JustinL's 4 Phase Build Thread

JustinFromAL · Feb 2, 2016

I've had 110g reef tank for about two years now. It's been your basic overflow/sump under the tank setup and I've had mixed results. Coral and livestock have been healthy for the most part, but I've always been fighting a nutrient export/algae issue. I've decided to "reboot" and upgrade my system from the ground up now that I've gained a lot of valuable first hand experience and a ton of knowledge from this community.

I'm going to go at this project in four phases.

Phase I - Frag Tank & Sump
Phase II - RO/DI & SW Mixing Station
Phase III - Refugium
Phase IV - Display Tank

I've just finished the basic setup of the first phase so I decide to start a build thread for anyone that wanted to follow along/provide some suggestions. Thanks for checking it out!

Phase I

The first step was to break down my old tank and transition it into a frag tank and sump. I'm sure most projects have a display tank as part of the initial build, but I'm going to work the other direction as this will give me an opportunity to work through issues before going to the trouble of plumbing my entire house.

I'm using a rubbermaid 150g stock tank and my sump. I replaced the bulkhead with a 1.5" SCH 80 bulkhead as the stock one is know to leak. I've temporarily capped it from the inside, as the first phase of my project I will be using a small pump to act as my return. In phase 3 I'll install a larger external pump and plumb everything together.

The sump has a cheap plastic shelf from home depot for a stand for 27g tote that acts as the first chamber of the sump. I used a dremel to cut the lid of the sump into a filter sock holder. Cutting a slit in the side of the sump for drainage gives me a perfect 9" depth recommended for my skimmer. When I get the display plumbed in the tub will be rotated 90 degrees and the water level raised a bit. At that point the frag tank will just dump straight into the sump as I'll be more concerned with filtering/skimming the water from the display. The live rock from my previous display tank is the starter for this sump. I'll likely add more rock during the Phase IV as I prefer a minimalist display tank.

The temporary return pump feeds a 2 x 4 frag table. I went ahead and constructed the stand for the RO/DI and mixing station so that I could hard plumb the overflows, the return is currently just a 1/2" flex tube, I'll plumb that in when I get my external pump.

My temporary return pump has a little less GPH than I'd like, so I installed the Gyre 150 from my old display to add flow. I have to be a little careful with the gyre as it's easy to get a wave that will splash right out of the frag table. Lighting is provide by two Hydra 52's. They're mounted a bit high, but I wanted to be able to lean over the frag tank easily with out hitting my head on them. PAR is 400 at the center of the tank with the Hydra's at 100% so I think it should work fine.

I picked up a cheap storage cabinet to act as the "dry zone" for my apex. I mounted the modules to a piece of plywood and attached it to the inside. Then I drilled four holes for cable passage and installed some grommets. I need to wire up a light in here as the lighting in my basement is junk. I've temporarily put in a little cheap LED giving it some dramatic theater lighting.

I've still got quite a bit of work left in "Phase I", I want to clean up the wiring with some cable ducting and work out a better heater mounting situation. I'm a little paranoid that they're going to melt the plastic of the tub/stand. With most of my livestock in my 30g cube at my office I think I'm going to hold off a bit on GFO/Carbon/Dosing.

Please feel free to pass along any suggestions, they're much appreciated!

Fieryfrog · Feb 2, 2016

I am following this. The best thing I ever did was move my sump downstairs. I changed from a small wet/dry to the same Rubbermaid 150 gal stock tank. I never thought about doing a "Dry Box" with a cheap cabinet unit. That is a killer idea.

PedroYoung · Feb 2, 2016

Following too since I am about a month away from firing up my 180 with basement sump. Are you doing anything for moisture control in the basement? I am planning on running dehumidifier, but not thrilled with the heat they can put off.

Fieryfrog · Feb 3, 2016

I thought about a dehumidifier, until I talked to Randy and heard how much they can cost to run.

JustinFromAL · Feb 3, 2016

@Fieryfrog, yeah, the cabinet thing worked out great. It gives me a nice dry spot for my apex and plenty of room for dosing/testing supplies. I ended up with this one from Home Depot, it's sturdy enough and looks decent, I caught it on sale for $60.

@PedroYoung, I'm wrestling with that at the moment. Part of me thinks I might set up a humidistat and vent the room out a window. There's no vent/return in this room as it was a converted garage so I'm not sure how that might work.

hawkinsrgk · Feb 9, 2016

Fieryfrog said:
I thought about a dehumidifier, until I talked to Randy and heard how much they can cost to run.

Yea the cost to run mine is insane. If I would have thought about it I would have had an exhaust fan installed when the house was being built

JustinFromAL · May 6, 2016

Whew, knee surgery slows down your project dudes, I recommend against it.

Anyway, finally getting some progress. I've got the RODI/SW Mixing station all working. Next up Phase III, a 50g stock tank refugium (ATS? Mangroves?) with a 20g display refugium (pretty macro!). I've got to build a pretty large stand for them though, so a fair bit of work to go.

hawkinsrgk · May 9, 2016

Very nice build and very clean. I can tell you put a lot of work into it. Where did you get the drums? I have a 15g drum and if I upgrade to a 50g I could only worry about topoff once a week. Right now, I have my RO kick off three times a week.

Thanks
Randy

JustinFromAL · May 9, 2016

Thanks!

I got the drums from this guy on Craigslist, he's got several sizes. I cleaned them with Clorox, then ran multiple batches of vinegar through them. They still smell a bit like Mountain Dew, but the fish seem to enjoy it.

They're pretty easy to work with, a 1/4" SCH40 bulkhead will seal fine on the flatter parts of the drum. I've got both setup with valves at the bottom so I can fill 5g totes of RODI/NSW for my tank at work as well.

hawkinsrgk · May 9, 2016

JustinFromAL said:
Thanks!
They still smell a bit like Mountain Dew, but the fish seem to enjoy it.

That's because Mt Dew is the most delicious drink ever made

JustinFromAL · Jan 30, 2017

What's that? A build thread back from the dead?!?!? Having a kid really slows down your projects dudes, I recommend against it.

Anyway, when we last left our hero we were "finished" with Phase I (frag tank and sump) and Phase II (RO/DI and NSW station) and were ready for Phase III (refugium). I knew that was going to be a big project, but I didn't expect how many turns it took. Somewhere along the way I decided to try out the Triton method once I saw @d2mini was giving it a whirl. And by try out I mean use it in a "win or go home" way. Basically, with a 6 month old in the house now I need the tank to "just work" and to me the Triton method seems like the best overall angle for success. Plus, I'm a super analytical guy and the detailed water tests give me a data boner.

So, there's been a bit of a redesign. The skimmer first sump is now algae bed first and the refugium is now a live rock lagoon. I also plumbed in a 29g I had laying around and built a sweet (but ugly) stand for it so I can do my testing without teetering my laptop on the edge of a giant vat of salt water.

Here's a tour of where we're at now. Feel free to ask if you have any questions. Thanks for the feedback!

Here's the 29g, I'm thinking of making this a "nuisance coral" tank. I always loved the look of pulsing xenia, I was just never willing to risk it taking over my DT. I'll probably toss a few varieties in there, maybe some GSP and mushrooms and have a good old battle royale. The biocube to the left is my QT/Hospital setup.

I had another stock tank so I set it up as a "live rock lagoon" and a second refugium basically. I had toyed with the idea of mangroves in here, not for nutrient export but just for fun, but I'm hearing continuing complaints about magnesium consumption with those and I don't want to have to dose additional mg. I think I'm just going to leave it as is for now. Maybe later on I can add some "jumbo" mother colonies or something. Aforementioned Triton dosing provided by the Neptune DOS attached to this stand (dosed into the algae bed in the next picture).

Part of Phase III was a new return pump (Jebao DCT-15000) and manifold to feed the new 29g and 100g stock tanks. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, not as professional as some I've seen but in my defense it was cold out so I did the plumbing inside and had a solid buzz from the fumes. Check out those fancy beta tester water flow meters from Neptune, thanks guys.

The sump looks a bit different than the original layout. I replaced the tub with a larger one and moved the skimmer out in place of the Triton recommend macro algae first method. So the skimmer doesn't have a "protected" water level anymore, but between my Tunze ATO handling evap and my Apex handling on/off and feed cycle stuff I'm not too concerned with it.

Not much new at the water storage station. I did add a second DI resin canister just to get that TDS to zero.

Frag tank is about the same as well, just looks a bit cleaner now with the permanent plumbing set up.

Thanks for taking a look and if you have any suggestions or feedback I'm all ears!

If everything goes well with the Triton method my plan is to plumb into my upstairs DT sometime before football season!

PedroYoung · Jan 30, 2017

Looks good! Football will be here before you know it. I'm getting ready for my own build from scratch, 180G display with 75G sump in the basement. Looks like I need to have you over for a beer and toss around ideas