Here are some pics and a short explanation of what your seeing. This is as far as I have gotten in 3 years on this project, and most of it within the last few months. (mostly due to lack of time since I work around 70 to 80 hours a week)
This is the tank itself. pay no attention to the clutter around it (Note the college dorm crap on the wall!) this room is in the middle of a MAJOR overhaul, everything in it is on death row.
(except the tank)
It is a 120 gallon cube, 30" X 30" on all sides. the black structure in the middle is the overflow box, the back is painted black, and the left back has all the plumbing done, and handi-foam sprayed over it to hide all the plumbing.
This is a closeup of the handi-foam with some old liverock pieces and dead coral stuck in it. There are some gaps (I ran out) that I will fill in with more foam and rock when I get more foam in. It will take a few months, but this stuff will get covered with coraline algae first, and eventually star polyps and zoanthids, it will blend right in with the live rock.
The picture is a couple days old at this point, the configuration of the sump has changed slightly, all the blue balls you see in the back are gone, I decided I didn't want them, and I took the tower off, If i need it, i will put it back.
The chambers on the right are for adding media to the mix, the larger one will have a slower flow so media that requires a longer contact time will go there, faster contact time filter media will go in the small chamber. (like pillows of purigen or other chemical reagents that polish the water). It empties at the bottom.
These two pumps and the associated nightmare of plumbing are the core of the system. The pump on the left is a closed loop notice the gray cylinder, that is a wave maker. Water will only come out of 2 pipes at a time. the 3 open ended pipes are the only unfinished portion of the plumbing.
The pump on the right is the return pump on the sump. the two ball valves are for expansions I haven't finished yet. 1 will go to the gravity fed refugium that will be over the tank, the other will go to an experimental filter system which uses a hotly argued method of denitrification called fully aerobic de-nitrification - it uses a high grade carbon as bio media, and a powerful bacteria blend. The science behind the system is debateable, but one thing isn't, this filter system produces incredible water quality!!!
This is the tank itself. pay no attention to the clutter around it (Note the college dorm crap on the wall!) this room is in the middle of a MAJOR overhaul, everything in it is on death row.
It is a 120 gallon cube, 30" X 30" on all sides. the black structure in the middle is the overflow box, the back is painted black, and the left back has all the plumbing done, and handi-foam sprayed over it to hide all the plumbing.
This is a closeup of the handi-foam with some old liverock pieces and dead coral stuck in it. There are some gaps (I ran out) that I will fill in with more foam and rock when I get more foam in. It will take a few months, but this stuff will get covered with coraline algae first, and eventually star polyps and zoanthids, it will blend right in with the live rock.
The picture is a couple days old at this point, the configuration of the sump has changed slightly, all the blue balls you see in the back are gone, I decided I didn't want them, and I took the tower off, If i need it, i will put it back.
The chambers on the right are for adding media to the mix, the larger one will have a slower flow so media that requires a longer contact time will go there, faster contact time filter media will go in the small chamber. (like pillows of purigen or other chemical reagents that polish the water). It empties at the bottom.
These two pumps and the associated nightmare of plumbing are the core of the system. The pump on the left is a closed loop notice the gray cylinder, that is a wave maker. Water will only come out of 2 pipes at a time. the 3 open ended pipes are the only unfinished portion of the plumbing.
The pump on the right is the return pump on the sump. the two ball valves are for expansions I haven't finished yet. 1 will go to the gravity fed refugium that will be over the tank, the other will go to an experimental filter system which uses a hotly argued method of denitrification called fully aerobic de-nitrification - it uses a high grade carbon as bio media, and a powerful bacteria blend. The science behind the system is debateable, but one thing isn't, this filter system produces incredible water quality!!!