bengeeee

So it's February... Let's see that trailer!

How about an official trailer?

All my fish died and now my wife wants a divorce because she says I neglected her fish kids and will make a terrible father. She says the only way she will stay with me is if I convince an avast captain to make me a beta tester....

Well that's unfortunate.

Actually my fiance has grown very attached to my fish. She says if any fish die while we're on vacation she is divorcing me. Do you really want that on your conscience?

Thanks... really excited about it.

Thanks Iasac, you are of course correct. Marcos was my primary contact but it was a custom build by Aquabox. I would PM Marcos or Richard for pricing. Because each sump is highly customized, your quote may differ greatly from mine. Not really my place to publicly disclose either way.... hope you understand. I promise this though, their pricing is competitive and will be better than a lot of bigger companies out there with much more customization.

ERC / Aquabox Sump Review A++++++!!!!!!!!!!!! This review is long overdue. A while back I began my search for a sump that could support my new system. The new system is on track to support about 500 gallons so I needed something up to the challenge. After an exhaustive search, I became frustrated with my budget and what was available to me. I sought out numerous used and new options, all of which were inadequate or out of my budget. One of the first options presented to me was a custom Aquabox Sump. Thinking I could do better, I continued my search but eventually came to my senses. As has often been the case as I have pieced together this build over the past year and a half (yes it is taking me forever), Marcos aka Monkiboy came to my rescue. He worked with me on pricing and options, recommending options I needed, and being honest about what I didn't. In the end, I got more than what I paid for: A beautiful work of art straight from Aquabox. It arrived sooner than expected, was extremely well packaged, and he even threw in free filter socks and bulkheads! Marcos also kept me updated with photos of the build while in progress which was awesome. The end result? I couldn't be happier... Pics speak louder than words. For reference, the sump measures 48 inches long: The build: Installed: Note the 4 drain holes (I capped two for the time being) and the lid for easy access to three 4 inch filter socks! Drain chamber and socks I haven't placed the heaters yet, but these two heater holders will keep them safely away from my equipment and in perfect placement for efficient heating I needed an extra large area for equipment and my large Skimmer (Vertex Alpha 250). This sump easily handles that with room to spare 4 built in dosing line holders 4 probe holders mounted on the adjustable baffle. Disregard the messy install; I haven't had the time to make things presentable. I figure this review needs to go up before I let yet another month go by. Thanks ERC. Another job well done!

I am completely fine with taking credit for this guilt trip. Anything for the greater good. I'm just a team player like that! Seriously though thanks for the update. Glad to hear things are coming along.

Any updates? My wedding is in April I need this bad!

Sometimes we must destroy to rebuild. Looking forward to chapter two of endless subscription alerts in my inbox!

Yes and I nominate Bengeeee for first tester!

Sorry if someone already posted this. I realize it probably wont do much good but I signed it anyways. PETITION TO SAVE THE INVERT EXHIBIT! https://www.change.org/petitions/national-zoological-park-keep-the-national-zoo-s-invertebrate-house-open I will be there tommorrow with my niece whether it rains or not.

I just wanted to publicly thank Marcos for once again going above and beyond. I've known Marcos for a while now, having conducted extensive business with him in the past. He is extremely knowledgeable and is always willing to offer what little free time he has to help out his fellow hobbyists. I'm not sure if this particular transaction was technically affiliated with ERC (I bought an LED Evergrow light from him), however it still speaks to the quality of service you can expect from them as a company. I expected to pick up the item sometime next week. However, as a surprise Marcos hand delivered the item to my house shortly after I bought it. We live on opposite ends of the county so it wasn't exactly a walk down the street. This is just one of my positive experiences with ERC and Marcos. I have had similar above and beyond experiences with Richard. Thanks for all you guys do, and please keep doing it. You have a customer for life. Ben

Also upon ambient temps. Things can get pretty hot under a fish tank stand.

+1. Peltier cooler?

Glad to see this is making progress. Sadly I never got to the auto feeder project we talked about. Best left to the pros anyways. Add me to the I want one list. Ben

nice, but I think you are missing the plutonium for that reactor.

Sorry if I missed it but those shots look incredible. What camera are you using and was that with a portal? Everything looks great.

There may be room in the 180 if your willing to do some maintenance while your there Not sure what I have to offer in the way of ideas but your welcome to come check things out. If anything I think I'm stealing ideas from you. I was going to snag the eductors, but I'm really in no rush at all so if I grab them in a few weeks or your bring them in a few months it really wont matter. I know where you live after all . As far as the changing station, right now its just two trash cans. One for RO, and one for mixed SW. I haven't done anything with pumps or automated changing yet, with the exception of running a 30 foot ATO hose to my RODI reservoir. I do plan to do more automation with changing, but that RENEW has me tempted with it's redundancy and accuracy. Looks like it would be perfect minus the 1K price tag.

Your welcome anytime.

Yes, I'm sure that will be one of the many stages that my better half does not appreciate Ha yeah the tanks have already taken over half the basement. I promised myself I would keep everything on the basement level. While people like Alan and Monkiboy may be successful with their multi level tanks I just know I would regret it. Its partly to avoid floods and partly to avoid having to maintain / feed on multiple levels. I may change my mind though who knows. I won't lie this will be a challenge but I figure if the Romans can make water flow up hill so can I! Ha jk of course. The two 20s will be on elevated shelves actually higher than depicted, and the 40 may be the closest not the furthest. The 180 may be tough but I think I can make it work.

Thanks hopefully the below photos help bring clarity. I'm actually glad I did this now as seeing these things on paper helps a lot. Haha thanks Alan. As I explained to your wife, finding a supportive spouse is hard to come by. Mine might be too supportive but I wouldn't have it any other way. None of this would be possible without her patience and shared interest. The rock I got from BRS is their dead Pukani. I'll be sure to clean it well before I start cycling. Hopefully I don't have the crazy phosphate problems I've read about some others having with other BRS rock. I'll have tons of filtration and flow in all the tanks and sump to help combat that. I guess we'll have to wait and see. As far as redundancy, maybe I will throw in my ASM G3 and run a few tanks off mag drives. Thanks for the advice. Here is a quick diagram of what I am shooting for. The dimensions are a little off and it looks way better here than it will for a long time but here ya go:

Bengeeee’s 5 Tank, 1 Sump, 500 + Gallon Build! First of all, let me say this build is long overdue but I will be taking my time with this. It will likely be 6 months before completion. I’ve chosen to place my build on WAMAS because of the incredible support I’ve received in the few months since I joined. I already feel a strong sense of camaraderie here. You get that on the bigger international boards as well to an extent, but WAMAS feels more like a club than a message board. In fact I’ve already received tremendous help from people like Monkiboy, Swimmate, Miggs76, AlanM, the Avast Captains, and numerous others during my brief tenure here. Not only have you all saved me money and frustration, but I finally feel like I’m getting to know local people with a shared passion for the hobby. But back to my build. For a little background on me and why it has taken so long to get to this point see my intro thread here…. http://wamas.org/forums/topic/60675-newbie-here/ A quick recap: I’ve been in the hobby for about 10 years, but work, school, injuries, and other financial obligations kept me from devoting enough time and funds to a true project like this. One thing I have discovered over the years is that no matter how much time I have on my hands I will still find ways to not spend it doing the dirty tedious maintenance that so many of us put off. For this reason I plan to automate as much as possible utilizing my RKE Net, a bunch of reactors, dosers, perhaps an automated water change system, and tons of cool Avast gear. I also hope to design everything to be maintenance friendly. I know the risks of tying everything into one central sump, but I also know myself and feel strongly that maintaining one system is my key to success. Existing Equipment / Tanks in operation: PICTURE OF 40 G Breeder w/ 20 g sump courtesy of Monkiboy (Temporary radion pro) 46 G bow front w/ 20 g sump. This was my quarantine but when I got lucky with a tank break down purchase I temporarily retasked it's purpose (needs obvious maintenance). Once my build is back up I'll redisignate this as a quarantine. 180 G Oceanic Display with 2* improvised waterfall 20g Rubbermaid sumps Has the following additional equipment: 54 Watt UV, ASM G3 Skimmer w/ Sedra 5000 (currently awaiting parts so I have an old nautilus TE filling in), 3 * korallia pumps as wave makers, JBJ auto top off, 3 * Tao Tronics blue/white LEDs (Similar if not nearly identical to non-dimmable evergrows from what I've seen), 150 – 200 pounds LR, and a Reef Keeper Elite Net (need to set up Net module). I also have a 75 GPD The Filter Guys Ocean Reef +2, 6 Stage RODI System w/ Auto shut off and 55 Gallon reservoirs (AKA Rubbermaid trash cans). Now for the master plan (ie new additions and old incorporations)!!!!!!!!! I'm going to move the 180 about 20 feet to this wall. Sorry for the mess things are starting to get chaotic down there... Because I have to practically break the entire tank down to move it, I plan to switch around a bunch of things like the LR, finally get a background in place, re task pumps, and lighting for improved aesthetics, utility, and fish room. Though I plan to link it to the sump with everything else, I plan to make this tank a FOWLR set up. I also plan to run it in a hypo salinity state for a few months to weed out any problems. Over the years I’ve learned true LR might be cool, but may not be the best if one wants to avoid introducing hitch hikers. Instead I plan to start fresh with rock containing only bacteria. I know I will lose cool things like feather dusters, sponges, and small crustaceans but after losing a bunch of SPS to unknown predators I think this is the right path. The plumbing will eventually run back to the fish room. I’m contemplating whether I should try to plumb it behind the drywall for a better look or outside the drywall with some type of covering, or I may even just leave it out if I think it will look ok. The wall the tank is going on is a basement concrete wall so rear access behind it is not possible unless I dig up a few tons of my backyard. I recently purchased this 110 Gallon 48 by 18 by 30 XH tank (you can see part of it in the above photo): The owner claimed it would be cleaned, was an oceanic 4 sided star fire tank with the sticker to prove it, had no scratches, and was in like new condition, blah blah blah. When I got there it was in the above condition in a poorly lit car shelter. The sticker he claimed to have was missing, and it was dirty so I couldn’t really inspect it well. Still, the price combined with the drive I already made, made it worth the risk so I loaded it up and took it home. Of course upon inspection after a thorough cleaning I found several scratches. I am trying to decide if I can live with them. Here is the tank after an initial cleaning, and while filling up: (filled with a broken T5 fixture over it. Only 4 bulbs firing. 2 actinic and 2 12ks. Well at least it holds water!!!! Day 2 of the leak test and so far so good. Now I have to decide if I want to re silicone it or not if I decide to keep it. I already ordered some Black Dow Silicone 795 in case that’s what I decide (thanks AlanM and Monkiboy for recommending this in your threads). On one hand the tank holds water, the silicone will not be that visible as it is going in wall, and I may not want to mess with it since it is currently sealed. On the other hand, some of the silicone is chewed up and I’d rather re do it now than have to rip down a leaking in wall setup later. I’ll have to think on this. I am still not sold that it is star fire either, but at this point I’ll probably use the tank anyways. It will be going into this wall once the 180 is moved. The wall is about 6 foot: I Plan to incorporate a bar into it. Something like this but more simplistic with drywall and a deeper bar: This is the small 63 by 67 closet that will be my fish room (and that the tank will be installed in). Space is at a premium, so I’ll have to get creative here. Obviously the room needs more prepping like removal of the closet hardware, some of the drywall, and carpet etc: Here is some of the rock I purchased from BRS sitting in the 150 G Rubbermaid I plan to use as a Sump. They are huge pieces of their Pukani rock. I’m pretty excited to get this stuff cycling. As you can also see, the closet didn't stay empty for long and I'll soon have to pull everything out again: I also acquired a 48 by 18 by 13 acrylic dual zone tank from DC Reefer that I may try breeding clowns with later. It needs some work so it will be a later project. Since I’ll be using it for breeding, I probably won’t incorporate it into the main system unless I decide to use it for frags or something… I will also have 2 additional 20 gallon tanks set up as jails, species, or frag tanks. Thanks again to Monkiboy for selling them to me. For filtration I will be using about 400 or so pounds of LR in the sump and tanks, tons of live sand, an ASM G4XX powered by either two Sedra 9000s or 1 Sedra 15000 (I haven’t decided yet). I may upgrade the skimmer later on but for now that’s my plan as that's what I already have and I'm not quite ready to spend a grand on a skimmer. I also have a swabbi and skimmate locker for the ASM so we'll see how that works out. I’ll be using the following additional Avast products: 3 Avast MR 10 Media Reactors for bioballs, carbon, and GFO. I will also be running Ozone with an Avast reactor, and Iikely incorporate The UV I already have into the tank somehow. I know this is overkill, but I’m going to play with all my option once it’s up and running and see what I like. I hope to get everything on a manifold and power the entire system by no more than 2 external pumps. I also have 4 BRS dosing pumps and the BRS two part solution. A little early for that I know, but it's there when I'm ready. Lighting for the new tank will likely be provided by two Radion Pros I’ve recently Acquired. I should have waited a few months until I’m ready, but I saw some good prices around the 750 new and shipped mark and jumped on them. Of course, a few weeks after purchasing mine Ecotech lowered the price to 750 each (doh), but at least I didn’t lose money on them. My main challenges are still time, funds, space, and a bad shoulder that necessitates I delegate certain construction tasks to my involuntary anti reefing friends, fiancé, and father. That’s it for now. Updates will be slow but I’ll do best to chime in with new progress as it comes. Feel free to comment with any criticism or suggestions. I have thick skin . Ben

Seriously don't forget about us little people Mr. famous!