Nick's 360 Gallons Reef Tank with Angels

[mpsteve]

What would be your local reef club? I belong to the Central Mass Reefers.

Boston reefers

 

[MtlReef25]

I was quite surprised as well. Admittedly, I thought two MP60 would do. But when I got the units in hand and try to place them, I notice there's a big problem with the tank set up with the MP60s. The overflow box is too wide forcing me to place the MP60 way too close to the side glass. The flow I got was unsatisfactory. I order two 6255s to replaced them and was shocked that the LPS at the other end of the tank were almost peeling off due to the strong flow. I backed it off to about 30-40% and they seems to push plenty of flow. I think these pumps would handle a 8' tank no problem.
I had holes drilled on the eurobraced on the other end just in case I need to return some flow on that side but ended up not needing it.
My return is a Vextra L1 running at 50%.

Thanx for your reply! I understand the way your tank is built it would'nt work so well with 2 MP60. I knew the 6255 were powerful pumps but never had the chance to see it on such a huge tank! But that's good thing, I will only buy one for my future 120g! Still, you need a lot of flow with all the SPS you have in there! Always cool to see something different then the Vortechs in such a volume of water, even if use both. Congrats again on your setup!

 

[Ento-Reefer]

Beautiful tank. I could watch your videos all night and never get bored.

 

[this is me]

Thanks!
I would use Tunze if I need the flow to travel more than 5'. Anything shorter than that is a matter of looks vs. stronger flow.

Thanx for your reply! I understand the way your tank is built it would'nt work so well with 2 MP60. I knew the 6255 were powerful pumps but never had the chance to see it on such a huge tank! But that's good thing, I will only buy one for my future 120g! Still, you need a lot of flow with all the SPS you have in there! Always cool to see something different then the Vortechs in such a volume of water, even if use both. Congrats again on your setup!

 

[this is me]

For those who are interested in everything around the tank build.
When we built the house in 2014, we did not get the basement finished. The unfinished space is ~1200sq ft. I had an estimator came in to give me a quote on finishing it and his quote was absurd(to me). I’ve never picked up a hammer in my life but there’s no way I’m going to pay $80K to finish the basement on top of what we’ve already spent on the house and the Elos tank upstairs. I started to do some research and planned out on what needs to be done. Learned how to frame a wall or two from Youtube and see how far I can get before I call in a professional.

Original unfinished basement. Green taped marked the location and size of the tank. I had no idea if I can do this project or not but taping the concrete floor was easy! And a constant reminder of my goal.

To-be lounge with the tank behind.

More space

Most important of all. The to-be fish room

 

[this is me]

First delivery of building materials. I’m using foam board to cover up the concrete walls before framing and then add batt insulation.

More studs

How do I get all the studs down to the basement? In a Lexus of course!

VIP delivery

 

[this is me]

Okay, stop messing around. Time to get serious and build a work table/bench.

Gotta cover up the concrete walls first.

 

[this is me]

Concrete walls all covered up. Now let’s build a wall.

Or two

Or three

Had to crack the trigonometry book for this one.

Hey moron, you just blocked yourself out of the fish room with that wall!

Concrete walls all covered up. Now let’s build a wall.

Or two

Or three

Had to crack the trigonometry look for this one.

Hey moron, you just blocked yourself out of the fish room with that wall!

Ceiling strapping and soffit.

 

[this is me]

Next is the electrical work. I use 12 gauge on all the receptacles boxes and 14guage on the lights. The 12guauge is probably overkill but it’s cheaper to do it now than later.

Fishroom electrical

The 40amps wall in the fish room. I will be using metal halide and T5 as my lighting and there will be a utility sink with a pump. Gotta make sure I have enough juice.

Lights! I’m using recess can for light to preserve the headroom. And they look great!

Ahhh, the monkey behind the hammah.

 

[this is me]

Next, a utility sink in the fish room.

Finished drain

Water hook up for the sink

Thank god for PEX! Had to buy a $250 cinch tool but it’s a hell lot cheaper than not doing it right.

 

[this is me]

Water lines and drain line tied to the main.

Ball valve and checked valve on the drain

Hey honey! We have water!

 

[MtlReef25]

Thanks!
I would use Tunze if I need the flow to travel more than 5'. Anything shorter than that is a matter of looks vs. stronger flow.

Yeah, agree. But look can always be arranged! A faulty wet side when you are away for 3 weeks can be the end of it all.... Thanx again and keep posting!

 

[this is me]

Ethernet and RG6 wired.

Tank Stand in place

Two Ethernet ports for controller and something else that requires internet. Like I mentioned before, I prefer wired connection over WiFi

Another room with RG6 and Ethernet ready.

I also took the chance to burying the wires from the family room to the basement ceiling for my home theater once the Elos is out of the family room. 4 pairs of speakers with 2 subwoofers routed to the rear of the room for 7.2 channel set or 5.2 bi-wire set up.
Also included 4 Ethernet ports and an RG6 cable.

One of the rear side.

The central hub.

 

[this is me]

Picked up a bunch of insulation from HD. They have bulk pricing so we picked up more than needed and insulated the interior walls as well.

This stuff is really nasty to work with.

I subbed out the drywall because I did not want to deal with hanging it or the mudding it. I do not have the strength to do this myself. And did not want the wife to had to help.

Fishroom

 

[this is me]

After the drywall was done. My wife and I ppent all week painting. Never thought painting can be so much work. Did one coat of primer and two coats of BM. I was thinking about focusing on the tank move and tank transfer and not do anything else to the basement .

Tank stand unwrapped and leveled.

Ready for the tank move! Will cut the 3/4" plywood and foam board to place on top of the stand.

 

[this is me]

November 1, 2016.
The movers came and got the tank moved. When they got off their trucks, I was concern right away. Only 4 of them! and looks very "experienced" if you know what I mean.
I was listening to them and had the impression that none of them brought a fork life or a pallet jack. Then one of the guys confirmed that there was no pallet jack on any of their trucks that they brought. Only a lift gate for power equipment. And doesn't seem that they know what a suction cup either. Oh Boy!! The 4 of them tried to lift the tank and right a way, one guy said this ain't 650lbs that the sale guy told him. It's more like 850lbs and I think he's right. They said they will need to call for more help. The phone call was made and there was no help available. I was like, this is going to be a disaster. I'm not sure if I want to watch this.

But I had to trust these guys and let them do their thing. Throughout the whole time, they were very confident and clever at using their tools and rigging experience. Metal bars to roll the pallet away from the wall. 3 guys lift one side of the pallet and the other guy slid a dolly under it. Repeat on the other side so that they can roll the pallet with the tank on it to the lift gate.

They use the lift gate for doing the lifting to get to the height they want.

Then they slid the pallet onto an oversized dolly with massive wheels. (I need to get one of these)

Time to roll it to the back

 

[this is me]

Gotta love the oversized wheels on that dolly. Crush stone pavement? No problem.

Strengthen the ramp

Again, they used their rigging experience and got the tank onto the stand without any issue. They were in and out of the property with the tank on the stand and leveled without a single scratch within an hour.

 

[this is me]

Garden hose in the tank for water testing.

I can only fill the tank up to the returns line but no issue so far. The built quality is pretty amazing from Miracles.

The beast! I will let the water sit in the tank for a couple more days to see if there's any issue with the tank before I can plumb it and aquascape it.
400lbs of sand and liverocks were already ready.

 

[MtlReef25]

After the drywall was done. My wife and I ppent all week painting. Never thought painting can be so much work. Did one coat of primer and two coats of BM. I was thinking about focusing on the tank move and tank transfer and not do anything else to the basement .

Tank stand unwrapped and leveled.

Ready for the tank move! Will cut the 3/4" plywood and foam board to place on top of the stand.

Where's that incredible stand come from?

 

[this is me]

Tank as of last week.
Basement is now 95% done. Doors and trims are in. I need to finish the cabinet and build a canopy and build in a small skinny door on the left side of the tank to block the gap between the tank and the fish room wall.

Quite different two years ago.