80g Rimless Apartment Build

W

Willllly

I am putting the final touches on my reef tank build. This has taken the better part of 1.5 years. My experience in the past has been with Nano reefs and fowlr,I feel like have learned the basics but I know I still have a lot to learn. Please give your contructive critisism and advice, I welcome it.

My orignal goal for this tank was a RBTA dominated tank. Since getting a RBTA to split involves more luck than anything, and frankly I might not be that patient, it will most likely be a mixed reef. I have slowly been learning more and more about SPS and I am catching the bug. I will need to let the tank mature first, figure out how I want to dose Calcium, and increase my lighting before I try my hand at SPS

Fish wish list includes:
Pair of Gold Stripe Maroon Clowns (2)
Kauderns Cardinals (2-4)
Pair of Green Mandarins (2)
Reef safe wrasse (1 to 2)
Anthias (harem 3)
Multicolor Angel (1)

I am aware of the aggressiveness of the GSM's and the fact that Mandarins eat mainly Pods and need a mature tank. I honestly dont know much about Multicolor Angels and I don't see many people talking about them, so I assume that there is some important stuff that I don't know.

Tank is a 48x24x16h 3 sides starphire 1/2" thick. The stand is a DIY project of my own, I used 2x4 and 2x6 for the frame and then skinned it with Veneer attached to 3/4" sealed MDF board. I painted the inside of the tank with white oil based Kilz and used 1x3 boards on their sides and silicon to make the bottum water proof. I'm sorry I don't have the build progression picks for the stand.
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This is the location inside my apartment. I originally had the tank where the TV is and vice versa but I thought I may have temperature control problems in the summer when it hits 100+ degrees. The windows face west and in the evening I notice a temperature increase of 3 to 5 degrees as the sun goes down. I decided to cover the windows in the pink foam board, that should help control the temp a little bit.
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This is a pic of the tank with the returns for the CL system as well as the return for my Mag 9.5 return pump. There are 4x 3/4" bulkheads in the bottum of the tank for the CL system. On the back wall there are 4 more 3/4" bulkheads, the two lower bulkheads are also attached to the CL system. The upper two 3/4" bulkheads are for the return pump. There is also a 1500gph overflow kit from glass holes, and a 2" bulkhead with strainer for the feed of the CL system.
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A side view might help see the equipment on the back wall.
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My current light setup is a 36' Nova extreme pro T5. With factory setup bulbs
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Here is a shot of the pulley system I installed yesterday. Nothing fancy, I used two 3/16 eye bolts with butterfly nuts connected to a S hook and pulleys. There are two butterfly setups on each pulley just incase one fails (which they won't). The cable is 1/16" and rated to hold 120 lbs each.
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Side view so you get the idea.
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Sorry for the fuzzy pictures, I spend all of my money on the tank not cameras ; )
 
RODI system 75 GPD in laundry room
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RODI tank and mixing tank. There is a Kent marine float valve in a 29g tank. The highest it will ever fill is to 24 gallons.
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Here is a shot of the entire setup along with the frame work that supports it.
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Finally setup with everything in place.
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If you hadn't noticed this is all in my closet. Small apartment...
 
Time for the other equipment.

Left side of Sump
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20g tank for sump holding Reef Octo OCTX-200 Skimmer and a Mag 9.5 return pump.

Right side of Sump
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You can see the 10g refugium that will have 2x two little fishes reactors for carbon and phosban if needed.

Closed Loop System
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Reeflo Snapper with Ocean Motions 4 way. Two of the channels are Y off to make 4. Intially the Snapper was hung just to get everything in place but now I am liking the idea. Some people have voiced worries about vibration and what might happen if the pump is not sitting on some type of shelf. Please give your opinions on what should be done.
 
Rear Plumbing choas
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Everything is made to be removed and cleaned, it is a very tight fit.

Rear under the stand
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More plumbing chaos. The only thing not shown is the 10g ATO tank that will sit behind the sump and under the Snapper. I will use a Tunze Ozmolator for my ATO. To fill the ATO tank I have a 1/4" RODI line running to the tank with a Kent marine float valve.

The only thing that I have not tackled is the delivery of calcium and Temperature control. I have a 250watt titanium heater, I need a temp controller and some cooling fans

Please give your opinion on what the best calcium delivery system would be for a system of this size. I really dont want to go with a Calcium reactor.
 
Look into bubble magus dosing station and do two part


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f58/randy-holmes-farley-2-part-diy-additive-92189.html
 
Thank you Marc!

I am not a fan of bare bottum tanks though I know the benefits. I need to pick up some substrate. Seems like everyone is using or talking about Caribsea Special Grade Reef Sand.
What are people recommending for Reef tanks and where can I pick some up locally, Plano, TX?
 
I LOVE this build! I understand you got the mdf vaneer stuff at IKEA, could you be more specific? Sorry don't mean to bug, but it really makes it look great!
 
Caribsea is excellent sand you can get at most LFS. I have been using Tropic Eden from PremiumAquatics.com, one of our sponsors.
 
I wish I could remember the name of the stuff at IKEA but they always use wierd name for their stuff. I also tried looking online but couldn't find it. I purchased it almost a year ago so there is a chance they might not make it anymore. I would suggest heading up to IKEA and taking a look, wish I had more info for you.
 
the lights i would use a carabiner instead of the hook just in case it gets bumped or something you don't want to send the light tumbling into the tank. Tanks looking great though
 
I have kept a Multicolor Angel before. They are like all dwarf angels. Relatively easy to keep, can be territorial, needs hiding places etc. etc.
 
Nothing but problems over the last few days. Did a leak test and found about 6 different leaks. 4 bulkheads, the threaded return on my snapper, and my OM 4 way. I was very careful to tighten everything and I used the sealing tape on every threaded piece. This is minor, but a major pain in the arse.
 
The bulkheads are leaking? FOUR of them? That's shocking, since we are meant to only hand tighten them down. You don't need teflon tape on bulkheads, ever.

For the connection on the Snapper and the OM, use some Teflon Paste as well.
 
@Willllly wrote:
Nothing but problems over the last few days. Did a leak test and found about 6 different leaks. 4 bulkheads said:
might want to put silicone grease on the rubber gaskets for me this helps make a good seal
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the info, I did not use Teflon tape on the bulkheads just the threaded portions of the PVC fittings. I also did not go past hand tight on the bulkheads. Should I prep the glass in any way before I put the bulkheads on?

I have never heard of using silicone grease. Do you lightly coat each side of the gasket? Does it need to dry or prepped any particular way?
 
The grease can help seal, but it also can make the gasket squish out. Tighten the nut by hand even more. Use a rubber glove if you need to.
 
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