Poops Build Thread

[pooperific]

Hello Reefers!

I will start by saying that this will be my 1st Reef tank, I am at ground ZERO of the project and welcome any and all advice along the journey. After reading threads and watching youtube for a few months, I understand that is is going to take some time and want to make sure I get it right the 1st time. I have had fresh aquariums and built a 1,000+ gallon Koi pond. Clearly this is much different and more complex!!

I am in the final design phase of my house remodel and need to nail down the tank design. Below I have provided a floor plan and a preliminary sketch of my vision for the tank. At, the end I have a few questions about my design.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!!!
-Poop

About the Build
(Again, ground zero, so I have flexibility in most regards)

1st, here is the preliminary floor plan that outlines the location of the tank. (by the front door)

-The tank/stand will be a custom structure
-8' ceiling in this room
-Electricity will come for ceiling
-Not Planning to have a drain or hook into house plumbing

Next, here are sketches of the design of the tank system. Sketch on the right is the front view that will been seen from the office/front entry. I do not claim to be an artist and don't know cad, so apologies for the 3rd grade art...

The Set Up
-The overall structure is roughly 3' x 7' x 8' tall
-The facade will be a white stone that matches fireplace
-Tank will sit on a 34" by 64 1/2" slab of Quartz (2 inch lip on all sides)
-Cabinet doors will be wood
-235 gallon peninsula Planet Aquarium 60 1/2" x 30 1/2" x 30"
-Thinking no sand for less maintenance
-For lighting T5/LED Hybrid
-Open canopy
-Underneath tank
-40-45 gallon Sump with refuge and protein skimmer(have not chosen any of these yet)
-QT tank underneath
-Backside of tank
-Planning for an auto water changing system with (2) 55 gallon water tanks. 1 for clean/1 for dirty
-Also will put all the dosing and control systems here. Want to automate as much as possible.


My initial questions today are around design:
1) Right now I am thinking open canopy. Also considered closing it up. Looking for opinions on this? Pros/Cons.
2) Maybe I switch the QT to the back and Dosing systems to underneath?
3) Is 55 gallon to big on the water tanks.... maybe I should go with 40s? That would give me more space for other stuff.


Do you see any major design flaws? What would you change? What am I missing?

 

[WIReefer]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[ReefKeeperElite]

Be sure to work through the details of the AWC system, and think about how your ATO will work as well. Most people have a mixing station setup which connects their RODI production to a storage tank, then plumbed to another tank for mixing SW. Make this as easy to manage as possible. If it's not simple, the whole AWC will quickly lose its flair.

Read my build thread for how I did this, although there are others that are more elegant than mine, but it will give you an idea. My total volume is 200G, and I use 65G storage tanks for both RODI and SW. My waste line goes from the tank, through a wall to the garage, then to an outside drain. My SW/RODI lines route through the wall from my garage, directly to my reef room. Neptune DOS are used for both ATO and AWC.

 

[jstncoffman]

I would say , you would really need to check out A Apex fusion for sure, also make sure when you have your QT tank make is easy to get too and also to were you can see it well, QT tanks are very important and to see if their is pest or fish illness, also for lights id say closed canopy you will have to move the heat away from the top of the water, open canopy is easier to change builds, you said a T5 fixture/hybrid, remember those t5s every 6 months need to be changed so make plans for that, electrical system be ready to use about 25 outlets , so make sure you have plenty of power supply at hand, also .are sure you have great access to your sump and light to see what you are doing