My 150 gallon build journey

[Baykes]

Love the scape and I love the write-up! Also amazing job on the plumbing, I will have to keep that aluminum foil/heat gun trick for future reference

 

[nanoguy]

Curious what’s going between the stand and your floor, if anything. i chose nothing and will be replacing that area of my floor when I move. I have a box of flooring in storage. Had I to do it over, however ...

Also curious what’s on the other side of that wall behind the tank, or under the floor, and if you’re adding a fish room, water stations, and the like.

The stand is currently just resting on the on the ends of the 2x4's. I've been dragging it around my Pergo with the tank on it with no issues. 2x4's are relatively soft...probably why it's not leaving any marks. As far as potential water damage? I never had any issues with that on my old setups. I make sure to always put towels down when I'm working on the tank. I'm not so sure what 2000 lbs of weight will do the floors over time. The pergo is floating over the concrete. The other side of the wall behind the tank is my garage. This works out well for the setup with the utility sink situated at the corner on the garage side. I have some plans I'm brainstorming over for a water change setup and a controller board/cabinet on the garage side.

 

[ashburn2k]

thats a lot of union for UV flow...

 

[Chromis]

Loving all the DIY tips you've shared on the stand build alone. Looking forward to what comes next!

Same here - I didn’t even know leveling cement existed!

 

[nanoguy]

thats a lot of union for UV flow...

I filled the tank up last week for a leak test and ran the system for about 4 days. A lot of water is moving through the UV with the valve wide open but unlikely the recommended general reef tank use of 800-1200 gph. My guess is that its closer to 500 gph. I have a flow meter hooked up to it. I'll get a better idea of the flow rate when the electronics are hooked up. To be honest, I didn't have any plans on running a UV. This thing was boxed up and stored in my crawl space for the past 12 years...forgot I even owned one until I went digging for my vortechs...figured I'd just put it to use.

 

[nanoguy]

Just posting a couple of pics of the setup as it currently sits. I'm waiting on my new overflow from Exotic Marines and my light rack from 80/20. I decided to replace the synergy overflow that came with the tank. It was quite loud with the amount of water I'm moving through the system. The noise is coming from the skimmer box inside the tank. I messed around with it when I was water testing the system. Installing a strip of enkamat behind the weir helped with the noise but that's another thing to maintain I don't want to deal with. The other option was to drastically reduce the flow rate of my return pump...not happening. Maybe it's operator error IDK. I have some opinions on the issue...PM me if you want more info. Hopefully I can get this thing fully operational in the next 2-3 weeks.

Still have to paint the panels...waiting for warmer weather

80/20 Light Rack Design

 

[iani]

What kind of lights are you going with? I know you mentioned and AWC system. If you have the space consider the reef genesis renew. I installed it in on my tank and it seems to be rock solid.

 

[nanoguy]

I picked up 4 hydra 32hd units back in Dec when they had their sale...first time running leds...hopefully they will work out well for the system. I haven't looked into the AWC options yet. Going to just do it the old school way until I figure it out. I searched up the reef genesis...looks like they are no longer in business...taken from their website...

We regret to inform you​

that Genesis Reef Systems has decided to cease operations and close down business. We sincerely thank all of our customers for their loyalty and support over the years for our products and accessories.

 

[rygh]

That is some fancy plumbing!
Not sure I have ever seen so many U-joints.

Rockscape looks great.
Bare bottom or sand??

A bit of a warning: The back of your sump seems to be open, and front/sides seem to be solid.
Skimmers and sumps of larger tanks put out a considerable amount of moisture.
With all the moisture coming out the back, you are at some risk of that turning the drywall to mush over the years.
A sheet of PVC or plastic behind the tank protects from that and from water splashing as well.

 

[Newjack]

i’m really digging your attention to detail on this build. The stand, plumbing, aquascape all look purdy! I can’t wait to see how you decide to fill it up with livestock.

 

[iani]

I picked up 4 hydra 32hd units back in Dec when they had their sale...first time running leds...hopefully they will work out well for the system. I haven't looked into the AWC options yet. Going to just do it the old school way until I figure it out. I searched up the reef genesis...looks like they are no longer in business...taken from their website...

We regret to inform you​

that Genesis Reef Systems has decided to cease operations and close down business. We sincerely thank all of our customers for their loyalty and support over the years for our products and accessories.

Well that sucks. I guess my unit better not break down.

 

[nanoguy]

That is some fancy plumbing!
Not sure I have ever seen so many U-joints.

Rockscape looks great.
Bare bottom or sand??

A bit of a warning: The back of your sump seems to be open, and front/sides seem to be solid.
Skimmers and sumps of larger tanks put out a considerable amount of moisture.
With all the moisture coming out the back, you are at some risk of that turning the drywall to mush over the years.
A sheet of PVC or plastic behind the tank protects from that and from water splashing as we

I'm considering going bare bottom but will probably do a sand bed. Thanks for the heads up on the open back. I didn't think it would be an issue but what you said makes sense. I'll go grab a sheet of 1/2" ply next week. I'm going to have to come up with an idea to close it up but not interfere with the plumbing if I have to remove it for some reason. I'm leaning on doing two pieces...top and bottom and use industrial velcro to hold it in place.

 

[dochou]

I love the paint job on the stand.
The stand is a nice build.
Since you used car paint, can you polish it with car wax too?
Just curious, would 1/2" ply be necessary for the back? Wouldn't 1/4" ply work since it's not structural? It would keep the weight of your stand lighter and easier to move (one day you'll need to move it).

 

[Wlachnit]

Love the stand and your detailed write up of it. Your use of a heavy-bodied automotive primer is perfect for this.I've used a similar polyester auto filling primer for kitchen cabinets a gazillion years ago. Worked really well. Will be doing something similar for a garage cabinet build soon.I wouldn't have guessed that Krylon fusion paint would be very polishable. Good to know.

 

[nanoguy]

I love the paint job on the stand.
The stand is a nice build.
Since you used car paint, can you polish it with car wax too?
Just curious, would 1/2" ply be necessary for the back? Wouldn't 1/4" ply work since it's not structural? It would keep the weight of your stand lighter and easier to move (one day you'll need to move it).

Thanks Doc. 1/4" ply has a tendency to warp/twist with my past experience with them.

 

[nanoguy]

Love the stand and your detailed write up of it. Your use of a heavy-bodied automotive primer is perfect for this.I've used a similar polyester auto filling primer for kitchen cabinets a gazillion years ago. Worked really well. Will be doing something similar for a garage cabinet build soon.I wouldn't have guessed that Krylon fusion paint would be very polishable. Good to know.

Yeah, I kind of rolled the dice on the Krylon Fusion. I wasn't sure if it would sand and polish well. Fortunately, it worked out well.

 

[nanoguy]

Some updated build pics...



Cutting out the slot for my power strip on my controller board

Layout planning

Wiring inside the server cabinet...almost done.

A pic of the cabinet all done. I installed a shelf for the dosing container and sprayed the entire panel with Krylon Fusion in satin black.

I was getting ready to install my lighting rack and realized my supports ran parallel to my tank. I had to cut open the ceiling to install some blocking to support the setup...a real pain in the rear.

Lighting installed...just cleaning up all the wires.

Filling the tank...took 2 days. The water was pretty cloudy so a buddy of mine gave me a canister filter...ran it for a week to clear it up

A couple of pics of the lighting rack. Came out better then I envisioned.

 

[nanoguy]

Painted my panels the week we had nice weather. I had originally painted the fronts orange but didn't like the color so I resprayed it white to match the sides. Still need a couple of more coats before it's finally done.

 

[Coral reefer]

Looking good! Nice scape!

 

[Vhuang168]

Love the work done on the panel. But I would caution putting liquids above your energy bar.