Cliff/Spar's 450g in-wall tank project

@chromus wrote:
Cliff's wife is tops said:
Ha, very true :) I think the tank and fish room she has been a good sport on, but once I started venturing into the garage space she has become a bit annoyed [smilie=punch.gif] I live by the theory/slogan that it is easier to get forgiveness than it is permission [smilie=devil.gif] We will be testing this theory out again shortly when I order some MP60's!

How do you like those leds ? said:
They seem to be doing the trick for me. On the few pieces of coral I have the coloration is nice. They were about 1/5th the cost of the LED's you see around the market... and was necessary given I needed four 200 watt units! PAR and Lux are a little low, but just not sure much that is really mattering.
 
Just saw the laundry room and there isn't enough different ways for me to beg my wife for a water system like that LOL. Nicely done.

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OK Cliff. I know that a new sump has been custom made from Melevs Reef and that you have it installed. We want pics
 
@chromus wrote:
He told me he spent about 9 hours on the plumbing said:
9?? Try 21 hours!! My body was wrecked for days after!

Pictures soon enough! It does look absolutely fantastic! Although my old duct taped drainage lines will be sorely missed :)

Marc, thanks again for all your help with making my sump and the installation!
 
Hopefully it is breaking in nicely by now. Did you have to make any changes?
 
And FINALLY the long overdue update!! Blaming work hours ended a year ago with a new job, so can only blame laziness for having not done so sooner [smilie=devil.gif]

In summary here are the changes that I have made since:
(1) Completely redid all the plumbing, including the sump/refugium, pumps, etc; Marc built the sump and helped me out with the install --- looks amazing! The sump that was installed was built for maybe a 200g max tank.. no clue what the company who did my install was thinking (claimed was sized for a 650g [smilie=worried.gif] ).

(2) Changed out my lights - the LED's worked but just didn't quite give me the SPS growth I was after, so now use MH lighting - 4 units with 250w Radium bulbs each. PAR is now between 300-1000+ at all depths! Running them at 6 hours per day right now.

(3) Changed from running 4 Tunze 6125's to now running 2 Vortech MP60's - just preference, as didn't want to see the cords. MP60's even blow sand around in my 450g! Love those things (once set low enough to not blow around sand anyway...)

(4) Reduced my Live Rock from 600+lbs to ~300 lbs. Was just too much rock for my liking. Now when the coral grows out the fish will actually be able to swim around!

(5) Upgraded my skimmer. Unfortunately a sore point in my reefing experience as was ultimately given a much smaller skimmer than what I had purchased. But, now have the right size in - Super Reef Octopus 5000 Internal.

(6) Started using a Calcium Reactor rather than dosing 2-part. Seems more difficult to keep fine-tuned than expected, but keeps things very consistent with minimal efforts.

(7) Added more fish! Albeit, very very very slowly! Current fish include:
-2 Yellow Tang's
-1 Sailfin Tang
-1 Tenenti Tang
-1 Foxface Rabbit
-2 Yellow Coris Wrasses
-4 Blue Tang's

(8) Some coral, never did memorize the names of them, but mostly SPS with some LPS.

Current picture.
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New sump build pictures. Thanks again Marc for all your help with this! The tank has such a better feel to it now with better plumbing and filtration.

Took us all night (literally, was light out when we finished) to pull out all the old plumbing and replace with all the new plumbing/sump, etc.
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Used 2 Dart pumps to fuel the entire tank including a chiller and a manifold that can run to 6 different peripherals (carbon, ozone, calcium reactor, etc)
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The beautiful new sump! Due to the amount of space I had in the room we had to do the sump in 2 pieces. They were then attached via 2 pieces of 2" PVC and Uniseals... ask Marc how much fun getting the PVC through the Uniseals was [smilie=devil.gif] Calling it a nightmare would be a far understatement! But, alas we got them connected!
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Marc helping build the Manifold, think it is around 5 feet long or so, maybe more.. Yes, I did help out during all this rather than taking naps, just not in any of the pictures [smilie=smile.gif]
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Marc also built me a dosing station container. There are 5 compartments. 1 for RO storage, 1 for Saltwater storage, and then 1 for each of Alk/Calc/Magnesium. I don't currently use the Alk/Calc/Mg compartments because I switched to Calc Reactor dosing, but fantastic to have just in case for down the road!
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Very tight room so couldn't get a great final product picture, but here are my best attempts!
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What is that single item outside the sump? An Ozone filter? Does water flow through it? It may be better to put that somewhere in the sump in case it leaks. Did the skimmer stand work out?
 
I mentioned now using a chiller above. I decided to run the line into my garage so I didn't contribute to heat in the fish room. Comes on for about an hour per day or so.
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I also hadn't updated my Auto-Water Change setup since I completed the work over a year ago. I will gladly admit it is excessive, but looks fantastic doesn't it [smilie=lol.gif] !

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Most high-tech Calcium Reactor effluent dripping device EVER created!
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