JMsAquarium May 21, 2008 May 21, 2008 All right gang, time to start a build thread. The display tank will be in our dining room and the sump and equipment in the basement. If you want to read a little bit more, here are a few threads describing what it will be: Thread 1 and Thread 2 The main tank is a 60ish gallons acrylic, 40x20x18. The sump is a 100 gal Rubbbermaid stock tank. The skimmer is a ASM G3 with gate valve and recir mods, main pump is an Iwaki 55. Lighting: 2 x 175W MH magnetic ballasts, T5s, VHOs (IceCap 430). Nothing much esle so far, except a few boxes full of stuff such aspower heads, air pumps, misc plumbing parts, Gods Knows what else, as these were left overs from when I took down my previous tank two years ago. QT is a standrad 10 gal. That's it for now. Nothing has been set up yet A few pics This is where the tank will go in our dining room The tank Various pics of the sump area in the basement Skimmer and pump
steveoutlaw May 23, 2008 May 23, 2008 Nice to see you back on the reef express. I'll be tagging along on your thread, so let's get moving!!
Larry Grenier May 23, 2008 May 23, 2008 (edited) Welllllllllll, it's about time I like the sump/hardware in the basement idea; makes for a quiet tank upstairs and a "who cares if you're a little messy" setup in the basement. Plus, you can easily add a frag tank in the basement next to the sump/fuge. Edited May 23, 2008 by Larry Grenier
JMsAquarium May 23, 2008 Author May 23, 2008 (edited) Welllllllllll, it's about time I like the sump/hardware in the basement idea; makes for a quiet tank upstairs and a "who cares if you're a little messy" setup in the basement. Plus, you can easily add a frag tank in the basement next to the sump/fuge. Hehe, yes that's the idea, I can mess alright and nobody will complain I am planning to build shelves around the sump, in order to put fuge, frag/prop tank, top off other stuff and some more, in a somewhat orderly fashion. As for the plumbing, I am planning on not having to lift a single bucket anymore. All items will be connected, including to a pipe going to the drain in the floor (behind the washer). Water changes will be as complicated and painful as opening and closing a couple of valves with minimal bending over The main concept is the Lazy Man approach. :wink: Edited May 23, 2008 by JMsAquarium
JMsAquarium June 1, 2008 Author June 1, 2008 A little update. I built some shelves around the sump, using some 4x4s and 2x4's. The 4X4s are secured to the beams with carriage bolts. Also started some plumbing. And now a few pics: Front right. The drain pipe on the right, will be used to empty whatever tanks and containers are on the top shelf (refugium, QT, others) as well as the waste line from the RODI. Front left. Yes, I am playing with some live rock. Just because my skimmer felt soooo lonely Lower right. Lower front. Drain in the floor. That's it for now. More to follow after I made some jump money
Origami June 1, 2008 June 1, 2008 Great progress, JM! And in just a few days, too. I'm looking forward to following your build.
JMsAquarium June 1, 2008 Author June 1, 2008 Thank you Tom. I am looking forward to hearing your comments/suggestions.
tbittner June 2, 2008 June 2, 2008 Great job and very well thought out! I'm assuming you're going to do something about that power strip hanging down in the 2nd pic? A lot of the equipment used in our systems, when combined, ends up exceeding the amperage rating of those power strips. I would hate to see it catch on fire.
MLazar June 2, 2008 June 2, 2008 (edited) Jean Marie, I noticed your RODI unit is near your laundry. Our "tank room" is in our unfinished basement with our washer and dryer as well. Jon set a system up for me that catches the "waste" water from the RODI in a large trash can. There's a pump in the bottom with 1/2" tubing attached that I use to move the water over to my washing machine. It travels a good 10 - 12 feet to reach the washer. (We use a bungee cord to secure hose to washer lid). I was surprised to find that my traditional washer uses the entire trash can of water to fill just the first cycle of one load. Jon has a float attached to stop the trash can from overflowing when the can is full and the excess water drains into the floor while he continues to make "good" water. Just wanted to share this idea. I feel pretty good about being able to use the "waste" water. Helps with the water bill too. Hope to post this idea on our dedicated tank forum.............if we ever get it going............ Maureen (ps - love the paint color of dining room) Edited June 17, 2008 by MLazar
JMsAquarium June 2, 2008 Author June 2, 2008 Great job and very well thought out! I'm assuming you're going to do something about that power strip hanging down in the 2nd pic? A lot of the equipment used in our systems, when combined, ends up exceeding the amperage rating of those power strips. I would hate to see it catch on fire. LOL, yes , I guess I'll do something about it . The power strip is there temporarily, just to provide juice to the power tools and the skimmer. It is secured through an eye bolt and will not go/fall anywhere. Next step in this setup is running dedicated 20 amp lines from the subpanel. There will be four of them. Three in the basement, one upstairs where the display will be. Hi Maureen, I would have never thought of it. Nice idea. Glad you like the paint colors
Jon Lazar June 2, 2008 June 2, 2008 Our tank thread is on the short list of reef projects. But the washing machine water is a good one and worth thinking about. I never appreciated how much water a washing machine uses until we started doing this. The trash can holds about 25 gallons, and anything more than that goes down the drain so I don't have to worry about overflow onto the floor. Jon Hope to post this idea on our dedicated tank forum.............if we ever get it going............
HowardofNOVA June 3, 2008 June 3, 2008 Maureen, awesome idea! JM, your tank is coming along A#1 sir!! Got alot done since I left! Give me a call tomorrow when your free, might have a surprise for you!
JMsAquarium June 3, 2008 Author June 3, 2008 Our tank thread is on the short list of reef projects. But the washing machine water is a good one and worth thinking about. I never appreciated how much water a washing machine uses until we started doing this. The trash can holds about 25 gallons, and anything more than that goes down the drain so I don't have to worry about overflow onto the floor. Jon Jon, I will definitely include this idea in the setup. Thank you to both of you for having shared it with us. Maureen, awesome idea! JM, your tank is coming along A#1 sir!! Got alot done since I left! Give me a call tomorrow when your free, might have a surprise for you! Howard, I will be at home around around 6 pm. Will call you in a little while.
reefmontalvo June 3, 2008 June 3, 2008 (edited) I like your basement setup. I'm just a bit worried about all the hanging wires over all that water. Are you planning on having a back up in the event a light or power bar were to fall? A small chain would be nice to prevent any unfore seen accidents. Edited November 17, 2008 by reefmontalvo
JMsAquarium June 3, 2008 Author June 3, 2008 I like your basement setup. I'm just a bit worried about all the hanging wires over all that water. Are you planning on having a back up in the event a lite or power bar were to fall? A small chain would be nice to prevent any unfore seen accidents. As a matter of fact, no I am not worried, really, and for several reasons. 1- The power strip shown in the picture was there long enough for me to be able to plug in my drill and other power tools. Plus a few minutes more while I was running powerheads and testing the skimmer in the tank. 2- When I took the pics, it was hanging almost 2 ft to the side of the tank. 3- As I have posted earlier, dedicated 20 amps circuits will be installed to supply adequate power in a safe and waterproof manner. But thank you for your concern, it is a very valid point and I hope that others will think about these serious issues if they read this. JM
reefmontalvo June 4, 2008 June 4, 2008 I'm an aircraft mechanic I sometimes have to see the worst in others projects. (Sorry) It just comes with years of doing critical work. But that is cool you did those changes, because it would suck had it fell in the water cause of the corossive properties of saltwater, youd be playn H-E-double hocky sticks with the internal corrosion.
JMsAquarium June 4, 2008 Author June 4, 2008 (edited) I'm an aircraft mechanic I sometimes have to see the worst in others projects. (Sorry) It just comes with years of doing critical work. But that is cool you did those changes, because it would suck had it fell in the water cause of the corossive properties of saltwater, youd be playn H-E-double hocky sticks with the internal corrosion. No need to be sorry, I too have seen some well intended but potentially dangerous setups. It seems that my previousreply may have been perceived as snappy. It was not intended to be and I apologize if it were the case. I am truly looking forward to hearing from others, more so if I am doing something wrong. That's the whole idea of having started this thread "live" and not as a recap from planning to final set up. I will continue to post pics, one step at a time as I move forward with this build. If I ever do something wrong or if there is a better way to do it or even improve what I did, then it will be easy to fix before it's too late Next step I have in mind is: put another access to the drain pipe to connet the overspill from the trash can with the RODI waste water, AKA the "Lazar-O-Matic 2008 Waste Water Recylcing Unit" (Pat Pending ) It will be a can on rollers located between the setup and the dryer. Afterwards, I will install the 20 amps dedicated lines. Edited June 4, 2008 by JMsAquarium
JMsAquarium June 19, 2008 Author June 19, 2008 any updates? Not really I have been too busy skydiving these last few weekends. But did manage to get some live rock and live sand in the sump to get things moving. I will have some free weekends after this one so I will be able to do some work on the setup. Mainly running dedicated electric lines, from the sub panel to the sump area. Then some plumbing through the walls.
JMsAquarium July 7, 2008 Author July 7, 2008 Nothing much has been done so far but here's a quick update. I finally installed two dedicated 20 amps lines, one on each side of the sump area. Each goes first to a gfci outlet and them to another double outlet. Also connected the pump to the sump and to the frag tank. Sorry, no pics this time, my wife is out of town with our kid and they took the camera along .
MLazar July 7, 2008 July 7, 2008 Nothing much has been done so far but here's a quick update. I finally installed two dedicated 20 amps lines, one on each side of the sump area. Each goes first to a gfci outlet and them to another double outlet. Also connected the pump to the sump and to the frag tank. Sorry, no pics this time, my wife is out of town with our kid and they took the camera along . JM, Are you going to the Mr. Coral social this weekend? I'm looking for someone to bring a teenager to keep mine company. My daughter will be 16 this week. Maureen PS- we just got a notice that water rates are going up in my neighborhood so the "Lazar-O-Matic" is going to be working overtime. Used 75 "waste water" gallons yesterday for laundry.
JMsAquarium July 7, 2008 Author July 7, 2008 Hi Maureen, I don't know wether I'll go to the social or not yet. But, either way, I couldn't bring my daughter as she went with my wife to Argentina. They will come back on Aug 16th.
davelin315 July 9, 2008 July 9, 2008 Hey JM, in my old house, the floor drain was made from steel or iron pipe, not sure which, just know that it was metal. You might want to be careful if it is as you're adding saltwater to that (and then to whatever pump you have ejecting the water). I would always run clean water through there after a water change to avoid future problems.
jason the filter freak July 9, 2008 July 9, 2008 I love all your planning ahead for the water change, your build looks promising.
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