225 gallon Oceanic tank build, need some help!

[Andrew Henry]

Hey all,

I know I'm pretty new here but I've seen a lot of great advice/help given here so I thought I'd give it a shot. I got into SW pretty recently compared to a lot of people, I currently have a 55 gallon tank with a T5 fixture atop, I decided rather than slowly increasing tank size I'd just skip ahead and go as large as I can. This is what I have already:

Oceanic Ultimate 225 gallon w/ Starphire glass, dual 1" 600 gph overflows for a total of 1200 gph

3 x 250W MH / 4 x 96W PC Actinic fixture for a total of 1,134 watts.

Lifereef SVS3-24 Protein Skimmer

2 x Koralia 4s 1200gph

Custom Solid Pine stand the holes are already cut out for the plumbing

This is what I am planning on that I need to buy:

Controller: Digital Aquatics ReefKeeper Lite - Level 3 which comes with 8 outlets, PH / Temp probe etc.

Sump / Refugium: ADHI-Refugia 60 42x18x18 w/ PC lighting over the refugium and dual 1" drain inlets*

Return Pump: Panworld 100PX-X / 1270 gph

Heating: 2 x 500W Finnex Heating Elements (these have no thermostat but will be controlled by the RKL)

Sand: I'm thinking that I'd like to do a DSB so about 6"? I plan to have a couple species that require soft substrate, so what brand is recommended? I'd really like to have black sand if possible.

Live Rock: I have about 60 - 75 lbs in my tank already, and plan to make 2 islands on either side, so that the fish have a figure 8 to swim. Since I already have some LR, I'm thinking about buying 100 lbs of Marco's Rock, comments?

That's all that I can currently think of, if I'm missing something please do let me know, if there's anything that you think I should change out for something better please don't hesitate.

I don't have a stocking list yet, there's only 4 fish that will for sure be in the tank:

1.5" Hippo Tang
3.5" Blue Spotted Jawfish
2" Pair Black Percula Clownfish

Ideally I'd like to keep a mixed reef with Softies, LPS, and very few SPS. I was also planning to add a ATO system by using a separate 10 gallon tank and just filling that up as necessary, as I live in an apartment everything will be underneath the stand.*

As I said, all questions and comments are welcome, I want to do this right the first time!

Thanks for your time and help!

 

[ccCapt]

Welcome to AA and Good Luck on the project!
Your list looks good, but I have a few suggestions.
2 x Koralia 4s 1200gph That's not alot of flow for a 225. I have 4 K-4's and 1 K-3 in my 125.
I'd really like to have black sand if possible. I would suggest not using black sand. It always ends up looking like crap. Just buy some CaribSea dry aragonite.
I'm thinking about buying 100 lbs of Marco's Rock, comments? Great rock, but it will start a cycle since it's really just dried out live rock. It has all kinds of dead sea creatures in it. We found a few dried up brittle stars in some.

 

[Andrew Henry]

Welcome to AA and Good Luck on the project!
Your list looks good, but I have a few suggestions.
2 x Koralia 4s 1200gph That's not alot of flow for a 225. I have 4 K-4's and 1 K-3 in my 125.
I'd really like to have black sand if possible. I would suggest not using black sand. It always ends up looking like crap. Just buy some CaribSea dry aragonite.
I'm thinking about buying 100 lbs of Marco's Rock, comments? Great rock, but it will start a cycle since it's really just dried out live rock. It has all kinds of dead sea creatures in it. We found a few dried up brittle stars in some.

Along with returns from the sump there should be roughly 4800 gph which would be 21x turnover, I'm thinking about upgrading to the Koralia 8s for more flow!

After looking around I kind of figured black sand would only look good in the beginning, I think I'm going to go with Caribsea Reef Grade sand.

About the Marcos Rock I understand that it has to cycle which is fine with me, as I'm going to allow the tank to be setup for 4 - 6 weeks before putting anything in it.

Thanks!

 

[melosu58]

Good luck with the build. Everything looks good. I think Larry has you covered on the same things I had questions on.

 

[sgc0286]

Dont forget the pics

 

[Andrew Henry]

Good luck with the build. Everything looks good. I think Larry has you covered on the same things I had questions on.

Thanks! I was honestly thinking about picking up a pair of Vortech MP-40W but are really worth the $800+ that it will cost? I just can't justify that amount of money for something I believe isn't worth it.

I also picked up a Vertex UF20 Media Reactor w/ a Eheim 1048 pump that I'm going to be running carbon in full time, as I believe running carbon really helps.

Here's what it looks like as it sits:

 

[mfdrookie516]

wow i really like the unfinished look of the stand. looks really nice! Do you own an lfs or something (looks like one from the pics)

 

[Andrew Henry]

wow i really like the unfinished look of the stand. looks really nice! Do you own an lfs or something (looks like one from the pics)

It is in a LFS, a good friend of mine owns it, but I volunteer as much time there as I can, it's sitting there so that I can do the plumbing and when it comes time to move it to my house, it'll be all ready to go, set it where I want and fill it with water!

 

[sgc0286]

That does look great. What kind of stain/finish did they/you use on it if any?

 

[Andrew Henry]

That does look great. What kind of stain/finish did they/you use on it if any?

It's unfinished as of now, but I'm really digging the unfinished look so I'm thinking about just putting a layer of clear over it and leaving it as is, it really makes the tank stand out!

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[Mitchell0605]

It looks good. Nice tank. Does it have anything covering the water like glass or screen? You will probably want some good screen on top to stop anything jumping but also it won't prevent gas exchange.

 

[Andrew Henry]

It looks good. Nice tank. Does it have anything covering the water like glass or screen? You will probably want some good screen on top to stop anything jumping but also it won't prevent gas exchange.

Hey,

Yeah it came with hinged glass tops so I'm gong to see how those work out, if they cut down on the gas exchange too bad I'll probably just leave the hinged part open during the day I have other animals in the house so some kind of tops are a neccesity. Thanks for the comments guys!

Andrew

 

[austinsdad]

Definitely do all of the interior of the stand with one or two coats of polyurethane to protect from water and salt creep.

 

[mdaniel2882]

Along with returns from the sump there should be roughly 4800 gph which would be 21x turnover, I'm thinking about upgrading to the Koralia 8s for more flow!

Thanks!

I would go with more powerhead's instead of bigger ones. mayme 4 or 6 k-4's. It is much easier to control flow patterns with more pumps.

 

[Andrew Henry]

I would go with more powerhead's instead of bigger ones. mayme 4 or 6 k-4's. It is much easier to control flow patterns with more pumps.

True, they're just so big and gaudy, I'd hate to have to see that many of those ugly things all over the tank, so I'm really considering a pair of MP-40s which would add ~6,000 gph of flow for a total of almost 11,000 gph.. Just gotta justify the price...

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[jcarlilesiu]

Hey,

Yeah it came with hinged glass tops so I'm gong to see how those work out, if they cut down on the gas exchange too bad I'll probably just leave the hinged part open during the day I have other animals in the house so some kind of tops are a neccesity. Thanks for the comments guys!

Andrew

I have two cats and a dog. When I had a freshwater tank, the cats prefered to drink out of that. Just got the 150 Reef set up and the cat gave it a shot. The look on their face was priceless. Basically "Eww, no thanks" and haven't went back up there again.

If you are worried about cats, they know to stay away from saltwater.

 

[eyring2210]

I have two cats and a dog. When I had a freshwater tank, the cats prefered to drink out of that. Just got the 150 Reef set up and the cat gave it a shot. The look on their face was priceless. Basically "Eww, no thanks" and haven't went back up there again.

If you are worried about cats, they know to stay away from saltwater.

Now THATS funny!!!