My upgrade, a few pics and the story.

TrojanScott

Active member
Hi all,

Well, last weekend was hell. Man talk about tired, sore, and beat. My 13 year old 180 gallon reef is no more. I'd let it slip a bit over time, not into it much. I'd posted about maybe leaving the hobby, or going FOWLR. Well, all it took was a great deal on a 300 gallon tank, and now I'm way back like a complete fool.

The new tank is glass, 8 feet long, 30 inches deep, 2 feet high. The stand is gorgeous. The guy who had this tank prior to me sure put in the time and did an excellent job. I'm figuring some people may know the guy or recognize it, but I'm not sure if he was a poster here or not. I never met him, another person helped broker the deal and helped me with the move and set up.

I've attached a few pics of the tear down, not much to see really, and the new tank. They're similar in color, almost identical, which I really wanted as to match my cherry wood flooring. On a side note, I gouged the heck out of the floor moving the old stand. A screw got caught somehow as we were moving it, and man did it cause some damage. I already got a quote to sand and fix, probably another $500 I didn't need to spend. How I convinced the wife this was a great idea, I'll never know.

Gone are the metal halides. 4 AI 52's over the tank. They're the older models, 3 years old, but they run perfectly. It took me a couple hours of research to set it up, had to call AI to get the guy's email removed from the account so I could call it my own. Kudos to AI, their service was fantastic. I must've talked to three different reps in an hour with phone calls, and all were very kind and helpful. Me being a caveman and plugging in halides for years, this was a new deal for me. So far, pretty nifty. Next tackle will be the Apex system it came with, which I've never used. I haven't set it up yet. I was using a reefkeeper for years, it served me well, but was starting to crap out a bit.

A buddy of mine plumbed it. I'll post pics of the inside of the stand later. It's really well done. There's a tiny leak on one of the bulkheads. It drips right into the sump, so no emergency just yet. Hoping it seals on its own over the next few days. If not, we'll have to drain one of the overflow boxes and redo that bulkhead. Not a major deal.

I started with new sand. Man, taking out 13 year old sand in an old tank isn't for the faint of heart. Stunk to high heaven. I transferred nearly all the old water into the new tank, along with near 180 gallons of new salt water I made. Because this all happened over a weekend, it was a quick transfer. I don't have a bunch of fish, (that will change soon) but the ones I have now are all thriving in the new tank. Water parameters are pretty good. No nitrite or ammonia, 20 ppm nitrates, not too bad. Phosphates are very low. My 13 year old blue tang played dead as I scooped him out of the holding tank, but flipped me off as he went into the new tank and swam away. I think he could survive in a toilet. Even my leopard wrasse, which was the one fish I worried about, is doing great.
Aquascaping will be a month long project, a section at a time. For now, all the rock, (including a good 100 lbs more I was cycling the last month) just got thrown in.

I think that about covers it. Again, I'll add a few pics more later with pics inside the sump.

Thanks for reading.
 

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Sorry, can't seem to figure out how to rotate the first two. They're straight on my desktop. I'm not too bright sometimes.

Here's another picture with some light.
 

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A little more info. I'm interested in a larger skimmer. My H&S was 10 years old, (maybe older) and the Eheim that was modified for it finally gave out. It took two pumps to run, was not very efficient, and is just outdated in my opinion. It was a good skimmer, but certainly not worth the 1100 bucks I paid for it years ago. I got a great deal on a Bubble Magus, which is only rated for up to 240 I believe, but for now, it's pulling out gunk big time and working hard. It produces no noise at all. And one pump. My goal was to really make this tank more energy efficient. The electric bill over the years was ridiculous. Of course halides were a big part.

Also forgot to add, thanks to all that recommended the Fluval SP6. This pump is killer. Pumps a lot of water and is pretty darn quiet. Not as quiet as my old Poseidon, which ran for 13 years like a champ, but that just wouldn't be a big enough pump for this size tank. I'm really happy I went with the Fluval.

Back to the skimmer, I've had a couple people reach out. I'm going to give it some thought and make a decision. I may add a second smaller skimmer, or sell this Bubble Magus and get a bigger one. Probably the latter to keep things simple. But for now, things are going well.
 
No that's what I call an upgrade. Me jealous.

Awesome dimensions and very nice looking stand. Following along.
 
As I age, and my memory goes, you'll all have to forgive the updates. LOL. Anyway, included with the tank were some equipment I may never use. There's an old Aqua C skimmer that I've been told people still seek. Man, that was the very first skimmer I ever bought, 25 plus years ago for my first 80 gallon tank. If there's a market for it, I'll sell for cheap. If not, I'll give it away. There's a reactor as well, and some other goodies I will post over time. I think most of it I will give away to anyone who can use. Call it good reef karma, but I just don't want it collecting dust. I have TONS of that going on now.
I'll also probably get rid of the H&S skimmer. I know you can find the replacement pump for it.
 
Nice, looks like a beautiful setup. I want to upgrade to a 180 or 240 myself, my fish need a bigger tank. Have thought about a Lifereef skimmer or a MTC skimmer?
 
Nice, looks like a beautiful setup. I want to upgrade to a 180 or 240 myself, my fish need a bigger tank. Have thought about a Lifereef skimmer or a MTC skimmer?



My advice is go bigger! I almost got a 240 before this fell into my lap. But if you're considering a 180 or 240, go 240!


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Wow Scott. That's one beautiful aquarium. Please keep us all posted on it's progression. Looks like some of the fish may get tired doing laps around that sucker... I'm sure it will be very entertaining to watch the swimming patterns. Enjoy and thanks for sharing.

- Larry
 
Wow Scott. That's one beautiful aquarium. Please keep us all posted on it's progression. Looks like some of the fish may get tired doing laps around that sucker... I'm sure it will be very entertaining to watch the swimming patterns. Enjoy and thanks for sharing.

- Larry



Thank you Larry. Yeah I'm really stoked. I really had no idea what an extra 2 feet in length and 6 inches in depth meant! (No jokes please!). What a difference.


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My upgrade, a few pics and the story.

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View from top. 52s mounted on rail, open top canopy. There are 4, only got 3 in there.


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Side on stand where electrical stuff goes. Some anyway. Apex controller that I've yet to tackle. Has temp probe, but I'll need to order a new ph probe.

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Inside stand. This sump is same I used on my 180. About 80 gallons. Fluval externally plumbed. Cool light switch with lights on either side. Sorta stuff I'd never have been able to do!



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And couple more inside the stand. Still plenty of work to be done on my end. Gotta figure how to run the new power strips, the couple this guy had were old and one was tripping the circuit. Right now I just have extension cords all over with a power strip to have most stuff running.


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Wow Scott. That's one beautiful aquarium. Please keep us all posted on it's progression. Looks like some of the fish may get tired doing laps around that sucker... I'm sure it will be very entertaining to watch the swimming patterns. Enjoy and thanks for sharing.

- Larry



By the way Larry, you hit the nail on the head. I can't believe in a few days, my hippo tang is like a new fish. Out and lapping the tank. It's been a trip to see.


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Yep that’s the one. I found replacement impeller for $140 but i’m Just replacing the pump while it’s still working so I can keep it as a spare for the jebao that i’m Moding for skimmer use.
 
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