Ande's 270'ish bar peninsula style tank build
 

Well I've been thinking about this for a long time and hopefully it won't take as long as the thinking part. But there is no rush as I want this done right. I've been collecting equipment for this for awhile so I won't have to sit there and stare at an empty tank for to long. Some equipment from my 150g with also be used (mostly because some stuff I bought for this build I just couldn't wait to use :confused: ) The dimensions are going to be 72"L X 36"W X 25"H roughly. Its going to be a peninsula style, viewable from 3 sides and bar style. I'm thinking of going with the beananimal style overflow as I want something silent as it's going in the main entertainment area. My 150g is in that area right now so I will have to sell it off before this goes in there. For water movement I'm stuck between doing a closed loop or using power heads such as MP40's. One isn't much cheaper than the other, but comes down to one main thing which I want to change with this set-up - be power consumption conscious ! As I get older I'm really becoming more green thoughtful :mrgreen:

Looking forward to this...I'm doing a peninsula as well and my dimensions are similar to yours. Maybe if you go into Elite aquatics...they may let you look at the tank they're building me right now.

Nice size! I wish I had more width. I'm pretty happy with the height of my tank, but 36"!!!! Wow! I think closed loop or another option is the hidden Tunze Stream compartment. I've got design ideas in my mind on those. I hate the look of any visible equipment in my tank. There's also the hidden vortech compartment idea as well. :biggrin: Go hidden, you won't regret it! The only piece of equipment visible is the 90' elbow that goes back and forth at one end of my tank - and I don't even like that! It blocks light as well.

Oh this is sounds like it'll be an awesome build!

Vortech will give you greater variability in flow over the closed loop so it probably would be best to go with that (and power wise as you said).

36 front to back IS awesome! I love 30" front to back on my largest tank right now... 36 would be just sweet!

Here's one of my first DIY projects as I love to build stuff. A water mixing station has been on my list of things to do regardless of an upgrade. I will change out the cans later with something a little more heavy duty, but to this point they have served me well. I have some heavy duty ones I use for our horses that I might have to steal later. I'll show a completed pic when its done.

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...m/IMG_1416.JPG

Right now I'm leaning towards the MP's as I have a new 40 ES laying around. I'll try it on the 150g to see if I like it enough. And yes I don't like equipment in sight either :)

Tagging along, can't wait to see this one progress :biggrin:

Sounds like its gonna be killer Mike!.......not so patiently waiting:mrgreen:

36" is so sweet man. I'll be following along!

And while I'm thinking about it...you're Mike. What's with the Ande?

I was thinking the same thing...

Not another user with multiple personality disorder:razz::lol:

Tagging along.

What's a beananimal style overflow?

It's sort of like a Herbie with 2 emergency overflows I think. It's like a triple safety of NO floods. I read up on it about 9 months ago and I vaguely remember it.

http://www.beananimal.com/projects/s...ow-system.aspx

Some light reading. Check out some of the Youtube video's too. Pretty cool system. I am going to switch over to it. Just waiting for the with to not be home one weekend.... easier to not have the nagging about doing this plumbing in the living room again...

Great plans - and you will love that size tank.

Are those garbage cans? May be prudent to avoid using those as they are not known to be stable.

A buddy of mine did a water change station using a glass aquarium, plumbed in-line to the main system. A great idea, collects sediment when not in use, and holds a fixed amount of water so you can buy a balance and weigh the amount of salt required! No more guessing how much to add. Nice. I would use this approach should the time come.

Hi

I run a beananimal overflow - Dead silent. Completely stable. Totally reliable. - I would never use any other style overflow.

I used to run two closed loops on my tank. I've taken them both out in favor of Tunze powerheads. I agree with you on the engery considerations, but I also feel that closed loops have many other drawbacks. Obviously, they are much easier to hide when compared to powerheads, but that seems to be the only advantage. I will never run another closed loop.

I am also building a 300G tank (72" x 36" x 27"). Basically the same with a couple of extra inches for hieght.

Hope we can share some ideas.

what the.. why have I not subscribed to this thread yet..

Looking forward for more large reef porn :biggrin:

People actually subscribe to threads here? What I love about CanReef is you can just hit the new posts button every visit unlike other sites. Nothing can get burried more than a page between visits and you see everything. Try that on RC and you have like 10,000 new posts lol.

But some of us rely on our iPhones to tell us when new and of-interest posts are made :-) .. as well as hitting the 'new post button' every few minutes :redface: .. you know, just in case there is a new post in between.

It's just my nick name and what most of my friends call me, along with other names which I can't use here :lol: . Just part of my last name is all.

Yes these are just temperary. I've been using one for awhile now to store my RO water and mixing in. I have them secured to the wall as I know they can slowly colapse side ways near the bottom with the weight of the water. But I've invested money in the hardware department of the tank build and I haven't worked since last year when I busted my arm pretty good. So I'll address this a little later, just don't want to be hauling buckets around.

Thanks JonT for the link, yes I really like this set-up. I'm looking to really cut down from the noise I have now.

So here's the RO/RI unit that I will be using. Never ran a RO unit up till this point. Never seemed to have any real issues over the years, but figured it is time. Prevent any guessing over future water issues that may occur.


http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1274992664

Very nice. So the booster pump helps lower waste water I think? What does the computer thingy do?

<raises hand> Oh! Oh! I can answer that Mr. Teacher! A booster pump is a good idea if your source water has low pressure, like that if you're on a well system, because you want your inlet pressure to be >80psi or even closer to 100psi if possible.

<sits back down>

Keener! :mrgreen:

Tagging along..look forward to seeing it come together!

Pretty sure the "computer thingy" is an inline digital TDS meter. Might possibly be a membrane monitor too? I have both on my unit.

Oooh a Puratek! Sweet!

That little computer thingy records TDS and other info, and can also be programmed (or already does?) automatic flushes of the membranes. And it does some other stuff I cant remember (I think, lol).

Booster pumps are a great idea for the reasons Tony listed, but are great with any water pressure because they really help to optimize the function(productivity) of the membranes and reduce waste water (your ratio of good to waste is awesome with them, even with cold water and low pressure, like mine).

Congrats on the sweet water management setups! You'll be so happy you set it up right!

Tony you weren't one of those kids I used to throw erasers, gum balls and stuff at sitting in front of the class where you ? :lol: Yes I'm on a well out here in the good old country, so yes I need a good steady pressure as my my pressure tank runs between 40 psi to 60 psi so I need something steady. The computer piece is for a few different things like doing an auto back flush, TDS sensor/display for in and out readings and so on. Having a little issue with it I think. The middle canister seems to get air in it and is usually only half full of water or half full of air - depends on how you wanna look at it. :) Anyone have one to compare ?

A couple of new goodies. Thought I'd give the pellets a try. Seems most people are having some good results with them. I do have a heavy bio load as I feed my fish a good amount. I do also run Zeovit at the moment so I'll see how they work together. I'm a Tunze fan but this pump sure looks like a Sicco pump, I'll have to do a little digging to see if there is any connections. I really like the twist off top of the Vertex reactor, may have to get another one for my carbon.


The goodies

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_1559.jpg

The Tunze 1073.02 pump for the reactor

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_1562.jpg

The Vertex UF 20 reactor

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/IMG_1564.jpg

WOW! You've got a really long one there Ande.

I'm not sure that this came out exactly like you wanted it to...lol.

Hmm.. Perhaps.. But still, I'm a little jealous that Ande's is a lot longer than mine and has a greater capacity for all that white stuff. Anyway, can't wait to see it in action. Make a video!

Tanks going to be great when it's up and running Mike! Might need a few more frags for it....:wink:

As long you don't have a kink anywhere and you have good head pressure I'm sure yours is just fine.

I have some good contacts....... ;)

So I finally got around to finishing most of my mixing station. I just have to see if the second container is better above this one or just beside it. At least right now I can make my water change for my current set ups. I'm just using a mag 18 for a pump, should be enough for what I need to do.


http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1275275740

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1275276086

Interesting placement. I'd consider running the pipes under some throw rugs to reduce tripping and aesthetic hazards. Otherwise looks pretty sweet man.

How do we know it's not sitting in a really comfortably decorated tank room? I think it's brilliant. I'm so putting a tiny sectional in my tank room now. Capital idea!

great add another year to tony's build. thanks mike.