Coral Keepers 60 gallon coldwater reef tank diary.

[Coral Keeper]

Hello everyone!:hi:
I'm going to be setting up a 60 gallon coldwater reef tank. Yup, thats right. A 60 gallon coldwater reef tank. I'd like to say thanks to ReefForBrains, stevewest, and alot of other people that helped me out. If it wasn't for ReefForBrains, or stevewest, or all those other people that helped me out, this tank wouldn't be coming to life. Thanks guys! I've already planed everything out. I've been readin a TON about coldwater tanks and I'm now ready to set it up. I've talked to stevewest, and a lot of other people that have or owned a coldwater tank(s) and showed them my tank plans and they said its good. The tank is going to be made out of 1 inch thick acrylic. I'm going to be using 50 watts of T-5s and the tank will be 24 inches high, 24 inches wide, and 24 inches long. So, its basically a big cube tank thats 24 inches by 24 inches. Its also going to have a Acrylic top thats also going to be 1 inch thick. There is going to be a overflow, and a needle wheel skimmer rated for 300 gallon reef tanks. The water will be a freezin 55-57F. Brrrrrrrrr! Thats cold! There will be styrofoam on all the sides of the tank thats not going to be looked at. The skimmer will also be covered with styrofoam for extra insulation. The tank wont have a fuge, or sump. Every thing will be DIY. The tank, skimmer, stand, canopy, and I already have the DIY chiller that ReefForBrains gave me. Thanks for the chiller ReefForBrains!! I'll be getting all the stuff from the CA coast. The DIY chiller is made out of refrigerator parts. Its got a little controller to control the temp and an on and off switch. We checked it and it works pretty good! Its so cold that it would freeze water thats around it. lol My dad said it will cool down the tank pretty good because its from a frig and frig chillers are pretty strong! I'll be getting the acrylic sheets in a week or 2 and start building the tank, skimmer, stand, canopy, and anything els I'll be needing for the tank with the help of ReefForBrains. The copper coil will be covered with 3 garbage bags so the copper tubing wont be touching any water. I'm going to get the rock, sand, and water from the ocean. So everything will be all natural and right from the ocean. Here are some pictures of the chiller and the tank plan. So, tell me what you think! I'm so exited!
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj245/CoralKeeper111/Picture111.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj245/CoralKeeper111/Picture113.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj245/CoralKeeper111/Picture119.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj245/CoralKeeper111/Picture123.jpg
Here is the tank plan.
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj245/CoralKeeper111/Coldwatertanknumber3-2.jpg

[ibr3ak]

Wow, good luck.

[OgreMkV]

Very nice. Any thoughts on livestock?

[Coral Keeper]

Very nice. Any thoughts on livestock?
Thanks everyone! There is too much to list lol.

[salty420]

you are going to have so much livestock in your 60g sw tank that you can't list it? sounds like a recipe for disaster! or do you just mean that you still haven't made up your mind? in that case, sounds like should be a very unusual tank - can't wait to see it!

[Coral Keeper]

you are going to have so much livestock in your 60g sw tank that you can't list it? sounds like a recipe for disaster! or do you just mean that you still haven't made up your mind? in that case, sounds like should be a very unusual tank - can't wait to see it!
No. Its just I can't make up my mind right now because there is so much to choose from lol.

[Lupin]

Nice.

[jaysen]

looks way too complex for me.

[Fishy_Fun]

looks way too complex for me.

same here

[Reefscape]

Looks superb, look forward to more updates on this.....

[jm1212]

it will be an interesting setup

[Coral Keeper]

Thanks for the compliments everyone! I also can't wait till I get the Acrylic sheets so I can start building the tank.:dance:

[Catpicklesdog]

Definately looking forward to seeing this one take shape.

[SpockthePuffer]

Very exciting! I love coldwater reef tanks, they are my dream tank. There are so many interesting creatures for coldwater!

[mudskippers]

very interesting....... hope things go as smoothly as possible for you.. ;]

- I look forward to watching this thing come together, good luck...

[kcress]

I commend you for the 'different' effort.

Some things you need to consider:
Your tank's citizens will be very dependent on your tank staying chilled. If you have a chiller failure you will kill all your animals. It will take only a few hours.

As the temp goes up the dissolved oxygen will plummet! The animals will suffocate...

What I'm saying is you need to make sure that your chiller system is entirely wrung out before you start keeping animals.

Wrapping the chiller lines with plastic is a bad idea. Nothing like plastic bags will keep the water from getting to the evaporator coils. Once the saltwater connects with those coils corrosion will promptly start. It will poison the tank water quickly.

There two standard ways to chill saltwater.

1) You use a standard aquarium chiller. They wrap the evaporator,(the cold side), around a piece of titanium tubing. Titanium is impervious to saltwater. The tank's water is circulated thru the tubing where the heat is transferred to the cold refrigerant. If the water is passed thru the titanium tube too slowly it will freeze up. The system will short cycle and may be damaged.

2) The second method is to use tubing rated for the refrigerant. The tubing is then submerged into the tank you want cooled. This is the most efficient but it requires refrigerant service equipment to apply.

In your case I'd suggest you put your evap coil into a small insulated tank, one you could make out of acrylic and insulate. Run tubing out of this little tank and into your fish tank. Use a little circulating pump, it can be a powerhead even. Fill this tank and the hose with propylene glycol. This is an edible liquid with a very low freezing point. It won't freeze around your evaporator tubing. This setup will isolate your evaporator coil from the saltwater without plastic bags.

Whatever you do make sure you run your system for several weeks to make sure all the problems are worked out.

[FreshFish82]

Good Luck toYa

[mphunk]

As we are from the same area, I'll offer a warning. I have seen LARGE tickets given to people harvesting animals, water, and fish from tidepools on the coast. Once down by Stinson beach, a fellow showed me a $1000 ticket for harvesting starfish from rocks. The ticket did not have an opportunity to fight the claim, it was from the DFW. You have to have a license to harvest , plus I would specifically avoid the state or national parks. -I would feel gulity for not telling you in advance, especially if you got fined!

[Easydoesit]

waiting for updates lol. i hope its going smoothly

[Coral Keeper]

I'm not going to be build the tank out of Acrylic anymore because they started doing much smaller scraps than I need. Full sized sheets of Acrylic are around $800. So, I'm going to build it out of plywood. Here are a few 3D pictures I made with google sketch up. I inside of the wood will be epoxied. Bare with me, this is my first time using it. The tank is going to be 43 inches long, 17 inches wide, and 18 inches high. Its going to have an overflow on the back.
Here is a picture of the front/topish.
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj245/CoralKeeper111/coldwaterwoodtank.jpg
Side view.
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj245/CoralKeeper111/coldwaterwoodtank3.jpg
And the back.
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj245/CoralKeeper111/coldwaterwoodtank2.jpg

[kingwintergreen]

Cool idea... have you considered adding a crossbar in the bracing at the top of the tank for more strength and stability?
Definitely update the thread if you go forward with the project...

[Rbishop]

Cross brace would be a very needed item for me.

[Sploke]

Agreed..and why are you doing the overflow on the back of the tank like that? It will push it a lot further away from the wall (assuming its not in-wall) and adds a lot more complexity and opportunity for leaks to the build. I would be more inclined to do maybe four 1" bulkheads along the back that just drain down to the sump rather and a box sticking off the back, if you are looking for ways around an internal overflow box like a typical RR tank.

[kingwintergreen]

Agreed..and why are you doing the overflow on the back of the tank like that? It will push it a lot further away from the wall (assuming its not in-wall) and adds a lot more complexity and opportunity for leaks to the build. I would be more inclined to do maybe four 1" bulkheads along the back that just drain down to the sump rather and a box sticking off the back, if you are looking for ways around an internal overflow box like a typical RR tank.

Yep, even just a couple of bulkheads (with strainers, of course) would be much less likely to clog and much cheaper and easier to construct than a box overflow. Of course, in the end, after giving sufficient consideration to others' suggestions, you should build this tank in such a way that best suits your own needs and aesthetic sense.
Again, if you go for it, do submit updates of your progress. Best of luck...

[Coral Keeper]

Cool idea... have you considered adding a crossbar in the bracing at the top of the tank for more strength and stability?
Definitely update the thread if you go forward with the project...
I might put one on top but not in the front.

[RichardA]

Any new pics of this?

[Coral Keeper]

Any new pics of this?
I haven't started building it yet. Still planing and reading about plywood tanks.

[Mgamer20o0]

i thought there would have been more pics by now....

[Coral Keeper]

What do all of you think of the tank foot print? 43 inches long, 17-18 inches wide, and 20-21 inches high. There is going to be a corner over flow and a wave box thats going to be 4 inches long, 17-18 inches wide, and 20-21 inches high.

[Coral Keeper]

Here are some pictures that I made with google sketch up.
Front View.
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj245/CoralKeeper111/coldwatertankwithstand.jpg
Top Angle View .
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj245/CoralKeeper111/coldwatertankwithstandviewtop.jpg

[Kaluden]

I gotta ask why it looks like you have a speaker in front of your stand...

[Coral Keeper]

I gotta ask why it looks like you have a speaker in front of your stand...
lol. Its because the tank is going to be on a big subwoofer a little.

[Kaluden]

Ok... new question... Why?

fish dont like tapping on glass, you stick a subwoofer under a tank, the vibration will probably drive them absolutely crazy, that and depending on what size and how much power your putting into this sub, I would think you would potentially cause your fish to cease to exist?

[Coral Keeper]

To kinda be a stand and its not on. Its not hooked up to the TV or anything.... It wont be working or anything.

[Kaluden]

ahh, ok that makes sense, sorry to be such a downer on things!

I am really very interested to see how a coldwater reef works for you though.

[Coral Keeper]

ahh, ok that makes sense, sorry to be such a downer on things!

I am really very interested to see how a coldwater reef works for you though.
Its alright.