Overwhelmed and looking for direction.

[steelerspgh]

I have a Vertex IN-180 Skimmer on my 120g mixed reef. It's huge but man oh man does it do an amazing job. Also using 2 Illuminarium Reefbox 120 LED fixtures. Very bright and some beautiful color. I've had them on the tank about 3 months. Got a Bali Green Slimer frag a few days after installing them and have gotten some nice growth on that guy. All my zoas have babies, the LPS are all splitting and my chalice has added at least 8 eyes and about 1/2 of growth all the way around. I have a Reef Keeper Lite that I won in a club meeting raffle. Great little gadget.

Hope this helps and good luck with your new tank. =)

wow, that reefbox 120 looks decent, i see from the pic on their website there was vents on the side of the unit, were there any on top, if there aren't that may simplify mounting inside of the canopy. if there are ill have to figure out a way to space it to allow airflow. 2 of those should be more than enough to cover the 48" width with pretty good par readings. thanks for the post!

Why don't you try a space saver model like the Octopus Diablo DB2500. It's cheaper and plenty big enough for a 115 g. According to the web its:
Small Footprint: 12″ x 8″
Height: 23.6″
Powered by: Italian Sicce PSK 2500 custom pinwheel pump
Rated for tanks: 180-300 gallons
Acceptable sump depth of 8.5-10.5″

i came across that one in my search, i think it was on ebay, the details said the fittings were metric. i wasnt sure what exactly it would take to plumb it so i passed, ill take another look at it, thanks!

 

[steelerspgh]

all right, making progress, aquired the oak stand and canopy for a case of stella artois
contacted scott at aquarium specialty and ordered the following:
Trigger Systems Ruby 36 Sump Ruby36S $298.95
Octopus Super Reef XP2000I Internal Cone Skimmer SRO-XP2000 SRO-XP2000I $445.00
HM Digital PH-200: Waterproof pH Meter PH-200 $79.95
Deltec D&D Refractometer 531102 $55.99
RLSS Controllable Waveline DC5000 Pump RLSS-DC5000 $199.99
Pinpoint Wireless Temp Monitor and Probe $35.25
should get it later in the week.
now im looking to procure the cash for 2x ecomarine radion xr30w and 1 vortech mp40 as soon as i can they'll be on order too.
i will have to start working on figuring out a way to mount the radions in the canopy, i should have a good 7-8" of clearence above water level with the canopy i have. called glasscages and they expect to ship out the tank to me early next week. so i guess its back to reading researching and waiting for the next 2 weeks or so! gawd the waiting!! i hate the waiting...

does anyone have experience dealing with tampa bay saltwater for thier live rock? "the package" looked like an interesting option to get the tank cycled.

 

[BigCountry74]

Very nice gear your buying. Definitely making it easier on yourself in the long run.

Can't wait to see it all up and running. You should be able to grow anything with this build.

 

[steelerspgh]

Very nice gear your buying. Definitely making it easier on yourself in the long run.

Can't wait to see it all up and running. You should be able to grow anything with this build.

those are encouraging comments, thanks bigcountry, its actually the complete opposite of what my wife said when she saw our most recent CC bill.
her comments were less than encouraging to say the least!

 

[steelerspgh]

tank came in!!!

 

[sjwitt]

How's it coming? Any updates?

 

[G x 2]

Looking forward to seeing the process of your build! Your thread is one I'm going to reference for my 180 gal build. Thank you!!

 

[sammy77]

tank came in!!!

I hope you have long arms...lol

 

[steelerspgh]

WOW, finally getting back on track, my last post was april 27th after getting the tank in, well, the next day a watermain broke on my street, i guess when they repaired it and turned the water back on it blew a braided line under my kitchen sink, it ran all evening/night/into the morning. i found it around 6am when i thought i heard the toilet running. i live in a ranch style (one level with basement) so i got out of bed and took a few steps,felt wet sloshing carpet i knew something very bad happened.

ruined my hardwood floors, real hardwood from the '60s not this stuff you get at home depot nowadays...
and demolished my basement...


so minor setback, im now starting to get things back in order, the insurance company was nice enough to help me out a bit, and as bad as i wanted to spend that cash on reef supplies.. the wife made me put it back into the house. soo anyways long story short, im back.
BUT instead of working on a 115g build im now working on a 200 gallon starfire,peninsula build 60"x24"x32"!
i still have the brand new 115 not sure what im gonna do with it yet.
i bought the bigtank back in '08 when i was going to redo my basement. now that its actually getting done im switching my focus to that tank.and using some items i ordered for the 115, I got the stand made from a local weldshop last march, they used 3" L on the corners and 2" L supports/crossbars.you can kinda see it here on the left with some more wetness...


im in the process of plumbing the tank now, so ill be hitting you guys up for some info. and of course ill include more PICS!

 

[moondoggy4]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, I have been having issues with my house and insurance companies are not fun.

 

[steelerspgh]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, I have been having issues with my house and insurance companies are not fun.

Thanks Moondog! it was actually a blessing in disguise, it made me get off my butt and actually do something about our basement. soon it will be liveable space with an amazing center piece. for those that are interested heres a few more pics of the build:

 

[Lig]

I have heard these can be extremely hard to keep and produce far too much waste for reef tanks. I would suggest you take it to your LFS & see if you can trade it in for credit. Your build is looking great though.

 

[steelerspgh]

ok so i have a plumbing question, what fittings are on the waveline dc5000, it came with barbs that would fit 1" ID pvc hose, but its kinda loose compared to the other barbs i have, i guess i could use a stainless hose clamp, but do you guys have any better ideas to plumb this return pump in? heres a pic of the input/output:

if i use the supplied barb and nut and oring the hose just slides off the barb, i was picturing using a screw-on barb/nut sort of like this:

but cant find any info on the threads for the pump

 

[Dexters Reef]

I believe you may have a potential problem with that sump and skimmer combo. That skimmer needs to be in 6-7 inches of water, and chamber 1 and 2 of your sump is baffled to be 10" in depth. You can raise the skimmer with egg crate, but 4" is kinda a lot. Make sure your stand has the clearance for the skimmer + stand/platform, and space for the lid to be removed for cleaning. If your stand is tall you might not have a problem.

I was looking at those skimmers but after talking to Jeremy at reef octopus, he recommended the diablo xs 160 which likes to be in 9-10" of water. I have mine on a 1" platform and it runs great. It's rated for tanks 100-160 gallons, and they make bigger versions as well.

 

[moondoggy4]

Have you tried the largest Eheim tubing might be a good fit. The barb looks small for a high flow pump, have you tried a good hardware store that has many options for the barbs. Are the threads US standard? Will this pump be internal?

 

[steelerspgh]

Have you tried the largest Eheim tubing might be a good fit. The barb looks small for a high flow pump, have you tried a good hardware store that has many options for the barbs. Are the threads US standard? Will this pump be internal?

i have 1" ID PVC flex tube, i would of course get the correct barb, that pic was only for reference to what i was talking about. i would get the 1" barb IF i can find the right threads to match the pump, thats what i was having a problem with, identifying the thread type on the pump to order the right barbed fitting.

 

[steelerspgh]

I believe you may have a potential problem with that sump and skimmer combo. That skimmer needs to be in 6-7 inches of water, and chamber 1 and 2 of your sump is baffled to be 10" in depth. You can raise the skimmer with egg crate, but 4" is kinda a lot. Make sure your stand has the clearance for the skimmer + stand/platform, and space for the lid to be removed for cleaning. If your stand is tall you might not have a problem.

I was looking at those skimmers but after talking to Jeremy at reef octopus, he recommended the diablo xs 160 which likes to be in 9-10" of water. I have mine on a 1" platform and it runs great. It's rated for tanks 100-160 gallons, and they make bigger versions as well.

dex, wow i didnt consider this at all. you should of saw me last night trying to get that XP-2000 to fit in the first chamber of the sump. its was like trying to fit a watermelon in a pinhole, but i got it in.



i'd hate to have to buy another 500$ skimmer, i guess im going to have to figure something out, i want to use that middle chamber for MMud and some mangrove so thats out of the question. thanks, bearer of bad news..:headwally:

 

[Dexters Reef]

I dunno if it's too late, but maybe you could return that skimmer of sell it on the forum as like new condition? It is a very good skimmer, I'm sure someone would buy it.

The next model skimmer up from me is the diablo xs 200. It's only 325$ so even if you lost a few bucks on the 2000, you would probably still end up saving money in the end.

I don't know the measurements of the xs200 off hand, but I have the xs160 and it fit in my ruby 30s just fine.

 

[SaltyWenStirred]

Good luck to you! Ex-military here too. I know you said you have your sand and rocks all figured out. Just want to add that I got mine from Macro rocks. They are gorgeous. Seeded it with 10% live from my local fish store and was cycled in under a month. It wound up being $2.62/lb. rather than $6-$7 at my local fish store.

 

[steelerspgh]

all plumbed up... need to leak test the tank.
Sold my unused 115g tank and Reef octopus sro-2000xp skimmer(thanks to dexter for the sump level info). time to get a good skimmer in the 500-600 $ range with a 9-10" sump level, suggestions are appreciated.
Now have to concentrate on lights.
2x radion? or 3x Ai vega(dont think the vegas work with the apex) or 4x kessil tuna blues... or wait for the new radions and not set up my tank until they are out.. GRRRRR
i also plan on getting the following:
neptune/apex controller
2x MP40es
calcium reactor and Flow regulator, i have an extra 5lb CO2 bottle from my beer meister.
id also like to get a pound of hundred dollar bills if anyone has an extra pound or two to offer...