Hello all,
Been a minute since I have been on a fish forum. Actually several.
Had a beautiful reef for several years more than a decade ago. Over-engineered and so much fun. Tank on the first floor, sump in the basement. Thems the days, but so much has changed. At the time, I was running VHO tubes in the canopy if that gives you any idea how long ago this was. I imagine fish have evolved since then been so long
For the last 15 years I have been doing very high end hydroponics. DIY controls based on Raspberry Pi and Arduino, pushing the envelope. Injecting O2 in the root zone. Fogponics. Stuff nobody does. But that's where this stupid brain takes me. Everything I touch I feel like I can tweak it and make it just a bit better... Its a sickness really. I think I might be in good company with some of you folks here.
I recently retired. Now I have personal time and a distinct absence of travel as well as spending nearly all my time at home now - so. clearly this means I need a reef, right? Out with the grow, in with the fish show.
I'm in the process of the build out now. I've been lurking for a couple months as I plan my attack, but it's time to get some feedback from the experts.
A lot has changed in the hobby. We used to want 10X turns in the sump. Now it sounds like that is too fast. One example of the many things I am trying to re-learn. I'm hoping that if I post my thoughts the geniuses here can tell me what part of my thinking is old news.
If I have a specialty, it is water chemistry. To that end, I'm trying to get prepped for success best I can. I installed this yesterday after ripping out the 20 year old water softener that was clearly EOL:
I do not yet have testing complete. I need to take a few more showers before I see the results of the filter. It's not RO, but indications are its not too far off. This is for the entire house.
I have 3 RO systems that will get shuffled around and used for reefing rather than growing once I nail down the final footprint:
This is the newly remodeled man cave where I plan to put the display tanks:
Everything you see there I built myself.
Here is where I want to put the main tank:
That desktop is built out of 2x4s (many are doubled up) with 3/4" plywood on top. I still have access to further reinforce once I know the layout, potential holes, etc and I have plenty more legs once I figure that out
The white door on the left goes to a quite large unfinished space on a slab with drains, water, and plenty of power. That is where I will be placing the sump, right on the other side of the wall from the tank.
I've got additional space to work with, but these options do not allow for direct pluming into the room behind it. If I use these spaces, the aquariums will need to be self contained. I can run supply and drain lines without too much trouble, but the placement of the sump would need to be under the tanks should I use these spots.
^^ this table I made from Sapele and is strong enough to hold an elephant if I take those wheels off. I've only got 5' to work with on that wall. On the wall with the recliner, I can fit anything in there, the limitation is how big can I get down the stairs with 2 90* turns.
So, after all that verbal vomit, I'd like to say thanks for providing this space to share, and hope to get ideas and feedback along the way. This post is long enough already, so I'll leave it here and probably make a new thread to get into the nitty gritty of design and implementation. Long live R2R.
Cheers. PP
Been a minute since I have been on a fish forum. Actually several.
Had a beautiful reef for several years more than a decade ago. Over-engineered and so much fun. Tank on the first floor, sump in the basement. Thems the days, but so much has changed. At the time, I was running VHO tubes in the canopy if that gives you any idea how long ago this was. I imagine fish have evolved since then been so long
For the last 15 years I have been doing very high end hydroponics. DIY controls based on Raspberry Pi and Arduino, pushing the envelope. Injecting O2 in the root zone. Fogponics. Stuff nobody does. But that's where this stupid brain takes me. Everything I touch I feel like I can tweak it and make it just a bit better... Its a sickness really. I think I might be in good company with some of you folks here.
I recently retired. Now I have personal time and a distinct absence of travel as well as spending nearly all my time at home now - so. clearly this means I need a reef, right? Out with the grow, in with the fish show.
I'm in the process of the build out now. I've been lurking for a couple months as I plan my attack, but it's time to get some feedback from the experts.
A lot has changed in the hobby. We used to want 10X turns in the sump. Now it sounds like that is too fast. One example of the many things I am trying to re-learn. I'm hoping that if I post my thoughts the geniuses here can tell me what part of my thinking is old news.
If I have a specialty, it is water chemistry. To that end, I'm trying to get prepped for success best I can. I installed this yesterday after ripping out the 20 year old water softener that was clearly EOL:
I do not yet have testing complete. I need to take a few more showers before I see the results of the filter. It's not RO, but indications are its not too far off. This is for the entire house.
I have 3 RO systems that will get shuffled around and used for reefing rather than growing once I nail down the final footprint:
This is the newly remodeled man cave where I plan to put the display tanks:
Everything you see there I built myself.
Here is where I want to put the main tank:
That desktop is built out of 2x4s (many are doubled up) with 3/4" plywood on top. I still have access to further reinforce once I know the layout, potential holes, etc and I have plenty more legs once I figure that out
The white door on the left goes to a quite large unfinished space on a slab with drains, water, and plenty of power. That is where I will be placing the sump, right on the other side of the wall from the tank.
I've got additional space to work with, but these options do not allow for direct pluming into the room behind it. If I use these spaces, the aquariums will need to be self contained. I can run supply and drain lines without too much trouble, but the placement of the sump would need to be under the tanks should I use these spots.
^^ this table I made from Sapele and is strong enough to hold an elephant if I take those wheels off. I've only got 5' to work with on that wall. On the wall with the recliner, I can fit anything in there, the limitation is how big can I get down the stairs with 2 90* turns.
So, after all that verbal vomit, I'd like to say thanks for providing this space to share, and hope to get ideas and feedback along the way. This post is long enough already, so I'll leave it here and probably make a new thread to get into the nitty gritty of design and implementation. Long live R2R.
Cheers. PP
