250g Project Finally Started

[BigEasyReef]

I finally got underway building my outside tank building to support the 250g tank that I will be setting up. here are a few pics, comments welcome

Creighton

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[shag26272]

so is the tank going in the house or the shed? LOL at first I thought it was going in the shed, looks nice though, I was about to ask if you were worried about the cold weather until i saw you lived by me.

[BigEasyReef]

The tank is going in the house, up against the outside wall where I cut out the bricks. I had a custom built wall unit made to fit the 12 foot wall and house the 8 foot tank. I am going to have it plumbed so that I can do up to a 40 gallon water change without shutting down the tank, all from inside the house, and the waste will be tied into my sub-surface drain lines for my saltwater swimming pool.

[shag26272]

where did you get your tank made? is it glass ? i was looking for a 240 glass cube and need some recommendations

[BigEasyReef]

my tank is an 8 foot, 250 gallon Oceanic. One of the last ones made in the old Oceanic factory, B4 they moved. I've seen some of the tanks comming out of the new Oceanic plant and they are very disappointing. Sloppy workmanship. Rick @ Rick's Reef has a new source for custom tanks, they do very nice work & are very well priced. Do you deal with Rick ?

Creighton

[shag26272]

Ive been there a few times, my current tank is only a 6 gallon cube so I really dont buy many things even though I live a few minutes from there

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b350/tereebarkburner/DSCN0102.jpg

[BigEasyReef]

Nice, love the clam. Rick is a really good guy, he honestly cares about your tank, and will only sell you things that are right for you tank. Unlike the other local LFS, he is not all about the money.
If your serious about a bigger tank, go talk to him, I have bought everthing for this new tank from him. He even set me up with the custam cabinet maker. I stop in there just about every day. My office is in Elmwood, and I live in Chateau Estates, so I pass down David Dr. 2-3 time a day.

[BigEasyReef]

here are pics of my current 90g & 40g

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[BigEasyReef]

bump

[shag26272]

so your ballasts are in the shed also ? or is that for the shed

[BigEasyReef]

Yeah, the HID ballast are in the shed, 4 x 400 mh. The 1 ballast for the 4x 110 VHO's will be it the fixture, in the canopy, and my 125 gallon sump / refugium will be in the stand, everthing else will be in the shed.

[BigEasyReef]

Man, it's a good thing that I have planned this little outside building, I plugged in my new 1HP chiller this afternoon, and that thing makes some noise, there is now way you could have that in the house with the tank, it would drive you nuts !!!

[BigEasyReef]

I made a decision today to cancel the Tunze skimmer that I had on order & go to a Deltec unit outside the sump, I would like to hear about peoples experience with the Deltec.
thanks, Creighton

[BigEasyReef]

bump

[ralphie16]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9217241#post9217241 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BigEasyReef
The tank is going in the house, up against the outside wall where I cut out the bricks. I had a custom built wall unit made to fit the 12 foot wall and house the 8 foot tank. I am going to have it plumbed so that I can do up to a 40 gallon water change without shutting down the tank, all from inside the house, and the waste will be tied into my sub-surface drain lines for my saltwater swimming pool.

you have a saltwater swimming pool in your backyard???

is that like a joke or something because you guys had a flood with the hurricane katrina and everything?

[shag26272]

its a type of chemical free pool filtration im pretty sure, chlorine free

[ralphie16]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9217393#post9217393 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shag26272
Ive been there a few times, my current tank is only a 6 gallon cube so I really dont buy many things even though I live a few minutes from there

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b350/tereebarkburner/DSCN0102.jpg

thats crazy picture of a clam in a 6 gallon. looks so porportioned that its cool

[shag26272]

thanks

[shag26272]

which Deltec are you using?

[BigEasyReef]

I ordered the AP902 Deltec unit.

Ralphie, NO, No joke, My pool is saltwater. Instead of using granular or tablet chlorine, you put in enough salt , based on the size of your pool to give you 3000-4000 ppm, and use a chlorine generator, that converts the sodium chloride to natural chlorine, much cleaner, much clearer water, better for your eyes & skin, and alot easier on your pool plaster and equiptment.

[shag26272]

that skimmer is a beast did you get the self cleaning head?

[BigEasyReef]

No, I thought about it , but for an additional $ 13-1400.00 I just don't think its worth it. I don't have a problem doing the cleaning myself. Have you had any experience or know anyone that has the self cleaning head ? How well do they work ?

[shag26272]

I remember some discussion a while ago you can check the deltec forum though, I would just clean it myself also

http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=337

[BigEasyReef]

Thanks for the link.....

[lotsofgallons]

so the tank will double as a window, viewable from the outside of the house too?? thats awesome

standing by for more pics!

[BigEasyReef]

No, wrong,......That would be cool, but that would mean an 8' x 2.5' hole in my wall, I think the wife would really freak over that. No only veiwable from inside the house unfortunately. My daughter came in from college last night for Mardi Gras, brought about 10 friends with her , 4 are guys, so I have some braun here for a few day to maybe help get the tank & stand moved from the garage into the veiwing room, so more pics will be coming soon.......

[salttess]

BigEAsy...what will you do in the next hurricane? With all your stuff outside, you stand a chance on losing all your equipment. Sheds dont do well in hurricanes. Tina

[BigEasyReef]

Tina, I'll spare you the boring details, but I have a plan for that,... I think it will work, if not start all over again.............

Today with some help from my LFS guy & some strong friends, I got the tank up on the stand, here are the pics;

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Let me know what you guys think ????

Creighton

[shag26272]

looking good, where did you get your stand and what size sump are you using?

[BigEasyReef]

I had the stand custom made by a cabinet/furniture maker, the two end pieces are each 18" wide and have shelves in them. He also made me a 20" high canopy. The sump is a 6' 125 gallon. It will have a 3.5' refugium section, and a water holding section to allow for a 30-40gallon water change without shutting down the tank.

Creighton

[bheron]

Hey Creighton, looks great! Really nice tank and stand - did you build the stand?

I thnk you'll love having alot of it housed in a seperate room. I have room behind mine and it keeps all the mess/noise seperate and also gives plenty of room to make mistakes!

Only question is how to you get from the tank to the shed? meaning, is it a long walk? only b/c you'll find you'l be going back and forth quite alot.

looking forward to following this!

[BigEasyReef]

Bryan,

From the tank , thru the wall and into the shed is maybe a total of about 3 feet as far as the plumbing goes. For me to walk around there, the shed is in my side yard, maybe a 100 steps out of my back patio. Not too far, and its right next to my pool system, so I go around there every two days or so. I expect i will be in the tank shed at least everyday a few times. but it sure will be quiet it the room with the tank, plus no extra heat from the chiller or ballast.

[BigEasyReef]

I had the stand custom made by a cabinet/furniture maker, the two end pieces are each 18" wide and have shelves in them. He also made me a 20" high canopy.

[customcolor]

i wish i had a wall to do what u have done. i will have to do it infront of a window:(

[bheron]

Nice!

[BigEasyReef]

Thanks, I will be posting more pics as I proceed with the plumbling work. I am hoping to have a freshwater test by the end of the week, and up a running with sand & rock by next week.

Creighton

[BigEasyReef]

bump

[BigEasyReef]

Making progress,.. here are some pics from my first night of plumbing;

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[BigEasyReef]

Tonight I finished the plumbing under to tank, tomorrow I will start connecting the tank plumbing to the outside building. Hoping to have a fresh water test by this weekend.

[shag26272]

thats alot of valves, looking good , good luck with the water test

[BigEasyReef]

Yeah, but better safe than sorry. I wanted to be able to shut off anything that I may need to. Hopefully since I went all hard pipe on the plumbing & avoided the use of clamps & barb fittings there will not be any leaks show up in the freshwater test, I'm keepeing my fingers crossed.

[drummereef]

Looks killer. Keep us updated on the progress!

[customcolor]

i hope u dont have a leak cuz it would be a pain fixing it.

[BigEasyReef]

I finished plumbing the tank, so tomorrow I'll hook up to the pumps in my building for the freshwater test. here are a few more pics;

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[shag26272]

thats things gonna have some serious flow, what pumps are you using?

[BigEasyReef]

Reef-flo 5000 for the closed loop pump, its 4800 gph & Iwaki 100 for the return / skimmer pump, its 2200 gph. I am hoping to avoid having to add any streams or powerheads.

[nicandkris02]

sweet tank man! im in on this one for sure~

[BigEasyReef]

Thanks Kris & Nic

[BigEasyReef]

Freshwater test on Saturday, thank god only one small leak in a faulty bulkhead fitting, everything else AOK !!!

[customcolor]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9319590#post9319590 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BigEasyReef
Reef-flo 5000 for the closed loop pump, its 4800 gph & Iwaki 100 for the return / skimmer pump, its 2200 gph. I am hoping to avoid having to add any streams or powerheads.
HOLY FLOW BAT MAN!!!!

[BigEasyReef]

Sunday, not too much today, drained the freshwater out, started making saltwater today, Rick has 3 or 4 barrells that I am going to pick up tomorrow to make & hold enough saltwater to fill the tank. I plumbed my water change drain line today, a 1" line, out the hole in my bricks, down the side of the house., & tied it into the subsurface drain line for my saltwater swimming pool. I also plumbed in the line to fill the tank with fresh saltwater after a water change. got to dark for pics so I'll try to post some tomorrow. Providing that the few things that I am still waiting on come in tomorrow at Rick's, I am expecting to have rock, sand & saltwater in & running by Wednesday at the latest.

Creighton

[BigEasyReef]

Well this evening I did a few last things under the tank, & I plumbed in the equipment in the outside shed, here are a few more pics. Tomorrow I will put in the rock, sand & water, while the tank is cycling I will get the lighting done, top off system, and set up the Reefkeeper III system that I have ordered fron Digital Aquatics. Let me know what you guys think !

Creighton

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[BigEasyReef]

bump

[BigEasyReef]

Day 1, up & running...

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[BigEasyReef]

Tonight I got my canopy on & wired up the Metal halides. fired them up just to make sure they were working & to get a few pics;

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[BigEasyReef]

bump

[shag26272]

the color looks great, which bulbs are you using?

[BigEasyReef]

They are a German Reef Grow bulb, 400 watt, 15K They look great for the 15 or so minutes that I had them on, we will have to see how they burn in after the tank cycles.

[shag26272]

Ive seen those on ebay and thought about trying them

[BigEasyReef]

I had a lighting manufacturer build me a custom 7 foot fixture, 4 x 400MH, 4 x 110 VHO, moonlites w/dimmer, and 4 intregal fans, and those bulbs were one of the choices I had for the lamping, so I decided to try them, we'll see. But, I really like the fixture, very compact in size, but does a good job covering the tank.

[BigEasyReef]

New pics after I moved my 90g over & added 2 stream 6100's with the stream mounting rocks

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[samson78945]

starting to take its form! looking great. good luck and keep us posted

[kipher]

Impressive. Good luck. Can't wait to see this thing full of corals.

[BigEasyReef]

Broke down my 40g today & worked most of it into the big tank, I'll post pics as soon as things settle down in the tank.

[BigEasyReef]

Latestr pics of my 250g with the 40g added in. Also a couple of pics of the 40g which I have decided to make into a Discus tank.

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[BigEasyReef]

Starting to take shape..............new pics

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[BigEasyReef]

UPDATED PICS,

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LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK,

CREIGHTON

[drummereef]

Tank looks fantastic, great job! The sailfin is a beauty. :)

[gummyworms]

Wow, great looking setup!

[Aquabucket]

Stunning! Great job with the aquascaping. I really like the proportions of your tank.

[BigEasyReef]

BUMP

[redmonkey0019]

Hey Big Easy,

I really like your reef, that is exactly the size tank I want some day! Out of curiousity...how much does that canopy weight? Do you ever have to take it off for maintance at all? Or can you get to everything through the door openings in the front?

[BigEasyReef]

Sorry for the delay in responding.........

Your not taking that canopy off unless you have 2 or 3 more guys to help you, it weighs close to a couple hundred pounds. I can get to everything through the front doors.

[hooterhead]

any trouble with that angel?

[BigEasyReef]

The big Blueface Angel will eat any Zoo's, button polyps, or open type brains or meats, other than that he's fine. I do like Zoo's, but I like him more so, no Zoo's........ When he grunts, it sounds like a big dog barking in the tank, pretty cool. I am re-arranging some things in the tank right now, took out the Tunze Stream Rocks, they were taking up too much area that I could use for corals, so I'll be posting some up-dated photos in a day or two.
Any body interested in those Stream Rocks ?

Creighton

[BigEasyReef]

The big Blueface Angel will eat any Zoo's, button polyps, or open type brains or meats, other than that he's fine. I do like Zoo's, but I like him more so, no Zoo's........ When he grunts, it sounds like a big dog barking in the tank, pretty cool. I am re-arranging some things in the tank right now, took out the Tunze Stream Rocks, they were taking up too much area that I could use for corals, so I'll be posting some up-dated photos in a day or two.
Any body interested in those Stream Rocks ?

Creighton