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1000 gallon system!


Parzifal

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  • 5 weeks later...

alrighty.   It's been a month since I posted, but lots of progress!  A couple posts coming in succession just to keep it organized!

 

finished insulation and added a vapor barrier.  Connected the 6 mil sheets with tyvek house tape...not the prettiest of jobs but it will work.   Figured out that when working with tyvek tape make sure you put it exactly where you want as that stuff STICKS!

Figured out some stuff with drywall too!  Score and snap that stuff. If you use a circular saw it will cover everything in a 100' radius is white dust.

i used 5/8" green board just to make myself feel better about drywall in a humid area. Due to high humidity expectations I used stainless steel screws and then mud and taped it.

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I was originally going to paint the room but found this material called frp which I thought would work much better.

it is Fiberglass reinforced plastic, waterproof, chemical resistant, non corrosive, won't flake off over time and gives the room an incredibly clean look.

it was easy to cut with some metal shears and very easy to get on the walls.  It was NOT easy to get on the ceiling. 

After cutting the FRP I used liquid nails to get it on the walls and a carpet roller to press it firmly against and get a good seal.

The ceilings took a long time. I could not get the 7'x4' sheets to seal against the ceiling.  They just kept falling down, very frustrating.   I cut them down to 4x4 sheets that worked ok, still couldn't get them to seal well across the entire area and finally decided that fastening them with stainless steal screws and washers would work well.  They went up fast after that.   

For the corners i put up plastic pices sealed with clear silicone. Same for the junction between the frp sheets.  They are cheap and easy.

after the frp was totally up I painted the floor with epoxy marine paint. 2 coats gave it a nice smooth finish that will be good for dragging tank stands over it.

After that I sealed the space between the floor and the walls with a heavy coat of silicone sealant.

to ensure the entire room is waterproof  I put a si gel piece of rubber cove moulding around the base and sealed the top and bottom and the one seam with two heavy coats of silicone. The rooms floor itself can now hold nearly 200 gallons of water in case it spills.

finally came the waterproof electrical covers. Now it's ready for some stands!

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And for the final update so far!  With this it's all caught up!

after all the paint and silicone had dried I started on the stands.

built the double 40 gallon tank stand for water changes.  The top tank will be freshwater and the bottom will be salt.  Both tanks have been drilled so I have to a valve to fill/empty the tanks. NO carrying water!

the single 40 gallon stand will be for a quarantine system.  It will be plumbed so I can add water from the main system and again turn a valve to pump it out into a drain. I hate carrying water.

the frag/filtration tank stand is 7' on top and 9' on bottom.  The frag tank will be 7'x3'x10" and the bottom will house two 4'x3'x20" tanks.  The first filtration tank will be for bio filtration and the second will be for mechanical.

ALMOST READY FOR TANKS!

if you know anyone who has tanks of the dimensions above and want to sell them let me know!

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  • 1 month later...

sweet build!!  One word of caution.. and I realize this is a little late.  You never, ever, never put fiberglass insulation against a concrete wall.  Now you have the situation where warm and moist air will be drawn to your cold concrete walls.. and bang.. it condensates on the concrete wall and soaks the insulation.   I don't mean to be a buzz kill or anything, I am trying to help.  At this point, it would behoove you to pull the covers off your outlets and put spray foam in the openings where the wires come in.  You need to make sure that the vapor barrier is as air tight as you can possible make it.  

Whats done is done but you know what they say.. an ounce of prevention.   When I rebuilt my basement the former owner did the same thing and there were huge swaths of mold on the walls and insulation emanating from every outlet.  

If anyone wants to finish a basement fish room it goes.. basement wall, rigid foam with taped seams, then 2x4, insulation, and drywall. 

At any rate.. I'm excited to see this monster tank!!!

 

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Totally get what your saying!   Thankfully I thought of that and have noninsulation against the concrete.   I was worried of water or humidity would get back there it would mold and i would have to redo everything.   

 

Good call on the foam in the outlet gaps.  I will definitely be doing that.  

 

Heres an update.  QT system is up, rodi is up and I've got water going to to the hopefully short term sump and frag tank.

my favorite part....I don't have to carry water anywhere!

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phew!! I saw the first pics and i had this feeling of dread. Its funny how the warm air seeks out the cold spots. well, not funny, its simple physics but people don't think about physics for the most part.

The room looks dope as hell!! I'm envious.

I have a huge man cave I just installed waterproof floors in but the wife wants the 200 gallon tank upstairs...

I am so tempted to put it in the basement though. No carpeting, big mixing station, frag tanks, work station.



Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

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Thanks! I'm very happy with how it's coming out,  now I just need to get some salt in the system and clean up the 150 gallon to complete the system.

Can you plumb the main tank and the sump/system together through the wall or floor?

the pic below are the pipes doing just that. It took a bit of putty work to get the wall around them right after I cut out the access to put the pipes in, but not too bad!

theres plenty of pumps that could get water to your tank on the main floor. I'm sure your wife wouldn't mind 😉

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I was looking for afci breakers while building!  Couldn't find them at Home Depot nor lowes and online they seemed overly expensive....

i have gfci installed in all three circuits, would you and why would you reccomend the afci as well.   

I heard there were dual gfci/afci breakers coming out, but they were over $100 each!

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They are crazy expensive!  

I would not go combination AFCI GFCI for one simple reason.  GFCIs trip allot in saltwater tanks.  You want multiple GFCIs so that if one trips, you don't lose it all.  I run one GFCI per apex outlet for that reason.  one trip means one piece of equipment down, not all of them.

The AFCI is one of those things you hope you never need, and never trips.  The salty humidity and drips that cause resistance, which causes fires make it worth the extra $$ though in my book.  Especially after watching an outlet erupt in flames right in front of my eyes..  

Here is a copy paste from that thread.  

 

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http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/SectionDisplay.jsp?section=61255

 

1) What is an arc-fault?

The UL Standard for AFCIs defines an arc-fault as an unintentional arcing condition in a circuit (wiring). Arcing creates high intensity heat (may exceed 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit) resulting in burning particles that may over time ignite surrounding material such as wood framing or insulation. Samples of types of arcing that can occur:
 
 

2) What causes an arc-fault?

There are a wide range of conditions that may cause arcing.

ibcGetAttachment.jsp?cItemId=FvWk2-v0740Wire Degradation
  • Natural degradation through age
  • Humidity or heat
  • Extended mechanical stress
  • Extended voltage stress
Physical Damage
  • Animals chewing through insulation
  • Nails, tacks from construction or picture hanging driven into a wall puncturing or damaging a wire(s)
  • Extension or power supply cord damage from sharp bends or furniture pressing on or against cords
  • General cord damage
  • Poor wiring or connection at devices/j-boxes
  •  

 

 

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I would only use GFIC around wet areas. Arc faults are really to sense faults like what you get when an electric blanket goes bad and gets a short that could cause a fire. Or poor wiring connections that are getting hot. Arc fault is not designed to save your life from electronic shock and the intervention isn't as quick as a GFIC. There is a reason arc faults are code for bedrooms and GFIC are for bath/kitchens.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Ah!    Need some acrylic advice.  I got my system running and when filling the quarantine system I noticed there was a small leak coming from the base of my acrylic sump.   If I run some acrylic welding solvent along the edge will that fill in the pinhole? Or better to just get a 40 breeder and use that?

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36 minutes ago, Parzifal said:

Ah!    Need some acrylic advice.  I got my system running and when filling the quarantine system I noticed there was a small leak coming from the base of my acrylic sump.   If I run some acrylic welding solvent along the edge will that fill in the pinhole? Or better to just get a 40 breeder and use that?

I resealed my acrylic refugium that way and it has been fine - just in case you don’t want to start over. 

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  • 2 months later...

Hi all!   Sorry for the long delay!   I took a new position and it’s certainly taken it’s toll on my free time.

 

Pictures and detailed update coming later this week!

 

do any of you have an apex base unit (new one with Wi-Fi capability) you would like to sell?  I have the classic but would really like the Wi-Fi access without spending $800 for a bunch of redundant equipment.

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  • 7 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Well,

its been months. The tanks are up and running, at least the temporary ones.   I’m looking into getting either some acrylic tanks made or HDPE 

got some fish, got some rock, and building the cabinet that will hold the apex system.

More to come in the next few weeks. 

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  • 1 month later...

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