Dream Tank 2.0 Build

[jpellica]

After much harassment I mean convincing by mean green eyes, I have decided to start documenting my new dream tank 2.0fficeffice" /><?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O:p></O:p>
Right off I want to Thank a few great reefers for giving up time to help me anytime I ask and without them would not have ever gotten to this point. <O:p></O:p>
In no particular order <O:p></O:p>
Richie Karagozler<O:p></O:p>
BBash<O:p></O:p>
JonnyJ<O:p></O:p>
PicoD<O:p></O:p>
Alex<O:p></O:p>
Nottick<O:p></O:p>
Nuch<O:p></O:p>
MarkLUgo<O:p></O:p>
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So here goes I had my Dream Tank a Oceanic 120 Tech tank and Stand and had started it up got it running after I got tired of the standard 125 Fowler tank I had been running for about a year. I was looking for some live rock because I wanted some more hiding spots for my aggressive fish. I ran across a website call Manhattan Reef and decided to you one of my very first listings was on the WTB site for live rock. A guy by the name of Richie responded putting me in touch with 2 people selling live rock on SI. One of those 2 people was Dennis Nuch who I bought all the rock he had on a tank he was breaking down. After seeing his tank I started to get the bug for reef tanks again, when I got home I started searching for a tank I had wanted before I got out of the hobby An oceanic tech tank 120. After finally going to Riches house and seeing his tank I was off and running again with this fixation that I needed a full blown reef again within 2 weeks I found one and it was off I went.<O:p></O:p>
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Had this tank setup for 14 months and then Alex listed he was getting out of the hobby no wait he wasn?t then again he was or maybe not.LOL went to his house to pickup a Hippo Tang and he took me down to see what he had left from his break down.
There it was a 200 gallon DD in all its glory, I was pretty impressed with the depth but thought who wants to tackle a upgrade project? Not me when I got home I could get my mind off that tank. I fought my impulses for a few weeks hoping Alex would sell that tank and it would no longer be on my mind. But when I saw Alex give it a bump a couple of weeks latter and heard maybe he actually was going to stay in the hobby I had to reach out again see if we can work a deal of some sort.
It must have been meant to be, a week or so later a big part of the SI reef crew and I assembled at Alex?s house for the trade and after a lot of sweat, man power and joke cracking the tank was sitting in my garage (Thanks again guys and gals). :}

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So after many Costco sized bottles of Vinegar, 1 bottle of bleach a box of Magic KJleen which is that power head cleaning solution that I used on the plumbing and the panels for the overflows, Heavy elbow grease and a roll of limo window tint. Here is the finished product. Yhea!!!

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Next Step Building the Stand.
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So we wanted to make the stand as strong as possible so we started out with 2X4?s and 2X6?s. This would have been a brick ish house but we realized that this would not leave a lot of internal head height inside the tank. Went to Bob?s (Bbash) house to steal some ideas since he had the bigger brother a DD 250 which is 5X3X27 and saw he had a crazy amount of head space in his stand. The difference was that it was built all out of 2X3?s and the way it was built was the way the build homes in PA (modular wall by wall construction and then screwed together.
After seeing his tank and stand I had to have this exact setup and to top it all off Bob (Bbash) offered his services. Fellow reefers this in the world of the Corleone?s is called an offer you can?t refuse. LOL
Here is some pictures of the Stand Build version 1.1

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So decided on the sump layout after building the stand, yes I know cart before the horse. Decided to go with 2 40 gallon breeders each measuring 36X18X16 so it turns out stand is snug for what I want to get done.
Wanted a 40 gallon fuge all on its own and a 40 gallon sump.

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So as you can see we had some issues with the stand and fuge\sump config. At this point we had to rethink the setup, we tried many different preparations. Preparation A-G was a total failure but Preparation H felt pretty good on the whole. What What? No worries though Bob is always ready to help rip stuff apart and redo things so off we went. In the meantime dropped 40 breeders of to Richie?s house to get tank drilled for fugue and baffled for the sump, after some proper planning and replanning we came up with a new stand configuration that worked perfectly. See for yourself

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So now I was at a standstill I needed the 120 tech tank out of the way but since I was keeping all the live rock in the tank and the livestock. I was in a bind; Bob (bash) had a 110 extra high sitting in his garage with a sump, pump, and lights which he offered to lend me to make a temp setup to keep my stuff alive. So this sounded like my best option. Went to Bob?s house to pick up the setup and with the help of Jonny J. (strictly supervising) we were able to get everything moved to the temp tank. All new live stock in temp tank and looking good, this gave me all the time in the world to move forward to do things the right way.

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Once we had the space cleared we were able to move tank in place. So in the picture below weset the tank and filled the tank and let it sit for 5 days to assure there was no shifting, rocking or racking. Assuming the tanks would not collapse and assure the demise of my marriage. :}

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[jpellica]

So once everything was stable and felt the stand could support the wait of the tank long term it was time to install the sump and fuge and do some plumbing work. Bob and I came up with layout that would allow the inside of the stand to be as open and assessable as possible. Here is what it looks like

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Installed a reef capable led for the fixture I got from BKStang

After completion of plumbing this is doing a water test on all plumbing for leaks and flow.

Here is a peel at the return pump I will detail in a minute!!!!

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The only thing that needs to be finished with plumbing at this point is the manifold for the reactors that I will run off the main return pump as well. When all is finished I should be running at 1000 gallons per hour turnover which will be about 6 times turnover for the sump and 2 ? to 3 times through the fuge. This will be my starting point and I will adjust as needed.
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Ok so if you?re wondering what return pump on went with. I wanted something with true flow, quite as possible and energy efficient. I wanted a red dragon but price was out of the question I started looking into ATB because it is made with all the same parts and motor that the red dragon has. It?s even assembled in the same warehouse. I narrowed it down to an ATB flowstar 1500 or water blaster 7000. Both had a 3 year warranty which was key for me. When researching which to go with I ran across many many articles that the Laguna Maxflo 1500 was actually the ATB 1500 and had the same 3 year warranty. The pump cost me $108 and they even sell a mod stand that is identical to the ATB version for 20 bucks, so total cost $128 this was a no brainer. Look above to see the pump in action.

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Same deal if you look back at the water test

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Some other things I bought or traded up for the new tank build
Neptune Apex Net controller

JNS Alpha 1 Biopellet Reactor<O:p

Super reerf octopus XP 3000 internal with bubleblaster 3000 pump<O:p

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I?m just getting started but I figure I will get this up and add to it as I have time to update and add more stuff
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[egriesner]

None of these pics work!

 

[ClownAquatics]

If you hit edit and take just the link part such as: http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o752/jpellica/20121209_165354.jpg

Then click the little mountain looking picture between the chain & tablet picture of the text field you can click img and it should work

 

[ClownAquatics]

Or simply remove the >>

so

 

[thirty6]

Nice Joe, good luck. I wish i could open pics of stand build. I'll be setting up 150dd in January middle /end

 

[Brando457]

Op fixed his pictures

Good job!

 

[cmantis]

Looks great! My only question/comment is why not paint the stand?

 

[JonnyJ]

Looks great! My only question/comment is why not paint the stand?

It's kind of a Staten Island thing, these guys get too excited to finish their stands! Lol

 

[NL146]

Nice build!!

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

I love that you called me out in the first sentence in this thread! lmao What can I say? I do what I can for friends. *Subscribed* You would've regretted not documenting this amazing build and it's journey. I love the pics with the mini reefers, too! Adorable! Wishing you and this build the best of luck. Make sure to keep it updated on a regular basis so that I don't have to do anymore harassing/arm twisting.

And kudos to all the reefers that helped get this build off the ground...

 

[jpellica]

paintinf the stand

Looks great! My only question/comment is why not paint the stand?

This stand wil be skinned and I will be adding sides to it to make it look like a built in. It is built with 2X3 so when all is said and done you will not even see this part of the stand. What does painint the inside of a stand do beside the look of it In my opinion its a waste of time and money and I really dont know if I like the look of a white gut anyway..

 

[Alex]

Looks like a good start joe, You have a lot more done than I do.

 

[jpellica]

Thanks Alex been trying to get on it latley thats why it started moving.LOL and if not for (bob) Bbash getting me motivated me it would probaly still be sitting in the garage dirty.LOL

 

[Alex]

Thanks Alex been trying to get on it latley thats why it started moving.LOL and if not for (bob) Bbash getting me motivated me it would probaly still be sitting in the garage dirty.LOL

Just keep posting pics, things are looking good.

 

[STHILL]

Lookin really good...if i thought my floor would hold the weight i would have the same tank..

 

[STHILL]

Where is that 110gal gonna end up when your done?

 

[JonnyJ]

sthill, It will be forsale - pm me for details!

 

[Pielucha]

Very clean looking set up!

 

[jpellica]

Very clean looking set up!

Thanks trying to keep it neat and clean as possibe