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fillibar
11/19/2012, 06:36 PM
So a few years ago I picked up an ~200 Gallon aquarium. It was used for freshwater then became a reef tank. I put a lot of time and effort into it. Unfortunately it crashed shortly before Christmas in 2010...

Here it is in 2012 and we have moved into a new house. Part of the deal was we find a spot to put it and I get it running again. This thread is to detail that process. I have already put a bunch of work into it but need to consolidate pictures and get that worked out.

To get things started I ordered a custom stand, canopy, and side cabinet from Joe (JOESWOODWORKS). I must admit that the build quality is amazing. Joe listened to my rambling about what I wanted, made a couple calls to confirm what I said in email, corrected me on a couple errors, and made these pieces that even my wife approves of. PM him if you are in the market.

Here are the completed three pictures of what Joe built, before I even picked them up (yes, he lets you know as he goes). I will add some of the "during" process on request.
Stand and canopy closed and together:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Joes/stand_canopy.JPG
Stand with the front panel removed to show the inside:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Joes/stand_open.JPG
Side cabinet to hide plumbing and access to the back:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Joes/cabinet.JPG

EllieSuz
11/19/2012, 07:23 PM
Keep 'em coming.

LetsGetTanked
11/19/2012, 09:03 PM
How long did it take him to make that for you? They look really nice

fillibar
11/20/2012, 05:31 AM
It took Joe about 2 weeks if I remember correctly but I bet he could have done it quicker if I was prepared. We were not even moved in yet when I first contacted him and got the plan started. He had it ready long before I could do anything more than just admire it.

fillibar
11/20/2012, 08:03 PM
We picked a corner of our new family room as the location for the tank. As it has a concrete slab, the only weak point is the air handling running through it but that is ~6 inches down and only goes across one edge of the tank by the wall.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/original_area.JPG

First thing to do was to cut out the carpet after I picked up the pieces from Joe so I could test fit the area and make sure it is all perfect.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/carpet_removed.JPG

Somehow the pictures of the next steps I took are missing, so I have to use a much later picture and describe what it took to get it there...
1) After the carpet was removed the entire area was scraped, sanded, and carefully cleaned.
2) An epoxy primer was put down.
3) The whole area was coated with grey epoxy. Twice. Including ~1 inch under the carpet.
4) The carpet was retacked. This involved a large amount of construction adhesive as well as the concrete nails it came with.
5) The tack strip edge and entire bottom edge of the wall were sealed with a substantial layer of waterproof caulk.
6) A trim was added to transition from the cement to the carpet and to protect the carpet edge. This was also repeatedly sealed with caulk. In all there are ~5 different "layers" of caulk to help with water spills.
7) The heat vent was caulked repeatedly around the original opening and metal flashing.
8) A section of trim was put around the opening to raise it up and caulked.
9) Heat vent was replaced.
10) A new set of electrical outlets was added (with GFCI of course) and the original one was sealed off.
11) A set of Cat6 ports were added for future proofing and tank monitoring. An IOBridge can be seen connected presently although it is not doing anything at this moment (the X10 module it was testing failed and I am waiting for replacements, no the tank will not have X10 this just happened to be some of the first Cat6 ports I got active).
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/behind_tank_25.jpg

fillibar
11/20/2012, 08:07 PM
Sorry about these next two pictures. They were taken with a cellphone in low light... and are basically impossible to retake. They show the stand and cabinet in place without the aquarium or canopy. Since the aquarium weighs a few hundred lbs (couple hundred kg) I wanted to make sure everything was set. The first picture shows a corner view (also has the stand front cover off) and the second shows the side view.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/corner_view_no_tank.jpg
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/side_view_no_tank.jpg

fillibar
11/20/2012, 08:14 PM
Last two pictures for today, with the cabinet out while I work behind the tank. First is the stand with aquarium and canopy on top and the front panel in place.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/front_view_25.jpg

The second picture shows more of a corner view of the same.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/corner_view_25.jpg

The tank still needs a good cleaning after having been sitting for so long. I also need to do a lot of plumbing assembly. The 2 large holes (2") will be used for drains and the 4 (1") holes will be used for the returns. I plan on connecting the 1" returns so they are paired and I only have to put 4 holes for plumbing overall.

I also need to get some pictures of the basement portion of this project.

petere1989
11/21/2012, 06:26 PM
looks like its gonna be fun. subscribed

fillibar
11/28/2012, 06:51 PM
Sorry, no new pictures yet but I did complete the following:
1) Finished electrical in the basement. There are now the 4 outlets behind the tank itself and 3 sets of 4 in the basement behind the wall for the tank. Every one of those 4 sets is on its own GFCI. 16 overall outlets might seem like an awful lot (it is) but it helps accommodate wall warts, watt meters, and other oddities. I may be breaking it into two separate circuits in the future. Let me know your opinions on that.
2) Bulkhead plugs and valves have filled all the openings in the sump. When I bought it originally it had a couple pre-drilled holes and I added more with my last setup. Now I do not need as many and need to block them. Annoying.
3) Returns inside tank with loc-line ends have been added. There are the 4 of them, each loc-line is 3/4". I really wish they made a 1" loc-line. My attempts at making loc-line with my 3D printer have not been satisfactory (for water) yet.
4) Initial piecing together of 2" parts for the drains. I did a bunch of solvent work to get some pieces made.

Brian Reef
11/28/2012, 10:51 PM
Looking good ��

Brian Reef
11/28/2012, 10:55 PM
Looking good

Henry Colf
12/09/2012, 12:13 PM
Lookin good, keep the updates coming!!

tent boy
12/09/2012, 12:44 PM
Its always so helpful to see the different ways to install tanks. Always seems like they are a little different. Thanks for taking the time to document it with the pictures.

Conesus_Kid
12/09/2012, 02:43 PM
Looks great! I'm looking forward to watching this come together. Any specific stocking plans yet?

fillibar
12/09/2012, 06:56 PM
Got some more time to take pictures and get work done this weekend. First off a picture of the basement electrical I mentioned:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/basement_electrical_resized.jpg

fillibar
12/09/2012, 06:58 PM
Next came a test positioning of the sump in the corner below the electrical.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/sump_positioning_resized.jpg

This is pre-cleaning of the sump and before I filled all the bulkheads.

fillibar
12/09/2012, 07:01 PM
Here is the majority of the last week's work... Plumbing. I am running 2 drain pipes that are 2". I am also running 2 return lines that are 1.5" through the wall, however they will have different sizes before and after.

First off is the four holes. There is surprisingly little space that is actually available:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/plumbing_holes_cut_resized.jpg

Next came getting the main drain running down. I plan on putting a few Ts on it for future proofing.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/main_drain_resized.jpg

fillibar
12/09/2012, 07:06 PM
Behind the tank itself I have all the bulkheads "plugged" with their true union valves and bends. The main drain is visible running down as is the secondary. All 4 returns are visible. As I said before drains are 2". The returns are all 1" although that goes to a 1.5" Y before running to the basement.
There is also a visible (but readily corrected mistake) in my plumbing in this picture. The closest return actually has to bend 90 degrees away from the camera to make it narrow enough for the cabinet (there is only a 4" gap behind that particular bulkhead). Even that gap is purely there because Joe was smart enough to ask and be able to correct it. Thanks again Joe!
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/main_drain_tank_resized.jpg

fillibar
12/09/2012, 07:10 PM
Here is that same area but with both of the main return lines connected. As you can see the 1.5" pipe comes in and splits to the 2 smaller 1" pipes. Probably not the most efficient and some people will probably give me a hard time... but it seems like it should work well enough and is actually an improvement over my previous pipe work the last time this tank was set up. There is also an odd bend to the 2nd return 1" section... due to having to loop around the 2" drain.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/main_plumbing_resized.jpg

Here is what it currently looks like from in front of the tank:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/front_12-9-2012_resized.jpg

fillibar
12/09/2012, 07:19 PM
Final shot for tonight and the final piece I am working on tonight is a test of the sump. I filled it up a bit higher than the regular use expected and have my Fluval FX5 running on it for a while to circulate the water in it. Trying to clean off any last dust as well as test all the bulkheads. Couple drips from one early on but that was easy to correct. The Fluval will likely stay there to become a general canister for various uses rather than filtration. Also visible is the return line. The main pump is a Mag12 at this time. Thus the pipe leading up to the 1.5" section is only 3/4" since that is what the Mag12 uses. However I put it into the true union and can readily swap it out for a larger pipe if needed.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/sump_test_fill_resized.jpg

Other notes... I bought a used Neptune Apex and it should be arriving tomorrow according to the tracking (it hit the Henrietta distribution center Saturday). With all of power ports that will give me (I will have 2 Energy Bars) my outlets are looking further redundant. Oh well. I also ordered new Ph and Temperature probes for it. I had been debating about making an Arduino-based control system but decided the time and energy of doing it (I have plenty of controllers and parts) was better spent working on the tank itself and the many other projects in the new house (let alone the holiday season).

fillibar
12/09/2012, 07:27 PM
I almost forgot to answer the stocking question from Conesus_Kid. Sorry about that. It will definitely be a reef tank with a significant amount of rock work. I LOVE Green Mandarins. I had one in the tank last time and he was a fat and happy bugger (my wife was not as thrilled since she always called it a frog fish due to the face... some people). I am also a fan of Zoas and Ricordea... but beyond that I really have not sat down to plan it out yet. Oddly enough with a "large" tank I am not much for bigger fish. I will have to start putting down some ideas.

fillibar
12/15/2012, 08:13 PM
Ordered a number of items most of which have already arrived:
Initial sand (150lbs) - one bag still in shipping
Initial salt (120lbs)
Quiet One 9000 pump to replace the Mag12
2 Hydor Evolution Powerheads
Spare Neptune Temperature Probe

I got my Neptune Apex a few days ago. I really like it but have 5 comments so far:
1) The web interface is pretty primitive. I am around web UIs all the time at work so this is somewhat disappointing. Maybe newer firmware will look better.
2) The local interface also feels a bit "old style". I would also love it if they made replaceable face plates for it so you could more easily integrate it into a display.
3) The not-USB "AquaBus". I know it is a male-male USB cable that they get to charge an arm an a leg for. Yes, it carries 12VDC so it cannot connect to other USB items without killing SOMETHING. But that begs a couple questions:
a) Why don't they use actual USB? Are the power requirements on their modules that extreme? Does not seem like they should be.
b) Why is there not any voltage protection so things do not get killed if "normal" USB stuff is plugged in?
4) Lack of wireless. It would be excellent if the module used wifi. They have a "wireless" module so I got my hopes up for the 1/2 second before I read the description and saw it was for controlling pumps/powerheads and not actual communication to your network. Bummer. I have CAT6 runs but it still seems like something that could have been done or offered as a module.
5) Lastly... I already mentioned the web interface... but why could they not offer one on their own servers that accepts data from your module (if you want it to) so that you can access your Apex readily worldwide without having to bother with a dynamic DNS service and fighting with your ISP's restrictions/hardware, etc... Just a thought for the future maybe, if anyone from Apex sees this.

JOESWOODWORKS
12/27/2012, 05:43 PM
Dave
Any new pictures?

fillibar
12/29/2012, 03:24 PM
Getting things done but they are tough to see at this time. First off all the plumbing is now connected. The sump had to be re-positioned. In addition I connected up a Lifegard QuietOne 9000 as the return pump. It gives decent flow on all 4 returns. Here is the picture of the sump and its plumbing:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/sump-12-29-2012.jpg

Next I have been rinsing and adding the sand I purchased. 150lbs of sugar sized aragonite. What fun rinsing that is. Even with all the rinses the tank is pretty cloudy at the moment (with 60lbs to go):
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/tank-sand-added.jpg

fillibar
01/21/2013, 10:02 PM
I was able to accomplish some more work over the weekend. The cloudy water is gone and some rock I had stored was able to be added.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/front_rock.jpg

I also rearranged the Apex and mounted it to the rear wall behind the tank. There it also has convenient access to the wall plate I had for the networking where I added a USB pass-through so it can easily control the EB8 by the sump.
The wiring needs a bit of cleanup...
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/side_rock.jpg

Finally for the pictures is a view of the lighting I am trying out. It is a series of white LED panels I got. They are not hooked up very well and I left most of it pretty raw to work on further or adjust. They are all sitting on top of eggcrate panels with acrylic shields mounted on the underside to protect against water. The panels run on 24V DC and I split them onto 2 separate power supplies so I can have just a few panels running for dusk/dawn effects. The side closest the camera is the side door in the canopy so the panels are a little more densely packed to allow open water for feeding and such.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/side_lighting.jpg

One other thing that is not in a photo was a little work I did on the sump. I cut out ~2 feet of the 1.5" piping from the return tank and replaced it with flexible piping. This has greatly reduced the pump noise that was generated.

fillibar
01/21/2013, 10:17 PM
One other area I wanted to mention was the Neptune Apex I am using. This is a huge improvement over my past methods of control (X10 and DIY Arduino work plus manual stuff of course). I updated the controller to version 4.20 and I will say that they did a decent job of fixing complaint #1 (not that it was for me) I mentioned before. The UI is significantly improved and I like the new dashboards a lot.

There are still a lot of things I am learning about it and I am working on some switches to connect to it for finer control of areas. There is a lot of possibility packed into this device.

I do have to add two other minor annoyances. The temperature probe uses an RJ9 (apparently) plug. I will be confirming this soon as I did not have any handy to immediately test it with. For those not familiar with RJ9 it is a phone handset plug. For corded phones. Of which cables are no longer nearly as available as they used to be. That makes passing the probe through the wall more difficult than maybe it should be (using nice looking keystone plates and such like I am doing) but is minor. It would have been nice if it was RJ11 or best of all RJ45 (think Ethernet-style plug) but that would be bigger for something that really does not need it. The other annoyance is that there is only the 1 temperature probe input on the controller. I would much rather 2 to begin with. One for the tank and one for the sump. That way I could make sure what the values at both are and it would also help identify some error conditions (such as return pump failure based on temperature differential).

fillibar
02/01/2013, 07:40 PM
Too late for convenient pictures tonight but I will try to get some this weekend. There is finally life in the tank. Not tons, some snails, a zoanthid colony, and an anenome (too small to identify yet really but I think it is a bubble tip). Plus various isopods, tubeworms, and such that came along for the ride with the rocks I added. I need more but it will be a slow process of stocking.

More to come once I get the pictures.

fillibar
02/02/2013, 08:29 PM
First of three pictures. This one is not of the tank but the first "highly visible" inhabitants... A zoanthid colony.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/zoa_colony.jpg

fillibar
02/02/2013, 08:37 PM
Here are the 2nd and 3rd pictures showing the whole setup. I took these while the room was nice and bright but apparently our camera liked the lighting from the tank too much. I tried to brighten the images a bit to show the stand but I think I will just have to take new pictures tomorrow.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/corner_dark.jpg

The second picture is a straight on shot taken from the futon that is set up as a sofa right in front of the tank. It will be a great view over time.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/front_dark.jpg

fillibar
02/17/2013, 08:10 PM
Latest addition to the system is a 5'+ DIY skimmer based on the "world's ugliest skimmer" design. Unfortunately I just thought of taking pictures now so I have none of it during the build process. I will have to get some this week after I test it out. I have also added some additional snails and a lawnmower blenny to the aquarium. Hope to get good pictures of them this week also.

fillibar
04/17/2013, 08:46 PM
Failing miserably on pictures and updates. Added 2 Ocellaris Clowns and a Diamond Goby on Tuesday. Also added 6 more zoa frags and 2 green star frags. Lawnmower has traveled down to the sump and is proving difficult to remove (this happened about 2 weeks ago). Really MUST try to get new pictures soon.

Other news... Neptune Apex continuing to work extremely well for me. In addition to the Neptune app for my android I have also created a series of tasks in the awesome app "Tasker" to pull down the xml status, parse it, and give me all sorts of information and if need be warnings (or downright alerts) if things start to get weird. While it has not changed much it IS neat to have and has proven very successful in tests.

I have also added a 12v DC backup (Belkin) for the Apex. If there is a power failure it should keep it going for a few hours. Not that much else will be going but at least it will allow some more records to be made. Trying to see what I can do about other "critical" areas.

fillibar
04/21/2013, 05:28 PM
I actually got around to taking my pictures of the main tank. Still working on some cleaning issues and cyano, but it is coming along slowly. The first three pictures are to show the 2 rock stacks and the open center. Eventually there will be more once I can get more rock made.
Left side stack:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/left_stack.jpg

Center of tank:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/center.jpg

Right side stack:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/right_stack.jpg

fillibar
04/21/2013, 05:30 PM
Pictures of soft coral. The first is my larger zoa colony. I think it is spreading onto the other rocks well:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/zoa_colony_4-2013.jpg

One of the multiple zoa frags I got (but the only decent picture):
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/zoa_frag.jpg

One of two Green Star frags I got:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/green_stars.jpg

fillibar
04/21/2013, 05:34 PM
Fishy additions to the tank. Two Ocellaris Clowns and one Diamond Goby. The goby is particular camera friendly but I will only post one picture of it unless there are requests.

First the clowns:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/ocellaris_clowns.jpg

Now the goby:
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/diamond_goby.jpg

fillibar
04/21/2013, 05:38 PM
Last pictures for the evening, the DIY protein skimmer I made. The outside is 4" PVC with 2" fittings (down to 1" for the bottom inlet). The center is 2" PVC. The top section is connected by a union for easier removal and cleaning with the neck made of 2" clear PVC to make sure it is bubbling nicely. It is not a great skimmer but it is working well enough for now.

First is the overall picture. It is pretty big and I tried to put a tape measure for the size but it turns out to be basically unreadable. It reads as being just over 6' 9" tall.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/DIY_Skimmer.jpg

Last is a closeup of the top section of the skimmer.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/Skimmer_Top.jpg

newreefer92
04/21/2013, 11:50 PM
Ordered a number of items most of which have already arrived:
Initial sand (150lbs) - one bag still in shipping
Initial salt (120lbs)
Quiet One 9000 pump to replace the Mag12
2 Hydor Evolution Powerheads
Spare Neptune Temperature Probe

I got my Neptune Apex a few days ago. I really like it but have 5 comments so far:
1) The web interface is pretty primitive. I am around web UIs all the time at work so this is somewhat disappointing. Maybe newer firmware will look better.
2) The local interface also feels a bit "old style". I would also love it if they made replaceable face plates for it so you could more easily integrate it into a display.
3) The not-USB "AquaBus". I know it is a male-male USB cable that they get to charge an arm an a leg for. Yes, it carries 12VDC so it cannot connect to other USB items without killing SOMETHING. But that begs a couple questions:
a) Why don't they use actual USB? Are the power requirements on their modules that extreme? Does not seem like they should be.
b) Why is there not any voltage protection so things do not get killed if "normal" USB stuff is plugged in?
4) Lack of wireless. It would be excellent if the module used wifi. They have a "wireless" module so I got my hopes up for the 1/2 second before I read the description and saw it was for controlling pumps/powerheads and not actual communication to your network. Bummer. I have CAT6 runs but it still seems like something that could have been done or offered as a module.
5) Lastly... I already mentioned the web interface... but why could they not offer one on their own servers that accepts data from your module (if you want it to) so that you can access your Apex readily worldwide without having to bother with a dynamic DNS service and fighting with your ISP's restrictions/hardware, etc... Just a thought for the future maybe, if anyone from Apex sees this.


I purchased my apex 4 days ago, they are completely wireless. The issue I have is that if I want that wireless I have to go buy a bridge to do so. It states in the description they are already wireless. They dont even sell a wireless module for the unit itself, because its already wireless. They sell a wxm module for the ecotech pumps though...

fillibar
04/23/2013, 08:21 PM
Not sure what you mean by them stating they are wireless. They mention about the wireless VorTech control (WXM) but that is just sad. Best case, 802.11b/g/n built in (for broad range protocol support). Next best, an Aquabus module that supports it. Another time where their proprietary bus might be hurting them considering how cheap USB WIFI dongles are, but there could have always been problems with driver support.

fillibar
04/23/2013, 08:29 PM
The lack of a second Temperature plug on the controller (yet it has 2 pH, although one could be ORP but still...) is bugging me. I would really like to have a second temperature probe to monitor my sump (where my main heaters are) but until I can find an additional module for a reasonable price it looks like that will not be an option.

Last (for tonight)... I REALLY wish the Apex could control (simple on/off) a few pins. Maybe switch some of the existing input PINs so they can be set to either input or output (pretty common on all microcontrollers) or just have a whole separate Aquabus module that is just meant to be able to trigger external events without relying on X10 or an entire power outlet. I mean the I/O Breakout is totally misleading. I/O. Input / Output... Where is the Output capability? Geesh.

fillibar
04/29/2013, 06:18 PM
Had a bummer of a loss today. Came home and discovered my Diamond Goby managed to get on top of the eggcrate. It was too big to fit through it (I am pretty sure of that) so it either jumped on top of a cross brace, then jumped up again and flopped around OR jumped onto the eggcrate at the area for feeding and crossed 5ft of them (and over 2 gaps for cross braces) to end up where it did.
It is a real bummer because it was a really nice one and doing an excellent job in the tank. Now I have to decide how to reconstruct my whole top structure to prevent that in the future because I already thought it was almost impossible. Trust a truly dedicated, but suicidal, fish to prove me wrong.

Poriferan
04/29/2013, 10:43 PM
Sorry to hear about your goby loss. Some fish will do anything to get out it seems. Wrasse's have been the worst for me.:thumbdown

fillibar
05/01/2013, 05:54 PM
Once I get some final measurements I plan on making full lids of acrylic for the center and right sections of the top. The left side (where the food door is) will be 2 panels that will be split at ~1/3. That smallest section will be able to be easily moved for feeding time. I may make a feeding hole in it for a future automatic feeder, but either way this should prevent fish from jumping out and it will also help with condensation. It will make life more difficult for cleaning but that is the tradeoff.

fillibar
05/19/2013, 06:21 PM
Now for something a touch different... One of my snails decided to come out of his shell... As you can see this is definitely NOT a stomatella. In addition it is very much alive. Moving around and now you can see varies organs working... I would have sworn it was dead until I looked closer.
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/snail_topside.jpg
http://www.drdsnell.com/projects/Aquarium/Build/snail_underside.jpg