Blake's 195 Gallon SPS Tank Build

[Blake2357]

I have been in this hobby for going on 10 years now and have had a range of tanks from 55 gallons to my current 100 gallon and 125 gallon tanks. However, I will be moving into my new place soon and I decided... hey! lets upgrade! :spin1: So I called in and am currently awaiting my 195 gallon tank which will measure 72"x 24" 26", This tank will be a euro braced aquarium with no mid-bars and will feature starfire on the front panel of glass as well as two overflow boxes. I have decided to go all out on this tank build in most areas that I am very excited about and that I hope all that will be following this thread enjoy also. My current hobby status is that my 100 gallon SPS/ chalice reef tank was taken down a few days ago and are awaiting their new home in the tank of a long time reefer and very close personal friend. I have also recived a few pieces of equiptment that will be running my system that will include not only my 195 but also a 30 gallon frag tank and a 20 gallon quarantine tank. Pictures of which will be put up shortly! thank you in advancve to any and all that subscribe to this thread!
- Blake

 

[Blake2357]

Reeflo Snapper / Dart hybrid external pump

Neptune Apex Aquacontroller with all the lab grade probes and accessories

Tropic Eden reeflakes is my choice for substrate based on popularity with a few other reef junkies that I know

More equiptment is on the way as well and should be here within the next two weeks:thumbsup:
Happy reefing

 

[purplereef]

Nice Blake. I cannot wait to see how you do your aquascaping. Dan.

 

[lotusstar]

Planning my next tank of the same size so look forward to seeing this come together. What's the skimmer plan?

 

[Blake2357]

I plan on using my bubble magus NAC 9 skimmer that I used on my 100 gallon for now. Howver in the future I will be using eiter a KZ series M skimmer or the Reef Octopus XS 250 skimmer. I will post a picture of my bubble Magus (which is rated up to 530 gallons) as soon as I can.

 

[Blake2357]

Nice Blake. I cannot wait to see how you do your aquascaping. Dan.

Thanks Dan glad to see you found the thread! :wave: Hey I forgot to ask you are you running T5's on your BB system right now?

 

[purplereef]

Thanks Dan glad to see you found the thread! :wave: Hey I forgot to ask you are you running T5's on your BB system right now?

I am running a Giesemann fixture with 4T5's 3 ATI Blue Plus and one Purple plus. It also has 2 250w radium's and I put a homemade led strip on it with 12 Cree 3watt led's on the fixture. So all 3 types of lighting.

 

[Blake2357]

When I came home today I was pleasantly surprised to see that my dosing pump had been delivered! :bounce1:. I decided to go with the balling method as opposed to a reactor because I find them more reliable and they don't require constant adjusting.

I chose this particular pump because I have been using this doser for a few years on the tanks of my more "High-end" maintenance clients and I really like this particular doser. I have tried profilux, bubble magus, and even the BRS dosers as experiments and in my opinion, this is the best doser out there as far as precision and accuracy if you are willing to spend the $$$

 

[Blake2357]

I just ordered the new sump today. It should be done by thursday at the latest, so I will post pictures of it ASAP

 

[javimarino]

Hi, looking forward to these thread.
What are you thinking in terms of lighting?
I'm looking to upgrade from my 40b to a 6 footer, probably 125 or 180 tank, but lightning got me thiking...

 

[Blake2357]

Hey guys sorry for neglecting this thread I have been super busy lately. Here are some (old) pictures for you guys to check out.

Here is a little info since I have so much to catch up on.

As far as my choice in lighting I went with Metal Halides mogul base with 20,000 k Radium bulbs. I despise LEDs because of a bad experience I had with them although so people may disagree with me and there are very amazing all LED tanks out there they are just not for me until they are perfected more. For my sump, I had one custom made for me in order to use the Leng Sy Miracle Mud method by utilizing a 4 ft refugium on the 5' x 20" w sump. I used 60 lbs of the miracle mud in order to attain the 1 1/2- 2 inch deep bed the system requires. I have also modified this system to replicate some major systems that had inspired me the most and turning this tank into something special. I am currently using a bubble Magus Nac 9 skimmer on the system and may change to a different skimmer down the road as I may have mentioned before. I am running the Vertex UF 20 GFO reactor to maintain algae along with a 40 W UV sterilizer to help with algae and parasites. I am not please with the rock work on the left side of the tank and it will be changed as I add a little more rock to the system. I am trying to keep the rock work to a minimum and the use of negative space to a maximum. If I forgot to mention anything in this description, or if anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to ask I will be spending more time on this thread now that I am able to put corals in my tank along with the ones I already have in there!

 

[Blake2357]

Also pay no attention to the title of the post I went with a standard 180 gallon tank instead because I was looking to put more $ into the guts of the system than the tank. Plus the dimensions I gave are not that for a 195 gallon tank. The tank manufacturer I was working with at the time had given me those dimensions as an option and said "this will be a 195 gallon tank" needless to say I got excited and ran to post this thread and posting the measurements and tank without actually calculating the gallons of the tank correctly and by the time I realized it, it was too late to edit the title and post of this thread. (And yes this did play a part in why I did not use these people to make my tank!) Just so everyone knows I'm not that much of a noob at this haha

 

[Blake2357]

*bump

 

[purplereef]

Any updated pictures Blake?