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Horseplay's 105g Rimless

H

horseplay

NJRC Member
Here' the journal for my new build. I am hoping this will be it for a few years. My first reef tank, a 75g in the basement has been doing well so we decided to setup a show tank in the family room. I will be using most of the equipments from the current 75g setup. A few things worth mentioning are:

The tank - it's a DSA 105 rimless with black stand.
Lighting - ATI LED Powermodule.
Pump - I will be using Jim's used DC 10500 pump.

After the tank is filled with water I started feeling nervous about it. I haven't read any negative reviews on this tank on the web but I have never had a rimless tank before. With the water line only a little over 1 inch below the rim it just looks like something going to happen any time. I hope this feeling will go away.

Overflow - There are two drains for the overflow, both are 1". I will be running about 400gph on the return. I have it setup as Herbie for the moment but I am not sure. With the emergency drain 100% blocked it will cause a flood. I will try dual durso and see how noisy it is. With about 200gph thru each drain I hope it's not too bad. And with durso each drain should handle 400gph easily.

Plumbing - Flexible PVC will be used on the main runs. It's so much easier than rigid PVC. Also I am not using Unions at all. The 1" union actually has an opening < 1". Instead of unions I use 1" threaded adapters which allow disassembling for cleaning if needed. The drains will be fitted with strainers so I don't expect any blockage.

IMG_0052.JPG
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

Looks great, bit biased because that is the look that I tried to go for. I think that if you ever stop worrying about it that will be the day something goes wrong so just keep worrying. What dimensions is the tank?
 
H

horseplay

NJRC Member
Thanks everyone. Will try to keep the update coming.

JRWOHLER - very true what you said. Still thinking thru all the possible scenarios now with plumbing. The tank is 4' x 2' x 21".
 
H

horseplay

NJRC Member
With the transfer I have connected the new tank with the current tank. So there are now two sumps and two DT's running with the old sump as the lowest sump. The new water has 11.2 dkh vs 7.2 of the current tank. So it will be a shock to the corals. With the two systems connected I can slowly mix the water until it reaches equilibrium. This will take about five days. Complicated calculation is being done to figure out how the dosing routing should be changed during this period. But in effected the tank will get a 50% water change in 5 days slowly and Alk will be kept close to the current level.

The temporary sump. On the left is the drain to the lower sump and return from the lower sump.
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The lowest sump:
IMG_0054.JPG


The jungle, two drains and one return. Behind of hoses will be the main switch panel.
IMG_0057.JPG
 
Mark...

Mark...

You mention the Herbie and having the emergency blocked. What makes the Herbie safe is that the emergency should be dry and only utilized if the main drain gets blocked either completely or partially. Once the dry emergency starts moving water, its time to look and fix the primary drain. As long as the primary drain is the same size or smaller you should never have a flood.

Running the Herbie with a full siphon is a great way to go.
 
H

horseplay

NJRC Member
Mark... said:
You mention the Herbie and having the emergency blocked. What makes the Herbie safe is that the emergency should be dry and only utilized if the main drain gets blocked either completely or partially. Once the dry emergency starts moving water, its time to look and fix the primary drain. As long as the primary drain is the same size or smaller you should never have a flood.

Running the Herbie with a full siphon is a great way to go.
Click to expand...

Mark, with the Herbie the water level in the overflow box is at the emergency drain level. There is a small amount of flow needed, maybe 50gph to keep the water level stable. I did try to run the emergency drain dry then the siphon drain will alternate between full siphon and regular flow. When it is in full siphon the flow will be maximized causing the water level to drop until it's low enough to cause air sucked into the drain. The the flow will be reduced because of the air causing water level to rise until it's in full siphon again.

When I think about it the chance of the emergency drain fully blocked is very small. It's ok if it's partially blocked since it only needs to support a very low flow rate.
 
H

horseplay

NJRC Member
Put in a few pieces to test the water. Corals look like a million bucks after only 2 hours. Phone picture does not do justice. Very impressed with the light fixture. Color is just incredible only running 20% LED coral plus + 4 T5 bulbs.

The rock has been in the sump for a long time now the Zoas coming back from the dead. SPS is the purple nana piece I am selling :)

Still a few days to go then I will move corals in en masse.

IMG_0069.JPG
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
I love the ati hybrid fixture, my corals looked amazing under them. I peak my LEDs at 30% pink+ and the t5s at 60%
 
Hockeynut

Hockeynut

NJRC Member
You guys are killing me I love the hybrid look I don't want to mess with my lights but WOW I like the mix.. Edwin is running a hybrid and his coral has taken off I mean it like a rocket.
I love the look of this tank I can't wait to see where it goes.
 
iTzJu

iTzJu

Officer Emeritus
NJRC Member
Hockeynut said:
You guys are killing me I love the hybrid look I don't want to mess with my lights but WOW I like the mix.. Edwin is running a hybrid and his coral has taken off I mean it like a rocket.
I love the look of this tank I can't wait to see where it goes.
Click to expand...

grab some T5 retrofit kits and make a canopy for your Vegas!
 
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