215 Gallon Upgrade Build!! [picture Intensive]

[BILLYO382]

Soooo...as most of you know or saw. I sold my 160 gallon tall tank and stand setup and bought a deeper tank. Got a heck of a deal on this 215 Gallon Oceanic Tank that I couldn't pass up, so I had to make the treacherous journey of building another nice stand and canopy just like the old one just 6" wider. So below is the finish results, lol. I kinda skipped alot of the details because never get that many replies to construction of the stand and canopy. I still have all my equipment, live rock, and sand. Just have to put everything back together and plumb, etc. My wife will be very happy to have her kitchen and living room spaces back, right now I have totes and tanks all over the places in every corner downstairs. Soo the tank setup process begins again, lol.... pict's below.

How to stuff 21 8' long pieces of 2 x 4 in a toyota corolla.

Kitchen in disarray!! lol

Living-room corners

 

[BILLYO382]

My Buddy Damon helping me skin the stand on our lunch break! Hardcore here baby..lol

 

[BILLYO382]

Finish Product

Back View of tank setup

 

[BILLYO382]

I have got all the rocks out of the temporary tubs and cleaned up some living room and kitchen space. House feels funny with all the free space again, lol. Wife is happy so thats good. Im happy with the aquascaping but crappy cell phone pict's dont do it any justice, Ill take some better one's once I get the sump and refug. installed and plumbing done. Ro/di water filling process has started as well. Crappy pict's below...lol

 

[BILLYO382]

Just another quick update, been busy around the house. I have had the tank up and running for about 1 1/2 weeks and everything going well. I made a trip to city pets and t & t last weekend and bought a few cheap little frags and 3 nice medium to small pieces mostly all soft corals and 2 little sps frags. I also bought some turbo snails, sand sifting star and a sleeper gold head goby. So far so good, pod population has started big time in the main display tank diatom bloom is gone. Everything's on the up and up....(crossfingers)lol. On a side note I think the PM Bullet 3 was a bit on the two big and unproductive side for my tank, so I went with a recirculating skimmer a (drum roll please) Super Reef Octopus 3000 with their bad askkkkkk Bubble blaster pump. Ive heard great things about this skimmer so i finally made the plunge. I called all the big online aquarium suppliers and all were out of stock and back ordered by at least 5-10 people at all of them...so i was assured i would be getting one with this batch and placed my order. Was told the skimmer should be shipping out this week directly from the manufacturer. An since there in Louisiana it shouldn't be long I hope..lol In the mean time I got feed up with the bullet 3 not pulling anything and sold it and put a skimmer I had laying around to work....dont laugh lmao....a Seaclone 100 Protein Skimmer....after a few mods....that little guy has been wet-skimming like a champ....So much to the fact that im having to empty the collection cup every 6 hours or less....I might need to adjust the air a little to darkin it up. Oh well just proud to see the little guy pulling out more than the bullet 3 was, lmao.... Heres a few bad pictures below...

 

[BILLYO382]

Ok so, a little more progress. I have added a few fish and coral. Ill post pict's below. Bare in mind all pictures and video are via my cellphone...lol. On a good note the SRO 3000 should be arriving today so I get to assemble and set it up tonight..joy.. But I must say the seaclone 100 skimmer has been holding its own and pulling out some real nasty looking skim...pic below of the cute little skimmer. Video Tour of tank as well. Lmk what you guys think....

video of tank setup
http://youtu.be/Zo7JtGuSkhA

Actinic Lights

All Lights

 

[BILLYO382]

Few Coral & Fish Pictures

 

[BILLYO382]

SeaClone 100 Skimmer Porn aka "The Little Beast/Scum Sucker" lmao

 

[BILLYO382]

Skimmer's Here yea....lol

 

[BILLYO382]

Video of my new Super Reef Octopus Skimmer
http://youtu.be/xwPrTdqLcew

 

[BILLYO382]

very nice setup

thanks

 

[BILLYO382]

First 24hr Skimmer results.....lol

 

[Dustin1300]

Great cabinetry work. You'll love the SRO 3000. I'm currently going to have it running on ~300 gallons and will be purchasing the the 7000/8000 skimmer once I get the 600 gallon dt up. These skimmers are amazing and CoralVue has great support.

 

[reefjunkie86]

Great set-up and aquascape. I was in the exact same postion as you are a year ago. I also got an amazing deal on the same oceanic tank. Your soon probably going to hate the huge center glass support, it can be a big pain sometimes. What kind of return pump are you using?

Eric

 

[BILLYO382]

Great cabinetry work. You'll love the SRO 3000. I'm currently going to have it running on ~300 gallons and will be purchasing the the 7000/8000 skimmer once I get the 600 gallon dt up. These skimmers are amazing and CoralVue has great support.

Thanks for the complement on my stand and canopy.I do love the sro skimmer, great build quality and performance on my tank with a insignificant minuscule bioload...lol

Great set-up and aquascape. I was in the exact same postion as you are a year ago. I also got an amazing deal on the same oceanic tank. Your soon probably going to hate the huge center glass support, it can be a big pain sometimes. What kind of return pump are you using?

Eric

Thanks for the compliments, I worked hard on the acquascape..and your right the center brace can be a pain when moving around. But one of the reasons I like the center brace is for structural support reasons on a tank of this height, thats one of the reasons why I sold my all glass 150 and got this one along with the width of this tank. Love it. Im currently running a mag 24 return pump.

 

[BILLYO382]

Skimmer Porn day 2...lol (Please remeber this is on a light ligtht few small fish bioload and a new skimmer that hasnt broken in yet)

 

[TeHGuy]

looks awesome! how did you finish the plywood on the cabinet? stain or paint?

 

[shaggss]

great job and nice skimmer! I like your AS and this tank should mature very nice. Staying tuned for updates......

 

[guc32]

Stand and canopy looks awesome. Great work. Wow that skimmer is doing work. Hoping to pick one up soon.

 

[BILLYO382]

looks awesome! how did you finish the plywood on the cabinet? stain or paint?

Thanks, I went with a brown paint to match our furniture and colors.

great job and nice skimmer! I like your AS and this tank should mature very nice. Staying tuned for updates......

Thank you and thank you, I like this new skimmer to, its running strong so far...I have worked hard on trying to aquascape this tank even tweaking it every now and then.as im sure ill continue to do as I add corals.

Stand and canopy looks awesome. Great work. Wow that skimmer is doing work. Hoping to pick one up soon.

Thanks, I put in time on the stand and canopy and it came out good, as long as the wife likes it im happy. lol. You will enjoy this skimmer, its like instant on when you plug it up and set it.