Dan's 120 Reef Reboot

[PicassoDan]

Hi Reef 2 Reef!

Some background: I moved three years ago and had to tear down the 120g reef, 40g basement sump, and 40g frag grow-out tank. I attempted to keep a 40g "ark" with frags of everything and the fish (hippo tang, yellow tang, clown, blenny). It worked for about a year while we lived in an apartment and planned our new house build. The final move to the new house did not work. It got ugly really quickly, and I lost everything in about two days. I got pretty discouraged about reefing, and I shelved everything for a solid year before even thinking about about getting back into it.
But I couldn't stay out. All this time, the stand and hood I had built, the lighting, pumps, skimmer were all sitting in the basement just begging me to set them back up. So, about a year ago I started building.

I'll add pictures tonight that should bring us up to date, and then the goal is to keep this thread as a journal.
It all starts with a corner of the basement...

 

[MERKEY]

Welcome back!

Cant wait to see the end result!!

 

[PicassoDan]

The plan was to get a frag grow-out tank and sump set up first, and bring the display tank online later. First order of business was to build a table for the sump and frag tank. I spent some time thinking about the layout, and taking lessons learned from previous setups.
The table is 2x6 and 2x4 framed, and painted with a gloss white, oil-based paint (several coats). Originally it was going to be L-shaped, but I changed it to just be straight. I'm glad I made it in two pieces...

I installed a plastic utility sink to the left of the table. Having a sink right next to the sump and frag tanks makes maintenance much easier. It drains out to a gravity drain that goes about 300' away from the house to daylight. I'd rather dump water changes out there than in the septic system. The walls are painted with a high-gloss latex paint. A year later and it has held up very well.

 

[PicassoDan]

Before the move, I sold the old 120. I hated the built-in corner overflow, and I didn't really want to move it multiple times.

Back in February of this year, I picked up a new non-reef ready tank. After comparing a standard 4x2x2 Marineland and Aqueon 120 at the LFS, I decided on the Marineland. The plastic trim was thicker and it had a little better finish overall. I also checked that it was non-tempered glass using a polarized filter and my cell phone screen.
Here it is collecting dust and holding the stand down for me...

I built the stand several years ago. It's hard maple with a clear water-based poly finish. It held up well for a few years with the old setup.

 

[PicassoDan]

After researching the different ghost-style overflows, I bought an Exotic Marine Systems (EMS) 20" kit. There were a couple things about the design that I really liked compared to some of the others:
1. I really don't like the teeth that most overflows use. EMS uses three 1/2" tall horizontal slots on the internal box. Compared to teeth, horizontal slots are quieter, and the water level in the display is less dependent on flow rate.
2. They are built to order out of 1/4" cast acrylic. The outer box is Eurobraced all around to reduce deflection over time. The internal box is black and the outer box is smoked - very nice looking.
3. The outer box has spacers that allow it to be installed flush with the top of the tank. With the pump off, the outer box will not overflow.

I'll post some updates once it's online and water is flowing - which should be soon!

https://www.exoticmarinesystems.com/collections/overflows-systems/products/24-overflow-kit

 

[PicassoDan]

Drilled the back of the tank for the two 1-1/2" bulkheads a couple nights ago.

Dry fit of the EMS overflow:

 

[PicassoDan]

Rolled on the second coat of paint tonight with a mini-roller:

. Rust-Oleum oil-based black.

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Welcome back to the hobby. Looks like you have a well thought out plan. I love your stand as well.

 

[PicassoDan]

Welcome back to the hobby. Looks like you have a well thought out plan. I love your stand as well.

Thanks! I've done a little bit of furniture building over the years. It's funny though, the stand is actually a 2x4 frame hidden by some nice pieces of maple. I should put a couple pics up of the build, that is, if I can find them. It was probably 7 or 8 years ago...

 

[PicassoDan]

I did some work on the RO system this morning. For 6 months, the whole RO unit was sitting on a shelf, and the tubing was a tangled mess, so I spent some time cleaning it up. I painted some 3/4" plywood, tapcon screwed it to the block wall, and mounted everything to it.

I also ordered an Aquatec 6800 booster pump and installed it before the RO unit. This takes my low pressure water from 30/40 psi (at the membrane) to 90 psi! The benefits of this are obviously higher flow rate, but also better water quality. For those wondering, I read some complaints about the Aquatec 8800 being loud, so I went with the 6800, and it is very quiet!

 

[PicassoDan]

From the inlet, I put a shutoff valve, then it runs to the pump -> 1 micron sediment -> 1 micron carbon block -> 75 gpd Dow Fimtec membrane.
I'm on well water and don't have chlorine or chloramines, so I just use 1 standard carbon block.
I also replaced the crappy pressure gage before the membrane with a liquid filled one:

So far, it's putting out 10 ppm water. I've never used DI, but might add that at some point. I'm not convinced it's really necessary.

 

[PicassoDan]

For the sump, I took some design cues from Trigger, etc. I started with a standard 40g breeder and added acrylic panels. The main full-siphon and the trickle line will enter on the right through 1" bulkheads.

The water will flow over the grey piece and into two 4" filter socks. If they clog, the water will overflow through the upper slot. Otherwise, water flows down under the bottom slot and into the skimmer chamber.

 

[PicassoDan]

I used solvent cement for these acrylic parts, and silicone to attach it to the sump. I made wood guides and used a router to machine the slots, holes and edges to be nice and clean.

 

[PicassoDan]

40g frag tank connected to the 40g sump. A mag 5 pumps water from the sump to the frag tank. I drilled the frag tank and installed an acrylic overflow.

For frag tank lighting I'm using the tried and true 250watt radium 20k bulb on an M80 ballast. The reflector is a DIY lumenarc copy.

 

[PicassoDan]

Excuse the cords...

 

[CasaReefer]

Hi Dan... Welcome Back... I am glad you threw some wood on that fire... Everything looks really good. You can see your passion in the quality of the work you do. Nice Work... Very Very Nice... Thanks For letting us in.. I am going to ride along if that's Alright.

 

[PicassoDan]

Made a wall mounted shelf thing for the litermeter doser. The litermeter will dose Alkalinity, Calcium, and water topoff. The shelf is just painted pine, and the pumps are mounted to it with velcro.

 

[PicassoDan]

Hi Dan... Welcome Back...

Thanks! Now I'm not talking to myself, haha! This is my chance to do things better than the last time around. It's also a nice way to journal the progress.

 

[Rollman]

Very cool. Welcome back

 

[PicassoDan]

Now, for some recent progress! The 120 is going to be on the 1st floor right above the sump area of the basement. Yesterday, I cut the carpet back, installed hardieboard, and tiled the area. The tile will make a ~10" border around the stand.

Oversized hole for ease of plumbing:

Kind of sad that 3/4 of the tile will be hidden by the stand...