Ong Lai Reef

[alexcyf]

Hi Reefers! Starting a new tank thread for my brother in law’s new reef tank. Haha, never update my own but posting for his tank!

Been helping him and my nephew with their tank design for the past months and it has finally materialized! It is currently cycling and here is the current shot.

It is a 5.5x2x2 Feet divider tank, 3 sides view to separate the living room area from dining area. Basically the tank design is focused on easy Maintainence, which I will slowly illustrate the the various design considerations along the thread. The house has been rebuilt from scratch, so there are some interesting features that could be done.

Here is the final tank design drawing. Tank is built by CRA, while the frame and cabinet is by the house ID and construction firm.

stay tuned for more!

[Jeebusai]

Very nice set up bro. Size really matters in this case. Lol The carib arcs are always sold out!

[tory_felicia]

Congratulations on the new tank and good luck

[alexcyf]

Gonna share abit more of the tank build first.

From the photo, many of you can easily tell who did this tank. 

Anyway, It’s a divider tank that is hooded and with access to sump from both sides. Therefore enabling easy Maintainence of the sump tank. Some of you may also notice that even though it is a 5.5ft long tank, there isn’t any pillar at the middle of the cabinet frame to support the weight of the tank and prevent sagging. This is because the frame is an industrial grade metal frame that was custom made by the constructor who built the house. Which results in a full length access to the sump, satisfying both aesthetic and functional objectives!

the tank has an additional side cabinet built in together and this side cabinet houses the salt mix tank.since the house is rebuilt, it meant that a water inlet was also installed within the side cabinet. 

Also attached a photo for illustrations of the tank after the doors are installed.

 

Will share another big perk, in my next reply, of building a reef tank when the House is rebuilt

 

[alexcyf]

On 22/05/2018 at 10:00 PM, Jeebusai said:

Very nice set up bro. Size really matters in this case. Lol The carib arcs are always sold out!

Haha yup. The arcs are beautiful and We bought the whole box for all 3 types

 

On 22/05/2018 at 10:12 PM, tory_felicia said:

Congratulations on the new tank and good luck

Thanks! All e best for ur new tank too!

[alexcyf]

Since water change is one of the most important husbandry of reef tank maintenance , one consideration that we had was to make the water change process extremely hassle free.

as the house is rebuilt, we were able to install a drainage system right under the tank cabinet. This drainage pipe is estimated at a height to drain about 15-20% of the tank volume, an optimum amount for water change. It is controlled by a ball valve, once open, the water will flow down to the drainage as shown in e picture below.the RODI waste water tube is also connected to the drainage pipe! And yes the RODI is installed within the cabinet!

this 5 stage RODI is powered by a booster pump and fills about 60-80 liters per hour! And it fills this built in mixer tank that can hold more than 20%.

we installed a return pump and fixed a two way pipe to 1) mix the salt using the return pump circulation and 2) pump the water up back into display tank.

so water change is just, drain the water with the drainage pipe, pour the salt into mixer tank, switch the valves to pump the water up to display tank. There you go, a water change process without pails!

haha, love to hear your comments on this!

[Uask4it]

16 minutes ago, alexcyf said:

Salute good idea on leading water out of the DT.

 

[alexcyf]

11 hours ago, Uask4it said:

 

Thanks!

[noname777]

Power...nice

[Jeebusai]

12 hours ago, alexcyf said:

Since water change is one of the most important husbandry of reef tank maintenance , one consideration that we had was to make the water change process extremely hassle free.

as the house is rebuilt, we were able to install a drainage system right under the tank cabinet. This drainage pipe is estimated at a height to drain about 15-20% of the tank volume, an optimum amount for water change. It is controlled by a ball valve, once open, the water will flow down to the drainage as shown in e picture below.the RODI waste water tube is also connected to the drainage pipe! And yes the RODI is installed within the cabinet!

this 5 stage RODI is powered by a booster pump and fills about 60-80 liters per hour! And it fills this built in mixer tank that can hold more than 20%.

we installed a return pump and fixed a two way pipe to 1) mix the salt using the return pump circulation and 2) pump the water up back into display tank.

so water change is just, drain the water with the drainage pipe, pour the salt into mixer tank, switch the valves to pump the water up to display tank. There you go, a water change process without pails!

haha, love to hear your comments on this!

Very good planning! If I intend to rebuilt my house. Must appoint you as consultant! Following this thread for the awesome built! 

[alexcyf]

2 hours ago, Jeebusai said:

Very good planning! If I intend to rebuilt my house. Must appoint you as consultant! Following this thread for the awesome built! 

Lol lol. Sure sure. After doing my bil tank, I also wanna move into landed and design a brand new tank!

[Komerider]

Who's the builder ? Can't see the guys shirt.

Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[Zhi Long Oh]

10 minutes ago, Komerider said:

Who's the builder ? Can't see the guys shirt.

Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app
 

CRA bro

[alexcyf]

Wiring can be a mess! So another consideration was for a neat and organized controller board that allows easy access.

So a compartment is set aside for this purpose..with e wire housing from madpetz, some screws, some 3M tape and nice looking controllers.. the final result is ...

[christan1959]

On 02/06/2018 at 10:50 PM, alexcyf said:

Since water change is one of the most important husbandry of reef tank maintenance , one consideration that we had was to make the water change process extremely hassle free.

as the house is rebuilt, we were able to install a drainage system right under the tank cabinet. This drainage pipe is estimated at a height to drain about 15-20% of the tank volume, an optimum amount for water change. It is controlled by a ball valve, once open, the water will flow down to the drainage as shown in e picture below.the RODI waste water tube is also connected to the drainage pipe! And yes the RODI is installed within the cabinet!

this 5 stage RODI is powered by a booster pump and fills about 60-80 liters per hour! And it fills this built in mixer tank that can hold more than 20%.

we installed a return pump and fixed a two way pipe to 1) mix the salt using the return pump circulation and 2) pump the water up back into display tank.

so water change is just, drain the water with the drainage pipe, pour the salt into mixer tank, switch the valves to pump the water up to display tank. There you go, a water change process without pails!

haha, love to hear your comments on this!

Won't there be days when u need to vacuum sand, dust rocks and scrape algae? Top cover impedes these manoeuvres, no?

[SubzeroLT]

Well thought of set up!

 

The RODI flow rate is impressive.

Curious. Is the booster pump connected just before the RO membrane? Or placed just after the water source?

 

[alexcyf]

9 minutes ago, SubzeroLT said:

Well thought of set up!

 

The RODI flow rate is impressive.

Curious. Is the booster pump connected just before the RO membrane? Or placed just after the water source?

 

Actually, the whole device has e booster pump built in. So can’t tell the sequence.. dunno the manual throw where liao

[alexcyf]

38 minutes ago, christan1959 said:

Won't there be days when u need to vacuum sand, dust rocks and scrape algae? Top cover impedes these manoeuvres, no?

Do u mean at the overflow?

[christan1959]

Am not sure how much free space there is above the tank... for days when u need to stick your arm into water.

Otherwise it looks like a fantastic system... removes much of the back-breaking chores associated with this hobby.

[christan1959]

And why is it called Ong Lai?

[alexcyf]

1 hour ago, christan1959 said:

And why is it called Ong Lai?

Cuz Ong lai huat!

[alexcyf]

1 hour ago, christan1959 said:

Am not sure how much free space there is above the tank... for days when u need to stick your arm into water.

Otherwise it looks like a fantastic system... removes much of the back-breaking chores associated with this hobby.

Oh. Yup that’s e downside of a hooded tank. Upside is it’s neater, all concealed and there’s no glaring lights!

the clearance is about the space in e photo

[dandelion76]

2 hours ago, christan1959 said:

And why is it called Ong Lai?

I know I know,  but Bro Alex wld probably keep the secret  been to the owner’s place to collect 52HD... impressive house with impressive tank 

[daveyy]

Yes yes, those who went there would know why. Ong Lai ah Ong Lai. Liew Lian ah Liew Lian. Haha

[daveyy]

I see your controller box are well under the overflow box, arent u afraid of leakage / union failure or even fish splash water out of the tank? I see there is a wooden board under it, but water will find its way if there are enough of them.

i always think the controller box should be situated away from potential leakage. My next tank i would design it to be beside / or slightly abv the overflow with a wooden plank partioning it, almost like another door within the drawer. Haha. Hard to explain. A door within a door, door ception. 

 

But nonetheless. Very impressive build to incorporate the water change system within the capentry. Good idea for my next build.