My 900 gallon "dream" is coming to life!!

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Ever have a dream come true?

I have been planning this for a very very long time and am finally able to make it happen.

DT is 750 g and sump is 150 g. Tank dimensions are 96”x42”x48”. Had to go with acrylic instead of glass due to the size, weight and cost. It is 1 ¼” thick with an external overflow box on the back. Back wall of the tank has a layer of black acrylic laminated onto it and a cutout top center for the overflow. There is a ¾” acrylic top that acts as a brace. It has 2 large cutouts for access leaving 4” acrylic border all the way around and a 14” wide strip across the center from front to back (top view).

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The stand is 2" stainless steel box tubing and sits on a ceramic tile floor on top of concrete slab so plenty of support there.

It will be located in the center of the house against a wall viewable from almost every room.

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It will be setup 6” away from the wall to allow room for the overflow box and sump return plumbing. The cabinet will hide the gap between the tank and wall.

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The wall has a closet and a bathroom behind it. I cut through the sheetrock to access water supply, drain line and the closet which will be used for making RODI, saltwater and dosing storage tanks.

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I also put the skimmer in the closet since it’s a biggie (SRO XP8000). Added an A/C vent in the closet ceiling which will push cool air down across the storage tanks and skimmer. Cool air will then flow out from the closet through holes in sheetrock and into the cabinets above and below the tank. The hope is to use the home A/C to help keep things cool to some degree. There is a large 1 hp chiller as well with the heat exchanger located under the tank and compressor outside. Closet layout.

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Everything else is under the tank. The sump is 66”x30”x30”. There are 3 drain lines (2” PVC) from the bottom of the external overflow box which empty into 3 filter socks 7”x32” in the sump. There are 2 separate sump returns each with Hammerheads and 2 separate closed loops each with Blueline HD 70s. The 2 sump returns run up behind the back of the tank on either side of the overflow box in the gap between the wall and the tank. Each sump return has jets over the top of the back wall and through bulkheads in the back wall. The skimmer is fed by a Blueline HD 100. The 2 closed loops are through bulkheads in the bottom. All plumbing will be hidden by rock.

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The stand has doors that open fully on all three sides and the lighting can be raised up out of the way into the top of the cabinet when working on the tank. Going to use 4 Solar Stinger Sunstrip 140 LEDs. They are made by inledco, USA. Sold as Econlux in Europe. You can check them out on Google and at all the trade shows.

The tank has been pressure tested and graduated to official aquarium status. It will be delivered this week.
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I have 300 lbs of Pukani dry rock curing in large bins in the garage and another 300 lbs being cured by my new friends Brad and Amanda from Hobe Sound Frags. They are fantastic people and so glad to have them close by.

I will post lots of pics as things progress. It is absolutely overwhelming that this is finally coming together after all of these years. I will have this giant blank canvas to work with and it is going to be a real struggle to stay patient and proceed slowly as we all know is the real secret to success.

More to come.....
 

AlexG

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Looks like it will be a great build. I am just starting my large build. With the tank being so deep how tall is the stand?
 
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Looks like it will be a great build. I am just starting my large build. With the tank being so deep how tall is the stand?

Hi Alex, I went with a 42" tall stand. That gives me plenty of room under the tank for all my equipment and it offers more room for a large sump. The height of the stand, tank and cabinets were mostly based on trying to match the existing space in the room with 10' tall doors and 13' high ceilings. However, it is going to be a challenge for me to reach into the tank. I am 6'2" but I will still have to use a step stool and a long grabber tool.

What are you planning for your large build?
 

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Awesome build you're doing best of luck and keep pics coming. We'll be following along with this dream come true. Congratulations.
 

Steven C

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Good Luck definitely following along one day ill join you in the large tanks club haha
 

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Always nice to see a well planned build!
 
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Always nice to see a well planned build!

Yes, a lot of thought and planning and design work expended here and even with all that I'm still facing a lot of surprises along the way (and they're usually not cheap!!). For example, I have a whole-house backup generator that is patched into the circuit panel. However the panel is full and there isn't enough room to add the 3 new dedicated circuits I need for the pumps, lights and chiller. Surprise, nothing that another $1,000 more can't fix.... now I need to expand to a larger panel box and move everything around. And that is not a DIY project for sure!!!!
 

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Well nobody said surprises would be cheap :)
my current build was planned for 3 years before it started and it also ended up with a load of surprises. For example had to drill my reception room floor (1.5 ft of steel reinforced cement) and move the whole filtration (new sump) to the basement as the under tank filtration was not enough.
We run the same skimmer and would advise to plan your space around it properly. Also would advise to plan space for a neck cleaner for it.
 
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Well nobody said surprises would be cheap :)
my current build was planned for 3 years before it started and it also ended up with a load of surprises. For example had to drill my reception room floor (1.5 ft of steel reinforced cement) and move the whole filtration (new sump) to the basement as the under tank filtration was not enough.
We run the same skimmer and would advise to plan your space around it properly. Also would advise to plan space for a neck cleaner for it.

Sorry to hear about your struggles. That sounds like something that probably blew your budget!!

Regarding the skimmer, I would like to put it on the shelf in my closet rather than on the floor. It is more convenient to have the dosing tanks on the floor so I can reach in and add the mix. And by putting the skimmer on the shelf I have plenty of room above it for the neck cleaner and servicing/cleaning. However, I am curious if gravity will have an affect on the output line and make it harder to control the flow. There will be a 3' drop from the output of the skimmer to the bulkhead in the sump. I know there is a gate valve on the skimmer output but just curious if the drop down from the shelf will "pull" the water and cause issues with maintaining an even flow out of the skimmer. Thoughts?
 

AlexG

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Hi Alex, I went with a 42" tall stand. That gives me plenty of room under the tank for all my equipment and it offers more room for a large sump. The height of the stand, tank and cabinets were mostly based on trying to match the existing space in the room with 10' tall doors and 13' high ceilings. However, it is going to be a challenge for me to reach into the tank. I am 6'2" but I will still have to use a step stool and a long grabber tool.

What are you planning for your large build?

The tanks I am building are 96" x 48" X 24" and 96" x 48" x 36". Both are being built out of plywood. I have a build thread going if you want to see the progress. Its going to probably be at least a year before there is water in the system. The stands I am building are short the 24" deep tank stand is only 31" tall and the 36" tall tank stand is only 19" tall. All of the equipment will be in an area next to the tanks so I don't need space under the tanks for equipment. Since your tank stand is so tall have you considered adding a wider shelf at the top of the front/sides of the stand? It would act as a catwalk to help with maintenance so you dont need to constantly move a step stool around to access the entire length of the tank. It would also double as a bar top at 42" tall.
 
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The tanks I am building are 96" x 48" X 24" and 96" x 48" x 36". Both are being built out of plywood. I have a build thread going if you want to see the progress. Its going to probably be at least a year before there is water in the system. The stands I am building are short the 24" deep tank stand is only 31" tall and the 36" tall tank stand is only 19" tall. All of the equipment will be in an area next to the tanks so I don't need space under the tanks for equipment. Since your tank stand is so tall have you considered adding a wider shelf at the top of the front/sides of the stand? It would act as a catwalk to help with maintenance so you dont need to constantly move a step stool around to access the entire length of the tank. It would also double as a bar top at 42" tall.

Wow, 2 is better than 1... I will check out your build thread.

Great idea on the catwalk approach. That was one of many design iterations we had considered. We had even considered a granite top with bar stools. In the end we scratched that but I did recently find an interesting option. We had some painting done and they were using what looks like a mini-scaffold. The height is adjustable and it is about 4' long on wheels (that lock) and it folds up flat so it can be stored in a closet.
 

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Looks sweet but I would have a hard time running that size setup without an entire dedicated fishroom. Do you have a way of making water changes easy? Is there storage area for salt buckets, two-part, etc?

The 55g reservoir limits you to a 5% water change.

How much do you really need bedroom #4? LOL that has fishroom written all over it.
 
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Looks sweet but I would have a hard time running that size setup without an entire dedicated fishroom. Do you have a way of making water changes easy? Is there storage area for salt buckets, two-part, etc?

The 55g reservoir limits you to a 5% water change.

How much do you really need bedroom #4? LOL that has fishroom written all over it.

I hear ya loud and clear. I convinced her to give up her linen closet but got shut down cold on blowing out that wall and making a fishroom!!

Since the closest is so small, that is going to be my dosing room. The 55 gal tall rectangular tanks were the biggest size that I could squeeze into there. I will also setup a large SW mixing station in the garage with a pump and a hose for regular water changes while cleaning/vacuuming.

The 55 gal SW tank in the closet will be used for a small constant water change. At this point I am thinking 5 gal per day. I also plan to skim wet and drain that directly into the house drain. So I would be great if I could somehow factor that SW loss into my SW replacement but I know it would be largely guess work.

I also have to see how much evaporation I will have on such a large system. If it is a large amount, I may add additional storage tanks in the garage for dosing so that I can go several weeks between mixing up batches.
 
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Looks sweet but I would have a hard time running that size setup without an entire dedicated fishroom. Do you have a way of making water changes easy? Is there storage area for salt buckets, two-part, etc?

The 55g reservoir limits you to a 5% water change.

How much do you really need bedroom #4? LOL that has fishroom written all over it.

I hear ya loud and clear. I convinced her to give up her linen closet but got shut down cold on blowing out that wall and making a fishroom!!

Since the closest is so small, that is going to be my dosing room. The 55 gal tall rectangular tanks were the biggest size that I could squeeze into there. I will also setup a large SW mixing station in the garage with a pump and a hose for regular water changes while cleaning/vacuuming.

The 55 gal SW tank in the closet will be used for a small constant water change. At this point I am thinking 5 gal per day. I also plan to skim wet and drain that directly into the house drain. So I would be great if I could somehow factor that SW loss into my SW replacement but I know it would be largely guess work.

I also have to see how much evaporation I will have on such a large system. If it is a large amount, I may add additional storage tanks in the garage for dosing so that I can go several weeks between mixing up batches.
 

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This sounds like an awesome build! We do work up in Stuart a few times a month. Good luck with the build! Can't wait to see more pics!
 
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Delivery planned for tomorrow. A couple of shots before they load it on the truck.

They blacked out the top, bottom and back edges. It will all be hidden behind the cabinetry but a nice touch anyway. It doesn't look too big in this shot.

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Top back view. Overflow box in the middle with dual sump return lines coming up the back and over the top.The two bends going into the overflow box are the siphon breaks. The center section (covered by brown paper) is the acrylic top brace.

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Top front view.

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Inside back wall of tank. Sump returns through bulkheads in back wall. Focusing on a lot of flow from the bottom to push water up to the top for better aeration. Holes drilled in bottom are for the 2 closed loops.

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maroun.c

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Sorry to hear about your struggles. That sounds like something that probably blew your budget!!

Regarding the skimmer, I would like to put it on the shelf in my closet rather than on the floor. It is more convenient to have the dosing tanks on the floor so I can reach in and add the mix. And by putting the skimmer on the shelf I have plenty of room above it for the neck cleaner and servicing/cleaning. However, I am curious if gravity will have an affect on the output line and make it harder to control the flow. There will be a 3' drop from the output of the skimmer to the bulkhead in the sump. I know there is a gate valve on the skimmer output but just curious if the drop down from the shelf will "pull" the water and cause issues with maintaining an even flow out of the skimmer. Thoughts?

It was a major added expense yet the real damage was delaying the build, and causing a second cycle...
how high will it be? it is a tall skimmer and taking the oversized skimmer cup standing on a ladder might not be as easy as you want.
I would definitely have a bucket to drain skimmate before taking the cup out for cleaning as well.
one other factor to consider is some sound isolation as its not what I would call a quiet skimmer. gravity should have no effect as the gate valve will set the water level inside the skimmer anyway.
Tank is looking great !
 

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