Deet's 150g Reef Build...

Well, the day has finally come to start a build thread on my 150 gallon reef project.
This will be my first "large" system, as I currently only have an IM10 reef tank...so this is quite the jump in size....which obviously means quite the jump in planning, time, and money.
It's been just about a year since I purchased the primary equipment (ie. Tank, sump, return pump) and have picked things up along the way as well. I also have yet to buy some small pieces of equipment as well (ie. Powerheads, ato..) but primarily I have all the equipment to get it started.

Equipment list..

150g high DT (drilled rear back left corner)
Eshoppes eclipse L overflow
Trigger Emerald 34 sump
Eflux return pump
Red sea c-skim1800 skimmer
Triton pump to feed skimmer
Radeon xr30 (x2)
Heaters (x3)
Plumbing materials

Now...I started with setting the plumbing up before I did anything else. After buying the skimmer, I realized that it was going to be slightly more complex to plumb, since the skimmer is MASSIVE and would not fit well enough in the sump chamber. I was going to have to run it externally, and feed it from a separate pump within the sump.

When I made enough room in the stand for the skimmer alongside the sump as opposed to IN the sump, this created an issue with the back brace of the stand, being smack in the middle of where the overflow plumbing would drain into the sump. I was going to have to get creative. So the plumbing is a combination of both rigid sch.40 and flexible tubing.

 

Now that the plumbing from the overflow has been "figured out", time to figure out the skimmer. The pump feeding the skimmer from the sump runs at "up to 850gph" so considering it only has to push water through about 2.5 feet of tubing, it's going to be a bit high for for the recommended 400gph for the skimmer....insert ball valve here....
Then returning the water back to the skimmer. Here lies another challenge, the skimmer will need to be raised between 4 to 6 inches in order for the return from the skimmer to be higher than the rI'm of the sump....I have 1x10 pine molding that will be cut into lengths to raise it 1" at a time...then I'll laminate the molding for rigidity, and to keep it from sliding on itself. (Have not gotten to this stage yet)

 

The next aspect I'm working on currently is the scape.

This has got to be the most frustrating part..lol
I was not about to spend a thousand bucks on rock (and manage to not get divorced). So I went with 160lbs of coral base dry rock. 40lbs of which is shelf rock, so at least I had some flat, smooth surfaces to work with if needed.
At first I tried the pile it and see method...which did not really give it the look I was going for, and had several suggestions from members in regards to keeping it from being too symmetrical, which was certainly good advice. Here is how it started.

 

Obviously, this scape wasn't going to work...just looked too....blah...and the JB water weld I was using was simply not going to cut it for what I was aiming for, aesthetically.

The next thing I tried, was to do the hole drilling, and fiberglass rod to pin rocks in place.
This was fairly easy, but the angle of the drill bit would never stay straight, thus creating difficult angles to match in the adjoining rocks. I feared the only way to do it with some success was to drill through multiple rocks at once, so they have a definite match on angle and the rods would then fit well in between them.
Drilling through 2 rocks at once horrified me, and I was not willing to turn all my rock into rock rubble attempting such a task.

Some of the pics of the holes and rods method.

Keep in mind, since the angles weren't great, at the point of these photos, some rocks were pinned together so strong from having to bend the rods that the nearly had to be broken to get in and out of place. And other rocks were held together by a prayer...lol
Needless to say, I was headed in the right direction, but still not satisfied and at ease with the solidity of the scape. I need more dramatics in the height, and the symmetry, or lack there of .

 

I needed a more sturdy approach, since I'm trying to get some height off of an already precarious structure...so I needed it to be rock solid.
I did some research and what people are using with success and there's a lot of "dont buy "x", you can get "z" from home depot for half the cost.....
But none of these options had definitive evidence or testimony in their favor for me to trust it. I mean, everybody knows everything on the internet is true, so I should have just trusted the stuff out there...but I must be a bit of a skeptic.
The biggest of these mysterious recommendations was hydraulic cement from big box home improvement stores. I read a lot of things about people having great success, and on the contrary a lot of stuff about it being a ph nightmare after you fill the DT with water. This was also something I wasn't willing to risk...I'm sure I'll have enough issues that happen naturally, I don't need to add to the mix with snake oil products that end up screwing me up after the fact.
I posted the question about the trustworthiness of hydraulic cement in my nano build thread, and my night in shining armor, Nart, swore by Emarco 400.
I did some research on it, and it certainly seemed like my best bet. Theres not much bad I can say about it, other than it sticks out like a sore thumb...but coraline will allegedly cover over it just as well as rock, so I'm ok with it knowing there's a point where it won't be so noticeable. (Sidenote: I did not see that there was a pink option until after I already had it. I didn't pick a color on brs, so maybe they just don't carry it...who knows..)

So I tear down the cave structure and start again using emarco....

I'm still in the process of building, I like to build a section, and let it get solid, before I try to add additional rock weight to it...but tgus far, here is what I've got....the top part of the "cave" I made using shelf rock, so I've got a flat surface to try to do something drastic from it, and have an even surface.

So from here I keep plugging away, and slowly building something I can enjoy...
I will update accordingly as things come together...

 

Very nice so far. Marco is a good product. What are your plans on the back glass?

 

I think I'm going to leave it black....painted from the outside...I tossed around the idea of putting a ledge on the back with silicone...but affraid it won't hold and catastrophe would ensue....

 

BRS sells a rock ledge that’s held with magnets that looks cool.

 

The magnet route definitely seems safER....but I'll see what it looks like after I'm done playing with rocks...just made another couple additions now that the cement is hard.....I'm working from left to right

 

I like that. Plenty of swim thru for the kiddies, and plenty of places to put corals.
Speaking of kiddies, have you thought about your stocking plans?

 

Very awesome! That top rock scape is going to be very nice once you start placing corals on it and letting it grow in. Great job.

 

I like that. Plenty of swim thru for the kiddies, and plenty of places to put corals.
Speaking of kiddies, have you thought about your stocking plans?

Haven't thought about stocking options yet...I'm sure itll be well stocked...lol.
I'm still trying to imagine just getting water in it for now..lol..baby steps.

 

Very awesome! That top rock scape is going to be very nice once you start placing corals on it and letting it grow in. Great job.

Yeah didnt turn out too bad on that side....I gotta start cracking some of those rocks on the other side and see what I can come up with...the only thing I know I want is the crescent shape cove....but don't know how it will end up....theres a lot of rock that can be broken up and used more creatively, I'm sure..

 

Did some more messing with the rock, now that the chaos of 4 year olds bday party and Thanksgiving planning....I still have to take a pause when thanksgiving comes...but made some minor adjustments...

 

That is really nice, wanna come do mine when I rescape mine?

 

That is really nice, wanna come do mine when I rescape mine?

That'd be a hard no....lol
This is exhausting...up and down off the ladder about a million times....build pieces, set pieces.....back up and down the ladder a million times....
Oh and have I mentioned I'm short and round with alligator arms? So then I can only reach the bottom of the tank (of course I buy a 150 high) if I stand on the top of the step ladder, and lean in the tank, with one foot up in the air...lol

 

So now this is where it stays....I can re do it a thousand times and never get it "perfect"...or at the very least, I would see some other option after it was all put together...
So this is perfect ENOUGH for me...

 

Made a video of it, pardon my tilting of the phone , you may have to watch it standing on your head to get the jist...

 

Nice job.

 

Latest update, I went solely based on reviews..which were surprisingly good....even with extended time period updates....
2 jaebo cp90 gyres will be arriving tomorrow....
I'm thinking this may be a better option than using regular powerheads for flow....and since it is such a large area, I can mount these horizontally or vertically to create a good pattern....I'll post some pics when they come in...but they have been reviews by many...and seem to be pretty good....granted they're no Mercedes of gyres....but they're also fairly inexpensive....so it's worth the gamble...heck even if they only last 2 years....they're cheap enough to buy again....

 

I have 3 of the jeboa gyres. Good stuff and when they fail I know where to find replacement transformer for $15 !
That is the part that usually fails on all Jeboa pumps ..I am using the replacement transformer on one of my WP 90 /DC 12,000 without issue.The older WP90 is still original and my pumps are years old ..
Figure if they can sell them to me for $15 then Jeboa probably buys $1 ones at the max ! Even buying replacement transformers I still love the price and features of their products .

 

I have 3 of the jeboa gyres. Good stuff and when they fail I know where to find replacement transformer for $15 !
That is the part that usually fails on all Jeboa pumps ..I am using the replacement transformer on one of my WP 90 /DC 12,000 without issue.The older WP90 is still original and my pumps are years old ..
Figure if they can sell them to me for $15 then Jeboa probably buys $1 ones at the max ! Even buying replacement transformers I still love the price and features of their products .

Yeah, I've read a lot of stuff out there about guys exclusively using jaebo without issue....I figure they wouldn't be in business if they were simply selling junk....its not necessarily a easy community to convince to buy garbage. It does, however, seem like a easy community to convince that everything MUST be ultra expensive. Which is just crazy to me.

 

They have arrived! We shall see what happens....I'm trying to figure out a way to get water in this thing...

 

Sweet. The waters the easy part. Hit the LFS if there is one.

 

The Lfs isn't so L.....
It's about 45 minutes away....to the closest saltwater store....I have a rodI unit and everything to make my own....but I can't come up with an easy way to get the water in the tank.
I've got a couple 58 gallon food grade plastic drums that had olives in them that I bought just for this reason....but I still have yet to rinse them out....and it's like 15 degrees here and I have no use of my garden hose outside.....the only other option would be bring the things into my basement, and rinse them out down there....and dump them down the main house drain....
The obstacle then is how to get the water up to the 1st floor from the basement to fill the tank....

What would be wonderful is if I could fill the tank with rodi.....then let it get up to temp...then add salt to correct level....then add sand.....buy I've read that's a less than stellar idea.....
I'm not trying to buy another pump for the 1 time I'm going to need to pump a large amount of water for the first fill

 

RO systems are under pressure when running.They will send water anywhere you can get it to .
By refrigerator water line and run the ro to the tank . Maybe even be thinking of an ATO in the sump with a float valve to replace evap ?

 

RO systems are under pressure when running.They will send water anywhere you can get it to .
By refrigerator water line and run the ro to the tank . Maybe even be thinking of an ATO in the sump with a float valve to replace evap ?

The ro water isn't the issue...its the mixed salt water that is going to be the challenge...I can run the rodI unit anywhere...but getting the mixed water into the tank is where I'm running into challenges. Unless of course I just do a 5G bucket a million times

 

Clean them barrels and fill and mix next to tank.Then just pump it in to tank..
I keep my Rubbermaid barrels on the wheeled carts!
I just set my gyres on a timer to shut off at night . The two[I have the 120 and 90] on a 120[4x2] even with rock piled up move the water around a bit.
going to see how the fish do like this . I do love the movement and have them both set on random ramp up of different durations .

 

I’ll give you some 5 gal buckets. lol. You only need 2, 1 for each hand.

 

Neighbor: "Hey, Barb, look what this idiot is doing now! Hes out there washing plastic barrels in 37 degrees!"


Finally had a day above freezing so the garden hose was thawed out.
I suppose I'll do it the right way and not half it....
One of them still has a hint of smell from olives....but the other is just fine....I risked with water....then bleached them with bleach/water mix.....then vinegar rinsed.....then rinsed another half dozen times....so I'm hoping once they dry in the basement, they will be good to go....
Worst case scenario, at least olives are organic material....so even the little smell shouldn't affect much...

 

Nice barrels ! I might laugh at my neighbors a little also ,but after 4 hours I went to put his front door in for him last January ! I was cold watching him from inside !
I would think you should be all good with the cleanings .If you think there is any odor or residue this is exactly what carbon is for ..
You could fill them and run carbon on them possibly ? I really don't think you need to but if issues arise that would be my next step.
good luck man. It went up to almost 40 here yesterday and today[from a low of 7] ,so we get rain instead of snow !

 

Nice barrels ! I might laugh at my neighbors a little also ,but after 4 hours I went to put his front door in for him last January ! I was cold watching him from inside !
I would think you should be all good with the cleanings .If you think there is any odor or residue this is exactly what carbon is for ..
You could fill them and run carbon on them possibly ? I really don't think you need to but if issues arise that would be my next step.
good luck man. It went up to almost 40 here yesterday and today[from a low of 7] ,so we get rain instead of snow !

Yeah...same here....it was a high of like 15 on friday...yesterday mid 30s....and today mid 40s! I'm breaking out my bikinI now...lol
Yeah I mean, it's going to be cycling for like a month anyway....but I'm not too worried...
I'm still trying to wrap my head around why the guy would need so many olives.....he had about 60 of these barrels.....
His only response when I asked that question was, "I really like martinis"
It was too great a line for me to call BS...

 

This should only take 3 or 4 weeks....
Holy smokes....

 

Get used to it. Takes me 4 days to do 20 gallons.

 

Looks like you have reasonable pressure .
I see you have dual TFC canisters [150GPD ?]..They usually need high pressure over 60psI min.
With improper pressure it will not only take longer but has the potential to waste a lot more water .Pressure is what makes it work .
I use a pump for mine I got from BRS . Along with a float valve and switch to turn on and off when I use water. Keeps barrel full for me .
That's a lot of martinis for sure !

 

It's the 90gpd system....with an additional 90gpd piggyback....essentially making it 180gpd.....pressure is not the problem....I can't open the valve all the way, if I do it goes over 100....so I throttle it to a hair under 80, because it says the max pressure for the membrane is 80....
The problem I see is that the water is just so cold.....so the 77 or whatever degrees its tested at is impossible to get...I'm not running a hot water line and dealing with adjusting the temp....

The bonus, is the previous homeowner, routed the garden hose around the water meter, lol, so I hopped into that line to feed the rodI unit..

 

I can usually do a 5 gallon bucket in about 45 minutes to an hour

 

I warm mine . They do say temp is important also . I have a mixing station just for fish water. I am a little carried away...80psI is all good !
Funny on the hose !

 

Ok, speaking of temp....
2 of my 3 heaters crapped out while sitting ....I wanted to start plugging them in to the barrels for mixing..and 2 of them keep tripping my breaker.....
So....
What's a reliable heater than won't make me mortgage my house....I see a bunch on brs that look great, but have VERY mixed reviews....
Heck, in my IM10 I have a cobalt neo therm, which I LOVE...but there's widely mixed reviews on that also on brs.....
So I'll take to the pros on here to see what I can pick up....I'd love a cobalt, but itll cost me 300 to heat the darn thing....

 

I use aqueon pros on all my Freshwater tanks but I hear they are changing.
My salt has no heater but when I got some wicked nice stuff from another guy he had some finnex titanium heaters[I think 300w] that heated better then any heater I have used .
I placed them side by side to my aqueon pros 300w in 32 g barrels before I had my mixing station and the titanium was at least twice as fast to get to same temp.
I like the looks of these ?