My 270 Gallon Build with remote garage fish room : 460 gallons of crazy

[Twitchy]

Update time: I got all the fish out of the display tank and into a couple of smaller tanks... the girlfriend wasn't super amused with the state of the house, and nether are the fish... Last night the PBT had ich spots, and was picking fights with his tank mates in the new tank!! Ahhh! so I moved him to the 30, moved the corals to the 55, and started the 30 on a dose of chloroquine phosphate. I thought I was done with ich! hopefully his tank mates can continue fend it off, or they will join him in the 30.

Putting the stand in its now home

Adapting the old stand for sump work

Every sump needs a couple of holes, A little hot glue to hold in some water.

A little action shot. You can just see the GF out of frame covering her ears...

success!

Another hole for top off, and it's time to see the sump in it's new home.

The glass baffles are getting cut today, and I will have a fun time this weekend turning this monster into a proper sump.

 

[Deep dive coral]

Update time: I got all the fish out of the display tank and into a couple of smaller tanks... the girlfriend wasn't super amused with the state of the house, and nether are the fish... Last night the PBT had ich spots, and was picking fights with his tank mates in the new tank!! Ahhh! so I moved him to the 30, moved the corals to the 55, and started the 30 on a dose of chloroquine phosphate. I thought I was done with ich! hopefully his tank mates can continue fend it off, or they will join him in the 30.

Putting the stand in its now home

Adapting the old stand for sump work

Every sump needs a couple of holes, A little hot glue to hold in some water.

A little action shot. You can just see the GF out of frame covering her ears...

success!

Another hole for top off, and it's time to see the sump in it's new home.

The glass baffles are getting cut today, and I will have a fun time this weekend turning this monster into a proper sump.

Awesome to see progress

 

[Twitchy]

Eeeeee!! I'm starting to get really excited as I wrap up this sump

 

[Twitchy]

Update time: Wow I have glued sooo many pipes.... this was the first time using pipe joint compound, as apposed to Teflon tape.... how did I ever survive before now!?! Pipe joint compound is far superior for PVC... no worries of cracking stuff, just go a hair tighter then hand tight, and no worries of leaks.... I did close to 15 threaded joints, and not a single one leaked first go around.
This past week was full of progress... I installed the electrical, got the tank moved, finished most of the plumbing, and was able to leak test last night. I have a couple of things I need to fix, but over all I am pleased with the flow I am seeing so far. I will know more about my flow once my sensors come in, and I get the apex wired up.

stuff to fix tonight, I have to move my check valve... I thought I could get away with mounting it upside down... I can't... and I plan to raise my overflow pipes a bit to make it quieter in the house... I mounted the upper pipe about 3/4th of the way up, but the water still falls a good ways into the overflow, so I'm gonna shoot for more of a 7/8ths.

have some photos!
Tank in it's final spot.

Pipes and backing boards!!!!!

Ya, I cheeped out on the ball valves this go around... I plan to go back and redo them in a couple of years when budget permits, and these one get all super hard to turn, but I couldn't bring myself to spend like $300 in valves. I also got my 10 conductor wire in place for the goodies the apex is going to control in the house.

Getting ready to put the cabinet back in the kitchen. My Girlfriend is pleased to not have it in the middle of the kitchen anymore.

Inside shot under the tank.

filling the tank for leak and pump testing.

 

[Deep dive coral]

Awesome!!!!. I'm starting my plumbing this weekend myself.

 

[Twitchy]

A little bit of an update. Finally have my RODI system moved from the laundry room to the "fish wall", I added the 200GPD upgrade and booster pump. I have started setting up my Apex... the software has a tiny bit of a learning curve, but seems plenty powerful for what I intend to do with it. ( I really wish they had an option to display the text of the Icons, instead of trying to remember what page each odd ball icon goes to.) I got my flow sensors set up, and worked out my check valve, and a few other minor leaks, that were causing air bubbles in my return. I drained the tank, and sump, and have started adding RODI water to the system. It looks like the system tops out about 1600GPH which is a little lower then I was hoping for, but I can't get water from the tank into the overflow any faster then that, without cutting out the comb of the overflow... also after playing with this system, I feel most people think way more water is flowing into their sump then there really is... I put a true 2000GPH through the sump and It was just insane. There was no way in heck I was actually getting 1300GPH in my old setup...

It looks like witchcraft how the huge Lines just disappear into the wall, and it's just kitchen stuff on the other side. (the tank drain ball valve is temporary)

Fish wall!!!

 

[Ashish Patel]

I have a old dewalt saw laying around that no longer can charge.. And you have a Forklift laying around LOL.

Congrats the project looks stella... Happy for you..

 

[ScottB]

Awesome build. Thanks for sharing all the great pictures.

Hey, anybody else think the GF should be nominated for sainthood?

 

[Twitchy]

Update time... I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and a happy holiday. Things are starting to come together. The aquarium now has fish. I was going to wait a little longer before adding fish, but my yellow tang went rogue, and started beating the crap out of his tank mates in the little 55 gallon. It got to the point my largest purple tang was constantly hiding behind the overflow box, and getting chased every time he came out... So into the large tank everyone went. But unfortunately this did leave my rock work is a little uninspired. (although the fish seem to love it) It's now been a few days in the large system, and everyone is happy again.

I 3D printed some 5mm LED holders, and picked up some 5mm white LEDs to pair up with my Apex LSM.

Testing them on my light bar, before taking it into the house, and hooking things up.

While I was printing I went ahead, and made some shelf brackets to hang my refugium light

I also got some containers for my mixing station. (Hoping to plumb them up this week) refugium light is now mounted, and the fish room is starting to take shape.

I love the look of my kessils. Going to break down the 55, and move it to the garage this week. (the girlfriend can't wait to get the table back)

The fish were not super happy about the transfer at first...

 

[Twitchy]

Update time: tank is doing it's thing. I moved adding a lid to the top of my list, after my cleaner wrasse took a jump... I was not a happy camper... they never transport very well.

The tanks are now out of the house, and the GF is much happier...

Fish room is filling out nicely. Added my UPS, and QT setup

Making a set of lids for the tank.

perfect!!

I also bought an Aqua Gadget Grazer, and quickly realized one of it's short comings... so a few cuts later, I have a much better food holder.

The fish sure like it too! except the tomini tang... He dislikes new things, and was last to trust the new strange device

 

[samson78945]

Great looking build! Looking forward to updates!

 

[biecacka]

Great looking tank. What sort of PAR are you getting in that 30in tank with the Kessil’s?
fish room looks awesome man!

corey

 

[Twitchy]

Great looking tank. What sort of PAR are you getting in that 30in tank with the Kessil’s?
fish room looks awesome man!

corey

Not sure yet, I still have to barrow a PAR meter and get some data. I do have a 4th Kessil lined up to place on the tank, if I end up needing more light... It's mostly going to be an LSP/softie tank, but I am hoping for a bit of some top row SPS Shout out to any central Florida folks with a PAR meter... Do you like beer, or a steak dinner? maybe we can work something out?

 

[Twitchy]

Update time!

It has been a few months, tank has been fallow due to me trying to end Ich once and for all. I have upgraded the UV( got a good deal on a lifegard 120 watt setup) added a Larger skimmer, and added some additional LED lighting.

And then I came across some lightly used Maxspect commercial 500 Watt LED fixtures..... I think my system is about to get a good bit larger. I'm thinking maybe a coral grow out area in the garage side of the setup, which will add a couple of hundred gallons to the system .... Unfortunately one of the lights arrived broken, and the blue channel was not functioning correctly so It turned into a bit of a repair. the other issue is it is really hard to find info on these things, so looks like I am gonna be a bit of a guinea pig.

PAR levels after adding additional LED lighting Hoping to maybe grow a bit of Acro in the green areas.

new UV Unit. I mounted it in a better spot for service.

The Maxspect 500 Watt 14k LED lights. they come with 2 channels a white, and a blue adjustable by a set of pots on top of each light

Shipping damage... Sooo much glass

the new glass plate I cut, and painted. only took 2 tries!

not too shabby If do say so myself.

I replaced the LED driver, fixing my blue channel problem. thankfully it is a 3rd party driver, and it was easy to find.

after doing some research on this model of driver Looks like I can swap the pots out, and use 0-10v or PWM control with these! so someday they will be part of the apex too~

I think the next step will be finding a 6-8ft trough of somesort, and plumb it into the system.

stay tuned!

 

[Nhltc99]

I think the next step will be finding a 6-8ft trough of somesort, and plumb it into the system.

stay tuned!

Agrimaster 300g Poly Stock Tank - 8ft long, 3ft wide, 2ft deep. Planning to use one as a refugium myself, but would make a great grow out tank too I'm sure. They also have a 150g version, 6x2x2. Link below for Farm and Fleet shows all sizes they offer.

Agrimaster Poly Stock Tank, 70 Gallon - 52110067GS | Blain's Farm & Fleet

Get your Agrimaster Poly Stock Tank, 70 Gallon - 52110067GS at Blain's Farm & Fleet. Buy online, choose delivery or in-store pickup. Great prices on Stock Tanks.

www.farmandfleet.com

 

[shoelaceike]

Looks awesome. I love tall tanks. Dont acrylic tanks need full support on the bottom?

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

Following!

 

[Johnd651]

Loving it... any more pics of the 500w maxspects? Nerd here

 

[Twitchy]

Loving it... any more pics of the 500w maxspects? Nerd here

I do!
Warning incoming LED prong

They use Wagos!!!!

the blue and white are original, my replacement driver used blue and brown wires.

 

[Twitchy]

Mini Update: After running some numbers, and looking at various vats and tubs, I think I am going to go ahead and build a 36 x 72 glass euro braced frag tank. I got a quote for about $320 to get all my glass pieces cut and edge ground out of 1/4" plate glass. Not to mention that sweet R2R build thread tank assembly content.~