one, as my electrical panel was a disaster. I had to have an electrician come in and re run all of my grounds and neutrals, as they were all bundled together before. After that was completed I went in added a whole house surge protector, replaced some 1 in breakers with 1/2 inch breakers so I would have space for the surge protector and another dedicated 20 amp circuit for the tank. Once that was completed I was able to run a dedicated 20 amp circuit with a gfci outlet, I only put in a double plug at first then common sense hit me so I switched it out for a quad receptacle which I'm already glad I did. I was really happy with the whole way the electrical turned out as it was needed plus I had never ran a circuit or switched out breakers before. I consider it a success as I didn't burn the house down or kill myself!!!
Stage 4 - Rocks!!!!!
