ReefBum's 225G Peninsula Tank Build

[ReefBum]

Looks great and I love the size. I'm with you on the rimless tanks. I have always loved the clean look so I got a rimless frag tank. I can't even clean the glass without splashing water over the edge. I'm always cleaning the outside of that thing. What's the plan with the rocks, and are you going barebottom?

Many thanks. Going bare bottom with live rock. No more dry rock only start-ups for me. My only experience with it was not a good one with one problem after another.

 

[ReefBum]

So here are some more details about my Royal Exclusiv Dreambox. There are five inlets...four are 1-1/2" and one is 1". Two of the 1-1/2" inlets will be used for the drains on the display and the third will be for the drain on the frag tank. The forth 1-1/2" drain is a spare. The 1" drain is for fresh salt water I will pump in for water changes.

For mechanical filtration there will be 10 filter bags. Micron size of the bags decreases right to left.

The skimmer is a Bubble King Double Cone 200 with a RD3 Speedy Pump.

I moved this baffle up a bit to keep the water in the skimmer compartment level and that has really allowed the skimmer to produce a very consistent amount of foam.

 

[BaysEndReef]

Looks great! Love those sumps!!

 

[ReefBum]

This media reactor holds activated carbon. It is screwed into the bottom of the DB, which is a really cool feature since you never have to worry about it moving around (the base is in the second picture in the foreground). It is also a breeze to change out the media since you do not have to remove any hoses. The reactor has pipe works that is plumbed into one of the return pumps.

Another cool feature is that there are transparent lids that cover the entire Dreambox, including the skimmer compartment. The lids in the front have little holes to make them easier to lift up and remove. They really cut down on the evaporation.

Another compartment for a heater....

 

[ReefBum]

I love these probe holders. They are glued in and will not move like some of those probe holders with magnets.

Cable management.

Two 100W return pumps.

A cockpit panel for the controllers.

And LED's inside the DB to light the way. You have the option to select different colors and you can even program it to scroll through all the colors and watch them flash and pulsate. It looks like a disco when the lights are out :)

 

[Greg Gdowski]

Thank you for showing some of the features. A lot of them are pretty nice. Seems like a lot of filter bags to me -- even compared to having just one reactor. Are you going to have a refugium on this system as well?

 

[OCRick]

Very nice!

 

[rtparty]

Very glad I found your thread and videos! Found it when researching 72x36 peninsula tanks. I am trying to plan my next upgrade and make it my "long term" tank. 10+ years if we decide not to move.

Anyway, I know it is early on but do you regret not going 24" tall? I have a standard 120 right now and absolutely hate the 24" top to bottom. With the canopy I am running it makes accessing the back corners impossible. BUT I do enjoy the extra swim room and growth for the corals even though I am 100% LPS. My peninsula would be 90% LPS and only a few very select SPS pieces.

So I was really set on 20" height but now I am wondering if 24" will be better since there will be no canopy and three sides of the tank will be fully accessible. At only 36" wide, the farthest I am reaching into the tank is 18"...just some thoughts and hoping you can shed some opinion but more importantly experience.

 

[ReefBum]

Very glad I found your thread and videos! Found it when researching 72x36 peninsula tanks. I am trying to plan my next upgrade and make it my "long term" tank. 10+ years if we decide not to move.

Anyway, I know it is early on but do you regret not going 24" tall? I have a standard 120 right now and absolutely hate the 24" top to bottom. With the canopy I am running it makes accessing the back corners impossible. BUT I do enjoy the extra swim room and growth for the corals even though I am 100% LPS. My peninsula would be 90% LPS and only a few very select SPS pieces.

So I was really set on 20" height but now I am wondering if 24" will be better since there will be no canopy and three sides of the tank will be fully accessible. At only 36" wide, the farthest I am reaching into the tank is 18"...just some thoughts and hoping you can shed some opinion but more importantly experience.

No regrets at all on the 20" tall tank.....I just love it. My 187g tank on the other side of the room is 24" so it is a nice contrast.

 

[SteveG_inDC]

Great build thread. Love your tank dimensions. Mine is 72 x 30 x 25 with three viewing sides if you include the fish room (I'm keeping the back glass scraped so I can enjoy it from my man-cave). One question for me is whether you can successfully put all your flow on one side of the tank. I have a high flow from two returns + one Tunze 6255 but trying to decide whether if I add more flow, where it should come from. I don't want to add to a clean viewing pane. My current flow creates a nice gyre and keeps everything in suspension pretty well so until I add SPS I'm not likely to change it. Also, I have sand.

 

[FMF0331]

;Woot ;Woot

 

[ReefBum]

Thank you for showing some of the features. A lot of them are pretty nice. Seems like a lot of filter bags to me -- even compared to having just one reactor. Are you going to have a refugium on this system as well?

No, I will be using a Pax Bellum ARID algae reactor for nutrient export.

 

[hellsangelbx]

Great job on the build and live stream today

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Amazing build!

 

[ReefBum]

Great job on the build and live stream today

Thank u!

 

[ReefBum]

Amazing build!

Thank u David :)

 

[ReefBum]

So here are some details on how I hard plumbed the Dreambox. To get to the sump room I had to go through two walls with the two drains and two returns. Step one was to create some wooden braces for the PVC pipe that would be installed inside the walls. This was to make sure they would not budge...I didn't want to rely just on the drywall since that would not be as solid.

Covering it up with drywall.....this side is in my furnace room so I am not concerned about it looking pretty.

With the brace in this wall I start working on installing the pipe. I cut out holes in the dry wall with a hole saw so it is pretty clean on the side of the wall with the tank.

The finished product.

Just to note that I had no choice but to run the pipes a few feet to the right of the tank. Directly behind the tank is cement from our chimney and to the right of that is our furnace. But I put a few pictures around the pipe so I think it looks pretty cool.....sort of an industrial look :)

 

[lombeard]

Beautiful tank! Looking forward to seeing more.

 

[ReefBum]

Next step was to do the plumbing in the furnace room....

The finished product.

The pipes on the left in the picture above go into the sump room. I added bracing on the other side of this wall....pictured below.

And again I covered it up with drywall. Here is the finished product.

As you can see, there are five inlets. Four are 1-1/2” and one is 1”. Two of the 1-1/2” inlets are for the two drains on the display tank while a third is for the frag tank drain. The fourth 1-1/2” inlet is a spare. The lone 1” inlet is for my water changing system.

 

[ReefBum]

On the right side of my Dreambox are two 1" outlets for the two return pumps. One of the returns goes directly back to the tank, but the other one is also plumbed into the frag tank and my water changing system.

I added a few valves for the water changing system and frag tank. In the picture below, the valves are all set to pump water out of the Dreambox and into my slop sink. The bottom valve is closed...when open it returns water to the display. The valve on the left is open partially to allow water to flow to the frag tank, which will be on a bench above the Dreambox. The valve on the top is the one for the frag tank....it is currently closed. And the valve to the right is open...so water can flow to the slop sink.

PVC plumbing that I ran up the wall, along a beam and down into the slop sink. I attached some large tubing to the end of the PVC using a nozzle that was glued in.