My 125g build w/basement sump/fish room

Dubs83 · Nov 18, 2016

Alright! Grout is done.

It's starting to look like a fish room. Tomorrow... orders from the boss- clean the basement! Lol. Apparently, construction mess is not appreciated.

I plan on staging the room tomorrow night and start laying some plumbing. I think all of the tanks (sump, hospital, fuge) will be stacked on the left side of the room. The far wall will be a water change/mixing station and RO/DI filter.

Dubs83 · Nov 21, 2016

Okay, all that's left is molding on the floor and around the door. I'll try and get that done this weekend. At this point I'm all construction'ed out.

I moved what small amount of equipment I have into the fish room and here's the tally:

I also started constructing a stand for the sump, refugium and water change station.
I'll try and draw up a plan of what I'm doing here. Bear in mind, it's a work in progress and it still needs supports in a few spots but.... I ran out of screws! You can see the right side of the stand will house the 40b sump and external pump. On left, elevated just above he sump, is the refugium and above that, will be two 20 gallon tanks I will plumb in line and with a turn of a few valves be able to accomplish a 15% water.

So, some feed back would be much appreciated as I should be getting into full tank mode after the holidays. My big question is-
Which controller are you guys using. I looked at the new Vertex, Aquatronica, Reef Keep Elite, Profilux and the Apex. They all have their own pros and cons but I'm having a somewhat difficult time choosing.

Paul

fragit · Nov 21, 2016

If I had the $$$ right now I would go Profilux. Just something about GHL that I find more attractive than Apex. The Vertex is attractive too, but for me those huge energy bars turn me off. I was reading a thread here where Profilux is in the workings of an alk monitor.

Dubs83 · Nov 21, 2016

fragit said:
If I had the $$$ right now I would go Profilux. Just something about GHL that I find more attractive than Apex. The Vertex is attractive too, but for me those huge energy bars turn me off. I was reading a thread here where Profilux is in the workings of an alk monitor.

You know, I think I've narrowed it to either the Profilux or the Apex. But looking at GHL website and BRS, they look to be the same price, which makes it even more difficult.

Dubs83 · Nov 25, 2016

Worked on the sump stand over the last 2 days and it came out alright! Will paint it today and take a trip to the hard ware store in search of some vinyl to lay on top! What do you think so far?

Flippers4pups · Nov 25, 2016

Looks good. What's your plans on ATO?

Dubs83 · Nov 25, 2016

Flippers4pups said:
Looks good. What's your plans on ATO?

Thanks! I'm planning a mixing station either underneath the sump or another corner of the room. Two 30 gallon water containers one with RO water, which will also act as my top off container.

Now that I have the stand constructed, I'm going to make a quick run and grab some vinyl to throw on the top and start planning the plumbing.

Flippers4pups · Nov 25, 2016

I went with a smaller ATO reservoir in the small chance that if my ATO switch stuck on, it would only dump 10 gallons in. Something to consider.

Dubs83 · Nov 25, 2016

Flippers4pups said:
I went with a smaller ATO reservoir in the small chance that if my ATO switch stuck on, it would only dump 10 gallons in. Something to consider.

Hmm. Good call. Do you use anything to replenish that or occasionally top it off with a bucket?

Ljaus · Nov 25, 2016

Following along. Looks great so far, awesome work on the basement fish room

Ty Hamatake · Nov 25, 2016

Following along and very excited to see how it turns out! Looking great so far!

Ty Hamatake · Nov 25, 2016

Dubs83 said:
Hmm. Good call. Do you use anything to replenish that or occasionally top it off with a bucket?

I'm still in the market for a controller myself, but from what I've learned so far you could easily rig an ATO for your ATO

two float switched and a solenoid. Top switch would the the solenoid to close (when the reservoir is full) and bottom switch would tell it to open (when it's empty). Like I said still doing research, but I'm positive the APEX could handle something like this.

As a side note if you go that route, it may be beneficial to get an RODI unit with and automatic flush feature. That way you're not pushing high TDS water through your DI resin and exhausting it faster than necessary!

Flippers4pups · Nov 25, 2016

Dubs83 said:
Hmm. Good call. Do you use anything to replenish that or occasionally top it off with a bucket?

I have a clear hose attached to my water mixing station that I just uncoil and fill it with when it gets low.

JOKER · Nov 25, 2016

Looking great!!

Dubs83 · Nov 25, 2016

Ty Hamatake said:
I'm still in the market for a controller myself, but from what I've learned so far you could easily rig an ATO for your ATO two float switched and a solenoid. Top switch would the the solenoid to close (when the reservoir is full) and bottom switch would tell it to open (when it's empty). Like I said still doing research, but I'm positive the APEX could handle something like this.

As a side note if you go that route, it may be beneficial to get an RODI unit with and automatic flush feature. That way you're not pushing high TDS water through your DI resin and exhausting it faster than necessary!

I think ATO for ATO would be ideal. I travel quite a bit for work and the last thing the wife wants to do is fiddle with the tank. lol she's already expressed this. I already have the BRS value plus 4 stage RO/DI. I purchased it a few years ago and can't for the life of me remember it it has an automatic flush feature.

What controllers are you looking at? I swear every time I make a decision I find another reason why I should get the other. Currently between Profilux and APEX.

Ty Hamatake · Nov 26, 2016

Dubs83 said:
I think ATO for ATO would be ideal. I travel quite a bit for work and the last thing the wife wants to do is fiddle with the tank. lol she's already expressed this. I already have the BRS value plus 4 stage RO/DI. I purchased it a few years ago and can't for the life of me remember it it has an automatic flush feature.

What controllers are you looking at? I swear every time I make a decision I find another reason why I should get the other. Currently between Profilux and APEX.

Ha ha, sounds like we are in just about the same boat! I've pretty much decided on the RKL though. I know it has its share of bad reviews, but I would just be wasting my money on features I wouldn't use if I went with APEX or something similar (kind of like how I would never wase money on a controller, or on $300 lights, or on a saltwater tank to begin with!

) The main reason I'm going with the RKL is to monitor the tank. The only things I'll be automating as of now are the return and skimmer. I'm more than doubling my ATO reservoir so this is all pretty much for over flow protection.

Oh, and I don't believe the BRS unit has and auto flush. You don't need it, as long as you remember to flush it every once in a while

Dubs83 · Nov 26, 2016

Ty Hamatake said:
Ha ha, sounds like we are in just about the same boat! I've pretty much decided on the RKL though. I know it has its share of bad reviews, but I would just be wasting my money on features I wouldn't use if I went with APEX or something similar (kind of like how I would never wase money on a controller, or on $300 lights, or on a saltwater tank to begin with! ) The main reason I'm going with the RKL is to monitor the tank. The only things I'll be automating as of now are the return and skimmer. I'm more than doubling my ATO reservoir so this is all pretty much for over flow protection.

Oh, and I don't believe the BRS unit has and auto flush. You don't need it, as long as you remember to flush it every once in a while

Yeaaaaa. You know what- I was actually quite content with the RKE but I'm gone so often it would be nice to get text notifications and heavy automation. We shall see, I'm giving myself until after the holidays to grab the toys.

About the BRS RO/DI. I wonder if they offer a unit with automatic flush feature and if so, would they be willing to sell and send the parts needed to upgrade. Better give them a call!

Dubs83 · Nov 26, 2016

Quick update. Painted the sump stand today and put the vinyl down on top. I have one more panel to paint and I'll get on that later today.

Painted stand

Here's the vinyl I used. Thanks @revhtree !