Starting ~800 Gallon Custom Reef Tank Build

[editour2]

Just out of curiosity, what's the total wattage of the 6 Photons and the LED bars combined?

Nothing to be worried about I was just curious to see the rated wattage of each figure combined. For example: I have 2 photon 32 V2+ fixtures rated at 220 watts each, (I suppose that would be if every channel was at 100% intensity....which I don't do), plus 4 x 80 watt T-5's. So..........total rated wattage for my lighting system is 760 watts as compared to 3 x 250 watt metal halides = 750 watts.
My point being initially LED's were touted as using less wattage then metal halides however as you can see my total rated wattage is actually the same. Only savings is the heat halides produce as opposed to the LED fixtures and of course the frequency in which the bulbs are changed, (although I change the T5 bulbs every 18 months).

 

[editour2]

Ravi......this might be a little bit after the fact but have you given any consideration to plumbing maintenance and how that will be accomplished? It's not a concern when you first setup the tank but after 4 to 5 years you will be surprised as to how much gunk/growth ends up clogging your plumbing and restricting circulation/flow. See my post here on RC:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2689640


I did not allow access to plumbing at multiple points, (although I did add union ball valves & union valves at different critical/standard points), and now I will be forced (after 8 years running) to cut and address issues that I am experiencing.
Frank

 

[ravi197699]

thank you Frank, I have started the pluming on my tank and this is my top priority that when it comes to maintain and cleaning of my return and manifolds they are very much modular design with sections that can be taken apart and clean if I have to, I will be using 1.5" pvc that will house my manifold with gate valve, I am not planning to run any carbon or GFO reactors, but I will be running nitrate and cheato reactor that will be plumbed with 1" input and 1.5" drain but I get your point and I have already plan in place for this...

 

[editour2]

thank you Frank, I have started the pluming on my tank and this is my top priority that when it comes to maintain and cleaning of my return and manifolds they are very much modular design with sections that can be taken apart and clean if I have to, I will be using 1.5" pvc that will house my manifold with gate valve, I am not planning to run any carbon or GFO reactors, but I will be running nitrate and cheato reactor that will be plumbed with 1" input and 1.5" drain but I get your point and I have already plan in place for this...

GOOD !!! It's a good thing to learn and plan from the mistakes of others, (like me, LOL).


When your system is up and running and has coral and fish I'd love to stop by and see it in action.

 

[ravi197699]

sure thing,, getting very close to filling it up, just need to order DI filter but I am going to order larger 1 so I don't have to keep changing media anytime soon...I made ton of mistakes in my last build and trying my best not to repeat..

 

[BZOFIQ]

Ravi,

where did you get that heat exchanger and is it titanium?

 

[ravi197699]

Yes I bought 3 heat exchangers in the past and I am using 1 which is dual coil and it will sit vertically in the sump.. I know you can tell I am hoarder when it comes to equipment... lol

 

[Timbo]

Looking forward to continued progress and water! I think most here could only dream of the day...

 

[ravi197699]

Ravi,

where did you get that heat exchanger and is it titanium?

yes i it titanium, I have 3 in difference sizes but larger enough to handle 1000 - 2000 gallon tanks

 

[ravi197699]

Looking forward to continued progress and water! I think most here could only dream of the day...

getting close Timbo, only few things to take care of and this will be filling with water soon

 

[ravi197699]

Hello reefers, I made progress on plumbing and 95% done with drain and return part of the plumbing, return is pretty simple and i wanted it on the front in case if I need to change pump it will easier, this return pump is going to be return for tank only, nothing else will be on this pump, I have ordered DC pumps that will return my sea swirls for my sump and second dc pump will run my manifold and feed my frag tank as well, both pump are approximately does 5500 gph, i will post pictures of the pumps when they arrive (Tuesday). for drains part they are 1.5 inch drains and 2 are main and 1 is emergency drain which will be wide open, other 2 drains will be controlled by gate valve and i am using 1.5" sch 40 clean pvc pipes to make sure that there is no air in the pipes and i want them super quiet with no splashing or gurgle sound, all 3 travel on the back and then go under the stand to other side of the sump where i will be installing filter sock holder 7" or 4" filter socks ( have not decided yet). i want drains to be far from return pump intake, bubbles won;t be able to make that far.. pipes are connection with 1.5" rubber couplings for easy disassembly. i feel it is 1 time investment on these items and will make my life much easier down the road, I have used j hooks to support the long span of the 1.5" pipes that are going under the stand. I will be using thinner to remove all the markings from pvc. hopefully it takes it off, if you guys know of any other product that i can use to remove pvc markings that will be great, i connected my titanium heat exchanger as well, sorry about messy soldering but i was able to get this done, i connected this titanium heat exchanger to hot water connected which will take water from hot water heater and i am using Taco 006- ST stainless steel version which is safe for potable water, I am using 1/2" unions in the middle for easy disconnection in case it require any service, This is dual coil heat exchanger that i bought sometime back, it should be enough for this system + this tank is in well insulated and heated room so i am not expecting this to work very often but it will be connected regardless..

Please feel free to make comment.. here are some of the pictures..

 

[ravi197699]

I bought 2 pumps and these are AC variable speed pumps, I came across a video on youtube about these pumps and I really liked what I saw, I know everyone uses D/C pump and I am using and have used DC pumps in the past as well with good and bad experiences, so I wanted to give pump try, brand is Periha Variable speed AC pump, it does 5900 gallons/ hr at highest setting at 160w and lowest I can go is 5000 gallon/ hr at lowest wattage, pumps seems like built well and driver is built out of aluminum housing with heatsink, driver feels really heavy and nicely built, tank is not small pump either and it heavy and built nicely, it comes with all the plumbing adapters, I have 2 pumps, 1 for my DIY protein skimmer and it is going to drive 1.5" venturi and this skimmer is big that I built 2 years before. I will upload pictures later when it comes to tackling that project and 2nd pump is going to drive my sea swirls in the sump for water agitation and over rock work in sump water movement.. here are the pictures of the box opening of the pump...

 

[editour2]

Interesting pump....
Plumbing looks good...nice and neat...I like that !!!

 

[ravi197699]

Interesting pump....
Plumbing looks good...nice and neat...I like that !!!

Thank you, I took my time to do this and measurement is the key, I saw good reviews about this pump, 1st pro is that is AC pump with controllability, 2nd pro - price point is very reasonable, 3rd pro gallons/hr, cons - soon I will find out how reliable these pumps are...

 

[ravi197699]

Got my circulating pump and J channels for wire management

got my hot water circulating pump today, It is TACO 006-ST, stainless steel version which will take water from hot water tank and circulate hot water through titanium heat exchanger, this pump will be connected to digital temperature controller, I got my J channel to run my electric wires as well, they are beige color and they will be mounted on the walls to run the cables and I got few pcs of U channel with cover to run wires as well, they can hold multiple thick wires, I will be using these to run all my cables for return pump as well as all my ecotech pumps...here are some of the pictures..

 

[ravi197699]

Sump closed loop system and couplings to peg coral frags

GM reefers, made some progress this morning on plumbing for closed loop for my sump, plumbing is done, I bought white pvc bulkheads on ebay and i was tightening the nut on the outside and it keeps slipping after last torque, so i ordered sch 80 bulkheads that i will replace with the ones I already have, I want to make sure that i don't have to empty my sump due to these bad bulkheads, I am using AC controllable pump as shown in the pictures earlier, name of the pump is periha which is ac pump and comes with controller that has 3 settings to control the speed, 5900 gallon max and 5000 gallon is the lowest setting, I am using 2 - 1 inch sea swirls that are mounted on the back of the sump, this pump and sea swirls will come on multiple times during day and agitate water under the rock work so that detritus won't build up, seal swirls are easily accessible and easy detachable from pvc and i have used pvc union to mount these to main feed pipe, I have started mounting 3/8" pvc couplings to rock work with cement and 2 part epoxy putty, i have clear 3/8" pvc pipes that i will use to slide into these couplings to mount frag, these pipes are 12" in length, i will be able to cut the length of the pvc based on the amount of light frag requires, and i will be able to easily move frags around if needed, once the cement and poxy cures i will brush these couplings with cement to blend these into rock work, here are some of the pictures of what i was able to complete this weekend..


not able to upload pictures, I am getting message that it is failed, I will try again later today...

 

[ravi197699]

filter sock holder

Little update - I got my filter sock holder, I ordered this from vendor on ebay and gave him my dimensions and material that I wanted to use and he built it for me, top support is 1/2" thick ABS sheet which make it sturdy and this will sit on the 2" inch lip of my sump, this can house 2 7" filter socks and it has 2" bulkheads. three sides of the unit is closed with acrylic and if filter socks gets clogged, water will drain out of the front only, I will be installed gate valve on 2 of the main drains and 1 emergency drain will be wide open and it will not drain into the filter socks, here are some of the pictures of the unit...

 

[ravi197699]

filter sock holder and plumbing is done

i was able to get few things done this weekend, I connected my filter sock holder and and replaced the bulkheads that i used to connected return pump and sump closed loop pump, mounted pvc couplings to mount frags, there is no other easier way to mount frags in this tank without struggling but i am not ready to twist and turn my body to mount frags, i have covered the pvc couplings with epoxy and cement to make it natural and rest will be done by frags and such, here are some of the pictures of progress...

 

[Panonhas]

Awesome job. You are really covering your basis on everything. It?s getting better and better. Keep up the great work.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[ravi197699]

thank you,,