SWUBE: 1000 gal Swiss Reef

Ridgeway Swiss · 04/25/2015, 02:30 PM

OK here goes !

I'm a English reefer that now lives in Switzerland and I've been keeping salty tanks since 1987 although with many breaks in-between, I guess at some point you need to meet a partner, buy a house etc

I've just dismantled my 250 gal Deltec tank that's been running for the last 6 years but now it's time to go full custom !!!

My new system is currently about 75% through the build phase but here's the overview:

Display: 5.25ft x 5ft x 3.75ft made from 1" thick Opti-white (low iron) glass

Sumps: 5ft x 2ft x 2ft, upper and lower sumps both more or less the same dimensions, these are made from 5/8 inch white PVC

Return pump: Abyzz A400

Flow: 4 x Vortech MP60

Lighting: 12 x Hydra 52

Control: Apex Neptune

Skimmer: Deltec TC3070s with self cleaning head

Elements: DaStaCo

Scape: Marco Rocks

Some pics will explain more easily than my poor words.

Ridgeway Swiss · 04/25/2015, 02:44 PM

This was an early sketch in order to define the location and what size tank we could fit in, the spouse factor was key and so far it's cost me a new dog, a new kitchen and lots of decorating....

This plan meant taking out 2 walls, blocking off access to our utility room and therefore having to create a new access through another wall. Also you'll notice that pillar on the front corner of the tank, more about that later....

The base needed some serious thought and it was a choice between aluminium or steel/concrete and as I had the builder already here for the other works then I chose the later:

The concrete base itself became a work of art that the Swiss builder took some delight in executing to the Swiss standard, he dug out around 3ft for the foundations and then made a steel reinforced concrete structure that the steel beams would sit on.

Ridgeway Swiss · 04/25/2015, 03:04 PM

Before the builder could start with the walls and base I had to take out the cow feeder, yes you read correctly.... The house is around 250yrs old and is actually a farm that was converted many years ago and most of the part we live in is where the animals used to live hence in the room that will become the reef technical back office it used to be where the cows were fed and they had a 1ft high slab of concrete on the floor just to elevate their food a little, nothing a jack hammer wouldn't get rid of

I mocked up the tank with a wooden frame just to get a feel for it:

And then Benoît the builder cut the floor ready for the foundations, we decided that the correct depth was officially 1 Cocker Spaniel

Whilst this was going on we installed a dedicated electrical supply for the aquarium, this has 15 outlets and each one has an RCBO so in theory if any equipment goes it will only take out what is on that circuit and i will split the risks by having say 2 heaters and both on separate outlets

The base concrete was made around the steel frame as below

And for a while half the house was held up by temporary steel supports

kevantheman35 · 04/25/2015, 03:06 PM

Awesome build. Cant wait to see it

Ridgeway Swiss · 04/25/2015, 03:50 PM

Once it was all cleaned away we could get a better look at what we had

I had 2 steel frames made up, one for the tank base and one for the top of the tank as it will be without central braces

This was the new access to get to the back of the tank from the kitchen area, the walls are 3ft thick so it took a will to cut through...

I picked up the steel beams and then after cleaning them I gave them a few coats of a plastic based paint

Ridgeway Swiss · 04/25/2015, 04:01 PM

Next we had some tiling to do

Back to the pillar that was originally on the front corner of the tank..... We changed the plan some what and managed to find a way to avoid the pillar but that meant cutting out more of the house and adding more steel supports. This main beam now spans 16ft across the room

I then started to build up the base with the steel beams, wooden sub base, polystyrene and then steel tank base frame

I started on the Apex system, nearly completed but still a few more cables to sort out

Also I managed to squeeze in the 12 x Hydra 52 PSU's

More soon.

ace_92101 · 04/25/2015, 05:43 PM

Wow! Talk about a construction project.

Ridgeway Swiss · 04/26/2015, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ace_92101

Wow! Talk about a construction project.

yep the spousse factor in bucket loads

it's been a very dusty start to the project although this seems to be over now although there's still plenty of dust around, will take a few months to clear the house of it I think

220tang · 04/26/2015, 02:53 PM

Wow really admire you detailed work in cleaning up all the electrical components it looks fantastic you really must have a lot of time in that! You are going to be so happy having it so organized! Great build this far!

d-man · 04/27/2015, 07:56 PM

Nice. Can't wait

tom obrecht · 04/28/2015, 06:16 AM

Intriguing build for sure! Please keep us updated regularly!

Ridgeway Swiss · 04/28/2015, 07:06 AM

Some updates later, lots of pictures for sure.

beadlocked450r · 05/07/2015, 08:36 PM

Updates?

Ridgeway Swiss · 05/08/2015, 12:09 AM

OK this weekend I will do so, thanks for the reminder.

hobbzz · 05/08/2015, 02:11 PM

Nice start!

Ridgeway Swiss · 05/08/2015, 02:34 PM

OK so plenty has happened over the last few weeks so here's a bit of a catch up.

Firstly I decided to make a full scale mock up of the tank.

This brought another challenge though, the only place I had space to do this was in the barn and that's 20ft up.... so I convinced the children that it was a good idea to haul 600lbs of Marco's best up there

This gave me the chance to have a first go at a scape, at least it helps to gives ideas for what I want to achieve and my final version will be quite different

Next up was some glass

Ridgeway Swiss · 05/08/2015, 02:47 PM

The glass is 1" Optiwhite, nice and clear. These are the 1" thick top brace bars that will run all the way around the tank on the inside as there are no cross brace bars. This will all be strengthened by a steel outer frame.

It meant I could get on with the tank construction so the base was started.

Next was the 2 side walls, this was after the black film was applied to the glass on one side

Then the front and back panels, my back needed a rest after all that as each panel is about 225lbs

Blue spot · 05/08/2015, 02:50 PM

Looks like it's going to be stunning.

Ridgeway Swiss · 05/08/2015, 03:06 PM

The tank got strapped up for a few days just to pull it all it as we had already used around 15 tubes of silicone at this stage. Also the braces on the base were added, these are 1/2" thick

The top 1" brace bars were then added and clamped up for a week, also I cracked on with the tiling in the technical room. why oh why did I say I was going to tile the whole room I hate tiling.....

Once all that lot was cured enough the top steel frame was added. This is the same as the lower frame 1" x 1" angle in 1/4" thick (ok a bit thinner but my imperial translation is capability isn't that good, 5mm in real money...)

I and guess you already noticed that I put the lights up around a week ago. These are the 12 x Hydra 52 in Euro spec i.e. they have more blue in them. These are controlled today via the AI Director but I also have an Apex AWM module that I may use so that they are fully Integrated in to the system.

They are all mounted on the AI aluminium rails that are suspended from some custom boat sail riggings made from high grade SS

Next was to drill some holes in that 1" thick laminated glass, yes what fun that would be.....

It was best to drill it from both sides to avoid any shattering and also to avoid the lamination adhesive in the middle.

It resulted in this, just 4 more to go

Ridgeway Swiss · 05/08/2015, 03:19 PM

Sump 1 was ready last week so I could get the Alu sump frame in place and start getting some equipment in there just to check sizes and positioning before tidying it all up

Also I added the 3 x 2" bulkheads to the tank but I'm waiting on a specialist supplier for the 1/2" black glass for the coast to coast weir that runs the 5ft length across the back panel.

Well that's pretty much where we are today. Waiting on sump 2 to be finished and the glass for the weir, hopefully all should be ready within the next 2 weeks which I really hope is the case as we have some long weekends coming up and I need time to get the plumbing sorted and glue this lot together.....

Well that's all folks, now off to earn some greenback to pay for this thing

dave.m · 05/08/2015, 03:28 PM

Nice job on cutting the holes in the glass. That must have been a slow slog at 1" thick laminated!

Dave.M

Shawn_k · 05/09/2015, 01:00 PM

Wow this is going to be amazing when it is up and running

JamesWang · 05/10/2015, 11:05 AM

Unbelievable scale and precision in this build, I am excited to see it progress!

Whats the ETA on the 1/2 black glass? Nice to know you aren't rushing anything- do it right the first time

Ridgeway Swiss · 05/10/2015, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesWang

Unbelievable scale and precision in this build, I am excited to see it progress!

Whats the ETA on the 1/2 black glass? Nice to know you aren't rushing anything- do it right the first time

I think there's a guy in Zurich right now hand grinding some sand to make the glass..... but as slow as that may be it could still be faster than my current supplier :-(

My guess is another couple of weeks but at least if I get the 2nd sump then I can finish all the plumbing, wet test it, dry and clean it and then start the scape. Just leaving enough space for those important 2 pieces of glass.

Ridgeway Swiss · 05/14/2015, 03:20 PM

OK I know how you guys like pictures !

I needed to wet test the display tank so last night I went for an 80% fill,

It took 60mins to fill to 80% so about 650 gallons.

This meant that sooner or later someone had to get in and it wasn't going to be me with that water temperature...

As it's a long weened here I had chance to get a few more things done so the RO system was finished off

Installed the MP60's and hooked them up to the Apex, very nice control features

This meant that It gave me a chance to start organising the electrical board

Also I knocked up a couple of 7" filter sock silencers, still need to make the other 2

Hopefully the weir glass is here soon

04/25/2015, 02:30 PM	#1
Ridgeway Swiss A Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 86	SWUBE: 1000 gal Swiss Reef OK here goes ! I'm a English reefer that now lives in Switzerland and I've been keeping salty tanks since 1987 although with many breaks in-between, I guess at some point you need to meet a partner, buy a house etc I've just dismantled my 250 gal Deltec tank that's been running for the last 6 years but now it's time to go full custom !!! My new system is currently about 75% through the build phase but here's the overview: Display: 5.25ft x 5ft x 3.75ft made from 1" thick Opti-white (low iron) glass Sumps: 5ft x 2ft x 2ft, upper and lower sumps both more or less the same dimensions, these are made from 5/8 inch white PVC Return pump: Abyzz A400 Flow: 4 x Vortech MP60 Lighting: 12 x Hydra 52 Control: Apex Neptune Skimmer: Deltec TC3070s with self cleaning head Elements: DaStaCo Scape: Marco Rocks Some pics will explain more easily than my poor words.

04/25/2015, 02:44 PM	#2
Ridgeway Swiss A Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 86	This was an early sketch in order to define the location and what size tank we could fit in, the spouse factor was key and so far it's cost me a new dog, a new kitchen and lots of decorating.... This plan meant taking out 2 walls, blocking off access to our utility room and therefore having to create a new access through another wall. Also you'll notice that pillar on the front corner of the tank, more about that later.... The base needed some serious thought and it was a choice between aluminium or steel/concrete and as I had the builder already here for the other works then I chose the later: The concrete base itself became a work of art that the Swiss builder took some delight in executing to the Swiss standard, he dug out around 3ft for the foundations and then made a steel reinforced concrete structure that the steel beams would sit on. Last edited by Ridgeway Swiss; 04/25/2015 at 02:52 PM.

04/25/2015, 03:04 PM	#3
Ridgeway Swiss A Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 86	Before the builder could start with the walls and base I had to take out the cow feeder, yes you read correctly.... The house is around 250yrs old and is actually a farm that was converted many years ago and most of the part we live in is where the animals used to live hence in the room that will become the reef technical back office it used to be where the cows were fed and they had a 1ft high slab of concrete on the floor just to elevate their food a little, nothing a jack hammer wouldn't get rid of I mocked up the tank with a wooden frame just to get a feel for it: And then Benoît the builder cut the floor ready for the foundations, we decided that the correct depth was officially 1 Cocker Spaniel Whilst this was going on we installed a dedicated electrical supply for the aquarium, this has 15 outlets and each one has an RCBO so in theory if any equipment goes it will only take out what is on that circuit and i will split the risks by having say 2 heaters and both on separate outlets The base concrete was made around the steel frame as below And for a while half the house was held up by temporary steel supports Last edited by Ridgeway Swiss; 04/25/2015 at 03:14 PM.

04/25/2015, 03:06 PM	#4
kevantheman35 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Fort wayne, IN Posts: 823	Awesome build. Cant wait to see it __________________ -Kevan Current Tank Info: 34g Mixed Reef Solana (2 years old). 12g jbj nanocube dx (retired at 2 years old)

04/28/2015, 06:16 AM	#11
tom obrecht Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: WI Posts: 3,014	Intriguing build for sure! Please keep us updated regularly! __________________ Reef keeping is where Murphy's Law and your bank account collide!! TOTM May 2006

04/25/2015, 03:50 PM	#5
Ridgeway Swiss A Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 86	Once it was all cleaned away we could get a better look at what we had I had 2 steel frames made up, one for the tank base and one for the top of the tank as it will be without central braces This was the new access to get to the back of the tank from the kitchen area, the walls are 3ft thick so it took a will to cut through... I picked up the steel beams and then after cleaning them I gave them a few coats of a plastic based paint

04/25/2015, 04:01 PM	#6
Ridgeway Swiss A Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 86	Next we had some tiling to do Back to the pillar that was originally on the front corner of the tank..... We changed the plan some what and managed to find a way to avoid the pillar but that meant cutting out more of the house and adding more steel supports. This main beam now spans 16ft across the room I then started to build up the base with the steel beams, wooden sub base, polystyrene and then steel tank base frame I started on the Apex system, nearly completed but still a few more cables to sort out Also I managed to squeeze in the 12 x Hydra 52 PSU's More soon.

04/25/2015, 05:43 PM	#7
ace_92101 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Cebu, Philippines Posts: 763	Wow! Talk about a construction project.

04/26/2015, 02:53 PM	#9
220tang Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Iowa city Iowa Posts: 47	Wow really admire you detailed work in cleaning up all the electrical components it looks fantastic you really must have a lot of time in that! You are going to be so happy having it so organized! Great build this far!

04/27/2015, 07:56 PM	#10
d-man Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: San Diego, ca Posts: 2,732	Nice. Can't wait

04/28/2015, 07:06 AM	#12
Ridgeway Swiss A Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 86	Some updates later, lots of pictures for sure.

05/07/2015, 08:36 PM	#13
beadlocked450r Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: dover de Posts: 294	Updates?

05/08/2015, 12:09 AM	#14
Ridgeway Swiss A Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 86	OK this weekend I will do so, thanks for the reminder.

05/08/2015, 02:11 PM	#15
hobbzz How do I change this? Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 3,037	Nice start! __________________ 150g system. 120g reef, sro3000, Apex, Tunze 6255/6105/6095, T5 w/led supplement, 29g reef, MP10, led only.

05/08/2015, 02:34 PM	#16
Ridgeway Swiss A Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 86	OK so plenty has happened over the last few weeks so here's a bit of a catch up. Firstly I decided to make a full scale mock up of the tank. This brought another challenge though, the only place I had space to do this was in the barn and that's 20ft up.... so I convinced the children that it was a good idea to haul 600lbs of Marco's best up there This gave me the chance to have a first go at a scape, at least it helps to gives ideas for what I want to achieve and my final version will be quite different Next up was some glass

05/08/2015, 02:47 PM	#17
Ridgeway Swiss A Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 86	The glass is 1" Optiwhite, nice and clear. These are the 1" thick top brace bars that will run all the way around the tank on the inside as there are no cross brace bars. This will all be strengthened by a steel outer frame. It meant I could get on with the tank construction so the base was started. Next was the 2 side walls, this was after the black film was applied to the glass on one side Then the front and back panels, my back needed a rest after all that as each panel is about 225lbs

05/08/2015, 02:50 PM	#18
Blue spot Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: England Posts: 590	Looks like it's going to be stunning.

05/08/2015, 03:06 PM	#19
Ridgeway Swiss A Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 86	The tank got strapped up for a few days just to pull it all it as we had already used around 15 tubes of silicone at this stage. Also the braces on the base were added, these are 1/2" thick The top 1" brace bars were then added and clamped up for a week, also I cracked on with the tiling in the technical room. why oh why did I say I was going to tile the whole room I hate tiling..... Once all that lot was cured enough the top steel frame was added. This is the same as the lower frame 1" x 1" angle in 1/4" thick (ok a bit thinner but my imperial translation is capability isn't that good, 5mm in real money...) I and guess you already noticed that I put the lights up around a week ago. These are the 12 x Hydra 52 in Euro spec i.e. they have more blue in them. These are controlled today via the AI Director but I also have an Apex AWM module that I may use so that they are fully Integrated in to the system. They are all mounted on the AI aluminium rails that are suspended from some custom boat sail riggings made from high grade SS Next was to drill some holes in that 1" thick laminated glass, yes what fun that would be..... It was best to drill it from both sides to avoid any shattering and also to avoid the lamination adhesive in the middle. It resulted in this, just 4 more to go

05/08/2015, 03:19 PM	#20
Ridgeway Swiss A Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 86	Sump 1 was ready last week so I could get the Alu sump frame in place and start getting some equipment in there just to check sizes and positioning before tidying it all up Also I added the 3 x 2" bulkheads to the tank but I'm waiting on a specialist supplier for the 1/2" black glass for the coast to coast weir that runs the 5ft length across the back panel. Well that's pretty much where we are today. Waiting on sump 2 to be finished and the glass for the weir, hopefully all should be ready within the next 2 weeks which I really hope is the case as we have some long weekends coming up and I need time to get the plumbing sorted and glue this lot together..... Well that's all folks, now off to earn some greenback to pay for this thing Last edited by Ridgeway Swiss; 05/08/2015 at 03:25 PM.

05/08/2015, 03:28 PM	#21
dave.m Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Canadia Posts: 4,276	Nice job on cutting the holes in the glass. That must have been a slow slog at 1" thick laminated! Dave.M __________________ My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.

05/09/2015, 01:00 PM	#22
Shawn_k Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 10	Wow this is going to be amazing when it is up and running

05/10/2015, 11:05 AM	#23
JamesWang Moved On Join Date: May 2015 Location: North Florida Posts: 40	Unbelievable scale and precision in this build, I am excited to see it progress! Whats the ETA on the 1/2 black glass? Nice to know you aren't rushing anything- do it right the first time

05/14/2015, 03:20 PM	#25
Ridgeway Swiss A Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Lausanne, Switzerland Posts: 86	OK I know how you guys like pictures ! I needed to wet test the display tank so last night I went for an 80% fill, It took 60mins to fill to 80% so about 650 gallons. This meant that sooner or later someone had to get in and it wasn't going to be me with that water temperature... As it's a long weened here I had chance to get a few more things done so the RO system was finished off Installed the MP60's and hooked them up to the Apex, very nice control features This meant that It gave me a chance to start organising the electrical board Also I knocked up a couple of 7" filter sock silencers, still need to make the other 2 Hopefully the weir glass is here soon