JR Aquatics 180 Gallon Nano Reef

[BreadmanMike]

I can't wait to get over there and see the tank.
Looks really great.

Hurry up and grow that Oregon Tort.

 

[nellahtes]

lookin good.... ill be picking your brain when i start my 180.

 

[JRaquatics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11789624#post11789624 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nellahtes
lookin good.... ill be picking your brain when i start my 180.

Plan ahead...way ahead.

 

[JRaquatics]

I let the tank run without adding sand for a week so that I could siphon out anything that would settle to the bottom.

This is the part were Mike "Aquaticman74" shakes his head....
I added 2 bags of Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand (1 to 1.7 mm grain) to the display and 3 bags of Aragamax Sand (0.2 to 1.22 mm grain size), 2 bags of pink agranite and some crushed coral form the 90gal to the fuge. This created a 6in deep sand bed.

sand getting pushed to the front by the 2 Vortech pumps I picked up from Reef Specialty that week.

 

[grandp10]

VERY NICE !!

 

[JRaquatics]

Thanks Grandp10
Now about the lighting...
I had purchased 3 used Luminarc minis to go over the tank mainly because Aquaticman74 had them in the same canopy when he had the tank set up. At first I liked it except it was hard to work inside the tank and it lit up the room like an airport. The basement is were the wife and I spend most of our time and didn't care for the extra light coming from the tank. When I went to pick up the Vortechs from Mike at Reef Specialty I saw the Lumen Brights over his home display. All I could say is wow, I want those. Needless to say I sold my Lumen Arcs that weekend and brought home 3 Lumen Bright Minis. I was amazed by the light concentration inside the tank and how high off the surface they could be positioned. The light was extremly bright and really lit up the sand bed.

Jim "Bubbletip" stoped by a couple of weeks later to drop off drop off his dussumieri tang (ended up being a Blochi tang) that was too large for his tank. He took some light reading of my tank while he was there. Thank Jim.

The can be found here:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1211402&perpage=25&pagenumber=17

A shot Jim took of my tank. A little more color accurate than my pics.

 

[mcliffy2]

Is that an illusion? It looks like 3 vortechs in there in the 1st pic....

 

[RayAllen]

Lighting is looking good man. Love it. Im usually a black background kind of guy but i like the brightness of your blue.

 

[JRaquatics]

Yea, Unfortunatly it is an illusion. I only can afford two Vortechs at this time.

 

[mcliffy2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11795327#post11795327 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JRaquatics
Yea, Unfortunatly it is an illusion. I only can afford two Vortechs at this time.

Two is good on a 180. I'm starting out with 2 on my 238g, but I definitely plan on adding a third (and maybe a fourth as corals grow out).

 

[JRaquatics]

As you can see I did have to reposition the vortechs to the sides of the tank. I had to move them in order to keep the sand in front.

Here is a video of a wave generated on a 6ft/180gal tank with one Vortech.

 

[JRaquatics]

Christmas came early for me last year thanks to Mike at Reef Specialty. Mike promised me I would get My Reeflo 200 skimmer by Christmas and yet again he does not disappoint.

The thread about the Reeflo 200:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1274301

I built a stand/cabinet to house the skimmer. Perfect fit.

I was running the AquaC 120 powered by a mag7 while the tank was cycling. I kept it running till the Reeflo 200 broke in.

 

[JRaquatics]

A shot of the main pump with the valve to feed the skimmer.

Skimmer inside the cabinet

First cup of skimmate

 

[poopsko24]

what a nasty "puke green" paint on the walls in the earlier pics.

 

[JRaquatics]

The picture made it look worse than it really was. I liked the color but it didn't go with the new carpet, so I spent a few nights re-painting the walls before the tank was brought down into the basement.

 

[JRaquatics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11798036#post11798036 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poopsko24
what a nasty "puke green" paint on the walls in the earlier pics.

Now I see you were tlking about that puetrid green Mik had on his walls

 

[JRaquatics]

skimmer in action

Sorry about the bad video quality.

 

[BreadmanMike]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11798036#post11798036 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poopsko24
what a nasty "puke green" paint on the walls in the earlier pics.

Hey! That is Nemo green Disney paint for my daughter.

 

[bbehring]

JR how loud are those vortechs in wave mode and how do you like the votechs vs. closed loop? I must say, when I first saw you rock work pillars in one of the first photos, I wasn't that impressed, but after seeing it in the tank with water and sand the rock pillars look super. Can't wait to see that aquascaping with corals and fish! Job well done. I've been following your reeflow 200 thread and that unit seems to be built like a tank and performs well. Keep up the good work man! Oh, also love your skimmer cabinet! Are you planning on running a chiller?

 

[JRaquatics]

The Vortec full throttle on pulse are noticeablewhen placed on the sides of the tank. A close loop can't compete with the flow of a Vortech. The thing I find so special about the vortech is the massive undertow. At this point I can't see the need for a chiller. I have not run any of my fans and the heaters are on all the time. The lights only have a 1-2 degree difference on my tank. Love those Lumen Brights.