pheinzig
Member
Thought I would share my recent project with yall. Its a 180g build that has been sitting on the back burner for a while. I got the tank from a local reefer, its a 180g Octogon tank. Its approximately 26" deep and has a nice low profile.
The top is about waist level so you can lean over it and work with corals, yet its just right so that I can sit in my favorite chair and chill while smoking a bowl.
I built an LED array for it that features 8 strings. 4w/4b/ Each string is individually dimable an has its own power display to allow for fine tuning of the lights. Its pretty cool to be able to adjust the light according to my mood. Some shots during the construction of the array.
I made a real rock wall this time instead of the foam wall. I think they look better than foam and was honestly not to terribly much more expensive. I ordered pieces from marco rocks that came pre-cut flat on one side. I placed those onto an eggcrate background using mortar also purchased from their site. I ordered an extra tub of mortar, and Im glad I did. If anything I could have used a little bit more, but I made it work out fine in the end. The final product looks really good and I couldn't be more pleased with the results.
I placed it in back and sealed it against the tank glass, I used a pocket that had an old self contained overflow to allow for plumbing and heaters. The water drains over the top and to the back where I have a closed loop system attached to a Mag18. This closed loop basicly draws water in from the back chamber and pushes it out into the DT where I have an octogon shaped 1/2 line that runs the bottom perimeter of the tank. I drilled 1/8 holes every 6" and angled them towards the glass at a 45degree angle. The result is a gentle upward draft of water that keeps the glass free of algae, and adds a nice column of upward water to add suspension for turnover in the tank.
After the closed loop was installed and working properly, I added a mag6 to drive water up to the sump where it drops into a spraybar down in the first chamber. The spra bar prevents detritus buildup in the sump which was a major peeve of mine on my last build. I have aproximatly 50'bs of LR in the first chamber of the sump as well as a large GB Starfish since they make excellent detriviors. In the case of a power outage the sump had the potential of draining 15g back into the DT, which while not detrimental...it means that the LR would be out of water...and if the power came back on...the skimmer would be running a min while the sump refilled. To keep this from happening, I drilled a small hole just below the waterline to allow air to escape back up into the line. I still get 99% of the water pressure going all the way down the line into the bottom of the sump, but this little bit of bleeding allows for a backup to break the siphon if needed.
The top is about waist level so you can lean over it and work with corals, yet its just right so that I can sit in my favorite chair and chill while smoking a bowl.
I built an LED array for it that features 8 strings. 4w/4b/ Each string is individually dimable an has its own power display to allow for fine tuning of the lights. Its pretty cool to be able to adjust the light according to my mood. Some shots during the construction of the array.
I made a real rock wall this time instead of the foam wall. I think they look better than foam and was honestly not to terribly much more expensive. I ordered pieces from marco rocks that came pre-cut flat on one side. I placed those onto an eggcrate background using mortar also purchased from their site. I ordered an extra tub of mortar, and Im glad I did. If anything I could have used a little bit more, but I made it work out fine in the end. The final product looks really good and I couldn't be more pleased with the results.
I placed it in back and sealed it against the tank glass, I used a pocket that had an old self contained overflow to allow for plumbing and heaters. The water drains over the top and to the back where I have a closed loop system attached to a Mag18. This closed loop basicly draws water in from the back chamber and pushes it out into the DT where I have an octogon shaped 1/2 line that runs the bottom perimeter of the tank. I drilled 1/8 holes every 6" and angled them towards the glass at a 45degree angle. The result is a gentle upward draft of water that keeps the glass free of algae, and adds a nice column of upward water to add suspension for turnover in the tank.
After the closed loop was installed and working properly, I added a mag6 to drive water up to the sump where it drops into a spraybar down in the first chamber. The spra bar prevents detritus buildup in the sump which was a major peeve of mine on my last build. I have aproximatly 50'bs of LR in the first chamber of the sump as well as a large GB Starfish since they make excellent detriviors. In the case of a power outage the sump had the potential of draining 15g back into the DT, which while not detrimental...it means that the LR would be out of water...and if the power came back on...the skimmer would be running a min while the sump refilled. To keep this from happening, I drilled a small hole just below the waterline to allow air to escape back up into the line. I still get 99% of the water pressure going all the way down the line into the bottom of the sump, but this little bit of bleeding allows for a backup to break the siphon if needed.
Its really lame since it was my first coral ever and I had it for over 2 years. 
