Wolfenstein's DSA 105 Tank build

[wolfenstein87]

My wife and I decided that it was time to upgrade from our 56 gallon column tank. We saw the 105 in the LFS and fell in love with it instantly. This is a big move for the two of us seeing that we haven't been in the hobby for two long, so the complexities of a larger tank are bit of a mystery. Here is the gear break down so far:

DSA 105 48x24x21
40 Gallon sump
Reef Octopus NWB200
2 AI Hydra's
Mag-Drive 12
Bean Animal Overflow
70lbs of dry rock (have some more cured rock, and will use some from our existing tank)
120lbs sand

We're still in the planning stages of everything; should have the baffles in the sump by the end of the week. Here is a sketch of what we have planned out so far.

The small compartment in the upper left corner will house two filter sox, spill over to the skimmer. The middles section will be filled with live rock, and then return to the tank. In the sump section I am going to have two in-use gfci outlets that will be connected to a battery backup. We have two dogs that shed like mad crazy, so I have been thinking about getting the material used to cover screen doors to line the back side of the sump. That is all we have for now, more updates to come.

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Looks good! Those DSA tanks are pretty cool.

 

[blesk]

nice tank

 

[Davesgt]

Very nice setup, this tank is a beauty!

 

[gfox]

I love my DSA 105.I have the black stand.Really like the height of it being able to reach the bottom without standing on something.

 

[wolfenstein87]

Thanks. We played around with some the dry rock we have and tried to get an idea of what we wanted the scape to look like. We liked this setup, but still haven't made up our minds.

The inhabitants that we are moving in:

Goby and pistol pair
Pair of black clownfish
Coral bandit shrimp
Peppermint shrimp
Pocilipora colonies
GSP
Armor of gods colonies
Ricardians
Aussie blasto
Blasto merletti

I would like to add a leopard wrasse, and maybe some cardinals in the near future. We also plan on having this a primarily softy dominated tank with leathers, torches and stuff waving around.

 

[wolfenstein87]

We completed the sump construction. Slightly different than what we had planned, but should work out just fine.

 

[wolfenstein87]

Well, we thought we had completed the construction of the sump, but the walls had a tendency to bow when we did a leak test. We cut out the thin glass walls and replaced then with some more substantial walls. Just letting them cure so we can leak test the new build. I also got the outlets mounted and started to wire it up. Should have this thing wet before the month is out.

 

[wolfenstein87]

Today was fairly productive. We put the sump underneath the stand, finished wiring the plugs, and then put a screen over the back to prevent dog hair from getting into the sump area.

 

[hatfielj]

Nice build so far. I like how neatly you are doing your electric. If you dont mind me asking, how much was just the tank (roughly)?

 

[wolfenstein87]

Thanks. Since the planning stages I wanted to make sure I had GCFI outlets for each side of the tank that plug into a battery backup. The power strips will then plug into the internal outlets.

The tank itself was around $600 I think.

Return pump should be here next week, so we'll be doing a leak test of the entire system. We also changed some baffling positions, so I'll need to modify the return path a little. Sooner and sooner comes the day we start cycling this bad boy!

 

[kidtango]

Nice setup. Love the clean piping and electrical work.

 

[wolfenstein87]

Tank is getting filled with RODI water as we speak, and has been since about 8p last night. Hopefully the sump will be filled, or close to it, before the day is out. Not looking forward to this water bill.

 

[FLipp]

nice rimless! love those guys.

 

[wolfenstein87]

Tank and sump are filled, so now I'm trying to dial it in. Any tips would be great.

Wen it comes to battery backups, is there a general rule of thumb?

 

[revhtree]

Great news!

 

[wolfenstein87]

Tank is cycling and we finally settled on a tunze osmolator ATO. Still need to get our skimmer, BBU, and power heads.

 

[wolfenstein87]

Tank is almost done cycling. Here's a picture of the tank lit up. Can't wait to move everything into this thing!

 

[wolfenstein87]

So I've run into my first problem with big tank plumbing. After two months if running without an issue, all of a sudden it's acting like my return pump can't keep up with the drains. The pump is still going strong. I have a ball valve on the return side that is full open, and when I close it, then open it back up it equals out for a little while. Any suggestions before I start tearing everything apart?

 

[Bps619]

nice