180 gallon LPS reef build
- Thread starter hobogato
- Start date
hobogato
New member
thanks, no just coated the glass with silicone and after that cured, sprayed the foam on. after the initial swelling stopped, we threw sand and crushed coral on so that the coraline would cover it faster. once the tank is running, we will be adding scrapings of coraline from our other system to seed this one.
hobogato
New member
well, it was one of those days - but it could have been much worse.
1. finished up the plumbing and around 1pm, filled the tank.
2. as the pumps are started, a small leak appears on the intake line of one pump. also, christy now realizes how loud external pumps are compared to the submersibles we run on the other tank. also, one of the foam structures decides it would rather be an island than an underwater reef - will have to silicone it into place much better while the tank is dry.
3. when i get the return section of the sump drained and take the line off at the quick connect, i notice that the o ring is missing - well, that could be why it was leaking.
4. while talking on the phone with christy who is on the way to lowe's (stopped counting how many times either of us has been there at this point), she has the idea of running the plumbing thru the wall and putting the two pumps in the utility room behind the tank. so while she picks up the necessary stuff, i start cutting holes in the walls.
5. get everything back together and notice a couple of issues one of them being that the water is splashing over the side of the sump in the back - not sure it will do it when that section is full of LR rubble and the drains are down in it.
6. after an hour i start to relax a bit and eat some dinner when an interesting cracking noise sounded from the breakfast room where the tank is. then, another. and another really loud. at this point i am inspecting the tank for cracks everywhere with a flashlight.
then i find it. the bracing around the top is cracking because of the bow in the front and back glass.
so... i drain the tank and move it away from the wall to see if the back is damaged.
the good news - no damage to the actual tank or seams. tomorrow, i will order some glass to make a couple of center braces like i should have in the first place and we will try again in a few days
1. finished up the plumbing and around 1pm, filled the tank.
2. as the pumps are started, a small leak appears on the intake line of one pump. also, christy now realizes how loud external pumps are compared to the submersibles we run on the other tank. also, one of the foam structures decides it would rather be an island than an underwater reef - will have to silicone it into place much better while the tank is dry.
3. when i get the return section of the sump drained and take the line off at the quick connect, i notice that the o ring is missing - well, that could be why it was leaking.
4. while talking on the phone with christy who is on the way to lowe's (stopped counting how many times either of us has been there at this point), she has the idea of running the plumbing thru the wall and putting the two pumps in the utility room behind the tank. so while she picks up the necessary stuff, i start cutting holes in the walls.
5. get everything back together and notice a couple of issues one of them being that the water is splashing over the side of the sump in the back - not sure it will do it when that section is full of LR rubble and the drains are down in it.
6. after an hour i start to relax a bit and eat some dinner when an interesting cracking noise sounded from the breakfast room where the tank is. then, another. and another really loud. at this point i am inspecting the tank for cracks everywhere with a flashlight.
then i find it. the bracing around the top is cracking because of the bow in the front and back glass.
so... i drain the tank and move it away from the wall to see if the back is damaged.
the good news - no damage to the actual tank or seams. tomorrow, i will order some glass to make a couple of center braces like i should have in the first place and we will try again in a few days
hobogato
New member
well, it has been much smoother since the other day. slowly this thing is coming together. here is the progress we have made up thru today.
this was the first filling - before the fun filled afternoon a few days ago
here is how we used to have the drains to the sump - with over 2500gph coming in, there was some splashing over the back of the sump
this is how we have redone the drains coming into the sump - seemed to do the trick.
here is the center brace made out of acrylic. since we will have three 150 watt halides, we had to leave the center clear - so i copied this design from another local reefer - thanks troy!
here it is installed - notice the roughed up areas in the previous pic are where it is attached to the top bracing of the tank with silicone.
here is the old pump area of the sump. since they made so much noise, they were relocated to the utility room on the other side of the wall.
here they are
finally, after running with tap water for 24 hours with no leaks or issues, we drained it and added RO/DI water and salt. here it is with two of the three 150 watt halides. btw, the foam structure on the left is the one that didnt stay put the first time - after about a whole tube of silicone, it seems to be behaving now.
the third halide reflector will be here tomorrow. the four 80 watt t5 bulbs will be here on wednesday. should be plenty of light for this tank.
this was the first filling - before the fun filled afternoon a few days ago
here is how we used to have the drains to the sump - with over 2500gph coming in, there was some splashing over the back of the sump
this is how we have redone the drains coming into the sump - seemed to do the trick.
here is the center brace made out of acrylic. since we will have three 150 watt halides, we had to leave the center clear - so i copied this design from another local reefer - thanks troy!
here it is installed - notice the roughed up areas in the previous pic are where it is attached to the top bracing of the tank with silicone.
here is the old pump area of the sump. since they made so much noise, they were relocated to the utility room on the other side of the wall.
here they are
finally, after running with tap water for 24 hours with no leaks or issues, we drained it and added RO/DI water and salt. here it is with two of the three 150 watt halides. btw, the foam structure on the left is the one that didnt stay put the first time - after about a whole tube of silicone, it seems to be behaving now.
the third halide reflector will be here tomorrow. the four 80 watt t5 bulbs will be here on wednesday. should be plenty of light for this tank.
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Purple Haze
New member
Nice build thread. Wish you were in Houston so I could get some frags 
hobogato
New member
thanks for the comments. haze, shoot me a pm, im sure we can work something out.
what makes you think im not nervous - the first thing i do every time i walk in the room is inspect the floor for water and run my finger over every seam to make sure they are dry. im guessing i will relax a little with time :lol:
what makes you think im not nervous - the first thing i do every time i walk in the room is inspect the floor for water and run my finger over every seam to make sure they are dry. im guessing i will relax a little with time :lol:
tanked3333
New member
Just awesome work man! I recently rehabbed an oldschool 170 with new silicone and built a stand and canopy for it...It was absolute hell..You make it seem like a walk in the park..Beautiful woodworking skills. I remember walking around that thing for 2 weeks expecting a crack or leak somewhere, but so far so good.
hobogato
New member
well, it has certainly not been a walk in the park. after running about a week - the day before we were going to start adding coral, the remaining foam decided to join its island relative and tried to take the overflow box with it.
result: first flood from this tank :lol:
got the overflow box reattached, filled the tank back up and started moving corals over. still had a microbubble problem until today. we checked every seam and hoseclamp in the plumbing but to no avail - bubbles galore. then we decided maybe it was the pumps (maybe the seams letting in some air). took the pump apart and found the problem - the impeller was nearly completely clogged!! upon reinstalling one pump and preparing to take off the second for cleaning, we got the second flood of this tank (much smaller this time). it seems that one pump is WAY too strong for one return line and the skimmer - we know this because of the tidal wave flowing over the front edge of the tank and the water shooting out the top of the collection cup of the skimmer.
actually, we are running all three return lines and the skimmer with one pump - and FINALLY no microbubbles. it is really coming together now
the pile of foam after its break for freedom
most of the large LPS are in the tank, but not placed. we still have to move over the small frags of aussie acans, duncans, and micromussa - wanted to make sure all the bugs were worked out first.
tank from the end
tank from the front
result: first flood from this tank :lol:
got the overflow box reattached, filled the tank back up and started moving corals over. still had a microbubble problem until today. we checked every seam and hoseclamp in the plumbing but to no avail - bubbles galore. then we decided maybe it was the pumps (maybe the seams letting in some air). took the pump apart and found the problem - the impeller was nearly completely clogged!! upon reinstalling one pump and preparing to take off the second for cleaning, we got the second flood of this tank (much smaller this time). it seems that one pump is WAY too strong for one return line and the skimmer - we know this because of the tidal wave flowing over the front edge of the tank and the water shooting out the top of the collection cup of the skimmer.
actually, we are running all three return lines and the skimmer with one pump - and FINALLY no microbubbles. it is really coming together now the pile of foam after its break for freedom
most of the large LPS are in the tank, but not placed. we still have to move over the small frags of aussie acans, duncans, and micromussa - wanted to make sure all the bugs were worked out first.
tank from the end
tank from the front
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