Coral Garage Build

[PasoFish89]

Sneak peek pic on some of the plumbing, I will post a full breakdown once I get a new return pump.

Looking good! Nice and clean!

 

[acrocapital]

You mentioned an exhaust fan, I assume it's in the attic above the garage. I've got an exhaust fan in the gable vent that runs basically the entire summer and I don't think I've measured anything above 90 in the garage, so definitely get a high CFM fan going in the gable if you don't already, definitely worth the cost with what it'll save you on that portable AC going.

I don't have an attic above the garage, it's open straight to the roof. But the garage is walled off & insulated from the attic in the rest of the house.
The fan is a cheap makeshift thing I threw together, I got some parts off eBay mounted a solar panel, battery, and a temperature controller so when the ambient air temp rises above 85F the fan kicks on.

 

[acrocapital]

Looking good! Nice and clean!

Thank you!

 

[PasoFish89]

I don't have an attic above the garage, it's open straight to the roof. But the garage is walled off & insulated from the attic in the rest of the house.
The fan is a cheap makeshift thing I threw together, I got some parts off eBay mounted a solar panel, battery, and a temperature controller so when the ambient air temp rises above 85F the fan kicks on.

Nice set up! Looking forward to seeing how it works.

 

[Max93]

Nice!!

I want to do the same in my garage. I’m considering using a swamp cooler for the summer, and just a space heater in the winters.

My garage is insulated and all, so I think insulating the doors themselves and would be golden. Run halides to help with winters.

 

[msloan21]

Looking

Thanks for posting the pentair link - I might be doing something similar in my basement later this year

 

[acrocapital]

Nice!!

I want to do the same in my garage. I’m considering using a swamp cooler for the summer, and just a space heater in the winters.

My garage is insulated and all, so I think insulating the doors themselves and would be golden. Run halides to help with winters.

Yes I'm all for garage tanks! The swamp cooler might run into some humidity issues though.
This is the link to the garage door insulation kit I used.

 

[acrocapital]

Looking

Thanks for posting the pentair link - I might be doing something similar in my basement later this year

Nice! Looking forward to seeing it! The only thing I regret with the fiberglass tank is not going bigger.

 

[Max93]

Yes I'm all for garage tanks! The swamp cooler might run into some humidity issues though.
This is the link to the garage door insulation kit I used.

Thank you for sharing!

Question - I live in a very dry climate with long winters.

Currently; my garage can hit 40 degrees when we have a 10 degree day outside without insulation on the door itself. In the summers, the garage gets to maybe 70-80 at the most.

Do you still think the swamp cooler is not necessary? I figured it would help with the dry climate.

 

[acrocapital]

Thank you for sharing!

Question - I live in a very dry climate with long winters.

Currently; my garage can hit 40 degrees when we have a 10 degree day outside without insulation on the door itself. In the summers, the garage gets to maybe 70-80 at the most.

Do you still think the swamp cooler is not necessary? I figured it would help with the dry climate.

I am sure if you live in a very dry area you wouldn't run into as many problems with a swamp cooler as you would in my area for instance. But I do know the higher the humidity the less effective evaporation will be as a cooling method.
An external AC like the one by MR Cool brand would be very effective while still keeping energy consumption relatively lower compared to a portable AC system.
But if your garage gets 70-80 I wouldn't worry too much about AC I'm sure some simple fans over the tank would be plenty.

 

[acrocapital]

Sneak peek pic on some of the plumbing, I will post a full breakdown once I get a new return pump.

The plumbing is Complete!
Easier to go over this in a video than trying to break everything down with multiple photos.

 

[Max93]

The plumbing is Complete!
Easier to go over this in a video than trying to break everything down with multiple photos.

Wow!!

 

[TheGrimReeferTx]

I'm jealous you live somewhere the weather allows that, I could never get away with that in Dallas without some serious chillers and heaters!!

I wonder if we could get away with it with some serous insulation

 

[Max93]

I am sure if you live in a very dry area you wouldn't run into as many problems with a swamp cooler as you would in my area for instance. But I do know the higher the humidity the less effective evaporation will be as a cooling method.
An external AC like the one by MR Cool brand would be very effective while still keeping energy consumption relatively lower compared to a portable AC system.
But if your garage gets 70-80 I wouldn't worry too much about AC I'm sure some simple fans over the tank would be plenty.

I agree, couple good sized fans would probably fix this.

 

[acrocapital]

The cycling has begun!
Hard to believe just 45 days ago I had nothing in the garage and now I have a setup I have been dreaming about for years. Huge thanks to my wife and son for helping me throughout this, and you guys on R2R for your feedback!
I finished the rockscape in the 190 this weekend and was able to pick up some used Kessils (the best LEDs out there IMO), 3x 120G batches of saltwater later we had water in the tanks!

The next steps are going to be to pick up some more Kessils and T5s while the system finishes its cycle.

 

[Max93]

Awesome job. I’m going to copy this in my garage, phenomenal build.

Question - I’ve never built a stand, did you follow a guide, or how did you build this to ensure you are confident in the stand etc.?

 

[acrocapital]

Awesome job. I’m going to copy this in my garage, phenomenal build.

Question - I’ve never built a stand, did you follow a guide, or how did you build this to ensure you are confident in the stand etc.?

Thank you! Please do a garage build that would be awesome!
As for design on the stands I didn't really go off of a set design just reference photos online and a stress test in Fusion 360. I will pm you CAD drawings later tonight when i get home.

 

[acrocapital]

Not a whole lot of updates lately on the tank as it’s been cycling. One thing though I did add recently is some black egg crate and pvc netting around the overflow in the fiberglass tank and a divider. My plan is to have half of the fiberglass tank dedicated to anemones, I put 6 tester RBTA’s in there last weekend and they seem to be doing great!
I am debating adding another Tuna Sun 360 above the anemone side, going to wait though until I have a chance to measure par.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

I would skip the ac idea and get a chiller. I’ve got over 9000 gallons in my insulated heated but not air conditioned Morton building. With the 12 inch insulated walls and Illinois summers it can reach up to 90 in there but with chillers never had the water get too hot. The chillers really don’t run more than a few weeks a year. we also have air exchangers and run commercial dehumidifiers, Salt vapor would rust/ eat the building if we don’t plan for it.

 

[Charley75]

Curious what kind of leveling issues, if any, you had in the garage, and how you addressed them.