375 Gallon Build

[kkiel02]

Well the tank ought to be in here in the next month or so. I am going to use this for yalls suggestions and also to keep notes on what I need, want, etc.

Here it goes:
Tank(8x3x2) from DSA eurobraced with a center overflow on the back wall
Stand will be custom made by a great carpenter in San Antonio-more to come on this later
Sump with a little help I will be making my first sump, it should come out to 150 or so gallons when said and done-also more to come on this later
Flow-Tunze 6215 wavebox it says it is good for up to 396 gallons(may add another or a couple streams if it doesnt cut it). Returns will be a pair of mag 12s for now.
Lighting- 4 250w 12k mh in lumenbrite large reflectors on a dimmable ballast. These will be on a hanging light rack that matches the stand.
Sandbed will be 1-1.5 of Tropic Eden Aragasnow. Ive been talked into it so I am going to give this a try.
Rock will come from 180 with another 100 or 150 pounds dry rock. I really am going to try and keep a open aquascape again.
Going to try and plumb it with spaflex but better than I did on my 180. lol Might see if yall can explain how to straighten this out better as mine is still curved.

Other than that what do yall think? Its going to be hard work but cant wait to get my new fish lineup! Going to keep easier SPS and LPS.

[aquasport24]

Can't wait Kevin......GO BIG OR GO HOME..........lol.

[Europhyllia]

Sounds terrific!
Be sure to post lots of pics when everything arrives (in stages is fine)

[Mr Cob]

Kevin! Sweet! I like the idea of easier to keep SPS and LPS. SPS up high and load the bottom areas up with all kinds of LPS. Then sprinkle in some premium zoas and paly colonies.

We don't see too many reefs around here over 300 gallons so i'm sure you will create a bit of a buzz with this one.

Here's your first ding for not posting a pic. We need to at least see a vendor pic or something. Even a schematic will do.

Congrats man. It's going to be a nice tank, I know you are stoked!

[RayAllen]

WOW! I love following monster reef builds. 360g is a lot of water.

As Rob mentioned we dont see many in this size. Most likely because of the expense and not having the space for a tank of that size.

Cant wait for its progression and pics!

[roscozman]

Sounds great. Since we went though this process a few months ago, I know what you are thinking. However, you are starting a "new" set-up vs. our 're-build". I tried to think of everything imaginable and still changed things once they went into place. Have you thought about skimmer, sump space, extra room inside stand for any reactors or upgrades, controller or water changes/auto top off?

[aquasport24]

You can use a cheap heat gun from Habor Freight to straighten out the Spaflex hose.

[kkiel02]

Sounds great. Since we went though this process a few months ago, I know what you are thinking. However, you are starting a "new" set-up vs. our 're-build". I tried to think of everything imaginable and still changed things once they went into place. Have you thought about skimmer, sump space, extra room inside stand for any reactors or upgrades, controller or water changes/auto top off?

Yes I will be reusing my reef octopus at least at first. I will attach my sump design(feedback will be appreciated and the two squares in the middle are my return pumps) which includes a frag rack on top of the fuge. Going to get the xl nextreef phosban reactor. No controller as of yet but will reuse my tunze osmolator for top off. Water changes will still be a pain though-trashcan and mag 5.

That is also a good idea with the heat gun. Thanks.

[roscozman]

Sump/Fuge looks good and with it being 6' long you will have about 22-24 inches to play with inside the stand.

How tall is the stand?

[kkiel02]

I would love the stand to be 38" but may have to make it smaller to get in the door. The only other option would be finishing the stand in the house if I wanted to go 38" tall.

[roscozman]

I would love the stand to be 38" but may have to make it smaller to get in the door. The only other option would be finishing the stand in the house if I wanted to go 38" tall.

Why do you say only 38" tall? How deep is it going to be?

[kkiel02]

It will be 36" wide like the tank. The problem is getting it through doors. So may have to drop it to 34 or less.

[Mr Cob]

Any updates Kevin? When should it get in? Man, I can't wait to see this beast.

[ErikH]

PICSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Lucky Dog!

[kkiel02]

Well talked to Gabe this weekend and it should be in soon. He said possibly this week. Im getting pretty pumped about it. It wont be up and running until the end/middle of July as we are moving then. I am debating return pumps at this point thanks to Gabe. lol I was going to do two mag 18s in the center of the sump pic provided earlier but he recommended the sicce which run cooler and are relatively similar price wise. So suggestions here would be great. I know Ace has one so hopefully he will chime in. The only downside I noticed at the store was the max head was 4 ft.

Ive decided on my lights(4 250w mh w/ 12k reeflux in a large lumenbrite reflector), have the skimmer(at least to get this started), will be getting another 100 pounds of dry rock hopefully this weekend and Gabe is also providing most of the plumbing in kits. Thinking of using a 12x turbo twist uv to this tank(Jason at AD was very helpful). I am also excited about the 6215 wavebox that will be used.

I had an idea about aquascaping today that I like. As those have seen my tank know I like room for fish to swim but to help reduce aggression between fish I am going to make the islands in such a way so the fish cannot see from one side of the tank to the other very well. Im thinking a three island design just stagger them to help block the view from one side of the tank to the other.

[Europhyllia]

cool. Can't wait to see it. :)
(I am going with a Sicce 5.0 but my tank is little remeber ;) )

[kkiel02]

I was actually considering getting two of those. On the back of the box as I saw it it showed the flow to stop at 4 feet? Maybe I was looking at the chart wrong? Let me know how yours does as you will probably be setup before me.

LOL- your tank is by no means little. Im wondering if our tanks will come in together? Also what is the timeframe on getting yours setup? The Port A trip is right around the time I wanted to get mine going but there are alot of factors at play still.

[Europhyllia]

Keep in mind they're Italian. Max head on the 5.0 is 3.8 (~4) meters but that's over 12 feet.
I think we should be fine.
I have the tech sheets of them attached to one of my threads:
look here http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?60268-inline-vs-external-%28Sicce-Syncra%29/page2&highlight=sicce
on page 2 are two PDF file attachments.

It does sound like our tanks should come in in the next couple of weeks.
I am going to hook it up and fill it with water as soon as Gabe drives off!
Washing 500 pounds of sand may take a few days, making that much saltwater will add another 3 days.

So where are you going to store a ginormous tank like yours until your move?

[kkiel02]

LOL I missed this post^. I did catch my mistake already and ordered two of the 5.0. Also just ordered my sand (tropic eden argasnow) and getting rock and acrylic(for sump) this next weekend. I get to start moving the 16th, I believe, so I hope the tanks come in by then!

[kkiel02]

Ordered my pendants and another ballast today! Lumen Bright large reflectors(needed the spread) and another coralvue ballast. This link was very helpful in deciding the reflectors:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/review

[Europhyllia]

Just one short month and they'll be sparkling over your new mega reef :D

[kkiel02]

Well got some updates- Got the reflectors, another ballast and sand in yesterday. With Ace's help we finished the sump today. Water testing it tomorrow though. It put the tank in perspective as the new sump is as large as my display now. I will try and post up some pics of the sump tomorrow. Now I just need to get the wavebox in, finish stand, go buy another 100 pounds of dry rock and get my return pumps from Gabe. Im sure there will be alot of little misc. stuff that will need purchasing that will pop up with setup though.

[Europhyllia]

The largest sump I've ever seen! lol

[hobogato]

thanks for asking me to help you build it, it was nice to build something again (it has been a while)

hope you dont mind me posting a pic - water test this morning successful :)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/projects/DSC06916.jpg

[roscozman]

Lookin' good... Can you give a little explanation of what goes where in the Sump?

[kkiel02]

I would love to. The left side is the sump section which will house my skimmer. The water level is 10" high for that reason. I will also run my pumps for my media reactors and uv sterilizer from that side. The middle section will house the two sicce 5.0 return pumps. The right side is the fuge side which will house my macros. The frag tank will sit on a stand in the fuge side. It will then drain into the fuge. This allows me to use my 36" current usa t5 setup to light both the fuge and the frags with just one light.

Hope I didnt confuse you. Its kind of hard to explain.

[Mr Cob]

Love the sump. Looks great. Really love the sump.

[Europhyllia]

so what is the little box top middle for?

[justahobby]

Daaang, that's a huge...sump!

[Mr Cob]

so what is the little box top middle for?

Think that's the frag tank being water tested.

[txav8r]

I can't think of anything else but WOW!

[Neptune@gabesfish]

Sorry if Im wrong but just from the way the sump looks in the pic and from your plans for the pumps and such... your evaporation will only be in the pump chamber which will only be big enough for the pumps and maybe a gallon of water ,Now I know you will prob have a ATO but it seems like it will constantly be running.. Once again forgive me if im wrong ..

[kkiel02]

Think that's the frag tank being water tested.

You are correct. This will sit just above water level in the fuge side.

[kkiel02]

Sorry if Im wrong but just from the way the sump looks in the pic and from your plans for the pumps and such... your evaporation will only be in the pump chamber which will only be big enough for the pumps and maybe a gallon of water ,Now I know you will prob have a ATO but it seems like it will constantly be running.. Once again forgive me if im wrong ..

You arent wrong but I will be reusing the tunze osmolator which is on my 180 now. It doesnt let the water level differ from the infrared sensor so it keeps it the water level very constant. The middle section is 4 gallons if the water level is at the last baffle. I may even raise it higher but that will be determined later if needed.

[Europhyllia]

Got ya. Since the sump is so ginormous the frag tank looks small. Just got to remember the proportions of that thing to know it probably isn't all that small! :)

[kkiel02]

Yeah the frag tank is 6"x18"x12". Pics are deceiving as the sump is the dimensions of a 180(6x2x2). I think we figured out it holding about 90-100 gallons of water when said and done.

[roscozman]

The frag tank will sit on a stand in the fuge side. It will then drain into the fuge.

Are you going to drill for a bulkhead and drain pipe? Our fuge is set up very similar with a medium size pump feeding the fuge and drains into our deep sand bed and return section.

[kkiel02]

Well I was going to just have my drain from the display feed it but now that you mentioned yalls method with the pump I will have to give that som thought as that would take out all the features I was going to need to reduce micro bubbles for the frag tank. As far as draining to the fuge from the frag tank yes I am going to drill it but if the drain is to ever get clogged it will just go over the top of the frag tank into the fuge.

[kkiel02]

Well got some bad news today apparently the driver of the big delivery truck got in a wreck. So they couldn't fit my tank in the truck this week. I'm looking at next week but here's the catch I have to be out of my house by Saturday. I tracked down a tank to temp hold my fish but was wondering if anyone had a spare 36" long tank I could use for a week to hold some of my corals? I think I have enough other equipment to get by but i will need a temp tank for anemones and corals. The 36 inches is needed for my t5 setup I will be using if you were wondering why I asked for that size.

[Europhyllia]

Woah. You scared me. At first I thought your tank was on the truck while it had the wreck -resetting the time clock for another 3 months.

Sorry no 36" tanks. :(

[ErikH]

Check the MAAST equipment bank. I am sure they have something you could use. If it's too long just get something to run across the tank to support your lighting.

[BIGBIRD123]

I have a 40g tub with a 2" pvc pipe standing up in the middle to rig some lights on. I used this to hold my corals when we moved. You are welcome to use it...

[Big_Pun]

I have a brand new 40g breeder, as long as I get it back with no scratches and clean you can use it

[Gseclipse02]

.Hey Erik do you still have these? I am going to be looking for some to use this weekend.


this is from the other thread ... i cant post in that one ...


erick used mine your more than welcome to use them just let me know when you want them and ill bring them to work and you can get them from there

[kkiel02]

this is from the other thread ... i cant post in that one ...


erick used mine your more than welcome to use them just let me know when you want them and ill bring them to work and you can get them from there

That will be great I will try and swing by next week unless you stop by gabes first(as that is where we will need them first). Thanks.

[Europhyllia]

Oh I'm excited for you! Don't drop it!

[kkiel02]

LOL That would ruin my day, or week, or month.

[kkiel02]

Oh and thanks for the offers for tanks, Mrsz28pwr hooked me up so I should be good to go. Thanks again to everyone.

[kkiel02]

Got everything in a 100 gallon tub. Its packed. I cant wait for the tank which will be in next weekend, probably friday, with either a friday night move or saturday morning move. Going to get dry rock tomorrow. Then I just need plumbing supplies and to build a light rack and I be set. Besides the whole part about setting everything up. lol

[Mr Cob]

Kevin oh Kevin....your time has long expired since your last pic update.

WE NEED SOME pics....dude...we are all "process" junkies, the 100g tub is just as exciting as a 360g reef man!

[Gseclipse02]

That will be great I will try and swing by next week unless you stop by gabes first(as that is where we will need them first). Thanks.

ehhh yea i dont think i will be able to swing by shoot me a text before 1015am on the day you want me to bring them and ill take them with me

[kkiel02]

Sounds good can you pm me your number I dont think I have it in the new phone.
And Rob I will take some pics of the tub. I actually tried to find which box the camera was in today as my anemones look crazy with top down view under t5s. But will for sure find the camera tomorrow for you. lol

[kkiel02]

Got a couple pics of the tank and the temp tank setup I'm overdue for.

[RayAllen]

Good to see you have it at your place. Did you get any pics of the move and helping hands?

Will be cool to see the aquarium up and going. Im sure you are anxious.

[marcusgonzales210]

There are pictures of the move in his other thread.

[Mr Cob]

This is B E A S T!
http://www.maast.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=9087&d=1281226674 (http://www.maast.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=9087&d=1281226674)
I love it. I want it. I can't wait to see it.

http://www.maast.attachment.php?attachmentid=9087&d=1281226674 (http://www.maast.attachment.php?attachmentid=9087&d=1281226674)

[kkiel02]

Sadly everything is on hold. We found a 5" scratch on the front panel and trying to get that worked out... Very depressing at this point.

[Mr Cob]

maen! Doesn't that just make you mad!?!

[txav8r]

Oh, bummer!! Sorry to hear about the scratch. :(

[RayAllen]

I feel your pain Kevin! A new tank should be 100% scratch free. You should have the honor of the 1st scratch. Im sure you guys will get it worked out.

[Europhyllia]

That stinks. Did it happen during the move or come with it?
Sorry :(

[kkiel02]

It came with it. But Gabe contacted them and it is all taken care of now. I just have to get a local company to come use Cernum Oxide to buff it out. It isnt deep just long. It was a relief to finally get that taken care of though.

Plus my wave maker finally came in today!

I had a little ammonia in the temp tank on Sunday which also gave me a scare but after a 20 gallon water change everything has been good to go thus far with that tank.

Oh and I am going to have to take a pic of it but I will try to explain as best as I can. My pokerstar monti, Ive had for a month or so, I just noticed the new polyps are orange. Very cool as it is now the purple with green polyps but a ring of orange polyps around the rim.

[CoryDude]

I just have to get a local company to come use Cernum Oxide to buff it out. It isnt deep just long. It was a relief to finally get that taken care of though.

Oh, thank God. I didn't want to help move that monster again. Super glad you got it worked out. Sounds like it's just one thing after another for you on this build. Did you get any sleep at all Thursday night? Man I bet you were tired.



Oh and I am going to have to take a pic of it but I will try to explain as best as I can. My pokerstar monti, Ive had for a month or so, I just noticed the new polyps are orange. Very cool as it is now the purple with green polyps but a ring of orange polyps around the rim.

Don't you have t-5's on that tub? Just wondering because I may move my superman monti to my t-5 tank to see if it colors up.

Anyways, it was nice to meet you and I'm glad you're keeping a positive attitude during all the problems.

[Neptune@gabesfish]

The scratch is all taken care of.. I talked Kevin through the whole process and now its perfect..For some reason glass companies charge about $100.per hour to fix glass ..

[kkiel02]

LOL Yep couldnt have done it without Gabe.

[kkiel02]

Oh, thank God. I didn't want to help move that monster again. Super glad you got it worked out. Sounds like it's just one thing after another for you on this build. Did you get any sleep at all Thursday night? Man I bet you were tired.



Don't you have t-5's on that tub? Just wondering because I may move my superman monti to my t-5 tank to see if it colors up.

Anyways, it was nice to meet you and I'm glad you're keeping a positive attitude during all the problems.

My superman monti turned a royal blue/purple when it was right under my mh. Very cool coloration.

[kkiel02]

Ok gonna start filling with water tomorrow. The sump that is. lol The overflow kits will be in Thursday then I can start filling this bad boy up. It comes out to just over 3000 pounds from just the water so I am a little worried. Especially since this will be dynamic weight. I have reinforced the stand so I can sleep better at night but it should be fine with all the 2x4s thats under it.

I have decided to go with a UPS to power a small powerhead for power outages. I know to buy the biggest I can afford but was wondering if anyone else ran one of these? It just needs to disturb the water surface.

Also ran into a little problem with the wavebox I think. The box cant be raised high enough in the tank but about a 1/4 inch or so above the water line the way the tank was built. Yes I told them I would be using them but its definately not going back to them now.

Overall I am impressed with DSA build quality, The tank is built like a tank. The only problem I had was they really lacked communication during the build. It was impossible to get specs or anything from them and I still ended up with center braces. But again I am impressed with how they build their tanks. And yes I would strongly recommend them as like mentioned above they build a quality tank.

[alton]

Kevin my wave maker on my 300 doesn't sit as high out of the water as it is suppose to, but it still works fine.

[kkiel02]

Thats good to hear. I am hoping I wont need a second one.

[CoryDude]

Built like a tank and weighs nearly as much too!

[z28pwr]

Tank looks great Kevin, can't wait to see it stocked.

[ErikH]

Where's the beer for reference? :D

If the cops dusted that thing for fingerprints, I'd bet they would be back! LOL

Just kiddin..... It looks very nice! DSA does make a GREAT tank. Glad you finally got it and are almost ready to do the deal! Good luck, have fun, and hide the receipts!

[kkiel02]

LOL yeah it should be full of water this weekend pending my ro unit. I have filled the sump with about 130 gallons and have 70ish gallons in the 100 gallon temp tank. So as long as I can pump out 300 gallons Ill be good to go and that should be easy. Ive been rinsing and rinsing my old sand for the dsb in the sump. So I will plumb it tomorrow which is actually going to be fairly easy with the sump designed the way it is. I will get some pics up this weekend of the equipment and the tank full.

[kkiel02]

Well, got a kink at work today... I got a promotion. The problem is that this has now opened up the door to purchasing my first home here when my lease is up. So we are debating setting this up in this house or just buying a 90-100 gallon and keeping everything in there for now(wish I hadnt sold the 180 now). Leaning towards the latter to minimize moving stress. The idea was to get this rolling as we where planning to stay here at least 2-3 years.

Anyways dont worry I will be getting movers to move it this time. lol.

On a serious note, thanks for everyones help to get this thing where it is now. You dont know how much I appreciate it. Couldnt have done it without maast. Probably wont see me update this too much more for awhile though. :(

[txav8r]

Congrats on the promotion! Sorry to hear that we will have to wait for updates but Ya gotta do what ya gotta do!

[kkiel02]

Yeah it was bitter sweet. At first I was pumped then I started thinking about all the work on the tank and now having to wait even longer.... Oh well now I will have a fish room hopefully!

[allan]

Kevin, build a house in my area! Lots of new homes going up daily.

[Europhyllia]

Awesome. Congrats!
Maybe you can use this to get the stand leveled?

[kkiel02]

Kevin, build a house in my area! Lots of new homes going up daily.

Sorry we are staying in this general area. Its about half ways between our workplaces. We arent too far away from you now though.

Karin, I have something brewing that might not require a stand. :)

[Europhyllia]

COOL!
Well go ahead and buy that big house then. We're ready for you to get started on whatever that might be :)

[kkiel02]

LOL cant do a big house. Just a first house. I got the ok from Alyssa so I will go ahead and post up what I have drawn up so far.

PS Google Sketchup is awesome and easy to use. Plus its free.

[Europhyllia]

The fish room! :)
Very cool

[kkiel02]

Yep the small tank will be the anemone tank if I can fit it. That is the optional part if you will. With the door and the tank it will really start to add up space so it will depend on what I have to work with.

[Kristy]

Wow Kevin, congrats on that promotion! I guess it's a good thing you didn't follow my advice and call in to work in order to go tank touring with us today.

[kkiel02]

Well got everything in Bernies old 125. It is packed to the rim! I only lost one cleaner shrimp plus my purple bonsai(covered in cyano and I didnt see it in time), tyree flower petal monti(flipped and I didnt catch that either) and my duncans. A couple digis arent quite as colorful but my encrusting montis loved the dirtier water(skimmerless) for two months. Also found out that tube anemones do fine in barebottom tanks.

Now I am contacting Kingfish to help with the stand and tank move. I think the builder will be able to hook me up with everything else I need for the fishroom. We arent looking to move until march or april so this will be my temp tank till then.

[kkiel02]

Well the fishroom ended up changing some. I will draw it out a little better after we finish meeting with the design consultant. We picked out our lot this last weekend so if all goes well we are looking for a december start date with the house being done in April/May.

The 125 is doing amazing for what I had to work with. I was moving a 36" current nova extreme back and forth to cover the whole tank once a day. I have since bought another 30" fixture which covers the tank nicely. Its covered with a netting that BSJF gratiously gave to me. This will be up and running until May then everything will be transferred to the 360! The 125 will become a display fuge at least that is the idea as of now. The 200 gallon sump will now be used as a dsb in a 90 gallon compartment, return section in the middle and the actual sump(houses skimmer and reactors) in the other side.

I will be purchasing a UV sterilizer and a controller but think I have everything else bought. If you have any questions please ask away.

[txg8gxp]

200g sump....that's just crazy. I can't even picture myself with a 200g tank let alone a sump. This is going to be sweet. A 125g display fuge will be really cool.

[Scream311]

Free Bump Kevin,

this thread NEEDS SOME PICS !!!