James404's 225g+ SPS Dominant

[James404]

Since I am moving into a new house this week I decided it was time to take that opportunity to upgrade

First a pic of my current 80g setup thats been up since May:

Heres a Pic of what my kitchen looks like with all the stuff for the new tank waiting to be moved to the new house:

Current Equipment List (All this is bought already):

210G AGA Non Reef-Ready Tank (72x24x30)
Custom Oak Stand and Canopy Built by Dayton Cabinets
100LBS BRS Pukani Rock, 150LBS Live Rock from existing Setup
80LBS Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand
TheFilterGuys Ocean Reef +1 RO/DI System
4 x MP40wES
Glass Holes 1500gph overflow kit
Panworld 100PX-X Return Pump
Super Reef Octopus XP-3000 External Skimmer
Bubble Blaster HY-2000 to feed skimmer
Bubble Magus BM-T01 Dosing Pumps
3 x Lumatek 400w e-ballasts
3 x Lumenmax 2 Reflectors
3 x 400w Radium 20k's
2 x 30" Blue Reefbrite LED strips
Reefkeeper Lite L3 with SL1 Controller with Float Switch
Vertex 3L Zeovit Reactor + ZEO starter Kit

 

[James404]

Livestock:

Heres my current livestock that will be transferred over:

Fish:
Yellow Tang
Regal Tang
2 x Clarkii Clowns
Royal Gramma
Spotted Mandarin
Swallowtail Angel


Coral:

SPS
Tyree Icefire Echinata
Ultimate Frags Jose Rainbow
ORA Pearlberry
ORA German Blue Polyp
ORA Pink Birdsnest
ORA Green Birdsnest
ORA Scripps Purple Acro
ORA Purple Acro Nana
ORA Hawkins Echinata
ORA Phils Granulosa
ORA Purple Stylo
ORA Green Montipora Capriconis
ORA Marshal Island Green Fuzzy Acro
ORA Rose Mille
ORA Borealis
ORA Ice Tort
ORA Blue Bottlebrush
ORA Red Planet
ORA Sunset Monti
ORA Superman Monti
Yellow Coraliniana
Pink Lemonade
Green Mille
GARF Bonsai
$500 Efflo
ATL Intense Purple Efflo
Red Monti Cap
Purple Acro
Green Hydnophora
Bali Tri-Color
Powder purple turoki
Bloody Milli
Baby Blue Unknown
Superman Milli
Tubbs Pink Jade
Reef Ready Grape Juice
Tricolor Secale
Fosters Pink Panther
Fosters Pearly Gates
Ultimate Stag
Paletta Blue stag
J Fox Psammocora
Jedi Mind Trick Monti
Hologram Monti

There will also be a few clams and a few LPS that I have but wont list them.

 

[elFloyd]

James... just tagging along. In the middle of upgrading from a 90 to 210. I am considering the glass-holes overflow. An am watching your build to see how it goes!

 

[JTR0510]

nice list of sps will be following on how it turns out

 

[Mrbeachbum2]

Are you "curing" the rock from BRS? Or is that rock from your previous tank?

 

[James404]

Are you "curing" the rock from BRS? Or is that rock from your previous tank?

I am cooking the pukani rock from BRS, there was a lot of dead organic matter in it. I still have about 150lbs of rock in my 80g that will get transferred over. About 55lbs of the rock in m 80 was the eco reef saver rock from BRS and I found that rock to be extremely clean, the pukani had all sorts of dead serpent stars, crabs etc in it.

 

[Mrbeachbum2]

What do you mean by cooking?

 

[James404]

I am letting it sit in a mixture of ro/di and vinegar with powerheads circulating for about two weeks to help remove any organic matter and phosphates etc..So far I have done a few water changes on it due to the water getting extremely nasty and starting to stink.

 

[James404]

So it looks like I will be closing on my new house this Thursday. The next phases of this build will be to take down my current 80g, transport it and set it back up temporarily there. I will then be bracing the floor joists under where the 210g will sit.

 

[James404]

Well I have moved everything to our new house. Spent from 10am until 12am moving the tank and it looks like everything has made it! It was a very stressful experience to say the least.

I will be putting in the order for the tank today, I spoke to Felix from Reef Savvy for about 30 mins yesterday and was impressed to say the least. The display tank will be approx 225g measuring 72x24x29 with front pane starphire and 1500gph glass holes overflow. I should expect it sometime in March. More updates coming soon!

 

[James404]

Tank has been ordered, 72x24x29, 3 sides starphire, 1500gph glass holes overflow and blacked out back.

 

[James404]

Haven't had much progress lately, my son is expected to be born in about 5 weeks so been busy getting his nursery ready. Still awaiting tank to be built and delivered, ETA beginning of March.

I did get the RODI unit set up in the fish room.

 

[michael_in_nc]

Looks like we're doing about the same thing at the same time. I have a 245G tank on order from Felix due just a few weeks after yours (84x24x28). I'm subscribed.

I think we're going to be happy with the tanks. Felix seems very good.

Good luck.

 

[James404]

Looks like we're doing about the same thing at the same time. I have a 245G tank on order from Felix due just a few weeks after yours (84x24x28). I'm subscribed.

I think we're going to be happy with the tanks. Felix seems very good.

Good luck.

Nice! I look forward to seeing your build. Felix has been great to work with, should be worth the wait.

 

[michael_in_nc]

I have a pretty similar equipment list as well. Reef Octopus 3000 skimmer, but mine in internal. Vortech's for circulation. Pukani rock. I did go with the apex instead of reefkeeper, so far I've been happy, but haven't had any experience with either.

I think your lights are going to be a much nicer setup than the route I went. I went with a cheaper fixture (2x250W MH, & 4x96W PC). I wasn't impressed with the build quality, but the ballasts seem fine. I'll stick with it for as long as it works ok, then consider upgrading later.

You've got a bunch of Vortech's. I only have two right now. I'm going to start there and add more as I experiment with it. They're so pricey, but I managed to get these two used at a good price. I'm thinking about the SCWD on the main returns, but I'm not sure. I've heard strong opinions both ways on those.

Good luck. Can't wait to get the tanks in...

 

[James404]

I have a pretty similar equipment list as well. Reef Octopus 3000 skimmer, but mine in internal. Vortech's for circulation. Pukani rock. I did go with the apex instead of reefkeeper, so far I've been happy, but haven't had any experience with either.

I think your lights are going to be a much nicer setup than the route I went. I went with a cheaper fixture (2x250W MH, & 4x96W PC). I wasn't impressed with the build quality, but the ballasts seem fine. I'll stick with it for as long as it works ok, then consider upgrading later.

You've got a bunch of Vortech's. I only have two right now. I'm going to start there and add more as I experiment with it. They're so pricey, but I managed to get these two used at a good price. I'm thinking about the SCWD on the main returns, but I'm not sure. I've heard strong opinions both ways on those.

Good luck. Can't wait to get the tanks in...

Very cool, the octo skimmers are a great bang for your buck. The lighting I am very happy with, the lumatek ballasts are great and I love the fact that I can switch between 250 and 400w by just buying bulbs.

As far as the vortechs, the two I am running on my 75g currently I bought as MP20's used here on RC for great prices, I then just bought the upgrade kits and ended up saving over $150 each unit. The other two I bought new from BRS during the black friday sale. It was great because I ordered about $2000 worth of stuff at once, with the sale I saved over $200 on the items and with the points that came out to be another $90 I got for free. I really love their site

 

[michael_in_nc]

Cheaper to buy the mp20's and upgrade to mp40's? I hadn't thought of that. I might look at that if I need more flow down the line. The controller must be the only difference between the mp20 & mp40...

 

[James404]

Cheaper to buy the mp20's and upgrade to mp40's? I hadn't thought of that. I might look at that if I need more flow down the line. The controller must be the only difference between the mp20 & mp40...

Yep if you can find used Mp20s for a good price you can save a bunch. The upgrade just switches out the controllers and the power supply. Takes 2 mins

 

[Fish4Me2]

Great looking plans! I"m excited to see this one progress.
Plus, congratulations on your son. Anyone who can juggle a newborn and a reef is amazing in my book. Juggling a newborn, a reef, and a new house makes it even more impressive! :lol2:

 

[James404]

Thank you ver much fish, it's been a hectic couple of months and there is still so much that needs to be done. I will be updating every step of the way.