Kurt03's 220 Build

[teacherthomas]

Thanks! I'm trying to minimize the impact of the overflow inside the tank. When I can get the tank turned around we will see!

If I would change one thing already it would be how long the inside overflow is so that it would reach down a little further and give me a little extra depth in the external overflow for the drain pipes. It will still work, but things are going to be a little tight. :beer:

I think i am missing something, so I must ask. What does the height of the internal overflow have to do with the height of the external overflow?
If the internal overflow is only short, why cant the external overflow be very tall?

 

[teacherthomas]

bump

 

[Kurt03]

Opps thought I replied but must not have hit submit,

The internal overflow hides where the outside box is siliconed to the back of the tank. My understanding is that you have to silicon to unpainted clean glass so I couldn't paint the back black and then silicon to that. If you could (maybe you can?) silicon to painted glass then it wouldn't have been a problem.

If the inside overflow wasn't covering that seam you would see it from the front of the tank.

PS some more rock, sand, and other stuff got here from BRS

 

[Kurt03]

Just waiting for the tank to re-cycle.
Ammonia is at ~.75 (I spiked it with ammonia a few days ago)
Nitrite is .2
I dont think this cycle will take long since I had a majority of the rock in a garbage can for a month or more. I just piled the rock in there for now as there was a sand storm when i was doing it and couldn't see a thing.
version 1 of the aquascape should be done later tonight.


So far I'm very impressed with the return pump and skimmer! They are both very quiet. Ignore the light, its just a small fluorescent i had laying around.

Not much in the water for the skimmer to pull out, but that doesnt stop it!

 

[slovan]

What's up with the yellow light on the rocks? :lol: Good to see the cycle going. Hopefully it will be short so you can start adding a couple things to it. Your skimmer is looking good, BTW!!

 

[knight2255]

Alot of similarities between your build and mine. I had a slight gap under the center of my tank and I did the exact same thing as you with the shims...so far so good. I also did a internal weir with external overflow. I wish I had gone to a bigger size tank tho, mine is 135g and the 18" width doesn't leave as much room between rock and glass as I'd like.

Keep us updated!

 

[Kurt03]

Sone, You dont like the yellow light? Its the new thing, everyone's switching from blue

Knight, thanks for following! Ive moved from a 55 (12" wide?) to a 150 (18" wide?) to now a 210 which is 24" wide and I love it. It makes a huge difference.

 

[slovan]

Really? If its the latest and greatest then I want it! I hope the yellow will make my corals look brown and grow lots of unwanted algae!

 

[johntran216]

Keep up the good work! Not a lot of people build their own overflow when dealing w a tank that size now. But you risked it for the biscuit..

 

[Kurt03]

Thanks! I'll try and get a few more shots of it finished.

Waiting for nitrites to drop.

Just for fun here's the light hood from my 55 I just took down sitting on the 210. A little blue just for slovan.

 

[Kurt03]

nitrites are starting to drop
Light hood from my 55 doesnt do to bad! 4x54w t5's

So for this tank.... T5's, Radion LEDs, or Chinese LEDs ?

I just dont know that I want to spend that much on the radions!

Time to do some aquascaping

 

[slovan]

My vote is MH and T5s.

 

[Kurt03]

No MH this time around.

looking like LEDs but havent decided if im building my own, radions, or a couple IT2080's from reefbreeders.

 

[slovan]

Boo! Fun hater. I am still using MH. All the cool kids are doing it so should you! Lol

 

[Kurt03]

Im concerned with the heat MH put off and the amount of water I need to evap to keep the tank cool with them running. Im not sure my house could handle it

I have had great growth with T5's on my 55. I had good growth with the MH over my 150, maybe not as fast as my 55 but colors did seem better. Im hoping LEDs will be the best of both worlds I also dont have a ton of extra room in the breaker box :bigeyes:

 

[slovan]

I still have mixed emotions on LEDs. I liked my colors better when I ran MH and T5s but when I made the switch to LEDs only, some corals did better and some did worse. So on my latest build, I am running MH and LEDs to get the best of both worlds. I haven't had it long enough yet to give it an honest evaluation but I'm hoping for the best!

 

[Danny Mac]

Looks awesome. Great build! Are you using any kind of fan in that fixture in case it gets hot?

 

[Kurt03]

Slovan's or mine?

What is currently on my tank is the hood off my 55. There plenty of air gap around it
I will have temp controlled fans in my hood when I eventually build it....

 

[Danny Mac]

Whoops I thought Slovans was your fixture. I got too carried away looking at all your pics I just assumed that was your fixture! Lol

 

[Kurt03]

Ive been doing alot of behind the scenes work lately. Breaking down a 55 and 150 and getting the new tank together. 55 is down and im ready to start selling off parts of the 150 that im not reusing.


Not quite happy with the rock yet, but im trying to leave plenty of swimming room after coral is grown in. Some or all of the center rock will come out and maybe re-arrange the complete right side. suggestions?

Full Tank

Left

Right

A couple of the inhabitants, Yes ive been holding off but these have been in another tank constantly getting less attention.

Sailfin

Tomni

Clowns Ive had since my first tank,