Cobraden's new 150 build (1 Viewer)

[cobraden]

Well after picking up this tank a couple months ago, and grabbing equipment here and there, it looks like it's time to get this party started.

My idea is to make this a mixed tank with a heavy SPS focus.

I'm going to take my time as there is a lot to do, but I figured I might as well start documenting it.

What I have so far:

150 gallon aquarium
Oak Stand and Canopy
Sump
Warner Marine AR-150 skimmer
Korallin C1502 Calcium reactor, solenoid valve and CO2 tank
Aquatic Life 6 bulb T5 system with LED night lights and light controller
UV sterilizer
Return pump (have a few to choose from) Planning on using external.
2 Tunze PH with the 7240 drivers and multi controller. (hope I don't need)

Have lots of live rock and sand from the 300g take down.

Still need to pick up as $$ allow:
GFO reactor
New plug set for my Reefkeeper2


Tank is a 150 gallon 60"x24"x24". Bought it used and it was being used for a reef. Has some scratches on the front panel but nothing too bad. Tank is reef ready with one 1" drain and one 1" return. Holes in the tank are 1-3/4". Secondary silicone seal inside the tank is discolored and the overflow box if functional but not great looking. The tank has a huge centerbrace

The plan is to drill the tank for two 1-1/2" drains and an additional return using the new glass hole saws that I just ordered. I will also remove the current overflow box and all of the internal silicone, add the new boxes and redo the entire secondary seal. The center brace will be replaced by a metal brace that I will have made and powercoated to protect from corrosion.

The sump I have is 36"Lx18"Wx24"H. It's a little longer than I wanted to use by about 6" but I have it and can make it work. Right now it's pretty open but I plan on making it somewhat multi purpose. I will add a refugium and a couple of open stands to hold my reactors. Will also add an additional bubble trap and probe holder. The Refugium will have dimension of aprox 15"x8" and be about 16" tall and will be on the front side of the sump so I can see any critters that happen to end up living down there. This will be a very slow current area of the sump. The rest of the sump will have a pretty high flow. The extra length of the sump may force the use of an internal return pump but I'm planning on using external.

Water return to the tank will be something similar to the one discribed here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pbh2oret.htm (sorry, don't know how to highlight a word and make it a link) I hope this system keeps me from needing the powerheads but I have them just in case.

Just started placing things in the stand last night to see how they fit.

Added the lights to the canopy and like the way they work.

LEDs only

full on!


More to follow as I make progress!

 

[bevoboy]

Tagging along. Love build threads.

 

[freespool]

very interested in the "manifold" system. please update progress and build details on how this is working for you. Keep it up

 

[cobraden]

Love it when I get new toys in the mail.

1 - 2 3/8" glass hole saw

1 - 1 3/4" glass hole saw

2 - bulkheads for my 1 1/2" drains


Already had the bulkheads for the returns.

Looks like this weekend it may be time to try my hand at some glass drilling!

 

[cobraden]

My plans for the evening got rescheduled so...since I didn't really feel like going out I decided to make a little progress. I removed the old overflow. Ok baby steps. I was going to remove the centerbrace as well but havent quite figured out how I'm going to get it out. I will think about that tomorrow.

Before

After

 

[cobraden]

Well sometimes life gets in the way of our best laid plans so it's been a while since I'm messed with this build but now I'm back at it.

So far I've:
resealed the tank since the silicone looked really bad
added an extra 1 1/2" drain since it only had a 3/4" drain
I put in a new overflow box but will be doing a little cosmetic work given my routing skills were not that great.
Removed the center brace and the new metal one will be welded tomorrow

Today I decided it was time to plumb this sucker up and as I sat down to do it it became clear that I need more room under my cabinet. That leaves me with the options of 1) trying to find a 6'x2'x2' tank and stand to replace the 5' tank that I have OR 2) find a smaller sump OR 3) get a very powerful in sump return pump.

Since the goal has been to use as much of the equipment that I already have and limit $$$ spent, option 1 seems to be the least probable. Which ever option I go with, I will end up either working a trade or selling what I have and buying what I need.

which option would you take?

 

[d2mini]

Probably option 3 if you can find a small enough but powerful enough pump. I prefer external, but seems a shame to lose sump space. Internal will work just fine.

 

[cobraden]

Current space issue solved!

Not wanting to let the tank get the best of me, I figured out a way to solve the problem. The issue was the really the valve and union that I felt I needed between the Sump and the pump to make maintenance fairly easy. I just didn't have room for for it the way I was thinking. So with a little out of the box thinking I came up with the idea to just put the valve INSIDE the sump. Then attach the union to the bulkhead and pump.

Pump slid right in. I will have to get a little wet when I do pump maintenance but I probably would have anyway.

 

[cobraden]

Making a little bit of progress. I was able to fit almost everything under the cabinet. I think the only thing that will be setting on the outside will be the co2 tank for the calcium reactor.

top view

I was also able to get the pieces for my new metal top brace cut and welded. It will go to the powder coater after I do my leak test. Pretty sure I won't miss that big ugly center brace.

Feels good to finally start making some progress.

 

[RR-MAN]

Looking good...and welcome back.

Is it possible to drill holes on the two sides of the canopy for the PC fans? You will have better air exchange that way.

 

[cobraden]

RR-Man its good to be back. I haven't really given the canopy much thought. It's still set up the way it was when I bought the tank. The back side is open. It's wood so It's possible. Why would that give better air exchange. When I looked at it, I just figured the person that put the fans in wanted it to pull from the open area of the back of the canopy through the fans in the front.

Right now I'm working on the filtration. Did some leak testing today and got the two leaks I found taken care of in the plumbing. The skimmer is another issue. The Sedra 7000 pump that runs it is leaking at the impeller housing. Took it apart and the o-ring and everything look ok. I will take it apart in the next couple of days and figure out what the problem is. Just hope whatever it is will be fixable and I won't have to replace the pump.

 

[Copingsaw]

Looking good so far.

I would say with those fans where they are positioned inside the hood below the lights, you are just going to succeed in moving air around between the canopy and the water. This should help lower the water temperature a degree or two and will increase evaporation a bit. With an open back, that should help vent air from the lights fixture. Ideally you may want to mount a few fans in the back to exhaust air from the canopy; however, if you run the lights and the canopy doesn't get too hot, it should be fine as is. I've got a 6-bulb T-5 fixture and it gets pretty hot. I feel having exhaust fans is very helpful.

 

[RR-MAN]

RR-Man its good to be back. I haven't really given the canopy much thought. It's still set up the way it was when I bought the tank. The back side is open. It's wood so It's possible. Why would that give better air exchange. When I looked at it, I just figured the person that put the fans in wanted it to pull from the open area of the back of the canopy through the fans in the front.

Blowing air from the two sides will keep the T5 Fixture cool. The fixture will get hot in an enclosed canopy thus shortening the life of the ballast and bulbs.

 

[cobraden]

OK, I see what you were getting at. I don't think I'm going to get that much heat build up inside the hood due to the way the lights are mounted. The guy that had the tank before me thought a little outside the box and mounted them in a pretty cool way. The fixture isn't really inside the canopy. He cut an opening in the top of the canopy just big enough to fit the bottom portion of the light in so that it would shine in the tank and sit flush with the inside of the top. The rest of the fixture is outside of the canopy so all the vents and cooling fans for the fixture are no enclosed. I thought that was pretty smart when it came to heat management. Looks pretty cool as well. Only problem is I may have issues in the future if I want to use a different light.

 

[flexrac]

that was a good idea, nice build!

 

[RR-MAN]

OK, I see what you were getting at. I don't think I'm going to get that much heat build up inside the hood due to the way the lights are mounted. The guy that had the tank before me thought a little outside the box and mounted them in a pretty cool way. The fixture isn't really inside the canopy.

Ok this picture explains it better.




Sent from my keyboard using Tapatalk

 

[cobraden]

Well I made a little progress on the build today. Figured since it was wet and soggy outside a little aquarium work was in order.

I started off by heading over to the powder coater and picking up my metal center brace.

They did a great job on it and it should stand up to the salt spray very well.

Then it was off to pick up some water so I loaded up my 100 gallon water storage container and went and picked up 100 gal of fresh water. Got home added salt and let it mix.

This go round I decided to try using egg crate under the rock to reduce rock movement when sand moving fish decide to relocate my substrate.

Now it was time to turn my attention to the live rock. I had a few pieces that I had let dry out since I broke down my other tank but I had just crammed a bunch of it in a 100 gallon tank and it has had light and decent water circulation. My nieces came over to help so we got to cleaning the rock that had been sitting by the patio and then it was time to stack.

we started with a piece of live rock I like to call "Tiny"

that piece alone probably weighs 30-40 pounds

Then we worked on the stack until we all came to an agreement.

Then I added water and stirred

The stack turned out as I had hoped with lots of places for coral placement and tons of caves and swim throughs for the fish. You can't tell from the pics but the fish will be able to swim completely around the rock in the center of the tank.

Right now I just have some powerheads circulating the water in the tank. I will add water to the sump tomorrow and get the system fired up. Things are starting to get exciting.

 

[below radar]

When are you going to put sand in? I like the piece on top of the left column. Up high and large for nice showpiece corals. A lot of rock for my taste but you made it look really good. I like the fact that the fish can swim completely around the "reef". Also, nice job on the swim through cave in the middle.

 

[Diesel]

Nice built tank, awesome rock scape.
Is that metal center brace siliconed in or just sitting on top of your rim?

 

[cobraden]

Thanks. Sand goes in probably this weekend after I get a chance to give it a light salt water rinse. I've had it in with the live rock and I want to clean it a bit. As for the rock, this tank uses the least rock/ gallon that I've probably ever used. I usually have it stacked to the top. I've had some of this rock for over 10 years.