2024 Ohio Reef Frag Swap

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Author Topic: Miles' 150gal build  (Read 36784 times)

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Offline Miles

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Miles' 150gal build
« on: January 20, 2014, 16:06:50 »
I may be jumping the gun on this build thread, but I have the day of work so I figured I'd get it started. Updates may be few and far between, depending on how long it takes me to get all my stuff together.

The Story:
I've had a 75gal Mixed Reef set up for a couple years that I bought from cyberwollf before he moved to Florida, before that I had a mostly unsuccessful 75gal tank when I was in high school (around 2004). About a year and a half ago we bought a house, and have been wanting to upgrade ever since. My wife recently decided that she would prefer the 75gal in another room, and I used this as my chance to suggest upgrading. I was told if I could get something cheap, she would think about it. Today I bought a 150 gallon from njrdc.

 



When njrdc purchased the tank is was missing the rim, he purchased a new rim but never fitted it. He ended up picking up a 120 gallon that was already drilled and decided to sell the 150. Today when I picked up the tank, we discovered that the new rim wont fit.


Problem #1
The tank is 72 3/16" L x 18 3/8" W while the Rim is only 71 15/16" L x 18 1/16" W. So essentially the rim is 5/16 of an inch too small in one direction and 1/4 of an inch too short in the other direction.

I am open to suggestions as to how I can brace the top of this tank. Currently my thoughts are to fabricate my own frame out of some sort of hardwood, using lots of glue and screws, or Euro Bracing it. Any thoughts?

My ultimate plan is to transfer everything from my 75 gallon tank, livestock, equipment, etc....


Additional Equipment Needed:
1x EcoTech Radion Gen2
1x Hanging kit for Radion
1x return pump capable of a head of 15-20 (Currently thinking of using an Iwaki MD-55RLT)
2x Powerheads (I'd really like to get the EcoTech Vortech MP40w ES, but may end up setteling for Jebao WP-40s)
1x New skimmer (Thinking about the Avast Marine CS3)

Things that need to be done:
1. Top Brace
2. Build Stand
3. Drill Tank
4. Attach overflow
5. Water Test tank
6. Plumbing to Basement
7. Electrical to Sump (either add circuit, or extend already existing basement lighting circuit)
8. Brace floor under tank
9. Move Tank into house and set up equipment
10. Transfer livestock


Estimated Time to completion 6-8 months.
« Last Edit: December 12, 2017, 09:34:00 by Miles »

Offline Miles

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2014, 07:56:23 »
I'm just going to leave this screenshot right here...


Offline Twizted1

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2014, 09:06:59 »
Looks good. Noticed you have an orp probe. Do you think that is a must have, or just a bonus?

Offline Miles

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2014, 09:13:34 »
I picked up the ORP probe during Bulk Reef Supply's Black Friday Sale for cheap... I don't actually have any code set up to use it. Honestly its really just a bonus, I haven't quite figured out how it actually applies to anything, I've read a few articles and most of them seem to discredit ORP readings.  So really, its just fun to look at.

Offline METZCOOL

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2014, 09:41:09 »
I picked up the ORP probe during Bulk Reef Supply's Black Friday Sale for cheap... I don't actually have any code set up to use it. Honestly its really just a bonus, I haven't quite figured out how it actually applies to anything, I've read a few articles and most of them seem to discredit ORP readings.  So really, its just fun to look at.
I have used orp probe in the past to run ozone reactor to shut down ozone injection if orp gets to high, other than that not sure what you would use it for either.

Offline Twizted1

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2014, 10:21:53 »
It doesn't hurt to have it. Bonus!

Offline Viggen

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2014, 12:22:07 »
keep the updates coming.... :)

Iwaki 55 is a excellent pump, it will run 20+ years w/o needing anything done to it.  Totally worth the extra money vs Blueline, Mak4 etc.....

Check out reefcentral's classifieds if you are interested in used stuff.  Skimmers, lights, pumps etc pop up there almost daily.....
300g tub o fish

Offline lazylivin

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2014, 12:33:15 »
You got a lot of work ahead of you. Starting out right building a plan. Good luck.

Offline Miles

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2014, 19:16:41 »
Thanks for the responses, its good to know that people are actually following along....

I've spent the last two evenings investigating ways to brace the tank, and I'm back to the initial idea I had when I picked up the tank. I've had a hard time finding anyone that has done it, but have finally found a few people that have mentioned doing it, and I got one guy to explain in detail how he did it (but no pictures :( ). I made a quick Google Sketchup of it....

Wood Frame Rim

Still not sure if this is what I'm going to do for sure or not, but it seems like the cheapest way to do it.

Offline Miles

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2014, 19:28:00 »
sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled tank build... but I'm going to deviate to another build for a minute.

I purchased a 20L at the Petco $1/Gallon sale to use as a frag tank. I ordered most of the plumbing that I will need from BRS the other day. The stuff came today, so I'm just about ready to put it together.



I need to get the bulkheads drilled, but at the moment I'm not completely confident in my abilities to drill the tank without cracking it. I have an old 10 gallon that I have been practicing on, and I have about a 50% success rate. I ordered a drill guide (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UGG55O/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1), hopefully this will help. I'm also open to accepting help from others who have done this before  :D.




Offline Bucknutz

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2014, 20:31:05 »
Looks like a fun build. What do you plan to grow in the frag tank?

Offline Miles

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2014, 20:52:38 »
Pretty much just planning on using it to house all the unintentional frags I make while cleaning my tank. So mostly just Monti's and some LPS on frag plugs that look ugly in the main tank. I'll probably end up using it to grow out some zoa colonies...nothing too fancy.

Planning on using the 700GPH overflow from BRS and using a 10gal as a sump. Gonna throw my old CoraLife skimmer on it, and possibly a filter sock. Not only is it goign to be a frag tank, its going to be the semi permanent home for the Tomato Clown that my (Black Perculas can't get along with) and Tiny (the tiny Bangaai that has problems keeping up with the others in the main tank).

For lighting my eventual plan is to get a 30" 1400K LED fixture from BuildMyLED.com. In the meantime, I'll probably use a DIY led fixture I made a while back...

I just reconfigured the stand I build last week to accommodate the sump, so it still needs repainted, but here is a pic...

Offline Twizted1

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #12 on: January 21, 2014, 20:59:48 »
Love the enthusiasm. Thanks for sharing.

Offline joncat24

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #13 on: January 21, 2014, 21:27:29 »
I'm just going to leave this screenshot right here...


I wish I had that screenshot....I am eagerly anticipating Fusion
John

Offline Bucknutz

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #14 on: January 21, 2014, 21:28:55 »
I wish I had that screenshot....I am eagerly anticipating Fusion

I second this and was just thinking I should update.

Offline Miles

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #15 on: January 21, 2014, 21:45:21 »

I wish I had that screenshot....I am eagerly anticipating Fusion
Since I'm a nice guy... you can have this one too...




I'm not entirely sure how they decided who go into the Beta, but I'm pretty sure it had to do with prior Forum participation and if you had the WXM or AWM. They are really pushing to get the lighting features up and running well. Since this beta round has started they have made several lighting fixes.

Offline joncat24

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #16 on: January 21, 2014, 21:47:34 »
oh my...really rubbing it in...LOL. I have 3 Radion g2's, 2 mp40 and 2 mp 10 all running on WXM. I need this!!
John

Offline Miles

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #17 on: January 21, 2014, 21:50:10 »
oh my...really rubbing it in...LOL. I have 3 Radion g2's, 2 mp40 and 2 mp 10 all running on WXM. I need this!!


lol... honestly, at this point you can get more function out of using profiles than you can out of the Fusion lighting graph....alot of the beta testers are disappointed that the coolest feature of the software is not as flexible as the old way of doing it.

Offline joncat24

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #18 on: January 21, 2014, 21:52:26 »
I mainly am wanting it for the internet access. I gave up on the port forwarding crap on my router...LOL
John

Offline Miles

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #19 on: January 21, 2014, 21:55:26 »
that is by far the best part of Fusion...the old way of setting it up seemed pretty convoluted for a consumer product. I can't believe how many "I can't access my Apex from the internet" posts there are on the forums. I'm guessing that was the major push for them to create Fusion

Offline Miles

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #20 on: January 24, 2014, 17:38:20 »
So I got to thinking last night.... A single center brace will ending blocking one of the radions, so I changed up the design and added a second brace.



In other news, I picked up a cheap pump for the frag tank (Rio+ 1400), and ordered a drill guide for drilling the tank. Still have a couple fittings I need to pick up during the BRS group buy.

Offline lazylivin

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #21 on: January 25, 2014, 23:07:11 »
Good call on the two braces. I am about to remove my stock center brace because it gets in way of lighting

Offline Miles

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #22 on: January 29, 2014, 22:17:55 »
Quick Update on the frag tank...

I finally got a drill guide (which made drilling 10 times easier), and drilled the 20L.






I have almost everything I need for this build. I still need some Loc-Line, which I ordered form BRS this morning, along with a bunch of other random stuff, and lighting. My current plan is to use the DIY LEDs that you can see on the left side of this picture for a little while, I'm planning on buying another Radion for the 150 next month and will use the new Radion until the 150 gets set up, and the ultimate plan is to buy a 30" 1400k fixture from BuildMyLed.com. I dry fitted all the plumbing today, so heres a pic of what the mostly finished product looks like.



I still need to add the power-heads, and build the frag racks. I expect to have this all up and running by the beginning of next week.

Offline Twizted1

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #23 on: January 29, 2014, 23:21:43 »
Lookin good.

Offline Miles

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Re: mil3sdavis' 150gal build
« Reply #24 on: February 02, 2014, 21:04:11 »
The frag tank got filled this weekend, and the Tomato Clown and my tiny Bangaii were moved to their new home.







Ignore the extremely ugly lights...

 

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