Starting ~800 Gallon Custom Reef Tank Build

[ravi197699]

hello reefers, so I was looking for tank to be able to use for quarantine system and I wanted this tank to be stand alone system with its own filtration, heater, return pump etc, make long story short I wanted this tank to be AIO tank and tank dimensions can't before more than 24 wide x 24 deep and height is not an issue, so I started searching the for sale threads on local forums and I was able to find 60 gal cube non reef ready for very good price, I had that tank picked up and decided to convert this tank to AIO tank, I had pieces of glass cut out and designed the layout of the baffles and dividers and I came up with pretty universal design that will give me room for fuge or skimmer area and 1 section for return and 1 section for media, if I decide to add carbon or poly filter or gfo I will be able to use this section for that purpose, since I have repair shop I was able to do it all at my work and let it sit till it dries and I tell you it came out nice and I am very happy with final result, I have the heater and small pump that will run the system and I will add float switch and add separate pump to keep the water level steady since this tank will be sitting very close to ATO container, this tank will sit on white granite that is shown picture above, any live stock I buy from store will be kept in this tank and monitored and treat only if needed, this will be hospital tank, once I confirm that live stock is healthy and eating with no sign of stress then it will go to display tank,

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

Very nice quarantine system. Whenare tou going to start stocking?

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[ravi197699]

I have 10 chromis in the tank right now and that is about it, I will start ordering live stock after I check the amonia and nitrate levels in QT system

 

[ravi197699]

Hello reefers, Happy Monday!, so as you all know that I have been busy setting up stand alone QT tank to quarantine my live stock, so yesterday I bought simple plumbing parts to fire up the tank, Made 60 gallons of fresh water mixed salt and while water is mixing I got busy with plumbing which is very simple, I had Oceanic pump from bio cube that I am using as return pump, 1 ball valve (1/2") and that was it, I am using 200W heater that is sitting in middle section that is fully submerged and will stay submerged even if power goes out because that section holds water for fuge or filter media, I had brightwell bio bricks that were laying in my sump from 6 weeks, I filled 60 gallon tank with display tank water and put 2 bricks in the 60 gallons because these bricks are loaded with beneficial bacteria, I was checking prices for media basket/ rack for AIO tanks and prices were in rage of 60 to 80 bucks depending on brand and sizes, So I decided to make my own media basket/ rack with egg crate that I bought from Lowe;s, I cut out the sizes and slide it in the first section where water is draining into and it has 3 shelves, 1st shelve has filter pad which is working great and water clarity is 60% better than what I start with, second and third shelve will be used for carbon to remove medication and such, so option is there if I want water to run through media of any sort, it cost me 16 bucks + 30 min of my time, now water is staying low in the 60 gallon as your guys can see in the pictures, I drilled drain holes 2 inch lower from top and it is staying at that level, I am installed overflow weir box that will raise the water levels in the tank, It is getting 3d printed and I should have it this week, once I install this box it should look neat and much more appealing.. more picture to come when I order live stock...

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

I have 10 chromis in the tank right now and that is about it, I will start ordering live stock after I check the amonia and nitrate levels in QT system

Very nice.

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[ravi197699]

Hello reefers, Happy Monday!, I had aluminum t slot 10 series laying around from when broke my 350 gallon down, I used 2 of the pieces and 2 brackets, all the hardware and material was laying around so it was not bad at all, it did not took long to put it together as you all know it is very easy to assemble things with this material, it is simple design 2 long pieces put together in an "L" shape, and I bought hardware from Lowes to be able to slide the lights into the T slots, Lights I am using on this frag tank were bought pre-owned sometime back, I am using 2 different brand fixtures as you can see, 1st one is made by vertex and it has UV module installed on this, 2nd one is Aqua Illuminations Sol blue, GOD know how old is this fixture but it is working fine and I will keep it on till it goes out completely, I like the punch from AI better than Vertex, Vertex fixture is more in spread and even light and AI has bright spot right under the light but it does cover the sides as well, I might be able to out corals that need more punch right under and LPS and softies under the vertex, Vertex is fully automated and I was able to program the light easily so it follows the sun rise and sunset, AI is controlled via apex which is not bad at all, Cleaned up the frag tank and I put three frag racks that I bought new from another reefer, Now I need to check the water parameters of my tank 1 more time to make sure that my tank is ready for corals. more pictures and updates to come, work is a lot less that what I started, Just going to do some maintenance on the tank going forward and making some of the tweaks on things that I can make better,

 

[ravi197699]

Hello reefers, sorry for the delay on the updates of the tank, I have been busy on couple of diy project for this tank, I have been noticing that I need to change filter socks more frequently and I don't like that at all, I have been busy blowing rock with jebao pump to blow off the detritus and other stuff from pores of the rocks and filter sock gets clogged quickly. So I had to items in my mind that I wanted to build to have crystal clear water in my tank. ozone reactor and DIY automatic roller fleece filter, I bought diy 500 mg ozone generator from ebay and put together with cooling fan to keep it cool while it is on and I see my orp is raised and my skimmer is doing well as well here are the pictures of the ozone generator it is very simple and very minimal work needs to be done to run it, it comes on at night for few hours, air goes though it to go in skimmer directly and drain of the collection cup goes outside to drain, no ozone is leaked inside the house, skimmer is completely air tight. second project is diy roller fleece filter sock, it is simple design where 1 side is roller mat and other side is pvc pipe with motor and float switch in the tray, I bought this plastic tray from the container store and it is good size, measurements are 12" wide x 20" long x 4" high, I have 2 clear pvc guides that will guide the fleece and it will be rolled as it gets clogged. water will be draining from the base of the tray where I have drilled multiple holes and float switch will be monitor the water level, if water level rises then float switch will trigger the motor to turn and new fleece will be pulled and clogged fleece will be rolled on pvc, size of the roller fleece is 10" wide and it is 40 micron and it is 300 feet of paper, I will see how long it will last. my 2 main drains will drain in the tray and my skimmer drain will be drained in this tray as well. All the water will be filtered. here are the pictures of the progress, I am planning to finish this tray by this weekend and try to install this by removing the filter stock holder, I can't keep up with the demand of clean filter socks, I want to take advantage of automation and less work maintaining and more time enjoying..

 

[editour2]

Nice contraption....so you are proposing using this instead of filter socks?

 

[ravi197699]

I am going to use this instead of filter socks, in my system they get clogged quick and this is the solution..

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

Ravi can tou post a pick of the gilter fleece hooked up with the motor and with the fleece fed to the other side please

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[ravi197699]

I have not installed the motor yet, that is pending for Saturday, once It is complete I will post pictures of it complete and then pictures of how it will sit in the sump working, This is simple design... professional roller mat filters are more compact and surface area is very little, this roller is 10" side and water will be draining and going through 20 inches of paper.



I will share info on where to get this paper fleece roll and this perticular 1 is 40 micron and next 1 is going to be 20 micron or lower, i want my tank water to be crystal clear or at least that will be the goal..

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

Im very interested in this DIY for my system. Thanks for sharing.

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[ravi197699]

Here is the roller mat in action, I have installed this yesterday and I have removed the filter sock holder.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uhd6_FRNA0

 

[Koyfam16]

Hay Ravi, how is this build coming along?


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[ravi197699]

build never ends, enhancements and changes always going on, tank is going well I will post pictures this week.

 

[jadakiss]

Following!

 

[vio]

Following!