220 Gallon Reef-Build Thread

[hackteck]

yea im sure its gonna be great

 

[Purevil21]

Carey, I am sure your 125 is going to be a beautiful reef! A little effort goes a long way, and you put a TON of effort in you tanks, lol. I am just happy that my wait should be over in 4 weeks and not 6-8.

 

[carey]

Gives you less time now to plan the equipment. lol You got alot of work ahead of you. I don't envy you that. hehe I'm still stuck on my lighting, I need to sell the tank Ijust listed on cl and I'll have them. I can def not afford anything new really so I'll be going so slow.

Are you planning on adding more base rock? I think reefcleaners still has their rock on sale, I've been eying it myself. Also, are you going the cheap route with substrate ie: real sand or pool sand? I was thinking on using the pool sand everyone recommends but I;m not sure.

 

[Purevil21]

I am still in the air on Sand, I know I will not get pure white sand next time, it showed EVERYTHING! Yes, I am doing ALL base rock to ensure I get no hitch hikers, I don't want to begin thinking about trying to fish a hitch hiker out of there.

 

[Purevil21]

A buddy of mine came up with a sump design that is going to let me use most of the 55 as a refuge, I have to verify some measurements, but if it works I should have about a 40 gallon fuge.

 

[carey]

Sounds good. I'm still 100% unsure of my sump plans. I wish I just could go without. lol

 

[Purevil21]

Pics coming tonight, got the 55 cleaned up and I am ready to start building the sump. I also moved things out of my house to clear the area where the tank is going, the waiting continues for the tank. Called my LFS, should have a definite date next week.

 

[hackteck]

its like watching paint dry i bet waiting for that tank lol

 

[Purevil21]

It's so much worse than that, it is making me nuts. I am planning everything around it, I have picked a sump design, skimmer, lights (I'm going with the halides-T5 combo), I bought the RODI filter last week. Atleast I am making the most of my waiting time. I get my tank fix on here seeing everyone else's beautiful setups.

 

[Purevil21]

The 55 is cleaned up! So this is going to become my sump/refuge. I hope to have my lights and skimmer in the next two weeks and the tank in four. Making some progress.

 

[Greenmaster]

Sweet.

 

[Gti_Leo]

what lights are you using for your sump/fuge

 

[leftyfish]

Nice cleaning job!

 

[Purevil21]

I couldn't tell you the actual specifics of the bulbs. They are just small T5 bulbs, like I said the tank was a freshwater setup I got for free. lol I will look later, thanks for the compliments, I need to clean it up a little more, but it is night and day from before I started.

 

[Gti_Leo]

you could use the current light for the fuge, they don't really require alot of light to grow chaeto just put a 6500k bulb in the current strip fixture and call it a day

 

[hackteck]

coming along nicely so how are you going to make different sections in the tank for the skimmer area ect?

 

[Purevil21]

I am going to plumb the overflows both into a tee with a ball valve below it to control flow. That will come down into the fuge. I plan on having a piece of pvc that is capped, with slots cut into it running the width of the tank on that side of the fuge. The refuge will take up 3/4 of the tank, the remaining fourth will be separated by a bubble trap with the skimmer in the first section and the return pump in the last.

Using this design my refuge should end up being approximately 40 gallons, plenty of room for a nice DSB and chaeto. Using this refuge I hope to eventually have enough pods to support a mandarin. I figure between that and 300lbs of rock, I shouldn't have any issues with a dragonet.

 

[Henry405]

I thought people usually don't use ball valve on the overflow side, just the return. Is your overflows going to be strong enough so that slowing it down wouldn't decrease too much flow?

 

[Purevil21]

I am going to keep a valve on the inlet and outlet, mainly because I have accidentally pulled my overflows out before while adjusting them and flooded my floor. A valve would solve that issue and give me time to put it back. haha

 

[Purevil21]

Realistically the valve will remain wide open 99% of the time.