330g, 115g, 78g , 6'x8' Fish Room Build

[Zylumn]

Well my dream setup is finally taking shape. I have the tanks that I have always wanted ( except sump which I will wait to build) and most of the equipment. My fish room is small but its a room designated for this hobby (I feel fortunate with what I have and will make it work). I hope to have everything completed and running by Christmas of 2008., so it will be a long thread. Here is a list of the equipment that I have and a wish list.

1) tank and what I currently have:
330g tank 74" x 30" x 30"
Fowlr
2 side overflows with 2 x 1.5" holes (will do herbie)
2 bottom 1" for closed loop
Skimmer 44" Acrylic made by "wetback"
39 w UV sterilizer


-What I need
The skimmer will need a pump and am leaning towards a reeflo Marlin.
Lights will be T5's 2 x 4' with 8 bulbs total, 4 12000k and 4 actinic
It will be an inwall which I will make with the stand
Reeflo snapper for closed loop

2) What I have
115g Pentagon 25"H x 25"x5
60g sump cube 24x24x24
ER 5.3 shimmer
Solaris 36" 20k light
Ballast, Lumeric reflector, 20k 400 w bulb setup
Metal stand
2 x Poseidon PS4 External Water Pumps
Titanium .5 hp chiller
PH reactor (2 little fishes)
heaters

-What I need
Calcium reactor


78g cube w-24 x h-25 x depth-31"
Q tank and curing tank
20 g sump
2 x Aqua Medic 2700 pumps
Aqua Medic turbo 1000 skimmer
Ballast, Lumeric reflector, 20k 400 w bulb setup
2 x Fluval 305's for carbon etc.


Fish Room

The 330g will be an inwall with 1 front viewable side unless in fish room. The 115g will be outside of the room with 4 of 5 sides viewable plumbed to the fish room. The 78g q will be in the fish room.

I have a sub panel setup with so far 3 x ground fault 20 Amp breakers.
The fish room is next to the laundry room.

Tons of work to do but I am up to the task.

First thigs first
getting the 330 g ready.

Thanks for looking

Kevin

[Snappy]

Kevin when I added my extra breakers I chose to install the Ground fault plugs instead of GF breakers as they will give the same result. The breakers can trip very easily and then everything on that breaker quits. :wink: I also have grounding probes in all the tanks as well. Sounds like it's going to be a great set up.

[woodcarver]

Sounds magical ,Kevin. Hope you will post many pictures.
.................Dave

[Zylumn]

Kevin when I added my extra breakers I chose to install the Ground fault plugs instead of GF breakers as they will give the same result. The breakers can trip very easily and then everything on that breaker quits. :wink: I also have grounding probes in all the tanks as well. Sounds like it's going to be a great set up.

Thanks Greg. Ya that does make sense about using GFI plugs. I guess I will have both now. Thanks.
Kevin

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Sweet! Can't wait to see pictures....and maybe drop by to have a look-see when all is said and done? :)

[Zylumn]

Drew your welcome any time. You don't have to wait till its done.Pics on progress very soon.
Kevin

[Delphinus]

Sounds like a wicked setup. Good luck with the build!

PS. What's a "ER 5.3 shimmer" ?

[Pan]

Sounds like a wicked setup. Good luck with the build!

PS. What's a "ER 5.3 shimmer" ?

It's obviously an update to the 5.2 model..sheesh. :)

[Phanman]

sounds fantastic man, cant wait to see some pictures.

[Zylumn]

Sounds like a wicked setup. Good luck with the build!

PS. What's a "ER 5.3 shimmer" ?

The 5.3 shimmer is a dance i'm going to do when I get everything done.LOL
Kevin

[Delphinus]

What is it really? I assumed it was a Euroreef skimmer but I don't recognize the model #. :redface:

[Zylumn]

What is it really? I assumed it was a Euroreef skimmer but I don't recognize the model #. :redface:

Tony I thought you were bugging me about my spelling. Its a Euro-Reef ES 5.3
It is rated 100 + gal and I will use it on my reef. There was one for sale a bit ago heres a link.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=39234

It was one of those older diehards that you can never sell.

Kevin

[Delphinus]

Ah .. ok, I'm just getting senile or something. ES5-3 is somehow something I can cue on, but just the 5.3 on its own was just different enough that my set-in-my-ways brain couldn't recognize. :)

Sorry about that ! :p

[fishytime]

Looking forward to gettin some hands on with this build bud. Hope you dont just need me to help carry the tank in:wink:.

[Zylumn]

Thanks ALLl for the kind words and encouragement.
Doug don't worry you can help out as much as you have time for . Thanks

I am not a wealthy person but my Wife (Rhonda) and I own an older house that we are renovating in the NW Calgary we also own a small Acreage outside of town that allows us to get away. I have set myself on a strict budget with this hobby and am fortunate to own and participate to this threads extent.

I have about 3 different areas I am working on and I will share them separately with pictures.

1) First is the 3 tanks themselves

2) Second is the Fishroom

3) Third is purchases I will need to make it all happen

Tonight I am going to talk about the tanks and how I got them and what I am doing to them.

1) All my tanks I have purchased from Canreef members. I have been buying and selling saltwater stuff for 2 years now, waiting for the right time and setups. My 78g Qtank I received by trading some personal unused items. My 115 Pentagon I purchased as a package deal which swallowed my budget for a bit. The 330g was dropped when it was brand new and I was able to purchase for a great deal and I am in the process of replacing the back piece of glass. I am also in the process of replacing the front piece of glass on the 78g Qtank. Here is a pic of the work in process.
http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u173/zylumn/?action=view&current=DSCF0727.jpg
It took a while to get the glass off. WOW
I used 3 different sizes of razor blades and a package of the small 8" shims made of particle board. I only broke 1 piece of the top euro bracing which I will have to replace. The 330g is made with double Euro bracing around the top and bottom with a 1 foot middle top brace. I am very happy with the tanks original construction. The front on the 78g Qtank was simple in comparison and I replaced it because it was scratched. Here is a shot of my 115 Pentagon with stand, sump, and plumbing.
http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u173/zylumn/?action=view&current=DSCF0729.jpg

I currently have about 60lbs of Live Rock in an up and running tank right now with about 160lbs of liverock cooking in the garage. I also have about 80lbs of dried base rock in the garage. I also have a picture of the skimmer i will use I purchased from a Canreef member a year + back in a package deal.
http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u173/zylumn/?action=view&current=DSCF0730.jpg
I need to clean it up and get a pump for it.

Any suggestions on the pump as I am leaning towards the Reeflo ORCA needle wheel pump with intake venturi.

http://www.customaquatic.com/customaquatic/subsubcategorypage.asp?subcatindexid=ps-ac-pm

Thanks all for following next I will show my start with my fish room.

Kevin

[Delphinus]

I also have a picture of the skimmer i will use I purchased from a Canreef member a year + back in a package deal.
http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u173/zylumn/?action=view&current=DSCF0730.jpg
I need to clean it up and get a pump for it.

Any suggestions on the pump as I am leaning towards the Reeflo ORCA needle wheel pump with intake venturi.


That's a beckett skimmer so what you want is just a pump that puts out a good flow at a little bit of backpressure. I.e, if you want to use the ORCA needlewheel pump you should use a needlewheel skimmer, the design is a bit different. If it were me, I'd look at something like a GenX/Mak4 for that skimmer based on its size. There may be other suitable pumps as well. Heck, a regular ORCA would work really well too.

[Marlin65]

Looks great make sure to really clean all the silicone off before putting the new panel on it's critical, but then you probably already know that.:wink:

[Zylumn]

I'd look at something like a GenX/Mak4 for that skimmer based on its size. There may be other suitable pumps as well. Heck, a regular ORCA would work really well too.

Thanks Tony I can't seem to get my head around a venturi. I'll have to do some reading. Would one of my Poseidon PS4 External Water Pumps work?


"Looks great make sure to really clean all the silicone off before putting the new panel on it's critical, but then you probably already know that."

Thanks Marlin65 I will make sure it is clean but silicone leaves a trace that you can't scrape off with a razor blade. Could I use alcohol or Vinegar to clean the edges properly?

Kevin

[Delphinus]

Isn't there a kind of silicone cleaner solution you can get? I've always just used the razor blade and then used a rag and wiped until the cows came home to prep a glass surface for new silicone. It does eventually come off with elbow grease but yeah, what a pain in the ... elbow. Would muriatic acid be something to look at? (I really don't know - don't try it based on my suggestion alone!!)

Hmmm, looking up the PS3, seems its rating is about 800gph, this might be a little shy. Apparently photobucket is down right now otherwise I'd take another look at that skimmer to see what its neck size is.

I run a PM-1 beckett skimmer on my 75g/40g system and its run by a Mag18. This seems to be a good pump/skimmer combination, as long as I keep the skimmer clean I get about 2l of dark Guiness consistency skimmate per week out of it. It has a 3" diameter neck (I think). I've run larger beckett skimmers with a 4" neck using a Mak4 and couldn't get the foam to push up through the neck as easily. Seems the bigger the skimmer the stronger the pump is needed.

[Marlin65]

The silicone can be a real pain to clean. The alcohol won't touch it there is not to many things that do.
I have always just really used a lot of exacto blades.
I was at home depot the other day and saw a small bottle of solvent just to dissolve Silicone. I have not tried it but thought that would be something worth thinking about.
They have it along with the small tubes for doing your bathroom tub etc.
It is supposed to soften the silicone.
If you try it let us know how it works.

[Delphinus]

That's the stuff I was thinking of. I know I've seen some at the hardware stores. Sounds like pretty nasty stuff though. Use gloves and keep the area ventilated, etc. etc.

[Pan]

That's the stuff I was thinking of. I know I've seen some at the hardware stores. Sounds like pretty nasty stuff though. Use gloves and keep the area ventilated, etc. etc.
Acetone does it...stinks makes me sick...plus if it drips on other silicone it compromises it.

[sharuq1]

Any more updates and pics?

[michika]

Yes I agree, update!

If you still need some acetone let me know, I still have some from when we built our 180g.