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- Oct 7, 2019
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Okay everyone!!!! This has been a while coming and I’ve been saying I was gonna get this build thread started for far to long and haven’t started it. So hear goes nothing! The tank is a used custom 125 (103 actual water volume lol) Advanced Acrylics, with an external overflow. The tank was in good shape with less than the normal expected scratches in a used acrylic tank. There was some heavy coralline growth in the tank and sump but nothing some vinegar couldn’t handle. The sump is a Trigger Triton 44 gen 1. For foam fractionation we are looking at the maxspect AD600, but there are a few others we are considering. The sump may be replaced with a Trigger Platinum 44 but that hasn’t been decided as of yet. It came on a nice white stand that matched just about nothing in our house lol. Instead of sanding, refinishing and a little refurbishing the stand that came with it we decided we would build a stand to our liking that would work where we wanted it with the amenities we wanted. The plan for this system is SPS! ALL THE SPS! Lol. As such we have been batting around all sorts of ideas for light and flow. The tanks dimensions are 60”L x 24”W x 20”T opting for more square footage than head space. This gives us ample options for lighting and even more for flow characteristics. So far we’ve put together what we think is a good option list for power heads. Right now the plan is 4 mp40s, two on each side wall however needed for best turbulent flow after aquascaping. Along with 2 Gyre style powerheads up high on the sides for heavy push and undertow duties to keep the bare bottom free of detritus and in suspension. We were tossing the idea around for 2 mp60s instead of 4 mp40s but that limits our mounting and flow characteristic options. As far as lighting we are looking at orphek or Radion g5 blues. If we take the Radion route we haven’t decided if we are going to do a grid of 15s or a few 30s perpendicular to the tank. Being what will be a dedicated SPS tank either way t5 supplementation will most likely be included at some point. All that said, a properly spaced grid of diffused 15s would probably not need supplementation. So any advice on lighting or flow for this 5’ x 2’ box is more than welcome! And would be greatly appreciated!!! The plan for the return pumps is already pretty set in stone. We will be doing twin cor 15s each with their own Y check valve, running to an actual Y after those check valves, from the Y it will run through a manifold, from this manifold two separate outlets will be hard plumed directly to their own return in the tank, while another will be hard plumbed to a uv sterilizer most likely mounted to the back center support beam of the stand. The last 2 outlets on the manifold will be barbed for any media reactors we may want or need to run. Oh! And true unions and true union ball valves EVERYWHERE! Lol. I realize the water passing through the uv and media reactors will end up with a small recirculation amount, but especially if we choose to keep the Trigger Triton 44, that sump is designed to operate at a high rate of turnover, so it’s a bit of a nonissue. This entire idea is based on redundancy of total tank filtration. If for any reason one cor 15 should go down the opposite can be cranked up remotely(if we aren’t present)to 100%, while the downed pumps Y check valve stops or at least mitigates backflow. This will allow one pump to operate the entire system while the downed pump is maintenanced or replaced. We may not get the same flow we would be with both pumps running but will ultimately stave off disaster. I realize running twin cor 20s would be optimal here but the fact a cor 15 doesn’t need a power supply was the deciding factor. There may also be a Hydros used to save from all 4 of those mp40s power supplies and controllers! Heck! Maybe 2 of them to drive the gyres if we do choose to run those as well! The chiller will however be on its own dedicated pump to simplify temperature stability. Moving back to the stand, the carcass was built with a mix of 2x4 and 2x6 and sheer walled with 3/4 ply. This was all done to maintain strength and integrity while allowing for no front center brace to be needed. My husband and our next door neighbor (studio finish carpenter, cheating I know lol) built a simple yet elegant and sturdy stand my husband likes to say “you could park the nose of the space shuttle on that thing and it wouldn’t budge” lol. It will be getting some finishing touches here and there but the following post will contain some before and after pictures of the tank and sump on the original stand while it was cleaned along with some pictures of the stands build progress. We have no projected finish date of this build as it’s not going to be a very inexpensive endeavor for a smaller system, but I think the ends justify the means for a potentially stellar SPS system! Any advice, ideas, pointers, constructive criticism, or feedback at all is all greatly appreciated!!!