[dgtlwar]

After an incredible chain reaction caused by a pump failure on my old skimmer that resulted in 50+ gallons of water on the floor, I've decided to completely rework my tank setup. I had a 180g tank that was pretty much fish only for the past two years (one fish for most of that time LOL). I've decided to get back in the reef scene big time. I'm currently building a system that will be a little under 400 gallons total. Here's some info on the setup along with a few photos. So far, I have everything I need except the display tank. Hopefully I'll have that crucial piece within the next two weeks.

Display tank
• Marine-land deep dimension 250 Gallon 60x36x27 Starfire on the front and both sides.
• Frag tank ( I can’t make my mind up)

Stand
• DIY stand with formica countertop 4’x11’

Sump
• My Reef Creations Hi flow reef sump/There is a refugium on the side that will be used as a mantis shrimp display.

Refugium
• ADHI 45 sump converted to refugium
Lighting
• Sfigoli XR4 440 watt MH with T5 actinics
• Two 400 watt ACLS (Advanced Control Lighting System) units

Return & Flow
• Reeflow blackfin 2500 return pump
• 2x Tunze Turbelle Stream 2 6105
• 2x Tunze Turbelle NanoStream 6055

Skimmer
• Bubble King Mini 200 (I’ll see how this works out, but I may need to upgrade to a Vertex Alpha 250 Cone)

Reactors
• Vertex RX6 Duo Calcium
• MRC standard Kalk Reactor
• Nextreef MR1 Monster for carbon & phosphate removal

Control
• Aquacontroller III pro (Will be replaced by an APEX on BRK has them in stock)

Old Tank - I had the accident before I finished the drywall project.


Breakdown













Thanks to Kevin and Leo for help with the old tank move.

Temporary Holding tank


Ripping out the carpet




Tile during installation.


New equipment
Sump Calcium & Kalk Reactors


Lights


Hopefully, I'll have some updates after this weekend.

[onyx]

Looking awesome man.

[dgtlwar]

onyx, on Jul 23 2009, 02:02 AM, said:

Looking awesome man.

Thanks, Hopefully the final product looks the way I see it in my mind.

[rocko918]

Sweet Glenn, Good to see you back on the boards. Let me know if you need any help i am just down the road.

Also if you want to see what i did with my 210 and plumbing you are more than welcome to come over.

Looking forward to see more pics.

[zygote2k]

Set-up sounds good. Why not switch the Tunzes for 2 Vortech MP40's?

[dgtlwar]

rocko918, on Jul 23 2009, 06:04 AM, said:

Sweet Glenn, Good to see you back on the boards. Let me know if you need any help i am just down the road.

Also if you want to see what i did with my 210 and plumbing you are more than welcome to come over.

Looking forward to see more pics.

I'll take you up on that when the tank arrives . I'll shoot you a PM, I'd liek to see your setup also.

zygote2k, on Jul 23 2009, 06:53 AM, said:

Set-up sounds good. Why not switch the Tunzes for 2 Vortech MP40's?

Because I've been using Tunzes for years, and I like the fact that I can program them using the aquacontroller + aquawave.

[zoozilla]

Sorry to hear about the flood. Glad you didn't throw in the towel but went bigger

Sweet set up btw. I really like the Marineland tanks especially the depth.

What's the height of your DIY stand? I find Marineland stands a bit too short for ease of access/maintenance underneath the tank.

[dgtlwar]

zoozilla, on Jul 23 2009, 10:08 AM, said:

What's the height of your DIY stand? I find Marineland stands a bit too short for ease of access/maintenance underneath the tank.

Yeah, the Marineland stands are way too short. I think we decided on around 40" on the height of the stand. My biggest issue with my old stand, was that I couldn't remove the collection cur for my skimmer. I had to balance it on the side of the sump and let it drain into another container.

As for the flood My skimmer overflowed and shorted out the circulation pump. The shorted circulation pump tripped the GFI. Power was cut to the tank. The check valves failed and dumped a bunch of water into the sump. finally the sump overflowed from the excess tank water. All this time the flood alarm was going of but for some reason, I thought it was the TV. I finally checked on it after about 30 minutes.

I couldn't have planned it better LOL. What started out as a skimmer replacement has turned into a major summer project. Hopefully the end is near.

[Nate]

Sucks that flood happened, but now you have an excuse to upgrade. I have been looking into getting one of Perfecto's 300 gallon tanks. It is the same dimensions just 6 feet wide instead of 5. Just curious who you ordered the tank through and when it is suppose to come in? Oh, and I'm really digging the gray color walls. Do you remember the name of the paint?

[rocko918]

send me a pm when you want to stop by.

[ChrisTran]

dgtlwar, on Jul 23 2009, 01:56 AM, said:

Marine-land deep dimension 250 Gallon 60x36x27 Starfire on the front and both sides.

Nice tank size. I bought a shorter version 150g 36x36x27. I wish i had a bigger room!

[dgtlwar]

Nate, on Jul 23 2009, 02:40 PM, said:

Sucks that flood happened, but now you have an excuse to upgrade. I have been looking into getting one of Perfecto's 300 gallon tanks. It is the same dimensions just 6 feet wide instead of 5. Just curious who you ordered the tank through and when it is suppose to come in? Oh, and I'm really digging the gray color walls. Do you remember the name of the paint?

I was going to go with the 300 originally, but I'm wasn't sure if I'd be able to get it into the basement. I only have internal access to the basement. I ended up buying the tank from Blue Ribbon Koi. This made the most sense logistically, because I'm only about a 20 minute drive from there. Not sure when it's going to arrive, but I think I'm still about two weeks out. The tank was a special order because of the Starfire glass on the sides.

As for the paint, the tiled area is actually a shade of green. The gray area will go back to being my office/photo studio once I move all the junk out. I messed up and tossed the paint can so I have no idea what color it is, I'll be going to Lowes to do a matchup soon. I'll let you know when I do.

[dgtlwar]

ChrisTran, on Jul 23 2009, 04:45 PM, said:

Nice tank size. I bought a shorter version 150g 36x36x27. I wish i had a bigger room!

The 200 first caught my eye. I love how deep these tanks are. I've never actually seen the 250, so I'm really excited about this.

[amay121]

Glen, wanna swap my Reeflo200 for your BK 200.. hehe.. Great build buddy.

[dgtlwar]

amay121, on Jul 23 2009, 09:40 PM, said:

Glen, wanna swap my Reeflo200 for your BK 200.. hehe.. Great build buddy.

I've never looked at those before. I don't think I have any room left under the stand.

[dschflier]

3 feet deep would be very nice. I would love that depth. Is it pre-drilled or are you going to drill it yourself?

[dgtlwar]

dschflier, on Jul 23 2009, 10:18 PM, said:

3 feet deep would be very nice. I would love that depth. Is it pre-drilled or are you going to drill it yourself?

Pre drilled. I'm a coward when it comes to tank drilling.

[ctenophore]

You should PM Rik (Leishman). He has that exact size tank for sale.

[dgtlwar]

ctenophore, on Jul 23 2009, 11:32 PM, said:

You should PM Rik (Leishman). He has that exact size tank for sale.

Me? I already bought the tank. I'm just waiting on delivery.

[ctenophore]

Oops sorry! I read your post as you have everything but haven't bought the tank yet.

[Gadgets]

You should stil PM Leishman. He is selling the skimmer (Alpha 250) your gonna need.

[dgtlwar]

143gadgets, on Jul 25 2009, 07:59 AM, said:

You should stil PM Leishman. He is selling the skimmer (Alpha 250) your gonna need.

You guys are funny. I'll see how the 200 works out first.

[reefmontalvo]

That is going to be one very nice tank and setup once complete. Let me know if you need some muscle move in day.

[russell_wiley]

I can't wait to see this!

[dgtlwar]

russell_wiley, on Jul 26 2009, 03:11 PM, said:

I can't wait to see this!

Me too.


Update for today:
Taped out the footprint of the stand last night. It looks like everything should be able to fit inside the stand. Hopefully, we'll have time to build it this week.
Sold 280lbs of medium sized rock and Picked up 265lbs of GIANT liverock to go with the 100lbs I already had. Thanks again Hunter Kevin & Tekken.

Oh yeah Hunter, I found your shrimp. Do you want him back? I'm not sure what to feed him