My 150 gallon Reef Savvy tank build

[justingraham]

Hello I was planning on stealing ur idea for the canopy
I have a couple questions is there anything u would have done differently with the canopy? I also am going to be using metal halide bulbs so with this set up how hard do u think it would be to change out bulbs?
Amazing build and thanks

 

[Chriscrna]

Hello I was planning on stealing ur idea for the canopy
I have a couple questions is there anything u would have done differently with the canopy? I also am going to be using metal halide bulbs so with this set up how hard do u think it would be to change out bulbs?
Amazing build and thanks

Thanks for the compliment!

I can't think of anything I would have done differently with the canopy. I absolutely love it. I have complete and total access to all parts of my lights. If you set up yours in a similar fashion, I don't think you'll have any trouble changing out MH bulbs.

Good luck!

 

[tj w]

How's the tank Chris? Let's see some progress pics[emoji3]

 

[Jason mack]

I suppose it's about time to start my build thread. It has been in the planning stage for well over a year. I have gathered many opinions and suggestions in that time, and I invite you all to express your opinions and/or suggestions. Hopefully, together, we will cover all the bases in this endeavor.

WARNING: There will be A LOT of pictures, and I am long winded. So here we go......

I ordered a custom 150 gallon tank from Reef Savvy this past February which is on schedule to be delivered sometime the first week of September. This is a significant upgrade from my current non-drilled HOB siphon overflowing cheap used eBay skimming DIY 10 gallon sump pumping glass scratched used 50 gallon DT.

Here is my tank room:

The new tank will be going along the wall directly where the couch is.




The tank:
150 gallons custom built by Reef Savvy
72" long x 24" wide x 20" high
Rimless 3/4" glass with a high polish and beveled edges
Center mounted ghost overflow
Phantom bottom
3 sides low iron glass
Blacked out back

The sump:
I have a full, mostly finished basement. Fortunately, the room directly beneath my tank room is unfinished. Bada Bing......a dedicated basement sump room. I have a 150 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank I will be using as the sump....or kiddie pool.

The sump room in the basement is the same footprint as the tank room above.

Here is the sump room:

Unfortunately, the tank will run parallel with the floor joists instead of perpendicular. To support the weight of the tank and any number of people standing around it, I am building a support frame. Most of the inspiration for the support frame came from a very nice gentleman named Don, who had a similar setup as mine. Here is a picture of Don's support frame:

Now, on to the building part.



First things first. I put a couple coats of Dry Lock on the masonry.

I added an additional light (so I can see what I'm doing), and ran two dedicated 20 amp lines to the room. Each line has a GFCI breaker. There are 3 outlets on one line and 3 on the other. There will also be an additional outlet on each side of the support frame once it's completed. On a side note, I had to fish tape the Romex over 2 finished rooms to get from the circuit box to the sump room. THAT was not a fun chore!

Moisture concerns:
Aside from the Dry Lock on the masonry, I already have a dehumifier in the room set at 50%. I have ordered a Tjernlund ventilator with a dehumidistat that I will install in the far left space pictured above. It is rated at 110 CFM. I need a minimum of 85 CFM to fully ventilate this room in 15 minutes. I suppose I will set this at 50% as well. I may or may not sheet rock the rest of the room and install a vapor barrier. I think the dehumidifier and ventilator will be more than sufficient detouring mold and mildew issues. Of course, I'd like to hear your opinion on the matter.

Equipment:
I have a good idea what I want, but undecided on a number of things. Your opinions would be great (except on the items I already have because......it's too late, I already have them).

Here is the equipment I already have...
Return pump - Reeflo Barracuda/Hammerhead hybrid
Additional pump - Eheim 1260
Heater - Eheim Jager 300 watts x 2
Lights - Ocean Revive T247's x 4 (plan to hang them from the ceiling with a "floating" box around them)
RO/DI - 150 GPD BRS 6-stage Universal Water Saver Plus
Rock - 250 lbs of Marco Rock Key Largo dry rock (they will take a muriatic acid bath sometime this week)
Water containers - See below

Here is the equipment I need:
Skimmer - Reef Octopus SRO 3000 external (supplied by the Eheim 1260)
Powerheads - Maxspect Gyre XF 150 x 2
Controller - Neptune Apex
Dosing pumps - UNDECIDED
Reactors - UNDECIDED
Kalk - UNDECIDED (I use nothing but Kalk now....but it's only a 50 gallon tank with a handful of acros. The new tank will be somewhat SPS heavy)



ATO and Mixing station:
I have two 25 gallon ACE roto molded water containers which conform to NSF/ANSI standards. One will be used for a gravity fed ATO and the other for saltwater mixing. They will be on stands on each side of the support frame. I will post progress pictures as they come.

Tank stand:
Plan on building my own. Again, progress pictures as they come.



So there you have it. I've already knocked out a couple of the big chores and will be working on everything else over the next couple weeks. Hopefully, I can have this tank ready, or near ready, before the Smoky Mountain Coral Expo so I can load it up with eye candy!

A quick shout out to my club mate Darrell @dkccampbell, who will be helping me build the support frame, tank stand, and light box. I would be hiring this part out if not for him. He also does pretty nice tile work (not as nice as @Rob.D though) which we may lay on the tank stand.

Feel free to chime in. Thanks!

Wow !! What an amazing build thread .. I will definitely follow this .. and what a beautiful house you have too .. your other two tanks look very nice as well from what I can see.. success .. and can't wait too see it finished .!!!

 

[justingraham]

Thanks for the compliment!

I can't think of anything I would have done differently with the canopy. I absolutely love it. I have complete and total access to all parts of my lights. If you set up yours in a similar fashion, I don't think you'll have any trouble changing out MH bulbs.

Good luck!

Thanks couple more questions what pipe did u use to hold up the canopy to the ceiling I didn't see that anywhere I was going to use iron gas pipe u know the stuff u get from Home Depot and last question how high are u off the tank and how far did u go into the ceiling? So how long are ur pipes?

 

[Chriscrna]

@Jason mack.....Thanks homie!

@justingraham.....the light details are on pages 17 and 18 of this thread:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-150-gallon-reef-savvy-tank-build.210693/page-17
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-150-gallon-reef-savvy-tank-build.210693/page-18
Just simple downrods for hanging ceiling fans. I purchased these at Home Depot.

Lights are 16 inches off the water. The downrods are 36 inches. I went all the way through the ceiling into the attic. Hopefully the links above will give you a good idea.

Good luck!

 

[Chriscrna]

Modified the Algae Turf Scrubber a bit. Got rid of the double sheet in favor of one long sheet. This thing is awesome. It's working so well in fact, that I stopped skimming altogether for 2 weeks with no noticeable difference. I'm now only skimming at night.

Also, Kinny at Parrott Aquatics hooked me up with a custom made splash guard for it. And this thing rocks! @parroki

I'm thinking about making a custom fitted LED light box for it......we'll see. Enjoy the video.

http://vid72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/chriscrna1/Mobile Uploads/704E6C1A-3085-4CFB-9A6E-AF66B28F7A15_zpsnhen4ycd.mp4

 

[DanE39TLX]

Great job your setup is really nice.

 

[Chriscrna]

Sorry for the delay of updates......I know I know, the check's in the mail. But to be honest, life in the Richardson household comes to a complete standstill for the Cubbies!!! Other than routine maintenance this past baseball season, I've not really added or done much with the system.

Anyhow, I swear that I'll collaborate with a club member who has a good camera and a macro lens to get some worthwhile pics of my acros. But they are still frags and in their infancy, so they're really not that impressive yet. They will be.....but not yet.

In the meantime, enjoy a video update of the tank. Keep in mind that it's recorded on an iPhone, and as we all know, colors don't translate.

http://vid72.photobucket.com/albums...C-B941-49FB-B3AE-349BE37FD428_zps2wy0y8ge.mp4

 

[Chriscrna]

Oh.......and BTW.........

 

[KDawg0623]

No one should judge you for the Cubbies. We had to wait a long time. How your had a great Christmas with the family. Everything looks awesome with the tank

 

[revhtree]

Tank looks good man!

 

[fragit]

Chris I need an update!

 

[s2nhle]

Any latest update?

 

[Chriscrna]

I really wish I could get some good, clear, accurately colored pics of my acros. I've lost a few here and there, but most of them are encrusting nicely and laying down some big bases (especially the Blue Goddess).

The biggest problem I'm having is getting colors to translate accurately from real life to photos. Anyway, Yash @BlueDevil came over yesterday and took some pics. Here are a few of the better ones.



BC Shades of Fall

Sexy's Orange Passion

Walt Disney
1st pic from November
2nd pic from yesterday

Rastas

Pink Zippers

Blondies

Current stock list so far:

SPS
BC Spainbow
BC Dream Sequence
BC Pink Flamingo
BC Xmas
BC Hyperberry
BC Rainbow's Army
BC Efflo
Biggar Walt Disney
Fraghouse Blue Goddess
Sexy's Orange Passion
Tyree Pink Lemonade
Several other unknown no namer acros
Random orange monti X
BC Confused Rainbow Reverse Sunset
BC Reverse Superman

LPS
Rainbow trachy
Panther Chameleon acan
Multiple random rainbow and brand X acans
Hammer
Tri-color torch
Frogspawn
Raja Rampage chalice
Golden Eye chalice
My Miami chalice
Pink ******* chalice
Brand X rainbow chalice

ZOAS/PALYS (including ETRC stock)
Armor of God
As-kraks
Black Orchids
Blondies
Blue Lagoons
Chiquitas
Emeralds on Fire
Fruit Loops
Full Metal Bursts
Hallucinations
Hawaiin PE's
Jawbreakers
Latin Lovers
Money Shots
Night Furies
Pink Zippers
Prickly Pears
Rainbow Incincerators
Rainbow Infusions
Rainbow Kazoos
Rastas
Snitches
Super Saiyans

FISH, ANIMALS, ETC
Snow Onyx clown pair
4 BTA's
Blue hippo tang
Purple firefish
Trio of female vermiculated leopard wrasses
One spot foxface
Randall's goby/Tiger pistol pair
Red banded coral shrimp
Peppermint shrimp
Typical CUC

 

[Reefrookie220]

@Chriscrna

Dude that shades of fall is sweet!

Nice growth on that bad boy, how long you had it?

 

[Chriscrna]

@Chriscrna

Dude that shades of fall is sweet!

Nice growth on that bad boy, how long you had it?

Yeah it's doing well. Got it last "fall"

 

[Reefrookie220]

Looking good man!

Are there any plans for that peak that stick out of the water?

 

[s2nhle]

Looking good. Thanks,

 

[Chriscrna]

Looking good man!

Are there any plans for that peak that stick out of the water?

Nope. Purely for aesthetics.