The "Quid Pro Quo" WB 130.4 Build

[qnguyen]

The $20,000 Basement Fishroom

$20k you ask?! Let me explain. I live in an old cape-style house that does not have a full basement. So the space available for my fish room is quite limited. The best spot for my fish room happens to be in the mechanical room where my furnace and hot water tank resides.

Step 1: I was planning on upgrading my furnace and hot water system at some point anyhow so this was a good excuse to do it now. I ripped out the furnace and hot water tank and replaced it with a very compact, high efficiency condensing gas boiler. I forgot to take a picture of the mechanical room before the work started, but this is what it looked like afterward:

And this is my new boiler. It is quite expensive, but the payback on the energy savings is about 7 years after the MassSave $2,400 energy rebate. But the best part is that it is very compact and takes up less than 20% of the space that my old furnace and hot water tank took up:

Step 2:
You will notice in the first photo that there are large, overhead pipes wrapped in white. These pipes were used in the original heating system when the house used steam heat. They are no longer used so I wanted to remove them to create more space. Unfortunately, I discovered that they contain asbestos. So that was another $3,000 to bring in an asbestos abatement specialist. But it was worth it to reclaim all of that space. Look Ma, no more pipes!

Step 3:
I painted the walls with water-sealant rubber paint. I also caulked all the gaps between the floor and the 2x4 framing to prevent any water leaking to the rest of the basement in case of any accidents. I then laid down this underlayment called DMX 1-Step. It has these dimples that allow basement moisture to evaporate to prevent mold.

Step 4:
I installed this nickel pattern RV flooring over the underlayment. You can find cheaper versions on Amazon, but I wanted something durable:

Step 5:
I framed out the wall and sheathed it in 3/4" plywood. I went with plywood so that I can screw things into the wall without worrying about finding a stud or using drywall anchors:

Step 5:
I painted the walls with grey water-proof paint. I also installed water-proof outlet covers. These covers can expand up to 3" to fit any size plugs:

Step 6:
I wanted to dress-up the walls so I installed these weathered wall boards from Home Depot. I like the look. It reminds me of Cape Cod:

Step 7:
I installed pegboards from Wall Control. These are not your father's old-fashioned pegboards. These are high quality galvanized steel. They come in a range of color combinations. I went with the silver and red to match with my Synergy Reef Mercury Red sump:

And there you have it. This stupid fish room took a lot of time and money, but I love the end result. Now I can start my next project which is building a stand for my sump and plumbing the saltwater mixing station. But it will be a few more weeks before I post any more updates. I have to go to Mumbai this week for work. I hope I don't get Dehli belly ;Nailbiting.

 

[qnguyen]

The Sump Stand

A sexy Synergy Reef sump requires an equally sexy stand to sit on. I thought about doing a t-slot aluminum stand, but I couldn't justify the cost. So I started planning out a traditional 2x4 wood stand. But to be honest, I hate DIY stands. Or, to be more accurate, I hate the DIY stands that I am capable of making! So it was back to the drawing board. I wanted something that was easy to make, but also a little different from everything else I have seen. As I was scanning Amazon for ideas, I came across this modular workbench solution that uses 2x4s:

Each shelf can hold up to 1000 lbs which is more than enough for what I need. The plan is to have my sump in the middle shelf, ATO container in the bottom shelf and my refugium in the top shelf:

The hardest part was painting the wood. That took me almost a week with drying and sanding between three coats. I went with Behr's Ultra Interior Satin Enamel Flirt Alert Red (P150-7) paint for my accent 2x4 spans:

I used Varathane's Stain + Poly in Black Gloss for the shelves. The Varathane stain gave a nice finish while still preserving the grain in my Sande 3/4" plywood:

The modular workbench legs come with pre-drilled holes. It is truly made for the "DIY inept fool" like myself. Assembling the stand took less than one hour.

Step 1: Assemble the rear of the stand

Step 2: Assemble the sides.

Step 3: Insert the shelves prior to locking them into place with the front side of the stand.

Step 4: Install front side of the stand.

Finished product: I will have a dedicated pump in the skimmer section of my sump to feed the UV sterilizer and the refugium. The refugium will go on the top left platform and drain into the return section of the sump. I plan to add a sliding platform for the ATO unit to sit on so that it will be easier for me to access it to refill it. I will also add a drawer in the space below the sump for storage.

Onwards and upwards!

 

[qnguyen]

RODI Installation

I went with BRS' 7-stage Pro Plus RODI unit with the water saver upgrade.

Good city water pressure at 70 psi:

TDS meter reads 70 ppm from the tap, 9 ppm before the Cation DI resin, 1 ppm after the Anion DI resin and 0 ppm for the final product water. Looking good. Now to plumb up the saltwater mixing station... ;Nailbiting

 

[qnguyen]

And so it begins ...

 

[qnguyen]

The money shot:

I love you, GHL.

I love you too, Abyzz. The Syncra SDC is a back-up ... just in case.

The Kessel A360x is for my future frag tank. The AI Prime Fuge is for my refugium.

I am looking forward to seeing the Deltec in action!

 

[qnguyen]

Saltwater Mixing Station

It is nothing exciting, but it's an important step to getting this tank wet.

Here is the exact part list along with shopping links in case anyone finds it useful. I used all furniture grade, colored PVC and mostly schedule 80 fittings. You can go cheaper with white and schedule 40.

The two 44-gallon Brute cans and lids cost $150 in total.

The pump is a Pan World 50PX ($160). You can use a smaller one like the 30PX, but this is also a back-up in the unlikely event that my Abyzz A100 return pump breaks down. The 50PX has 3/4" inlet and outlet so all piping and fittings are sized at 3/4".

The two water-level gages cost approximately $30 each and was made with:
(2) 1/2" uniseals ($4)
(2) 1/2" 90-degree elbows ($3)
5' of 1/2" clear sch 40 pvc ($8)
The water line markings for 10-gallons, 20-gallons and 30-gallons are at the 7.5" mark, 15" mark and 22" mark. This applies to the 44-gallon Brutes.

The plumbing costs $92 and consists of:
(3) 3/4" uniseals ($6)
(3) 3/4" 90-degree elbows ($5)
(2) 3/4" single union ball valve ($15); I used single-union for the RODI and Saltwater outlets, but you could use true unions (double) if you wanted to.
(1) SHMONO 3/4’’ PVC Check Single Union Ball Check Valve ($12); this is optional to prevent saltwater from flowing back into the RODI barrel. It is the dark gray piece after the ball valve on the left RODI container.
(2) 3/4" PVC T-fittings ($3)
(2) 3/4" sch 80 union slip x thread ($12); the Pan World 50PX has threaded inlet and outlet so I used the slip x threaded unions. You may need to alter this if you use a different pump.
(1) 3/4" true union ball valve ($11); I had this lying around so I used it for the ball valve at the top (going into the SW mixing barrel). You can use a single union ball valve as well.
(3) 5' sections of BioTek Marine Black 3/4" SCH 40 Furniture Grade PVC Pipe ($28).

The spigot costs $36 and consists of:
(1) 3/4" true union ball valve ($11); you will have to swap on the slip fitting on one side to threaded. The threaded side is required to accept the
(1) 3/4" Colder male thread quick connect adapter ($8)
(1) 3/4" Colder barb quick connect anti-drip coupling ($17); the adapter and coupler work together to provide a fast way to connect and disconnect your output water line.

So the total cost was $468. But wait, there's more! Don't forget:

The BRS 7 stage 75GPD Pro Plus RO/DI system and Water Saver Upgrade Kit which cost another $390.
I also installed an XP Aqua RO/DI Flood Guardian ($70) as my primary shut-off for the RODI. The RO float valve is my secondary back-up.
I had the Costco shelving unit lying around, but it is probably around $100 brand new.

So the grand total is around $1,000.

 

[qnguyen]

“Lights, camera, action”

I finally got the tank on the stand:

Time to light this baby up. I built a 3-tiered shelf to hold the ballasts and converter for the Giesemann:

With T5 only. I am using two Giesemann Powerchrome actinic blues and two super purples:

With T5 and MH. I am using Giesemann's Megachrome 21k:

I am using this smart power strip to control the on/off timer for the lights. It has three smart outlets and three always on outlets plus 4 USB ports.

The app is easy to use and compatible with all of the smart home devices (Alexa, Google, etc):

One step at a time. Plumbing, here I come!!!

 

[qnguyen]

Plumbing: Part 1

This is only the second time in my life I have done any plumbing work. I think I have placed about eight separate orders for plumbing parts because I kept forgetting a part. So I'll document exactly what I did so that maybe someone else can benefit.

I am running a basement sump so the first thing I did was to drill a hole into the floor. My wife was horrified ;Nailbiting, lol. I am using the top grommet to run PAB cables down to my GHL Profilux. It is also big enough to fish through a 1/2" flex tube if I wanted to drain the tank down to my basement sink. The three grommets below that are for the two drain lines and the return line. I spaced the grommets far enough from each other so that I can use Schedule 80 unions without them touching each other. The grommets are 1.5" wide and fit 1" PVC perfectly. The Waterbox 130.4 uses a 3/4" return line, but I use 1" PVC from the return pump and step down to 3/4" only at the last transition to the main display tank:

This video provides a helpful guide on how to convert from Waterbox's metric fittings to standard. Here are the parts I used (going from left to right and top to bottom):

1) The left assembly is for the emergency drain:​

- One Metric/Standard Union Coupling (32mm to 1") ($6)​

- One 32mm to 1" Metric to Standard PVC Adapter ($8)​

- Two 1” Schedule 80 Union Slip X Slip ($10). One is visible in the picture below and the other one is at the floor level. It is up to you how many unions to use.​

- Two BioTek Marine Red 1" Furniture Grade PVC 45 Degree Elbow ($7); your set-up may require different fittings.​

​

2) The middle assembly is for the main drain:​

- One Metric/Standard Union Coupling (32mm to 1") ($6)​

- One 32mm to 1" Metric to Standard PVC Adapter ($8)​

- Three 1” Schedule 80 Union Slip X Slip ($15). Two are visible in the picture below and the other one is at the floor level. It is up to you how many unions to use.​

- One 1” Spears Gate Valve Slip x Slip ($36)​

- Two BioTek Marine Red 1" Furniture Grade PVC 45 Degree Elbow ($7); your set-up may require different fittings.​

​

3) The right assembly is the return line:​

- One Metric/Standard Union Coupling (25mm to 3/4") ($4)​

- One 25mm TO 3⁄4" Metric to Standard PVC Adapter ($8)​

- One Schedule 80 Reducing Coupler 1” Slip X 3⁄4” Slip ($3). This is to allow me to use 1" PVC for the connection from the return pump all the way up to the main display before reducing down to 3/4".​

- Three 1” Schedule 80 Union Slip X Slip ($15). Two are visible in the picture below and the other one is at the floor level. It is up to you how many unions to use.​

- One Georg Fischer 1” Wye Check Valve ($59). This is not really necessary as long as your sump is properly sized to catch any water that drains when your return pump is off. But I like to have it.​

- Two BioTek Marine Red 1" Furniture Grade PVC 45 Degree Elbow ($7); your set-up may require different fittings.​

​

In addition, I probably used about 5' of red PVC pipe ($13). So the total cost for this portion of the plumbing was $212.​

The next task is the plumbing in the basement. Fun.

 

[qnguyen]

Random Projects to Keep Away the Covid-19 Lockdown Blues

I am waiting for a few more parts to finish my plumbing so I decided to tackle a few smaller projects to keep myself busy.

First up is a mounting board to attach all of my power supplies and controllers to. The WallControl™ pegboard is quite versatile. They sell this universal mounting bar that you can use to mount pretty much anything to the pegboard. I sandwiched five pieces of poplar wood together to create the different bands of red and black:

The second project was to install a drawer slide so that I can easily access my ATO container for refills. I used these 22" Soft-Close Full Extension Side Mount Ball Bearing Drawer Slide Set from Home Depot. They are meant to be attached to the side of your drawer, but I under-mounted mine and it works fine. You just have to be careful to keep both supports parallel so that they slide in and out smoothly without binding. They support 50 lbs (roughly the weight of 6 gallons), but I think it can handle more weight since I mounted it on the bottom and I don't intend to fully extend the arms. But generally speaking I will only pull out the drawer to refill the ATO so it should be more than fine.

Cheers

 

[tippin.turtle]

Wow! Very cool indeed! You could possibly be on your way to being the Takashi Amano
of reefing from the looks of this build. Great job!

 

[qnguyen]

Wow! Very cool indeed! You could possibly be on your way to being the Takashi Amano
of reefing from the looks of this build. Great job!

Thanks. I am a novice when it comes to DIY so if I can do it, then anyone can!

 

[trustmeimalawyer]

Great build and journal! I appreciate that you’ve shared all your costs - I wish others were as open, it would help making decisions a lot easier. Thanks!

 

[qnguyen]

Great build and journal! I appreciate that you’ve shared all your costs - I wish others were as open, it would help making decisions a lot easier. Thanks!

Thanks. I used to be a CPA and a CFO so I can’t help but keep track of all my expenses on this hobby .

 

[qnguyen]

Plumbing: Part 2

Ugh. I learned something important today. I don’t like plumbing. I mean the stuff I did under the stand was kinda fun. But plumbing down to the basement sump room was a pain in the butt. I won’t go into all the details since each person will have different challenges and needs depending on the basement they have. I spent a total of $160 in plumbing parts.

From left to right (emergency drain, main drain and return pipe):

And the finished product

I will do the water test tomorrow

 

[Luis1992]

Great build. I’ll definitely be following!

 

[Johnd651]

Mounting the Giesemann

I love my Giesemann Spectra, but mounting the fixture to the ceiling was a pain in the butt :mad:. I was not lucky enough to hit a floor joist in the ceiling where the mounting cables need to be located. I did not feel comfortable using toggle bolts, so I used a 1"x12" piece of wood to provide a mounting platform. But finding the joists to screw the mounting platform into was also challenging because I have a plaster ceiling that is held up by a wire mesh. The wire mesh made it impossible to use normal stud finders. So I had to drill alot of test holes before I finally hit a joist. Anyhow, I finally got it done, but I think my next fixture will be a small, compact led!

A major PITA, but I am happy with the end result ;Wacky ;Facepalm.

I am in the middle of redoing the room the tank will be in and put 2x12s above the sheetrock, but I'm sure I'll be off, and that board on the ceiling will go a lot better with my wife's trimmed tray ceiling. I may need to borrow that from you.

1886 Victorian farm house... so I feel your pain with plaster and mesh. I'm doing a full gut in each room.

 

[qnguyen]

I am in the middle of redoing the room the tank will be in and put 2x12s above the sheetrock, but I'm sure I'll be off, and that board on the ceiling will go a lot better with my wife's trimmed tray ceiling. I may need to borrow that from you.

1886 Victorian farm house... so I feel your pain with plaster and mesh. I'm doing a full gut in each room.

I gutted my Cape house a few years ago except for this room. I am a hack when it comes to trim work. If you have some skills then you could definitely dress it up to match your decor. What kind of lights do you plan to use?

 

[qnguyen]

Great build. I’ll definitely be following!

Thanks!

 

[qnguyen]

Testing the Plumbing for Leaks

I ran the system and tested for any leaks. Let’s just say that I give myself an A for effort and a C for execution, lol. Here are a few tips for beginners:

1) Remember to glue all your fittings! I had two unions with a slow leak. At first, I couldn’t figure out why it was leaking. So I used this handy liquid plastic welder to fix the leak. It is an awesome tool by the way. Very handy to have around for a quick fix. Then, when I went to fix the second union, I realized that it wasn’t glued yet! Doh.

2) Make sure you tighten all of your unions. I forgot to do this and a few sprung a leak.

The overflow still has a slight trickling sound. I tried to close the gate valve a bit more, but when I do the water level rises and engages the emergency drain. I am going to leave it alone for now and let it break-in before fiddling with it any further.

Time to order the live rock! I think I will be using Tampa Bay Saltwater, but I am still researching options.

 

[Johnd651]

I gutted my Cape house a few years ago except for this room. I am a hack when it comes to trim work. If you have some skills then you could definitely dress it up to match your decor. What kind of lights do you plan to use?

I take twice as long as the average joe, and definitely measure twice and cut three times, but in the end it looks good.

I am thinking of some sort of LED lighting, on a custom rail suspended from the ceiling.