the new mcdoubl
New member
so i have finally gotten around to making this build thread for my 265g tank. This tank has been in the works for some time now but its finally setup and ready for livestock.
for starters, the tank is 7 feet long x 24 inches wide x 31 inches deep. it has dual corner overflows and its on a matching wooden stand with a 45 gallon acrylic sump. the sump was originally setup for bioballs but i got creative and made it work very well for my setup. I think the return pump is 1200 gph but i have it throttled back a wee bit. im still doing a little bit of fine tuning with the sump because of an issue with micro bubbles i was having but it seems to be improving daily.
as far as water movement goes i have 2 koralia evolution powerheads that are rated at 1200gph. i have some smaller ones that i might throw in just for more flow but we will see. i want to make waves in this tank but i dont really want the large price tag of mp40's so im looking into some ideas that ive been researching that i will reveal as i develop on them further. for now ill stick to what ive got which is decent.
Ive got a ton of rock in this tank. im not sure how much exactly but i got a bunch of dry stuff from joe and i got another 80 or so pounds from gregandamanda. that in combo with what i already had = alot
for the lighting i went with leds and after much debate with myself(im very indesisive) i settled on a compramise. i wanted to it myself and do something new that no one had yet (or at least not many, and probably no one here) but i liked the idea of not having to spend hours soldering leds. so i went, instead with a new company on the scene of aquarium leds. the company is "allbrite signs &details" and they just added a new section of their buisness called "Auraled custom led". The guy who owns the company is really friendly and helpful and he works with you every step of the way. not to mention the prices are much lower than anyone elses (his name is mark st. clair btw). Now obviously im taking a risk because these guys are new and sometimes you get what you pay for but he does offer a 2 year full warranty on all parts and labor. So ill be able to let you guys know over time how they work for me and maybe some of you will take the same route.
the leds are blue white and there is a strip of red that goes down the middle. they are dimmable if you get the dimmer (i didnt because im looking into sunrise sunset controllers first) and they each have their own plug. in my case i have 6 plugs because instead of one large cumbersome 7 foot hood we decided that 2 hoods would be better. controlling everything right now is the reefkeeper 2 that i picked up for 50 bucks from Taqpol. it had everything i needed and it was super cheap so im pretty happy about that right now.
the next thing on the horizon is going to be an ATO and soon as i decide on which one i would like to buy. and also moon lights. im currently running bio pellets but im not sure if i want to keep on with it because ever since ive had them(probably about 3 months) i havent been able to get them to stop clumping. its just a huge pain in my butt so i might just forget it.
and now to the pics because :want_pics:
heres the tank right after i got it into my apartment. i should have taken pics of that ordeal, because believe me, it was definitely a headache.
this is the 55 that i had my livestock in temporarily. unfortunately my manderin and my engineer goby didnt make it through the transition (which was A LOT longer than i thought it was going to be) :No:. luckily my glass is already crawling with pods so in a few months ill be able to get another mandy.
BTW i would also like to point out how helpful mike fisher has been. he is currently holding my other corals because the lights on the 55 way before i had new home for them. so thanks again mike
here we see the ro/di unit that i got from pure water club. this thing is great and it was able to fill my tank in a weekend.
I know its silly to buy "live sand" but this was the only sand i could find that was the texture i wanted so i was kinda forced into it. but hey it looks good and thats all that counts
got all the sand into the tank and was ready to start filling up. this was on a friday night so it had all weekend to fill
that bathroom next to the tank is my unofficial fish room. i only use it for storing my ro/di water jugs and for making messes lol
and this is my "fish closet". its a mess. i cleaned it up a bit this weekend but i dont have any pics of it yet because its not organized yet.
for starters, the tank is 7 feet long x 24 inches wide x 31 inches deep. it has dual corner overflows and its on a matching wooden stand with a 45 gallon acrylic sump. the sump was originally setup for bioballs but i got creative and made it work very well for my setup. I think the return pump is 1200 gph but i have it throttled back a wee bit. im still doing a little bit of fine tuning with the sump because of an issue with micro bubbles i was having but it seems to be improving daily.
as far as water movement goes i have 2 koralia evolution powerheads that are rated at 1200gph. i have some smaller ones that i might throw in just for more flow but we will see. i want to make waves in this tank but i dont really want the large price tag of mp40's so im looking into some ideas that ive been researching that i will reveal as i develop on them further. for now ill stick to what ive got which is decent.
Ive got a ton of rock in this tank. im not sure how much exactly but i got a bunch of dry stuff from joe and i got another 80 or so pounds from gregandamanda. that in combo with what i already had = alot
for the lighting i went with leds and after much debate with myself(im very indesisive) i settled on a compramise. i wanted to it myself and do something new that no one had yet (or at least not many, and probably no one here) but i liked the idea of not having to spend hours soldering leds. so i went, instead with a new company on the scene of aquarium leds. the company is "allbrite signs &details" and they just added a new section of their buisness called "Auraled custom led". The guy who owns the company is really friendly and helpful and he works with you every step of the way. not to mention the prices are much lower than anyone elses (his name is mark st. clair btw). Now obviously im taking a risk because these guys are new and sometimes you get what you pay for but he does offer a 2 year full warranty on all parts and labor. So ill be able to let you guys know over time how they work for me and maybe some of you will take the same route.
the leds are blue white and there is a strip of red that goes down the middle. they are dimmable if you get the dimmer (i didnt because im looking into sunrise sunset controllers first) and they each have their own plug. in my case i have 6 plugs because instead of one large cumbersome 7 foot hood we decided that 2 hoods would be better. controlling everything right now is the reefkeeper 2 that i picked up for 50 bucks from Taqpol. it had everything i needed and it was super cheap so im pretty happy about that right now.
the next thing on the horizon is going to be an ATO and soon as i decide on which one i would like to buy. and also moon lights. im currently running bio pellets but im not sure if i want to keep on with it because ever since ive had them(probably about 3 months) i havent been able to get them to stop clumping. its just a huge pain in my butt so i might just forget it.
and now to the pics because :want_pics:
heres the tank right after i got it into my apartment. i should have taken pics of that ordeal, because believe me, it was definitely a headache.
this is the 55 that i had my livestock in temporarily. unfortunately my manderin and my engineer goby didnt make it through the transition (which was A LOT longer than i thought it was going to be) :No:. luckily my glass is already crawling with pods so in a few months ill be able to get another mandy.
BTW i would also like to point out how helpful mike fisher has been. he is currently holding my other corals because the lights on the 55 way before i had new home for them. so thanks again mike
here we see the ro/di unit that i got from pure water club. this thing is great and it was able to fill my tank in a weekend.
I know its silly to buy "live sand" but this was the only sand i could find that was the texture i wanted so i was kinda forced into it. but hey it looks good and thats all that counts
got all the sand into the tank and was ready to start filling up. this was on a friday night so it had all weekend to fill
that bathroom next to the tank is my unofficial fish room. i only use it for storing my ro/di water jugs and for making messes lol
and this is my "fish closet". its a mess. i cleaned it up a bit this weekend but i dont have any pics of it yet because its not organized yet.
