Atomic081's 225 Gallon Reef w/ Basement Fish Room

Atomic081

Atomic081

New member
I have been in the hobby of Reef keeping for almost 8 years now and I have always wanted a "Big Tank". Like most people I have never had the space for a big tank. My previous tanks of 28g, 12g, 90g, and 57g all left me wanting more space.

:fish1: :dance: Until Now :dance: :fish1:

My Soon to be wife and I are remodeling a turn of the century home. It should be a 5 year stepping stone until we start a family and build a new home (I build homes for a living). My one request to living in this house is that I finally get to have my big Fish Tank. She Agreed and for the last 6 weeks I have been searching for the perfect tank.

Our Turn of the Century Home.


I know what your saying right now, "What a piece of JUNK!", and your right! The house needs a Ton of work, but it has so much potential!

One thing the house has is a VERY cool Office area. Old built in bookshelves, window seat, hardwood floor, Beveled glass french doors, Its super cool. Im even gonna put a cool sliding ladder like they have in libraries. There is also a perfect 8' section of wall that is made for a fish tank.


Welcome to my new Office that I will be putting the tank in.






So at this point I know my limitations of the tank, nothing over 8 feet. I also know that if i do put a 8 foot tank in this room, the french door would have problems opening all the way. For this reason I have narrowed down my options to anything in the 6 foot width. Compared to anything I have had in the past, this is huge! I started scouring over my local INDMAS club forums, and the local Craigslists posts hoping that I could find a tank. My initial thought was that I would probably be able to find a nice 125g for cheap, that was until I found a add on craigslist from a Reefer around Dayton OH. He was selling a 225g with custom Stand. I talked to the guy over the phone a few times and he seemed to have a sweet setup.



220 gallon display tank (6' x 2' x 30") drilled overflow on back, back is painted black
Custom made oak stand and canopy
75 gallon sump, split into three sections
Approx. 200 lbs live rock
Approx 150 lbs sand
3 x reef breeders photon16 l.e.d. lights dimmable, controllable, and programmable
Jebao wp40 powerhead
2 x koralia 4
BRS dual reactor with mag3 pump
2 x dj light strip attached to back of stand
2 x heaters
Octopus Protein Skimmer 3000SSS
Fuge lite l.e.d.(from reefbreeders)
Quiet One return pump
20gallon long
10 gallon tank
couple nets
several filter socks (I believe 4)
two filter sock holders
2 55 gallon drums for water storage
​

This setup is like a dream come true to me. It has everything that I would need and more!!! I set up a time to meet up with they guy soon after I got back from a week long diving trip in the Florida Keys and he agreed to hold the tank until i got home.

While on taking a little R and R in the Florida Keys, I came up with the Idea of converting a OLD NASTY SMELLY basement into a Fish room. I soon sketched out a few ideas on paper and found that I have the perfect spot to put a fish room. Having a Fish room seems like it would really help to keep the tank automated and also keep the noise out of the office area. As soon as I got home I took the first evening to start on the fish room. I had very little time because I new we were going to go look at this tank the next morning. I dont think it turned out too bad, but i still have a lot of work.



 
The next Morning I head to Dayton with a fellow Reef buddy to take a look at the 225g Tank. Upon arriving at the house I told myself to expect very little, cause pictures can be very deceiving. I was amazed when I saw the tank in person. It was beautiful, definitely worthy of a center piece in a nice house. We agree on a price and start the daunting task of moving a tank of this size. Surprisingly it only took about 4 hours to drain the tank, packup all the equipment and takeoff back to home.



So now we are, I have a 225g tank Sitting in my Workshop. Until i get finished with the house. I only need to Finish drywall, Sand/stain/clear coat hardwood floors, hang doors, install trim, and paint before I can get the tank over to the new house.




Ive also been going Over a few designs for the fish room in the basement. I know that there are a few *must haves* for this fish room.

  • QT tank
  • Frag tank
  • Refugium
  • BIG SUMP
  • Easy Water change station

Here is my latest mock up of how I will be setting things up:




I have already bought a used 100g rubbermaid Locally and this weekend I plan on meeting up with a guy from my local forums to see about getting a Reeflo Dart for the return pump. While in the city, I also plan on looking into getting a 60gal frag tank setup and a 40breeder for my QT tank.
 
Nice sized tank. And piece of junk? My first thought when I saw your photo was, "What a charming house."

One thing you should definitely add to your plans for both your office and fish room is ventilation. You need to be able to control humidity levels wherever you have tanks.

You might also want reconsider your stated plans for the future. Families can really interfere with your tank time. ;)

Dave.M
 
dave.m said:
Nice sized tank. And piece of junk? My first thought when I saw your photo was, "What a charming house."

One thing you should definitely add to your plans for both your office and fish room is ventilation. You need to be able to control humidity levels wherever you have tanks.

You might also want reconsider your stated plans for the future. Families can really interfere with your tank time. ;)

Dave.M
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave!

Im going to put a ventilation system in the basement after I foam all the crawlspace walls. Im still not sure about the display tank though. There really isnt room to put ventilation in the office. The office is open to a very big kitchen/dining room/living room area to help disperse the moisture. It also kinda acts as a humidifier :spin1:
 
That's a nice house not junk at all. You might want to reconsider having your QT tank plumbed into the main system. If one of the fish ended up having something you would want it isolated.
 
The qt tank is only plumbed into the tank for water changes. All my "bad water" will go to the qt tank and the qt water will go down the drain.
 
i love my 225g tank. so i would expect the same from you if you've been wanting a large tank. off to a good start. good luck with the house and build...
 


I picked up my new Return pump yesterday. Due to unfortunate circumstances I wont pick up the QT tank and Frag tank until tomorrow.

Im heading to the new house now to get started on the stands for the tanks!! Wish me luck, will post pictures tonight.
 
Slowly but surly, Im plugging away at this.


Here is my finished Slop sink. Its actually made of concrete!!!!



I got the stand built for the 2 50 gal water jugs and a shelf built for my refugium.
 
Yesterday and today where big days for my tank!

Yesterday I picked up a 40 breeder for my QT tank and a shallow 60 gallon for my frag tank. (kinda ironic my frag tank is bigger than my last tank.)


Then Today i built the stands for the frag tank and the QT tank. I flipped them around from my original design because of lack of headroom.









I also picked up some more liverock from a buddy and started to seed it with the 200lbs i already have. I should have over 300lbs now.





Next step.....painting the walls and stands blue......
 
I also cleaned the skimmer up a bit, ill still soak it in vinegar later, but its alot cleaner now.


The Reeflo fits perfect!!!
 
I have actually got a ton of work done on the tank in the past few days.

First I had to remove all the tanks from the stands. Then Empty the 2 55g drums and move them so i could paint under everything. Its not the color of blue i really wanted. I was going for a dark navy deep ocean blue, but the guy at the paint store mixed the can with a white base instead of a dark base. Ohh well it looks pretty good.

FINISHED BLUE WALLS





Next I installed a hose on to my garden tub. GREAT INVESTMENT. perfect hose for me



I ordered new Filters and DI resin for my RODI. I got 3 sets of them because im gonna be going through over 1000 gallons in the next few weeks.


I also spent the time and cleaned ALL the sand from the previous owners tank. It had a lot of BIG shells in it, so anything bigger than eggcrate was taken out.
 
I also had a BRILLIANT idea yesterday. I have always loved RBTA's, so i partitioned the Frag tank so that it has 2 sides. The left side will have the anemones and the right side will have normal frags. The right side (normal frag side) is a inch deeper than the left side (anemeone side). This way i can overfeed the anemones and the frags wont be affected



I also did a leak test on both the frag tank and the QT tank. Success!!! no leaks!!
 
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