A Golden Reef Tank

halmus

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And a small victory, I started picking up rock. This is just a fraction of what I'll need, but it's a start. I want to pick up a bunch local to support the shops. I can cherry pick the pieces a little bit that way. I'm just staging them here until I can build in the display. I have quite a few more shops to visit!

 

halmus

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projectx;669512 said:
Wow this is coming along, looks great!

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Balz3352;669123 said:
Wow the wood encasing is amazing well done
Thanks to you both. The project will be at a standstill or just a slower pace for a while. I bet you couldn't imagine this going any slower.

Life is getting in the way. Once I'm back in state, I might make some progress. I just need time to do the work. The only hardware I'm missing is the lights.
 

halmus

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I have made some progress on the QT system slowly over the last month. I did a water test in half the system and reworked a drain line due to the test. It worked before but not optimally. Now is the time to tweek those things since I'm already making a mess and the tools are out.

I'll post up pics on Monday. The QT system should be done by then.

On another note, I've been collecting rock. I did order a little from BRS because I wanted to check out their tonga shelf rock with base.

Next weekend I should be able to start the mixing station. Months behind where I thought I would be but its progress.
 

halmus

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Cherub;671445 said:
wow nice build! nicest I've seen in a while.
Oberst Hajj;671447 said:
This is an amazing build. I love all the DIY stuff.
Thank you. DIY is always a double edged sword. It takes longer and you only have yourself to blame if something goes wrong but you can get a lot of bang for your buck if you plan it out right.
 

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halmus;n671451 said:
Thank you. DIY is always a double edged sword. It takes longer and you only have yourself to blame if something goes wrong but you can get a lot of bang for your buck if you plan it out right.
Very true, but you also get exactly what you want and can make it as cool as you want.
 

halmus

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Here is a big photo dump of the QT systems. I mentioned the general goal before, but to help provide some context here, the QT is basically two separate systems. There's a coral QT and a fish QT. I don't plan on medicating the fish QT. The sump is one large box with two separate sumps built into one. They're a mirror image of each other. I have them plumbed so that with the turn of a valve, I can turn the two QT systems into one single system sharing water.

The coral QT is composed of a return pump which provides water to the shallow tank and a manifold for GFO and carbon. There's a modest RO skimmer. It's pretty simple.

The fish QT is composed of a matching return pump with matching GFO and carbon reactors and a matching RO skimmer. The return feeds x3 tanks above. That can be adjusted so that all three tanks feed into the sump, or any combination of running stand-alone. I made space for a HOB filter in each. They will each have their own heater and a modest circulation pump. The lights aren't in place yet.












 

halmus

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FWTO will be a gravity fed line from a central FW tank located on the top shelf of a rack above the refugium. The top-off is controlled by the toilet plunger valves in each separate sump. I know that might seem crazy to some, but I've used those toilet plunger valves on the last few builds and they've never failed. I made sure there isn't any metal to leach into the water. It's all plastic and rubber.

I built custom acrylic racks that slide over the various dividers to hold the FWTO valves and reactors. Those are the black acrylic inserts you can see equipment attached to. They are bolted in place and can be removed if needed. I'll be using nylon bolts for all of that. I still need to replace a few of the metal bolts you see in a few pics.













 

halmus

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Cherub;671525 said:
looks like you're setting up a shop lol.

It's over the top. That's how I do things.

I cleaned a little this weekend and getting to a breaking point on the QT system. Next step is the mixing station and getting the RODI set up.

Balz3352;671512 said:
I don't think the pictures do this build justice
That's possible. I have put a lot of time into making this a clean install. It will be a great space once all of the building is done.


But, will the building ever be done????
 

halmus

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Thanks Cris!


I ran into a PVC roadblock yesterday. I'm short a couple fittings. I placed what I hope to be the last PVC order.

I started working on the elevated platform that will go around part of the mixing station. That will provide an extra foot of height to easily get above the tanks to dump salt in and work on the RODI that will be mounted on the wall above the tanks. The platform is narrow so it doesn't take up much space in the room and helps protect some of the plumbing from getting banged into.
 

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haha know how that goes, Ive been on my last pvc order several times now and I still need to do another for the mixing tanks
 

halmus

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I should stop referring to "last PVC order"! I placed another one yesterday for some transparent PVC.

I will get pictures posted this week. I made good progress on the mixing station. I have the RODI system hung but I'm going to change it now that I see how things went together. It should be a quick fix.

I'm really liking how that's coming together. I finally started running lines overhead in the cable tray so that visitors will stop asking me why it's there. That equipment is a luxury but it's really nice being able to run things up there and know it's safe and out of the way.

I might be helping a neighbor with his garage next weekend. If not, I should be able to mostly complete the mixing station.

Then it's a week off of bonafide vacation! I haven't had a real vacation in a long time. My body (my brain) is ready for a rest.
 
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