Reef908's 180 Gallon Upgrade

[Reef908]

Well due to an unexpected circumstance combined with the purchase and move into a new house, I am finally pulling the trigger on my long awaited upgrade! Long story short my 75 gallon aquarium sprung a leak along the front seam randomly. Luckily I was watching tv when I noticed my ATO timer going off that either the water was to high in the sump or that it ran out of time filling up to the appropriate level. To my surprise, there was a near empty return section and about 5 gallons of water in my stand. I immediately went into clean up mode and shut the tank off. While cleaning up I notice the drips coming from the bottom of the tank and I began to drain and empty the tank. I moved my corals into my QT tank and put fish and live rock in some 35 gallon totes I have. Sadly I've lost all my small sps frags but all fish, softies and lps have been doing ok in their temp homes.

So for the new tank I am going with a marineland 180 drilled for the Synergy Reef shadow box with 2 drilled returns. My LFS is delivering the tank same day as my move next week which will give me at least a week to set up and get going as I'd like before I need to move the fish totes out of the apartment. All my live rock have been kept in a heated bin with snails and crabs for the last month with some ghost feedings to keep the bacteria alive. I have approximately 70 lbs of live reefsaver rock, 20 lbs of live Fiji shelf rock, and then about 20 lbs of now dry pukani and 25 lbs of dry Fiji complex branch rock.

Here are some poor iPhone pics of the leaking 75 gallon tank and my last pic prior to the leak...

 

[Reef908]

As for equipment, I have leveraged the BRS group buy this weekend and bought some goodies. I have so far either already had or acquired:

• 3 KESSIL A360W-E TUNA BLUE
• 2 MP40qd
• 16" Shadow Overflow
• 140 lbs of rock
• Various plumbing parts
• Custom white wood stand
• Used 60 gallon acrylic sump (unsure of brand at the moment)

I am still working out what I will use for the return pump and skimmer. I will have 2 3/4" returns drilled and have been looking at the Sicce 5.0 or the Eheim compaction 5000. Anyone have any thoughts on these two returns? I have used the Eheim 1260 universal for several years without any issues and is super silent. I will be using this pump to run water to my refugium in the sump. I have been debating going with a submersible DC pump like the vectra M1 but it seems to get mixed reviews on reliability.

 

[RedStangGA]

I am actually using a Syncra 5 on my 220 that I just put water in. At first I thought it was too little flow to start the siphon but on the second and subsequent tests the siphon started right up.

I could be wrong but I doubt the MP40's will be enough flow long term. And, I'm not sure that 3 A360's are enough lite long term. I use an A360 over my 60 cube and had trouble with shadowing. Some T5 supplements might go a long ways towards helping with that.

Good luck! Bet you can't wait to get everything back in one tank!

 

[Reef908]

I definitely can't wait! Shockingly my purple tang and regal angel have not bickered at all from what I can tell in their cramped home and are looking fatter than before the leak!

Valid point with the Kessils and I have tried to find as much info as I could on these. In the videos I have seen, some needed additional light (like T5 or LED strips) or some have had good growth and not needed more light. I am open to supplemental lighting once it's up and running if I think I need it. Regardless, these lights will be a big upgrade to my LED strips! Haha

With the MP40s, I definitely think I will need a third at the minimum. I had 2 on the 75 so these are carry over to the new tank. I have a bunch of koralias lying around if I need them short term but my goal is to have no wires in the display tank.

And with return pump, do you find it to be as quiet as advertised?

 

[RedStangGA]

I definitely can't wait! Shockingly my purple tang and regal angel have not bickered at all from what I can tell in their cramped home and are looking fatter than before the leak!

Valid point with the Kessils and I have tried to find as much info as I could on these. In the videos I have seen, some needed additional light (like T5 or LED strips) or some have had good growth and not needed more light. I am open to supplemental lighting once it's up and running if I think I need it. Regardless, these lights will be a big upgrade to my LED strips! Haha

With the MP40s, I definitely think I will need a third at the minimum. I had 2 on the 75 so these are carry over to the new tank. I have a bunch of koralias lying around if I need them short term but my goal is to have no wires in the display tank.

And with return pump, do you find it to be as quiet as advertised?

Don't get me wrong, I've loved my A360 enough to go with AP700's on the 220! Great lights IMO. I plan on adding T5's down the road, no reason to at the start.

I use an MP40 on my 60 cube. I do like it but have had occasional noise issues with it and a wet side go bad. I wish they still sold rebuild kits so we could fix our own wet sides vs always buying a new one. That kind of burned me on them for now. Looking at Tunze's for my build. As for the wires, I have a wire to my return and skimmer. A couple actually in the DT won't matter and the only people that have ever commented on my equipment or fellow reefers. Your friend/family member who sees the tank won't care about the wires.

For the Sicce, it's quiet'ish. I haven't fooled with it much to make sure it's on the silicone mat I put in the sump yet nor have I trimmed the silicone tubing to the exact length. It's a little long which tends to push the pump over to a sump wall and create a little noise. In short though, it's quieter than my skimmer lol! I may see about getting some mass loaded vinyl to hang on the back of my cabinet and see how much that cuts back the noise. It should help significantly.

 

[Reef908]

Don't get me wrong, I've loved my A360 enough to go with AP700's on the 220! Great lights IMO. I plan on adding T5's down the road, no reason to at the start.

I use an MP40 on my 60 cube. I do like it but have had occasional noise issues with it and a wet side go bad. I wish they still sold rebuild kits so we could fix our own wet sides vs always buying a new one. That kind of burned me on them for now. Looking at Tunze's for my build. As for the wires, I have a wire to my return and skimmer. A couple actually in the DT won't matter and the only people that have ever commented on my equipment or fellow reefers. Your friend/family member who sees the tank won't care about the wires.

For the Sicce, it's quiet'ish. I haven't fooled with it much to make sure it's on the silicone mat I put in the sump yet nor have I trimmed the silicone tubing to the exact length. It's a little long which tends to push the pump over to a sump wall and create a little noise. In short though, it's quieter than my skimmer lol! I may see about getting some mass loaded vinyl to hang on the back of my cabinet and see how much that cuts back the noise. It should help significantly.

Yup! The only thing my friends and family ever comment on are the fish anyway lol. My want of no wires is purely personal cosmetic appeal for me along with the mesh tops I'll use to keep my fish from jumping out. Before I got the MP40s I had a bunch of koralias and the wires coming out made the screens not sit right and I personally hated the look. Guess I have mild OCD haha. I've had the MPs for well over a year now with the reeflink, and they have been great for me so far and very quiet.

Thanks for letting me know about your experience with the sicce pump. I think I am going to pull the trigger and go with that one plus the silicone mat BRS sells. I plan on running vynl tubing out of the return to the barbed pvc and into the hard pipe pvc return lines to help cut down noise.

I just read through your thread and it's looking good! Did you fill your tank with RODI and mix salt in tank with the sand in it or did you mix separately and then pour in?

 

[RedStangGA]

I just read through your thread and it's looking good! Did you fill your tank with RODI and mix salt in tank with the sand in it or did you mix separately and then pour in?

Little bit of both. I started with 55gal mixed and supplemented with 30gal RODI when a brute would fill up. I waited until the sump was operational to add the rest of the salt as it seems to mix the best down there.

 

[Reef908]

Little bit of both. I started with 55gal mixed and supplemented with 30gal RODI when a brute would fill up. I waited until the sump was operational to add the rest of the salt as it seems to mix the best down there.

I filled the 75 and mixed in tank but I did not have sand or rock in it. I then added the rocks and had displacement fill the sump and then I adjusted and pulled out a bit of water. Worked well.

So I managed to order the sicce return with less than an hour left of the 10% group buy. The waiting game for my new toys has begun!

 

[RedStangGA]

I filled the 75 and mixed in tank but I did not have sand or rock in it. I then added the rocks and had displacement fill the sump and then I adjusted and pulled out a bit of water. Worked well.

So I managed to order the sicce return with less than an hour left of the 10% group buy. The waiting game for my new toys has begun!

I've done it that way as well. Both work.

Good deal on the return!

 

[Reef908]

Well the 180 came in at the LFS but unfortunately I do not have the overflow yet as it is being delivered tomorrow. I am about to head out to Cancun for the rest of the week so the drilling will have to wait until next week so I can bring the template over to LFS to drill.

Meanwhile, I am debating on getting about 60-70 LBS more of pukani from BRS. I have enough rock for my current bioload but I feel like I'd like to try and make a cool aquascape. I have been watching videos on how easy it is to work with the pukani so I have been debating on taking that plunge and dealing with the possibility of a longer cycle rather than using my already cured live rock. Decisions, Decisions....

 

[Reef908]

Well I'm back from Cancun and have a big week ahead with the move and getting this new tank up and running. Tank is set for Friday delivery and I went to the LFS today to drop off the overflow. They are drilling it today actually.

Additionally I also received most of my goodies from BRS today and I placed an order for 70lbs of pukani which should be in later this week. I have close to 100 lbs of cured rock so I am not concerned about getting this up and running with my current bioload. I'm debating whether to use the acid soak and then seed with the live rock approach or cure long and slow in a brute.

And finally, last update on the fish side of things. All current livestock are still going strong in their temp tank. I also grabbed a small tomini and powder blue tang to begin their TTM and qt. I don't want my resident purple tang to claim the whole tank right away and keep me from adding other tangs! He will be the bigger of the 3 but my regal still runs the tank (as of now). I also got a larger male swallow tail that looks amazing! He will be doing qt with the tangs. He was definitely an impulse buy but I have wanted to add another angel or two to this new tank with the swallowtail being on the short list of ones I like and have researched. Hopefully the QT will go alright even with the move.

 

[Reef908]

Today is moving day which also means tank delivery day!! I'm super excited to get this project going. Yesterday I made two round trips to the new house with all the fish and coral. It was a lot of work and directly resulted in my lack of packing up the kitchen for the movers but oh well lol. The fish are healthy and doing well but now I need to fully clean my QT tank before the movers get here to haul it off. It turned more into a coral and invert holding tank since my 75 started leaking over a month ago so it's full of filth and smells nasty. I have the coral on my kitchen counter in the 20 long currently and fish are still in their 35 gallon brute. I'll post some pics when I can later!

 

[Reef908]

Long day but tank is in the house! Completely level at the moment. Just have to push about a foot closer to the wall once it's ready to get wet. Way more pics to come....

 

[ScubaSteve826]

Looking nice can't wait to see a rock scape

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

Looks great

 

[Reef908]

Thanks! Tomorrow I need to start sealing the tank bottom and will start to dry plumb. Hopefully my mental image of how the plumbing will go was accurate enough and I have all the necessary parts. Will be a ton of work but I have a goal for myself to be wet by labor day weekend. We will see if that happens but I need to set a timeframe lol...

 

[Reef908]

So I have made some forward progress. First let's start with my first issue although minor. The bulkheads the LFS used have a threaded end but I have slip 90s that I'm using for the returns. Decided to get a few more supplies while ordering the female pipe adaptors. I got one from Home Depot in schedule 40 white and it works so I ordered the schedule 80 from BRS to keep with the rest of the schedule 80 pvc I already ordered.

Meanwhile I continued with what I could do. Last night I siliconed the bottom of the stand and applied a layer of marine grade varnish. This evening I did the mauratic acid bath of the new pukani rocks. I soaked to an hour but I am not sure if it was enough time. I waited until the bubbles stopped and added more acid but there was not much of a reaction. I waited another 10 minutes or so and then added the baking soda. Anyone have any thoughts to this? Should I plan on doing one more soak?

 

[Reef908]

Quick update. I managed to paint the first coat of black paint on the back pane of the glass Tuesday. Came out pretty good when viewing from the front but still needs one more coat. I am out in LA right now for work but I got notification that the BRS plumbing supplies were delivered. My neighbor gathered my packages so they are not sitting on the porch for the next few nights while I am gone (new house is in an up and coming area and apparently still have package and mail thefts on the regular).

Also, my new skimmer came on Tuesday evening, but I have not had a chance to inspect it. I went with the SCA-302 since I have been having great success with the 301. I have no issues upgrading to a better model if needed, but my experience with the 301 has me hoping the 302 will be able to handle the bio-load. I get back around midnight Friday so Saturday will be a big day of plumbing (and hopefully aquascaping) to get this tank ready for water by my goal of next weekend!

 

[Reef908]

Big day today. Did last coat of the black paint on the back panel and plumbed the tank up! Did the dry fit and then went back an glued everything. Hopefully there will be no leaks when I start adding water. Tomorrow I'll start on aquascaping so hopefully I can begin to fill this guy!

 

[Reef908]

Started filling last night around 1130 and this will be a long process lol. I'm pretty happy with the scape even though the pukani was larger than I thought once in the tank. I carved a few pass throughs into some of the pieces as well.