245 Gallon Michigan Reef Tank

[BigCity]

Are you happy with the quality of hte tank? I have a quote from them for a 320g with bean animal overflow, its competitively priced but haven't had much finding others that have their tanks. Definitely the closest manf to me other than glasscages.

 

[muttley000]

Nice choice in equipment, looking forward to seeing it come together

 

[rldcpa]

I have been to their facility at least 12 times and check out all of their tanks each time and the quality is good. Its not quite as sharp as an all glass tank (this tank has the black plastic molding on the top and 2 braces but they are built well and they guarantee the tanks for years if you get a stand from them (that way they know it will support it properly without puting undue stress on the tank).

The poplar black stand look pretty great and well built with a nice finish and is much nicer than the pine version. I got it 36" so I have room to work in the sump area and for the taller equipment.

Seams look clean on the display tank. I paid a few dollars more for the black silicone and it makes the tank look pretty nice.

I will have pictures of the setup next week.

I have to work on the aquascaping. I have an idea of what I want and hope the rock (and my creative abilities) work out well.

 

[rldcpa]

You spoke of the bean animal. That is what I designed for mine. 3 1.5" drains and 1 return split into 2 deep in-tank returns. The 2 in-tank returns run down to the bottom and will put flow deep in the tank to move water and debis from behind the rock by the overflow box.

I will get a picture so you can see what I mean.

The drains are so big, I will only run the main siphon drain and the durso to the 7" sock into the water about an inch or two and the emergency drain will run outside the sock and not into the water so I will hear splashing of water if the main 2 drains plug (seems unlikely, but that is what the emergency pipe is for). I got a 1.5" threaded gate valve for the main siphon drain and will adjust the valve to get the flow right.

The painted back glass and black inside overflow box blend together nicely.

 

[rldcpa]

Just got my tank delivered. I am so glad I had it delivered as once it was set in place, we had to move it a couple of inches and it was hard to move. I think they said the tank, stand and sump way 400+ pounds.

Here are some photos.

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[BigCity]

Looks good!!

 

[rldcpa]

Here are some photos of the overflow and plumbing. Today I was testing the bulkhead seals and no leaks. Also the 1.5" gate valve for the bean-animal/herbie overflow is huge.

 

[Reefnut2010]

How much did you pay for that set up? If you don't mind me asking. I was looking at the exact same thing but made in acrylic. I may go 2" higher though, if I go through with the upgrade.

 

[rldcpa]

As the RO/DI is being made and the tank is filling, I am working on the aquascaping. I first started with alot of caves and vaired protrusions of rock. But after review I found that this would not be so good for space and flatter places for the future corals.

Then I tried what you see below, which looks a bit boring now, but might be better for lots of coral placement. I am thinking that the space between the 2 rock piles might look better if it was more diagonal.

In any case, I would appreciate comments and ideas on how to improve this or should I scrap it and try something else.

 

[averageguys]

Very nice. Love that rock.

 

[DopeCantWin]

I've been trying to work out my aquascape for a 210 for a while. Watching your thread for inspiration on the build. One of the things I've read is people don't like it when rockwork only goes up halfway or lower. Something else I've been thinking about is fish are more comfortable when they can swim through holes and not see each other. Specifically I got that from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzKZpkfiLpg.

 

[rldcpa]

Ok, I tried something different. Not sure its right yet, but will wait for some feedback.

 

[rldcpa]

I almost think the 1st one (3 posts up) will look better one there is coral.

If anyone knows some nice tanks photos that can help with my design, it would be appreciated.

As a side comment, this rock really drys out your hands and literraly takes the skin off due to its roughness.

 

[DopeCantWin]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=20782809&postcount=115 is how it could look like with rocks going up to about the middle.

 

[BigCity]

I'm liking the one in post #32, looser look of the rock should help with the flow. I would worry the one further up would be too compact and could start trapping debri, etc. I think this has cause problems in my 120g with too much rock causing lower flow and increased phosphates.

 

[DopeCantWin]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2175051&page=8 is where rocks go up higher, but in a 120.

 

[DopeCantWin]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=20723437&postcount=1594 is an aquascape I've been looking at. Let me know if you'd like me to shut up with my ideas. I've been littering your thread.

 

[rldcpa]

I appreciate all your ideas.

I put some of the rock in the tank to see how it looked. The tank is much more limiting then playing with the rock on the carpet. Plus the water magnifies things a bit (I think 25%) so now I have to reduce the depth of the rock terain a bit as I want lots of open space in the front of the tank.

Good thing I got the 30" depth instead of 24" otherwise I would be really limited since many of the rock pieces are fairly large.

Tank is about 1/3 full of RO/Di water. It should be full by Sunday and then comes the first system test.

Also, so far, no leaks or spills on the tank, sump and plumbing.

 

[rldcpa]

Here is the result of my first in tank aquascape with the new rock. Let me know what you think and if you see anything I can improve on. It's a bit hard to tell without all the water in the tank.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Personally, I like that the best. More openings so the rock can breathe.