M3P's 200 gallon build

[M3P]

First off, I'm new to the hobby, but we'll see how this build goes. I spent the last 10 years with african cichlids. Then I got the reef bug, so time to get started! (note any ??? means that I'm looking for recommendations or advice)

The tank will sit on the left wall of my living room

Tank: 7x2x2ft - overflows in the back corners with a small (~24 gallon) sump
Heater: 400w Hydor heater
Lights: 72inch Marineland marine series 3x150w MH, 8x39w T5, 6x1w LED with internal ballasts and built in timer
Skimmer: ???
Reactors: ???
Pump: Mag 18
RO/DI: Bulk Reef Supply 5 plus
Refractometer: ???

On the way:
100 lbs of BRS reef saver rock
200 lbs of Carib Sea ocean direct 'live' sand
Hanging kit for the light



Just got done cleaning the tank. I was running it with cichlids, so I sold all of my stock off. Today I drained the tank, removed the rest of about 300 lbs of rock and 150 lbs of play sand. Wiped the entire tank with 1:10 vinegar:water and then rinsed the tank down with warm water and drained it.

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/rock.jpg
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/sideview.jpg

I got a 55 gallon tank today and had one side drilled towards the bottom. Fit it the backseats of my 2 door car (very snug fit), and on the drive home realized that it may not fit under the stand with the way the plumbing is currently and with the other sump (yes I want to run both sumps (left one will have live rock where the bioballs are with 2 reactors in the open chamber and the 55 gallon will have the protein skimmer and refugium). Needless to say, I will be posting when I decide how I'm going to re-plumb. I will have to go vertical I think to save some room.

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/plumbing.jpg
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/sump1.jpg

My light came in earlier this week. I was super excited to get off of work and unpack my new toy. We got it out of the box and in front of the tank when I noticed it was broken on one corner. The end was cracked (picture) and the plastic covering the T5's was cracked also in the same area :rolleyes: so now they are sending a replacement, so hoping it comes in without any damage. Hmpf.

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/lightbox.jpg
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/lightpackaging.jpg
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/brokenlight.jpg

Advice welcome on all fronts!

[Atom0023]

First off, I'm new to the hobby, but we'll see how this build goes. I spent the last 10 years with african cichlids. Then I got the reef bug, so time to get started! (note any ??? means that I'm looking for recommendations or advice)


Welcome

I am in the same boat as you. So as far as advice I don't have much or anything :)

I will be following though this is about the same route I am going to go.

How did you sell the african cichlid stock?

[M3P]

I was able to sell all of my stuff through a few different forums (midwestcichlid.com, cichlid-forum.com) and craigslist. I gave a lot of my extra males to my dad for his all male tank.

[M3P]

Got my rock in today. 100 lbs of BRS reef saver. Looks like I'll need to order another 100 lbs :) So far I like this stuff. Anyone have experience with it? Do I need to rinse it off or anything before filling my tank with it in there? Sand should be here in a few days!

Opened Box
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/Unpackingtherocks.jpg

Unpacking the rock
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/unpackingrocks2.jpg

Rock in the tank
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/100lbsofrockinthetank.jpg
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/leftsiderock.jpg

[M3P]

Anyone got tips on which protein skimmers I should be looking at? I'm leaning towards the Internal Super Reef Octopus 3000. New sump is being built this week and I am hoping to know how much room to dedicate to the skimmer chamber.

[dzfish17]

Looks good so far. Im doing the same thing with my 600g tank. I just got rid of my African cichlids and will be starting my build soon. I have a 210g reef but thought I would save some money and go with cichlids in the 600. SW is a little harder than FW but definitely worth it. Thanks to youre pics, I know where Ill be getting my rock.

[M3P]

I just ordered another 100 lbs from reefcleaners. Check out their price...they have a deal on 50 lb boxes right now. I'll post pics when they arrive, but I have a feeling the rock is coming from the same place or at least the rock looks similar in the pictures.

[M3P]

160 lbs of sand and my light came in today! I attached the legs to the light just to make sure all of the lights were working. I got the hanging kit today too, so I'll be putting that up this weekend hopefully. Another 100 lbs of rock on its way. Sump will be constructed before this weekend, so I can put it under the tank and start filling on Friday or Saturday hopefully. enjoy!

Sand:
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/Sandbags.jpg

LED
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/LighttestLED.jpg

8x39w T5
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/LighttestT5.jpg

3x150w MH
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/lighttestMH.jpg

[dzfish17]

Well I guess its to late to tell you that Marcorock is having a 30% off sale. I just ordered some rock for my tank. The price ends up about 1.62 per lb for the key largo rock. Hopefully it looks as nice as youre rock. The new lights look great.

[M3P]

Yeah the BRS was a bit more, but the reefcleaners ended up being 1.50/lb. I'm hoping it's the same stuff as the brs rock. Let me know how the marco ends up.

[M3P]

Well, today was a long day. I got my sump done for the most part, got one more baffle to put in and finish plumbing tomorrow. I placed 100 lbs of dry rock and about 120 lbs of sand in the tank. Just started filling tonight! I have 100 lbs of rock coming this week, so I'm thinking one more structure in the middle and putting a bit more height on the side structures.

the left side before I added all of the sand
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/9510leftrockstructureandstartingsand.jpg

the help...
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/9510thehelp.jpg

to be refugium/sump
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/9510sumpandrefugium.jpg

left side
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/9510leftrockstructure.jpg

right side
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/9510rightrockstructure.jpg

the entire tank, started filling with RO/DI
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/9510fulltankstartingtofill.jpg

I cannot wait to get the light over this tank. May order a couple powerheads to get the flow going while it cycles.

Comments and Suggestions are welcome!

[M3P]

The tank is full of salt water and the sump is almost high enough to turn on the return pump! The ro/di unit has taken up residence in my half bath on the main floor since saturday night. Plans are to put it in the basement and use two rubbermaid brutes for DI and Saltwater and then use a mag 9.5 to pump it back into the tank.
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/rodiunit.jpg

I got in another 100lbs of rock today from reefcleaners. Pics!
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/reefsaverrock.jpg
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/reefsaverrock2.jpg

A picture of my tank. It is super cloudy, but I thought this was a neat picture. Tank will be re-aquascaped after it clears up a bit.
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/cloudytank.jpg

[smcfall176]

Everything looks great! I really like the rock you got in. As for skimmers I am a huge Euro Reef fan ...now reef dynamics. I know you would be more than happy with their skimmer. Saying that there are several other good skimmers as well. I would just suggest that you skimmer and lights are two things I would NEVER skimp on. Good luck!

[M3P]

I'm thinking about the super reef octopus external xp3000 for a skimmer. As far as lights go, I've got this Marineland light. Not a lot, if any, reviews on it, but I am excited to see what it can do. 2x koralia evo 1400 and 2x koralia evo 1050 coming in on saturday, so I will have at least 30x system of flow/hour with about 6x going through the sump/refugium per hour.

[M3P]

Got some new toys in the mail today...2 x 1050, 2 x 1400 from marineandreef. Also got replacement cartridges and resin for my rodi, epoxy, 2 x floatvalves and a refractometer from BRS.

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/91010koralias.jpg

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/91010koraliaandtennisball.jpg

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/91010refractometer.jpg

this project wouldn't be complete without a mess to the side of the tank...
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/91010themess.jpg

[dzfish17]

New toys, I like it. Im waiting for the fedex guy and my marco rock.

[sps aquaria]

looks great :)

[M3P]

The tank is aquascaped and cycling. I dumped a solution of Ammonium chloride into the tank to make it 4 ppm a week ago. It's 0.50 currently so things seem to be going.

Tank
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/IMAG0319.jpg

Right side
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/IMAG0314.jpg

Left side
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/IMAG0318.jpg

Some other stuff I got recently

Lifereef Ca reactor rated for up to 300 gallons
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/91110calciumreactor.jpg

The acro cal will probably be used as a second chamber to my other calcium reactor.
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/91110acro-cal.jpg

Probably won't use the pulse. UV sterilizer has a 57w bulb
http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/M3P1010/Reef%20build/91110pulseanduvsterilizer.jpg

I need to build an effluent box to hold a pH probe for a controller. I'm thinking about going with the Milwaukee pH monitor and controller.

[Antwan620]

Tank is coming along nicely. I really like the rock I was looking in getting some but wanted to see how they looked, now that I see yours makes me want to get some.