Pirate's Reef - A New Beginning

[Krull]

All I wanted for Christmas was water in my 375... I know your pain!

 

[Fin]

All I wanted for Christmas was water in my 375... I know your pain!

Ha! Your overflow will hold more water than my whole system! Do you have a thread about your build? Love to see big tanks like that come together. My biggest was a 200. The resident female decided she would rather have furniture in the living room. Whatever! LOL!

Edit: Never mind. I found your thread - The Money Pit. I have spent more money than I would have liked on this little tank. I can imagine what that one is costing you. It will come out awesome though. It will all be worth it in the end.

 

[Krull]

Thanks! I'm excited to get it up and running. My g/f hates this hobby, but thinks it's okay to have 40 purses and a 100 pairs of shoes - explain the difference?!

 

[EW_Fish]

Thanks! I'm excited to get it up and running. My g/f hates this hobby, but thinks it's okay to have 40 purses and a 100 pairs of shoes - explain the difference?!

My wife hates the time I spend on the tank or buying frags. But like you said she takes 2 hours to get her hair done and $130 dollars that HALF a frag pack

 

[Fin]

Just updating for those that are interested. A few pics I took during the week. Subtle changes, but changes.

This is the 5 gallon fresh water reservoir. I ran out of outlets on my EB8 by the time I got to my ATO, so I am going with my tried and true ReefFanatic ATO. On my 140, this has worked flawlessly for 8 years. Not the best known ATO, but I know it works and I trust it. I also added a low level switch on the reservoir that will trigger a red warning light on the outside of my stand when the level gets low. I had it set up this way when I had the old 45 gallon tank set up on this stand. The light is clearly visible when walking by the tank in the hallway. I have to get another lamp though.

I added an emergency back up air pump. The pump comes on when the power goes off. Right now I just have it running to the tank, but thought it might not be a bad idea to either run lines from this pump or add a second pump to keep the sump / refugium going also, in the event of a power outage.

I mounted the ATO relay and a wall wart for the new 12V Vantech Stealth fan I that I added. This fan is almost silent. Anyway, a little more cord management done.

I had drilled a hole in the back of the refugium to add a rotating wavemaker to the back of the refugium. But, since I decided to go another route, I had an extra hole that I either needed to plug up or find another use for. So, I decided to add a powerhead that would pump water out of the sump into a bucket for doing water changes. It is controlled by a switch on the power strip. I haven't run that line from the back of the sump to the front of the stand yet (running underneath the top shelf). I used silicone tubing to connect the powerhead to the back of the sump and covered it with a scrap of wire loom I had laying around to prevent algae build up inside the tube, since it runs right under the refugium lamp. I hope to finish this part of the sump this weekend. Water changes will be as simple as setting a bucket in front of the stand and turning on the pump. I can either just pour fresh water back in the sump, or set the fresh salt water bucket on the upper shelf and let it drain into the sump through attached tubing. Might sound complicated, but really should make water changes a snap.

And this one is just for fun. With the tank sitting at the angle it is now while I am working on it, my Landshark Lager neon sign reflection can be seen in the tank.

You might also notice that I have a light diffuser panel sitting on top of the tank. I don't know if I will leave that there or not. Probably not. Just a thought.

With the weather being so bad this weekend, I will have more time to play with this, so maybe more pics this weekend.

 

[oohnoo]

Very very impressive indeed. Not sure which is more impressive, the treasure chest or the behind the scenes refigum/plumbing. Can't wait to see it all completed with corals/fish.

 

[Fin]

Very very impressive indeed. Not sure which is more impressive, the treasure chest or the behind the scenes refigum/plumbing. Can't wait to see it all completed with corals/fish.

Thank you! I do appreciate the comments. And - welcome to R2R!!

 

[Nano man]

Awesome

Very original tank man. I love it, just wish you would increase the viewing area of it since you upgraded other things.

 

[Fin]

Very original tank man. I love it, just wish you would increase the viewing area of it since you upgraded other things.

Thank you! Not sure how I would have increased viewing area in this set up, since the tank is inside of an enclosure and there is plumbing all around the other three sides. It was always meant to be a small viewing area anyway. I have a 140 and another, more modern looking nano, so I am fine with the view I have of this tank. Thanks for looking though.

My problem now is finding time to finish it up. I have been looking at ideas for a small DIY kalk reactor to place in-line with my ATO. So, I have been tinkering with that.

 

[143MPCo]

Hey Fin, I don't think this could have turned out any better,:thumb::thumb::thumb: this is amazing tank and my hats off to you for an outstanding build!:clap2::clap2::clap2:

 

[Fin]

Hey Fin, I don't think this could have turned out any better,:thumb::thumb::thumb: this is amazing tank and my hats off to you for an outstanding build!:clap2::clap2::clap2:

Thank you! Not finished yet though. At least I am not in a hurry to get everything on-line. I have a 140 and another nano to keep me occupied while I work on this one. I have already had a few tweaks that caused do-overs, so I want to get that all out of the way before I start it up.

I have been toying with the idea of making a mini-kalk reactor to use in line with my ATO. Considering using an RO canister. Here is one I found on another forum that looks simple to make.

I did find an inexpensive stirrer. Would need to try a larger stir bar.

Has anyone out there tried to use an RO canister for a kalk reactor? If so, would be interested in hearing how that turned out.

 

[gettaReef]

Amazing thread and diy skills! I love it. Any updates? Also, where'd you find that inexpensive stirrer on your last post?

 

[Fin]

Thanks for reviving the thread and thank you for the compliments. I hit a snag and shifted gears on all three of my tanks - like starting over on a couple of other ones. Waiting on a Reef Savvy 125 to replace my old Oceanic 140. Way beyond time to get rid of that tank. Plus, I have another 15 gallon DIY nano that I was just going to tear down, but decided to upgrade that one as well. So, I have been busy. I really haven't done anything to Pirate's Reef, but it is pretty much ready for water. I had a series of trips that I took during the summer and I did not want to start up a new tank if I was not going to be around. Especially one with lots of holes in it.

I never got the stirrer. I think I found it on eBay though. I may look more into that in the future. I don't get in a rush with any of my tanks - obviously.

I didn't start a build thread for the other nano, but this is a peek of where I am now.

 

[revhtree]

This is an awesome set up!

 

[Fin]

This is an awesome set up!

Thanks Rev! Now if I can only get water in them. I am a "tinker-holic." Can't quit building them to get them started.

 

[Reef-Tastic]

You could just send me one and I'll get it started.... Haha

 

[Johnny Ciotti]

This thread is full of awesomeness! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Fin]

This thread is full of awesomeness! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Johnny. This kind of got derailed, but still plan to finish it. I ordered a new 125 and have been collecting equipment for it and I put together that other nano that is shown further up on this page. I got stuck on a couple of things and followed the path of least resistance - shopping and ordering new stuff for a new tank.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

My gosh this thing is amazing, the filtration is 100% and the tank's design is perfect.

 

[Fin]

Thank you. Guess I better get off my lazy **** and finish it.