Planning a 225g reef tank

I got the calcium reactor today. For some reason they shipped the PF601S instead of the PF600. That's no problem, so long as it fits under the stand. I assume it will but I won't know until I get the skimmer & kalk mixer. I might have to relocate the CO2 tank, but I was thinking of doing that anyways. This sure is a nice unit, looks very well built.

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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8413732#post8413732 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DaveWC

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I'm using the newest version of Firefox. Does this image look wrong to anyone else, or is it my browser?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8395526#post8395526 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
I would imagine you'll need to use some type of power compacts would work. They come in enclosed fixtures that can span your sump and light the area.
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You're right. The best I could find is a Coralife 24" Aqualight. It fits perfect, and has two 65w PC bulbs... even a fan.

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The tank is now built, is curing & being water tested. I hope it will ship in a week or so. The skimmer & kalk mixer should be coming soon. The rest of the equipment will come with the tank.

Next week I plan to get most of the plumbing done. The holes are drilled on the tank and I've got the details of where they are, pictures to support it. So I should be able to get the plumbing supplies now. I figure I'll drill the plywood & styro that the tank sits on and then drill the shelf below and just drop the plumbing straight down into the sump. I'll also have to route one pipe over to the skimmer and then to the sump but the returns can come straight up to the tank as well. I want to do this now so I can figure out where I can mount the UV since it will be strapped to the underside of the shelf.

I'm also going to get the wood for the shroud for the tank stand. I'm leaning towards birch plywood. It's very smooth & flat and should look great. I want to have 3 separate doors to the stand, one for each section & two sides. The height of the wood will be 2" taller then the stand so it will cover the plywood, styro and the bottom pane of glass. It will also extend 1" beyond the back edge of the stand to keep my cat out of there. I want to make cutouts on the doors for the DJ panel, Aquatronica controller & Tunze controller. I figure if I don't I'll just be constantly removing the boards to see what's going on.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8365424#post8365424 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DaveWC
Today I got an ozone reactor, air & water carbon filter from Marine Technical Concepts. It looks really good, well built. It allows me to use ozone without risking my Deltec skimmer.


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Hi dave ur set up is very well plan. :smokin:
BTW what that inside the chamber??
 
It looks like plastic shavings. The idea of the ozone reactor is to provide an environment that will maximize the contact between the water & the ozone. I guess that stuff helps spread out the water. This unit is the opposite of injecting ozone into a skimmer. In a skimmer you have a container of water that you inject ozone into. This unit will be a container of pressurized ozone gas that you drip water into. It's supposed to work better and won't damage your skimmer.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8427755#post8427755 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DaveWC
I'm also going to get the wood for the shroud for the tank stand. I'm leaning towards birch plywood. It's very smooth & flat and should look great.
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Change of plans. I bought some 1/2" MDF today. It's flatter, smoother and will look better once the edges are routered. At least that's what my Interior Designer wife tells me adamantly. It will be sealed and sprayed with a charcoal grey lacquer finish. I'm going to cut out the frame on one piece of MDF, the one that covers the section with all of the equipment, and put in a hinged door. The frame will still be mounted on magnets so I can totally remove it, but it will be easier to open/close a hinged door rather then yanking off a magnetized piece of wood each time I want to see how my skimmer is doing. For the Tunze & Aquatronica controllers I'm just going to drill holes large enough for the cables and mount the controllers on the outside of the MDF. Much easier then cutting out sections & the controller will be supported by the wood.
 
Long post here, lots of pics so sorry to dialup folks. I had some time & I wanted to determine whether I could do the aquascaping without PVC, acrylic rods or cement. So I taped off the tank inside dimensions, laid down the starboard and pretended that I had my tank. Call it boredom, planning or just impatience waiting for the tank. Insanity is more like it. I started out wanting a couple of lopsided, different sized islands and ended up with a bit more then that. I'm trying to avoid the "wall of rock" look that I've seen, as well as trying to keep the rock away from the glass to allow cleaning of all sides. I may have come closer to the wall-look then I want but it's my first attempt and I think it's pretty good. This rock will certainly provide a lot of places for coral placement. Unfortunately I don't have that much floor space to lay it out so I am not able to get any pics from the full frontal look of the rock. Here's the best I could do. I'm not tied to this look so feel free to voice your opinions...

Looking to the right side from the front...
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More detail of front, right end...
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Same end, different angle...
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Left end while looking to the right...
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Looking towards the left side from the front...
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Gap between right & left side, might remove the joining rock & leave empty...
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Another angle of left side...
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Left end...
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When it comes to assembling this in the tank I plan to do it this way again and get it the way I want it and then move it piece by piece into the tank room & into the tank. It's much easier to manipulate the rock & find the best fit this way rather then in a glass tank. And this rock fit together very solidly, without anything holding it together other then its own weight. Any comments?
 
I really love the rock that you have!The way you laid it out would look killer if the tank was set up as a peninsulla or 4 sides viewed.If that is your intention,perfect!I think your wife is right about the wood.If you want to have the stand noticed as a piece of furniture then go with the birch.When the room lights are off and all you see is the display tank,well mdf painted black disapperes and you only see the important part.What you have now makes me want to re think my tank placement plan.
 
The return pump fits, ha ha ha. But yeah, I can get my arm in there and touch the bottom & back. It will be tight though & probably would have been better to make the sump 2" shorter.
 
The stand is done. I used 1/2" MDF with primer & 3 coats of alkyd paint to seal it. It's a nice charcoal grey. The panels are held to the stand with four 1/2" rare earth magnets. There is a slot for the DJ panel to pop out so I don't have to remove the panel to turn on/off devices. I ditched the other DJ panel and will access those devices through the Aquatronica controller, which is also mounted on the outside of the stand. So I can control everything from the front of the stand.

I made the height of the panels 2 1/2" taller then the top of the steel so it will cover the 3/4" plywood, 3/4" styro and the bottom pane of the tank.

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