125 Gallon, Fish Room, Sump, Mixing Station and LED DIY Build

[hurdbird]

I am starting to pull together equipment as we speak. I currently have a 90 gallon mixed reef up and running on the 2nd floor of my house. Everything will be converted to the new 125 long in my finished basement. I will be using an existing closet as my new fish room. The room will hold a 40 breeder sump and complete fresh and salt water mixing station. I will be building 3 dimmable led fixtures from rapid led built into a custom wood canopy. I am working on plans for a steel and wood combination stand. Equipment list and update pictures to follow. Thanks for reading and I will make sure to keep everyone updated along the way. Im sure I will need plenty of questions answered as well.

Sean

 

[Flame Angel]

And tons of pictures.

 

[Pat02026]

And more pictures!

 

[hurdbird]

<img src="http://www.freepicturehosting.com/is.php?i=801309&img=DSC02633.JPG" border="0">
<img src="http://www.freepicturehosting.com/is.php?i=801310&img=DSC02634.JPG" border="0">
The floors are finished with the new hardwood and the room has been cleared for the new tank. The new 125 will be up against the wall shown above.

<img src="http://www.freepicturehosting.com/is.php?i=801311&img=DSC02635.JPG" border="0">
The future fish room all cleared out. The pictures share the left side wall of the fish room. You can also see my first failure of this build. One ruined Brute and lessoned learn. Time to get some new ones and try again with bulkheads. The shower drain and silicone with gaskets didn't work as planned FYI. More updates to come.

 

[hurdbird]

 

[hurdbird]

Equipment List:
Tank: 6' 125 Gallon AGA Tank w/ Dual Corner Overflows
Sump: 40 Breeder w/ sump, return and fuge area
Skimmer: AquaC-EV240 w/ Mag 18 Pump, Any personal suggestions within close price range?
Return Pump: Mag 18
Calcium Reactor: Korallin 3002, AquaC-RX1 or RFCa6? Any suggestions from first hand experience?
Powerheads: (2) MP40's to start
Lights: (3 Fixtures) Rapid LED 20'' x 6" - 36 Dimmable LED's Per. What ratio from blues to white do you suggest for the fixtures? I will be transitioning to mostly SPS.
Controller: APEX
ATO: Jay's Custom ATO
Rocks: 120 lbs Marco Dry Key Largo Rock
Sand: 120 lbs White Bahama Arogonite, I think I am going to go away from the deep sand bed? Suggestions?
Heaters: (3) Aqueon Pro Heaters
Mixing Station Pump: Mag 9.5
Barrels: (2) 32 Gallon Brute Trash Barrels w/ Covers

 

[hurdbird]

Almost finished with the 40 breeder sump. One more piece to seal. Came out very good. Water testing to be done in a couple days. I went with a different approach than most people because I thought I could get a better fit that way. I used small 1'' wide pieces of glass for support structure against the large pieces of glass. Seems like it worked out very well. The sump will go starting from the left skimmer / reactors, return, then fuge. The return will be split and regulated by valves so I can limit the amount of flow through the fuge if necessary. The last picture shows my sump basis of design. I did change the measurements slightly to make the fuge / skimmer area larger.










Sean

 

[jayinh]

looks like a nice area for the new build, keep the pics coming.

 

[hurdbird]

Jay,

Got the ATO in today and I love it. Thanks alot. Everyone should buy these. Very worth while piece of equipment for any fish room. Having trouble finding a 6' 125 w/ corner overflows right now. Its backordered everywhere. Thinking about buying an undrilled 125 and drilling and making corner overflows. Glass cages the place to talk about some glass overflows with acrylic covering? I will be going for the second try on the brutes Wednesday after talking it over with jay and decided to go with the fish tank bulk heads to connect into the brutes like Jay did. Hoping for the best.


Sean

 

[jayinh]

good luck sean, sounds like it will be a nice setup. PM me if you have any questions

 

[hurdbird]

I finished up the RODI water and salt water mixing station today. Came out very good. I put the sump in place today as well. Things are starting to come around. The next big project for this week is running new electrical feeds for the fish room. Hopefully I get the good word that the tank is available as well so I can start working on my stand, etc. I will keep the pictures coming.

 

[hurdbird]

I finally got the tank and found a nice stand and canopy. I'll be posting some update pictures soon. Going to start the plumbing into the fish room, get the back of the tank painted black and order the rock/sand with the next couple days. What type of sands are people using now? I like white sand. I am going to buy 120 pounds of dry key large from marco as well. Do you usually rinse the dry drock on arrival in RO water before filling tank? Thanks.

 

[hurdbird]

Some update photos. The back / sides of the tank have been painted black (Semi Gloss Valspar Plastic Paint for three coats) and I cleaned / polished the new stand and canopy like crazy. Thanks alot for the stand / canopy Lunareef. I will be investigating plumbing over to sump in the fish room and starting to mix water. I'll be hanging the RODI as well tomorrow and building my control panel for powerhead controllers and lighting controllers. Time to order rock and sand. I am going to go with the Marco. 40 lbs of key largo shelf pieces and 80 lbs of regular key largo dry. What sand do you guys suggest? I like white sand and I'm looking for dry and high flow capable. Thanks.

 

[LunaReef]

Thank you, Sean! It was nice to meet you. It looks so nice all cleaned up and polished! Love the setup you have done thusfar. Cant wait to see it all filled up. Will be tagging along.

 

[badlands25]

Me too! Curious to see the led build

 

[hurdbird]

I believe I am going away from the LED build and am thinking about (4) AI SOL super blues instead. I am planning to have two two side by side in the middle and one on each end. I ordered the final plumbing pieces needed to test fill. Once I ensure there are no leaks, time to order sand and rock. Anyone have good luck with the dry special grade reef sand from Carib Sea (See link below)? That is most likely what I am going to go with to allow for high flow. My only concern is that I would like to have a more white sand than the pictures show. It seems in other peoples pictures it seems really white. Can I still continue to keep gobies with sand this course? Thanks in advance.

http://www.marinedepot.com/CaribSea...Reef_Aquariums-CaribSea-CS0020-FISSDS-vi.html

 

[gweston]

I recently used that caribsea special grade sand in my 125L. Its somewhat coarse, but I really like it. It'll probably be easy to vaccum/siphon if ever needed. Again, its coarse, but apparently fine enough for inverts and cucumbers. I put some fiji pink in a 40B, and Marcos fine grained in a 20H refugium. The Fiji Pink looks nice and is of nice sugar grain size. The Marcos is very fine grained, and looks quite nice too. Think super soft white Bahamian beach sand. I haven't had any issues with sand settling for any type as I washed/rinsed it well ahead of time. I used a mix of Marco rock (awesome stuff) and other liverock I had (mix of Fiji, among others).

I am overdue to post new pics, but I have a DIY thread too if you want to check for ideas.




Following along!

Oh for a skimmer. Maybe an Avast skimmer rather than the AquaC-EV240? I use an old ETSS800 on my system that I found used... it works -great- but it soaks up electricity due to the need for a high pressure, high volume pump for the downdraft design. I'll eventually swap it out (when funds are available).

Oh, and I put 120lbs of the caribsea special grade in my 125 long. While it isn't a DSB, it ends up being a very decent ~3" sandbed. I probably have around ~100lbs of rock in the 125 too, with another 80 or so in the sump/fuge for extra filtration.

 

[Ill Will]

What will you be doing with your 90 Gallon?

 

[hurdbird]

Thanks Gweston. For a skimmer, how about Reef Octopus 8 (rated for 250 gallons) or SWC 230 cone (rated for around 250-300 gallons). The reef octopus is alot cheaper obviously. I own an SWC now and they produce crazy skimmate.

Sean