R.Weller
Active Member
First thread on R2R. If it can help anyone in their adventure, it's time to give back.
I have used this resource for the last several years progressing from 60 gal freshwater to reef-keeping. Our family is on the 4th generation for our reef ecosystem, & I figure if I wait until I'm finished, I will never share anything so here's our 4-tank, ~425 gallon build.
The showcase piece is a 300 gal deep-dimension display. It's 72 x 36 x 24 & I love this tank. We had a 220 gal (72 x 24 x 30) that leaked on the bottom seal & forced the upgrade. Thankfully we were home at the time & we had all the gear to temporarly support the system while we purchased a replacement tank.
Next up is tank placement. You cannot put this much weight in just any room without reinforcing the floor. The tank is a feature of our finished basement (concrete), & I'm glad I took the advice to utilitze the space behind the wall rather than attempt to smash everything in the stand under the display. We are using a modified herbie dual-overflows to move water behind the wall.
This is the fish room, or what used to be our storm shelter under the stairs. There are three tanks behind the wall that focus on the 'unseen' features necessary for reef-keeping. This includes the surge, sump, refugium tanks & gravity top-off. The furnace unit is on the left just outside the picture, so the room stays reasonably warm compared to other parts of the house.
The first time I saw a surge device, I decided this is a must have. We based this on the Carlson design, & while it's a work in-progress, it's entirely functional & the corals love it. This has a capacity of 18 gallons (made from food grade plastic), & every 3 minutes it drops ~14 gallons into the display in about 30 seconds. This was very inexpensive to build & should require very little maintenance.
Next is the refugium. We're using a 55 gallon, Rubbermaid commercial stock tank filled with 100 lbs of sand & 80 lbs of rock. We also added a DIY algae turf scrubber to the mix because waterfalls are fun to watch, it encourages gas exachange (keeping pH high), & plants consume nutrients. We also call this the 'touch' tank, & have plans to add a chocolate star or two after the system ages. Dirty water from the sump is pumped through the algae scrubber into the refugium then drained back into the return chamber in the sump.
Here's a close-up of the algae scrubber. This is three days worth of growth. The most expensive part of this was the $2.75 1/2" PVC ball valve from Home Depot. Otherwise, it's pipe cutters, glue & plastic mesh. It will spray water when the time comes to scrap the mesh, so it's covered with plastic to protect the wood-work. Nitrates are 0.
While most of the filtration is biological, we continue to use an old reef octopus skimmer with a new pump for mechanical filtration. We built a custom 4-chamber sump using a 75 gallon tank designed for filter socks & chemical filtration if required, but none of that is necessary right now. The expectation is that the biological filter & skimmer will be sufficient. No carbon, GFO or any other removable media. The return chamber is oversized & contains x4 200 watt heaters, dual return pumps, & the pump for the surge tank. We designed with as much redundancy as we could.
Here's the system under the whites. Our aquascape was destroyed when the previous tank leaked, so have a pile of rocks with various corals & six fish. The corals are growing & we'll be adding more livestock slowely to match the capacity of the biological filter.
And lastly, every three minutes when the surge syphons into the display, we have a nice wave effect that creates irregular flow. This is mesmerizing.
Thanks for all the other contributos on R2R & enjoy the hobby!
I have used this resource for the last several years progressing from 60 gal freshwater to reef-keeping. Our family is on the 4th generation for our reef ecosystem, & I figure if I wait until I'm finished, I will never share anything so here's our 4-tank, ~425 gallon build.
The showcase piece is a 300 gal deep-dimension display. It's 72 x 36 x 24 & I love this tank. We had a 220 gal (72 x 24 x 30) that leaked on the bottom seal & forced the upgrade. Thankfully we were home at the time & we had all the gear to temporarly support the system while we purchased a replacement tank.
Next up is tank placement. You cannot put this much weight in just any room without reinforcing the floor. The tank is a feature of our finished basement (concrete), & I'm glad I took the advice to utilitze the space behind the wall rather than attempt to smash everything in the stand under the display. We are using a modified herbie dual-overflows to move water behind the wall.
This is the fish room, or what used to be our storm shelter under the stairs. There are three tanks behind the wall that focus on the 'unseen' features necessary for reef-keeping. This includes the surge, sump, refugium tanks & gravity top-off. The furnace unit is on the left just outside the picture, so the room stays reasonably warm compared to other parts of the house.
The first time I saw a surge device, I decided this is a must have. We based this on the Carlson design, & while it's a work in-progress, it's entirely functional & the corals love it. This has a capacity of 18 gallons (made from food grade plastic), & every 3 minutes it drops ~14 gallons into the display in about 30 seconds. This was very inexpensive to build & should require very little maintenance.
Next is the refugium. We're using a 55 gallon, Rubbermaid commercial stock tank filled with 100 lbs of sand & 80 lbs of rock. We also added a DIY algae turf scrubber to the mix because waterfalls are fun to watch, it encourages gas exachange (keeping pH high), & plants consume nutrients. We also call this the 'touch' tank, & have plans to add a chocolate star or two after the system ages. Dirty water from the sump is pumped through the algae scrubber into the refugium then drained back into the return chamber in the sump.
Here's a close-up of the algae scrubber. This is three days worth of growth. The most expensive part of this was the $2.75 1/2" PVC ball valve from Home Depot. Otherwise, it's pipe cutters, glue & plastic mesh. It will spray water when the time comes to scrap the mesh, so it's covered with plastic to protect the wood-work. Nitrates are 0.
While most of the filtration is biological, we continue to use an old reef octopus skimmer with a new pump for mechanical filtration. We built a custom 4-chamber sump using a 75 gallon tank designed for filter socks & chemical filtration if required, but none of that is necessary right now. The expectation is that the biological filter & skimmer will be sufficient. No carbon, GFO or any other removable media. The return chamber is oversized & contains x4 200 watt heaters, dual return pumps, & the pump for the surge tank. We designed with as much redundancy as we could.
Here's the system under the whites. Our aquascape was destroyed when the previous tank leaked, so have a pile of rocks with various corals & six fish. The corals are growing & we'll be adding more livestock slowely to match the capacity of the biological filter.
And lastly, every three minutes when the surge syphons into the display, we have a nice wave effect that creates irregular flow. This is mesmerizing.
Thanks for all the other contributos on R2R & enjoy the hobby!
