180 gallon upgrade (skimmerless)

[sltloser]

The right side has the seagrass bed, flowover ATS, and return pump and ATO

The dual ballast that i got doesn't run the bulbs as well as the single does, so i'm sending that back to get two single ballasts instead. You can see in the picture with the murkey water that the center light is different than the rest.

 

[King001]

Coming along great!!! Nice work on the lights and everything too...

 

[shannonpayne86]

Will follow this one for sure, great effort!

 

[Mrbeachbum2]

Looking awesome!

How difficult is it going to be to access the tank with the lights mounted like that?

 

[jenjen]

Well after waiting for way too long the tank finally came in!!!!:bounce3::celeb2:

Congrats!!! :beer:

Looks like you're moving along at quite a pace - looking great!

 

[sltloser]

Thanks all, ill get some more pictures up and answer questions after work

 

[Mounda]

Tagging along, this is going to be amazing !

Skimmerless is gutsy.

 

[sltloser]

Well i was able to get a few things done yesterday and today. The tank cleared up so i was finally able to get some pictures of what it looks like.

Here's the tank with the canopy on

For moving the lights up and down for easier access, i used some S hooks and looped them through the chain. When i want to raise the pendents up i just hook the S hook to the eyelet in the ceiling and it raises the pendents like this.....

I also go the canopy all wired up, just need the bulbs and i'm good to go

And finally here's the sump, you can see that there is a raised sandbed in the back, i used a piece of acrylic to cut off the corner and transfered about half of my old sandbed into this tank I also transfered the huge ball of cheto i had in hopes of helping to carry over some of the life from the old tank.

Comment and questions are always welcomed!

 

[fjr_wertheimber]

Wow, this should be interesting... I'm definitely tagging along to see how this build comes along... Very interested to see how well the skimmerless/ATS works on a tank that size, and love the idea of replicating such a specific spot of the GBR...

 

[sltloser]

Thanks fjr

I got the rock structure done with what i had, i think i'm going to pick up some more rock this week.

Here's what it looks like lengthwise

Here's some pictures to better understand how i'm able to raise the lights up. Here's the S hook hung on the chain.

This is the S hook when it's hung.

And after that this is what the light looks like

I also got my copepod culture up and running

 

[shannonpayne86]

Becareful to make sure there is plenty of flow through those rocks as to not trap detrius....

 

[King001]

looking great man!

 

[King001]

love the aquascaping

 

[cdeboard]

Looks great! I am definately interested in this.

Also, explain more on the copepod setup. Wouldnt mind doing this as well.
Looks like a simple 10 gal and an air pump but I am assuming there is more to it.

 

[jenjen]

One more question on the canopy/MH lighting if I may.

So when you need to get into the tank, do you raise the MH's and reach in over the top, or does the canopy open somehow as well?

Also, have you decided how you'll be positioning the PH's to get the best flow through the rock structure? Aquascaping looks good! How much more rock are you planning to add?

 

[sltloser]

I ended up redoing the rockwork, i think i like this a little bit more.

cdeboard- It's actually pretty simple, just like you said. Here's the link http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/breeder2.htm The biggest thing is getting pods that can actually live in your tank. The tiger pods that are sold won't live in your tank they can't take the warm water, and if they do it won't be very long. After talking to Dr. Ron Shimek and Eric Borneman about it, the best pods i've found are DT's copepods. They will live and breed readily in your tank after added.

jenjen- Of course you can, well i can reach over the canopy like you said or i can just take it off. It's very light so easily removed, and can be done by one person. As far as the PH's i'm not too sure yet, i have 2 other tunzes that may go into the tank but i haven't decided where im' going to put everything yet.

 

[jenjen]

I really like the new aquascape!

 

[huskysglare1]

with hardy corals and no sps. i would say skimmerless is fine, but if you want sps and other fragile corals, skimmer is a must.

 

[sltloser]

Thanks for your opinion husky, but i'm going to show that you don't need a skimmer to keep hard corals. They can be helpful to have around, but not a necessity by any means

 

[Mrbeachbum2]

with hardy corals and no sps. i would say skimmerless is fine, but if you want sps and other fragile corals, skimmer is a must.

I have a 75G now with no skimmer and my SPS are growing like weeds :twitch: