200+ Gallon Build Thread --- PICS!!!

[deepblue68]

Very nice build. Good luck with everything!

 

[entropygain]

I was planning on having the fuge drain back into the return section of the sump. Would that be suffecient or would the turbulence of the pump kill them?

I don't have any data to show survival with the two approaches, but most recommendations I've seen have been for gravity return to the display. My fuge is in the sump and its one of the design flaws. The other problem is because it's on the floor level, detritus builds up there and its hard to get it out.

 

[cprice]

So I have a couple of nice tools in my garage (table saw, miter saw, planer, router table, etc.) And I'm a little concerned about having my sump and frag tank in there as well.

For those of you who have any of your tanks in the same room as tools, have you seen any ill side effects from the presence of salty air? I'm wondering if putting acrylic tops on all of the tanks in the garage will be enough to keep any corrosion from occurring on my metal tools.

If I were to put solid leads on all of the tanks, would there be any negative side effects in my aquarium?

 

[cprice]

Also, I want to add 2 T5s to the setup, 1 on either side of the LEDs. Will it make much difference if I use 48" or 60" bulbs? Im a little short on room in my canopy and might not want to cram the 60" bulbs in there. Thoughts?

 

[gourtz]

nice project my friend

 

[cprice]

Very nice build. Good luck with everything!

nice project my friend

Thanks! Looking forward to getting it all setup. Im going to try and build the stand for the garage this weekend. Hopefully the house will be finished enough to at least put the DT in its final location this weekend as well.

 

[cprice]

I want to put something below the rockscape in the tank like pvc or eggcrate. I am always worried about a rock falling just right and cracking the glass bottom of my tank. What is the consensus or opinions around egg crate or some other similar material to place under the rocks of the aquarium?

 

[slay]

So I have a couple of nice tools in my garage (table saw, miter saw, planer, router table, etc.) And I'm a little concerned about having my sump and frag tank in there as well.

For those of you who have any of your tanks in the same room as tools, have you seen any ill side effects from the presence of salty air? I'm wondering if putting acrylic tops on all of the tanks in the garage will be enough to keep any corrosion from occurring on my metal tools.

If I were to put solid leads on all of the tanks, would there be any negative side effects in my aquarium?

I've kept SW aquariums (as large as a 450g) near lots of expensive electronics as well as within a reasonable distance from my table saw/lathe/drill presses/welders/planers etc and have never had any issues in terms of corrosion that I can correlate to the equipment being in the general area of a SW aquarium (ie same room, but not right up against or anything).

My concern was always the reverse - what the effects of the airborne particulates created by wood/metalworking might do to my tanks. Even with everything hooked up to a big central dust collector, dust goes everywhere in my garage. When I had my 450 running in my garage it had a canopy and glass covers that left about 2-3" of open space at the back for gas exchange (same with it's sump). Do you have a cover for your current tank to go under those LEDs? If not, I'd definitely recommend a glass one and I'd always recommend a few inches open space for gas exchange.

As for running T5s, my current tank is running three Radions and two T5s. Since you've got great coverage side to side with those LEDs, I wouldn't say it mattered much whether you ran 48 or 60" T5s. I'm running 48" ones over a 4' tank myself, but I don't see any problems if you ran 48" T5s over your tank.

 

[cprice]

Do you have a cover for your current tank to go under those LEDs? If not, I'd definitely recommend a glass one and I'd always recommend a few inches open space for gas exchange.

The main display will actually be placed on the other side of the wall inside the house which is essentially dust free. As for the garage where my sump, frag tank, fuge, etc. will be, I will have acrylic lids for each tank.

With the glass lids did you have issues with condensation build up that would hinder light transmission?

 

[slay]

The main display will actually be placed on the other side of the wall inside the house which is essentially dust free. As for the garage where my sump, frag tank, fuge, etc. will be, I will have acrylic lids for each tank.

With the glass lids did you have issues with condensation build up that would hinder light transmission?

Part of my normal maintenance was (and still is) a quick 5 minute rub down of all my glass lids with a vinegar solution, once every two weeks. I'd say that the effect on light transmission was/is minimal, but I don't have a PAR meter to test it out.

 

[cprice]

Part of my normal maintenance was (and still is) a quick 5 minute rub down of all my glass lids with a vinegar solution, once every two weeks. I'd say that the effect on light transmission was/is minimal, but I don't have a PAR meter to test it out.

That's what I figured. Thanks for the help.



Anyone have any input in regards to what I need to put under the rock work?

 

[fishresponse]

If you use regular plate glass it will reduce your light intensity. If you go with low iron glass the effect is lessened.

 

[cprice]

Quick questions regarding quarantining fish and coral.

I have never had a QT system in the past but I have only had tanks that were smaller than 30 gallons. I will be adding one to this system for sure and was wanting some clarification on a few things.

Does everyone primarily use TTM and praziquantel to QT their fish or is there another method that I am unaware of?


For coral is the current standard a quick dip and then observation for a few weeks?

 

[cprice]

Another question for LPS and softie reefers:

Will my Bubble Magus Curve 9 be a little overkill for this tank? I have an Reef Octopus 1000Nt that i could use instead. I know that softies particularly like dirtier water so I wanted to know if I would be cleaning the water too much with the Magus skimmer.

Wanting to trade my skimmer for some other reef stuff if I dont need it. Thanks!

 

[Toby_Kourtney]

I think the curve 9 would be fine. Manufacturers usually fluff their numbers alot and you already have it so go for it.

 

[cprice]

I think the curve 9 would be fine. Manufacturers usually fluff their numbers alot and you already have it so go for it.

Yeah I'll probably keep it. It's got the Bubble Magus auto cleaner already too. I probably just won't run it 24/7

 

[cprice]

So, its been quite the wait to get to the aquarium set up. But as of today, I have water in the tank! Im going to break this up into 3 or 4 posts, so bear with me. Here we go!

So, the first thing that I did was build the stand for the filtration/frag tank/ato that is going in the garage. My father in law was in town and was eager to help build something (probably more of him wanting an excuse to use some power tools while tossing a couple back, but don't we all use that excuse??) He is about 5'9" so you can see that this thing is pretty big. I wasnt sure yet how tall I was going to make the uprights on the left of the stand, but the garage door made the decision that they would be cut down to 6'6".

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I added the 45 degree supports to two of the center cross members just to be sure that it would hold the weight of the 80g frag tank. I went back and added additional cross members as well just to be safe.

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Both plywood sheets attatched (it wasn't much fun trying to get the slots i cut to line up with the posts :headwally: )

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A few coats of semi-gloss white to give it a little water resistance. Notice my wonderful wife lending a hand! :rollface:

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And the stand in the final location.

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So, a few things I didn't consider when building this:

1. I should had paid attention to existing electrical outlets. The only outlet on the wall is directly behind one of the legs when the stand is slid all the way to the right where I wanted it. Now it sits about 5" off the right wall, not a big deal but not ideal.

2. I didnt plan out exactly where your the holes will need to be drilled for plumbing. I knew the dimensions of the frag tank and where the plumbing was, but had I measured twice, I would have realized the drain pipe is directly over a cross-support.

3. I should have built overhead storage and shelves onto this thing because it looks like this is where 90% of my maintenance/fragging will occur. I have another 4 shelf storage rack in the garage that I am dedicating to reef stuff but it would have been nice to just reach up and grab what I need right above me. (this just might have to be built in the near future :hammer


Overall I really like the stand and it doesn't even shake with me jumping up and down on it. Solid!!

Now off to punch a hole in the wall and glue the plumbing!

 

[cprice]

So now that the tank and filtration stand were in place, I began to work on the plumbing. I needed to make hole from the garage to the living room. I quickly realized that I should have done this prior to putting the tank and stand in place because of size restrictions.

So after 3 hours and a smashed right hand, I had a nice "clean" hole in the cinder block and drywall.

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I then went to work on the plumbing. The previous owner drilled two holes in the back panel of glass in the overflow compartment for the return lines. This allows me to use both holes in the bottom of each overflow for drains: 1 full siphon and 1 emergency. I built the plumbing one piece at a time and dry fit only a few pieces ahead at a time. It turned out pretty good I think!

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I next built the sump by taking the baffles out of a 40g sump i had and re-siliconed them into a 75g I just bought off of another reefer on here. Its a very simple 3 chamber (filter sock, equipment area, return). Ill probably at a separate refugium at a later date but for now I shouldn't need one.

My brother helping remove the baffles

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Bracing up the panes in the 75

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Once it was dried and tested I put it in the stand in the garage and finished the plumbing

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I really like how everything turned out with the plumbing. Ill probably go back and add some bracing for everything just to make sure im not stressing any joints.

Now off to do the rockscape, sand, and make the water!

 

[cprice]

So now its time to get this tank filled! I wish I would have taken more pictures of the whole rockscaping portion of this because we had quite a few designs before we settled on the final one.

While we were setting everything up to go into the tank I hooked up my RO/DI and made my brother bring his over to double down on the water production!

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So here it the final design for the rockwork. I really like the cave and shelf on the left pile. Im going to add alot of small rubble rock to smooth out the contours and make it look more like a natural mountain range. I wanted to focus on a visually captivating layout and I think this will be a great starting point for some colonies! (Sorry about the blurry photo, ill take a better one tonight.)

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Starting to fill with the first 55 gallon batch!

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I added the remaining water this morning and then took this picture. After I took the picture I kicked up as much sand as I could to try and suspend any cloudy particles to filter out today. I added the 5 water clarifier packets that came with the Fiji Pink sand (that sand bed took 100lbs of it), put the canopy on and left it to filter.

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And just about an hour ago my wife sends me this picture. What a difference!!!

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Cant wait to get the lights up this evening!!

 

[cprice]

So now that I am starting the cycle, has anyone tried dosing ammonia to seed the tank with bacteria? I'm not trying to rush anything I have just heard its a very effective method to start the tank cycle.