The "She Said Yes!" 120 Gallon Build

[dangles]

Big day today!

The tank was delivered!

I also got some work done on the mixing station…

…as well as the controller board and cabinet!

The only things left to purchase are the lid and the Tampa Bay Saltwater live sand! I’m waiting for BF/CM deals for those.

Next steps are to plumb the sump/tank and start installing the controller board components.

 

[TheWB]

Big day today!

The tank was delivered!

I also got some work done on the mixing station…

…as well as the controller board and cabinet!

The only things left to purchase are the lid and the Tampa Bay Saltwater live sand! I’m waiting for BF/CM deals for those.

Next steps are to plumb the sump/tank and start installing the controller board components.

That is the mother of all controller boards. Love it!!!

 

[flatlander93]

Great build. Looking like a stunner in the making.

 

[dangles]

Great build. Looking like a stunner in the making.

Thank you! I just hope I don’t end up sucking at keeping corals

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Big day today!

The tank was delivered!

I also got some work done on the mixing station…

…as well as the controller board and cabinet!

The only things left to purchase are the lid and the Tampa Bay Saltwater live sand! I’m waiting for BF/CM deals for those.

Next steps are to plumb the sump/tank and start installing the controller board components.

That controller board looks incredible. Can't wait to see everything set up!

 

[dangles]

Two updates…

My mixing station is nearly finished! I just have a little bit of plumbing left to do. I found a local(ish) place to source containers. These are 65 gallons each, and cost $250 apiece

I had originally installed 44 gallon Brute cans but the Uniseal bulkheads I used leaked BAD.

I also designed some replacement hanger brackets for the ClariSea filter roller. I had to cut out the built-in filter sock holders in the sump to fit the roller. But since I couldn’t get the entire piece out, the original roller hangers got caught up on what was left.

Original/replacement side-by-side. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out!

Also….. I ordered my TBS Gulf of Mexico live sand! It scheduled to be delivered on Monday the 11th. Nine days!!

 

[dangles]

Another brief update…

My buddy finished the cnc router work for my heater mounts and filter roller mounts. Here they are installed…

Factory mounts vs new…

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Two updates…

My mixing station is nearly finished! I just have a little bit of plumbing left to do. I found a local(ish) place to source containers. These are 65 gallons each, and cost $250 apiece

I had originally installed 44 gallon Brute cans but the Uniseal bulkheads I used leaked BAD.

I also designed some replacement hanger brackets for the ClariSea filter roller. I had to cut out the built-in filter sock holders in the sump to fit the roller. But since I couldn’t get the entire piece out, the original roller hangers got caught up on what was left.

Original/replacement side-by-side. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out!

Also….. I ordered my TBS Gulf of Mexico live sand! It scheduled to be delivered on Monday the 11th. Nine days!!

Mixing station looks nice!

 

[dangles]

Big update!

Mixing station is COMPLETE. I had a couple of mishaps including dropping and breaking a piece, and a small leak from the bulkhead of one of the tanks. But both problems were easily remedied.

In that last photo you can see a T with 1/4” RODI tubing running off it. That’s for my gravity-fed ATO (Jake inspired me to ditch the pump).

I filled both tanks up yesterday and discovered that my well water WIPES OUT my anion resin

That’s after 100 gallons of filtering. Randy seems to think it’s excess CO2 in my well water.

I also started (and mostly finished) my plumbing!

Pro tip: if you have some weird plumbing runs, test fit with cheap schedule-40 pvc first. Then cut the real pieces. You can write notes on each of them with a sharpie for when you make the final cut on the real pipe. This was IMMENSELY helpful.

Here’s the (nearly) final product…

On that last photo I’ve circled a 12” section between two unions. That’s where the manifold will be. I bought one from BRS but my stupid clumsy butt dropped it and it broke

Phone battery is dying… To be continued!

 

[ralquist]

Beautiful work sir, the detail is incredible! Can't wait to see it full

TO EVERYONE FOLLOWING ALONG-I had been following his previous build w/ similar size tank and recently reached out to him for some advise. With everything he has going on with his build still took time out of his day to get in contact with me the same day and help with my issue. So massive THANK YOU DANGELS for being awesome guy and exactly the type of person you hope to cross paths with in this hobby!

 

[dangit]

Man this tank build is sick and you haven’t even gotten the tank up and running. Love the custom built controller board… definitely giving me some ideas on what I should do. this tank is gonna be awesome following along can’t wait to see more

 

[dangles]

Thanks for all the kind words! I’m super excited to finally fire this baby up!

I’ve updated the OP with a brief “current progress” section at the end for newcomers to get the latest. I’ll try to keep that very brief and up to date as I progress.

Less than 1 week until the TBS live sand arrives!

 

[dangles]

Ugh. Hiccups...

My TBS live sand can't be delivered for almost another MONTH

Delayed Addition of TBS Live Sand in a New System

So I'm in a bit of a bind and need some advice... I have been setting up a new system in my new house over the last couple of months (see my tank thread). My old tank is still up and running at my nearly-empty old house since I haven't put it on the market yet. I'm pretty much ready to add...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[ralquist]

Ugh. Hiccups...

My TBS live sand can't be delivered for almost another MONTH

Delayed Addition of TBS Live Sand in a New System

So I'm in a bit of a bind and need some advice... I have been setting up a new system in my new house over the last couple of months (see my tank thread). My old tank is still up and running at my nearly-empty old house since I haven't put it on the market yet. I'm pretty much ready to add...

www.reef2reef.com

O man that's such a bummer , I here Florida weather is nice this time of year! #roadtrip

 

[dangles]

O man that's such a bummer , I here Florida weather is nice this time of year! #roadtrip

I think my plan is to go ahead and fire up the tank with the pre-cycled rock scape over the next few days, and start transferring the fish mid-later this coming week. I’ll add the sand in January when they can get it to me.

I really can’t keep up going back and forth between my new house and old house just to maintain the old tank (it’s almost an hour and a half drive!). Plus I need to get the house on the market to pay off all the credit card debt I’ve built up with the new tank

And, ya know, impatience!

Next update will likely have rock scape and water! Maybe even a few of the fish!

 

[dangles]

She doesn’t leak!

Well after I tightened up 2 unions she doesn’t leak

However, I’ve pinpointed a couple of issues I’m going to have to deal with. I knew from the beginning that two M2 pumps was going to be overkill. I underestimated just how overkill it would be! The 1 inch drain pipes are just not sufficient to handle both pumps running at the same time, even on their lowest setting.


I have two options. In the short term, I’m going to get a barbed tee fitting and run just one of the pumps.

I’m a little bit concerned that even a single M2 pump is a bit much. That seems weird to me, but there’s still a ton of flow going into the overflow and down the drains even with one pump running on its lowest setting. It’s still pretty noisy. Part of that is because I don’t have filter socks and the secondary drain is making a lot of noise when it enters the sump without going through a filter sock. I’m going to need to come up with a solution for that.


If I decide to stick with a single pump, I’ll need to plumb in a gate valve before the UV so I can control UV flow. Alternatively, I could replace the two M2 pumps with two S2 pumps. This would allow me to maintain redundancy that I had wanted to begin with.

It kind of comes down to how much I wanna mess with it, and if that redundancy is really that important for me.

Anyway, I still plan to add my rockscape tomorrow and probably my fish and coral later on this week.

Stay tuned!

 

[1stMarineTankDude]

ok, is it ok if i say I'm in love with your wife? ha-ha. I love what you're doing there and the fact she is on board is awesome. My son bought me my first marine tank for Christmas this year and my wife keeps hitting the brakes and I'm still cycling!

 

[NeedAReef]

Big day today!

The tank was delivered!

I also got some work done on the mixing station…

…as well as the controller board and cabinet!

The only things left to purchase are the lid and the Tampa Bay Saltwater live sand! I’m waiting for BF/CM deals for those.

Next steps are to plumb the sump/tank and start installing the controller board components.

side doors on the stand, genius.

 

[dangles]

ok, is it ok if i say I'm in love with your wife? ha-ha. I love what you're doing there and the fact she is on board is awesome. My son bought me my first marine tank for Christmas this year and my wife keeps hitting the brakes and I'm still cycling!

Thanks I’ll tell her you said that! Lol

Since she designed/built the house before I came into the picture, she wanted me to feel like it was my home as well. It was pretty cool of her

Plus I gave her the green light on a $5000 couch lol

 

[dangles]

side doors on the stand, genius.

YESSSS. This was SO worth it. I think it was an extra $175 apiece. I’d do it a thousand times over.