Starting ~800 Gallon Custom Reef Tank Build

[ravi197699]

hello reefers, so I was looking for tank to be able to use for quarantine system and I wanted this tank to be stand alone system with its own filtration, heater, return pump etc, make long story short I wanted this tank to be AIO tank and tank dimensions can't before more than 24 wide x 24 deep and height is not an issue, so I started searching the for sale threads on local forums and I was able to find 60 gal cube non reef ready for very good price, I had that tank picked up and decided to convert this tank to AIO tank, I had pieces of glass cut out and designed the layout of the baffles and dividers and I came up with pretty universal design that will give me room for fuge or skimmer area and 1 section for return and 1 section for media, if I decide to add carbon or poly filter or gfo I will be able to use this section for that purpose, since I have repair shop I was able to do it all at my work and let it sit till it dries and I tell you it came out nice and I am very happy with final result, I have the heater and small pump that will run the system and I will add float switch and add separate pump to keep the water level steady since this tank will be sitting very close to ATO container, this tank will sit on white granite that is shown picture above, any live stock I buy from store will be kept in this tank and monitored and treat only if needed, this will be hospital tank, once I confirm that live stock is healthy and eating with no sign of stress then it will go to display tank,

 

[crusso1993]

hello reefers, so I was looking for tank to be able to use for quarantine system and I wanted this tank to be stand alone system with its own filtration, heater, return pump etc, make long story short I wanted this tank to be AIO tank and tank dimensions can't before more than 24 wide x 24 deep and height is not an issue, so I started searching the for sale threads on local forums and I was able to find 60 gal cube non reef ready for very good price, I had that tank picked up and decided to convert this tank to AIO tank, I had pieces of glass cut out and designed the layout of the baffles and dividers and I came up with pretty universal design that will give me room for fuge or skimmer area and 1 section for return and 1 section for media, if I decide to add carbon or poly filter or gfo I will be able to use this section for that purpose, since I have repair shop I was able to do it all at my work and let it sit till it dries and I tell you it came out nice and I am very happy with final result, I have the heater and small pump that will run the system and I will add float switch and add separate pump to keep the water level steady since this tank will be sitting very close to ATO container, this tank will sit on white granite that is shown picture above, any live stock I buy from store will be kept in this tank and monitored and treat only if needed, this will be hospital tank, once I confirm that live stock is healthy and eating with no sign of stress then it will go to display tank,

Good job on that AIO tank. It turned out really nice!

 

[ravi197699]

thank you crusso, save quiet bit money on this tank and size is perfect to be able to quarantine 5 to 10 small medium fishes...

 

[ravi197699]

Hello reefers, Happy Monday!, so as you all know that I have been busy setting up stand alone QT tank to quarantine my live stock, so yesterday I bought simple plumbing parts to fire up the tank, Made 60 gallons of fresh water mixed salt and while water is mixing I got busy with plumbing which is very simple, I had Oceanic pump from bio cube that I am using as return pump, 1 ball valve (1/2") and that was it, I am using 200W heater that is sitting in middle section that is fully submerged and will stay submerged even if power goes out because that section holds water for fuge or filter media, I had brightwell bio bricks that were laying in my sump from 6 weeks, I filled 60 gallon tank with display tank water and put 2 bricks in the 60 gallons because these bricks are loaded with beneficial bacteria, I was checking prices for media basket/ rack for AIO tanks and prices were in rage of 60 to 80 bucks depending on brand and sizes, So I decided to make my own media basket/ rack with egg crate that I bought from Lowe;s, I cut out the sizes and slide it in the first section where water is draining into and it has 3 shelves, 1st shelve has filter pad which is working great and water clarity is 60% better than what I start with, second and third shelve will be used for carbon to remove medication and such, so option is there if I want water to run through media of any sort, it cost me 16 bucks + 30 min of my time, now water is staying low in the 60 gallon as your guys can see in the pictures, I drilled drain holes 2 inch lower from top and it is staying at that level, I am installed overflow weir box that will raise the water levels in the tank, It is getting 3d printed and I should have it this week, once I install this box it should look neat and much more appealing.. more picture to come when I order live stock...

 

[hockeyhead019]

Hello reefers, Happy Monday!, so as you all know that I have been busy setting up stand alone QT tank to quarantine my live stock, so yesterday I bought simple plumbing parts to fire up the tank, Made 60 gallons of fresh water mixed salt and while water is mixing I got busy with plumbing which is very simple, I had Oceanic pump from bio cube that I am using as return pump, 1 ball valve (1/2") and that was it, I am using 200W heater that is sitting in middle section that is fully submerged and will stay submerged even if power goes out because that section holds water for fuge or filter media, I had brightwell bio bricks that were laying in my sump from 6 weeks, I filled 60 gallon tank with display tank water and put 2 bricks in the 60 gallons because these bricks are loaded with beneficial bacteria, I was checking prices for media basket/ rack for AIO tanks and prices were in rage of 60 to 80 bucks depending on brand and sizes, So I decided to make my own media basket/ rack with egg crate that I bought from Lowe;s, I cut out the sizes and slide it in the first section where water is draining into and it has 3 shelves, 1st shelve has filter pad which is working great and water clarity is 60% better than what I start with, second and third shelve will be used for carbon to remove medication and such, so option is there if I want water to run through media of any sort, it cost me 16 bucks + 30 min of my time, now water is staying low in the 60 gallon as your guys can see in the pictures, I drilled drain holes 2 inch lower from top and it is staying at that level, I am installed overflow weir box that will raise the water levels in the tank, It is getting 3d printed and I should have it this week, once I install this box it should look neat and much more appealing.. more picture to come when I order live stock...

The AIO turned out great! Always a good idea to have the quarantine tank as a stand alone system.

 

[ravi197699]

Thank you hockeyhead019, I wanted my quarantine system to be bigger so that fish has swim room and I was on strict budget for this system and I accomplished this goal and happy with outcome,

 

[ravi197699]

Hello reefers, Happy Monday!, I had aluminum t slot 10 series laying around from when broke my 350 gallon down, I used 2 of the pieces and 2 brackets, all the hardware and material was laying around so it was not bad at all, it did not took long to put it together as you all know it is very easy to assemble things with this material, it is simple design 2 long pieces put together in an "L" shape, and I bought hardware from Lowes to be able to slide the lights into the T slots, Lights I am using on this frag tank were bought pre-owned sometime back, I am using 2 different brand fixtures as you can see, 1st one is made by vertex and it has UV module installed on this, 2nd one is Aqua Illuminations Sol blue, GOD know how old is this fixture but it is working fine and I will keep it on till it goes out completely, I like the punch from AI better than Vertex, Vertex fixture is more in spread and even light and AI has bright spot right under the light but it does cover the sides as well, I might be able to out corals that need more punch right under and LPS and softies under the vertex, Vertex is fully automated and I was able to program the light easily so it follows the sun rise and sunset, AI is controlled via apex which is not bad at all, Cleaned up the frag tank and I put three frag racks that I bought new from another reefer, Now I need to check the water parameters of my tank 1 more time to make sure that my tank is ready for corals. more pictures and updates to come, work is a lot less that what I started, Just going to do some maintenance on the tank going forward and making some of the tweaks on things that I can make better,

 

[ravi197699]

Hello reefers, sorry for the delay on the updates of the tank, I have been busy on couple of diy project for this tank, I have been noticing that I need to change filter socks more frequently and I don't like that at all, I have been busy blowing rock with jebao pump to blow off the detritus and other stuff from pores of the rocks and filter sock gets clogged quickly. So I had to items in my mind that I wanted to build to have crystal clear water in my tank. ozone reactor and DIY automatic roller fleece filter, I bought diy 500 mg ozone generator from ebay and put together with cooling fan to keep it cool while it is on and I see my orp is raised and my skimmer is doing well as well here are the pictures of the ozone generator it is very simple and very minimal work needs to be done to run it, it comes on at night for few hours, air goes though it to go in skimmer directly and drain of the collection cup goes outside to drain, no ozone is leaked inside the house, skimmer is completely air tight. second project is diy roller fleece filter sock, it is simple design where 1 side is roller mat and other side is pvc pipe with motor and float switch in the tray, I bought this plastic tray from the container store and it is good size, measurements are 12" wide x 20" long x 4" high, I have 2 clear pvc guides that will guide the fleece and it will be rolled as it gets clogged. water will be draining from the base of the tray where I have drilled multiple holes and float switch will be monitor the water level, if water level rises then float switch will trigger the motor to turn and new fleece will be pulled and clogged fleece will be rolled on pvc, size of the roller fleece is 10" wide and it is 40 micron and it is 300 feet of paper, I will see how long it will last. my 2 main drains will drain in the tray and my skimmer drain will be drained in this tray as well. All the water will be filtered. here are the pictures of the progress, I am planning to finish this tray by this weekend and try to install this by removing the filter stock holder, I can't keep up with the demand of clean filter socks, I want to take advantage of automation and less work maintaining and more time enjoying..

 

[ravi197699]

Hello reefers, yesterday I was able to complete pending project for DIY roller mat filter assembly, this automatic roller mat will replace my filter sock holder and it will keep all the detritus and other junk that breakdown in the tank and cause nitrates and phosphates to rise. I have installed this yesterday and it has been running all day yesterday and this morning I saw and it was working as it should, it is simple design and it is controlled via Neptune apex with float switch. roller mat was bought from ebay and it is 40 micron and pvc from lowes and 12 v motor from ebay and plastic storage bin from the container store. all was put together at home with silicone and glue and that was it, it is not the best looking thing but it works, here is the video of this working and installed in my sump ..

 

[crusso1993]

Hello reefers, yesterday I was able to complete pending project for DIY roller mat filter assembly, this automatic roller mat will replace my filter sock holder and it will keep all the detritus and other junk that breakdown in the tank and cause nitrates and phosphates to rise. I have installed this yesterday and it has been running all day yesterday and this morning I saw and it was working as it should, it is simple design and it is controlled via Neptune apex with float switch. roller mat was bought from ebay and it is 40 micron and pvc from lowes and 12 v motor from ebay and plastic storage bin from the container store. all was put together at home with silicone and glue and that was it, it is not the best looking thing but it works, here is the video of this working and installed in my sump ..

Very well done and inexpensive too. Maybe make a post about it in the DIY forum as I'm sure others would love to see and copy it too.

 

[ravi197699]

Yup I will do that and it does not cost 300.00 bucks lol, it can handle a lot of water, I have 95% of my tank water that includes 2 main drains, all reactors as well as protein skimmer drain go though this filter, my next 1 will be more professional and decent but this will have to do for now, no more changing filter socks that was getting clogged by the end of the day and I did not have time to remove them and clean with power wash every day, this made my life much easier and I can concentrate on something else, Next project is diy skimmer neck cleaner, I have all the parts just need sometime to put it together, I will post pictures and videos.

 

[ravi197699]

hello reefers, sorry for not updating on my tank, I have been busy with small projects and install, I have been busy with vacation and other minor tasks on the tank, added few sps corals to see where I stand. what should be the par range on top, mid and base of the tank, just want to see if I have too much par or too little par

 

[crusso1993]

Hey Ravi... it's been a while since your last "usual" update. Anything new and exciting happening?

 

[ravi197699]

tank is going through the ugly stage at this time and I have ordered clean up crew and some tangs, I will post pictures soon, other than this tank is doing fine, parameter are fine noting else has happened, just taking it slowly..

 

[ravi197699]

right now full of algae, ordered some clean up crew, urchins and small tangs, I have been busy but I will post pictures

 

[ravi197699]

hello reefers, sorry for delay in updates, a lot of things in life are happening along with making enhancements to the reef system, as I mentioned above my tank was going through the ugly phase where there is green hair algae everywhere and it was growing tall and long strands so I ignored it purposely, I wanted this to take its toll on the tank then I put together list of clean up crew and live stock that is going to be doing its job to take care of the algae, I ordered Mexican turbo snails, tangs, three types of urchins small size, cerith snails, Trochus snails, they took care of pretty much everything in 2 weeks, I did gave them helping hand by scrubbing down the large strands of the GHA. anything floating was getting removed by my roller mat filter. here are some of the pictures of the algae and after clean up crew took care of this, during this process I have never changed water.

 

[ravi197699]

here are some of the pictures of my corals as of yesterday, I bought Reef Art lens kit that I tried with my Samsung S10+, still playing around with colors learning about taking pictures, any suggestions on how to make it better will be helpful1

 

[Gribbliest]

lol thank you buddy, this is my last upgrade,

Until the next one.....

Looking good. I've just come across your post and read from start to finish the current point in your journey. Looking forward to seeing it progress as you fill out your livestock!

Truly inspirational. I have plans for a large tank down in the basement, eventually. Got me thinking

 

[Ashish Patel]

Looks good to me buddy..

 

[ravi197699]

Thank you guys, I can't wait till I start to see growth on my SPS frags.. more pictures to come