12 Foot - 450G Office Build

[LeonThePeon]

Alright – I think it’s fitting to start a New Build thread for me since I’ve been asking for input here on R2R and getting great feedback. Here’s what I’m working with right now:



So the three windows in the room will be patched up/removed. Originally, I was going to do a 12’L x 2’ x 2’ tank and build around it for a wall – but I can’t seem to find a cabinet guy that could do the work without breaking the bank. So I decided to squeeze a 10’ tank against the existing wall instead.


So far - I'm visioning the tank like this so far:


Haven't quite figured out the lights yet - I want to do arm mounts on the tank - but the tank has a 2" rim and the AI 52s and Radeon mounts can't get that wide. Prefer not to do T5 type bulbs and not sure about hanging from dropped ceilings. Thought about attaching arms to the stand - but then I'm stuck with them.

Thoughts so far? Going to be putting my order in... soon... probably in next day...

 

[Crabs McJones]

Alright – I think it’s fitting to start a New Build thread for me since I’ve been asking for input here on R2R and getting great feedback. Here’s what I’m working with right now:



So the three windows in the room will be patched up/removed. Originally, I was going to do a 12’L x 2’ x 2’ tank and build around it for a wall – but I can’t seem to find a cabinet guy that could do the work without breaking the bank. So I decided to squeeze a 10’ tank against the existing wall instead.


So far - I'm visioning the tank like this so far:


Haven't quite figured out the lights yet - I want to do arm mounts on the tank - but the tank has a 2" rim and the AI 52s and Radeon mounts can't get that wide. Prefer not to do T5 type bulbs and not sure about hanging from dropped ceilings. Thought about attaching arms to the stand - but then I'm stuck with them.

Thoughts so far? Going to be putting my order in... soon... probably in next day...

What level of the building is this on? Maybe floor bracing may be required if there's a level below you.

 

[LeonThePeon]

What level of the building is this on? Maybe floor bracing may be required if there's a level below you.

First floor - concrete below carpet.

 

[Crabs McJones]

First floor - concrete below carpet.

Excellent, no problem then

 

[sbash]

 

[Bj’s Reef]

Looks like it's going to be a fun build.

 

[xaflatoonx]

Why would you make the water go from fuge to chiller. Your fuge will house copepods - you want your fuge to go to the return. No?

 

[TonapahNorth]

Looks like it will be a fun build. Gonna enjoy watching here.

I wouldn’t hesitate to have two 16” overflows evenly spaced and 2 more return holes. Or a dedicated return pump for each of those 2 existing return holes with a Y LocLine from each. Either way, if you stick with just one, I’d still put the overflow in the middle. If that’s the synergy overflow, I think it can handle the exchange on a tank your size for sure but I think it will improve surface skim removal if you center it.

 

[Kbas]

Why would you make the water go from fuge to chiller. Your fuge will house copepods - you want your fuge to go to the return. No?

The Pods will survive but I bet he will have it flowing directly to the return through the sump. You don't need to run a chiller all the time.

 

[LeonThePeon]

The Pods will survive but I bet he will have it flowing directly to the return through the sump. You don't need to run a chiller all the time.

Yes - also, it’s been my experience when hooking up the chiller to the UV and straight to return, the water is too warm going back into the return. Also, I really close up the UV output to give the water a better zap.

 

[LeonThePeon]

Alright - going BIGGER! Tank is on order - 12' x 2' x 2'

The hardest part right now for me to figure out is lighting. No canopy on this build. Don't prefer to hang from ceiling (dropped ceiling tiles). Thinking of doing a T Slot frame on the back side of the tank - where there'll be a long T Slot rail that attaches to steel stand (minus 16" so that I don't have to mess with potential plumbing issues for the overflow to drop straight down)

Hook up some verticals and the top rail will probably be 2(?) pieces

Then hook up whatever brand mount I want to the top rail.



Nevermind the left/front naming - Drew it wrong

Now I think about it - I might have to do a little offset of the frame away from the tank - for the mounts (like Ecotech Radion RMS mounts or AI HMS mounts) to be able to sandwich the top rail.

Thoughts?

Thoughts on how to get 4-5 lights up?

Thought about taking the T Slots all the way - and make the L from the top frame over the water - but OEM always seems to look better to me.

 

[MarylandTang]

This is the mount you've been looking for.

You can mount Radeons, Kessils, AI, etc. -- universal brackets are included for all, and you can run 4 T5 bulbs as well.

 

[Dodgersfan]

Alright - going BIGGER! Tank is on order - 12' x 2' x 2'

The hardest part right now for me to figure out is lighting. No canopy on this build. Don't prefer to hang from ceiling (dropped ceiling tiles). Thinking of doing a T Slot frame on the back side of the tank - where there'll be a long T Slot rail that attaches to steel stand (minus 16" so that I don't have to mess with potential plumbing issues for the overflow to drop straight down)

Hook up some verticals and the top rail will probably be 2(?) pieces

Then hook up whatever brand mount I want to the top rail.



Nevermind the left/front naming - Drew it wrong

Now I think about it - I might have to do a little offset of the frame away from the tank - for the mounts (like Ecotech Radion RMS mounts or AI HMS mounts) to be able to sandwich the top rail.

Thoughts?

Thoughts on how to get 4-5 lights up?

Thought about taking the T Slots all the way - and make the L from the top frame over the water - but OEM always seems to look better to me.

ACT grid can carry more weight than you'd think by looking at it. How much do your lights weigh? You might be ok. You've got a couple of fairly inexpensive options if you want the beef it up a little. You can have a contractor shoot a few more hanger wires in the area to prevent sagging, or if you really want to play it safe you can run two pieces of unistrut from threaded rods in the plenum above the act, then cut holes thru the tiles for your light wires to pass through and anchor to the unistrut. Unistrut should only cost your few hundred. The hanger wires don't cost anything, it'll just be a matter of what the cheapest minimum trip fee you can find, most guys won't come out for less than a few hundred bucks.

Also if you're going open top you're going to want to change out the ceiling tiles above the tank for Humiguard or gridstone tiles, regular act doesn't do great with prolonged exposure to moisture. But they make a ton of products for outdoor use or use in commercial kitchens that do much better.

 

[LeonThePeon]

This is the mount you've been looking for.

You can mount Radeons, Kessils, AI, etc. -- universal brackets are included for all, and you can run 4 T5 bulbs as well.

I saw these at show and I hear that there’s a 60” coming out later - they looked good. I just wonder how much of a pain it would be to move them out of the way during tank maintenance?

 

[LeonThePeon]

ACT grid can carry more weight than you'd think by looking at it. How much do your lights weigh? You might be ok. You've got a couple of fairly inexpensive options if you want the beef it up a little. You can have a contractor shoot a few more hanger wires in the area to prevent sagging, or if you really want to play it safe you can run two pieces of unistrut from threaded rods in the plenum above the act, then cut holes thru the tiles for your light wires to pass through and anchor to the unistrut. Unistrut should only cost your few hundred. The hanger wires don't cost anything, it'll just be a matter of what the cheapest minimum trip fee you can find, most guys won't come out for less than a few hundred bucks.

Also if you're going open top you're going to want to change out the ceiling tiles above the tank for Humiguard or gridstone tiles, regular act doesn't do great with prolonged exposure to moisture. But they make a ton of products for outdoor use or use in commercial kitchens that do much better.

Didn’t think about the tiles and humidity/moisture. I probably just assumed that in an office environment that there’s enough air circulating where it wouldn’t be a problem.

If some of the tiles need to change out - might as well have some unistruts put in (in case I change my mind on suspension - and not be doing that when the tank is already in place)

 

[JustSomeGuy]

A dehumidifier might also be a good thought. Only other thing that made me curious was where the tank is going. If you ever changed any of the furniture in the room that would be a trick with how close the tank is to the door. Other then that this will be a awesome build I'll be watching out for .

 

[LeonThePeon]

A dehumidifier might also be a good thought. Only other thing that made me curious was where the tank is going. If you ever changed any of the furniture in the room that would be a trick with how close the tank is to the door. Other then that this will be a awesome build I'll be watching out for .

Going to do something similar to this


But the “stationary” panel on the right (next to tank) can slide to the left about 88”

 

[LeonThePeon]

Update - Going 12'L! Same placement - might as well stretch the entire span of the wall. Still 24" D and H

 

[LeonThePeon]

Now to get water to the tank... Was thinking of building a mixing station in the men's bathroom near by - about 20' straight shot - or about 40' of rounding a hose around.

At first I was thinking about doing a hard plumb from station to tank - but I keep worrying about a PVC pipe leak along the way - especially if I want to try to get fancy and drop it between the drywalls of two offices - yikes!

Leaning towards a hose - would something like this be ok?
Camco
TastePURE 50 ft., Drinking Water Hose, 5/8 in. ID

Didn't know if metals are no Bueno

 

[LeonThePeon]

How practical is this fish list for a 12' tank?

Longnose Butterflyfish 1
Copperband Butterflyfish 1
Pearlscale Butterflyfish 1
Longfin Bannerfish 1
Spotfin Butterflyfish 1
Raccoon Butterflyfish 1
Pennant Butterflyfish 1

Clownfish ? (Babies from home... once my pair starts spawning)

Moorish Idol 1

Kole (yellow eye) Tang 1
Yellow Tang 3
Hippo Tang 1
Puple Tang 1
Achilles Tang 1

Potter's Angelfish 1
Flame Angelfish 1