Marks...Back to the Future..Reef Aquarium

[Mark...]

Hi, I've been hanging around here at NJRC for a little while and recently joined. I've been waiting to pull the trigger on doing this tank, knowing the time, commitment and money it takes to do it right. Even with the tank in the garage right now I even hesitate, but finally have decided to push forward in a slow calculated manner. Months to a year.

As a middle aged geeky type person I have learned the journey sometimes is as much or more fun as the end result. With that said, I really enjoy learning and dissecting every issue. From equipment to live stock. I also love to wheel and deal in the shopping department! And I also tend to ask too many questions.

My Personal History As a kid I always had fresh water tanks at different stages of growing up. (I still haven't grown up btw, ask my wife and kids).
In the 80's when I finally had my own home the tanks returned. I had a nice 125 gallon salt water setup in the wall and ran it for many years with a fair amount of success. Compared to the technology now, it was the stone age. (Hence my Back to the Future thread title) I used under-gravel filters with air pumps, a hanging Superking filter, heater hanging in the corner, dolomite as a substrate. I bought the tank for $119, built the stand with 2x4's and 3/4 plywood. Used a $10 shop light with 4 foot aquarium bulbs. Used dead coral, lava rock which I still have in the basement. So for a couple of hundred dollars I had at the time a very nice tank. Oh and lots of green algae!

Myself and a close friend were even charter members of the Ocean County Aquarists Society. Here is a couple of pictures of the logo:

I don't think the club is around anymore. We had an editor from Tropical Fish Hobbyist as one of our leaders. Marshall Ostrow.

Fast forward to today. I'm in a different home, with Wife, 2 crazy Dachshunds and 3 boys with two being grown up. Have one 2 year old Grandson. And now I'm thinking of doing a nice tank in my home office. I was going to wait a few years to put this together as I got closer to retirement...but with the bug...how can I wait 6-7 more years? I find the new equipment options fascinating and expensive. It like being a mad scientist.

Oh and if I can sell my piano, I can get an even bigger tank (as per the wife) and put it in my living room. Peninsula? Anyone want to buy a nice grand piano?

Today: I'm in the planning stages. I've spent months looking at tank options and then found this gem:

Its a 7 year old 180 gallon, but never setup. Came with an Ocean Motion 4(which I have since sold) and a new 6 year old pump that has also never been used. If I sell the piano, I'll make the tank a sump or frag tank...lol Here is the pump:

I'm trying to sell this also, but may decide to use it. Not sure.

My tank vision: If I use the acrylic tank as my DT, I want to make it as if it has a rimless look and feel as possible. I want it to be clean and efficient as well as artsy. I will attempt to have as small environmental impact as possible. Both in equipment and reef life. LED lights and DC pumps, if they can do a proper job in a basement sump. I really don't want my electric going to the moon. I hope to have Hockynut build my stand with his sharp light hanging bars. Just have to decide what tank I will use. I also need to make sure I have no water disasters up stairs.

I have concerns about my well water and just bought the BRS 75g plus 5 stage ro/di unit. I have some CO2 issues to work out as well as other setup questions. But that can wait.

I'm pretty good in the fish department, but totally new in the coral arena. So that should be fun learning.

So this is my initial build thread post to get things started, hope it wasn't too much. I have tons of research and questions, so if I over do it, pm me to shut up...

Oh, and my grammar tends to be pretty bad, so hang it there or is it their or they're... damn...

Mark...

 

[Juano908]

Sounds really good Mark, looking forward to see your project became true.

 

[hcker99]

Nice. Looks like your on the right path.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Mark, after reading through that, the "plan" is pretty vague (at least to me, maybe not to you) as far as what you're looking to accomplish, but I do have a couple suggestions that I think you should include in your planning:

1. Canopy - Since you stated you plan to go with LED's, I would like to suggest you consider also building a canopy to match your stand. I'm sure Rob (Hockeynut) would like to smack me in the back of the head for saying that, but here me out.

With LED's, they tend to work best when they are between 12" - 16" above the water surface in order to get the best spread spectrum. This is due to the cone nature of the LED lights and it takes a short distance for each bulb type to overlap to get the full spectrum. If you have them too close to the surface, the upper part of the tank will have a spotlight effect. The different lens angles available will affect the optimal distance required, so it may take a bit of experimenting to find the right height, but the point is that the LED's will likely be above your tank at least a foot when all is said and done.

Since the fixture will be that high above the top of your tank, there is a good chance it will spillover. What I mean is, the light will penetrate between the fixture and the top rim of the tank, all the way around. This can either cause a blinding issue when you look directly at it... or, it can really brighten up the room around your tank. At night it may make the whole room glow blue!

But, if you house the fixture(s) in a canopy, it will block the spillover beams of light and prevent both of those problems. Also, if you paint the interior white, it may even reflect a small amount back into the tank instead of being lost/wasted energy.

2. Well water / CO2 issue - This is a pretty common issue actually when it comes to well water. From what I've heard, you can help counter the CO2 problem by filling up a large barrel of well water and let it sit overnight with a strong powerhead in there to circulate it. This should help remove most of the CO2. Then, you use a booster pump from the barrel to the RO/DI unit the next day.

I have not tried this myself, but have heard that this really works. By doing this, it should help cutdown on the DI resin usage and save you a lot of money from not having to replace that media so much.

Talk to Don (Tazmaniancowboy) about this or search for his posts on the subject as he has this problem too and has done a lot of research on it.

Anyway, hope that helps you out or at least gives you something else to consider. It's always better to find out about possible issues before it's too late.

 

[Mark...]

Mark, after reading through that, the "plan" is pretty vague (at least to me, maybe not to you) as far as what you're looking to accomplish, but I do have a couple suggestions that I think you should include in your planning:

1. Canopy - Since you stated you plan to go with LED's, I would like to suggest you consider also building a canopy to match your stand. I'm sure Rob (Hockeynut) would like to smack me in the back of the head for saying that, but here me out.

With LED's, they tend to work best when they are between 12" - 16" above the water surface in order to get the best spread spectrum. This is due to the cone nature of the LED lights and it takes a short distance for each bulb type to overlap to get the full spectrum. If you have them too close to the surface, the upper part of the tank will have a spotlight effect. The different lens angles available will affect the optimal distance required, so it may take a bit of experimenting to find the right height, but the point is that the LED's will likely be above your tank at least a foot when all is said and done.

Since the fixture will be that high above the top of your tank, there is a good chance it will spillover. What I mean is, the light will penetrate between the fixture and the top rim of the tank, all the way around. This can either cause a blinding issue when you look directly at it... or, it can really brighten up the room around your tank. At night it may make the whole room glow blue!

But, if you house the fixture(s) in a canopy, it will block the spillover beams of light and prevent both of those problems. Also, if you paint the interior white, it may even reflect a small amount back into the tank instead of being lost/wasted energy.

2. Well water / CO2 issue - This is a pretty common issue actually when it comes to well water. From what I've heard, you can help counter the CO2 problem by filling up a large barrel of well water and let it sit overnight with a strong powerhead in there to circulate it. This should help remove most of the CO2. Then, you use a booster pump from the barrel to the RO/DI unit the next day.

I have not tried this myself, but have heard that this really works. By doing this, it should help cutdown on the DI resin usage and save you a lot of money from not having to replace that media so much.

Talk to Don (Tazmaniancowboy) about this or search for his posts on the subject as he has this problem too and has done a lot of research on it.

Anyway, hope that helps you out or at least gives you something else to consider. It's always better to find out about possible issues before it's too late.

Thanks for the nice replies everyone!

Tanksandstuff, I'll heard about issues on the lights bleeding over, but really want the modern clean look. The Evergrow 32" LEDs have 90 degree optics and I'm hoping they wont be too bad. I'm going to at least try to go without the Canopy and if its bad, always go back and change things up.

I let a glass of my water sit for 24 hrs and using my pool ph kit, it went from 6.8 to 7.6. so bubbling action should be even better. Just have to devise a system. My BRS ro/di just showed up today in fact.

And you are right, my plan isn't quite locked in yet. I'm kind of building up supplies before I set the plan in motion.

Thanks again...

 

[spotter]

Hey Mark....nice start to the build. Thats a great looking tank you go there. As far as using DC pumps from the basement I dont think they have enough power to push that high up. I might be wrong but I think I read the max head on DC12000 is 19ft so it might be close. Anyway, I am looking forward to watching this develop.

 

[Mark...]

Hey Mark....nice start to the build. Thats a great looking tank you go there. As far as using DC pumps from the basement I dont think they have enough power to push that high up. I might be wrong but I think I read the max head on DC12000 is 19ft so it might be close. Anyway, I am looking forward to watching this develop.

Steve! I forgot this was your home base after talking with you on reef central.

I read the Diablo 10500 could handle up to 19ft of head, but heard the flow wasn't too great, so its a concern. I really want to keep the electric under control...

Do you think the pump I showed in this thread could do the job? It's 180g tank with 10-12ft of head? It's a new pump but 6 years old. I called the manufacture and they believe its equal to the Barracuda. Here is the sticker on it:

And thoughts how much of a electrical piggy it might be too?

 

[spotter]

Is there a model number? reef central has a head loss calculator on the home page and you can chose from the sequence pumps. The model numbers range from 2400 to 6000. If you know the model number you can play with the calculator. If it is equal to a barracuda then it will be plenty pump for you and will definitely do the job. It might even be too big since they say the barracuda needs 15 ft min static head to function properly.

 

[Mark...]

Is there a model number? reef central has a head loss calculator on the home page and you can chose from the sequence pumps. The model numbers range from 2400 to 6000. If you know the model number you can play with the calculator. If it is equal to a barracuda then it will be plenty pump for you and will definitely do the job. It might even be too big since they say the barracuda needs 15 ft min static head to function properly.

I'll check...sounds like this is too much and the dc is too weak.

 

[Hockeynut]

Hey mark nice start. Unfortunately I think most wells here in Jackson have high Co2. You just need an extra brute with an air stone over night then through the DI and your good to go. Every gallon I make is done that way otherwise I burn out resin in a couple gallons maybe 90 or 100 after bubbling it lasts for months.

 

[Mark...]

Hey mark nice start. Unfortunately I think most wells here in Jackson have high Co2. You just need an extra brute with an air stone over night then through the DI and your good to go. Every gallon I make is done that way otherwise I burn out resin in a couple gallons maybe 90 or 100 after bubbling it lasts for months.

I know we spoke of this before but do you bubble before the ro or after? I didn't realize you could split up the treatment. Have to check that part out. I just got the BRS 75 ro/di plus.

 

[kschweer]

I know we spoke of this before but do you bubble before the ro or after? I didn't realize you could split up the treatment. Have to check that part out. I just got the BRS 75 ro/di plus.

I would bubble the water after running it through all stages besides the DI. Doing it this way you will not have to bubble as much water. RO systems have a pretty high rejection rate, usually 4:1. So to make 50 gallons of RODI water you would need to bubble about 200 gallons of water and then run it through your rodi system. If you run it through all stages besides the DI first you will only need to collect and bubble 50 gallons of RO water.

 

[Mark...]

I would bubble the water after running it through all stages besides the DI. Doing it this way you will not have to bubble as much water. RO systems have a pretty high rejection rate, usually 4:1. So to make 50 gallons of RODI water you would need to bubble about 200 gallons of water and then run it through your rodi system. If you run it through all stages besides the DI first you will only need to collect and bubble 50 gallons of RO water.

That makes great sense! I just opened the ro/di and now see its in two sections. I'll do it that way. I guess a 32 gallon Brute might be too small...

 

[Mark...]

I know Downbeach and Hockynut were talking about the Bubble magus protein skimmesr being a solid skimmer at a great price point. I just found a lightly used Bubble magus 180ex protein skimmer.

Do you think it would work well with a 180g tank, large 70-150 sump (half filled) and possibly a 100g frag combo?

 

[spotter]

It's not a bad start but I think its best to over skim and based on the rating you will reach capacity pretty quickly. It might not be a bad way to start but you'll need to upgrade down the road.

 

[Hockeynut]

Yea mark I run through all stages of ro then bubble then through DI, with a booster pump. It works well for me I bubble my water the whole week(not that a have to) it just works out that way this way I always have water in both stages ready

 

[Mark...]

It's not a bad start but I think its best to over skim and based on the rating you will reach capacity pretty quickly. It might not be a bad way to start but you'll need to upgrade down the road.

I guess this skimmer could get me through a couple of years. Thanks!

 

[downbeach]

I know Downbeach and Hockynut were talking about the Bubble magus protein skimmesr being a solid skimmer at a great price point. I just found a lightly used Bubble magus 180ex protein skimmer.

Do you think it would work well with a 180g tank, large 70-150 sump (half filled) and possibly a 100g frag combo?

I saw this brand new for $225.00, so even with the Atman pump I think it'd be a good investment.

http://seaaquatics.com/products/bubble-magus-bm-180ex

 

[Mark...]

Yea mark I run through all stages of ro then bubble then through DI, with a booster pump. It works well for me I bubble my water the whole week(not that a have to) it just works out that way this way I always have water in both stages ready

It's the way I will go too. How big of Brute are you using? I have my sights on a food grade 32g....and hope it's big enough.

 

[Mark...]

I saw this brand new for $225.00, so even with the Atman pump I think it'd be a good investment.

http://seaaquatics.com/products/bubble-magus-bm-180ex

WOW...! Thanks Downbeach!!...that is an even better deal...I guess the Atman pump isn't highly rated? Heard it was loud. Anyone know the watts?