Shawn's 175g Peninsula Build

[szavoda]

Hey all -

I had a build thread going over at ReefCentral, but I thought I would continue it over here since this is the community that I play with more than anything. I won't duplicate the whole thing, but I will share some of the pics that walk through the build. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please let me know...

As a background, I have been reefing for about 12 years (on and off). Divorce took my 240g down. When I moved back into the house, I put it back up, but it got neglected and came down again. A couple of the key things that I wanted to address this time were:

1. Central location. Get away from the basement and into the main floor living area
2. Leak control - flood bad
3. Automation - more of it. Automated water changes and a better overall use of my controller

Shawn

 

[szavoda]

The old tank:

 

[szavoda]

The new tank area:

 

[szavoda]

The sketchup:

 

[szavoda]

Some demolition of the new area:

 

[szavoda]

I got bold and decided to build all of the tanks myself. Plasticare Inc. CNC routed everything perfectly. Good people over there...

 

[szavoda]

Here are just a few pics of the Main DT glue up:

 

[szavoda]

Here is what it looks like if you decide to flush trim your tank with a router inside of the house:

 

[szavoda]

Meanwhile, stand construction. The bottom section of wood is fiberglassed in to act as a water basin and has a drain in the far back in case of a leak. Already accidentally tested this feature twice so far, lol:

 

[zombie]

Not sure if you have done so already, but I would reinforce the joice above where you took that post out. Given its size and location, its most likely just for asthetics, but there is a small chance the post was load bearing.

 

[szavoda]

I ran a new water line for the RODI unit that I freshened up with new screws, filters, valves, etc:

 

[szavoda]

Not sure if you have done so already, but I would reinforce the joice above where you took that post out. Given its size and location, its most likely just for asthetics, but there is a small chance it could be load bearing.

I hired a structural engineer to look at everything. That part was just cosmetic. Underneath, I am going to have to do a little adjustment. Luckily, that is the section of the basement that needs to be re-finished anyways...

 

[szavoda]

Some plumbing:


This has been adjusted somewhat since these pics were taken, but the general idea is here. Drain is a Bean animal system. Return is a Jabeo 12000 DC. Everything is very quiet .

The DT has a bottom drain as well. For some reason I find these come in very handy... I just realized now that it will be nearly impossible to get to with the rock work, though - oops. Oh well....

 

[szavoda]

Float Switches

I love me some float switches. I have installed 5 float switches so far as follows:

Fresh water ATO tank - High and low switch to turn the RODI system on and off to avoid cycling constantly.

Saltwater water change tank - Low sensor to alert when the supply is running low.

Sump - High an low sensors to alert and turn off pumps.

 

[szavoda]

Filling the tank - leak test. It's sooooo clear

 

[szavoda]

I hooked up the electronics...

 

[szavoda]

And some rock. Now just waiting for the cycle. Tick - Tock - Tick - Tock

 

[szavoda]

That's about it for now. I am doing some solenoid work (thanks to Zombie for the info about the Energy Bar and the relay outlets required for low amp devices) and setting up QT and all that in the mean time. Also started to look at some options for skinning the stand.

 

[zombie]

Looking good. Once you have everything finished and have done your first crack at your code, post it here and I will work my magic on it.

 

[SkyShark]

Awesome. Looks super clean and sleek.