Buildup of a 180 gallon Reef
 

There's not really much to post here except really start a place holder for the 180 I am starting to work on. I imagine the process will be just as slow as the 90 was....

Yesterday I made the frame for the stand out of scrap 2x4's and 2x6's at a construction site. So far the money invested is $0 as I had the screws already. It's nothing fancy, just a frame...

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/Salt%20tank/180gallon/IMG_0510.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/Salt%20tank/180gallon/IMG_0509.jpg[/img]

The plumbing diagram isn't complete and I am having trouble deciding what to do...

Here is the diagram:

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/Salt%20tank/180gallon/frame.jpg[/img]

If you look at my plumbing diagram you will see that fuge one will be higher than the sump and gravity dump in there.

To make this happen I really need that tank to be higher than the sump. My 75 is 21" tall and the 15x is supposed to be 18" high. To get a 1" PVC above the lip of the 75 I need to raise the 15 up nearly 7" to make the PVC angle downward toward the sump. That doesn't leave me a lot of room above the fuge 1. I guess that is okay considering it is just a chaeto fuge but cleaning it will be harder.

Any ideas? Do you think drilling the side of the 15x AND the side of the 75 would be better? The two holes can be attached by the PVC and drain that way.

If the answer to that is yes, then should I make sure the drilled hole is above the water line or would it be okay to drain fuge 1 to the sump below the water surface? Both tanks water height should be determined by where the hole is drilled and the baffle that seperates the fuge 2 from the return.

Sorry for the wordy explanation...

HOw tall did you make it....Looks good and sturdy!

The only thing I would add is a 2x4 at each 2x6 to forma corner. This will cut down on any racking you might get.

Run a 2x4 on each the side butted up agianst the 2x6, and make it run from top plate to bottom plate.

Hey Kris!

The stand is 40" tall.

I thought about doing that and haven't made up my mind yet. The whole thing will be skinned in 3/4" red oak plywood so that should add tremendous strength as well as lateral support.

The only reason I am hesitant is because it will take away a lot of stand space. Basically 3" length will be gone. As it is now I will only have 12" between the two tanks underneath and that's where the return pump is going to be located. I plan on using a Reeflo Dart eventually and that is almost 7" wide. That only leaves a couple inches space on each side. Taking away 3" from the available 12" really doesn't leave much when the pump takes up 7".

See my dillema. :)

I have to fit a CO2 tank in this stand as well as a tunze controller, PH controller, test kits and many other supplies.

I built my stand 40" for my 180 tall as well....I think you will be happy with the height.

Goby

I hope so, my 90 stand I build was 36" and I am happy with that. I wanted more room for a larger skimmer was my main reason.

Welll if its getting skinned with 3/4" material then forget the extra brace I suggested, you'll have plenty of strenght...save the space for a nice fat skimmer...lol

:D

I'm thinking of the ASM G4x as the skimmer. Not huge but should be sufficient. Gotta help all I can with the nutrients from the sandbed. :lol:

OH NO your one of them :eek:



:lol:


We need to come up with an "I LOVE SAND" theme somg for when we get our own forum on this site...

We can call the forum

THE SINK

lol

:lmao:

Well I guess you jinxed the thread with the SAND BED Idea... Better keep it BB so people will follow along...lol....That DSB can be a twist at the end...;)

can't wait to see this puppy up and running.

No DSB here, just an SSB. :)

Planned flow for the tank will be a pair of tunze 6100's and the panworld 50px-x pump. Depending on how this pump does I may upgrade to a reeflo dart.

Sequence rules!

I was told the tarpon would be good but it costs more and uses more electricity than the dart for less flow. Whatever pump I choose, it will be supplying the tank, fuge and calcium reactor.

More updates...

This picture is the fuge on a little platform. I left an access hole under the platform so I could put little things under there.

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/Salt%20tank/180gallon/IMG_0513.jpg[/img]

Side picture of the fuge, talk about a tight fit!:

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/Salt%20tank/180gallon/IMG_0514.jpg[/img]

Here is the sump and the fuge in the stand together. This doesn't leave me much room...

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/Salt%20tank/180gallon/IMG_0515.jpg[/img]

Here is the two plumbed together:

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/Salt%20tank/180gallon/IMG_0516.jpg[/img]

Very tight fit indeed. My 120 uses the same pumps. A PanWorld 50px-x and a Dart throught a OM 4way for the Closed Loop.
That ASM G4X will be a monster on that tank. :D I hope you have enough room for everything.
I agree going with sand is the way to go. :eek:

It's gonna be tight on room. I still have to fit 1 5lb CO2 tank as well!

nice! I can't wait to see the finish product. It's gonna be a tight fit, indeed.

looks great so far... im gonna need to subscribe to this thread for my new tank build up when we move.

thanks for the help in advance :D

Thanks guys. Come along for the ride. :)

Tomorrow the plan is to silicon in the baffles to the sump. The glass was cut tonight so I should be ready tomorrow.

Looks good!

Do your neighbors give you the same crazy looks and point like mine do when your working in the garage on your tank stuff with the door open? LOL

How come only the drain is drilled into the fuge?? Are you planning on teeing the return to feed it?

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Hop [/i]
[B]Looks good!

Do your neighbors give you the same crazy looks and point like mine do when your working in the garage on your tank stuff with the door open? LOL [/B][/QUOTE]

In fact, I do get strange looks. Right now they see the 75 in the bottom and say "wow, that's a big tank". I'm thinking, you haven't seen nothing yet!

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by GregM779 [/i]
[B]How come only the drain is drilled into the fuge?? Are you planning on teeing the return to feed it? [/B][/QUOTE]


I need to make a new plumbing diagram. The drain from the actual display tank will go to the far right of the 75 gallon sump, which will be the skimmer area. Then it will go through the bubble trap to the return in the center.

The return pump will feed from the center section and supply the display tank as well as the fuge on the left. The fuge on the left, as water enters will flow through the bulkhead at the top and feed the prop tank on the far left of the 75 gallon fuge, which will overflow the baffle there and go to the same return in the center.

Does that make sense?

I've got the baffles siliconed in the sump now. I used all glass panels for the baffles and then used a piece of acrylic for the fuge baffle which is attached to the glass baffle there as well. I figured with 18"s of width the silicon wouldn't hold the acrylic baffle, that's why I doubled them up.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/thrlride/Salt%20tank/180gallon/IMG_0527.jpg[/IMG]