Eric Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I'm getting serious and actually making some progress on a new 90g tank. Previously had a 55g reef that I broke down with kids coming and consolidated my favorites into a nano for the last 4-5 years. As the new house, as my wife says, was built around the tank room it's about time I got moving. With a leak in the nano, I had to make an emergency move to a hex tank from the garage. That's helped me get the itch of expanding again. Room: The tank room shares a wall with our breakfast/dining area. The plan was always to set the tank in the wall and hide all the equipment in the tank room. The kind of setup I've always wanted. I regret not making it larger, but it'll do. The room is tiled with a drain just out to the yard. We're in the sticks and I don't have to worry about gray water. Plumbed for a sink. Approximately 3.5'x8'. There's one window in there, but no A/C vent. I'm contemplating adding one as the unit is just above it in the attic. If I were smart, I'd do it now. Most of the work so far has been room modifications. Installed a sink, RODI unit, and some shelves. I added a new GFCI circuit on the tank wall because I was short sighted when I built and put the outlets on the opposite wall. Now I've got 3 new outlets and access on both ends. The builder framed the wall knowing what I planned, so my stand already had one side done. I made a short frame for the sump and now a frame from 2x material for the DT. A coat of primer to brighten it a little and add a little bit of protection. I'm also planning on installing some plexiglass on the wall to protect from sump splashing on the drywall. Other than that I'm just about ready to cut the hole in the wall. I've promised to wait until the last minute. Tank: Tank was purchased a couple of months ago used from Aquadome. 90g with a corner overflow and two holes drilled in the bottom. Planning a herbie style drain. Plan is maybe get it this weekend. Sump: Using my old 55g as a sump because I had it already. I just had some glass cut for some baffles and should be able to get in soon and actually move the sump in. Will drain into a skimmer chamber and then to a return. Will tee off the return pump to a 11g fuge section for ability to control flow. My current BuildMyLED on the hex will move to the fuge. I struggled with deciding on a sump design and whether I should drill the tank and use an external pump I have. I'm settled on a submersed pump. Lighting: RapidLED 90g "retrofit" kit replacing drivers with LDDs. Plus moonlights. Other equipment: Return pump is my old PM 9.5. As long as it's quiet enough. Skimmer: For now I'll use my old Tunze. I'm open to suggestions for a good skimmer. 1 @ Jebao WP-40 My original Tunze Osmolator ATO Inhabitants: I'd like to move from the soft corals/LPS that've always kept to some SPS. Current tank has about 20 lbs of live rock with 20 year old green star polyps, several leathers, an anenome from the gulf, bubble coral, mushrooms and zoas. Fish include only a True percula and lawnmower blennie. I'm open to any suggestions y'all might have on changes or equipment I haven't decided on. Controller: The other thing I'm splitting time on is building a arduino controller based on the Jarduino code. Will control lights, heater, fans and power heads and monitor temperatures and everything else I can squeeze in. All on a touchscreen. Here's a few photos of the room prior to this weekend when I did the stand. Also one of the display wall. Freshly cleaned out of the junk I've stashed in here over the last 3 years. Moving in with the new junk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Sounds pretty awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glumslum Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Legit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Looks good. Will be nice having a dedicated fish room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 Current state with the stand and new outlets. The chalk line on the wall shows approximate height of the tank. A 2x4 backer for a top frame should allow me to rotozip the window out in a jiffy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 Today I cut the window in the wall and the dirty work part of adding an AC vent in the room. Sump partitions are done. Move the tanks in tomorrow. Unknowing help is coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstarwiggle Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Do not "440 gallon drop off tank" us!! Awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 Sounds like a story I'm not familiar with. The tank is just too much for one person and little tight coming in the door. Several people for dinner is a perfect excuse to enlist some help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Sounds like a story I'm not familiar with. The tank is just too much for one person and little tight coming in the door. Several people for dinner is a perfect excuse to enlist some help. I think what he was referring to is a 440g drop off tank someone started a build thread about and then quit building it. People are so distraught there is a support group and a ong about it. If you have an hour to kill you can go read the thread. Search or it or wait. They're 21 days from the monthly meeting announcement (aka whine). It is fairly amusing. Do not "440 gallon drop off tank" us!! Awesome. I think that now the hole is cut the spouse will force him to complete the build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 What a neat build! It's going to be SO nice to have a fish room with all of your supplies and equipment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 Planeden, thanks for the explanation. I assumed it referred to some surprise manual labor. Kimp, I studied your thread with an eye out for ideas. Looks like it went very well Tank got placed yesterday and today began a slow addition of water. My ro unit doesn't produce much. I imagine I could get ro water from one of the local shops? Does anyone sell premixed saltwater that is a worthwhile deal? I've seen 5gal boxes like at petco. My son couldn't resist a chance to climb through. Tank room with tank and sump in place 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Aquadome sell premixed salt water for $1 per gallon (member price). RCA has a truck they'll drive water to you, but I'm not sure if it's salty or at the price is. I know RO is much cheaper at RCA. Tank looks good in place. Now for the fun part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted February 27, 2014 Author Share Posted February 27, 2014 Better than I expected. Club price at the Dome was $.79/gallon for DI saltwater. Made filling up much faster than my little unit. Cycling sand and live rock with help from rock from existing tank. I settled on a "90g retrofit kit" from Rapid LED trading out the standard drivers for LDD drivers since I'll control with an arduino 0-10 PWM. 2 @ 6"x20" heatsinks with 24 leds each and room for some expansion. Have two channels to control on each. Then I'm adding 4 extra royal blues for moonlight giving a 5th channel. I can't resist not utilizing the lunar cycle the jarduino code already provides. Waiting on the lights to arrive which gives me some time to finish up the plumbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 I've got much of the system up and running now. The herbie style overflow works up to expectations. I needed to reseal some of my threaded connections but then good. I was explaining to my 6 year old how the plumbing worked. he asked about the second overflow pipe and I described it as an emergency in case the main pipe was clogged by snails. I was so proud of him when he said I should put a cap on top of it to keep snails from getting in. Low and behold I had forgotten the screen I had in my car that had just arrived. That's such a great idea! hey, it fits perfectly. Once it was all plumbed up and running, the sandstorm cleared up in a few hours. I also put a sock filter on the overflow. The return piping tees off to a small flow for the fuge and just up and over the back. At least for now. I think I might replumb it all around the end of the tank. I really like the Jebao WP-40, aside from being able to hear the pulsing which seems a little loud to me. But plenty of power and I enjoy the flexibility. Appears to be easy to replace the controller with my own as well. The fuge has 20 lbs of live sand and some pieces of live rock from my existing tank. The DT currently has 55 lbs of CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand and some 85 lbs of new-to-me live rock. The rock is just set in there for now, but in approximate location I want to build. As I wait for the lights to arrive tomorrow, I have a 20 year old 16" fluorescent fixture to give some illumination. And the lights from the equipment room. I feel I need to finish ducting up my AC return as it's noticably higher temp and humidity in there when the door is closed. I'm contemplating going through the exterior wall for some real fresh air. But I don't know how I would handle that. I got to work on the perimeter frame yesterday as I have 5 days left on my deadline. I promised a frame would be installed no later than 2-weeks from cutting a huge hole in the wall. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 i hear that in about 2 weeks the jebaos slime up and get really quiet. the tank is coming along really well. good luck with the framing. deadlines can be rough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted March 9, 2014 Author Share Posted March 9, 2014 And we have real lights. The kits took me a few days to assemble. A little effort trying to determine all the correct wiring. The UV stars were a pain to solder and I fried one LDD driver by crossing wires. $7 mistake can be chocked up. I enjoyed the experience; my wife did not. But the arduino based controller worked like a charm. I wired up the two 4x20" heat sink units with a royal blue stand and a combination white, UV, red and green. There are also four more moonlight LEDs currently unlit due to the fried driver. The look is great in my mind. I love the shimmer and intensity. Photos are just from a phone. Temporary controller wiring with power supply, drivers and dimmer control wiring. Brought up the temp and transferred some more rock pieces. Green star polyps have come out. I'm convinced they could survive a nuclear holocaust. Worked on the frame this afternoon as well. I've missed my deadline but no one's pointed that out. Could have it assembled and stained tomorrow. Progress is good. I love progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veni Vidi Vici Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 (edited) Tank looks great Eric! Im getting ready to do a 110 gal build and im stuck in between using my MHs and investing in a controller or takeing the controller money and swithching over to LEDs. Anyways, looks great and if I may make a suggestion.You might want to put a 2x header back under those studs you cut ,to keep them from twisting,bowing or saging.It will pop your screws out of your sheet rock and put a bow in your wall. Todd Edited March 9, 2014 by Veni Vidi Vici Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 (edited) Looks great Eric. I think most contractors miss at least on deadline on these types of things. To be fair, I think you did that incredibly fast. Edited March 9, 2014 by Planeden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted March 9, 2014 Author Share Posted March 9, 2014 Tank looks great Eric! Im getting ready to do a 110 gal build and im stuck in between using my MHs and investing in a controller or takeing the controller money and swithching over to LEDs. Anyways, looks great and if I may make a suggestion.You might want to put a 2x header back under those studs you cut ,to keep them from twisting,bowing or saging.It will pop your screws out of your sheet rock and put a bow in your wall. Todd Good idea. The studs are only a foot long now, nailed to the header above. being so short, they probably don't add anything. I should have already taken them out, so maybe I'll do that now. I'm more concerned about moisture affecting the drywall just above the tank. I wonder if a layer of cement board would be helpful. I originally thought plexiglass, but cement board is probably cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Maybe there are drywall builders on here, but a piece of tape along the edge and some paint may be enough to seal it. Sheetrock is used in garages and bathrooms with humidity concerns somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veni Vidi Vici Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Maybe there are drywall builders on here, but a piece of tape along the edge and some paint may be enough to seal it. Sheetrock is used in garages and bathrooms with humidity concerns somehow. Yeah its called Green Board or Blue Board,its water resistant and used in bathrooms around tub and showers. Its fairly cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Update. Last week parameters were good on the new tank and I decided to move the rest of the rock, sand and occupants from the hex tank into their new home. All has made the transition not only successful, but in many cases obviously happier than before. I finished my basic frame which I believe adds a lot to a finished look. I feel the need to get the piping and return out of view in some fashion, but overall very happy with the result of the tank in the wall. Experienced a bloom of cyano and hair algae but the crew has been cleaning up. Cyano is gone and hair is at least going in the desired direction now. (combed over to the left) I also added some macro algae in the fuge. The Jebao is certainly powerful and I haven't figured out a comfortable spot for it. I seem to either through substrate all over or what looks to be a punishing flow on the corals. Any tips? I have it on the end along with my overflow, pretty much pointed at the far glass wall now. You can see the dune that's been created on the right side, dug out the front and back right corners as the flow bounces off the wall. Not the best of lighting to take photos this morning, but this gives an idea how it looks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 it looks great man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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