GOFOR'S 52" x 36" x 26" CDA Peninsula & SoCal Tank Room Build
- Thread starter gofor100
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Killer set up! Will you be running a chiller? Only wondering if hot days or cold nights will be a factor on the sump. Plus I’ve always wondered about yard work near by with grass and weed particulate in the air. It’s why I’ve never like the skimmer tube outside. You’re letting dirty outside air in your tank more than you’re setting the oxygen! Atleast to me lol
Yes on the chiller, but oddly enough, in the last few days (where it has been back-to-back 100+ degrees, the highest the tank reached without any cooling was 78. I'll get more into detail on my temp control plans though.
As for air pollutants, luckily, my lawn is about 100 feet away, and my next door neighbors don't have anything on the other side (they have a pool with some equipment on their side yard). Honestly though, I'm not too worried about the outside air as compared to the air inside our homes. Half the time, we leave our windows open anyways. Who knows though... time will tell.
As for air pollutants, luckily, my lawn is about 100 feet away, and my next door neighbors don't have anything on the other side (they have a pool with some equipment on their side yard). Honestly though, I'm not too worried about the outside air as compared to the air inside our homes. Half the time, we leave our windows open anyways. Who knows though... time will tell.
Sump: For the sump, I enlisted John from Advanced Acrylics to build a custom sump. Total dimensions of the sump are 48”L x 18”W x 18”T and nothing too fancy, but, as with many things in this hobby, the devil is in the details. I specifically tailored the sump to accommodate the pieces of equipment I plan to use (and provided extra room in case I switch certain pieces out). I also planned for the light spillage that typically occurs when running a refugium by having John build up the baffles on each side of the refugium to block most, if not all, of the light from spilling into the equipment and return areas of the sump, hopefully avoiding unwanted algae growth in those other areas.
Return Pumps: As for the pumps responsible for keeping the pipes flowing, I decided to go with two lower powered pumps so that if one failed for whatever reason or needed to be maintained, that I at least had one running some water back to the DT.
Return Pumps: As for the pumps responsible for keeping the pipes flowing, I decided to go with two lower powered pumps so that if one failed for whatever reason or needed to be maintained, that I at least had one running some water back to the DT.
- Ecotech VECTRA M2: This will be plumbed directly back into the tank, and for good reason. I’ll be hooking this up to an Ecotech Battery Back-up, so, worst case, if the power goes out, I can still circulate water from the sump to the DT. I also got an S2 on an “Open Box” sale as a back-up if either return pump fails.
- Neptune COR-15: This will handle my manifold. I like the various features/control that you can unlock when paired with the APEX Controller (including not needing a power supply), so I wanted to try it out.
Thanks man! I've always loved reading build threads but always wished people would put more of their rationale for going certain directions (equipment and otherwise) in the thread. I'm trying to shed some light on my thinking for certain things, so hopefully others will get something out of this.
The remote sump has always been something I've wanted to do. So far, it is working out pretty well even with the crazy temps last week.
The remote sump has always been something I've wanted to do. So far, it is working out pretty well even with the crazy temps last week.
Very cool. Looking at that hard pipe (electrical metal conduit) I was curious if it was going through a wall where you may want a flexible conduit like liquid tight in case of an earthquake. Allowing your tank and electrical to sway freely from the wall during an earthquake. Liquid or seal tight is basically a flexible metallic conduit that's coated in rubber and may be even a little more salt water resistant as a bonus.
SUMP SHED
Sump Shed:
Now, it’s time to get into one of the unique parts of the build. First off, I am not an extremely handy person. So, my initial thought was to purchase a plastic storage shed, insert shelving and then waterproof it as best I could. The problem with this approach is that most of these plastic sheds are not extremely durable, sturdy, waterproof, the shelving cannot hold a ton of weight, and they can cost quite a bit (especially considering what you’re actually purchasing). The good news is that I know handy people… one in particular knows quite a bit (he builds pools for a living and has quite a bit of knowledge on electrical, welding, etc.) and essentially talked me into (it didn’t take much) letting him help me build a “Sump Shed”.
To keep it lighter, it is framed out with aluminum, which we (and my “we” I mean my VERY helpful friend) welded the frame out.
We then painted the aluminum frame with Rustoleum Truck Bed paint, then skinned the outside with primed plywood.
We added some 1” thick foam insulation to regulate the temperature a little inside the sump shed.
We also added two vents on the lower part of the sump shed, with ventilation at the top of the sump shed so that there is still air flow that can come through the shed and limit any CO2 buildup.
And to close up the sump compartment and make it look a bit more clean, we enclosed the insulation with sheets of stainless steel (also painted with black Rustoleum). I might do this to the entire interior of the shed, but I needed to get this done before placing the sump in there.
Electrical:
For electrical, I have two tank-dedicated 20 AMP circuits, each one attached to a two-outlet housing, so that I could plug one EB832 into each- with one heater and one return pump plugged into each EB832 in case either circuit breaker trips.
Separately, all of the “inside equipment” (the lights and powerheads) are all connected inside the house on a 15 AMP circuit, so, in total, I have two main 20 AMP circuits, and a 3rd circuit supplementing. I may eventually feed the lights/powerheads into the Sump Shed, but those are all being controlled via the Ecotech Reeflink/Mobius anyways, so we’ll see.
Waterproofing the Shed:
There is only so much you can do to waterproof an outside structure, so we started with the roof, which we built just like you would a roof on a house:
After all of this, I tried to make it look nice on the outside, so it is not a huge eyesore for anyone that ventures into my sideyard.
Why go through the trouble and expense of creating this shed? Well, this is the way I looked at it:
Sump Shed:
Now, it’s time to get into one of the unique parts of the build. First off, I am not an extremely handy person. So, my initial thought was to purchase a plastic storage shed, insert shelving and then waterproof it as best I could. The problem with this approach is that most of these plastic sheds are not extremely durable, sturdy, waterproof, the shelving cannot hold a ton of weight, and they can cost quite a bit (especially considering what you’re actually purchasing). The good news is that I know handy people… one in particular knows quite a bit (he builds pools for a living and has quite a bit of knowledge on electrical, welding, etc.) and essentially talked me into (it didn’t take much) letting him help me build a “Sump Shed”.
To keep it lighter, it is framed out with aluminum, which we (and my “we” I mean my VERY helpful friend) welded the frame out.
We then painted the aluminum frame with Rustoleum Truck Bed paint, then skinned the outside with primed plywood.
We added some 1” thick foam insulation to regulate the temperature a little inside the sump shed.
We also added two vents on the lower part of the sump shed, with ventilation at the top of the sump shed so that there is still air flow that can come through the shed and limit any CO2 buildup.
And to close up the sump compartment and make it look a bit more clean, we enclosed the insulation with sheets of stainless steel (also painted with black Rustoleum). I might do this to the entire interior of the shed, but I needed to get this done before placing the sump in there.
Electrical:
For electrical, I have two tank-dedicated 20 AMP circuits, each one attached to a two-outlet housing, so that I could plug one EB832 into each- with one heater and one return pump plugged into each EB832 in case either circuit breaker trips.
Separately, all of the “inside equipment” (the lights and powerheads) are all connected inside the house on a 15 AMP circuit, so, in total, I have two main 20 AMP circuits, and a 3rd circuit supplementing. I may eventually feed the lights/powerheads into the Sump Shed, but those are all being controlled via the Ecotech Reeflink/Mobius anyways, so we’ll see.
Waterproofing the Shed:
There is only so much you can do to waterproof an outside structure, so we started with the roof, which we built just like you would a roof on a house:
- We installed a plywood top
- Then we sealed flashing on the perimeter of the structure, including up against the house,
- We then laid down some flex tape/roofing paper to seal up any joints and keep any water that does make it through off the plywood
- Finally, we screwed in the asphalt shingles
After all of this, I tried to make it look nice on the outside, so it is not a huge eyesore for anyone that ventures into my sideyard.
Why go through the trouble and expense of creating this shed? Well, this is the way I looked at it:
- Child-Proofing: I have kids (6, 5, and 3), and kids like to get into things they shouldn’t. So, for the safety of BOTH my kids and my tank, I figured it might be best to put most of the tanks’ components in a shed where I can lock it and keep the kids away.
- Noise Reduction: I really wanted to cut down on the noise as much as possible in the living area (since the tank is literally right in the middle of the downstairs living area).
- Limit Damage to the House: I wanted to avoid as much damage as possible to the house… I would rather cut a few holes in the wall and house all of the equipment outside where possible leaks, spills, etc. can’t wreak havoc on my home.
- Space: being able to house all of the equipment outside of the stand also allows me to store some stuff under the tank that I would not otherwise be able to. Less fish stuff in the house and garage makes a happy wife. Happy wife, happy life.
- pH Benefits?: with all of this talk about how higher pH may have positive effects on our corals, I figured housing the sump/skimmer in a shed with direct access to fresh air (low in CO2), can’t do anything but help here.
- Something New: Honestly, it was something I had never done before and seemed like a pretty cool idea if someone that knew what the heck they were doing was willing to help. Lucky for me, there was.
AQUASCAPING
My goals with the aquascaping for this build was somewhat of a balancing act. I wanted to achieve seemingly contradicting characteristics:
My goals with the aquascaping for this build was somewhat of a balancing act. I wanted to achieve seemingly contradicting characteristics:
- Minimal Rock Footprint: so as to avoid minimal space on the sand-bed being taken up by the rockwork, and building the structures to allow for plenty of waterflow through the entire tank so as to avoid as many deadspots as possible.
- Plenty of Coral Real Estate and Depth: with the width/depth of the tank, I really wanted to create a good sense of depth and visual appeal from all angles of the tank. This was definitely more difficult to achieve than I originally thought.
