Reefing in a 265 gallon 7 footer!

[abereefur]

Hi! Starting a build thread on a 7 foot long glass tank I just got in. Here are the specs:

84"lx30"wx24"h
5/8"glass, 2 side starphire, external overflow, eurobraced

I'm going with a two sump design, one gravity feeding to the other. The top sump holds the ATB Deluxe 12.5 skimmer, the calcium reactor, the Fauna Marin Zeovit reactor, and other media reactors. The bottom sump will hold a ton of live rock and filter socks.

For lighting, I have a Vertex Illumina 260 72" on which I've added three red modules. Flow will be provided by the return pump (Dolphin Amp Master) which will will be split to two outputs on WavySea rotators. There will be three MP60wES for supplemental flow. Here are pictures of the progress so far:

Building the stand...

Skimmer:

Tank brought home and placed on stand yesterday:

Under the stand will remain completely dry as the two sumps are going to stay to the left of the tank. We still have to skin the stand, but we decided to leave it for after the tank was delivered for ease of putting the tank itself on the stand.

 

[nctinter]

Did you build the stand yourself. It looks like the top rails are 2x4s?

 

[albano]

hope there are more 'uprights' installed than shown in first two pics!

 

[abereefur]

Of course there's more uprights. Those pictures are from a couple weeks ago. All 2x4s in the stand are either doubled or tripled up for strength.

 

[mjhall85]

Gonna be an awesome tank!

 

[Reef264]

I can feel the awesomeness already...

 

[Bello]

Very interested in your build, my main tank's with the same dimensions... very curious to see your scape, changed mine too many times already

 

[BlueDartReefer]

Exciting to see another 265 being set up. We set up ours up about seven months ago. dimensions are 84" L x 24" W x 30" H.

 

[TNTtropical]

Very beautiful setup!!! Can't wait to see it completed!

 

[jdm18honda]

Will you do anything for the window behind the tank

 

[scoly]

Very nice looking tank! Your going to love the 30" wide! Mine is like that just a we bit smaller. Only 5' long. Love it!

 

[abereefur]

Will you do anything for the window behind the tank

I'm not too sure what we're going to do about it yet, but we're probably going to tint them dark. They are staying in though for easy maintenance.

 

[nctinter]

Please make sure you consult with a professional window tinter before tinting the window. There are only certain types of film you can put on that glass unlike a car. Also you will not have to go dark if you get the correct film.

 

[abereefur]

It's been a good while since my last update, but the tank has since been fully cycled and up and running for a bit. We've begun the stocking phase. Here's how it's looking now.

 

[pgr11]

Tank is looking great. Im happy to see your progress. I just got my tank Filled with saltwater over the weekend ( same dims as your tank only acrylic) and cant wait to get it looking good. Yours is coming along nicely and the pics are great

 

[suoirotoN]

What kind of LED's are those?

 

[abereefur]

Tank is looking great. Im happy to see your progress. I just got my tank Filled with saltwater over the weekend ( same dims as your tank only acrylic) and cant wait to get it looking good. Yours is coming along nicely and the pics are great

Thanks! Good luck with your system.

What kind of LED's are those?

They are Vertex Illumina 260 LEDs. No optics are the way to go with LEDs.

 

[gmate]

This tank is GORGEOUS. I'm considering doing a side-sump setup as well, can you post a picture of the full setup + equipment/plumbing?

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[TheFishTeen]

Wow, that is an amazing (and huge) LED fixture. Amazing tank!

 

[abereefur]

Wow, that is an amazing (and huge) LED fixture. Amazing tank!

Thanks for the compliment! The maintenance isn't so bad either, once you get the schedule down. I'm looking forward to the day when this becomes a full blown grown out SPS tank.

This tank is GORGEOUS. I'm considering doing a side-sump setup as well, can you post a picture of the full setup + equipment/plumbing?

Thanks,
Glenn

Glenn,

I got a couple pictures uploaded of the setup for you, but they aren't super detailed. I'll have a detailed write-up for you soon. But for now, this is what I have.

This is where the water drains into filter socks:

Here is a view of the first sump stage. It drains down into the second sump on the far left. The second sump has no equipment other than heaters and pumps leading to various reactors and the main display.

We still need to have the stand skinned as well as have a cabinet made to conceal the equipment area.

FTS at sunset:

Light Detail:

Fish getting ready to bed down.