Wackydaffy 150 Tank Build

W

Wackydaffy

Hi everyone!

I've finally gotten the house done, and now it's time to concentrate on the aquarium. Following are pictures of the plumbing. Any suggestions are welcome.

So far for the tank I have purchased a reeflo dart, auto top off system, heater, precision marine bullet 3 skimmer, phosban reactor 150, ALS CR-150 Calc reactor, 2 Tunze Stream 2 6105's, Aquadyne Octopus 3000 controller, and a 750W HQI MH fixture( 3 250W bulbs).

The skimmer is too tall for my tank, so as in the picture I will have to place it in between the aquarium and the wall. This means that I will have to drill through the stand for the inlet and return. Should the return line be a straight pvc pipe directly into the return section of the sump? In the picture you can see I have a 1" union ball valve that will go to the skimmer inlet. Should I use flexible tubing to the inlet or should I go the pvc route?

Does the phosban reactor hang in the sump, and if so, which section of the sump?

I have yet to build the sump. The sump will be 38" by 15" by 16" This will allow for 6" of clearance between the top of it and the plumbing.

I will build or buy a durso standpipe for the overlows.

Does the plumbing look right? I am not sure about the union ball valve above the pump. If I close that down somewhat to limit the amount of flow into the tank, doesn't that put a lot of pressure on the pump? Am I supposed to have a drainage line dropping down into the sump?

I took a few pictures of the plumbing to help anyone else, and also to get any feedback on what I have done.

I have installed a 20amp circuit for the tank.

I know that 1 1000W heater is probably not the way to go. Not sure why I purchased it. Should I try and return it and buy two smaller ones? Not sure if I can return it, purchased it a little while ago online.

I am thinking about buying eco rox from bulk reef supply. These are dry live rocks. I know these won't come with any of the pests, but does that mean that they won't come with any of the sponges or other neat things I like? Should I do a mix of these and wet live rocks? Would the dry rocks have to be cured or prepared in any way?

So, my next step is to build the sump. My question for this is that since the skimmer is going to be external, how large should I make the return section, refugium section, and overflow section. I assume this means I would be able to make the refugium larger right?


Thanks! All help appreciated. Will continue posting more pics as
I continue.
 
You may also want to re-think running everything off of one pump. The original plan on my tank called for one pump to drive the Phosban reactor but later went with individual pumps for the skimmer, and the Phosban reactor.

The ball value above the return pump is not necessary since there is a drain plug located at the bottom of the pump. This will drain the water from the return lines when taking the pump off line for cleaning.

I've finally gotten the house done, and now it's time to concentrate on the aquarium. Following are pictures of the plumbing. Any suggestions are welcome.

So far for the tank I have purchased a reeflo dart, auto top off system, heater, precision marine bullet 3 skimmer, phosban reactor 150, ALS CR-150 Calc reactor, 2 Tunze Stream 2 6105's, Aquadyne Octopus 3000 controller, and a 750W HQI MH fixture( 3 250W bulbs).

The skimmer is too tall for my tank, so as in the picture I will have to place it in between the aquarium and the wall. This means that I will have to drill through the stand for the inlet and return. Should the return line be a straight pvc pipe directly into the return section of the sump? In the picture you can see I have a 1" union ball valve that will go to the skimmer inlet. Should I use flexible tubing to the inlet or should I go the pvc route?

There is flexible PVC pipe that you could use.

Does the phosban reactor hang in the sump, and if so, which section of the sump?

Yes you can hang the Phosban reactor on the sump it really does not matter where you place the Phosban reactor in the sump in my opinion.


I have yet to build the sump. The sump will be 38" by 15" by 16" This will allow for 6" of clearance between the top of it and the plumbing.

I will build or buy a durso standpipe for the overlows.

These are easy to build yourself and since the pressure is low you do not have to glue the PVC pipes together.

Does the plumbing look right? I am not sure about the union ball valve above the pump. If I close that down somewhat to limit the amount of flow into the tank, doesn't that put a lot of pressure on the pump? Am I supposed to have a drainage line dropping down into the sump?

I would suggest that you and three disconnect unions on the three ball valves on your manifold as unless you open and close them on regular bases they will malfunction with build up. The unions would allow you to replace them if that happen. FYI that is what happened to the valves on my manifold.


I took a few pictures of the plumbing to help anyone else, and also to get any feedback on what I have done.

I have installed a 20amp circuit for the tank.

i would make the break for this circuit a ground fault type for safety.

I know that 1 1000W heater is probably not the way to go. Not sure why I purchased it. Should I try and return it and buy two smaller ones? Not sure if I can return it, purchased it a little while ago online.

I would go with two 500W heaters connected to a controller to be set at a slightly higher temp to prevent the tank from over heating incase one gets stuck on which is a common failure for aquarium heaters.

I am thinking about buying eco rox from bulk reef supply. These are dry live rocks. I know these won't come with any of the pests, but does that mean that they won't come with any of the sponges or other neat things I like? Should I do a mix of these and wet live rocks? Would the dry rocks have to be cured or prepared in any way?

So, my next step is to build the sump. My question for this is that since the skimmer is going to be external, how large should I make the return section, refugium section, and overflow section. I assume this means I would be able to make the refugium larger right?

In my opinion you should make the fuge section as large as possible as it would be more effective. See my build log for to see what I did. Those are some of my ideas anyway and I am sure others will chime in.
 

The ball value above the return pump is not necessary since there is a drain plug located at the bottom of the pump. This will drain the water from the return lines when taking the pump off line for cleaning.

The pump will be an external pump. I had the ball valve above the pump to reduce the flow to the tank in case there wasn't enough from the overflow.

I would suggest that you and three disconnect unions on the three ball valves on your manifold as unless you open and close them on regular bases they will malfunction with build up. The unions would allow you to replace them if that happen. FYI that is what happened to the valves on my manifold.

I will add some unions to the ball valves on the manifold.


i would make the break for this circuit a ground fault type for safety.

I forgot to mention that the 20 amp is a GFCI.

I would go with two 500W heaters connected to a controller to be set at a slightly higher temp to prevent the tank from over heating incase one gets stuck on which is a common failure for aquarium heaters.

I think I will split it down to 2 different heaters.

In my opinion you should make the fuge section as large as possible as it would be more effective. See my build log for to see what I did. Those are some of my ideas anyway and I am sure others will chime in.


Anyone have any opinions on how large to really make the fuge. inch wise since the skimmer and pump are external. I will try to make the fuge larger.
 
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