Dbarnes 225 In-wall Tank Build
- Thread starter Dbarnes
- Start date
Ahhhaha. Ok here lots of info and yes lots of pics.
So build took about two weeks and cycled in roughly 36hrs. Do far most of my dreams(sad i know) became reality in the system with exception to a few, first my power consumption is a little higher than i want. This us due to an additional pump that was not planned for, get to that in a min.. i still plan on insulating all the pipes in hopes of conserving a little more heat. I also hope to change my sump witch should allow for a little less water action at sump return which should also conserve heat, however at this point with about 350-375 gallons i am only running 200watts in heaters which according to my controller only runs roughly 1kw a day which is very good in comparison to what many systems this size are consuming. However the true test comes with winter, after my insulated exterior doors are in the room should be rated at R30 or better meaning it is built tight and everything is insulated, it is also plumbed with two registers that should keep the room @ or above 70° in the winter, beings it is in my basement i have far greater issues holding heat than ridding of heat. So on to the fuge, its a 75gal long with 175lbs of live rock and is seeded with calupra, cheato, red macro, and bryopisis along with hair algae... now many may think the last two are bad ideas but i have read many threads on ppl that have used this method and had great luck.. so far so good +fingers crossed! The fuge turns over 1000gal an hour being run with my iwacki external that also runs the smr1 and skimmer. The tank is then run by a mag 24 thaf is completely dedicated to the DT... the reasoning for this was that i wanted my fuge to be directly drained to my DT (see initial design) however due to the ceiling being 3" to low to do this i decided to run separated pumps then to achieve the same effect i located the pickup for the fuge/skimmer pump where my DT returns enter the sump, then located the DT pump in the sump where the fuge returns are located, this means (theoretically) that the DT pump is running roughly 60-70% fuge water and that the fuge/skimmer pump is running 100% dirty water from the display. So far parameters have been exalent and survival is rates so far are great, haven't seen alot of growth yet but that's to be expected with a new system. My QT system is set to be capable of running four separate QTs along with adequate shelving, however i have yet to run any more than two but i figure some day when someone has a tank crash (i hope not me) i will have the hotel ready to go in a matter of an hour or so. The one thing i have yet to get completed is my mix tank but i hope to do that this coming weekend. My RODI system is running great with two 100gpd units both tied together and have come in very handy when i need water quickly. Overall it has been a total nightmare and probably by best guess taken 300+ man hours and has ****ed me off so bad i have contipllated fish tank homicide but.... I ****ing LOVE IT!!!!
.
Always look forward to comments and ideas!!!
This is the DT view from the game/billiard room.
This is a little closer up DT view
Fish room doorway(soon be fitted with a door)
RODI station, below is located the 30gal reserve tank with a mag 9 to pump to ATO system
Right side of rank showing 1of2 mp40wes run on battery back up outlets tied to controller.
Main controller station with dosing pumps, the controller is tied in to 8 outlets which it controls but allows me to run wall outlets closer to the physical placement of the item its controlling ( thank my father who's a electrical engineer)
Left side of tank, also shows one of my favorite design ides in this setup which is the gang walk all the way around the back and both sides of tank which allows you to work on the tank without a set stool as the tank rim stands at 74". This thing was a life saver when aquascaping and tending to corals.
Three AI blues light the tank, outlets are run on the controller as well as the AI controller. Seems to be good but i will be converting to vega's as soon as i get them.
The plumbing was one thing i was super anal about, everything is clean and labeled in hopes that if anyone has to tend to an emergency can figure out easily should i be absent.
Fuge picture, shows how its setup, inlet is on the left and overflows are on right. The tank also has a corlia 750 in it to move water around.
So build took about two weeks and cycled in roughly 36hrs. Do far most of my dreams(sad i know) became reality in the system with exception to a few, first my power consumption is a little higher than i want. This us due to an additional pump that was not planned for, get to that in a min.. i still plan on insulating all the pipes in hopes of conserving a little more heat. I also hope to change my sump witch should allow for a little less water action at sump return which should also conserve heat, however at this point with about 350-375 gallons i am only running 200watts in heaters which according to my controller only runs roughly 1kw a day which is very good in comparison to what many systems this size are consuming. However the true test comes with winter, after my insulated exterior doors are in the room should be rated at R30 or better meaning it is built tight and everything is insulated, it is also plumbed with two registers that should keep the room @ or above 70° in the winter, beings it is in my basement i have far greater issues holding heat than ridding of heat. So on to the fuge, its a 75gal long with 175lbs of live rock and is seeded with calupra, cheato, red macro, and bryopisis along with hair algae... now many may think the last two are bad ideas but i have read many threads on ppl that have used this method and had great luck.. so far so good +fingers crossed! The fuge turns over 1000gal an hour being run with my iwacki external that also runs the smr1 and skimmer. The tank is then run by a mag 24 thaf is completely dedicated to the DT... the reasoning for this was that i wanted my fuge to be directly drained to my DT (see initial design) however due to the ceiling being 3" to low to do this i decided to run separated pumps then to achieve the same effect i located the pickup for the fuge/skimmer pump where my DT returns enter the sump, then located the DT pump in the sump where the fuge returns are located, this means (theoretically) that the DT pump is running roughly 60-70% fuge water and that the fuge/skimmer pump is running 100% dirty water from the display. So far parameters have been exalent and survival is rates so far are great, haven't seen alot of growth yet but that's to be expected with a new system. My QT system is set to be capable of running four separate QTs along with adequate shelving, however i have yet to run any more than two but i figure some day when someone has a tank crash (i hope not me) i will have the hotel ready to go in a matter of an hour or so. The one thing i have yet to get completed is my mix tank but i hope to do that this coming weekend. My RODI system is running great with two 100gpd units both tied together and have come in very handy when i need water quickly. Overall it has been a total nightmare and probably by best guess taken 300+ man hours and has ****ed me off so bad i have contipllated fish tank homicide but.... I ****ing LOVE IT!!!!
. Always look forward to comments and ideas!!!
This is the DT view from the game/billiard room.
This is a little closer up DT view
Fish room doorway(soon be fitted with a door)
RODI station, below is located the 30gal reserve tank with a mag 9 to pump to ATO system
Right side of rank showing 1of2 mp40wes run on battery back up outlets tied to controller.
Main controller station with dosing pumps, the controller is tied in to 8 outlets which it controls but allows me to run wall outlets closer to the physical placement of the item its controlling ( thank my father who's a electrical engineer)
Left side of tank, also shows one of my favorite design ides in this setup which is the gang walk all the way around the back and both sides of tank which allows you to work on the tank without a set stool as the tank rim stands at 74". This thing was a life saver when aquascaping and tending to corals.
Three AI blues light the tank, outlets are run on the controller as well as the AI controller. Seems to be good but i will be converting to vega's as soon as i get them.
The plumbing was one thing i was super anal about, everything is clean and labeled in hopes that if anyone has to tend to an emergency can figure out easily should i be absent.
Fuge picture, shows how its setup, inlet is on the left and overflows are on right. The tank also has a corlia 750 in it to move water around.
Sump with all the goodies, i would like to have a custom one built but we will see
QT tank, currently housing three bangis, a lutenant tang and two true percs. They still have three weeks of QT left
Work bench/additional QT shelving, shelves underneath are full of drawers to try to help organize all the **** i have
Best addition a reefer can have in his/her fish room, love having a sink. Dog washs are easier too
Best shot i could get of the whole system.
Entire room is sealed with 60 mil poly and liquid nail to insure that water does not penetrate wall to carpet. It can handle up to 8" of water, i tested it in 2" and worked flawlessly. The walls are all lined with 30 mil plastic to make certain the DRYwall stays dry!!
QT switch panel capable of running four separate QTs
Well thats it, took more time than i thought but i was still able to get in pretty quick and really only lost sps corals and a few others but thats expected during a emergency build. As i said above i am always open to criticism and comments so let um go!!
On a side note i am looking for sps corals many of which i lost so please let me know what u have!
Thanks
Derek
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
QT tank, currently housing three bangis, a lutenant tang and two true percs. They still have three weeks of QT left
Work bench/additional QT shelving, shelves underneath are full of drawers to try to help organize all the **** i have
Best addition a reefer can have in his/her fish room, love having a sink. Dog washs are easier too
Best shot i could get of the whole system.
Entire room is sealed with 60 mil poly and liquid nail to insure that water does not penetrate wall to carpet. It can handle up to 8" of water, i tested it in 2" and worked flawlessly. The walls are all lined with 30 mil plastic to make certain the DRYwall stays dry!!
QT switch panel capable of running four separate QTs
Well thats it, took more time than i thought but i was still able to get in pretty quick and really only lost sps corals and a few others but thats expected during a emergency build. As i said above i am always open to criticism and comments so let um go!!
On a side note i am looking for sps corals many of which i lost so please let me know what u have!
Thanks
Derek
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
