*d2mini's new 200g Reeftastic Build*
 

Just moved in to our new house, so time for the new build! :dance:
Tank has just been ordered through T&T Fish and Reef in Houston, TX.
It's a custom Deep Sea Aquatics build... 84" x 24" x 24".
Coast to Coast internal overflow with Bean Animal plumbing.

Here's the general plan. The small pics were from the model home, and one pic of my inspiration for cabinetry around the tank, giving it a built-in look, but bumped out a bit.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6...824c5600_b.jpg


And the real dining room, currently empty.
http://d2creative.smugmug.com/Other/...ssCreek-XL.jpg


The plumbing will be fed through the wall into the garage where ALL equipment will be. Tank will be lit by FOUR Ecotech Radion XR30w LED units and most of the flow will come from a couple MP60's. I've still got rock and some coral and fish from my old setup and will be definitely be using Tampa Bay Saltwater again for more rock, all new sand, etc.

Here's what I'm thinking for the garage setup.

1. Sump container for skimmer and fuge (live rock and cheato). What kind of container and where to buy? Feed store?
2. Second sump container for return/top off
2. Skimmer. External for this size tank??? Or stick with internal skimmer?
3. Frag grow out tank
4. CHILLER!
5. Suggestions for main return pump to run it all?


First crack at laying out plumbing design...
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7059/6...37d96717_o.jpg


My main concern right now is having the equipment in the garage. I would really rather NOT put up sheetrock walls. I don't want to make major modifications to the house if I don't have to and I don't want to confine myself to a specific space out there. I'd like to try making it work as-is for now and see what happens, so I could use some suggestions. A chiller is obviously needed in houston where garage temps can get pretty insane. Hopefully, the fact that 200g of water will be INSIDE the house where temps are consistently pretty cool, will help keep overall water temps down. But my other concern with having the equipment space open to the rest of the garage is humidty/salty air, being that we keep cars and motorcycles in there as well as tools and other things. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Is there a way to maybe use exhaust fans or something? I even thought of maybe hanging some kind of heavy plastic sheeting from the ceiling to create a faux wall without being permanent. I'm open to different ideas on how to deal with this.

Here's a pic of the garage. It's a 3-car tandem and the equipment area is in that space to the left. You can match it up with the diagram posted above.
The area i marked off is a good 7.5' x 5' space and without walls it leaves me plenty of room to maneuver around that space.

http://d2creative.smugmug.com/Other/...ossCreek-L.jpg

I've got a good 6 weeks or so before the tank shows up so any help in figuring this stuff out between now and then, or helping me pick equipment is appreciated.

Oh, and I'll also be setting up my auto water change system again.

Thanks! :wave:

I'm definitely tagging along for this one.

I hope you don't find the long skinny tank difficult to aquascape after having that nice deep cube. Either way, Deep Sea tanks are top-notch so I think you'll be very happy with it.

The big rubbermaid stock tanks work well as large low-cost sumps (especially if you have a big operation and need a lot of them) but I think there are several advantages to having a traditional glass/acrylic tank as a sump if you have the budget for it. Plumbing is easier because the sides are square and you can see your equipment/refugium/frags inside. It's also harder to see how much grime/algae/detritus has accumulated on a black surface so you might not clean it as often as a transparent sump. Either way, elevate your sumps off the floor to make it easy to siphon into a bucket when you do need to clean.

There's a lot of personal preference when it comes to pumps. If most of your flow will be coming from Vortechs I would just go with an Iwaki or Pan-world pump for circulation. Since the tank is literally right next to the sump you don't need that much oompf. Will you be mounting the MP60s on the ends of the tank exposed to the dining room? I would consider getting more Vortechs and putting them on the back of the tank. It's a lot less efficient than having them on the ends and obviously costs much more but you keep the pristine look of the tank.

If it were my garage I probably would frame out the fish room--it wouldn't cost much and would allow you to put electrical where you need it. If you ever sold the place you'd just put up shelves and make it into a storage closet. You could even set up your RO bins on the garage side of the fish room to save space. You wouldn't want a chiller in a room that small either so you'd need to mount it remotely or come up with another creative solution.

Good luck!

I followed your previous build from beginning to end and thought it was one of the best build threads ever on RC. I'm really looking forward to this one.

Sub'd, let's do this.

Thanks guys!
Sumps will definitely be elevated. I was thinking the alternative containers because I could go pretty big for cheap. But good points. Something to think about.
There's not going to be much side viewable from the room. The tank will be more of a built-in but "bumped out" a bit... maybe 8-10" or so. So once I'm ready for cabinetry to be built, I may talk to the carpenter about building it so I can hide the dry side of the vortechs.

Best of luck Dennis, if its anything like your cube it will turn out great. One question about the equipment, are you putting it in the garage for simple ease of maintenance and if so does the upside of that outweigh the negative of the heat you will have to deal with? If Houston garages are anything like South Florida its going to be working your chiller to death, and if the chiller fails while you are away temps could spike quickly. Just a thought.

Tagging along. Your last build was awesome. Can't wait to see what you do with this one.

going to be epic!

Big fan. Following along!

Awesome! I am really looking forward to this.

A local friend here in North Carolina had a semi exposed fish room in his garage, and every tool he had rusted on the face up side, so I would definitely frame in your equipment room. If you're really serious you can even talk to an HVAC guy about piping an exhaust fan from that room back into your central system to deal with the humidity. Otherwise, I would have a chiller for your fish tank plumbed through the false wall to outside garage area, and maybe even a simple manual window air conditioner unit to manage the heat/humidity in the room.

Can't wait to see what it turns into. Loved the last cube Dennis. Will you be bringing over any livestock and or corals from the last tank?

Going TBR again or dry rock?

tagging along, looks like a good plan so far!

I'm in! Your last build was awesome, I'm sure this will be just as fantastic.

i love your garage....

Bring it on man!

Thanks guys!
The tank and stand has been ordered.
Final dimensions: 84"x24"x24"
Now i have about a 6 week wait.

I was starting to look at way to deal with the salt and humidity
I found these. Vents into the attic. But you do have to install a couple vents in the garage door to pull in fresh air. First one on this page.
http://www.coolmygarage.com/attic-fans.php

I also have a portable ac on wheels, but it's kinda loud and would be running 24/7 in the summer. My attic walls are sheetrocked and not insulated. So not sure that would be any better than a chiller.

Another idea I had to contain the salt/humidity was to hang some thick plastic from the ceiling so it wouldn't be as permanent as actual walls. And then one of those vents in the ceiling just over that area.


Ya, i'll be bringing over rock and livestock from the old tank and then supplementing with more rock and all new sand and other stuff from TBS.
I already told Richard at TBS to start picking out some good stuff for me. :lol2:

Exciting!

Woo Hoo, another off the chart build, with Tampa Bay LiveRock.
I agree with tapping into the HVAC, and also the Attic Fans. Not sure how often you use the AC there in Houston, that is if you use it all year long or not.
As for containers, you could try this place. http://www.usplastic.com/?clickid=topnav
They have some large containers that may help.

New house looks BEAUTIFUL.

Cant wait to see what Richard sends you when you are ready.

Tagging along,
M

I'm so pumped!!!!!

Wow I found your cube asking in the ecotech forum and the awesome cube featured in their ads.....wow on your cube, now can't wait to see your new build.....best wishes from Laredo, tx

take a little trip.....
 

Well I was diving yesterday getting a load of rock..... and scoping out your "future rock"....summer is here already and the rock is in full bloom, overdrive!

We had no winter, and no spring, just hot and dry all year....the water is already 80 degrees here...never seen that before. The macros are in full bloom, and the rock is incredible...so will have a plethora to choose from....

I am going to investigate parts of the aquaculture lease that I have never laid eyes on before, to scope out your "Future" rock.....five acres is a lot of room, and there is a lot of rock I have yet to see since I put it out there in the early 90's.....this should be a fun adventure.....you should hop on Southwest and come on over...and go on a diving trip with me and get a first hand look!

this is an official invite.....bring you killer cameras...lots to snap here.....

sea ya
Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater.com :rollface::rollface::rollface:

ok ok I'm coming!

rock and roll!
 

Kewl...now is the time...calm seas and great vis...

email me ................

sea ya
Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater.com

Wow, I can't wait to see how this one turns out!

Woohoo!!! Very cool! :bounce3:
Wish i had dive experience and sealed cases for my gear.
Now where the heck is that tank I ordered?!?!