Choss' 96 Gallon Reef Savvy Tank Build

[choss]

Originally Posted by Arkayology

That Reef Savvy is one sexy tank. I can't wait to see it out of the box.

Yeah I am excited to see that too. Right now I have a lot of prep work to do before I can get it on the stand. But each week making progress. Hope to have it wet soon enough. Thanks for following along.

[choss]

A few pics to lead off the day. Look what arrived recently…

Arrival of Profilux by choerenz, on Flickr

Just like Choss…

Made in Germany by choerenz, on Flickr

P4 Mega Set!

P4 Mega Set by choerenz, on Flickr

Man there are a lot of goodies…

Profilux 4 stuff by choerenz, on Flickr

And here is the brain and heart of the Choss system…

Power strip 5.0 by choerenz, on Flickr

Man this thing is serious looking. And not small either…

Water Bottle & power strip by choerenz, on Flickr

Ok so by now you know that I am going with the GHL Profilux as the brains of my system. I did a ton of research as this is the first controller I’ve ever gone with so I wanted to be certain. So why GHL you ask?

• Build quality & reliability – There were a ton of threads on the merits of both controllers. But in the end, the GHL guys were the happiest of the bunch. And I could not find a single “GHL failure” thread or post. I travel a lot and this was critical to me.

• Programming – I’ve read mostly how easy the GHL is to program. We shall see if this holds up!

• Customer service – this was actually the deciding factor. When I started my research, I sent emails in to both companies. I called Neptune several times to no avail. I kept getting caught in a circular conversation with a pretty unfriendly type on the other end, who just couldn’t connect me with the service rep who had reached out to me. With GHL different story. Vinny contacted me and the rest was history. Super friendly, great advice, and quick turnarounds on questions asked. I will be controlling devices on two levels in my house and he was able to help me figure out cables that I would need, etc. I believe these guys will be there if I have any issues. Not feeling that way about the Apex support. In any case, I’m sure they are both great products but this was the tie breaker for me.

• Cost – Apex was definitely cheaper for what I wanted to do. But in the end, I have already invested heavily in the tank, furniture build, equipment, and not to mention the future investment in corals. I made a commitment to excellence in build and equipment selected so $100 or so more wasn’t an issue for me.

Can't wait to hook this all up. Patience....

[choss]

Update – System layout

System Overview Diagram by choerenz, on Flickr

Ok – sorry if the image isn’t the easiest to understand but I wanted to show how the system will be set up and break down my maintenance plans and why I am setting things up this way. A few posts back I talked about the very difficult (and nerve wracking) decision to drill a hole through my hard wood floor. So let me start there.

The layout of my house is actually very much set up to support a fully separate equipment room right below where the display tank will be located. This is no accident. I purchased the house in Westchester NY back in 1996. The house was built in 1908 and needed a ton of work. My wife and I had the opportunity to renovate and add a few things that were very specific to our needs. At the time, I had just moved a really “happy” and thriving 30 gallon reef tank from my NY city apartment, into a 75 gallon holding tank in my basement.

I had every intention on setting up a 180-200 gallon tank in my office. I asked the contractors to add extra support in the floor of this room (which I’m not sure they did) and located a utility room right beneath in the garage area. The room was plumbed with a slop sink, and was ready to go. Then I found out that heating system in the house would need to be replaced and this opened the door up for duct work and central AC. The bad news is the heating unit had to go into my utility room. The room is still big enough to house a sump but it’s a bit tighter and so I’ll get into my decision to house the sump in the main display room rather than locating it in the room below.

One side bar, as things will happen, during the renovation, my holding tank was covered with a tarp during the construction in the basement. Well unfortunately the cover fell off, and the tank was exposed to massive amounts of dust from the sheetrock and demo work. Needless-to-say nothing survived and I was devastated. I never ended up setting up the 180 and got out of the hobby until 2014 when I bought the AIO 40 gallon. So that is the back story.

Sump Location

I really did not want to drill multiple holes in the floors. I’m running a bean animal and I would have needed an opening large enough to feed 4 pipes. I also wasn’t psyched about getting a bigger pump, head pressure etc. In thinking things through, I opted for a different plan. I would go for a minimally invasive opening (in floor or wall) and set up an automatic water change system using small John Guest pipes, from a station below to a small sump hidden in a cabinet by the main display tank. I have studied a few of these setups and once these systems are in place, maintenance is pretty easy. In my case, I’ll pretty much be cleaning my skimmer and harvesting Chaeto.

In reviewing the diagram above, let me first describe the setup so that the image makes a bit more sense.
In the main DT room, we have the three structures. The electrical cabinet to the left of the tank, the main display stand which is exposed steel pipes and walnut, and a cabinet to the right that hides a 24 gallon cube sump.

Then in the room directly below, we have the following items from right to left:

RODI water container: Because I will be feeding the system above using the Tunze Osmolator, I started thinking about whether I could locate this high enough in the room to feed the tank in the room above via the 7’ of so max head height of the stock pump. It sits roughly 5-6 feet below the sump give or take. I will test this soon and if the pump cannot handle the distance and height, I will resort to adding a stronger pump to my refill system. Once I settled on this location for the RODI tank, I began considering the benefits of the setup:

• I can leverage the RODI pressure to fill the tank that sits on a high shelf, and then leverage gravity to feed the salt mixing station
• I can also use gravity to refill the frag tank (if necessary) that sits directly below the 35 RODI tank.

To find a tank, I went to a local tractor supply store and found this:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...l?cm_vc=-10005

The way I will run this setup, this tank should never be empty as it is continuously fed from the RODI unit which is shut off with a float valve in the RODI storage tank. Daily, for about 30 minutes, a solenoid will open and refill as necessary.

RODI container shelf: I built the stand for the container using the same design as the sump cabinet (rocketengineer design).

finished container stand by choerenz, on Flickr

RODI tank and stand by choerenz, on Flickr

As I was putting the stand together I was struck by an interesting idea that began to form. I had another small storage room that currently houses a fish QT tank, and what I was planning as setting up as a frag QT tank. But then I began to think, as I am pulling water out of my main display tank via the automatic water change pump, why drain it straight to the sink? So an idea was born….

[choss]

Frag Tank

Since I’m setting the main tank up with automated water changes (and dosing) it wouldn’t make sense to then set up a frag tank that requires water changes and other maintenance. So I had a thought. What if I connected the frag tank to the main system in a one directional way. This last piece in important because I want to maintain corals in the same environment as the display tank, but without the risk of allowing any pests into the display.

So the solution I came up with is simple (and please send feedback if you see problems with it).

Step 1 drill the 20 long I was going to use as a frag tank. Attach a glass holes nano overflow. Paint bottom and back glass black – make it look awesome.

Preparing frag tank for drilling by choerenz, on Flickr

drilling frag tank by choerenz, on Flickr

clean hole for frag tank by choerenz, on Flickr

Nano overflow by choerenz, on Flickr
Step 2: Build a shelf into the water storage stand. Locate the frag tank under the RODI water storage tank.

shelf added to container stand by choerenz, on Flickr

Step 3: Connect a float value to the frag tank to allow for gravity fed RODI water.

Frag tank float valve by choerenz, on Flickr

Float valve from RODI by choerenz, on Flickr

[choss]

Step 4: Rather than pouring the old water from the water change system down the drain, feed it into the frag tank in small doses (approximately 1.5 gallons a day, evenly throughout the day). As water enters the frag tank, the same amount flows out of the tank and into the sink.

Basically, the frag tank will get a consistent flow of water that has just left the main display. This water should have stable chemistry and quality (it is being drawn from the sump) and potentially allow me to avoid having to hook up a protein skimmer to the frag tank. Corals that are being held in the frag tank, should adjust well to the display since the chemistry should be similar. Yet no pests can enter the main display.

I was going to use a small 2 bulb T5 fixture for the frag tank but then I remembered that I had a metal halide, 175 W socket and ballast lying around from my old 30 gallon tank. This socket was not a mogul socket but I found an adaptor on Amazon. Then I ordered one of these

Ushio 14K by choerenz, on Flickr

Lamp warming up...

Ushio warming up by choerenz, on Flickr

Warmed up...

Ushio warmed up by choerenz, on Flickr

Here is the finished product. Since the main display is not yet hooked up (and feeding water to the frag tank) I am cycling the tank using some siporax in a HOB filter. I also have a heater and constructed a frag rack using black egg crate and some sexy red ¾” PVC. Right now my nitrite and ammonia is still a bit high so I’m dosing some MB7 and staying patient. Once the tank is stable I will move one or two frags from my holding tanks.

Frag tank FTS by choerenz, on Flickr

Frag rack by choerenz, on Flickr

[AZReef13]

I'm at a lost for words, on the detail that you are putting into your system. Just simply amazing.

What the next step?

[choss]

Originally Posted by AZReef13

I'm at a lost for words, on the detail that you are putting into your system. Just simply amazing.

What the next step?

AZ - thanks for following along. Next steps....at times it is a bit overwhelming but here is a short list of what is to come:

* Glue up the back board for the main display stand (this will be fixed to the pipes in the back, perpendicular to the walnut top. The purpose for the board is simply to hide the PVC pipes and provide a way to run wires from the electrical cabinet to the sump cabinet. That project is almost done.

* Rally my local Westchester reef clubbers to come over and help me lift the tank onto the stand.

* Hang the light.

* Plumbing -I have it all but need to measure, cut and glue. I'm sure I'll be missing some critical piece but we'll see soon enough

* Rock - I have plenty of dry live rock sitting in a rubbermaid tub (right under the frag tank in the pic below)

Brute with live rock by choerenz, on Flickr

I was thinking of going with live rock on this one. I had a lot of success with this approach many years ago but I'm also nervous about pests. This is probably the only piece of the puzzle that has left me undecided.

* move a few frags into the frag tank - I am testing daily as the tank cycles. Its almost there. I have three tanks running (a 40, a 20 long, and a 10) that have some livestock, rock etc. So I want to start by acclimating a few frags that are under LED to MH.

[AZReef13]

With your Rock, do you have some cool detail plans for Aquascaping? I saw a few pretty cool aquascapings online. Where one actually used support to hold large sections glued together while being supported. Have any plans like that?

[choss]

Originally Posted by AZReef13

With your Rock, do you have some cool detail plans for Aquascaping? I saw a few pretty cool aquascapings online. Where one actually used support to hold large sections glued together while being supported. Have any plans like that?

I do have an idea of what I want to do. I want to have two large Islands with a rift in the middle. SPS up top, some LPS on the outer edges to bring movement to the reef. I want to go somewhat minimalist with a clean sand bed. The picture that most inspires me right now s this one.

Islands by choerenz, on Flickr

I can also share my scape from my 40 gallon Innovative Marine tank. Here are a few pics:

Scape 1 by choerenz, on Flickr

Scape 2 by choerenz, on Flickr

Scape 3 by choerenz, on Flickr

Scape 4 by choerenz, on Flickr

And finally how it looks today

P5260234 by choerenz, on Flickr

Will test a few designs out in the coming days and post some shots.

[hbrochs]

I'm in and ready to go for tank lifting!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[choss]

Originally Posted by hbrochs

I'm in and ready to go for tank lifting!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I appreciate that buddy. I would have been close to ready this weekend but I'm off to Saratoga Springs to check out some horse racing! Before I leave I will put one more coat of poly on the backboard for the main display stand and then once attached we just need to find some suction cups and get this baby in position.

P.S> you should add that sweet new frag tank to your signature. I'll check out your thread and see if you have any new shots of it!

[AZReef13]

Hope you had goodtimes at Saratoga, and brought back New Tank fun money?

Hey I'm finaly set up. Once I learn how to post pics, it will be up on IM 40 tread.

Keep you updated.....

[choss]

Originally Posted by AZReef13

Hope you had goodtimes at Saratoga, and brought back New Tank fun money?

Hey I'm finaly set up. Once I learn how to post pics, it will be up on IM 40 tread.

Keep you updated.....

Won 7 bucks on a 5 dollar bet.

Looking forward to seeing your progress on the IM 40. Now that I'm barely paying attention to mine it's looking the best it's ever looked.

[AZReef13]

Not sure that would have even gotten you a cold beer on that win?

[choss]

Originally Posted by AZReef13

Not sure that would have even gotten you a cold beer on that win?

I was able to buy one 90 degree elbow from BRS for it but at this point I'll take whatever funding I can get!

[choss]

A nice package arrived today. The final pieces are coming in. Hopefully I will have a productive weekend and get closer to getting the tank on the stand.

Sand Package by choerenz, on Flickr

Sand by choerenz, on Flickr

I spent a good amount of time researching sand options and Tropic Eden seemed to come out on top. I decided to go with the slightly smaller Meso flakes which also happen to be $17 cheaper per bag v. the Reefflakes. Here is a size comparison chart:

Aragasnow - 0.5mm
Tonga Special Pink - 0.8mm
Miniflakes - 2.0mm
Mesoflakes - 2.7mm
Reefflakes - 3.0mm
Reefflakes Grand Select - 4.5mm

[AZReef13]

The research you have done for this tank is amazing, I have never hearf of the sand you are using, along with the control unit too. My LFS has me sold on Apex, They have one running thier 245. He hasn't had any issues. But after reading post I'm going to have to do more.

I end up with Fuji Pink....

[AZReef13]

Can you provide me some assistance in posting photos on this site?

[choss]

Originally Posted by AZReef13

The research you have done for this tank is amazing, I have never hearf of the sand you are using, along with the control unit too. My LFS has me sold on Apex, They have one running their 245. He hasn't had any issues. But after reading post I'm going to have to do more.

I end up with Fuji Pink....

AZ - I thought long and hard about the APEX. It had some benefits including slightly less expensive. But research also showed the APEX units have had failures (which is a non starter for me since the whole point of a controller is to avoid catastrophic failures). I would seriously look at the GHL threads here and on the other forum and see if it is worth considering. To be fair, I can't yet review the GHL as the tank is still dry and in its crate

But it will be wet soon if I can only slow down my travel! The sand you chose is also one that many reefers use so I think you will be in good shape. Thanks again for following along and I hope to have a few small updates soon.

[choss]

Ok so the summer is getting away from me but I thought I'd include a short update. While travel and weekends at our summer place are cutting into my productivity, I a just one free weekend away from being able to move the tank in place. In the meantime, I glued up, stained, and polyurethaned the backboard behind the tank stand. The main purpose is to hide the wired and John Guest pipes that will feed the sump cabinet from the electrical cabinet. The latter will hold my Profilux 4, future dosing pump (and containers), and most of the electrical related to the operation of the lights and tank.

To attach the backboard I had to unscrew the stand and slot in these collars

backboard mounting attachments by choerenz, on Flickr

Then before I attached the board, I added a wood and plastic electrical channel to neatly hide the wires and pipes.

This shows the corner of the backboard where I have attached the channels

Backboard electrical chanels by choerenz, on Flickr

Finally, 4 screws later and I have the attached backboard. Once I put the cabinets back in place, it really should tie everything together.

backboard mounted by choerenz, on Flickr

August will be a busy month so I'm not expecting a lot of progress but I will add a few small updates as I check things off the list. Still waiting on my frag tank to cycle - seems to be taking forever.

[AZReef13]

Summer seems to get the best of us, Unless you are here in Phoenix AZ, when we are happy its only 105.

[choss]

Originally Posted by AZReef13

Summer seems to get the best of us, Unless you are here in Phoenix AZ, when we are happy its only 105.

Weather out east has been great so that makes it even tougher to focus on the tank but I'm close now. Just ned a free weekend and a bunch of strong dudes and I'll have it in place.

[bk.]

Such a classy build. Looking forward to following along!

[choss]

Originally Posted by bk.

Such a classy build. Looking forward to following along!

BK thanks for following! I hope I don't disappoint. I do have some cool stuff planned - just need some time to get the big items done (like plumbing).

[choss]

Ok so I have been traveling for both work and pleasure. I just returned from a week in the Black Forest area of Germany where my dad lives 1/2 the year. I flew in to surprise him for his 87th birthday! So this is the first weekend back home since early August. I have two significant updates.

First, my frag tank has finally cycled so I can start moving corals over from my temp holding tanks. I will add a few pictures over the next few days but we're only looking at a few very small frags. Still, I'm excited to get things into the frag tank as I plan to very carefully quarantine anything I will add into the main display.

Unfortunately the main display still sits in a crate in the garage but now I'm just about there, where I can move it into place in the next week or two.

However, I did get something else done this weekend, and that is hang the main lighting for the tank. He is a pic of a brand new Giesemann Spectra.

Giesemann Spectra by choerenz, on Flickr

I'm really excited to see things grow under this light. I'll elaborate more on why I'm going with a MH/T5 combo but this decision is mostly based on my old school success I had with MH, and fantastic reviews I've seen of this light on forums, BRS TV, etc.

For bulbs, I will be starting with a 250 W Radium, 2 24" ATI Blue+, one ATI Coral Plus, and one Purple Plus. I also purchased a 250 Phoenix 14k bulb so I'd love to get opinions on one v. the other for growth and color.

I also will use a luxcore selectable ballast so that I can later go up to 400w but I think based on the dimensions of the tank, the 250 should be fine. As I am again traveling, I will post a few more pics of the light and frag tank by the weekend.