ChukeeR's 266G Reef Savvy + Synergy Reef Build / Upgrade

booth2010 · Oct 29, 2015

Dont you have a separate fuge as well? If so can you try and find a way to have some extra water flow to there as well as the sump? How full do you plan on filling the sump? I feel like with a 66g you would be able to have it half filled or less? I dont know your whole plan though.

Black Pearl · Oct 29, 2015

I'm having both returns connected to a single wye check valve,easy access for maintanance in fish room. BRS 160 build, they used one for each return

HiddenUser · Oct 29, 2015

Not really sure how to explain without a fancy picture, but with how I plumbed in the 65 - It wont work. The 65G is plumbed to drain into my sump versus expanding the capacity of my sump. I could have drilled a bulkhead really low in the 65 and if the return lost power the water could basically raise another ~8" before overflowing the sump. That would have given me an extra 22 gallons of capacity and I figure that my sump will have ~39 gallons of water in it while the tank is running normally, so I would have had almost 50G of extra capacity...BUT the 65 turned into another tank where we're put our 2 Tomato Clowns, Royal Dottyback, and whatever fish in the future end up becoming too aggressive.

So my plan now is to have both the 266 and 65 tanks drain into the sump. Then I'd put a bulkhead in the return chamber of the sump and have that drain into like a 150 or 180 gallon tank. I'd just have to section off a part of that tank and then I'd have my return pump back up. Then I'd have PLENTY of extra space and don't need to worry about failing check valves or plugged anti-siphon holes.

I know that people have been successful in using check valves or anti-siphon holes, but I'd just prefer not having to have extra things to clean and maintain.

booth2010 · Oct 29, 2015

Well then what if you did this, it gonna sound complicated but not that bad:

Have a way for the sump to overflow into a smaller additional tank, maybe a 20g, and have a pump that turns on for the first 5mins or so after a power outtage to put the excess water in the 20g back into the main sump. kinda complicated though lol

HiddenUser · Oct 29, 2015

Guess I'd rather not have an extra pump / sump overflow tank like that to worry about working in a time of need. Doing it the way I'm thinking really doesn't require anything other than a tank that can potentially hold a large volume of water. Hopefully I can find something locally, otherwise I'll just wait until the LFS has them on sale.

booth2010 · Oct 29, 2015

I would say just plumb everything, fill it with fresh water, then simulate a power outtage and then worry what to do if you need to. Everything might end up being okay or the last 10g may drain really slow and you wont have to worry.

Hlmarlowe · Oct 30, 2015

Wow crazy, another great looking build! How do you like those skimmers?

HiddenUser · Oct 31, 2015

Got the stand into place this morning! Here's a little teaser...

mixer911 · Nov 3, 2015

keep it going Chuck! Looking good.

HiddenUser · Nov 3, 2015

So it's not much of an update, but I started getting some of the plumbing organized and put together. I'm not the greatest with plumbing so it takes me forever just to do a little bit. Measure 3 or 4 times and cut once, haha! I have some Flex PVC coming to make the longer runs easier though.

The 65G next to my sump currently houses a pair of Tomato Clowns, Yellow Watchmen Goby, and a couple Peppermint Shrimp. I was going to use it for a refugium but now its home for our mean fish, but we just can't quite get rid of them because they were our very first saltwater fish.

Still need to work on this a little more. Going to add a ball valve so I can shutoff the flow from the 65G to my sump.

HiddenUser · Nov 6, 2015

AND.....................The tank has been moved into place!! Oh, and I started to do some of the plumbing as well!

booth2010 · Nov 6, 2015

Looking great, wish I could build me one of those!

HiddenUser · Nov 7, 2015

Almost ready for water! Just need to hook up the return lines in the basement, drill the sump so that it drains into a 125 refugium (which I still need to pick up), and hang the lights. The glare is terrible so you can't really see the aquascape, but I think it came out alright...Looks much cooler in person.

BigDaddyD · Nov 8, 2015

Nice!

HiddenUser · Nov 9, 2015

This is going to be tough, but the tank will probably sit this way for a few more weeks. I was making a list of things I still needed yesterday and aside from some additional plumbing parts for the return lines and the drain from my sump down to a 125G tank; I need heaters, filter socks, epoxy or super glue for the aquascape, etc...

Anyway as my list got bigger and bigger I remembered we're just under 3 weeks from Black Friday and Cyber Monday so I'm going to hold out and see if I can get some good deals on the remaining items that I need.

Gabriel Garcia · Nov 9, 2015

ChukeeR said:
This is going to be tough, but the tank will probably sit this way for a few more weeks. I was making a list of things I still needed yesterday and aside from some additional plumbing parts for the return lines and the drain from my sump down to a 125G tank; I need heaters, filter socks, epoxy or super glue for the aquascape, etc...

Anyway as my list got bigger and bigger I remembered we're just under 3 weeks from Black Friday and Cyber Monday so I'm going to hold out and see if I can get some good deals on the remaining items that I need.

I am doing the same thing. I need a lot of things for my tank to get it started. I know patience is the name of the game with reefing so I am going to be patient even before I start cycling my tank and wait for Black Friday to get everything I need for the tank.

Black Pearl · Nov 9, 2015

timing is everything

booth2010 · Nov 9, 2015

ChukeeR said:
epoxy or super glue for the aquascape, etc...

With how much rock you have, have you thought about using E-Marco-400? Its looking good I bet its killing you to wait.

HiddenUser · Nov 9, 2015

A lot of it is actually very stable for the most part...Just want to glue down some of the smaller pieces that could could get knocked over by an urchin or snails. The nice thing about glue is that if I ever need to pull the tank apart the glued seams will just break versus having to break apart the rocks.