Hi all,
First off, Happy New Year!
Being new here, I figured I'd give a brief history/bio. My name is Dragan and live on the NW side of Chicago. My main interests are astronomy (very active with two websites of my own in the hobby) golf and general aviation. I'm new on this forum but not so new to reef keeping, thought I've been out of the hobby for nearly 8 years. My wife and I recently purchased a 250g rimless from DAS at a recent marine show. The last day of the showy they offered it at a steal to avoid taking it back to Dallas so we jumped on it. Though I wasn't there to buy a tank, its hard for me to pass on a deal when they come along. This 250 will be my 2nd reef. We used to have a 65g bowfront reef that was mostly fish with some soft corals which I kept for about 4 years. We gave away the 65 when we moved and bought our current home. While planning the layout of our basement we set aside an area for a 225g. Since this 250 has the same footprint as the planned 225, we decided to go bigger.
The last couple months have been spent researching and planning. We're in no real hurry getting this tank up and running since we want to take our time and do it right. I've been slowly gathering the necessary components and getting things ready for the rock cycle. I don't anticipate having our first residents until about spring. Before I get to the pics and descriptions I wanna get this out to the group. As I said, I've been out of the hobby for quite some time. Ive been learning that alot has changed. I'm also learning there are more than one way to skin a cat so suggestions are encouraged. I'm trying to do this build the right way but I'm sure I'll make mistakes. Thats where your collective knowledge comes in, I encourage feedback and suggestions. Ok, now to the good stuff......
As of right now the plan is to have mostly fish with a mix of soft and hard corals. If i had to guess, I'd say I'm planning a medium bioload.
The planned hardware so far will include (though not all these are purchased as of yet)
250 g reef ready rimless 72x28x28 w/ Herbie overflow (have)
Trigger Systems Ruby 36s sump w/fuge (have)
RO Regal 200sss protein skimmer (have)
Neptune systems Apex Gold (be here monday)
Emperor Aquatics 40w UV (undecided but will probably go with it. My wife is demanding the clearest water possible)
sr aquaristik mag level 1340gph return
Kessil 360w lighting (x2) (decided on just haven't ordered)
Powerheads will probably be the new Gyre. Just seems to be exactly what I want.
undecided heaters though it'll probably be the eheimm jagers
an ATO (undecided on brand)
calc reactor (undecided on brand or if i'll even need one right away)
I know theres more but I can't think of them at the moment
So far, my only real concern is the size of the sump. This build is my first tank with a sump as my last 65g didn't have one (it had an in-tank sump of sorts that worked fine for the load we had) Since I've already modified the ruby to accommodate my 1.5" overflows, I can't return it. So I'm thinking Ill stick with this one until I absolutely need to get a bigger one. DAS gave me a sump with the tank but I didn't like its design. Its a wet/dry type tank with a very small skimmer section. I didn't like the idea of a wet/dry nor the fact that I'd have to undersize my skimmer, neither of which I was comfortable with.
And here are some pics:
Here's the tank the night we got it home. I got the tank, stand and sump with return and various plumbing parts for a song. The entire build will be in the basement of our home on the foundation. No worries in regards to weight.
Below is the tank in its final spot. Here you can see that the stand hasn't been finished in oak yet.
(our son Lil D for scale )
And here is the tank with the stand finished. We used the same oak and stain as the rest of our basement to match our trim and bar. Being such a large tank in a relatively small area we needed it all to look good. We're very happy with the end product. You'll also notice I painted the far pane of glass in black. I figured noone would be looking at it from that side and it may help in disguising black powerheads.
A buddy in Iowa City IA owns a telescope and mirror making company. He has all the coolest machines. He was able to fabricate a custom acrylic lid for our tank. I don't know if I'll absoultely need it yet, but I thought it may be good insurance in regards to jumpers and evaporation. Yes the tank is rimless by design but this lid sits atop the wire bracing and below the top of the tank. You really can't even see it when viewed from the front.
Lastly, here is our skimmer. The Reef Octopus Regal 200sss. I've read many good things so I figured it was a good value for its price.
So thats it for now. I'm currently trying to plumb the sump. If I run into any concerns, I'll be sure to reach out.
Any and all suggestions and feedback is encouraged!! I look forward to this and the interactions with you all will make it just that much more fun!
Thanks to all!
-Dragan
First off, Happy New Year!
Being new here, I figured I'd give a brief history/bio. My name is Dragan and live on the NW side of Chicago. My main interests are astronomy (very active with two websites of my own in the hobby) golf and general aviation. I'm new on this forum but not so new to reef keeping, thought I've been out of the hobby for nearly 8 years. My wife and I recently purchased a 250g rimless from DAS at a recent marine show. The last day of the showy they offered it at a steal to avoid taking it back to Dallas so we jumped on it. Though I wasn't there to buy a tank, its hard for me to pass on a deal when they come along. This 250 will be my 2nd reef. We used to have a 65g bowfront reef that was mostly fish with some soft corals which I kept for about 4 years. We gave away the 65 when we moved and bought our current home. While planning the layout of our basement we set aside an area for a 225g. Since this 250 has the same footprint as the planned 225, we decided to go bigger.
The last couple months have been spent researching and planning. We're in no real hurry getting this tank up and running since we want to take our time and do it right. I've been slowly gathering the necessary components and getting things ready for the rock cycle. I don't anticipate having our first residents until about spring. Before I get to the pics and descriptions I wanna get this out to the group. As I said, I've been out of the hobby for quite some time. Ive been learning that alot has changed. I'm also learning there are more than one way to skin a cat so suggestions are encouraged. I'm trying to do this build the right way but I'm sure I'll make mistakes. Thats where your collective knowledge comes in, I encourage feedback and suggestions. Ok, now to the good stuff......
As of right now the plan is to have mostly fish with a mix of soft and hard corals. If i had to guess, I'd say I'm planning a medium bioload.
The planned hardware so far will include (though not all these are purchased as of yet)
250 g reef ready rimless 72x28x28 w/ Herbie overflow (have)
Trigger Systems Ruby 36s sump w/fuge (have)
RO Regal 200sss protein skimmer (have)
Neptune systems Apex Gold (be here monday)
Emperor Aquatics 40w UV (undecided but will probably go with it. My wife is demanding the clearest water possible)
sr aquaristik mag level 1340gph return
Kessil 360w lighting (x2) (decided on just haven't ordered)
Powerheads will probably be the new Gyre. Just seems to be exactly what I want.
undecided heaters though it'll probably be the eheimm jagers
an ATO (undecided on brand)
calc reactor (undecided on brand or if i'll even need one right away)
I know theres more but I can't think of them at the moment
So far, my only real concern is the size of the sump. This build is my first tank with a sump as my last 65g didn't have one (it had an in-tank sump of sorts that worked fine for the load we had) Since I've already modified the ruby to accommodate my 1.5" overflows, I can't return it. So I'm thinking Ill stick with this one until I absolutely need to get a bigger one. DAS gave me a sump with the tank but I didn't like its design. Its a wet/dry type tank with a very small skimmer section. I didn't like the idea of a wet/dry nor the fact that I'd have to undersize my skimmer, neither of which I was comfortable with.
And here are some pics:
Here's the tank the night we got it home. I got the tank, stand and sump with return and various plumbing parts for a song. The entire build will be in the basement of our home on the foundation. No worries in regards to weight.
Below is the tank in its final spot. Here you can see that the stand hasn't been finished in oak yet.
(our son Lil D for scale )
And here is the tank with the stand finished. We used the same oak and stain as the rest of our basement to match our trim and bar. Being such a large tank in a relatively small area we needed it all to look good. We're very happy with the end product. You'll also notice I painted the far pane of glass in black. I figured noone would be looking at it from that side and it may help in disguising black powerheads.
A buddy in Iowa City IA owns a telescope and mirror making company. He has all the coolest machines. He was able to fabricate a custom acrylic lid for our tank. I don't know if I'll absoultely need it yet, but I thought it may be good insurance in regards to jumpers and evaporation. Yes the tank is rimless by design but this lid sits atop the wire bracing and below the top of the tank. You really can't even see it when viewed from the front.
Lastly, here is our skimmer. The Reef Octopus Regal 200sss. I've read many good things so I figured it was a good value for its price.
So thats it for now. I'm currently trying to plumb the sump. If I run into any concerns, I'll be sure to reach out.
Any and all suggestions and feedback is encouraged!! I look forward to this and the interactions with you all will make it just that much more fun!
Thanks to all!
-Dragan
Last edited:
