Ken's 290 Peninsula

[Fiziksgeek]

Started off the holiday weekend strong. Strained some muscles in my lower back doing something stupid (not aquarium related) which really slowed me down. So as usually, baby steps...

I bought a 1000lb lift cart from harbor freight and used it to bring the frag tank into the basement sump closet area. Obviously no problem with this weight. Trying it out to see if it will be on use when moving the main display.

The frag tank is 24x40x12 with an internal overflow. I figure that will give me 24x36 usable area. CDA built it super heavy duty.

Ran a bunch of plumbing. As a reminder the 4-1.5" pipes coming from the ceiling will connect to the main display up on the first floor, and about 35' over. The 3 that go to the left are drains, the 4th comes down and across and will be the return that will also feed the frag tank and other future equipment. Got a little more work to do before the Abyzz A200 is hooked up and ready to pump water!

I gotta say, one of the big differences I've noticed from back in day 15 years ago to now, is that everyone seems to have becomes super plumbers. I am really stressing myself out as I don't believe I have that level of skill. Obviously, function is primary, but man, there are some pretty plumbing jobs out there. I am really intimidated doing my own tank, the bar is pretty high. Kudos to all you!

 

[kgstei]

Man it is coming along. Looks good. I like the goats too.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

So I did a thing....I cut a hole in my new tiles floor and ran some plumbing. First image is what it looks like from the living room . Qty 3 - 1.5" drains and 2 - 1" returns. Second picture is from below. It will all get hidden when I put the drop ceiling back together.

I also did a bit more i plumbing in the basement sump closet and for fun fooled around a bit with the Kessil Ap9x that will be over the frag tank. Its not he final location, just a temporary set up to see what it will look like!

We are close enough that I am starting to round up the troops to move the main tank into the house...maybe 2-3 weeks away....exciting!

 

[JvC]

Nice write-up. Seems to really be coming along.

I have a couple questions, you have the control valve for the main drain at the sump. Do you also have one up by the tank? Won't you have to adjust the flow by looking at the overflow on the DT?

Also, how far is the return from the sump, it looks like in the basement, to the DT; and have you decided which return pump(s) you are going to use?

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Nice write-up. Seems to really be coming along.

I have a couple questions, you have the control valve for the main drain at the sump. Do you also have one up by the tank? Won't you have to adjust the flow by looking at the overflow on the DT?

Also, how far is the return from the sump, it looks like in the basement, to the DT; and have you decided which return pump(s) you are going to use?

I plan to have a series of ball valves on each of the pipes up at the tank lever before they disappear into the floor. I did think about how I would adjust the f
overflow, and the best I can come up with is it will be a team effort. My wife or a friend can be at the sump and I can be at the display tank directing them to open or close the gate valve as needed.

The sump is down 1 floor and across the house, maybe 35 feet. I am going to use an Abyzz A200 for the return. If I recall, it's still moving well more than 1000 gph at 20 feet of head pressure, so I think that will be enough. In general I am a proponent of slower flow through the sump. Flow in the main display will come from a combination of closed loops and power heads.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Getting ready to bring the tank in this weekend...It doesn't look that heavy...

 

[Fiziksgeek]

The tank move went really well, Thanks to some BIG friends.

I bought the 1000 lb capacity hydraulic lift cart from Harbor Freight and 6 suction cups off Amazon and built a large furniture dolly with some lumber and 3" casters that I had originally bought for another project.

Instead of trying to go up the two steps from the garage and through the door into the house, I built a platform right over the steps. We got the tank onto its side on the dolly, which was on the lift cart. Used a couple ratchet straps to hold the tank to dolly. I maneuvered the cart over to the platform and jacked it up so that one end was on the platform. We lifted the other end, pulled out the cart, and rolled it right through the door until the second set of wheel was on the platform. Then just rolled it through the house. Once next to the stand, we rotated the tank back onto its bottom, then lifted it back onto the hydraulic cart with a little extra cribbing since it didnt lift high enough on its own. It was pretty easy to jack the tank up and slide it onto the stand!

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Fresh water fill and test next weekend maybe....

 

[dstockwell]

Looking good.

 

[Devaji]

heck yeah! i am now thinking of a large build like that with basement sump would need to support the floors like you did too.

if you dont mind me asking what did the stand and canopy run you?

 

[Fiziksgeek]

heck yeah! i am now thinking of a large build like that with basement sump would need to support the floors like you did too.

if you dont mind me asking what did the stand and canopy run you?

The main display stand with canopy was around $2500 and the stand for the sump/frag tank was about $1600 if I recall correctly.

 

[Devaji]

The main display stand with canopy was around $2500 and the stand for the sump/frag tank was about $1600 if I recall correctly.

2500 not to bad for stand and canopy.

 

[fftfk]

The main display stand with canopy was around $2500 and the stand for the sump/frag tank was about $1600 if I recall correctly.

That is a good price. I have a 300 gallon tank with a custom made stand. If I recall correctly it was close to $4k and didn’t include any support for the canopy.

 

[Sean Clark]

Very nice build.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

We got water! Fresh water anyway. Filled it up Friday night. Started with the sump and frag tank. Closed the vale to keep water from going to the main tank and circulated there a bit before moving upstairs and filling the main tank. It was a nerve racking few hours, but everything went really well, NO LEAKS!! Been circulating over 24 hours now. Have the Abyzz A200 running at 80%, says like 130 watts or so, seems like plenty of flow. Have the vectra L2s running about 30% just for some circulation. I have have turned everything up to 100 just to see what would happen, boy, its a lot of flow! I still have 2 MP40s to add to the main display and another MP40 for the frag tank!

Figures I'd let it run for a while to make sure there are no leaks. Need to get some rock now. Was planning on live rock, but now wondering if I should just go with Marco rocks....or maybe a split...

 

[dstockwell]

On a closed loop system how do you prevent a flood, asking because I don’t know.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

On a closed loop system how do you prevent a flood, asking because I don’t know

Use good quality parts, assemble carefully, and pray...

 

[Devaji]

if going dry rock I like real reef rock gives you that complete look from the get go.
also I am a big fan of biodiversity and used both KP and TBS live rock before. the TBS stuff was amazingly live but OMG so heavy.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Decision of live rock has been made. Ordered 150 lbs live sand, 150 lbs live baserock, and 150lbs premium live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater, as well as a good sized clean up crew. First shipment with live sand and base rock will be ready for pick up at the airport Wednesday morning. I plan to combine the live sand with some of the aragonite special grade that I had already purchased, but really only going for a couple inches total.

Got my 7 stage RO/DI hooked up in a temporary location along with a booster buddy. Been chugging out 0 TDS water for a few days now. Had a leak from the RO filter when I first hooked it up, discovered a second o-ring all hosed up in there preventing a good seal.

Starting putting some salt, Tropic Marine Pro, I dumped a 40lb bag (~160 gallon) mix into tank. The pic below was about 20 minutes after pouring it in. I had the Vectra L2s on high/constant. There was nothing left after about an hour. Pay no attention to the messy desk...

I also have a 500w heater on a Ranco warming everything up. I have a second 500 watt heater on standby if needed. I'll take the next couple days to get the water up to snuff for the first delivery on Wednesday!

Got the electrical connected as well, right now a single 20amp circuit for the sump closet and another 20amp circuit run up to the tank. I ran each receptacle box (3 from the sump closet and 1 from the main display) to a junction box, then connected power from the panel to the junction. So, If I find myself needing to add additional circuits and split things up, I can do all that at the junction box and don't have to worry about trying to get behind the wall.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Got the canopy frame put back on and temporarily mounted the lights with some zip ties. 3 x Kessil AP9x (I may add a 4th). Need to look into filtering. My iPhone 14 pro max made everything look purple when in fact its very white, with a hint of blue. Everything was turned up full when I took the pic. I love the Kessils in person, and the shimmer!!! The app in infuriating though....Cant for the life of me figure out how to create group and assign specific lights to the groups, so right now, the main display and frag tank are linked together.....