Reefer Addict's Reef

addict · 01-27-2004, 02:27 AM

Oh, where to begin...
If you've caught any of the past few threads I've started, I first had an inclination to build a frag growout room, and in the process of planning it, decided that I'd rather upgrade our tank.
Well, the plan has just about come together... the planning phase is complete (aside from the finish on the stand and canopy) and almost everything is ordered... our 120 gallon dream is about to come true.

Anyway, for reference, here's a picture of our current reef, a 55g tall aquarium on a 40" stand and with a 14" canopy.

I like the effect it gives being that height off the floor... it's almost like having a picture on the wall since you don't have to stoop to look at it... but the pain is that you really can't sit and view it from up close. I really hate to be tearing it down right when it's starting to come into it's own, but the transition should be painless.

I've always wanted a cube tank. I just think they're cool. Plus it gives you the same depth from all sides to do some creative multi-outcropping reefs. Once I settled on a size, I sent out a few bids to custom tank builders for both glass and acrylic tanks. Out of the several bids sent, the two builders I had narrowed it down to both were excellent. The first bid I received was from Aquarium Obsessed based in Toronto. This was for a 36"x36"x24" tank built with Starphire Glass, but ended up being a little too steep a price of what I was looking for (cost of tank + shipping). Even Will the owner admits that they build 'high-end' tanks, and I believe the tank would have been awesome, though pricey.
The second bid I received was from a company in Beaverton, Oregon, Envision Acrylics. This place has to have the best customer service I've ever experienced. I sent an after-hours e-mail inquiring about having the tank built, and I heard back from the owner almost immediately. We succeeded in exchanging e-mails 4 times that evening, and he answered every question I had about the construction. The fact that he also built Steve Weast's 850g reef kinda helped my decision a little...

Anyway, here's what we were able to finalize.

The tank will be made of 3/4" acrylic so I'll only get deflection of about 1/16", and it'll also accomodate the eurobracing. I didn't want a mostly closed acrylic-top tank, since I have a heck of a time keeping the center brace clean on my current tank.
The 2" drain and 1" returns should accommodate flow rates up to around 2700gph through the sump, which I'll probably never need. I plan on using a more reasonable 700gph to start (about 6x recirculation). The rest of the circulation will be made up with 8 MJ-1200 Powerheads.

This next picture shows how the tank will be lit. I'll have (2) 250w Ushio 10K Halides and (6) 55w Coralife PC 03 Actinic bulbs. I have both Hellolights and Coralife Actinics over my current tank, and the Coralife's mop the floor with the Hellolights bulb... corals under the Coralife pair of bulbs fluoresce like crazy, so I decided to go with them for all 6.

The circle in the center of the canopy is going to be the main vent for the canopy, and a fan box will sit on top of the canopy to pull the air out of it. I also plan on adding an extension to the box that will pipe the hot humid air out a window that sits just to the left of the aquarium (you can see the curtains for it in the reef pic above).

This next picture shows how the sump will be laid out. The sump will be 3/4" plywood painted with white epoxy paint, and inset with 2 glass panels in the refugium portion for viewing. I researched skimmers for days before I settled on the ASM G-3. It's essentially a Euroreef without the high(er) price. From the information I gathered, everyone that has used one has been very pleased with it's performance... it has a huge 11x14 footprint though, which is the dotted-outline in the entry portion of the sump.

This is a top-down view of the stand. The sump is the purple square box in the center of the diagram. The water will follow a U-shaped path through the sump, starting at the lower right (where the drain will come in) and ending at the pump on the left side, spilling over into each successive compartment (a 1" drop to each).
For the time being, the sump will also travel through the refugium. If I start moving more water through the sump then I may have to rethink the design. There won't be any substrate in the fuge so I think I'll be safe... maybe a few different macroalgae's, and a ton of BTA's that constantly detonate and spread in my current tank (I'm back up to 7 again). The fuge will be lit by 2 Coralife 55w 10,000K Daylight PC Bulbs on a reverse timeline.
This stand will also be shorter than our current stand, since it has to be smaller than our doorway in at least one dimension just to fit through it. The stand will be 32" high... quite a little drop from our current reef's 40" height.

It's going to be a busy month. School started again today, and between that and building this tank I'm going to be stretched pretty thin. I hope to get the tank installed by the third week in March, which is Spring Break up here in my neck of the woods.

Well, that's about it for the first installment. I'm going to try to take plenty of photos as I progress, and make this into kind of a 'making of' thread. The tank should be completed at the end of February and I have a friend picking it up for me and driving it down. The tank builder has also offered to send a few photos as the construction of the tank progresses, so I'll post those as well when I get them.

Well, thanks for making it this far... if you can't tell, I've been dying to tell anyone who'll listen.

Gina · 01-27-2004, 06:02 AM

You can just have them deliver it on down my way. Ok?

The tank and sump to me looks like it's going to be an awesome set-up! I can't wait to see the progress! I enjoy these types of threads as, it gives us ideas on what we may want to do later on down the road. Thank you for sharing with us!

And congratulations on your new tank! Should be a real beauty!

Curtswearing · 01-27-2004, 06:44 AM

AWESOME DUDE!!! I can't wait to see the next installment.

joe@inreef · 01-27-2004, 07:54 AM

Looks similar to my tank..... I have a 36x36x40 cube, and love it. I run 4x250 MH(2-CoralVue 250 10k, 1 XM 250 20k and 1 CV 250 6500k) and 4x96 PC (Actinic 03). I have a 40 gallon sump, which sits about 7' below the bottom of the tank, in the garage below it. My stand is 32" high, actually, not a stand, but built into the wall. The tank is viewable from all sides and currently houses about 30 different corals and 17 fish. My skimmer is a custom make, run by a mag 12. Circulation is provided by a PCX-100 Gen X and an Iwaki 70 wmd which pump from the sump. Chiller is a Gen-X titanium 1/2 HP, which keeps the tank at a comfortable 76-77 degrees. The hood is fully enclosed, with just two small fans(60 cfm) mounted on the top of the hood.

wooddood · 01-27-2004, 07:59 AM

i psted to your pics in the photo gallery too but just wanted to say way to go and good luck with the new set up.you're gonna love the 120.i love mine.

addict · 01-27-2004, 01:24 PM

Thanks everybody.

I'm pretty excited. It's different than when I built my first reef, since it's been a year and I have a lot more experience to draw on... especially in what works and doesn't work with my current tank design.
A couple of design changes I'm making for the new tank, is instead of the canopy door just being in the middle of the canopy, there'll be 3 of them (1 on each of the viewing sides) and they'll extend almost the full length of each side (with the 24" depth it makes it easier to reach all parts of the tank).
I'm also designing the stand so that the cabinet doors (also on 3 sides) have the brace between the doors attached to one of them, so when they're open you have a nice wide space to get into and do maintenance chores, rather than having two openings with a brace running down the middle.
I have a Custom SeaLife 1/4Hp chiller on the way to do cooling duty, which will be run by an Aqua-Logic Dual Stage Temp Controller. Heating will be handled by a 350w Titanium heater (the halides should do the rest).

I'm glad the planning phase is over though... that seems to take forever. The fun part is getting all the new goodies coming in every few days from UPS and FedEx.

brian_e · 01-27-2004, 01:25 PM

looks like it will all work out nice ready to see more

addict · 01-31-2004, 01:42 PM

Well, I made a small revision to the tank layout, so I figured I'd post a revised schematic.
I widened the overflow box by 4 inches so that I get more teeth for overflow. I also spaced the return bulkheads another 2" further apart (to allow for the increased overflow size).
And here it is...

addict · 01-31-2004, 01:45 PM

And here's what the parts pile is starting to look like. So far I have all my plumbing parts, PC bulbs, halide and PC ballasts, dual-stage temp controller, and cabinet hardware. I'm going to get the wood to start on the stand tomorrow morning before the big game, and I'll post some more pix as I get going.

Montanareefer · 01-31-2004, 10:15 PM

Congratulations Dave on the new tank!!! Well deserved partner!!

Got to have a tank warming party and bring frags or mail them!

mnreefman · 01-31-2004, 10:36 PM

RA...... i love the new layout man, i cant wait to see the final product... man im excited for you!

Maxx · 02-01-2004, 02:42 AM

This looks great!!! Cant wait to see it up and running!!!
Nick

sw_addicted · 02-01-2004, 03:46 AM

Thats almost scarey. Just some friendly advice do not use pine anywhere there may be heat or humidity it will bow. It happened to my first hood that was built out of clear aspen too.

addict · 02-01-2004, 04:03 AM

Thanks for the support everyone... it definitely keeps me motivated.

Also, thanks for the advice there sw_addicted.
I shouldn't have too much of a problem with heat buildup... the fan box I've been working on has a 400cfm squirrel-cage fan in it, so heat will be sucked out immediately on creation...

I hear what you're saying though... my current reef is skinned with sheets off a glue-lam (a laminated 2x12 header) and the first few months I'd hear popping sounds from the wood splitting... pretty unnerving... thought the tank bottom was busting out sometimes.

I should have the fan box mostly done tomorrow so I'll post a pic once it's sanded and ready to stain (still haven't decided on a color yet).

Craig Manoukian · 02-01-2004, 04:40 AM

Fabulous stuff RA. It is clear to me that you have a passion for this hobby as well as way too much time on your hands as evidenced by the awesome schematics. If and when I figure out what the schematics are really saying I'll get back to you with any comments.

For now just ROCK ON!

01-27-2004, 02:27 AM	#1 (permalink)
addict Reef Lobster Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Sierra Nevada Country Posts: 1,621 View Gallery Karma Komment	my journey... Oh, where to begin... If you've caught any of the past few threads I've started, I first had an inclination to build a frag growout room, and in the process of planning it, decided that I'd rather upgrade our tank. Well, the plan has just about come together... the planning phase is complete (aside from the finish on the stand and canopy) and almost everything is ordered... our 120 gallon dream is about to come true. Anyway, for reference, here's a picture of our current reef, a 55g tall aquarium on a 40" stand and with a 14" canopy. I like the effect it gives being that height off the floor... it's almost like having a picture on the wall since you don't have to stoop to look at it... but the pain is that you really can't sit and view it from up close. I really hate to be tearing it down right when it's starting to come into it's own, but the transition should be painless. I've always wanted a cube tank. I just think they're cool. Plus it gives you the same depth from all sides to do some creative multi-outcropping reefs. Once I settled on a size, I sent out a few bids to custom tank builders for both glass and acrylic tanks. Out of the several bids sent, the two builders I had narrowed it down to both were excellent. The first bid I received was from Aquarium Obsessed based in Toronto. This was for a 36"x36"x24" tank built with Starphire Glass, but ended up being a little too steep a price of what I was looking for (cost of tank + shipping). Even Will the owner admits that they build 'high-end' tanks, and I believe the tank would have been awesome, though pricey. The second bid I received was from a company in Beaverton, Oregon, Envision Acrylics. This place has to have the best customer service I've ever experienced. I sent an after-hours e-mail inquiring about having the tank built, and I heard back from the owner almost immediately. We succeeded in exchanging e-mails 4 times that evening, and he answered every question I had about the construction. The fact that he also built Steve Weast's 850g reef kinda helped my decision a little... Anyway, here's what we were able to finalize. The tank will be made of 3/4" acrylic so I'll only get deflection of about 1/16", and it'll also accomodate the eurobracing. I didn't want a mostly closed acrylic-top tank, since I have a heck of a time keeping the center brace clean on my current tank. The 2" drain and 1" returns should accommodate flow rates up to around 2700gph through the sump, which I'll probably never need. I plan on using a more reasonable 700gph to start (about 6x recirculation). The rest of the circulation will be made up with 8 MJ-1200 Powerheads. This next picture shows how the tank will be lit. I'll have (2) 250w Ushio 10K Halides and (6) 55w Coralife PC 03 Actinic bulbs. I have both Hellolights and Coralife Actinics over my current tank, and the Coralife's mop the floor with the Hellolights bulb... corals under the Coralife pair of bulbs fluoresce like crazy, so I decided to go with them for all 6. The circle in the center of the canopy is going to be the main vent for the canopy, and a fan box will sit on top of the canopy to pull the air out of it. I also plan on adding an extension to the box that will pipe the hot humid air out a window that sits just to the left of the aquarium (you can see the curtains for it in the reef pic above). This next picture shows how the sump will be laid out. The sump will be 3/4" plywood painted with white epoxy paint, and inset with 2 glass panels in the refugium portion for viewing. I researched skimmers for days before I settled on the ASM G-3. It's essentially a Euroreef without the high(er) price. From the information I gathered, everyone that has used one has been very pleased with it's performance... it has a huge 11x14 footprint though, which is the dotted-outline in the entry portion of the sump. This is a top-down view of the stand. The sump is the purple square box in the center of the diagram. The water will follow a U-shaped path through the sump, starting at the lower right (where the drain will come in) and ending at the pump on the left side, spilling over into each successive compartment (a 1" drop to each). For the time being, the sump will also travel through the refugium. If I start moving more water through the sump then I may have to rethink the design. There won't be any substrate in the fuge so I think I'll be safe... maybe a few different macroalgae's, and a ton of BTA's that constantly detonate and spread in my current tank (I'm back up to 7 again). The fuge will be lit by 2 Coralife 55w 10,000K Daylight PC Bulbs on a reverse timeline. This stand will also be shorter than our current stand, since it has to be smaller than our doorway in at least one dimension just to fit through it. The stand will be 32" high... quite a little drop from our current reef's 40" height. It's going to be a busy month. School started again today, and between that and building this tank I'm going to be stretched pretty thin. I hope to get the tank installed by the third week in March, which is Spring Break up here in my neck of the woods. Well, that's about it for the first installment. I'm going to try to take plenty of photos as I progress, and make this into kind of a 'making of' thread. The tank should be completed at the end of February and I have a friend picking it up for me and driving it down. The tank builder has also offered to send a few photos as the construction of the tank progresses, so I'll post those as well when I get them. Well, thanks for making it this far... if you can't tell, I've been dying to tell anyone who'll listen. __________________ -David *addict's tank specs:* Coming soon!

01-27-2004, 06:02 AM	#2 (permalink)
Gina Moderator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,842 View Gallery Karma Komment	You can just have them deliver it on down my way. Ok? The tank and sump to me looks like it's going to be an awesome set-up! I can't wait to see the progress! I enjoy these types of threads as, it gives us ideas on what we may want to do later on down the road. Thank you for sharing with us! And congratulations on your new tank! Should be a real beauty! __________________ Gina and Mark's 75 Visit Our Sponsors Gina's Cube Gina

01-27-2004, 06:44 AM	#3 (permalink)
Curtswearing Golden Moray Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 2,597 View Gallery Karma Komment	AWESOME DUDE!!! I can't wait to see the next installment. __________________ In memory of Fluffy, please pause before hitting enter---being nice is free. Click for ReefKeeping FAQ'S Click for Product Reviews Click for Photo ID Gallery http://curtcpapfs.com/downloads/1Curt.jpg

01-27-2004, 07:54 AM	#4 (permalink)
joe@inreef Sponsor Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Tampa Florida Posts: 148 View Gallery Karma Komment	Looks similar to my tank..... I have a 36x36x40 cube, and love it. I run 4x250 MH(2-CoralVue 250 10k, 1 XM 250 20k and 1 CV 250 6500k) and 4x96 PC (Actinic 03). I have a 40 gallon sump, which sits about 7' below the bottom of the tank, in the garage below it. My stand is 32" high, actually, not a stand, but built into the wall. The tank is viewable from all sides and currently houses about 30 different corals and 17 fish. My skimmer is a custom make, run by a mag 12. Circulation is provided by a PCX-100 Gen X and an Iwaki 70 wmd which pump from the sump. Chiller is a Gen-X titanium 1/2 HP, which keeps the tank at a comfortable 76-77 degrees. The hood is fully enclosed, with just two small fans(60 cfm) mounted on the top of the hood. __________________ WWW.INREEF.COM 20 years saltwater, over 700 gallons of reef at the house!!

01-27-2004, 07:59 AM	#5 (permalink)
wooddood the wood dude Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: marion. INDIANA Posts: 3,457 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	i psted to your pics in the photo gallery too but just wanted to say way to go and good luck with the new set up.you're gonna love the 120.i love mine. __________________ 120 gal/in wall tank/starboard substraight/2 250 watt 10k xm metal halides/ 4 55watt 03 actinics/150lbs lr/scwd on return/scwd on a closed loop/aquaclear aquatics 200 pro wetdry w/skimmer. ask all the questions you have if we cant answer it we'll make up some thing. remember patience is the key to a kick ass reef. dave.

01-27-2004, 01:24 PM	#6 (permalink)
addict Reef Lobster Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Sierra Nevada Country Posts: 1,621 View Gallery Karma Komment	Thanks everybody. I'm pretty excited. It's different than when I built my first reef, since it's been a year and I have a lot more experience to draw on... especially in what works and doesn't work with my current tank design. A couple of design changes I'm making for the new tank, is instead of the canopy door just being in the middle of the canopy, there'll be 3 of them (1 on each of the viewing sides) and they'll extend almost the full length of each side (with the 24" depth it makes it easier to reach all parts of the tank). I'm also designing the stand so that the cabinet doors (also on 3 sides) have the brace between the doors attached to one of them, so when they're open you have a nice wide space to get into and do maintenance chores, rather than having two openings with a brace running down the middle. I have a Custom SeaLife 1/4Hp chiller on the way to do cooling duty, which will be run by an Aqua-Logic Dual Stage Temp Controller. Heating will be handled by a 350w Titanium heater (the halides should do the rest). I'm glad the planning phase is over though... that seems to take forever. The fun part is getting all the new goodies coming in every few days from UPS and FedEx. __________________ -David *addict's tank specs:* Coming soon!

01-27-2004, 01:25 PM	#7 (permalink)
brian_e Neon dottyback Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: greenville NC Posts: 675 View Gallery Karma Komment	looks like it will all work out nice ready to see more __________________ Just way to much stuff to list! Brian aka: The Frag Pimp

01-31-2004, 10:15 PM	#10 (permalink)
Montanareefer Has been struck by the ban stick Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 2,334 View Gallery Karma Komment	Congratulations Dave on the new tank!!! Well deserved partner!! Got to have a tank warming party and bring frags or mail them!

01-31-2004, 10:36 PM	#11 (permalink)
mnreefman Reef Lobster Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 1,393 View Gallery Karma Komment	RA...... i love the new layout man, i cant wait to see the final product... man im excited for you! __________________ http://reefrock.com

02-01-2004, 02:42 AM	#12 (permalink)
Maxx Manta Ray Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: St Louis Mo Posts: 3,080 View Gallery Karma Komment	This looks great!!! Cant wait to see it up and running!!! Nick __________________ "Chaos, confusion, despair...my work is done here." ...Some guy named Murphy.... A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!" Reef Sanctuary Knowledgebase (Answers to all your questions and then some!)

02-01-2004, 03:46 AM	#13 (permalink)
sw_addicted Star Polyps Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Lincoln, NE Posts: 165 View Gallery Karma Komment	Thats almost scarey. Just some friendly advice do not use pine anywhere there may be heat or humidity it will bow. It happened to my first hood that was built out of clear aspen too.

02-01-2004, 04:03 AM	#14 (permalink)
addict Reef Lobster Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Sierra Nevada Country Posts: 1,621 View Gallery Karma Komment	Thanks for the support everyone... it definitely keeps me motivated. Also, thanks for the advice there sw_addicted. I shouldn't have too much of a problem with heat buildup... the fan box I've been working on has a 400cfm squirrel-cage fan in it, so heat will be sucked out immediately on creation... I hear what you're saying though... my current reef is skinned with sheets off a glue-lam (a laminated 2x12 header) and the first few months I'd hear popping sounds from the wood splitting... pretty unnerving... thought the tank bottom was busting out sometimes. I should have the fan box mostly done tomorrow so I'll post a pic once it's sanded and ready to stain (still haven't decided on a color yet). __________________ -David *addict's tank specs:* Coming soon!

02-01-2004, 04:40 AM	#15 (permalink)
Craig Manoukian Regular Guy Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Marina Del Ray, CA Posts: 19,012 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Fabulous stuff RA. It is clear to me that you have a passion for this hobby as well as way too much time on your hands as evidenced by the awesome schematics. If and when I figure out what the schematics are really saying I'll get back to you with any comments. For now just ROCK ON! __________________ Currently tankless. 20 Gallon mini reef with mated pair of Maroon Clowns given to Rougiem! 80 gallon reef given to Rougiem/Wooster HS.

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