Construction FINALLY started!!!

[wkopplin]

My new reef project has finally gotten off the ground. I am building the filtration system into my garage for my 215 Oceanic reef ready tank.

The design has changed somewhat. I am putting all of the filtration tanks into a rack system. Dan is building a refugium for me that will be 60" long, 24" wide and 16" tall. This will sit on top of the rack and will drain directly into the tank.

The primary drains will be split to flow into a 75 gallon coral propagation tank and two 20 gallon xenia tanks, both of which will then gravity feed into the sump.

The sump is my 180 tank. It will have a separation in it to permit me to use some of it as an additional fuge area. The heaters will be located here. The skimmer is the twin injected monster that Matt is currently working on. It is run by an Iwaki 70RLT pump.

The return pump is a Dolphin Aqua Sea 5200. It will run water back into the main tank as well as a separate side line that will feed a rack of 20L tanks that will be used for who only know what. The return line will also feed into the fuge and calcium reactor (made by Matt) and a fourth split will be used as a spare line in case I need to add a chiller later. Until then, it will probably bleed off some excess gph back to the sump.

I will have a 45 gallon quarrantine tank and a 55 gallon hospital tank, both of which will not be connected to the main system.

A dual float switch system will be used in the sump to prevent accidental floods from the 50 gallon water reservoir that is fed from my RO/DI system. This will feed into the sump. Four 250W heaters will be connected to my Neptune Systems Aquacontroller to keep the water warm.

A GenX Mak4 will be used for the closed loop system, which will be run through the Oceansmotions wavemaker.

Lighting will be three 400W MH's with two 20K XM's and one 10K XM as well as two actinic VHO's. I might switch to two 10K's and one 20K. Lighting for the fuge will be two 175W MH with 10K's. The coral prop tank will have one 400W 10K MH.

Hopefully by mid-March, water will be in the tank.

[alexwolf]

Yikes. I want one!!!!

[adaminaustin]

Sounds like the April meeting is going to be at your house. :lol2: j/k

[wkopplin]

It can be. I just hope I have water in it by then! Might shoot for the June mtg.

[Sherri]

Looks like you have planned very well...keep us up to date on things as they progress... :D

[wkopplin]

I did do a considerable amount of planning, but this could never have gotten started without all of the help from people in MAAST. So I have either you to thank or to blame...... hehe. Just kidding, all of the help has been greatly appreciated and I think I have incorporated ideas from at least six different people into this system. I will post pics of the progress.

[witecap4u]

Seems like alot of sump/refug/misc for only a 215G tank IMHO

Really sounds like something you'd see on like a 500-1000gal tanks....

[wkopplin]

You cannot have too much excess water capacity. This much extra water cap should help to keep the whole thing very stable.

[wkopplin]

Here is a pic of MAtt's moster skimmer he built for my setup. This thing is HUGE. 55" tall. It looks great. We will test it out on Saturday and I will post some more pics of it then.

[Tim Marvin]

Sweet!

[alexwolf]

oh my gosh, that looks like one of Steves edited pics!!!!!!

[wkopplin]

Just to give you an idea, that is a 20 long on its side next to the skimmer.

[wkopplin]

Here is a pic of the rack system for the filtration. The water flow is not included. I am working on that as we speak.

[reefer]

awesome! that's quite the project you have undertaken!! looking forward to seeing it when the time comes to have the meeting at your place!

just a thought, you might want to have your coral propagation tanks running a seperate closed loop. considering how susceptable sps can be to a chemical attack from soft coral species. also, this would allow you to have replacements if one tank crashes, you won't loose everything!
8)

[wkopplin]

I didn't think about that. I will have two separate tanks, I could use one for that.

[matt]

A couple of details come to mind, after looking at this for a while. First is I assume you'll have valves to adjust the flow between the various drain tanks. I think that's pretty important in this case, because you're talking about a lot of wter going into some small tanks. You'll need to regulate flow into the 20l tanks, and into the 45 breeder coral prop tank. So I guess you'll need a third branch that goes directly into the sump from the main tank. You might use gate valves for these; they work a lot better for balancing flow than ball valves. The other thing is, and maybe you've thought about this, but if this is a 30" deep tank, I'd go for the 10ks all around with your bulbs, and supplement heavily.

This is going to be a GREAT system. Just think about the bio diversity that's possible in this much refugium area. I think you're going to need ALOT of live sand, though. Better start negotiations with inland aquatics soon. The reason I mention this is that you'll have lots of sand real estate, and you'll want to stock it with tons of worms and various micro critters. Then you'll have an absolutely killer nutrient processing set up.

At some point I'd consider using some of the spare tanks or rack space to develop a phytoplankton reactor.

[wkopplin]

I am buying lots of sand from Tim Marvin that has all sorts of critters and I have an order in with Inland already. I thought about the flow and I am going to have valves everywhere to regulate the flow. The water flowing into the 20 Longs will be split between the sump and the 20's so I can better regulate the flow there. The first banks of 20 Longs will be stocked with xenia.

The phytoplankton reactor is a great idea. I need to do some reading up on that.

I am planning on lots of sand and a good amount of live rock as well. I think I am having more fun setting up the filtration than the tank itself.

[Ross]

That is gonna be AWESOME!!!! but i don't want to even think about how much $ you will spend in supplements with all that water.

[matt]

The answer is he'll spend 0$ in additives. Well, maybe that's not exactly accurate, but I built Blake a calcium reactor that should take care of calcium and carbonate. IMO there are no other additives necessary. Especially when you consider the volume of water here, I'm pretty certain that things will stay pretty stable.

[Tim Marvin]

Especially if he adds a kalk reactor also. Looks Great!

[wkopplin]

Fired up the protein monster today for a bit to check it out. All I can say is WOW!

[wkopplin]

Protein skimmer has been running on a garbage can that has some rock in it and it is blowing all of the organics out of the water. This thing really is a monster. I will post some pics tomorrow. Matt was right, the Iwaki 70RLT is a great skimmer pump. I can open the air valves all the way and the water level goes up. Fast.

I will never buy another commercially made skimmer again. Matt's skimmers are the only way to go. I have had it running for 8 hours and the thing has been very stable with consistent foam and water levels.

[wkopplin]

Here are some pics of the skimmer in action:

[wkopplin]

The framing of the fish room is almost done. Here is a pic of the collection cup:

[wkopplin]

Last pic of the skimmer:

[wkopplin]

The rack is finished and the tanks are installed on the rack. I will be plumbing everything together tomorrow and running a freshwater test on the whole system. Main tank is not here yet, so the fuge will drain back to the sump as will the main return line until I can connect the main tank.

The rack came out great, thanks to the help of a friend of mine who builds stands and canopies as well. The fuge was delivered tonight by Dan (Thanks again!) and was exactly what I wanted. Dan builds great stuff. We figured the fuge to hold 120 gallons. It is 6X2X16"tall and is divided into three equal parts so I can control the inhabitants a little better.

I ended up going with just two 20L's right now on the rack, but will have room to add four more for a total of 6. The 180 sump is in and the 75 coral prop tank is in. I will post some pics.

Big thanks to:

Matt (skimmer and reactor)
Dan (monster fuge)
Tommy (built rack and stand and canopy)
Brad (did all of my plumbing and fish room construction)
Vinh (lots of good ideas and links)
Josh (getting me my lights and help)
Alex (listening to me talk ad nauseum about this, and the lights)
Misti (the whole talking thing as well as some great sand)
Tim (great livestock)
Richard (main tank)
Tamer and Ivan (drilling my tanks and great advice on the final design)
Paul (wavemaker)
Jim Norris (awesome frags)
Adaminaustin (great frags)
and to everybody who supplied me with Xenia and also to everyone who gave additional pointers.

I guess I should save the credits for later, but wanted to show how much help went into this system and how it could not have been done without MAAST. Now pay your $25 and join it! hehe.

[RobertG]

:-D

[wkopplin]

If you have the space, go with a large fuge or leave yourself room to add a second one or a larger one at some point. I really like the idea of having fuge space

[dan]

that skimmer of matt's is awwwwsome. hard to vision it's size until you stand next to it. i'm thinking MAN I'VE GOT TO GET ME ONE. again they are awsome. and matt does such great work!!!!!!!

[wkopplin]

Here are a few more pics. This is the fuge Dan built for me. It is quite nice.

[wkopplin]

Here is as much of the rack as I could get into the pic. The rack needs to slide over, so the breaker box you see will not be obstructed. The plumbing you see is temporary. I am roughing it in to work on how it all fits together.

[wkopplin]

Here is the RO/DI system

[Henry]

wow this is awesome. I love project especially big projects. best of luck and keep the pics coming.

[TexasState]

Wow, did you budget in another $1,000 to buy the AquaController & computer to run your reef?

[wkopplin]

LOL. I already have those. The Aquacontroller is running on my 55 right now and I had an old P2 450 that I am using for the monitoring.

The weekend project will be to seal the wood and finalize the plumbing. My tank is in, but I am out of town through Friday, so it will be delivered Sat or Sun. Once it gets here, and after the 5 mandatory trips to Home Depot to pickup things I forgot, I will run a freshwater test on the whole system. This will also be a good time to test the wavemaker.

[matt]

Although I've posted this before, I need to say again that the skimmers I've been making are based on Brian Ferguson's MACO design. I've now changed the design a bit, but this one is pretty close to the MACO skimmer that Brian builds. I strongly suggest anyone interested in these skimmers take the MACO class!

Thanks, Matt

[wkopplin]

The design is Brian's, but the craftsmanship is yours. The best design in the world cannot come to life without someone who can put it together with precision and skill.

[RobertG]

You can say that again. Craftsmanship Have'nt seen one personnally, but pics look great . Matt please PM or post a price. What is the footprint of this unit?

Thanks , Robert

[wkopplin]

Ran a fresh water test on the plumbing system yesterday. That Dolphin 5200 puts out great water flow! WOW. After some tweaking at a high rate of speed to avoid a flood, I got it running the way I wanted. Only had one leak on a pipe I forgot to glue. Only had one of the 20's hooked up because I accidentally borke my second one when I was plumbing it up. The water flow through the system is perfect with that big pump.

It really worked out well because I was able to generate huge water flow through the coral prop tank and very consisten water flow through the fuge. The 20L also had a nice current for the xenia.

My tank gets here Weds, so hopefully soon after, I will be able to run a test of the full system (I ran the main returns directly back into the sump during the test).

One last note, Lowe's has some 55 gallon Rubbermaid containers that are fairly short and on wheels. Very nice for water storage in a small space (much less space taken that a garbage can). They were $17.98.

[wkopplin]

More delays. Should have it all finished up next week. I got the electrical all sorted out and all of the lights installed with the exception of the sump light, which is not too important. Also got the topoff system hooked up and working properly. I used two Ultralife float switches along with a magdrive pump from my reservoir to the sump. The skimmer is connected as well as the CA reactor. I will cut the hole into the wall Sunday and run the plumbing to the tank stand. Also will cut the holes for the fuge drains and plumb those through. The Oceansmotions wavemaker has not been plumbed yet, I have had several questions about that. I plan to get in place Sunday so when my tank gets here I can just hook everything up and get water in the system. I will start up the RO/DI Sunday and start filling the fuge and other tanks. I will also put some live rock that is good and cured into the sump for storage and to get the system running and colonized with bacteria. Will probably also put the live sand into the fuge and get it going.

Looking at two weeks from today before I get the whole thing running. Anybody who wants to check it out Sunday, let me know. Won't be much to see yet as the water will not be full until sometime Monday. I am just putting the RO/DI outlet into the sump and letting it gravity drain down through the system.

[wkopplin]

Got the tank today! It looks great. Fillied it with tap water to test for leaks and it was solid. Need to do some stand modifications to handle the holes for the drains and closed loop, but nothing major. Got the pipes through the wall and connected to the filtration equipment. Also got the closed loop partially plumbed. Nothing is hooked up to the tank yet, but should have all that going by early next week. Will post some pics soon.

[matt]

This is one of the biggest water related engineering projects since the aquaducts. Blake, what are you going to do with all your time once this is finished?

[wkopplin]

I think I will dedicate my time to becoming a professional wrestler. Or maybe getting that degree in astrophysics I always dreamed about.

[::pete::]

Has the 8 way arrived?

[wkopplin]

yes it did. I really like it. Not hooked up yet, but will be next week. I am very eager to test it out. The thing is built like a tank and appears to be quite a solid piece of equipment.

[::pete::]

There are some responses on RC and all are good so far. I ordered 1 also.

[wkopplin]

I think you will like it. Only suggestion I have is this. It uses threaded 1" outlet pipes. They are positioned too close together to get a pvc threaded to slip converter in all four holes on each side. What you need to do is get two 1" X 8" nipples and cut them in half and alternate the converters and the nipples. Then the whole thing comes together nicely. Pretty easy fix. Paul (the inventor) told me about that and it worked well.

[wkopplin]

Water is in the tanks! Well, almost. My RO/DI has been running since Friday morning and the filtration system is almost full of water. The fuge is 2/3 full and the sump is about 1/2 full. I have the cured live rock in the 70 gallon coral prop tank with a few powerheads and lights running on it. No water in the main tank yet, but there should be by Weds or so. Getting so close I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just hope it isn't a train.

The Oceansmotions is hooked up, but there is no water to test it yet.

I am still looking for some sand, so if anyone has any pure aragonite or southdown, let me know.

[Gator]

cool, do you have any pics,

[wkopplin]

Pics of the setup. Finished all of the plumbing and filling with water. The filtration equipment is full of water and has been salted. The main tank gets filled a little at a time.

[wkopplin]

and another

[wkopplin]

and another

[Gator]

o my gosh that is awsome :o , i am speechless :cry2:

[wkopplin]

All it took was 38 trips to Lowe's and Home Depot. I kept the receipts to count them. Used about 200 feet of pvc pipe and have had my RO/DI system running for about 5 days to fill it up. I am hoping this turns out like I want. The most important thing: no leaks.

The oceansmotions is in the stand, just can't see it in the pics. It is plumbed. We will see if the pump I have is strong enough for it. Might have to upgrade it.

[PsychFish13]

dude... that is impressive. I'm jealous. Since you now live in a man-made flood plain... I hope your home owner's insurance is paid in full!!!

[captexas]

Yeah, it's amazing how many trips you make to the hardware store for plumbing stuff when setting up a tank. And usually whichever store you go to is out of one of the things you need so you end up going to the other store all in one trip. Also, they usually really don't have exactly what you want in one piece so you have to figure out how to make it out of a couple of connectors. We need an aquarium plumbing store here as ordering the right part from online takes too long! :-)

[wkopplin]

Hehe. That is exactly right. I have several improvised connections in there because Lowe's was out of something (usually because I bought them all).

Fortunately the areas most likely to flood are all in the garage. Concrete floors with a curb all the way around.

[wkopplin]

I do not know if any of you saw your power flicker, but we have ignition on the whole system. It was fired up at 7:03 PM CST and is now officially up and running. A few minor things to take care of, but overall, everything seems to be running fine.

[dan]

really looking good. the set up is really complex, but thats what you were looking for. can't wait till it's all up and running. keep bringing the pics. do you have algaes growing in the fuge yet? oh i wanted to ask, why does one of the tanks have a red light on it?

[wkopplin]

It is just an old pc. Waiting for new bulbs for it. Algae were just added to the fuge tonight. I had to shut the system down. Found one last pipe I forgot to glue on the drain from the overflow box. Got it glued and am waiting a bit for it to cure before I fire it up for the night. So far, I have been able to run the pump at close to full power and there is lots of flow everywhere. The oceansmotions is doing a great job too.

[dan]

i'm going to have to come over and see all that. reactor and skimmer going yet? i want to see them babies running. MATT POWER :-D :-D

[wkopplin]

Skimmer is running. Reactor is not yet. No need to run it yet as I am finishing up the testing. That is the easiest part of the whole thing. The reactor will be running tomorrow though.

[wkopplin]

I created my first flood! Hehe. Left the ball valve to the 20L tanks all the way opened and forgot about it. Came out to the garage to quite a little stream of water. Figured I spilled about 15-20 gallons before I caught it.

Other than that, everything is running smoothly. Looking good. Pics to come.

[RobertG]

Dude, what is up? I could not walk away for hours. I was so scared of that. Well we live & learn. You have oh lots of WATER!!! Least thats all you had to deal with & can laugh about it. Lets see those pics, soon.

[wkopplin]

After a brief second flood, all is running smoothly. Fortunately the flood only went into the garage and I just used my big push broom to push it out the front and down the driveway.

All tanks are up and running, just trying to get salinity right, temp and then I will start working on pH and calcium. Reactor is not turned on quite yet, had a small CO2 bottle problem and am getting it fixed. Blew the side release valve for some reason. Guess they overfilled it.

[wkopplin]

I have fish in the tank! Two blue green chromis. They have been there for a day and are still alive and kicking. Water parameters are testing good, but I am already having temp control problems and will probably be adding a chiller, a really big chiller. The filter room is hot despite the a/c unit and I am not even running the lights full time yet. Any good chiller ideas for a system this big?

[JeffCo]

You have probably been asked this alot but, do you have any close up pics of how you plumbed the 8 way? I am in the planning stages of a 260 gal - 96Lx30Wx24H. I am interested in one of these for my return line back to the tank. Thanks.

[wkopplin]

I can take some, but it is kind of hard to see. Better in person. I had holes drilled in the bottom of the tank and plumbed it up from the bottom. Not the ideal solution, but Oceanic would not drill the back pane for me, only the bottom because I have no centerbrace.

[ClamFan]

Got any new pics of your setup? Hows it runnin? I would love to see some new pics? :D

[wkopplin]

It is running great. The main tank does not have any corals in it yet as I am waiting on a new canopy, which should be done soon. I do have some fish in the system. I picked up my maroon yellow stripe clown from Aquatic Warehouse that so many people wanted to buy as well as a school of 8 yellow tangs. I also have quite a few corals in the 75 prop tank that are doing well.

The setup has been relatively easy to maintain so far. The fuge has really taken off and has pods and critters everywhere.

I will post some pics soon.

[dan]

i'm glad to hear so good so far. i like that about the 8 yellow tangs. i have 4 yellows in mine now and 1 purple. every body behaveing themsleves. when is the hood coming in? waiting for more awsome pics :o do you have live rock in the main tank yet?

[wkopplin]

Some LR is in the main tank, but most of it is im my 55 to keep it live. I have been moving pieces in gradually and plan a major move this weekend with or without the canopy. My 55 will be shut down by Sunday or I will go crazy. I might be selling it, not sure yet.

[wkopplin]

Still no canopy :evil: My coral prop tank is full of frags I have been acquiring. The fuge is teeming with pods and other critters. Everything is great with the exception of my canopy. Should be here this week and I can finally get the display tank running. I have been running a power compact over the display tank to keep the LR going and I have a few fish in there.

My 55 is still not shut down, but most of the corals are out of it. The fuge has been shut down on the old tank and all of its contents transferred to the big fuge.

I had a little xenia crash and need some more xenia frags if anybody is in the mood to get rid of some. If you can bring some to the next meeting, that would be great.

I promise this thing will be ready for the August meeting. It will be a tank full of frags as I am not buying any full sized corals, I want to grow this from scratch. I might have some softies and zoos to trade at the meeting since I might be going all sps.

[brewercm]

I'll get some xenia for you. Sorry I wasn't able to get it to you prior to my surgery. I need to start cutting it back again so should have several, might be better to bring them straight to you though. They don't do well being out of tank long, I'll get with you soon.

[scuba_steveo]

any update on the canopy?????????

[wkopplin]

No canopy yet. I decided to change my 75 gallon coral prop tank to a second reef in the same system. I am ditching the racks and am going to fill it with small pieces of LR. I will place all frags in there, but will still be able to operate it as a second tank. Matt, if you read this, it means I will need to extend the CA reactor.

[scuba_steveo]

Blake, what is the difference? Why a second reef and not a prop tank? I think I too will plumb another 75 into the system. I will have room for it under the fuge and it will just drain back to the sump so it does not need to set that high off the floor. Could this tank be an aggressive set up? Lions?

Also, what is the minimum clearance from the ceiling to the top of the fuge that I can get away with? I am trying to figure out how high I can build the stand so another tank can fit below it. The ceiling is 8.5’ off the ground. Remember the lights (home depot 4') will hang from the ceiling above the fuge.

[wkopplin]

A prop tank is basically a reef anyway without so much live rock. I just decided to add a little more live rock and will keep the frags in that tank, but will also keep some fish in there as well. You could make it an aggressive tank, but I am not going to do that. The second reef tank will give me something to look at when I am in the filter room.

As far as distance to the ceiling, it does not really matter, just leave yourself room to get into the fuge. You might need to get a big rock in there from time to time. I use my fuge to store random fish every now and then, so you will also want to consider that so you have room to catch them.

[georgeortiz]

Your setup looks sweet! When are you hosting a meeting so we can get an up close and personal look at your creation?

[matt]

Blake;

I was just thinking about this; I have a 24" piece of tube, of which I think I need 18" for a reactor, leaving a nice 6" piece for your extension. I can probably do it next week. This will increase the contact time in the reactor 50% and I can't imagine it having any trouble with your calcium demand. Moffett's using an 18" reactor on his main growout system, which is 2 big tanks crammed with frags.

[wkopplin]

Matt, great. Let's do it.

The August meeting is at my house.

[wkopplin]

The canopy has arrived and I have light! Corals start moving in tomorrow. The tank will be mostly sps, although there will be a leather or two and some shrooms.