Starting ~800 Gallon Custom Reef Tank Build

Matt Carden

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I like how everything is build 50X stronger than needed... How soon before you get it some water in it?
Yeah someone called my 150 stand a "beast". Better to be safe than sorry with 4-5 tons of water, glass, rock, etc.
 
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ravi197699

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I like how everything is build 50X stronger than needed... How soon before you get it some water in it?
I am buying materials this evening to connecting my RO water and titanium heat exchanger, and plumbing for tank will start this week as well, I will be placing order for pvc pipes from BRS, I am going with red pvc pipes and white unions on this tank,
 

Diamond1

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I love the lighting set up. If you put as much thought into stocking corals and livestock as you have into the build this is going to be one incredible looking tank.
Keep up the good work.
 
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ravi197699

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I love the lighting set up. If you put as much thought into stocking corals and livestock as you have into the build this is going to be one incredible looking tank.
Keep up the good work.

Thank you Diamond1, once i reach that point, it will be detailed discussion about live stock and corals, goal is to have SPS dominant tank and LPS garden on the bottom, but mainly SPS,
 

ca1ore

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Perhaps I missed it earlier ..... what is it that you plan to do with the heat exchanger?
 

ca1ore

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Ok, thanks, that's what I assumed.
 
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ravi197699

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Gm reefers, I made some progress with lights and I used my new year day off to wrap up the lights project, I hung all the lights on the rack and i could not be happier with the outcome, I got my Vectra L1 pump delivered as well and it will be used as my main return pump, I got my Gyre XF 280 that will be mounted and 4 mp 60 that will be mounted on 1 end, I will upload pictures of those separately, I used full spectrum led bars in the middle of each light that will come on for 4 - 5 hrs just go give extra punch to corals during peak hour, based on configuration of the lights I don't think i would have any dead spots in the tank, I used steel rods that come with reefbreeders and cut them and layed light on the rack and power cord coming out of the light was resting on the aluminum angle and i did not light that so i cut out 2" of 2x3 and bought some white plastic wire rack clamps from Lowes and used them as spacers and i worked great, light is resting on 2x3 and it gave me little height as well and i did same with accent light bars as well and they are all sitting at same height and looks great as well, please see the pictures of the lights, feel free to make suggestions and comments, I am still waiting for vendor to give me price for 3d printed mounting brackets for all my equipment, i will be buying those for every equipment i am going to use and they will be in white color, more to come on that topic..

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BigMo

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Gm reefers, I made some progress with lights and I used my new year day off to wrap up the lights project, I hung all the lights on the rack and i could not be happier with the outcome, I got my Vectra L1 pump delivered as well and it will be used as my main return pump, I got my Gyre XF 280 that will be mounted and 4 mp 60 that will be mounted on 1 end, I will upload pictures of those separately.

WoW, it is all coming together ravi, I wish I was there to see it in person, looking forward to see those 3D mounting brackets, best of luck to you man.
 
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ravi197699

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Thank you guys, I will be uploading pictures of the plumbing that I have started working on, I am taking pictures and I will upload once I am close to finishing up the plumbing... I am sure this is something everyone knows how to do and everyone has their way to make it work...
 
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ravi197699

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Hello reefers, I made progress on plumbing and 95% done with drain and return part of the plumbing, return is pretty simple and i wanted it on the front in case if I need to change pump it will easier, this return pump is going to be return for tank only, nothing else will be on this pump, I have ordered DC pumps that will return my sea swirls for my sump and second dc pump will run my manifold and feed my frag tank as well, both pump are approximately does 5500 gph, i will post pictures of the pumps when they arrive (Tuesday). for drains part they are 1.5 inch drains and 2 are main and 1 is emergency drain which will be wide open, other 2 drains will be controlled by gate valve and i am using 1.5" sch 40 clean pvc pipes to make sure that there is no air in the pipes and i want them super quiet with no splashing or gurgle sound, all 3 travel on the back and then go under the stand to other side of the sump where i will be installing filter sock holder 7" or 4" filter socks ( have not decided yet). i want drains to be far from return pump intake, bubbles won;t be able to make that far.. pipes are connection with 1.5" rubber couplings for easy disassembly. i feel it is 1 time investment on these items and will make my life much easier down the road, I have used j hooks to support the long span of the 1.5" pipes that are going under the stand. I will be using thinner to remove all the markings from pvc. hopefully it takes it off, if you guys know of any other product that i can use to remove pvc markings that will be great, i connected my titanium heat exchanger as well, sorry about messy soldering but i was able to get this done, i connected this titanium heat exchanger to hot water connected which will take water from hot water heater and i am using Taco 006- ST stainless steel version which is safe for potable water, I am using 1/2" unions in the middle for easy disconnection in case it require any service, This is dual coil heat exchanger that i bought sometime back, it should be enough for this system + this tank is in well insulated and heated room so i am not expecting this to work very often but it will be connected regardless..

Please feel free to make comment.. here are some of the pictures..

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ravi197699

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heat circulating pump will be controlled via apex or digital temperature controller, pump will be installed on feed line, I am waiting on the pump once I get the delivery I will cut the pex and install the pump.
 
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ravi197699

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I bought 2 pumps and these are AC variable speed pumps, I came across a video on youtube about these pumps and I really liked what I saw, I know everyone uses D/C pump and I am using and have used DC pumps in the past as well with good and bad experiences, so I wanted to give pump try, brand is Periha Variable speed AC pump, it does 5900 gallons/ hr at highest setting at 160w and lowest I can go is 5000 gallon/ hr at lowest wattage, pumps seems like built well and driver is built out of aluminum housing with heatsink, driver feels really heavy and nicely built, tank is not small pump either and it heavy and built nicely, it comes with all the plumbing adapters, I have 2 pumps, 1 for my DIY protein skimmer and it is going to drive 1.5" venturi and this skimmer is big that I built 2 years before. I will upload pictures later when it comes to tackling that project and 2nd pump is going to drive my sea swirls in the sump for water agitation and over rock work in sump water movement.. here are the pictures of the box opening of the pump...

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McPuff

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Wow, that is a huge power supply. I wonder if it's actually 3 separate power supplies and it has the ability to switch between them. Interested to hear how it performs.
 
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