Custom stand 210 gal build
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Main
Forum Name: Tank Threads
Forum Description: A place to show off your tank build.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=77912
Printed Date: April 23 2024 at 5:30pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Custom stand 210 gal build
Posted By: IronMonkey
Subject: Custom stand 210 gal build
Date Posted: October 14 2015 at 2:29pm
|
So I'm taking the prompting and uploading some pictures and such to show my progress on my new tank build. I have been away for a long time and just now getting back in. I have had great support along the way by my LFS (didn't find them until I had purchased a bunch of equipment but now buy all through them because of the great support). I had a problem with the first tank, it started separating at one of the corners and my LFS quickly got it changed out and replaced with a much better tank. On the stand, I went with Maple wood. I specifically made sure there were no braces or legs in the way of the bottom where all the gear is. Even later when you see the doors on, understand that the doors and their dividers all just unscrew and completely open the bottom area up. I can easily get a giant sump in and out of the storage area. It was my first stand I ever made but luckily it is pretty simple. I did make it considerably taller than many stands end up being because I really hate bending over to look at the tank :-) I'll give information and such along the way with these pics, feel free to ask anything! Thanks for taking a look! -Adam        |
Replies:
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 14 2015 at 2:35pm
Here are some more pictures showing the stand, sump and plumbing layout coming along. The entire bottom of the stand is waterproofed and sealed. It will hold about 30 gals of water before anything goes onto the floor.         |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 14 2015 at 3:06pm
And yet some more pics! these show the first tank that failed on first test fill. It was a marineland 220. Brad at The Aquarium ordered me a brand new Aqueon 210 and delivered it to me before marineland even agreed to warranty to one that failed. That was a level of service that I hadn't seen before.         |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 14 2015 at 7:53pm
I got smart(er) this time and got my own RODI system in place. On my previous tank, I can't tell you how often I missed water changes when they should have happened simply because I couldn't get water from the LFS. It also was horrible on stability because I didn't have good top off water. This way works WAY better!    |
Posted By: bstuver
Date Posted: October 14 2015 at 10:16pm
|
Nice build! Welcome! ------------- Jackie Stuver "wait these aren't the happy Hawaiians oompa doompa godly heaven on your face zoas? I dont want them then. lol!" Ksmart |
Posted By: Reefer4Ever
Date Posted: October 15 2015 at 4:17am
|
Really enjoyed this and am looking forward to the continuing saga. Nice job ------------- 90 gal reef w/refugium 24 gal softie tank 11 gal nano anemone tank 5 gal fresh water |
Posted By: Marcoss
Date Posted: October 15 2015 at 8:24am
|
That is an impressive stand! Nicely documented. What used to be in the IBC container? Looks dangerous! Ha. Marcos ------------- RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 15 2015 at 12:03pm
It was originally used to ship grain alcohol. I probably overdid it, but I probably washed it and dried it at least 25 times. Lehi's water department probably came by to see if there was a city line leak LOL
|
Marcoss wrote:Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 15 2015 at 1:50pm
Here are some more pictures. This now shows the replacement tank with my initial aquascaping in it. This started being the part where I was getting excited and wanted fish ASAP LOL.        
|
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 15 2015 at 4:04pm
|
I'm getting caught up to the current state of the this project! These are some of the pics from when I was laying out all the gear for it's permanent home in the stand. I tried to keep wiring and plumbing clean where possible. This was actually a really fun part of the build simply because I'm a bit of a fanatic around tech and gadgetry LOL!. In case you are wondering why the returns make the dramatic 90 degree turns right before the sump... it was actually intentional to slow the water down and reduce the noise coming from the sump as the water hits it.
        |
Posted By: DMower
Date Posted: October 15 2015 at 4:26pm
|
Looks good. I have one suggestion on the ATO tank. You will likely find that the 5 gallon jug doesn't last as long as you would like between refills. I used to have a 5 gallon ATO tank on mine. I'm much happier with 10 gallons. A cheap solution (approx $30-35 on ebay) is a 10 gallon RV water storage tank. It looks like there is enough room for it in the same spot, you would have to measure to be sure of course. The tanks measure 9.5 X 14 x 17 inches tall. The top of the tank is easily drilled to allow a opening big enough to work with. I drilled an approx three inch circle in mine so a rubber disposal cover can be used as a lid. ------------- 150 gal reef with 50 gal sump. Reef Octopus DCS-200 Skimmer. AI Sol Blues. |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 15 2015 at 5:33pm
|
That suggestion definitely speaks to me! I have been thinking I need more capacity there for sure. I just found what you mention on ebay and am indeed going to order it. Thanks for the suggestion sir. |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: October 15 2015 at 5:44pm
|
Super slick! You should be proud of that. Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 15 2015 at 8:30pm
Some of the final "build" elements coming together. This shows the mount I made for the UV light as well as the ventilation fans I added to the stand to keep air moving through it once the doors were hung in place.        |
Posted By: badfinger
Date Posted: October 15 2015 at 11:54pm
| What skimmer are you using |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 16 2015 at 12:18am
| The skimmer is a Vertex Alpha 200. That thing pulls so much crap out of the water (literally). |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 19 2015 at 8:30am
So, in my quest to simplify water changes, I built this little contraption this weekend. Started with a utility pump from Harbor Freight ($39.99) then spent another $35 on PVC fittings, and $22.00 on hose. The crazy valve switching do-hickey is so I don't have to switch lines or anything around between pumping in and pumping out water. I plan to now create a large incoming and outgoing reservoir so I'm not dealing with so many 5 gal jugs, but this worked very nicely even with all the jugs. I mixed up 5 5gal jugs of salt water and hd 5 waste jugs on hand. Once I started the process, it took about 8 minutes to change 25 gallons of water, and I didn't have a drop on the floor. Not too shabby I would say!        |
Posted By: Marcoss
Date Posted: October 19 2015 at 8:35am
|
That is awesome! A great way to change water if you cannot have a mixing station near by. So, that pump has to be plugged into a battery? Does the pump just take the water to a sink? Thanks! Marcos ------------- RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 19 2015 at 8:41am
| You can run the pump from a 12v car battery or a PSU. I just have a 20amp PSU that I connect the pump to for now until I finish building out the whole system. For this first iteration I just pump the waste water into jugs that I dump in a utility sink in the garage. |
Posted By: Marcoss
Date Posted: October 19 2015 at 8:48am
|
I'll have to pick your brain offline about this. I am tired of hauling the 45G Brute cans around. Its not bad to move them since they are on wheels, but they are a pain in the arse to dump. I get too lazy waiting for the pump to empty them so I kick them over and dump them out the quick way. How far will that pump go in terms of feet? Seems like a really good price! I Google'd a PSU, is that just a power bar? Marcos ------------- RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 19 2015 at 8:59am
|
Not sure how far the pump will push water but it is a beast. You can't hold your finger over the hose and stop it.I have a friend that used this pump to get several hundred gallons of water out of his basement into the storm drain in about 30 minutes (distance seemed to be about 100 feet). PSU is short for power supply unit. You can mod an old computer PSU to do this or buy a dedicated power supply, just needs to handle about 15 amps I think. Happy to discuss in person as well :-) |
Posted By: badfinger
Date Posted: October 19 2015 at 9:57am
| Won't the metal fittings on that pump leach bad stuff into the water? |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: October 19 2015 at 10:16am
| I'm no chemist, so I really don't know... but I run clear RODI before and after the change through the pump and the pump is not part of the permanent plumbing so it is not always in contact with the tank water. Only while pumping the new water in. Perhaps someone who knows more of chemistry could chime in with an opinion of the possible leaching problem??? |
Posted By: Marcoss
Date Posted: October 20 2015 at 6:04pm
|
Oh I see. You have rigged it into a power supply. I get it now; I'm not knowledgeable with electrical stuff at all. That's an insane amount of distance to travel! I like it. Thanks man! Marcos ------------- RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: November 05 2015 at 9:53pm
|
Just hit the 4 month mark on the tank and things seem to be moving along well. Have dealt with a nasty GHA outbreak, but powered through that. Doing 10% changes per week and working up to acros in a couple months. Really enjoying the tank and the amazing life it has in it. Thanks, -Adam
------------- Mixed Reef : 210G, Radion XR30Pros, Apex Gold, Vortech MP40QDs, GEO CR818 calc reactor, Apex DOS, Reeflo Dart pump, Vertex Alpha 200 skimmer, XF250 Gyre, twin Tunze nanostream 6095 |
Posted By: Marcoss
Date Posted: November 06 2015 at 8:37am
|
Looking good! I really like the bleeding apple bowerbanki (I think); one of my favorite corals. Marcos ------------- RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: February 19 2017 at 1:03am
|
I was talking to a fellow reefer (Marcoss) today and realized I hadn't provided any update on my tank in a long long time. I took a quick video tonight. Cell phone videos and LED lighting kind of suck together, but you'll get the idea. I have had a few missteps here and there, but largely have met with great success with the tank. I'm going to try and find a better way to capture a better video, but for now, you can check it out. ------------- Mixed Reef : 210G, Radion XR30Pros, Apex Gold, Vortech MP40QDs, GEO CR818 calc reactor, Apex DOS, Reeflo Dart pump, Vertex Alpha 200 skimmer, XF250 Gyre, twin Tunze nanostream 6095 |
Posted By: Scottyb
Date Posted: February 19 2017 at 10:28am
| Beautiful tank! |
Posted By: bstuver
Date Posted: February 19 2017 at 4:01pm
|
Gorgeous tank! ------------- Jackie Stuver "wait these aren't the happy Hawaiians oompa doompa godly heaven on your face zoas? I dont want them then. lol!" Ksmart |
Posted By: Marcoss
Date Posted: February 28 2017 at 1:15pm
|
It looks so good Adam! ------------- RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin |
Posted By: shaggydoo
Date Posted: February 28 2017 at 2:00pm
|
Looks amazing. Thanks for the update. ------------- 60g LPS Cube |
Posted By: Krazie4Acans
Date Posted: February 28 2017 at 2:15pm
|
Adam, What lighting schedule are you using with your lights? Is it an Ecotech schedule or a custom? ------------- My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63568&title=krazies-nano-paradise" rel="nofollow - Tank Thread: |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: February 28 2017 at 4:57pm
|
It is a custom schedule. I have had to tweak it a lot to get better behavior in the coral. The cycle is about 12 hours long, never gets real intense (overall setting never goes about 55%), has a specific period of high UV, generally is very low on white light but consistent coverage of it, and finally runs only about 60% of any relative setting for red and green light. It has been a long learning curve of trying, observing, reading, trying, etc... all while doing single and small changes at any one time LOL. Not perfect yet, but definitely working much better. Many of the SPS are now growing at a nice clip and are staying very colored up. I did almost kill my pectinia, but I think that was from alk swings, and it is finally filling back in. -Adam ------------- Mixed Reef : 210G, Radion XR30Pros, Apex Gold, Vortech MP40QDs, GEO CR818 calc reactor, Apex DOS, Reeflo Dart pump, Vertex Alpha 200 skimmer, XF250 Gyre, twin Tunze nanostream 6095 |
Posted By: Krazie4Acans
Date Posted: February 28 2017 at 5:24pm
|
I'm trying to find a schedule for mine as well. I'm currently running the SPS AB+ schedule but I run mine with my apex so I think the numbers are slightly different. Would you mind posting pictures of your schedule with the colors you use at each step? I think that would help me figure mine out a little more as well. ------------- My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63568&title=krazies-nano-paradise" rel="nofollow - Tank Thread: |
Posted By: IronMonkey
Date Posted: March 04 2017 at 9:50pm
|
Here you go, these are the settings I run on each of the Radion Pros, there are three of them spaced evenly across the 72 inches of tank width. They are about 9 inches from the water surface. Current growth on SPS is great and the colors look great. I've experimented a lot, but think I'm getting really close here based on coral responses. I'm no expert by any stretch, but have spent a lot of time trying to figure this puzzle out. I'm happy to share anything I can as long as you take as "further information" and then make your own calls LOL. -Adam          ------------- Mixed Reef : 210G, Radion XR30Pros, Apex Gold, Vortech MP40QDs, GEO CR818 calc reactor, Apex DOS, Reeflo Dart pump, Vertex Alpha 200 skimmer, XF250 Gyre, twin Tunze nanostream 6095 |