Zoolan's 135 Oceanic Build (1 Viewer)

[zoolan70]

First, some pics of it in its current 'not at my house yet' stage

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I'm sorry if those pics are too big...let me know if they are, please.

So, I went and looked at it last night, and put down a payment to hold it. I think it is a good deal, but I guess we will see once I get it home and clean it up.

The big parts it comes with:

135G Oceanic Tank - seals look good, no cracks or scratches that I can find. It has weird overflows (square rather than 1/4 circles) that cut into the tank a bit, but nothing I can't work around.

Cherry stand and canopy - Nothing special, but looks nice and matches the tank.

Live Rock - Looks nice to me. I don't know what kind it is, but maybe some of you can help me out. It is 8 years old, but had no pests that I could see. I did see some white puffy things that looked like tiny marshmallows...sponges maybe? Should I acid-bath it, or try to keep it along. CrayonBreaker was nice enough to offer to hold it for me in the tanks at the store until I am ready to put it all back together.

Wet/Dry filter in the cabinet - 20 gallon tank with bio-tower. Probably going right to the trash man, unless there is a reason to keep it. Thoughts?

Skimmer - Pump may be bad. 8 years old, I'm guessing it is. No marking on it that I could see in a quick inspection. Is it worth keeping a skimmer that old? He said it was top of the line when he bought it, and it worked great for him until the pump stopped working a few months ago.

U/V filter - didn't even see it, so no idea the shape it is in. I'm guessing it will need a new bulb.

R/O unit - Needs new cartridges I think. They are on well water and they were VERY orange. He said he just checked the R/O membrane and it was ok. Here is the unit, I think - http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4395+4453&pcatid=4453

29 gallon QT tank and stand - 2 HOB filters for it.

And all of his other stuff...

Soooooooo...

First thing, I need to build a sump. I really like this design of Model G, and I'd like to go as long as reasonable. Anyone good with acrylic that wants to help me build it? If not, I'm thinking I could do this design in a 40 breeder. I also like the way it is plumbed (see bottom pictures for sump F) , with both drains going into a common manifold and a gate valve to set the volume of water going into the fuge.

Style G <------------> Style F

Thoughts on my situation / plan so far?

Thanks!

Tim

 

[zoolan70]

Lighting - Something like this:

http://www.aquariumpros.com/p-CUR1044,LFmh.html

I was thinking of using 3X150W bulbs, but from other reading it seems like that may not be enough with a 24 inch deep tank. Thoughts?

 

[Becky]

tek lights are awesome

 

[zoolan70]

Do you think that 150X3 is enough light? I can go to 250 if we need to, but it would help my heat control as well as my electric bill if I don't need to. I'm not planning on an all SPS tank, but I would like to be able to do clams and some SPS at some point.

 

[Chem Guy]

I'm jealous, I can't wait until I have a house and can have an aquarium larger than 30 gallons!

As far as Live rock, if you don't see any aiptasia or major algae, I wouldn't acid wash it. It doesn't look like there are any corals to host the truly bad pests. Plus, starting a tank with established live rock will make your cycle go much faster.

If the rest of the skimmer looks good, I'd look into finding a new pump. Pumps are the only moving parts on skimmers, the rest is just plastic housing.

I would definitely replace all the RO/DI filters, even the RO membrane. It would suck to have a problem with water quality from the beginning because of a used RO membrane.

Melev's Reef is an awesome site, you're golden with going with any of his designs.

That's my 2 cents!

 

[zoolan70]

So...when are you coming over to help me build my sump?

 

[Chem Guy]

If you've got a table saw and a router, I'd be happy to help! After trying an acrylic project with a dremel tool and a utility knife, I've vowed never to do acrylic again without the proper tools.

 

[zoolan70]

OK...weekend update time...

Everything made the move smoothly and unbroken. OD is holding my live rock.

A few equipment issues now that I've had a chance to go through it all. Final counts:

2 Mag-Drive 7 pumps. One works great, the other is noisy, but seems to pump fine. I gutted it and cleaned it, but still noisy, so I'm guessing it needs a new impeller / magnet insert.

Euro-reef skimmer with Sedra KSP-5000 pump. The pump is totally locked up...soaking all day in vinegar didn't help. I am looking at replacing it, I guess.

RO unit - totally shot. Replacement pending.

29 gallon sump tank with wet/dry tower. Keeping the tank...anyone want the wet/dry tower?

20 gallon quarantine tank, with power filter. Power filter is dead (anyone seeing a trend yet). I have some external HOB filters from other projects, so I'll use one of those.

Main tank and start are in good shape. Cleaned up well. The stand needs some TLC, but just in terms of the finish. Does anyone have a good product I can use to clean it up and shine it up?

Next project is replumbing the furnace room and prepping everything for the move to the basement. :beerchug:

I will post some pics of the gear tomorrow.

Tim

 

[zoolan70]

Engineering Update 11/18/2009

I have my plumbing plans all worked out, I think. Water supply plan:

I'm planning on having my top-off container under the tank, directly connected to the RO/DI unit. I know that isn't best practice, but in the event that the top-off gets stuck on, it can only drain the 5-gallon container quickly, and then it will take hours to make more. I need to make the tank semi-self-sufficient (beyond feedings) for times that I travel. I'm thinking of designing some sort of alarm that will detect if the pump is on for more than a few minutes and will email me...

The other 'unique' thing I'm thinking of is the single PVC pipe for both draining and filling the tank during water changes. Depending on how you set the valves, the water either pumps out of the tank to the drain, or from the mixing container back into the tank. The distance is probably 60 feet, but very little vertical change, so I'm thinking the Mag-Drive 7 should be fine.

I have 1-inch drains and 3/4 returns. I want to drop both returns into a 1-1/2 inch 'manifold' with drains into the skimmer chamber, and the fuge. The drain to the fuge will have a gate valve to slow the water to a nice gentle flow, and the rest will dump down the unrestricted drain into the skimmer section.

I'll be using unions under each bulkhead, and on each of the pumps. Are there other places I should be adding them?

The returns will be via 2 separate pumps, a Mag-Drive 7 and a OceanRunner 2500. That's a total of 664 g/h at a 6-foot head. I'm thinking that should be adequate. Each pump will be connected with unions and a small section of rubber tubing to help vibration.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Tim

 

[AsianReef]

Good plan. Good luck on building it :beerchug:

 

[kvmn]

look like you are building big tank with that water supply plan and you must have a big room for it,goodluck post more picture
what is bucket filling station for?

 

[zoolan70]

I have a 29 gallon Biocube upstairs that I need to manually haul water to, so the filling station will let me fill the 5-gallon container I use from the main 29-gallon mixing tank. I hope to keep the 29 full all of the time, and ready to go, in case of emergency (though 29 isn't much help if the 130 crashes!)

 

[zoolan70]

Well, after a large debit card purchase, my supplies are on their way. Lighting, RO/DI unit, a lot of plumbing parts...let the fun begin!

 

[kvmn]

can't wait to see picture,,,we all love picture

 

[JELP]

Looking awesome! Can't wait to see it progress!:biggthumpup:

 

[zoolan70]

As promised, some pictures of the mess in my garage...

The tank and canopy, cleaned and ready to go downstairs

My son Tyler cleaning and polishing the stand

That's it for now. Still waiting for OD to call me back and schedule a time to move it to the basement.

Does anyone have a recommendation on a way to cover some nicks in the finish? I have a 'wood repair kit' with brown markers, but this is definitely a reddish finish.

I'm really hoping I can get it plumbed and tested this weekend. With the luck I've had with the rest of the equipment I got in this deal, if I hadn't see the tank hold water before I bought it, I'd be afraid it would leak...

 

[jwedll]

Home depot sells little wood putty and fillers. That might be the route to go unless you want to sand down and refinish it. Personally i like all my cabinets to have the same stain color and finish.

 

[brendondreher]

I always use the markers at work. If they are small nicks the markers should do fine. Between the "golden oak", "red mahogany", "cherry" markers and a black sharpie I've never had a problem. The markers blend really well. There are also fillers that are more like a soft crayon. I've never used em but from what I've heard they are supposed to be good too.

 

[zoolan70]

New toys are here! Well, some anyway. The new RO/DI unit is installed and making water:

35 Gallon holding tank:

Today is plumbing day...

 

[zoolan70]

Progress!

Got a lot of the plumbing done this weekend. I think I only had 2 extra trips to home depot. I still need one more coupling before I can call it 'done', but I'm close! I think a freshwater test will be in order this week.

Overflow and return fittings. Unions used to facilitate removal in case of leakage or other issues.

Drain manifold temporarily in place.

I added a union to the middle of the manifold after discovering that removing it as one piece wasn't possible. Oops.

Gate valve to control the flow into the 'fuge.

I also did the baffles for the sump. Not nearly the mystery I thought it would be. I ended up getting a piece of scrap acrylic from Something Fishy for the 'fuge end, and bought 1/4 inch Lexan at Home Depot for the others. It bows a little bit, but nothing I'm concerned about. $7 for enough to make 2 baffles. If flex was a huge concern, I'm sure you could double them up.

Also, I cut all of it using an acrylic knife. Breaks were not perfect, but close.

Installation of the second baffle in the bubble trap. I used CD cases for spacing, and to help keep everything square.

For the 'fuge end, I used the heavier acrylic because I needed to cut teeth into the top of the baffle. Cutting this was a bit more interesting. I ended up using a Dremel with a cutting blade to cut slices into the panel, then snapping out every other one. The end result is very functional, but looks like it was done by a drunk monkey.

And the finished product:

Drunk Monkey Baffle (patent pending)