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View Full Version : Scott's 7ft (+3ft) Reef Tank Adventure



Bishop
12-07-2005, 05:01 PM
I found a bit of a bargain locally on eBay and want to use it as a test bed for a whole heap of marine experiments. Weird size at 7ft x 1.5ft x 2ft so will lend itself to a see through wall tank separating my breakfast and rumpus rooms.

Hopefully I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.

This is going to be a long term project (I don't expect to have any livestock in it until April 2006) so grab yourself some popcorn, sit back and watch the drama unfold!

mopecula
12-07-2005, 05:40 PM
If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean by marine experiments? That is a very big reef tank it will look very nice as an in wall/room divider like you plan. Awesome that it is wide also cause it will give you plenty of space to do whatever type of rock scape you like. Hey I am along for the ride. I love watching a tank come together.

Rob
12-07-2005, 10:03 PM
yes, me to, sounds liek this is goign to be aa great one to watch..

thanks for contributing

Bishop
12-09-2005, 08:50 AM
Well the first was buffing glass, which so far has been very successful (see the reviews section for a teaser).

Next will be DIY live rock which I started a few weeks ago and will soon post the results of (with pics and pH data).

Third is a new one I'm looking at which will be a PC-based data logger for pH, temp and salinity. We monitor -everything- in my other hobby (robotic astronomy) so that one should be a simple carry over.

I'm about to put up the initial pics of the tank after being dumped at the house. Stay tuned!

Bishop
12-09-2005, 09:09 AM
http://www.talkingreef.com/albums/album04/day_0.jpg

mopecula
12-09-2005, 11:31 AM
Looking good so far!! Oh I see what you mean now, good luck with everything! I think setting up the tank is most of the fun. Keep up the good work! :D

mopecula
12-18-2005, 10:26 AM
Hi Bishop,
Any new updates? I have to ask with such a large tank do you have plans to reinforce the floor underneath the tank?

Bishop
12-19-2005, 03:23 AM
Out with the old...

The new stand is well underway, I spoke to a chippie about the load bearing requirements and he says - 'All Good!'

The design is simple enough and remarkably strong, there are still a few supports to go in at the front after a design change. I think you'll all like what we settled on.

http://www.talkingreef.com/albums/album04/Day_1.jpg

Bishop
12-22-2005, 07:01 AM
Well it's been a couple of days since the last update, so here's four shots of the progress made.

This is two day's work on the stand, but at least now it's mounted. Still to do are:

1. Final finish and paint.

2. Two level glass shelving and spot-lighting under.

3. Suspended hood with 3 x 150W 20K HQI's above the tank.

The last item will require a sparky to be legal, and I won't need the lights in for at least two months while the coraline grows, so it light be a while before you see them up.

Enjoy!

http://www.talkingreef.com/albums/album04/Day_2_1.jpg
http://www.talkingreef.com/albums/album04/Day_2_2.jpg
http://www.talkingreef.com/albums/album04/Day_3_1.jpg
http://www.talkingreef.com/albums/album04/Day_3_2.jpg

mopecula
12-22-2005, 09:47 AM
Looking good. I like how the stand came out. What kind of wood did you use inside the stand?

Bishop
12-22-2005, 03:24 PM
The frame is 70 x 35mm M12 structural pine. Pretty standard stuff, used primarily for framing studs. The two central columns are 70 x 70mm Tasmanian Oak. I chose this wood purely for aesthetics as I was going to stain them.

After thinking about it though, I decided that painting them the same colour as the walls would look a whole lot better.

The internal panels I think you are asking about is a 3mm Tassie Oak veneer, easy to work with, cheap and looks the business.

Here's a closeup of the fiddly stuff to give you a better look...

http://www.talkingreef.com/albums/album04/Day_3_3.jpg

Bishop
12-30-2005, 04:07 AM
Well, obviously a bit of a slow down over the Christmas break, especially with my folks staying with us.

Today I got back into it and lined the sump enclosure with 15mm marine ply and also put the DOWNLIGHTS in the shelving area under the tank.

A buddy who works in the perspex industry is cutting up some 10mm acrylic that has the same green tint to the tank glass and is normally used as display cabinet material where glass isn't an option - perfect for the shelves.

Only one pic today - LIGHTS ON!

http://www.talkingreef.com/albums/album04/Lights_In.jpg

Next update will be the detail of the sump and the beginning of the plumbing. See my question re: protein skimmer placement in the filtration forum.

Scott.

Rob
12-30-2005, 03:06 PM
looks good..
i like how you have done the lights under the tanks... looks real cool

gwen_o_lyn
12-30-2005, 06:59 PM
i like ho you have dont the lights under the tanks...

Rob- Did you start your New Year's Partying a little early!?!?!? he he

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/8/8_9_6.gif ('http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008_ZSYYYYYYCRUS')


Looks Great Scott!!!

Rob
12-30-2005, 07:49 PM
lol.. com on gwen.. you know i cant type....lol

Bishop
01-02-2006, 08:47 PM
OK Rob, you've caused me to make a serious design change to this whole system. After MUCH consideration, research and a single coin-flip I've decided to take your (and gwen_o_lyn's) advice and pull the wet/dry trickle filter from the equation.

What does this mean? Well, for a start there is now going to be a 3ft tank in the current void at the left of all my pictures, housing a lit refugium. This will be a caulerpa tank with some live rock, which will drain down to the new under-bench live rock sump.

One question... is there a need for lighting in the live rock tank underneath? I know I'll be getting some life on the rock that would need light, but can a sump still work fine if it has none?

Rob
01-02-2006, 08:55 PM
check out this post.
i discussed this there
http://www.talkingreef.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=137

in short, live rock in a sump does not "require" to be lite, but could anythign that may grow "on" the live rock would benifit from it being lit.

that said you do not need to go crazy with sump lighting... a small PC light from the hardware store is usually more than enough, adn can be aquired rather cheaply.

Rob
01-02-2006, 08:59 PM
one other thing,
personally, i hink you will be much happier with a good fuge over the wet/dry system.

i know i have one, but its kind of small, i have been starting to plan for a big upgrade to my fuge.

another great thing about them is that they are a great food source for your herbivore fish..
you can pull some macro algae out of there, and feed it to your fish.. they love it.

raermo
01-04-2006, 10:09 PM
Looks great, keep the posts coming. What's the one creature that you have to have for this tank? Everyone that sets up a big tank seems to have one creature usually a fish that they have to have. - Rachel

Bishop
01-05-2006, 07:18 PM
Has to be a Flame Hawk (Neocirrhites Armatus).

Most amazing attitude of any fish I've ever seen in the right environment.

Scott.

raermo
01-05-2006, 08:16 PM
Very smart fish, more of a pet fish than most. Watches your every move. Good Luck with tank - Rachel

Bishop
01-08-2006, 06:19 PM
O.K. so the redesign has been done, and now I have THREE tanks to worry about! :)

I've taken everyone's advice and purchased two additional tanks, one 3ft that will be a refugium off to the side of the main display tank (LR, Caulerpa and maybe some interesting crabs or something) and a 2ft sump tank that will sit directly under it out of sight and only hold a skimmer and the return pumps.

I'll be picking them up later in the week and once installed I'll post some pics.

Also, you may see in the reviews section that I recently got my hands on a Fadtech digital pH meter - VERY cool.

gwen_o_lyn
01-08-2006, 10:07 PM
Sounds good Scott- look forward to the pictures!!

Bishop
01-10-2006, 03:48 AM
Here are some shots of the test fit of the refugium...

Bishop
01-11-2006, 05:16 AM
Well, today I test filled the tank to check the silicon and new seals. It's been filled for a few hours and the stand hasn't collapsed, so we look like we're OK!

I also picked up the new 24 x 12 x 18 sump which you can just see under the 3ft refugium.

Scott.

Bishop
01-17-2006, 12:22 AM
The SCWDs arrived today and so now I guess it's time to finish the plumbing for the closed loops.

I must say I wasn't that impressed with the flow through the SCWDs from 1000lph pumps - maybe I'm asking a bit much. I've got them running on 20mm PVC tubing, which appears to give a switching speed of about 12 seconds per outlet.
Tonight I'll grab some images for you all and actually measure how much flow is really coming out of the system.

On a more positive note, the 240v wiring for the HQIs is done, meaning I'm now ready to get the sump and refugium up and running.

Yippee!

Scott.

gwen_o_lyn
01-17-2006, 11:42 AM
Sounds great Scott- look forward to the pictures!!

mopecula
01-18-2006, 05:21 PM
Hey Scott, those squids are not really worth the money, IMHO. they put a lot of back pressure on the pump and break down eventually.

Bishop
01-18-2006, 05:26 PM
Thanks for the heads up. Well, I've got four of them, two are in at the moment.

I measured the turnover this morning and out of my HETO 1000lph pumps, I'm getting a switching time of 12 seconds with a turnover of about 2300ml per cycle - around 700lph.

It's interesting that you say they break down... is it from personal experience? I've got a friend who has been running them on 4000lph pumps for about 7 months without any issues.

Scott.

Rob
01-18-2006, 06:37 PM
i havent had mine running that long, a month or so, and while i agree that the total output is slightly lower, i have found that the overall advantage of having it has been great....

mopecula
01-18-2006, 09:03 PM
yes i used one and if you have stuff like snails reproducing , being smal stuff gets in and stops them from working. do a search on rc and you will see some others haave had this issue but I am speaking from experience mostly.

gwen_o_lyn
01-18-2006, 11:42 PM
Here are some reviews on the scwds...

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_optReviewReadExec.asp?idProduct=3Q1111&description=SCWD+Wavemaker+%2D+Switching+Current+W ater+Director+%28Squid%29

Rob
01-19-2006, 12:09 AM
overall it looks like there good products, but like EVERYTHING, they require maintenance and cleaning...

i have yet to see anything that doesnt require mainenance or cleaning...

Bishop
02-07-2006, 04:01 AM
No, I haven't given up or had any disasters... just really busy and the Caulerpa tank has been cycling.

I've got loads of critters emerging in the 3 footer, now that the N02 levels have fallen back. I think in a week or so it will be time for the first fish.

Photos to come!

Rob
02-07-2006, 10:31 AM
awesome
and welcome back bishop.. :)

Scott
02-07-2006, 11:16 PM
Those pics look great....love the size of the tank, fuge, and sump! Would love to have a tank like that one day. :mrgreen:

kj_yoda
02-13-2006, 06:30 PM
That looks awesome.

mopecula
02-19-2006, 10:43 AM
Tank is looking good!!

jeepjon
02-19-2006, 06:32 PM
I have to say I think most of the images are gone, but I saw a few. The tank is a GREAT idea. Cool to be able to divide the room with the reef. Really makes for some great decorating ideas (in the tank and in the room!). Cool shaped tank, too! It would be a bugger to circulate, though! That long...would be a pain! Sounds like you're enjoying this, and we're enjoying the ride, living vicariously through your tank!
-Jon

V
09-16-2006, 09:20 AM
our brissy boy bishop has dropped off the face of the planet!
months of inactivity, hope one of his animals didn't eat him!
shoot him an email master rob if u please & see whats shaken

gwen_o_lyn
09-16-2006, 04:50 PM
Thanks BB, I just sent him an email as well.

V
09-16-2006, 06:35 PM
sweet, thanks Q

RocketSeason
09-17-2006, 09:37 PM
My 2 cents on the SCWD. They do produce some back pressure, and after a while they may not work quite as well, but they are 30 bucks. They are disposable.

I don't know of any other system that is as cheap and effective.

V
09-17-2006, 11:26 PM
wow, they range between $60-80 here.
are u refering to the solinoid driven or straight up water switching units?
gota admit, flow paddles are an effective cheap investment

RocketSeason
09-18-2006, 12:55 AM
I am talking about the standard SCWD. You can often find it on sale online for around 30 bucks.

You can also use power strips with alternating currents, but you need to be sure you use powerheads designed to be used with those systems. otherwise you will quickly burn out your powerheads.

V
09-18-2006, 03:09 AM
thats a pretty powerful powerhead u must be refering to. i have two of the most powerheads in my mangrove tank, and i wouldn't have considered hooking them to a flow paddle!, i was refering with use of small to infinately large pumps.