Ross B Reef'n 170 Gallon & Fishroom Megabuild

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Ross B Reef'n

Ross B Reef'n

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Alright, its's update time! Even with a solid plan, you can never anticipate everything that may happen "in the field". Its for this reason this update has been delayed so long.

The first order of plumbing business was to get the barrels ready.

Each barrel had a bulkhead installed under it with a tee, I'll explain why later.
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The bottom of the barrels had a significant crevice from manufacturing that made the rubber seal unusable. So, the bulkheads were fixed in place and waterproofed with silicone instead.

The barrels were then outfitted with test plugs and filled up for a leak test.

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Since I've decided to equip all 3 tanks with auto water changes, a manifold was installed on each barrel. While installing the manifolds, I made my first plumbing mistake. I forgot to put on the union nut before I glued the pipe!

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As always, God is always with me and this happened for a reason. Before I noticed I forgot the nut, I was having trouble getting 4 tee's to fit in the allotted space I had. When I realized I made a mistake, I first got a little upset, but then it came to me. I could move one of the tees under the barrel and fasten the ball valve to one of the vertical members. Thanks God!
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For the auto water changing system, there's a ton of 1/2" plumbing running around the entire room, so I had to devise and build a mounting system.

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The mounts took a full day, and 3 days after work to complete. Must say I'm happy its done! In the first picture below you'll notice half of the tee from the barrels leads to a UV resistant clear pvc pipe. I did this so I could see the water level in the water tanks!

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With that, plumbing is well under way, stay tuned!
 
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Ross B Reef'n

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Wow! What an amazing looking build. Loving the mount system for the auto change PVC, it looks great! Talk about awestruck.
Thank you!! I've been working very hard on this project :).

I initially wanted to stack the pipes vertically, but it would have become very space consuming due to the odd angle corners that require 2 90's to achieve.
 

Blutspitze

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Thank you!! I've been working very hard on this project :).

I initially wanted to stack the pipes vertically, but it would have become very space consuming due to the odd angle corners that require 2 90's to achieve.

It's clear you've put a huge amount of effort and planning here. What's the program you're using for the plan images? Some iteration of CAD?
 
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It's clear you've put a huge amount of effort and planning here. What's the program you're using for the plan images? Some iteration of CAD?

I was a draftsman for a few years then went freelance during the '08-'09 recession. I have licenses for Autodesk AutoCAD, solidworks and sketchup.

I was too eager to actually start building the plumbing, so I didn't spend the time drawing it all up on 3D, which lead to in field adjustments.
 
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Blutspitze

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I was a draftsman for a few years then went freelance during the '08-'09 recession. I have licenses for Autodesk AutoCAD, solidworks and sketchup.

I was too eager to actually start building the plumbing, so I didn't spend the time drawing it all up on 3D, which lead to in field adjusements.

Very cool, thanks for the info!
 
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Nice clean holes successfully drilled in the sump! Started with a step up process in pilot hole size on a nice hard and flat surface. Put the brand new hole saw with carbide teeth in the drill. Set the drill clutch at 13, and took my time going through.

Then drilled holes through the sump platform, installed the bulkheads, and strainers.

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