Planning new tank "Build"

[clay]

I wanted to start off by introducing my self.

My name is Clay, me and my wify Monica live in Rockport. We have 4 kiddos that love the fish we own right now. We have a 60 gallon South American FW tank and a 55 gallon African FW tank.

We are planning to dive head first into a Marine setup:) I have so many questions i don't really know where to start, so i'll tell yall the plan as I have it right now.

The TANK:

I am drawing up plans for a 200+ gallon laminated plywood tank with a 40+ gallon sump/refugium. The tank will be fiberglass reinforced plywood coated and bonded with epoxy resin.Pardon my MSPaint skills.
http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab127/claytonwilliams/side1.jpg

http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab127/claytonwilliams/back.jpgI am very confidn't of the process of building the tank, but with that being said I am not confident on the design of the sump and other filtering for SW Reef setups.
Any suggestions and advice would really be helpfull. I also plann on adding a closed system just for flow with little to no filteration. Placement is still a question.

Besides these plans, well even including these plans every thing is up for evaulation,critisium,and hopefully a lil enthusium.

[hobogato]

welcome to maast clay!

there are many options for filtration, any idea what you want to keep in the tank?

[clay]

Thank you and I am so happy i found some locals to talk with about this and i imagin this forum and its users will be a great help to my dreams of having a peice of ocean in my living room. With the kids and wify there are only 3 must haves, Clown (without anem), hippo tang, maderin dragnet (added much later because of the need for well established copod population). The rest is really up for grabbs and what is compitable with these fish. The lighting i will be using will be 8x39watt T5HO as I have the balast from a demolition job i did.

I would like to keep the softer corals like xyenia and colts, along with maby some LPS and mushrooms. But that is really dependent on if my lighting will be adiquate. I would love to keep a birds nest but I really don't think I have the light for it.

[txav8r]

Welcome to MAAST! Sounds like an interesting build. Take plenty of pics!

[jrsatx20]

Welcome to maast. Tell your friends about us. Your picture/drawing shows 2 drains that come into one. I would make 2 drains. Have one drain into first section you could use that section to put a Skimmer. The second drain put it in the middle section and use second section for a fuge. Or have 1 drain on the left for Skimmer and 1 drain on right for fuge and have the middle for your return pump.

[clay]

Do to funds and time this is going to be a very long build. I plan on taking many pictures and maby even some videos of the entire project. Also i am going to try to keep a detailed cost breakdown of everything to see if i actually saved money going this route. Cutting a hole in my house and pouring a slab for the tank of course won't be included :)

I have read lots of different oppions on bioballs,substrate,ect. I really am just trying to get as many oppions and facts as possible before i even make my first cut. I could easly add a built in wet/dry bioball chamber to the design but I have read on some other forums that they might not be the way to go. The thought even crossed my mind of trying a plywood and acrlic airstone driven skimmer, but that will probally be an independent project.

[clay]

Ty Ruben,

The thought never crossed my mind about puttin the pump in the middle. the plan on the overflow is to be a coast-2coast style aka. go compleatly across the back to skim as much surface area as possible. And seperating the intake would give me many more options:)

[sampsonndelila]

Ambitious!

[phippsj]

Since you are building the tank yourself, an interesting thought would be to build the refugium in the display area. I had thought of doing that in my 180G, where I would have built a refugium 'wall' on the inside of the display area, towards the backside. The wall would have been made from live rock rubble, superglued together. It would have to be placed to one side or other of the tank for accessibility, but it would be interesting as the bugs would be able to enter the main display with ease.

That might be a bit too experimental though... I will probably try it out in the future some time.

[clay]

I am still very nubish on all things to do with the sump/refiguim :( and the whole filtering in general. I have been reading alot and tryin to get my head wrapped around it tho. What i gather is that a refigum acts like a bioligical filter. Tho i see where is is used to proagate critters too. I don't really know where to start on designing this part of the project. I though i would like to have some kinda mechanical filters(sponges, media, carbon) but i want my lil copods and such to be able to move and not die b4 getting to the sump or tank.

I am just a lil confused still about the roll of each filtering and the "BEST" setup for a tank of this size.

[phippsj]

I am still very nubish on all things to do with the sump/refiguim :( and the whole filtering in general. I have been reading alot and tryin to get my head wrapped around it tho. What i gather is that a refigum acts like a bioligical filter. Tho i see where is is used to proagate critters too. I don't really know where to start on designing this part of the project. I though i would like to have some kinda mechanical filters(sponges, media, carbon) but i want my lil copods and such to be able to move and not die b4 getting to the sump or tank.

I am just a lil confused still about the roll of each filtering and the "BEST" setup for a tank of this size.

It is a bit much initially, but the more you read the better off you will be. After my research I came away with the impression that the best filtration was provided by the live rock itself. I made my design based on surface area and pourous volume area for filtration. I used a lot of pond foam between rock to create a rock wall on the back of the tank, and then used several hundred pounds of live rock itself. Nitrate/Nitrites have never been a problem.

I also think that protein skimmers are important, but that is research you should do for yourself as well. There are those that feel that protein skimmers take too much out of the tank to make it worthwhile to use.

Personally I feel that if you are going to have a mixed reef then a refugium that has macroalgae and Mangrove trees will provide a great environment for pods to grow. I have mine beneath my display and I often wonder how many pods get chewed up on the way to the display. Thing is, the display itself will also house a lot of pods (live rock is a great natural place for them to be anyways).

[Europhyllia]

I also think that protein skimmers are important, but that is research you should do for yourself as well. There are those that feel that protein skimmers take too much out of the tank to make it worthwhile to use.

I recently read up on current skimmer technology some more (was in the market for a new one) and read that some people believe the currently so popular needlewheel impeller skimmers are more prone to destroying beneficial plankton than other designs.

[clay]

Thank you for the replies, it seems the more i read the more i am scared of this project :) I am tryin to keep the cost perdy much as low as possible with diy stuff. The biggest expences besides the livestock of course would be the rock, glass, skimmer, calcium reactor, and pumps. A few of these i am not real sure i need like the calcium reactor and the skimmer but i guess i just have not convinced my self that i don't need these items. But again i really am diving in to the unknown with this whole thing:) I probally will start with getting the tank built and going from there trying to leave as much room for expansion in the sump as possible.

[acropoorer]

Good to have you on the dark side Clay. Salt water and you're building your own tank! I am in the midst of building my own tank as well (360 gal starphire with PVC bottom).

I believe Live Rock, skimmer and some sort of physical filter is all you need. The fun part of this hobby is the variety of systems you can build and be successful for which you'll get lots of interesting/helpful advice on this site. You may want to start a thread in large tanks or DIY for you build. Best of luck.

[clay]

Ahh ty for the positive feedback, alot of people shudder when i say plywood. As of yet i have not bought anything for the build. Tho i will buy a new stright edge and build a work table this weekend. But i have some great news reguarding lights:) I picked up 10 2x2 layin type fixtures from a demo job i did and guess what. they have double 40watt cf ballast in them!!!! i can run 2 39 watt t5hos on each ballast:) so all i have to do is build somthing to house them in and a reflector... and the bulbs of course:) i have some metal decking from work which is shaped somthing like this
http://www.mpil.in/images/steel_deck.jpg
i was thinking about covering it in mylar for a reflector but that is still a long way out :)

*edit * BTW can't ya tell i am a lil excited

[hobogato]

one of the nicest tanks we ever had around here was a plywood tank. you may want to shoot a pm to texreefer if you want to get some perspective from someone who built/had one. i looked for the thread(s) on it, but they are very old and dont have pics anymore.

[hobogato]

well, google helped me find this thread of his on RC

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1132496

[allan]

clay dude,

Welcome to maast!

I like the fact that you're doing this from the floor up. Very cool.

I'd recommend a larger sump/fuge. I have about a 100 gallons under a 190. Additionnally if your plans call for it I'd have a small fuge up higher in the back to gently drain into the display tank. This will provide a steady source of pods to the tank as it becomes established. Ping had one that looked like a little blizzard of pods and they would flow directly into the system with no need to run through a pump.

Plus one for the visually available fuge... or perhaps a 'flower pot' of acrylic design off to the side where you can grow a mangrove or two. These will grow up and out of the water with a good root both exposed and submerged. And they would help with filtration.

I'd stay away from the wet/dry although many use them with much success. My personal opinion is that these contribute to raised nitrate levels and require much more maintenance to keep clean than the macro route.

At any rate you must provide us with pictures of your work. Really looking forward to it.

[clay]

OMG what an Awsome build, I wish i was more of a abstract kinda person:( I build buildings for a living and for the most part they are big boxes with all streight lines and square corners, it is so hard for me to do somthing free form like that maby i will show my wife she is ver creative like that:) Are there any critters you can't, shouldn't keep with the foam like that.

[hobogato]

urchins. ask mr. cob and firewater