New 180 gallon system build TOTW 9-6-07

[Samper]

A while back the chair of the Biology department at Arkansas State University approached me because one of my former professors told him that I maintain saltwater aquariums. They were very interested in having on inside of their Biology lobby. They came out and looked at what we had going and were impressed however they didn't want a business to do it and were more interested in having a student setup and maintain the system. Yesterday I was tired of dealing with my former partner and decided to skip all the legal junk because it wouldn't have been cost effective in the long run. I signed over my ownership to my former partner and washed my hands of him. I immediately went back to the school and spoke with the head of the department once more. After coming to my home to show them what I'm capable of doing and after a long conversation explaining what I'd like to do they went home to think on it. This morning I was approached once more and was given the go ahead to begin designing it. I want to be clear that I am volunteering to setup and maintain the system for the school and am not turning a profit on this venture. Obviously this is important for my reputation at the university and I don't want to drop the ball. I'm fully capable of doing this however I am always open to advice. I'm making this very public so that I can get any ideas that anyone here has.

The school has been back and fourth with Jay over at Reptile Cages Custom Showcases Habitat Aquariums Iguana Cage Reptile Enclosure Snake Cages Reptile because he is doing a vivarium for them at the same time. Their idea is to incorporate my display with his display for one large display. After speaking with him for the majority of the day today here is the tentative plan. I think the top will need to be reworked so that I have better access but this is a good idea of what's coming.

[Samper]

As for my part of the system the display is a 180 gallon. It will be enclosed in the stand under lock and key with absolutely 0 access to the water. The back of the stand is extremely well ventilated as is the hood but noone will be able to tamper with it because they won't be able to get back there to do so. The left half of the display is my half and will go up against a corner. The stand has a door in the back that can be slid sideways so that I can get back there to work and will have 1.5' of space to squeeze into...it's a good thing I'm skinny. The right side of the stand will have a lip in the back that flushes against the wall. Only access to the back is through my sliding door. The four doors that you see on the front of my side had to be redrawn into two larger doors to allow my sump system and equipment to get in easily.

The display will sit 48" off of the floor and the way he is building the interior I have the entire 48" to work with so head room under there is not a problem. I made sure to let him know what kind of weight we'd be dealing with and he assured me his stands will hold an army tank up if they needed to.

The aquarium will have two corner black acrylic overflows with 1.5" bulkheads in each and two 3/4" bulkheads in the top part of the back glass that will act as returns.
The sump is a 50 gallon breeder outside dimensions 3'1/2" long 17.25" tall and 18.5" deep. The skimmer compartment is 13" wide before a series of over under over baffles made of 1/4" glass and spaced 1" apart. The refugium compartment is 12.5" wide followed by another series of over under over baffles that empties into the return compartment that is 7.5" wide. This is tentative but will allow the equipment that I plan to use plenty of room to fit. The sump will be elevated off of the ground and my return will be plumbed into a bulkhead that feeds the pump through the bottom of the compartment. I will put a 90 degree elbow in this compartment and a short pvc pipe angled away from the baffles so that I don't draw any bubbles. I have donated the aquarium to the project to save money and am going to build it myself. They will pay for the materials. I have taken the measurements of all the equipment on my list and will build it tomorrow.

Two fans will be installed in the sump and one in the hood. One fan in the sump will draw air in and the other will blow it out.

I haven't decided on the RO system that I want to use at this time but the school is routing my water line for me this weekend as well as putting in more power outlets on seperate circuits from the rest of the building.

An AATOC auto top off system will be installed.

The return is a mag 18. A 1.5" return on a ball valve followed by a check valve will be routed through the back of the stand and right before it ties into the display I will split the line into two 3/4" lines that will be plumbed into the back. Locline will be used on each outlet so I will have to have two 3/4 threaded bulkheads.

The skimmer will be an ASM G4 with a sedra 5000 pump with needlewheel impeller. Dimensions on it are 11.5"X16" at the base and 24" tall.

Ca and limewater reactors are coming from MRC. Ca reactor is an MRC CR1 with a 10X10" footprint. I'll use a 5lb co2 bottle but haven't decided on a regulator yet. Koralith media will go in it. Ph controller and reverse Ph controller from milwaukee will be tied in to the reactors so that there aren't any accidents.

The Kalk reactor is the small nilsen with timers and has a 4.5" by 18" round footprint.

Heater will be a titanium 300w Finnex with controller

Four Seio 820's will be used for primary flow in the display.

2 Titanium grounding probes will be used. One for the display and one for the sump.

I will order Ca, Alk and Mg test kits as well as a colorometer to do all my testing.

Lighting for the display will be all T5's and the reverse lit refugium will be lit with a 65w LOA fixture. The plan is to have 4 3' t5 lighting fixtures for a total of 8 bulbs with different color combinations but I haven't decided on which fixtures I will use yet. All lighting will be on digital timers.

[Samper]

Kevinpo........all my live rock is coming from you buddy!

[Samper]

Here is a diagram of the display with the instructions that I am sending to the builder.

[Samper]

Here is the sump plumbing. Of course there will be some reducers and what not in there but overall pretty simple.

[Samper]

The aquarium was ordered today out of my own pocket and I pick it up the 14'th or the 15'th of September.

[Samper]

Question:

Would you go with Four modded MJ 1200's or Four Seio 820's?

[Samper]

Went with Maxi jets and will mod them.

[charlie]

Congrats on your project, glad you got the past behind you too!!!!! Why would you not go with a couple of Tunze on a controller, I think you would get better flow and a little more versatility?

[scubadude]

Hey Chuck....sounds like a sweet system....Im guessing the Maxi Jet mod was a much more cheaper approach....I would like to know what mod you did though Chuck?! Is it the Eheim/Maxi Mod? Like this one

Reef Central Online Community - eheim feeder , maxi jet mod, and maxijet pump

[Samper]

The tunze on a controller isn't a setup that I'm familiar with. If you could tell me a little more about it that's always an option. I know mjs and love em. The mod that I'm doing on the MJ's isn't the one that has the airplane prop and shroud. I've seen that one setup by an old client of ours and I didn't like it at all. I liked the flow it put out but not putting it together. I've also heard that those shafts wear out pretty fast. All I planned to do is cut the nozzles and drill some holes in the bottom plate. It's not too late to change some things. I did place a huge order the other day but it had nothing to do with the pumps that would be used.

[charlie]

Here ya go Chuck, if this isn't enuf info, just go to the main Tunze site.

Tunze Turbelle Stream Water Pump/Powerhead

[Samper]

They sound great however the cost is extremely high. 2 of the 6060's would be nice though. There will be some sps in this tank but the majority of corals will be softies and lps. A mag 18, and four maxi jets modded, possibly on a wavemaker seemed like a good plan after deciding against the Seios.

[charlie]

Yeah Chuck, it was just an option to take a look at. They are a spendy little item, aren't they???

[Samper]

Yeah but the money that I have been given to set this up has to be used and I have to give the school the documentation. Depending on what is left over after getting it up and running to standard I may be able to upgrade some of the components.

Does anyone here run ph controllers? I've never ran them and don't know much about them. My old partner had a ph controller and a reverse ph controller set up on his Ca and kalk reactors but I don't know the configuration or proper way they are setup to the reactors. Calibrating the probes I do know about but that's about all. I may need to call milwaukee. I did budget for these on this build but will have to figure out how they work prior to ordering them. I have the testing equipment to use until I can figure this out but I do eventually want to automate the reactors to avoid potential kalk overdoses.

[charlie]

Yeah but the money that I have been given to set this up has to be used and I have to give the school the documentation. Depending on what is left over after getting it up and running to standard I may be able to upgrade some of the components.

I understand that Chuck, budgets are wonderful things, aren't they???
I think you'll be just fine with the modded MJ's tho, I hear they do a fine job.

Does anyone here run ph controllers? I've never ran them and don't know much about them. My old partner had a ph controller and a reverse ph controller set up on his Ca and kalk reactors but I don't know the configuration or proper way they are setup to the reactors. Calibrating the probes I do know about but that's about all. I may need to call milwaukee. I did budget for these on this build but will have to figure out how they work prior to ordering them. I have the testing equipment to use until I can figure this out but I do eventually want to automate the reactors to avoid potential kalk overdoses.

Never run a controller myself, just the monitor. I'll tag along just for the info.

[Poseidon]

I think you will need more flow Chuck. Tunze's are great, but they are a bit pricey, until you figure the gallons/dollar that they move. In addition they are really easy on wattage too. For a tank that size, I would try and get a couple of 6100's on a controller. That way you only have 2 rather then 4 PH in the tank, and you will be moving a LOT more water.

[Samper]

I've been sitting here crunching the numbers and I think I can handle two of them. Can one controller run both of them?

[charlie]

One of those 7095 controllers can handle up to at least 4 of them Chuck. Mike is right, they are easy on the electricity and give you alot of options on the flow.

[Poseidon]

Yup, one controller. That controller can do wonders too! It has feed options, night options, MOON options... It is incredible!