New 190 Gal setup

[ReEfErAdDiCt]

Hey guys, I know I'm posting this super late but I'm just too excited about it to wait! And I'm up messing with the tank anyway haha. Well my buddy, who's a member on here, saw this tank on craigslist. The dimensions are just what we've both been looking for, and since I was already in the market for an upgrade, I went ahead and picked it up. We're in Palm Springs CA, and the tank was in LA so we made the 2 hour trip late yesterday afternoon since that was when the seller was available. And that is the reason I'm still up! We had a long day driving out to get it and when we got back to my place I filled it right up. (To do a leak test of course! lol)

Anyway, it's a 190 gal Lee Mar. Its dimensions are 60"x30"x24", starphire on 3 sides, and it's a peninsula tank. The seller had painted one of the long sides black and had it up against a wall so it was; well still is, only viewable on two sides; one length side and one width side.

I'm posting some pics of how the previous owner had it setup and also some pics of it in my place now. If you notice in the background of my pics, you'll see my current setup that this tank is meant to replace. I'm thinking though that I might want to remove the paint from the other side of this new tank and skin the current back of the stand so I can utilize the peninsula viewing that the tank was meant for. It's a tough decision because I like how the previous owner had it setup and as I'm scoping out my living room I'm seeing a lot of potential for making this a peninsula style tank again. If I end up setting it up as is right now, it will replace my 90 but I’ll probably scoot the overflow side up against the wall. Decisions, decisions...

Well here are some pics, and I'll include some pics of the sump I'm going to use. The sump is actually from my 500 gal tank that's sitting in my garage (for sale or trade by the way lol). Let me know what you guys think. I'd love to hear any input, thoughts, or ideas. I'm pretty new to the hobby so it's all appreciated. BTW, please excuse my mess in the pics. I threw everything around when we we're trying to get it in.

I'll add things to this thread as I go that I might have forgotten or changed. Also, I'm def. on a budget so I'll try to get it up and running ASAP but my pockets don't run as deep as I'd like them lol

Thanks for looking!

-Vince


CAPTIONS ARE FOR THE PIC ABOVE THEM

This is the setup that the previous owner had going

Here is a pic of his filtration, it was plumbed on the outside of the house. I don't understand why because there is tons of room under the tank.

Here's his aquascape before he added corals I guess.

And another pic from the previous owner. SeaSwirls on top.

Here's the view from the end.

Rear/side shot

Rear/overflow side shot. The hole in the stand is from the plumbing the previous owner had going outside of his home.

Overflow and top shot. Holes are from the LumenMax MH fixtures he had

Front/overflow shot. Doors are quick release so it's very convenient

Another front/side shot. Pretty cool the stand is almost a perfect match to that big piece of furniture back there.

And the sump I'm going to use.(48"x24"x20")

This is my current setup. If I leave the tank as is, it will go in place of the larger frag tank up against the wall I'm thinking. Don't mind the light setup lol that was temporary for a couple days because I sold one of my MH. Now I have Radion's.

 

[nitrox36]

I think that whole setup is great a lot of people im sure wish they can do something like that. Thats awesome DT with 2 frag tanks on the side lol thats cool. keep up the great work, cant wait to see the outcome.

 

[revsgirl]

Great lookin' setup! Following..

 

[ReEfErAdDiCt]

Thanks! Ya the idea with the frag tanks was actually to have the larger one a shallow reef with one type of coral being dominant(not sure which yet), my display tank being a mixed reef, and the little frag tank as a grow out tank using my best lighting of course. Now I'm all over the place with ideas so we'll see what happens lol I'll try to update this thread as much as possible.


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[ReEfErAdDiCt]

Thanks revsgirl


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[nitrox36]

Some of the best ideas come from spontaneous ones, lol.

 

[ReEfErAdDiCt]

Put an LED bar up I had lying around just for the heck of it haha figured it would look better in my living room with some lighting, even tho there's nothing in it.

It'll be sitting for a couple days soaking in vinegar, then I'll get her all cleaned up. Still not sure on where I want to place it. Kinda liking where it's sitting now but I'm thinking how I could do the electrical up cleanly. I don't want wires hanging from the ceiling so i guess I'll have to run it under the carpet?? I've still gotta get a quote on the cost to do the skinning of the back side also if I go that route so we'll see. Standby


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[nitrox36]

thats cool i wish my upstairs could support 2 tanks id be in heaven, that looks like a cool chill area!! nice job

 

[revhtree]

Very sweet tank!

 

[ReEfErAdDiCt]

thats cool i wish my upstairs could support 2 tanks id be in heaven, that looks like a cool chill area!! nice job

What's wrong with downstairs!? Already have tanks down there probably right? Lol

 

[ReEfErAdDiCt]

Very sweet tank!

Thanks so much! I'm excited about it!

 

[ReEfErAdDiCt]

Ok, I've been super busy and haven't gotten to do much but get the tank cleaned up.



Today I worked on my return pump. Its a used Iwaki MD-70RLT I acquired in a trade deal about 6 months ago. The guy just gave it to me because it had been sitting forever in his garage because he hadn't gotten around to removing and replacing a couple corroded impeller housing bolts.



Anyway, the whole pump was attached to a wood board that was used as the base. The bolts that attached it were super rusted so I couldn't get them off at first. I just sprayed on a good amount of WD-40 and let them soak for a bit and they came right off. I have a feeling the impeller housing bolts aren't going to be as easy and I don't want to break them inside the motor body. I'll try with the WD-40 first but if I'm twisting too hard and I feel they're going to break, I'll somehow try to soak just the part of the pump with the bolts in vinegar and see if that works.

What do you guys think about the pump? It's rated at 1,536GPH and max head is 31.8ft. Adequate for my setup? Too much? I've heard good things about Iwaki but I have no experience with them.

 

[ReEfErAdDiCt]

Got the broken bolts out with a little elbow grease. I still need to go to home depot to pick up the replacement bolts but I set it up in a sump I had lying around to test it out. Seems to be working fine but I hope it's not supposed to be silent. It sounds like the turbine room inside the Hoover dam lol not sure if I can handle the noise.
Can anyone recommend a good external pump that would work with my system that's pretty quiet too?



THIS IS A VIDEO BTW. CLICK ON IT

 

[ReEfErAdDiCt]

Just left lowes with everything I need to get this thing plumbed! Hopefully! I'll prob end up changing the plumbing around a bit for the final setup but I just want to get it cycling ASAP. Prob post pics of the finished product late tonight

 

[ReEfErAdDiCt]

I didn't get to post pics up last night because I was just too tired when I was finished. I managed to get it all plumbed and the tank is filled and running water through it. I put some bleach just to sterilize all the pipes, the pump, and also the overflow since I didn't have any water flowing through it last time.


Iv'e always used the Durso Standpipe method for my overflows, but I decided to try the Herbie method since this is what the previous owner had setup. All I have to say is, I don’t know why I haven’t done this with all of my tanks! It’s a very simple concept and it is SILENT! I've always had trouble with my overflows being loud and this has solved it. The only change, or modification rather, that I've made, is to the emergency overflow. Before, it was just a pipe connected directly to the sump that acts as a safety in case the main drain line gets clogged and the water level rises in the overflow chamber. It’s still basically that pipe, but I incorporated a Durso Standpipe to the emergency drain just so it will make minimum noise in case of overflow. Of course the first sign of a clogged main drain would be noise from the overflow, and now that I have the Durso on the emergency, I’ll just have to check it every now and then.


I'm looking at the tank and now I'm toying with the idea of moving the overflow to the back glass. Obviously this would require me to drill new holes but it shouldn't be too difficult. My only concern with that idea is that the glass where the overflow is currently located, I think, is not starphire like the other panels. I've looked through it to compare with the rest of the panels and there doesn't seem to be too big of a difference; and I suppose you'll only be able to tell if you're someone else in the hobby, which most people that see my tanks aren't. But anyway, that's just a thought for now.


The sump I have under there was meant to be temporary, but I sort of like the amount of space I have to work with this one. I also like the fact that it has those egg crate inserts already in the center partition that I could utilize as a grow-out area for frags. But then again, I'm going to have either my 60gal or 30gal frag tank connected to this system, so I wouldn't really need that as a frag area... Once I thought about that, I considered using that center partition as a refugium, but on second thought, once I add one of the frag tanks, I'll raise the water volume up from 200 gals approx., to either 230 or 260 gals, which would make a tiny fuge like that senseless as far as keeping phos and nitrate levels down.


On to my next thought...The sump is 30"x12.5"x16". If I keep this sump, my logic is to incorporate another tank (say a 40 breeder or something similar), to be a refugium, and with the added space I could have a decent size top off reservoir. A complete package really, all under my DT.


With the big sump I was planning on using initially (48"x24"x20"), I would only have about 8-10 inches on the far side for reactors or something. Now, since I'll have a frag tank accompanying my DT, if I use the big sump which gives me little room under my DT, I could incorporate a refugium under the frag tank.


Tons of ideas I've been having but I've got to decide sooner or later! Please feel free to express your thoughts and opinions on anything you see on this thread. I know they'll probably only make me think more and come to a more reasonable decision.

Here’s some pics of the setup:

I'll plumb in true union and gate valves later. Didn't have the $$ right now.

Cap not shown on top of the Durso in this pic. Also, I think I'll raise it up a bit so the drop off from the overflow isn't as great making it even quieter.

 

[ReEfErAdDiCt]

It was brought up on another forum to get rid of the 90's on the plumbing closest to the tank. As I mentioned, I'm going to make tweaks to the final plumbing once I'm read to actually cycle the tank. As a swimming pool builder, I'm aware of cavitation and the restriction of flow with the use of 90's. When we're plumbing in any 90 degree section on a pool or spa, we use 2 45's glued together to make a more smooth transition and less restrictive flow possible. I'll definitely be doing this on my final setup. This was basically a test run so I used 10 90's instead of 20 45's.