Adam's 450 GALLON REEF TANK BUILD!
- Thread starter Adamc1303
- Start date
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
I don't think that's overkill. I once had 2 X 250W Pheonix 14ks and 4 X 54 Watt T5s on a 75 gallon tank and just had to be sure to acclimate any new comers to the lighting by starting on the sandbed always. I think you'll be fine but are you sure you don't want to make the jump to LEDs?
I'm planning on going with the Orphek Atlantik on my 600 (96X48X30).
I'm planning on going with the Orphek Atlantik on my 600 (96X48X30).
Osteoclast
New member
LED lighting is here and can solve your lighting needs. Look at the data with AI and Radions plenty of hobbyists are moving in this direction. This forum has both and other manufactures well represented. David, Dan, AJT, Elliot, etc. etc. I do think it becomes an issue with price. I love mine thus far and the coral are not complaining.
SPotter
Active member
take a look at this tank adam.....
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2223852
I have sern this tank in person and its amazing. He has AI Sol's with t5 fiji bulbs to supplement. Tank is 30" high and the lights are mounted 22" awl. The pictures dont do it justice. I think we get caught up in the total watts of an led fixture and to degree thats important but at some point its overkill. Look at my light....4 full spectrum led banks that are 150w each and 4 80w t5's. I cant run the leds over 75% power before things start to bleach.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2223852
I have sern this tank in person and its amazing. He has AI Sol's with t5 fiji bulbs to supplement. Tank is 30" high and the lights are mounted 22" awl. The pictures dont do it justice. I think we get caught up in the total watts of an led fixture and to degree thats important but at some point its overkill. Look at my light....4 full spectrum led banks that are 150w each and 4 80w t5's. I cant run the leds over 75% power before things start to bleach.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2
I ordered my steel stand from a friend on Sunday and he would have had it done by tomorrow but he is closed so he will have it on Wed. The huge problem is that I slipped down the steps in my house yesterday, got rushed to the ER & now have a cast because I fractured my Tibia and Fibia bones (ankle and shin) I also tore a ligament. So to make a horrible story short I will probably need to have surgery and I am off my feet for the next 3 months. I don't want this to keep my tank down though because it would be a great time to have it do a long cycle, plus now that I am home all I have to look at all day is the tv, RC or my tank! I am going to see what I can do about having the tank set on the stand. Right now I am in allot of pain and I am on pain killers I hope the pain goes away in the next few weeks. anyway enough about me and my issues I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!
Adam
Adam
Quick update- I had surgery today and all went well. I am back home now and just can't fall asleep. My ankle has 2 screws in it. I’ll post an x-ray picture late (they look like regular screws you would buy at a hardware store lol. The fractures and torn ligaments don't really hurt any more or less since the surgery. I thought they would since there are screws in there now but they don't. The majority of the pain is coming from where the surgeon said the incision is. He said 24 -48 which I translate to 96 hours. Plenty of pain killers though. Anyway let's talk about the tank. The stand is ready I delayed the delivery because I don't want to just use up all that room while I wait to get it setup. I really want to get the tank setup but I can't physically do anything right now. One of my major tank buddies moved out of the country but he will be coming for a visit in a week for a like 2 weeks so I will try and get him to help me out allot. That being said I used to help him more so he doesn't know anything about plumbing and things of that sort. He is more of a rinse all my rock and aquascape for me kind of guy which is great because that is a ton of work. I am thinking about seeing of some people on a local forum we have here in NY would all come by on a Sunday or nay other day since I am always home now lol and maybe we get this tank rolling. I am not the type of person that really feels comfortable with taking favors but I just can't deal with annoying fish stores and there comments if they would come do the work for me. Plus most stores will do it there old school way not the dreaded internet way lol! That being said I also know that I love doing this stuff so maybe people won't mind and will want to come and help me out. Steve (Spotter) has been more than willing to help me and offered a hand with various things a few times already. He loves near me and I would be honored to have a reefer like him critique and work on my system. Anyone near NY on this forum is of course more than welcomed and greatly appreciated.
This is what needs to be done:
Remove tank off old stand and put it on the dollies
Move tank away take off dollies and place on floor
Move stand to backyard using dollies
Set steel stand and level (has leveling legs so it should take under 5 min)
Slide tank over and place on stand
Connect plumbing back. It's pvc which I had to cut even though it had unions. It needs some couplings and an elbow glued.
I swapped out some pipe for flex spa on my return line and it's leaking so I need to do that to be redone
Plumb in second pump to the other bulkhead in my sump and make a manifold to feed 2 media reactors, a skimmer, calcium reactor and a spare for a chiller in the future. I need to have it with valves before each feed. The main pump is the RLSS DC10000 which is electrically controlled so it won’t be dialed back with a valve.
Set up Calcium Reactor
Once this is all done I will have the rodi water made and I will do the freshwater tested. I can do this on my own. Once it runs for a weeks with no leaks or tanks cracking! I hope my buddy who is coming in will be around to do the 2nd part.
I need to have him rinse all the live sand. I may do the live sand in the first stage of everything because i like Putting it in before water. The only down side I see is that if for whatever reason this needs to get drained again or moved for whatever reason there will be a few hundred pounds of sand.
I need to rinse all the pukani rock with Muriatic acid, hose off really well and aquascape!
Add salt to the freshwater and get salinity going.
Once the salt is in I’ll have a skimmer to play with
Get GFO reactor working
Get Carbon reactor working
3rd stage is
Mount my lights to my canopy when I get them. I'll do this and then get anyone to just put the canopy on the tank!
I know it's allot of stuff but in my head it's all fast and quick! Wish me luck!
Thank's
Adam
This is what needs to be done:
Remove tank off old stand and put it on the dollies
Move tank away take off dollies and place on floor
Move stand to backyard using dollies
Set steel stand and level (has leveling legs so it should take under 5 min)
Slide tank over and place on stand
Connect plumbing back. It's pvc which I had to cut even though it had unions. It needs some couplings and an elbow glued.
I swapped out some pipe for flex spa on my return line and it's leaking so I need to do that to be redone
Plumb in second pump to the other bulkhead in my sump and make a manifold to feed 2 media reactors, a skimmer, calcium reactor and a spare for a chiller in the future. I need to have it with valves before each feed. The main pump is the RLSS DC10000 which is electrically controlled so it won’t be dialed back with a valve.
Set up Calcium Reactor
Once this is all done I will have the rodi water made and I will do the freshwater tested. I can do this on my own. Once it runs for a weeks with no leaks or tanks cracking! I hope my buddy who is coming in will be around to do the 2nd part.
I need to have him rinse all the live sand. I may do the live sand in the first stage of everything because i like Putting it in before water. The only down side I see is that if for whatever reason this needs to get drained again or moved for whatever reason there will be a few hundred pounds of sand.
I need to rinse all the pukani rock with Muriatic acid, hose off really well and aquascape!
Add salt to the freshwater and get salinity going.
Once the salt is in I’ll have a skimmer to play with
Get GFO reactor working
Get Carbon reactor working
3rd stage is
Mount my lights to my canopy when I get them. I'll do this and then get anyone to just put the canopy on the tank!
I know it's allot of stuff but in my head it's all fast and quick! Wish me luck!
Thank's
Adam
Here's whats been going on lately. I got the tank on the metal stand, I got the plumbing put back together and I also setup my RODI system. I changed my retun plumbing to feed 3 mocean's wavemakers instead of four. When it originally ran I shut down 2 of the 4 because there wasn't enough pressure. I now took out a few 90's on the lines and also got new tubing. I used pvc for 90% of the plumbing but I then changed over to tubing so I can move the wave makers a little. The tubing I originally got from Lowes was on a wheel for ever so it was really kinked and I am sure that had allot to do with the flow. I switched it to the more rigid kind that has the braided threads. I also tried using pacific coast flow accelerators like I always have in the last but i forgot that they aren't really effective on a pressure rated pump. So I have Eductors to add I just need to get some krylon fusion and spray pain them black before they go in. As of right now the tank is getting filled up! I am soooooo nervous something will snap! It is perfectly level and perfectly supported though I am just really nervous because I did have that failure. The next think to get done is build my manifold. I plumbed my manifold pump into the 2nd bulk head on my sump now I just need to make the actual manifold. I went with a RLSS DC 10000 pump. The pump is electronically controllable and does 2,640 GPH at full speed while drawing only 85 watts! It's really energy efficient. I plan on feeding my skimmer, calcium reactor and 2 separate media reactors from the manifold. I will probably need a chiller in the summer which I would like to run outside. So my plan is to have a chiller I can connect and disconnect in the winter and then just ramp up the pump to push more water for when the chiller is online. I will also add a blank chanel to the manifold for anything else in the future. Here are some pics of it filling up. Fingers crossed!
Attachments
jdm18honda
Member
great build
sorry about the euro brace that really sucks
i am planning a big buld and have not heard of the RLSS DC 10000 pumps yet
how do you liek them
sorry about the euro brace that really sucks
i am planning a big buld and have not heard of the RLSS DC 10000 pumps yet
how do you liek them
I saw Sunny's tank in person and it is beautiful. His encrusting is insane.
Very nice build Adam I live the tank dimensions and the stand.
The pump is fairly new. So far only aquarium specialty and salty supply carry it.
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
Looks good Adam. I'm really considering these pumps now. I did not rlss had such nice output at such low power. Met owner of rlss at macna and really nice guy.
I haven't fired it up yet. Hopefully tomorrow or shall I say later today since it's so late! I'll let you know how it performs. It's a real winner if it's silent and powerful.
Thank's Steve. I think may go another route with the cabinets though this time. The wife felt like they were too heavy last time even though they blended with the wainscoting. I may want to have frosted glass in the doors to soften the look up a little, so it's less wood. If I do that I am going to get a cabinet guy to do it. I have someone in mind that I have used for kitchens in the past.
