Went to Colorado Springs yesterday and picked up a Oceanic 140 gallon tank from an ad I found on Craigslist. It is in fantastic shape and has a solid wood stand and canopy. I will post pics soon. I will be selling off my old tank and equipment in the near future. I also checked out all of the lfs in the area while I was there. Mr. Aqua was the only one with any coral to speak of. The other 4 stores combined didn't have the stock and supplies of SWR. I really don't like shopping there but after seeing the stores in Colorado Springs I am beginning to think we are lucky. Being in SFE, I order almost everything anyway. Keep me posted for the next BRS group buy.
New 140 gallon build.
- Thread starter jayl65
- Start date
I finally got a pic of my new tank. It also came with a wet/dry filter/sump. I think I want to sell the filter since I don't want to run bioballs on my tank. I had thought about removing the protein skimmer and baffles from the sump with a dremel and putting in new baffles so I can use it for a refugium, but I'm not sure how it would work. The easiest thing to do is just get a new sump.I'm posting pics of both so you guys can tell me what you think.
Intended Specs
-Oceanic Reef Ready Tank w/dual overflows, 48.5L x 24.5w x 29h matching oak stand and canopy
-Avast CS1 Pegleg Skimmer Kit with Swabbie, Avastmarine.com
-Either redo the existing sump 30L x 12w x 24h or leaning toward the Aqueon Proflex 4 sump
-Uno Magnetic Drive Pump HMC-75LX for return, may have to change once I get it installed. I need a super quiet pump since the reef is in my dining room which is open to the rest of the house.
-Led lights, leaning toward 3 BSLED 120watt units from china. Similar to the ones Reefkoi and ClamsDirect are selling. Been emailing them in china and they are very helpful. They also pay for any shipping back to china for warranty work. I use a 8 bulb 39watt T5 fixture from Catalina Aquariums on my tank now. Don't want to spend 200 bucks on new bulbs.
-VHO Actinic supplement. I already have a VHO fixture. I think I will use it supplement the Leds. This way I get the shimmer from the leds and the deep actinic color that I like.
-BRS Dual media reactor running Carbon and GFO. I want to research Biopellets more. I might consider running them instead of gfo.
-Dosing? Still not sure if I want to go with a calcium reactor or dosing pump.
-Kalkwasser in auto top off water. I use a Reef Fanatic ATO for top off now.
-Currently use Koralias for water movement. I use a currentseas wavemaker for them to cycle on and off. I would like a Tunze nano wavebox to supplement them on the new tank. Probably will end up using more koralias.
-Overflows, I want to install either Durso or Herbie style overflows. The dual overflows are drilled with two holes now and I don't want to drill any more. If I go with the Herbie style I will either have to plumb the returns up the back of the tank or only use one of the overflows for the intake and the other for the return.
Live Rock- My current tank has about 125 lbs. I got about 90 lbs with the new tank, but it had froze so I need to cure it before putting it in the new tank.
Sorry I'm not a writer so this may be hard to read. Let me know what you think.
Intended Specs
-Oceanic Reef Ready Tank w/dual overflows, 48.5L x 24.5w x 29h matching oak stand and canopy
-Avast CS1 Pegleg Skimmer Kit with Swabbie, Avastmarine.com
-Either redo the existing sump 30L x 12w x 24h or leaning toward the Aqueon Proflex 4 sump
-Uno Magnetic Drive Pump HMC-75LX for return, may have to change once I get it installed. I need a super quiet pump since the reef is in my dining room which is open to the rest of the house.
-Led lights, leaning toward 3 BSLED 120watt units from china. Similar to the ones Reefkoi and ClamsDirect are selling. Been emailing them in china and they are very helpful. They also pay for any shipping back to china for warranty work. I use a 8 bulb 39watt T5 fixture from Catalina Aquariums on my tank now. Don't want to spend 200 bucks on new bulbs.
-VHO Actinic supplement. I already have a VHO fixture. I think I will use it supplement the Leds. This way I get the shimmer from the leds and the deep actinic color that I like.
-BRS Dual media reactor running Carbon and GFO. I want to research Biopellets more. I might consider running them instead of gfo.
-Dosing? Still not sure if I want to go with a calcium reactor or dosing pump.
-Kalkwasser in auto top off water. I use a Reef Fanatic ATO for top off now.
-Currently use Koralias for water movement. I use a currentseas wavemaker for them to cycle on and off. I would like a Tunze nano wavebox to supplement them on the new tank. Probably will end up using more koralias.
-Overflows, I want to install either Durso or Herbie style overflows. The dual overflows are drilled with two holes now and I don't want to drill any more. If I go with the Herbie style I will either have to plumb the returns up the back of the tank or only use one of the overflows for the intake and the other for the return.
Live Rock- My current tank has about 125 lbs. I got about 90 lbs with the new tank, but it had froze so I need to cure it before putting it in the new tank.
Sorry I'm not a writer so this may be hard to read. Let me know what you think.
Attachments
Ntvper
New member
thats sweet jay im soooooo freaking jealous bro. and plus one on easier to get a new sump setup just the way u want it. oh and id wait on the bio pellets few of us are trying them out now so in 3-4 weeks i bet we have a verdict so stay tuned and stick with GFO until then for sure.
Nice! I am looking forward to seeing the build.
You could consider trying an ATS retrofit into that sump and skip the fuge and gfo. I know its not a popular solution but that sump looks like it might work pretty well for that. Wouldn't work with the biopellets either.
Also, I didn't see you say what kind of coral you are interested in. If it is anything other than heavily SPS you could get away with just doing the kalk topoff and skipping the dosing or calcium reactor. I have a mixed reef in a 90g and kalk in the topoff is all I use. Works well, is cheap, and easy.
Keep those pics coming.
You could consider trying an ATS retrofit into that sump and skip the fuge and gfo. I know its not a popular solution but that sump looks like it might work pretty well for that. Wouldn't work with the biopellets either.
Also, I didn't see you say what kind of coral you are interested in. If it is anything other than heavily SPS you could get away with just doing the kalk topoff and skipping the dosing or calcium reactor. I have a mixed reef in a 90g and kalk in the topoff is all I use. Works well, is cheap, and easy.
Keep those pics coming.
Thanks David- I currently have a mixed tank with softies, LPS and SPS. I also run kalk in my ato and it seems to be all I need. My tank always used more alk than calcium. Since I started with the kalkwasser it has stabilzed. I use Mrs Wages picking lime from wal mart. I am leaning toward LPS and SPS, but I do love how the softies move in the water. I have the wet/dry listed on Craigslist right now. I think I will get a new sump and maybe a larger protein skimmer. I went to petsmart and petco today to look at aquariums to use as a sump. I think I can buy one premade for a little more that going through the hassle of making one myself. I really like the Aqueon Proflex 4, but still not sure I need to have the refugium. My fuge now is a mess. Mostly because its acrylic and I can't do the best job cleaning it. Another reason I like the idea of having a glass fuge.
Started curing the live rock today. Got a 22 gallon container from wal-mart and put a power head in with a heater and old compact fluorescent light. Never cured any rock so interested to find out how long it takes.
Also- today is the third day I have been treating my 75 gallon tank for cyano. I used Ultra Life red slime remover. Looking good so far. I put an airstone in the DT and turned my skimmer all the way down. Day one and Two I put a tarp around the entire tank to block the light. Took the tarp off today and ran the lights for an hour for the coral. The red slime has turned brown and starting to break up. I will siphon as much out tomrrow as I can and do a water change.
Started curing the live rock today. Got a 22 gallon container from wal-mart and put a power head in with a heater and old compact fluorescent light. Never cured any rock so interested to find out how long it takes.
Also- today is the third day I have been treating my 75 gallon tank for cyano. I used Ultra Life red slime remover. Looking good so far. I put an airstone in the DT and turned my skimmer all the way down. Day one and Two I put a tarp around the entire tank to block the light. Took the tarp off today and ran the lights for an hour for the coral. The red slime has turned brown and starting to break up. I will siphon as much out tomrrow as I can and do a water change.
ForeverAndrea
New member
I can't wait to see pics of your process jay. It sounds like you are going to have a pretty sweet set-up!
