RobertP Tank Redo-300g System

RobertP · Jan 13, 2020

Feels like it has been forever since we sold our home and had to put my tanks into storage but finally able to get moving again. I created a build thread over on Marsh forum but figured I would also add it here as well. I am sure I will think of something here or there and forget to type it in one of those places.

My wife and I built a house out in the country and have plans to add a large tank inside the house. With that in mind we chose a house plan so we could have a fish room. Well that is what we got with a fish garage! The 130 gal tank is going to be a grow-out tank but my wife REALLY wants me to make it a clown harem. The 80 gal tank is going to be the refugium because I really like watching all the creepy crawlys. The sump is a 34" Trigger that was under the 130 in my old house and it just barely works but it does so not upgrading that yet.

RobertP Tank Redo | Member Tanks (Tank Journal)

As some of you may know we sold our home in 2018 and built a new house in the country. Since I have to redo everything from scratch I thought why not try to document everything as much as I can. Or when I can remember to take pictures! I guess I could have done a time lapse with my game...

marsh-reef.org

RobertP · Jan 13, 2020

Since we are on well water that is a big challenge. While there is no chlorine or chloramines to worry about, we have hard water and it has lots of CO2 in it. I had to upgrade to a booster pump and 3 stage DI resin and but it still used 1 full anion resin cartridge for 100 gallons. While not terrible I got an extra barrel to aerate the water before it goes into the RODI. The float switch has not yet come in so I am manually filing the barrel and running the spray bar. So far I am encouraged but we will see after another 50 gallons.

I drilled multiple holes in the sump for the Reeflo pumps and extra tank drain. That was a real pain but no leaks so I am happy. In hindsight I should have used flexible hose to the pumps but they are fine for now. I will plan to do that in the future because I think acrylic is fragile.
Don't yet have the BRS reactor loaded but wanted to make sure the manifold was feeding it fine.

Using Brightwells MicroBacterStartXLM to cycle the tank. If it does it in 7 days like it says I will be very happy. Dropped the cleaned dry rock in the tank and got everything up to temp and added ammonia then the StartXLM.

The tanks are up and running but still have to mount the refugium lights and get my apex running again. It is having some issues after at the moment so hopefully Neptune can get it resolved soon. Especially since I am using WAV pumps so nothing is moving except the returns. If it goes on much longer I might have to get some temporary solution. Plus I use DOS so I need the Apex to dose anything.

RobertP · Jan 13, 2020

I found these 58 gallon food grade barrels cheap and locally. I think they are a little skinny but they work so far. I already do not like the PVC job I did but it works and doesn't leak so I am not touching it for now. I was using 30 gallon brutes trash cans before so this is definitely a step up!

Oh and if you have the chance, get a utility sink! This is one of my favorite things about my fish garage! Plus it is so easy to keep your hands clean and it has a spray faucet so cleaning up things is much easier.

I had the RODI booster pump mounted on the wall next tot he RODI but it was vibrating my wife's butler pantry. I mounted it to some wood and a foam pad and laid it on the floor and it is super quiet now.

RobertP · Jan 23, 2020

Lifereef SVS3-30 skimmer came in and got it in place. Was thinking about doing a 36" skimmer but forgot that I raised the sump and the shelf support boards would have been in the way. On Jeff's suggestion I am trying my existing Sicce5.0 pump for a month or two to see how it does. I have a Reeflo Dart plumbed into the sump just for the skimmer and even with this mazzei venturi I am concerned the Dart will be too much and might have to turn it down enough that the sicce will work as well. We will see.

And yes, the cup valve is open for now. I have already tuned it a little closer to the top but since I still dont have fish I am mainly running it to break it in.

RobertP · Jan 23, 2020

Got the rock tub in place. This is a 100 gallon rubbermaid water trough I picked up at Tractor Supply..wife even gave me a 10% coupon! I failed to take a picture of the overflow I added. Since it is much taller than the sump I just drilled two 1" holes so it will gravity drain into the sump. I am in love with Uniseals! None of them have leaked yet! I have one as an emergency drain in case the other cannot handle the flow but I plan to keep the flow fairly slow using the extra 1/2" from the return manifold.

My plan is for this to be a cryptic zone to grow sponges and will keep the water flow fairly slow. Also it will be mostly covered so it will stay nice and dark. Ordered 100 pounds of rock that should be here next week. If that is not enough I plan to move some of the rock from the refugium into it because I really dont want that much in the fuge.

RobertP · Jan 23, 2020

My Apex energy bar 832 died and had to send it in to Neptune and found out it has 3 bad spots on the board and had to be replaced. Actually they replaced it with a new one at a steep discount and it is on the way. Didn't know it was only a 1 year warranty...only used it about a year before it went into storage...but hey it is an electronic device and no one warranties Taiwanese parts forever.

Still do not understand how it died while sitting in storage for a year and a half...but happy the new one is coming in. WAV pumps do NOT work without the energy bar since I dont own the 1Link yet but I think that might be soon.

I love the power of the Reeflow dart which is feeding all the tanks. I have the manifold turned all the way up to both tanks right now and the drains are pretty loud. Not going to do anything until after I turn them down to their normal speed. No need to have that much turnover if your powerheads are working properly. I can hear the Dart inside the house and it is sitting on a foam pad. I think the issue is that I hard plumbed the manifold into the Dart but I should be able to fix that if I need to.

RobertP · Jan 23, 2020

My Reef Garage has a window in it. I always felt like it was mostly in the way. Since I needed some quarantine tanks I found out the dimensions of a 40gallon breeder and a 55gal and found they would fit on a shelf in the window. So used 2x4s and 3/4" plywood and built a shelf on 16" centers. It is also screwed to the back and side walls. I will add a center support if I notice any flex in that middle shelf. Not planning to add a tank to the top since it is at the 6ft mark. We ALWAYS need shelf space so I will be getting a few plastic totes just for that!

RobertP · Feb 4, 2020

The rock tub is in and plumbed. I really hate the plumbing job though. I was trying to get it to draw water from the bottom but it started a siphon and too much water was being pulled out and the sump almost overflowed. You can see the high water level in these pictures. So I drilled a hole in the lower drain pipe above the water line. That fixed the siphon issue but now it's a loud sucking sound....good thing it's in the fish garage! It is 1/2" going in and two 1" drains going to the sump.

There is about 160 lbs of rock in the tub and could add another 100 but that will wait. I built a cover out of plywood and painted it with oil based paint. Then wrapped it with 2mil plastic using 3m spray adhesive. By the way loctite spray adhesive is terrible and never dries! It is very ugly but it does work so who cares...its in the fish garage! I dropped in a small powerhead to keep a current. I might try to redo the plumbing a little to create more flow through the tub and remove the powerhead. It will be nice and dark in there so love to see some sponges at some point.

Got some serious algae growth started which is great. Cleaned the glass yesterday at lunch and by evening it was there again. Will add some chaeto and a few algae eating critters soon. Killing the tank lights for now but there is enough light from the window to keep it alive in the tank.

RobertP · Mar 23, 2020

Not much to update. Have 9 chromis, a yellow tang and kole eye. A pink birdsnest and green elkhorn as test corals. Birdsnest is growing though slowly. Since this tank is only 2 months old I will take slow growth.
Just got down with a diatom bloom and seeing a little cyano but not much yet. Had to put filter socks back in but already dreading cleaning them.
Refugium is growing chaeto and other macros very slowly but there is just enough nutrients to keep them alive. Added some mangroves because I love these things! One spray of rodi water each day and will watch. I like that most are pods and will take a while to open.