scooter1
10/18/2011, 08:13 PM
Background:
My wife likes fish and corals. I've only had one fresh water nano octo tank some 25 years ago. So as a gift to my wife I have been putting together a salt water tank (thinking LPS at this time).
Prework:
Prior to buying anything I had a area of the house that was ~28"D x ~58"W x 12'H that only housed our audio/video equipment taking up about the first three feet off the floor. SO...I dabble in wood working and took it upon myself to solve a couple of issues at the same time. I have since built an entire enclosure for the whole area which probably deserves its own thread, but for now it breaks the space up into four areas (from top to bottom):
Tip top (4th floor)- computer server space - ~3'
3rd floor - extra led flat screen tv, audio subwoofer, wii/kinetic sensor bars, etc - ~3'
2nd floor - 120 gallon main tank/lighting/powerheads/etc. - ~3'
Ground (1st floor) - A/V equipment/consoles/etc. - ~3'
I will post pictures when I can get too it.
Yes I know, I've made it complicated for myself with the sump. I'll come back to this in a minute. For now I will refer to this as "the Housing"
What I purchased so far:
The following is a list of the items that I recently got for $700
one Rio 3100 pump
one Rio 200 pump
two QuietOne 2200 pumps
one 120 gallon all glass (four 1/2" bulkheads on bottom, one covered in plumbers putty, two overflow boxes both with two of the bulkheads)
one 30 gallon all glass sump tank with one dual overflow partition
one 10 gallon tank with plastic top/canopy (with busted circulator/filter)
150 lbs live rock
200 lbs live sand
one Coralife Super Skimmer - 125 gallon
one Coralife Turbo Twist 12x - 500 gallon
two Utilitech TM09DHBL manual timers
one GE GE5101N manual timer
one metal halide bulb
one phosphorus vapor bulb
two very old looking ballast (unknown origin and no model numbers on them)
two marineland maxijet 1200 powerheads
three power strips (nondescript)
one outdoor portable clamp on lamp (nondescript)
two standpipes (both in 120 gallon tank, one working)
one Hydor 300W Theo Waterheater
one really crappy stand
one really crappy canopy
one old school hydrometer/thermometer
Assortment of water testing/cleaning/dosing/plastic tubs/hoses/other lights/measuring tools/etc. (I will try to detail all of this out later, but there is too much for me to go through right now.)
Assortment of food/salt/etc.
one clown fish
one (some kind of silver angle fish????)
three small crabs
two ~1" snails (both did not make the move :( )
Where things are now:
In my main entry hallway (not a lot of lighting).
Where things I have now will be going:
The main 120 gallon tank, two powerheads, rock, sand, fish, crabs, rio 3100, three manual timers, and two powerstrips in the 2nd floor of the Housing.
The sump, hydrometer/thermometer, one powerstrip, waterheater, skimmer, turbo twist, 10 gallon tank, rock, sand, and remaining pumps will be in the master bed room closet.
What I need to get:
New (read used whenever i use the term new) LED lighting, 1/4 hp chiller or bigger, a couple of large plastic containers (overflow and water feeding), automatic dosing system, automatic RO system, crap load of pvc and hoses, probably an additional pump, eventually some LPS and maybe some SPS coral, lexan or the like for tank covers (main, sump, etc), and finally but not last for sure opinions about how this will all fit together.
Key notes:
The sump tank will be siting around 9' off the floor in the closet, the tank will be sitting around 3' off the floor, which would make the sump tank above the main tank. I have already run pvc through the walls to connect the sump and main tank. I will have to go with LED as the only ventilation for the main tank is out the front of the Housing, worded differently the heat from the current bulbs would be too much. The existing or purchased stand is getting trashed along with the canopy, bulbs, ballast, and anything else that was not specifically listed in the "Where things I have now will be going:" section. I might have to get new powerheads as the current two don't seem to have the correct attachments for me to place them correctly in the tank. I believe that I will have to tie into the water pipes in the master bathroom (connected to the master bedroom closet) as well. I am still working on a diagram of how the water will flow in this case. I will also be including a google sketchup of space and dimensions etc that I have to work with.
Let the ideas fly, I wish I could say money was no object, but that is not the case.
P.S. Sorry for the really long post. I have to go feed the other newbies in my life my 4 month old twin boy and girl.
My wife likes fish and corals. I've only had one fresh water nano octo tank some 25 years ago. So as a gift to my wife I have been putting together a salt water tank (thinking LPS at this time).
Prework:
Prior to buying anything I had a area of the house that was ~28"D x ~58"W x 12'H that only housed our audio/video equipment taking up about the first three feet off the floor. SO...I dabble in wood working and took it upon myself to solve a couple of issues at the same time. I have since built an entire enclosure for the whole area which probably deserves its own thread, but for now it breaks the space up into four areas (from top to bottom):
Tip top (4th floor)- computer server space - ~3'
3rd floor - extra led flat screen tv, audio subwoofer, wii/kinetic sensor bars, etc - ~3'
2nd floor - 120 gallon main tank/lighting/powerheads/etc. - ~3'
Ground (1st floor) - A/V equipment/consoles/etc. - ~3'
I will post pictures when I can get too it.
Yes I know, I've made it complicated for myself with the sump. I'll come back to this in a minute. For now I will refer to this as "the Housing"
What I purchased so far:
The following is a list of the items that I recently got for $700
one Rio 3100 pump
one Rio 200 pump
two QuietOne 2200 pumps
one 120 gallon all glass (four 1/2" bulkheads on bottom, one covered in plumbers putty, two overflow boxes both with two of the bulkheads)
one 30 gallon all glass sump tank with one dual overflow partition
one 10 gallon tank with plastic top/canopy (with busted circulator/filter)
150 lbs live rock
200 lbs live sand
one Coralife Super Skimmer - 125 gallon
one Coralife Turbo Twist 12x - 500 gallon
two Utilitech TM09DHBL manual timers
one GE GE5101N manual timer
one metal halide bulb
one phosphorus vapor bulb
two very old looking ballast (unknown origin and no model numbers on them)
two marineland maxijet 1200 powerheads
three power strips (nondescript)
one outdoor portable clamp on lamp (nondescript)
two standpipes (both in 120 gallon tank, one working)
one Hydor 300W Theo Waterheater
one really crappy stand
one really crappy canopy
one old school hydrometer/thermometer
Assortment of water testing/cleaning/dosing/plastic tubs/hoses/other lights/measuring tools/etc. (I will try to detail all of this out later, but there is too much for me to go through right now.)
Assortment of food/salt/etc.
one clown fish
one (some kind of silver angle fish????)
three small crabs
two ~1" snails (both did not make the move :( )
Where things are now:
In my main entry hallway (not a lot of lighting).
Where things I have now will be going:
The main 120 gallon tank, two powerheads, rock, sand, fish, crabs, rio 3100, three manual timers, and two powerstrips in the 2nd floor of the Housing.
The sump, hydrometer/thermometer, one powerstrip, waterheater, skimmer, turbo twist, 10 gallon tank, rock, sand, and remaining pumps will be in the master bed room closet.
What I need to get:
New (read used whenever i use the term new) LED lighting, 1/4 hp chiller or bigger, a couple of large plastic containers (overflow and water feeding), automatic dosing system, automatic RO system, crap load of pvc and hoses, probably an additional pump, eventually some LPS and maybe some SPS coral, lexan or the like for tank covers (main, sump, etc), and finally but not last for sure opinions about how this will all fit together.
Key notes:
The sump tank will be siting around 9' off the floor in the closet, the tank will be sitting around 3' off the floor, which would make the sump tank above the main tank. I have already run pvc through the walls to connect the sump and main tank. I will have to go with LED as the only ventilation for the main tank is out the front of the Housing, worded differently the heat from the current bulbs would be too much. The existing or purchased stand is getting trashed along with the canopy, bulbs, ballast, and anything else that was not specifically listed in the "Where things I have now will be going:" section. I might have to get new powerheads as the current two don't seem to have the correct attachments for me to place them correctly in the tank. I believe that I will have to tie into the water pipes in the master bathroom (connected to the master bedroom closet) as well. I am still working on a diagram of how the water will flow in this case. I will also be including a google sketchup of space and dimensions etc that I have to work with.
Let the ideas fly, I wish I could say money was no object, but that is not the case.
P.S. Sorry for the really long post. I have to go feed the other newbies in my life my 4 month old twin boy and girl.