The Reef Tank banner

It has begun.

34K views 293 replies 36 participants last post by  Geoff 
#1 ·
i was hoping to add pictures, but the TRT Gallery is still having a few issues, so i will go ahead and get this started.

i know i have had a lot of false starts in the past, and you all thought i would never get another tank started, but i am significantly on my way now.

this is going to be a simple BB, SPS, growout system to test a few ideas before i go ahead on a much larger system.

i acquired about 15 sheets of acrylic in various sizes and thicknesses. i had a few pieces of 3/8" that were asking to be made into a growout tank, so i sent them off to my dad to square them up. gotta give projects to the parents to keep them out of each others hair now that they are retired. :D the tank is about 30g and is 23"X36"X10". it has a full width weir on one end.

two weekends ago, we glued it up. this weekend the kids and i leak tested it and built a stand for it. we also ran a quick and dirty skimmer flow test. it turns out my old DIY skimmer powered by a Mag18 moved about 420gph with the old eductor on it. this was in FW, so i am not sure how accurate it is, but it at least gives me a ballpark value, and is about what i was expecting. this gives me a drain size though, which is what i was looking for. i have not designed/added the overflow yet, i wanted to know which size bulkhead would use. i am not hurting for plumbing parts. :D i may play with a Beane style, just cause, but i do not think that it would work for the larger system with the size overflow i am planning for that system.

the system is going in the laundry room, this will also be the room where all of the support equipment will go for the larger system when it gets going. i plan on using the old light fixture for now. i can play around with various MH's for now.

so far i have dragged out all of my pumps, sorted out all of my extra PVC, got my RO/DI replacement filters, and gone over most of my equipment. i need to start soaking most of the equipment in vinegar. hoping i can get vinegar in 5g barrels. :D

the big goal of this system is to see how a 10x+ skimmer processing rate behaves.

the current plumbing plan is to have the overflow go directly into the UV, the UV is going into the 30g conical settling tank which will house the skimmer and equipment (if it all fits). i know i need to cut the corners off of the skimmer to get it into the opening at the top. i also need to figure out how to support all of that weight in the settling tank. find ways to get the water in and out of the settling tank without to much, if any bypassing the skimmer itself. all while getting an ATO going.

i hope to also get my old water change system going agin, but i am not sure i will have the room, plus it was designed for a larger system, and has the holes drilled on the wrong side for where things are going here, but will see what i can come up with.

i have a ton of those small magnetic aquarium scrapers that i will probably place in the conical settling tank for biofilm removal.

sorry, for the long post. i was hoping to do this as i went, with pictures along the way, but i needed to put of this down before i forgot. i have the pictures and will put them up when the TRT Gallery is up and running again.

i do not expect to get water in the system, for quite a few weeks now. working in limited spaces slows things down.

i am pretty excited to finally get my hands wet again.

G~
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Nice, will be fun to see it go through the paces!

Glad I don't have acrylic lying around the crazy ideas Id try would bankrupt me in acrylic costs lol
 
#6 ·
Nice, will be fun to see it go through the paces!

Glad I don't have acrylic lying around the crazy ideas Id try would bankrupt me in acrylic costs lol
the oven is very afraid of all of the acrylic i have. i going to have to find times to get the forming done while the wife is not looking. she was not super thrilled when i used the oven to open up my headlights to fix them.

G~
 
#10 ·
as much as i hate to do this. i am going to host some pics on a external server and then move them to the TRT Gallery when it gets back online. i do not like pictures disappearing, so these will get into the TRT Gallery later.

i just want you to know that i am not faking it this time. :D

the pieces after squaring them up.



the areaish where the frag tank is going.



the tape up before binding the pieces.



after binding and the tape removed.



outside for leak test.



actually testing for leaks, there were none.



skimmer flow test.



some help building the stand.





stand stress test. not much of a stress test, so i stood on it later. :D



tank on the stand



the tank and stand are in its home now, i just do not have any pictures yet. i need to get out and get a couple hanging lag bolts to get the light fixture up and start running the RO/DI line.

one of the big hurdles is down. the boss did not mind me hanging the RO/DI filter on the wall in plain sight in the laundry room above the laundry sink. i was afraid i was going to have to be creative. this will speed things up. though the lines will still need to be fed up and around a door to the other side of the room.

G~
 
#11 ·
Looks great! I think you need a bigger skimmer though :D Looks like the water volume of your skimmer and settling tank is more than the frag tank haha.
So when you upgrade to the larger tank are you going to plumb the frag and settling tank in?
 
#12 ·
the settling tank and the skimmer are bigger than the frag tank. this is what i had left over and they will fit with the experiment i am wanting to do. i am looking to run at least 10x+ volume through the skimmer. if i can not get all of the equipment in the settling tank, then i will either use an existing sump, or build a new one. using the settling tank is a must though.

when i go bigger, i am probably going to have to go bigger with the settling tank. a 30g one will not keep a slow enough velocity in it for a 200ish gallon display.

when i go bigger i will probably also have to build a new skimmer, so i may just keep this system stand alone as a invert QT system for those annoying SPS bugs that seem to be out and about.

G~
 
#18 ·
is Coral RX a "reef" version of Interceptor? what are the problem critters now?

thanks,

G~
Interceptor was what people had been dosing the whole tank with, yes?
If so, Coral RX is not like that. You put 10mL (I think) into a gallon of tank water, dip new corals in it for 5-10 min, and then put the corals in your tank. Soooo many bugs and pests drop off of my frags, it makes me wonder why I ever didn't use it. My problems have so far been with what I believe have been red bugs, but that was early on in my SPS career, so I did away with them.
 
#19 ·
hmm, i guess i need to start researching Coral Rx.

red bugs were annoying, that is for sure. once i figured out Interceptor doses, it would be easy to get rid of them if i was very careful about keeping track of when my shrimp molted.

G~
 
#22 ·
hmm, i guess i need to start researching Coral Rx.

red bugs were annoying, that is for sure. once i figured out Interceptor doses, it would be easy to get rid of them if i was very careful about keeping track of when my shrimp molted.

G~
My buddy uses the coral RX and I use the lugol's solution, I have been wanting to do a side by side comparison to see if there is an advantage of ether one.
 
#24 ·
G, what is the big conical tank for? I was thinking about things you have said in different threads and if there was a way to put a cone into the bottom of a tank then all detritus would settle in the bottom and easily be removed. Big tray to support all the live rock and a screen to keep all the invertebrates out of it. Is this what you are planning? Build looks great. On a side note, I am up to page 70 on the reef Keeping made easy thread. Great stuff.
 
#27 ·
what they said. :D

this time around i am going to try and incorporate both the sump and the settling tank into the same entity. not sure if it will all fit, but that is the plan. i know i have to take the table saw to the skimmer to get it to fit in the top of the conical tank. after that i will need to see if i have enough room for pumps and magic walls. ;)

G~
 
#29 ·
display -> UV -> Settling/sump -> return.

now getting the flow right in the setting sump so that i can keep a level and direct as much of the tank water through the skimmer is going to be the fun part.

G~
 
#32 ·
only a few updates this weekend. had to many activities to do on Saturday, so no work was done on Saturday and Sunday was cold, so did only inside stuff.

sorry, no pictures right now. i have some, they are just on the other camera.

the old light fixture is hung above the tank. getting the equipment in place in the smallish area is letting me see how much room i will actually have. i might be able to squeeze in my old water change system.

i also was able to get the RO/Di on hung and the drain line plumbed. i should have connected the supply line when i had the sink apart last week, but at that point i did not know which position the boss would allow the RO/DI be placed.

i need to start playing around with support structures in the conical settling tank to support the skimmer and possible return pump.

of course i can not have only one project going. i got one of the small 48 LED light thingies from eBay, so i have been working on getting the old MacQuarium up and going again. got all of the old lighting out and most of the old support equipment. all i need to do now is route and mount the wire and find a hose that fits the new return pump.

G~
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top