Upgrade Time... 210 gallon Build

[EddieJ]

Tank get wet for the first time!

Tank get wet for the first time!

Over the weekend I was able to get the plumbing completed, and man, PVC fumes SUCK! Well, the buzz can be cool I guess. In any case, progress has been made.

Here is the Herbie standpipes in the overflow. The full siphon is around 7 inches below the emergency which is at the same height at the weir in the overflow.

Here are some pictures from under the tank. There are 2 emergency and 2 full siphon drains. The full siphon drains are the ones with the gate valves on them. The return goes up the back over the top of the tank.

And last but not least, water hit the tank last night!! Pumped up around 80 gallons of saltwater from the basement. The Panworld performed flawlessly! Just a little drip for the true union. Just tightened the fitting and that fixed it. Tonight I plan on bringing up the rocks and add more water to the system.

 

[eckrynock]

Progress!! Nice to see water in the tank :xlbirthday:

 

[kayl]

Great build, can't wait to see it all come together!

 

[krjackso]

oh man I wish I had a basement sometimes. Really great work so far bud!

Quick question on the sand phos leaching project. How long did it take to get it all out? I have about 350 lbs of the same sand that I am about to begin the same process on.

 

[EddieJ]

Quick question on the sand phos leaching project. How long did it take to get it all out? I have about 350 lbs of the same sand that I am about to begin the same process on.

It has taken around 7 days. I changed out the water daily (except a couple of days I went 2 days) to export the PO4. Just keep testing till it drops below .03.

 

[EddieJ]

Last night my bud Jim came by and helped me bring the rock structures up from the basement and place them into the tank. Here is how the rocks look:

Tonight I added the sand. I love this Tropic Eden Reefflakes substrate!!! Look at how clear this water is after 10 minutes!! Yes, the tank is full of water in this picture.

I also used the overflows for the first time. The Herbie drains worked great after some adjustment. I do have to do some work on the collector tank in the basement.

More to come this weekend... I will start the 14 day Zeovit cycle on Sunday.

 

[EddieJ]

Houston, we have ignition...

Houston, we have ignition...

Busy weekend, glad the wife and kid were over her sisters so I could get all this done. Let's see, what fun is a project if you have everything go as planned? So the idea I had was to use a collector box, so to speak, just did not pan out. My idea was that I was going to use a 20 gallon tall to catch all the drains in. From there it would feed the skimmer and drain down the the main sump on the floor. I wanted to use this area for probes and dosing etc... Nope, scratch that idea. First thing was it was impossible to balance the drain to the sump. Under full siphon is pulls way too much, add air and the damn thing would just about overflow. So I scraped that idea and just punched a bulkhead into the rubbermaid for the GenX that feeds the skimmer.

Here is how the setup looks. The skimmer is off in this picture and what you see in the riser is just condensation..I am going to order an Avast Marine skimmate locker fairly soon. No stinky gunk to work about at this time so a bucket will do just fine for now.

Started the Zeovit 14 day start up cycle today. 50ML of ZeoBak, 100ML of ZeoStart and 30ML of Sponge Power. There are 2.5 liters of ZeoLites in the reactor below

And lastly I setup a temporary light rig as ZeoVit calls for light during the start up cycle. I should be able to start on the canopy next weekend if all goes well. The skimmer was putting out a heavy amount of micro bubbles as it is still breaking in, thus the water looks slightly cloudy.

 

[porthoslohnes]

Question..Did you just stack the rock? If not, how did you reinforce it to stay the way it is?

 

[EddieJ]

Question..Did you just stack the rock? If not, how did you reinforce it to stay the way it is?

I used E-Marco 400 Mortar from MarcoRocks with BRS Reef Saver dry rock. I recommend it highly. It is real easy to work with and creates super stong structures.

 

[marc18wheeler]

loving the build i too am in the process of my 210... like to see your plans for a sump... I am using a 100g tank that is 5'x18"x21" this should give me more than enough for what i need to do might do a frag section in my sump... I don't know yet ... but i would like to see plans... thanks i am using the swc 300 skimmer... excited to see that pup in action

 

[EddieJ]

Moving Day

Moving Day

Well the gang got moved this morning from their cozy 90 gallon they called home for almost 4 years to the new ranch.

Here is the gang!

I moved the corals down to the QT tank so I can de-pest them. My 90 was over run with astrenia stars and those crowd favorite aptasia!! I plan on moving them in next weekend. The sad news was that I lost an anemone :thumbdown. He suffered damage removing him from the rock he was attached to. I worked on those guys for over 2 hours!! Tried every trick in the book, powerhead aimed at them, icecube on the foot, etc... Good news is I was able to get the larger one off the rock and he appears to be doing fine in the QT!

Hurry up with my anemone dude!!!

 

[strout]

Made some more progress on the build today. Drilled the 20 gallon tank for the skimmer feed and flow through. Man, first time I drilled glass and is that a exercise in patience! And this was with very thin glass, I can't imagine how long it takes to drill 1/2 inch and thicker glass!

I also ran a dedicated 20 amp service line. The breaker is an AFCI, which protects the line from arcing which causes most aquarium fires.

At the other end is a GFCI protected receptacle box.

The AFCI protects my house from fire, and the GFCI protects me. If you are going to run a dedicated line, spend the extra $40 and get a AFCI breaker. The most common cause of fire is saltwater spray/creep causing arcs which ignite a fire.

Thanks for that advice. I am fixing to have two lines run in the house for the new tank, will make sure my electrician sees your post on this.

 

[JasonKlink]

Are you doing over the tank returns?

 

[Matt1351]

Any pictures of the canopy.

 

[EddieJ]

Are you doing over the tank returns?

Yes, the return comes over the back.

 

[EddieJ]

Any pictures of the canopy.

Constuction of the canopy should start next weekend.

 

[Matt1351]

Cool I am in the process of starting one here soon too.

 

[Haxer]

Do you feel the MP40 is enough or do you wish you had a MP60 ? I have a 210 also and I am torn between 2 MP40's or 2 MP60's...

 

[EddieJ]

Do you feel the MP40 is enough or do you wish you had a MP60 ? I have a 210 also and I am torn between 2 MP40's or 2 MP60's...

I think the 2 mp40s are a good start. As the coral growth thickens I will most likely go to 2 mp60s at that time.

 

[EddieJ]

20 days in and the tank is looking pretty good. The fish have settled in and I may bring a couple of my softies/LPS up from the QT tank this weekend. The water parameters are looking pretty solid, except for the high MG.

PO4 .01
ALK 6.8
NO3 0
CA 480
MG 1480
NH4 0
K 400
Salinity 34ppt
PH 8.0 - 8.16

Here is a picture from tonight.

Now if I can only get started on the canopy!!