180 custom reef build started 8/15/13 !

[fltekdiver]

Been in the hobby now 3 months, started my 120 Build 2 months ago, just finished it, got the CUC in their, 2 clowns, and decided I wanted a 6' long, but also wanted the same depth as the 120, ( 25" wide )

You can see my 120 build here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2268848&page=2

Sold the 120 Dual Over Flows Tank, Stand, Canopy, 40B sump and all the plumbing, fudge light to Bruce here on the forums ! As soon as I received payment, I ordered a new :

180 Aqueon All Glass Corner Over Flows, Ordered 8/15/13 !

75 Aqueon All Glass tank ordered 8/15/13 for sump!

48" Reef Breeders Proton series LED's will be used from my 120 build, and I'm going to order a 16 or 24" Proton LED

Apex Controller swapped over from my 120 will use on the 180

Reef Octopus POV-DC1 Skimmer, ( Also from my 120 ) will use for the first 6 months, since my bio-load will be light, then I'll upgrade to the Reef Octopus POV-DC2 when needed

Tunze 3155 ATO

( 1 ) Jeabo WP 40 and ( 2 ) Jeabo WP 25's will be used for power heads

I have 120 lbs of Tropic Eden Mini Flakes in my 120, I'm going to dry out, and use about 50 lbs as a base sand, but it doesn't do good with high flow, so I ordered 80lbs of Figi Pink Sand

Not sure if I'm going to put an EXT return pump, and internal and use my Eheim 1262 Return pump

Instead of using Live Rock all from my 120 , I'm going to start off with base rock , this way I can spend more time aquas caping the 180 , and seed it with Little Live Rock

Here's some pics of the stand I started Friday night, framed it in 3 hours in my kitchen so I would be in the A/C ( wife went nut's, I spent $30K last year remodeling my kitchen , and I'm framing a fish stand in it, gotta love it! )

By Sunday afternoon, I had the stand skinned in 3/4" OAK, ripped a ton of OAK pcs on the table saw all day, to get the look I was looking for, and by Sunday eve, the inside has 2 coats of Kills in it

Stand was framed with no middle support, using 2x8 as top cord, pocket drilled, and glued

Here's some pic's of the stand build, more to come !!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-16174905.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-16174905.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-16174850.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-16174850.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-16185038.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-16185038.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18105132.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18105132.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-17171531.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-17171531.jpg.html)

[fltekdiver]

More Pics !

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18110952.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18110952.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18105147.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18105147.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18161302.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18161302.jpg.html)



http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18174210.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18174210.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18195003.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18195003.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18194954.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18194954.jpg.html)

[wrxreefer823]

Tagging along for the ride!

[leveldrummer]

Great start!

[Mark...]

If you really had big ones you would of used the table saw in the kitchen too...:lmao:

Great job on the stand...you got some skills!

[fltekdiver]

Hahaha, That's a great one, I'll try it next one, I'll just tell her Mark from the forms said it was ok, lol

Thanks ! Not bad for a chop saw, ciccular saw. And table saw, I didn't even have a trim gun :)

I feel pretty good, framed up in 3 hours Friday eve, spent 1/2 day on Saturday skinning it, and most of Sunday getting to this point

I still have to trim the top out, and the bottom, but I'm not going to trim the bottom till I get it where it's going, then I'll add the bottom trim

It's REALLY HEAVY, as I used 3/4" OAK also to skin it, wow, I hope I can move the dame thing, lol

[88rxna]

Nice! Happen to have any more pics on how you did the towers on Both sides? They turned out great!

[fltekdiver]

Here's some more, theirs a detailed thread on here, where I got the idea and followed from, Mine will look the same, just a 180, and made of OAK. I'm also going to stain it a dark Mahogany color , here's the thread I followed to build it, He did a great job on his:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=787189

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18161215.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18161215.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18110943.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18110943.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18110955.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18110955.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18161302-1.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18161302-1.jpg.html)

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Looks great

[R.W.]

Stand is looking great. I wish I did something like this on my 180's stand.

[zxknight]

that is looking great..

[fltekdiver]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it!

After spending hours in Sherwin Williams paint store, with a sample pc of oak, I ended up buying stain from HD, bought about 5 of their samples also, tried it out, then bought 2 quarts

Came home, gave the stand a light sanding, used a tack cloth to clean up the dust, and applied the stain ! I have to touch up the trim with a small brush, and I started tonight to trim out the top of the stand, but It's not going to fit into my office unless I stand it on it's side, to get it through the hallway, and doors, OMG! SO I had to stop trimming out the top, remove the trim from the top, and get ready for the army of friends coming over tomorrow night to move this beast, with a bunch of dollies

Here's some pics of the progress

The 180 and 75 sump are also in, Which they are delivering over the weekend!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-22164718.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-22164718.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-22164738.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-22164738.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-22182348.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-22182348.jpg.html)

[Lilmatty5dimes]

dang marco you've been really busy. that turned out really good. cant wait to see the tank on it. don't forget to water test that tank before you stick inside. where did you end up getting your rock from?

[fltekdiver]

10/4, we're taking our camper away next weekend, sux, cause I could have gotten allot done

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[fltekdiver]

Thank you, late night last night till midnight, first coat of clear on. Tonight friends coming over to move the stand into the room its going, and 180 is being delivered tonight. Hoping to finish trim once in place, stain, and detailed work on stand this weekend. Also lay out plumbing and get the parts ordered

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[RJT]

Nice. Today is a big day. Looking forward to pics.

[gcline87]

Beautiful stain. That's my dream tank size. What kind of coral do you plan on keeping

[Mark...]

Big fan of the dark rich stains...don't forget the tank pictures.

[fltekdiver]

Thanks everyone!

Big day today!!

First I want to say a " Big Thanks to Kevin ", who helped with the move today, and without him couldn't have dome it all this afternoon! The LFS loaded everything up, and we had to move the 120 out carefully, and move the stand into the room

I couldn't trim the top of the stand out, because it wouldn't fit into the door openings and hallway to get the stand into the room. Kevin came up with a great idea, cut some
2x4's and screw them to the side of the stand, where the molding will be going to hide the holes, stand the stand on it's side, and slide it down the hallway, and into the room!

As you can see in the pictures below, this stand is huge!

Now this weekend I can focus on finishing the trim and stain on the stand, which will take another full day, install the bulk heads onto the 180, and get the tank into the room this weekend, and paint the back of the tank black before putting it on the stand

If I can get all this done this weekend, I'll be happy !

Here's some pictures of the day, and check out Kevin next to the stand, hahaha, it give's you an idea how big the stand is, lol !!

Check out the 75 next to the 180 ( 75 will be the sump ) !

Thanks again Kevin!

Room / Home Office New 180 is going !

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-23180235.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-23180235.jpg.html)

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http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-23191156.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-23191156.jpg.html)

[Mark...]

The stand looks even better in the office...now undress that tank and his little friend...

[N9BX]

Great Looking Stand..That is a Lot of Tank also...Bruce

[wrxreefer823]

Wow congrats!! Can't wait to see the progress. I started a build thread for my 120 yesterday.

[davyjone]

Looks good, I'm along for the ride.

[fltekdiver]

Wow congrats!! Can't wait to see the progress. I started a build thread for my 120 yesterday.

Shoot a link over, I wanna see !

[wrxreefer823]

Shoot a link over, I wanna see !

Here you go! I actually just fit my 30g sump into the stand. Had to remove the center brace and hammer it back in though. No biggie. Working on all the plumbing today! :-D

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2325503

[fltekdiver]

Man, this thing is a beast!

180's new home, thanks to Kevin and everyone for helping!

Some pics of her in her final resting place !

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-25140248.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-25140248.jpg.html)

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http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-25121720.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-25121720.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-25121827.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-25121827.jpg.html)

[wrxreefer823]

Awesome!!!

[luamada]

Got question:-/ great thank. Why does it don't have the black thing on the return.? I am planing a 180 gallons and like your stand. :-) will watch you closely

Thank u

[fltekdiver]

Thanks ! I'm not sure what your referring to? Do you mean the over flow covers?

The dual over flows have covers over them, so you don't see the plumbing from the front of the tank

[88rxna]

Wow!:eek:
Nice...
Was size is the smaller tank next to the 180?

[fltekdiver]

It's my QT tank

Had 2 clowns in their for a few weeks, they just finished two doses of Prazi Pro, and starting Copper Treatment this week, so when they come out of QT in 4 weeks, my 180 should be close to being cycled :)

[fltekdiver]

I'm Stuck!

I Could have filled the tank tonight to below the overflows. I have 120lbs of Fiji Pink
Live Sand ready to go, but am stuck on aqua scaping it

I sold all my live rock, as I wanted something unique for this tank

The base rock has to go down on the bottom on the tank, then water, then sand, but I can't do anything till the base rock goes in, and aqua scaping is done

I was looking at Marco Dry Rocks, but I'd like to hand select the rock

I'm thinking of drilling the rock, PVC or Acrylic Rods, lots of tie wraps, etc, with a sleek design

Ohh well, I'll spend hours tonight researching and looking at photo's of aqua scaping once again

[N9BX]

Marco... Are you going to Paint the Back outside Flat Black or Dark Blue? It sure will cut down on the reflections, also a Lot of Fish especially don't like to see their reflections, it causes very aggressive behavior on the fish...Bruce

[N9BX]

But the Build Still looks Fantastic!!...Bruce

[has no life]

that's a really nice stand you built there . can't too see the the rest

[88rxna]

Sorry, what i meant was how big is the QT? I was wondering the size so i could get an idea how big your 180 tank and stand really are..


It's my QT tank

Had 2 clowns in their for a few weeks, they just finished two doses of Prazi Pro, and starting Copper Treatment this week, so when they come out of QT in 4 weeks, my 180 should be close to being cycled :)

[fltekdiver]

Marco... Are you going to Paint the Back outside Flat Black or Dark Blue? It sure will cut down on the reflections, also a Lot of Fish especially don't like to see their reflections, it causes very aggressive behavior on the fish...Bruce

Hey Bruce !

Yeh, the 180 was painted flat black on the back side of the tank, before we bought it in.

I was just reading for the past 2 hours all the aqua scaping threads on here, and really like the dark blue also

I'm all most wondering if it should scrape the black off and go dark blue, man it looked good

[fltekdiver]

Sorry, what i meant was how big is the QT? I was wondering the size so i could get an idea how big your 180 tank and stand really are..

Sorry, the QT tank is a 29 Gallon, and I rolled the 75 Gallon in front of the 180 which will be the sump for the 180, so you can get a comparision

QT tank in corner 29G
Sump 75G on a dolly in front of the stand
DT is 180

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-25213609.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-25213609.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-25213609-1.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-25213609-1.jpg.html)

[fltekdiver]

that's a really nice stand you built there . can't too see the the rest

Thank you ! Just have to trim the top 3/4 pc of Oak now that the tanks up their


Still trying to figure out how to do my lighting with no canopy this time

[wrxreefer823]

I'd honestly hang the lighting from the ceiling. I plan on doing that with my 120, two Radions hanging over it should look pretty sexy :-P I love the look of open air above a tank and a light hanging above it.

[fltekdiver]

I was thinking of running 1/2" metal pipe, used for electrical, and strapping it to the stand, then coming up and over, not sure yet

My Ceilings are vaulted, and wife all ready said " no holes in my ceilings " LOL

[gcline87]

What electrical do you want run. Like an outlet ir just all your power cords?

[fltekdiver]

No Sorry, I ran a dedicated 20 amp gfci all ready

I was going to use electrical metal conduit piping to support my LED's over my tank, strap the metal pipe 1/2" to the back of the stand

[wrxreefer823]

I was thinking of doing something just like that for mine. Still undecided as to if i want to hang from the ceiling or some sort of homemade... thing. I totally understand the vaulted ceilings belonging to the wife... lol.

[gcline87]

Gotcha. That could look slick. Does radions are pretty light. I'm not sure I would do this but the second option you could always use 100 pound test fishing line. You never see it would certainly hold far more than the light would weigh.

[Lilmatty5dimes]

i hung mine like that before. came out pretty good.
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l526/lilmatty5dimes/90g%20Saltwater%20Tank%202/5336b971.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/lilmatty5dimes/media/90g%20Saltwater%20Tank%202/5336b971.jpg.html)
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l526/lilmatty5dimes/90g%20Saltwater%20Tank%202/c5989862.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/lilmatty5dimes/media/90g%20Saltwater%20Tank%202/c5989862.jpg.html)
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[fltekdiver]

The 48" LED Reef Breeder lights are heavy, I'm guessing around 12 lbs, plus I have to order a 24" proton yet

Matt, thanks for the pics, That may work, not sure.

[Mark...]

Will you be placing anything under the tank ie some kind of cushion product?

[ArmanS]

Great job on the stand! Looks great!

[latinreefer]

Your build looks awesome! I really like the color stain, what color is it?

Thanks

[fltekdiver]

Your build looks awesome! I really like the color stain, what color is it?

Thanks

It's mini wax Bombay series, I believe it's Congac stain

[fltekdiver]

Will you be placing anything under the tank ie some kind of cushion product?

The tank is glass, so no need for anything under it.

I have it sitting on 2 sheet of 3/4" oak, doubled up, and 2x8 top board for supports

[fltekdiver]

Tank filled with 100 gallons of salt water, waiting for dry rock to come in, ordered
100lbs of dry rock

Once the dry rock arrives,,I'll aquascape it, and seed it with ammonia or shrimp, to start the cycle

While it is going through the cycle, I'll plumb it up to the sump , which I still have to get the glass cut, and hang the lights etc, start finishing it up !

[gcline87]

Looking forward to your opinion on the LED lights. This look like a pretty high quality company.

[fltekdiver]

I used their lights on my 120, I really like them, can't beat them for the money

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[gcline87]

I used their lights on my 120, I really like them, can't beat them for the money

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

Wish I had known about them before I payed $900 for ATI Dimmable T5. They look like great lights.

[fltekdiver]

Their fully programmable , you can also custom order the colors if you like.,remote controlled, I love them. I'm really happy with them

[gcline87]

When I upgrade down the line I will probably go with them. They sound nice.

[fltekdiver]

Filled 180 just about, added 50lbs dry rock, and 2 caps ammonia, going camping this weekend, figured I would start the cycle !

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[rosek007]

Looking forward to your opinion on the LED lights. This look like a pretty high quality company.
The lights are pretty good, I have the same ones, Best deal for the money I could find and my corals love it as well growth is great. I have mine mounted 8 Inches above my 110 gallon and ive had to turn them down twice so far . Now theyre at blue 50% max whitrs are 35% max.
Kevin

[bradokc]

:beer:

[fltekdiver]

:beer:

:beer:

Just ordered a new skimmer for the 180

Aquamaxx ConeS-CO3. Rated for 500 gallons

Read some great reviews on these skimmers

It was between the proven Reef Octopus SRO3000 , Or Diablo DCS 200

Then I followed recommendations on the Aquamaxx ConeS-CO3

Same body size, 8" , uses half the electricity as the other two, and the pump new is half the cost also

Also the 9" of water height means it can sit deeper then the other two mentioned. In the sump, so it's not so high on a stand. I'm going to use 16" baffles in the sump, so that would put the total height of the skimmer on a stand
28", where the other two would be at 32" , right against the top of my inside stand

Marine depot is outta stock, says 5-7 days, so I paid for it, and will build the sump this week now and plumb it :bounce1:

[yagesz]

Your stand is clean. :)

Can I hire you to make me one? Nah I'll build my own with yours as my inspiration. I love these sands that have a 2+ inch lip around them. I like the huge front entry to squeeze in the sump. Does it need to be reinforced once the sump is in?

[fltekdiver]

Thanks ! No, just for Rocket Engineers designs on the DIY section here on the forms

I made it with 2x8 framing for the top, therefor no center brace are needed

If you goto a 2x6 top frame, then you need center supports

[fltekdiver]

Just ordered another 50lbs of dry rock.

First two orders were from Reef Cleaners, John did a great job hand picking what I asked for, received the shipment next day!

I been dying to try Marco Dry rocks also, so I needed another 50lbs , just ordered, I'll probably need another 50 for the sump, and finish up the aqua scaping

BTW, it's coming out great. Acrylic rods, zip ties, foam, and a few hours work, and now letting it dry outside the tank tonight

[Reef_RC]

hey fltekdiver - nice build. I have the AGA 210 and in the process of building it out after 6 yrs. break. I am tagging along for ideas.

[fltekdiver]

Thanks ! Gpod luck with your build, and welcome back to the hobby !

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[Mark...]

Looking forward to your review of Aquamaxx ConeS-CO3. Rated for 500 gallons. It is a great price for a skimmer that does up to 500g and uses only 27 watts.

[fltekdiver]

Being it has a 8" body, I'm not convinced it does 500 gallons, but everything I read for a 180 with 75 sump reviews were great. I'm really excited about it, and love the low power use

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[Mark...]

Being it has a 8" body, I'm not convinced it does 500 gallons, but everything I read for a 180 with 75 sump reviews were great. I'm really excited about it, and love the low power use

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

It seems most are over rated on gallons, but even if it did 350-400 it would be very good.

[Lilmatty5dimes]

awesome marco. what no pics of the aquascape so far. any pics of the sump you picked up?

[fltekdiver]

Didn't pick the sump up, passed on it

Not sure what I'm doing yet with that, got home yesterday at 2pm, was up till 10pm working on the rock work again

We were " roughing it " camping this past weekend for the holiday :)

Even our dog, which is a Yorkie, ( Teacup ) 13 years old was roughing it, see 2nd pic, lol

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-01164253.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-01164253.jpg.html)

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[fltekdiver]

Ok now back to the tank, lol

Here's some shot, the Aqua Scaping not done, have another 50lbs of Marco Dry Rock this time on the way, which comes in tomorrow

The rock just got wet today after the foam cured over night

I drilled 1/2" Acrylic Rods, used epoxy, and foam to hold everything in place. I also drilled little holes, and used 18" zip tis for extra protection

Rock is not going where it is, I just put everything into the tank, to keep the cycle going

It was all in their for the past week while the tank started it's cycle, but removed 3/4 of it last night, left a few pcs in to keep the cycle going

Wet towels were placed on it over night, so if any bacteria did start to grow on the rocks, they would stay alive

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-02160055.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-02160055.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-02193437.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-02193437.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-03180543.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-03180543.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-02171739.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-02171739.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-03181129.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-03181129.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-03181133.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-03181133.jpg.html)

[wrxreefer823]

LOVE the aquascape. I also love how you were "roughing" it, while there's a picture of the TV on. Lol

[Lilmatty5dimes]

awesome man love it. what are you going to try with the extra rocks?

[fltekdiver]

Thanks guys,,going to try to tie it all together with some low caves, and try now to make it so man made

Any suggestions?

[wrxreefer823]

Not so man made... I'd suggest one of those fancy scuba divers that go up and down.



Oooor look at some pictures of a natural reef and try to mimic things you find interesting in that. Personally, I like to sneak in some shel pieces for overhangs.

[fltekdiver]

Good advice. Being I have 500+ dives under my belt, I should be able to come up with something

Talking about the divers, I have a red volcano that spills out red bubbles in my fresh water tank that would look cool as hell

I wonder why in fresh water bubbles are ok, but not in salt?

[wrxreefer823]

Mount Wannahockalougie!!!

That's a good question. After all, skimmers make LOTS of bubbles.

[yagesz]

My favorite part. Getting the rock in. Yes its not final but it signals the start to the real work about to begin. And the end of overspending on new equipment.

[fltekdiver]

Man you aren't kidding on the new equipment. I'll be glad when that's over!

I still haven't figured out my sump yet. The 75 under the stand is tight, I only have 6" between the bottom of the front of the stand and the top of the 75

Inside the stand I have plenty of room

I been thinking of building my own acrylic sump, or just buying one, but height would drop down to 16" from 21" tall, same length, 4'

Or keeping what I have and just plumb it in

The positive note is, with the 75 , I can make the baffles taller, maybe 16-17" tall vs, they would have to be 13" tall with a smaller sump

[yagesz]

What do you want in your sump? External In line plumbed Skimmer?

[fltekdiver]

I bought a internal Aquamaxx coneS -CO3 skimmer last night

A brand new reef octopus 200 external skimmer just came on the forms a hour ago here for $300 bucks

Not sure about the sump, if I want to have the refugium after the skimmer, then return, or put the return in the middle, and use a gate valve over to the refugium to control the flow

Last time on my 120 with dual over flows, I had a heck of a time using " Herbie " style plumbing. To get the system to balance out with the refugium on the opposite side

When I cut power, to feed, I would have to re balance the whole set up again for 30 minutes

Return pump is going to be external

I bought the glass hole bit from Amazon to drill the 75 for $6.00 shipped for a 1" bulk head !

[yagesz]

Yeah. I won't lie I am a 5gallon bucket refugium kind of guy lol. I will probably do a externally plumped Skimmer, 5 gallon bucket of chaeto with Reflector light, Filter socks, and a couple small things in a 40B. But thats just me.

[fltekdiver]

I had a 40B under my 120. They make great sumps. I wish I could fit two of them under my stand, I would do it in a heart beat, and make one chamber for my ATO top off

[fltekdiver]

Big day today! Removed the 75 as a sump, and bought a 40 Breeder , now going to be the sump. The 75 was way to high, and took up all the room beneath the stand

The tank on the right, is a 20 Gallon high, fits perfect in the corner of the stand for ATO
Top Off water

40B fits perfect also, and is 16" tall.

Got both on sale at Petco's $1.00 per gallon sale ! Both tanks came out to $65 bucks!

Live sand is in the 180 !!

Aquascaping done !

Tomorrow I pick up the baffles for the 40 Breeder, and silicone them in tomorrow night, and plumb it in over the weekend !!

Were getting somewhere now!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-04191028-1.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-04191028-1.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-04183641.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-04183641.jpg.html)

[Lilmatty5dimes]

looks great.sucks the 75 didnt work out for ya.

[fltekdiver]

Yeh, I could have made it work, but wanted room for the ATO tank, reactors, etc

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[Lilmatty5dimes]

dont blame ya there. should be getting my tunze by the weekend. cant wait

[fltekdiver]

Cool !

Lots to do this weekend, plumb the sump, get everything up and running, top tank offm

[Lilmatty5dimes]

haha. i'll let you have the busy weekend. i'll knock a couple of beers back waiting for the cycle to be over. the only thing i need to do really is make the three doors. and buy a couple of things but funds aren't there for that. lol

[fltekdiver]

Ok, changed things up again !

The 20High tank will be on a small stand inside the stand this weekend

It will be the Refugium, which I'll drill ( 2 ) 1" bulk heads into, and it will gravity drain into the 40B sump

The 40B sump now, will be split in half, which will house the Aquamaxx ConeS-CO3 skimmer, and return section last on the run

The Refugium will drain into the baffles going into the return area

Here's a quick sketch of what I have to start this weekend :

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/IMG_0002-2.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/IMG_0002-2.jpg.html)

[rosek007]

how does the water get Into the refugium?, I would have either one of the drains Into the refugium or the less desirable have the pump y going one Into the refugium and one Into the refugium. I would just do the drain Into the refugium though.
kevin

[fltekdiver]

No, You don't want drains lines into the Refugium, because then you end up with
Detritus in your Refugium

Also when doing a " Herbie " Full siphon, you don't want a gate valve to control the flow on the drain line going over to the Refugium, it will be a constant fight to balance the dual over flows

The 2 drain lines that are running full siphon " Herbie " will be independent line's draining into the skimmer section, each having a " Gate Valve " to adjust the flow. If you use Ball valve on a " Herbie " They are very hard to balance also

The Refugium will be set up just like on my 120.

It will come off the return pump, which will TEE off to the Refugium, with a 3/4 line

[fltekdiver]

Another busy weekend on the 180, build has started on the sumps today!

Here's a thread I started on the build process of the 2 sumps!

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21880138#post21880138

[fltekdiver]

Some pics from today's dual sump build. 20 Gallon high drilled for ( 2 ) 1" drains. I was worried about one clogging, so I drilled a 2nd just incase

I don't see any dis-advantage to having a 2nd gravity drain, so 20 minutes later,
( 2 ) holes are drilled for 1" bulk heads, and the bit was ony $6.00 shipped!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I put plumbers putty around the circle where the hole was going to be drilled out

Left a garden hose on low, so the bit would have constant cooling while drilling

10 minutes each hole, they came out perfect, no imperfections on the back side, a clean cut straight through !

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-07141121.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-07141121.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-07143841.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-07143841.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-07143851.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-07143851.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-07152143.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-07152143.jpg.html)

[fltekdiver]

Next, time to build the sump with the 40 Gallon Breeder!

Alittle clean up after the RTV 108 Silicone dries, and wait a few days for it to cure, and it's done!

Baffles are 1/4" thick, with " seemed" edges, which the glass shop does free of charge so you don't cut yourself. They came out to $37.00 for 4 of them, I only needed 3 of them at the moment

All baffles were cut 17-3/8" wide by 12" high except for one, which I made 10" high

Baffles are 2" apart for easier cleaning later on, and 2" high in the center

Last baffle to the return section is 10" high, the idea is water will flow to the lower point of gravity through the sump. By having the 1st section in the sump 12", my skimmer will be on a stand, which need's 9.5" of water, and the output, will be ran to the first baffle, so it doesn't keep skimming it's own water

I'm splitting the 40B in half, sharing the skimmer and return section, as I want the return section to be large enough to maintain water for a few days, so if my ATO crap's out, the return pump doesn't run dry if were away for a few days

The Refugium is on a 4" stand, so it will gravity feed over to the return section

Feeding the Refugium will be a Eheim 1062 External return pump, which is the main pump to feed the display, but I'll TEE off the return pump with a 3/4" line, with a gate valve to control the flow over to the refugium

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-07112721.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-07112721.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-07110925.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-07110925.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-07150220.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-07150220.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-07150233.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-07150233.jpg.html)

[davyjone]

Very clean looking set up and stand. I'm interested in how that skimmer works for you. I've had my eye on it for my future 180 build

[fltekdiver]

Thank you!! I may re-do my aqua scaping, kinda takes the whole tank up

I may do 3 mountians instead of all these caves. Water cleared up ! Don't mind my sand dune's, I have the power heads on full blast to clear the water up, lol

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-07152154.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-07152154.jpg.html)

[wrxreefer823]

Wow! I don't check this for a few days, and you've made HUGE progress! I was planning on doing EXACTLY what you've done for a refugium, so I'm glad to see it's working out for you!

[worm5406]

Keep it up. I am glad it is moving along smoothly.

[fltekdiver]

10 days into the cycle, looking good , I would guess another 10 days as I'll give it a few days at the end to stabilize

9/7/13

Ammonia - 2.0ppm

Nitrite No2 - 1.0 ppm

Nitrate No3 - 5.00ppm

[Lilmatty5dimes]

very clean looking. can't wait for this to be up.

[fltekdiver]

Sold my Eheim 1262 return pump today, which was 960 GPH, used over 80 watts

Bought a Reef Octopus DC3500 controllable return pump, uses 30 watts and is 960GPH

Deceived to go internal pump again, as I'm running out of space, with my 20 gallon fudg,
40 gallon sump, and 20 gallon ATO tank, all under the stand,lol

My Aquamaxx ConeS-CO3 Skimmer just got pushed out another week on back order, so I'm hoping to have the return pump in by next Monday.

Tank is cycling nicely , another week or so, but this weekend I plan on buying 50 pounds of live rock from the LFS, and once I do that. The cycle should be over end of next week!

[yagesz]

I like the caves personally. But its owners choice in the end. :) Refugium stand is cool.

[worm5406]

Sold my Eheim 1262 return pump today, which was 960 GPH, used over 80 watts

Bought a Reef Octopus DC3500 controllable return pump, uses 30 watts and is 960GPH

Deceived to go internal pump again, as I'm running out of space, with my 20 gallon fudg,
40 gallon sump, and 20 gallon ATO tank, all under the stand,lol

My Aquamaxx ConeS-CO3 Skimmer just got pushed out another week on back order, so I'm hoping to have the return pump in by next Monday.

Tank is cycling nicely , another week or so, but this weekend I plan on buying 50 pounds of live rock from the LFS, and once I do that. The cycle should be over end of next week!

Nice. I am glad it is moving along.

What/how are you cycling? Raw shrimp yet?

Maybe I missed it.

I got two dc10000 pumps in the other week.

[fltekdiver]

I used 2 cap fulls of ammonia to start it. And live sand. Now I'm thinking if the dc3500 maybe on the light side, and maybe i should have went with the dc5500, which is 1, 450 GPH


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[fltekdiver]

Sump's in! Looking at the picture, from the left side, is the 20 Gallon High Refugium
Middle is a 40 Breeder, from left side Return area, big enough to run a few days incase my ATO fails. Return pump is in sump, which I may upgrade to the DC5500 , which is 1,450 GPH.
Next area is the skimmer section in the sump, where the 2 - 1" siphon lines running
"Herbie " are, each controlled by it's own gate valve 1"

Next tank is another 20 Gallon high, which is my RO water holding tank for my
Tunze 3155 ATO

The ATO will run off my Apex, and only turn on once a hour, fill for 3 mintutes,and stop, or what ever I see my evaporation rate is

Reason is, I never want my ATO running, so I don't how to worry about a failure, and have to worry about 20 gallons of Top Off being dumped into my tank

Only thing left to do is, I'm changing the bulk heads on the Fuge tank, to female screw in 1" bulk heads, and will hard plumb the gravity 1" lines from the fuge to the return area

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-12164234.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-12164234.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-12164253.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-12164253.jpg.html)

[wrxreefer823]

Awesome!

[worm5406]

You need to see the flow in action before you really make that call.

BUT...

A higher one would be better in the long run since you can scale it back to start.

[Lilmatty5dimes]

here ya go real quick dc6000 for only $79
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2329970

[fltekdiver]

here ya go real quick dc6000 for only $79
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2329970

Thanks, I meant the Reef Octopus DC pump , The Jabeo pumps use to much electric :)

[fltekdiver]

You need to see the flow in action before you really make that call.

BUT...

A higher one would be better in the long run since you can scale it back to start.

I agree, it was bothering me since I ordered the pump

I just ordered the Reef Octopus DC5500 , which is 1,450 GPH

I was to run a manifold also for the dual reactors I'll be running also

It also only uses 50 watts

[worm5406]

That is a good thing on the power. That should be able to provide what you need.

[fltekdiver]

Aquas caping still not they way I want it. I added 20lb of Live Rock today from the LFS

Their getting Fiji Premium Next week, so I'll have to wait to see what structures come in

Tank still have about 10 days left of cycling. The Live Rock should help alittle

Here's a few pics

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-14194552.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-14194552.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-14194532.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-14194532.jpg.html)

[fltekdiver]

Wow, Cycle is getting near the end, going sooner then I expected!

Results as of 9/14/13

Ammonia = 0.25ppm

Nitrite No2 = 1.0 ppm

Nitrates No3 = 10 ppm

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-14203407.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-14203407.jpg.html)

[N9BX]

Looking Better and Better Marco. How are your fish doing in Quarantine?...Bruce

[fltekdiver]

Doing great! I think about another week and the 180 will be cycled , can't wait !

My return pump gets here Thursday, so I'll start the 1.5" plumbing today, run it up and over, and leave it not ran at the bottom, so I can tie in the last 2" when it arrives, but not have all of it to do

I have to hang my lights now, I'm getting close to the end

[fltekdiver]

Wow, adding the live rock really helped the cycle !

Also my return pump came in today, so I'll plumb that the next night or two

My Skimmer Aquamaxx ConeS -CO3 shipped today!

The glass cutter is cutting me 3 pcs of glass so I can build a stand for the skimmer when it comes in

Have to hang my lights this weekend, cause were just about their !

Time to move my butt , get the Apex going, and everything else!

[yagesz]

Glad to see the live rock overdrived the cycle.

Intersted to see how your plumbing turns out.

[fltekdiver]

10/4, Tank is ready ! It's cycled!

I fell behind, not plumbing everything, and my wife wants a matching canopy to hide the lights above

It will be a busy weekend for sure. I'll plumb the return in, and start the canopy build

I'll be adding 2 packages of pods also, and put my clowns in their over the weekend, just to give it a few more days, to make sure it's stable and cycled

[ilikefish34]

Not that the .25 on the ammonia is any big deal, but don't expect it to ever hit zero with that test. I worked in a LFS back in the day and we had the same kit and could never get a reading of 0.00 in our systems even with just DI and H2O. I called the chief chemist with Coral Life (the salt the store used) and he told me that it was the way that some of the trace elements give that particular test false minimum readings. In fact, the only tests that would give us a reading of zero, were customers that would bring in a sample of their aquarium and they, admittedly, had not done a water change within six months or more of the test (in which cases the trace elements had been used up). I only bring this up incase you get concerned over lingering amounts when, due to all other indicators, you know that there shouldn't be. BTW, the build looks great and I very well might be copying your sump system for my 210 that's sitting in the garage waiting to get drilled. Looking forward to watching your progress.

Good luck!
Mike

and then I take a quick look to see that you were the most recent post with "cycled" aquarium so disregard the entire paragraph above :)

[fltekdiver]

Lol Mike, I do that all the time, post something, then see it was all ready addressed

Thanks, I'm going to finish the plumbing in the next day, and get 2 packages of pods into it tomorrow as well

[leveldrummer]

I gotta ask, what are you planning to finish the stand off with around the top? Sorry if you mentioned it already and I missed it.

[fltekdiver]

Yes, I'm going to buy oak trim and stain it yet. I still have to put 2 more coats of semi clear on the stand also

It's 11pm, been working on the sump all night. Painted the 3 tanks below backgrounds black, and working on the plumbing

I added 30 more pounds of Fiji Live rock tonight,, just threw it in their, don't have time to aqua scape this weekend

Also added 2 packages of pods

I'm hoping this weekend to get the sump plumbed, and the lights hung, and start on the canopy build

[deepblue68]

Very nice build and a beautiful job on the stand! What color stain did you use?

[fltekdiver]

Thank you, Here's the stain I used , it has 2 coats on it :

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-21100436.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-21100436.jpg.html)

[fltekdiver]

And today starts the return plumbing !

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-21095007.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-21095007.jpg.html)

[SABOB]

Just read entire thread.....Very clean,very sleek.Keep up the pics of your progress,so I can drool alittle more

[fltekdiver]

LOL, Thank you, you guy's are great! It's makes it so exciting receiving all these compliments !

I'm running 1.5" return pipe up the back of the tank. Here's a picture of the 1.5" pipe, where it TEE's off to give me 2 returns. I kept the 1.5" pipe all the way up to the top of the tank in the back, and used a 1.5" bushing to 1" pipe. The pipes that will go into the tank will be 1" at the end's. I also drilled a small hole for siphon breaks on the 45's

I couldn't use 45's at the top of the tank, to many connections, so I used 90's their. It's the only place on the return line that will have a 90

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-21104128.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-21104128.jpg.html)

[N9BX]

Great Going Marco!! We leave for Florida on the 29th. Should see you soon Buddy....Bruce

[fltekdiver]

Perfect Bruce, see you soon !

[fltekdiver]

Long day today, 4 trips back and forth to Home Depot and Lowes, One store would have half of what I needed, drive over to the other to get 2 bushings, back & forth all day,.
$200+ in plumbing, but it's just about done!

Started 7am this morning, just got done 12 hours later

On the right side you'll see a 3/4" true union ball valve, it's going to feed a Specture
GFO & Carbon Reactor. Right now it's off, I'm waiting for the Reactor to come in

I ran 1.5" pipe up the back, into 1" Bushings, which will return back into the tank.

The one gate valve is to low, so I just ordered another 1" gate valve and will have to
90 it, into the sump. I had to lower the left siphon drain, to go under the return plumbing

Man, this was a all day event!

I also painted the backs black and one sides of the Fuge, Sump, and ATO tank

Here's some pictures of todays progress!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-21193943.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-21193943.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-21193932.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-21193932.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-21193651.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-21193651.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-21193702.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-21193702.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-21193724.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-21193724.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-21193715.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-21193715.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-21193804.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-21193804.jpg.html)

[worm5406]

Nice.... Lets keep it moving.

Too bad you did not take a time lapse or anything. LOL

My time lapse of my build are funny to look back at sometimes.

[fltekdiver]

I'm trying to figure out how to mount the LEDs.

Lots to do yet. Wire up the light for the fuge

Hand LEDs

Hook up the ATO, Apex Controller, probes, etc

I didn't fill the sump yet, I wanted to give the pods time to multiply

Aqua scaping still needs to be do for the third time

Possibly build a canopy

Man it's allot of work !

[worm5406]

Ohhh I measured the angles. The plumbing is crooked. You need to move the far right pipe on the bottom, 1/72 clockwise.

[fltekdiver]

LOL, you had me for a sec, haha

Building the canopy now, and found some really strong shelving brackets today at HD that are rated to 50lbs a pc. Going to screw them into the studs in the wall, to hang my LED's

I have the front of the canopy ripped, and the sides all ready

[fltekdiver]

Nothing like starting to stain, and it's starts to rain

Then the sun goes down, and I'm getting bit by mosquitoes working in my garage, feels like it's still 90 degrees at 8pm !

Geez, can't wait for fall to start down here :)

Have the first coat on stain on, 2nd coat gets applied after a light 220 sanding, and a light 2nd coat, as I don't want to loose the oak wood grain

Here's some pics of today's progress on the canopy build, the 2 sides and front

It will not have a lid or a top, and I'll be using HD shelving brackets mounted to studs in the wall to mount my LED's over the tank

The front will slide off and on, for easy access to the tank

Here's some pics :)

PS, I ran out of trim, I'll be using the same as the top trim to trim out the bottom of the front of the canopy

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-22160053.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-22160053.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-22195818.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-22195818.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-22195830.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-22195830.jpg.html)

[mtman58]

Everything looks great! Wonderful job.

I may have missed it, but how tall is your stand?

Thanks

[fltekdiver]

Thanks ! Stand is 38" tall
Top frame is 2x8 with no center supports

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[fltekdiver]

I just did a small review on the skimmer which arrived today in the skimmer section, but I copied and pasted to update my build thread!

After waiting close to month on back order, my Aquamaxx ConeS-CO3
Skimmer arrived today!

The build on my 180 Reef tank can been seen here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2324085

The Skimmer arrived from Marine Depot in a separate box which was all most twice the size of the skimmer box! Packaged well, with peanut's all around it!

Thanks to Marine Depot for shipping the skimmer out the same day it arrived at your warehouse!

The skimmer was very easy to assemble. The instructions were also very simple to follow.
Basically It's a few easy steps:

1: Connect rubber feet to both the skimmer stand and pump stand
2:Connect the air hose from the air intake to the silencer
3:Connect the water outlet from the shark pump to the skimmer body
4:Install the cup on the neck, make a 1/8th turn to lock,clockwise

That's it!

Best thing which I love, is the 3.0 Shark pump only draws 27 watts!

The skimmer is made to sit in 9.5" of water, so I built my sump using a
40 gallon breeder, and made the first baffle ( skimmer area) 12" tall, to give Little more volume of water around the skimmer. I used 1/4" glass with polished edges, cost me $27.00 from a local glass shop, to sit the skimmer on
a 2.5" skimmer stand.

I will have my sump up and running ( 180 tank is cycled ) this week, and will follow up with videos of the skimmer starting up, and it's performance !

I must say, I had a Reef Octopus POV-DC1 on my 120, and seriously looked into their POV-DC2 , but couldn't justify spending $760.00

I also considered the Reef Octopus Diablo 200 DC200 , and the Reef Octopus
SRO-3000 INT, all in which had proven track records

So this was hard decision as their was not allot of reviews, I found none
on the Aquamaxx ConeS-CO3, and feedback

I am very happy with the quality of the Aquamaxx ConeS-CO3, I love the
8" cup with handle, the acrylic is thick, polished well, and comes off and on with ease.

Enjoy the pic's !

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-23164401.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-23164401.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-23173411.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-23173411.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-23173517.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-23173517.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-23174340.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-23174340.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-23174424.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-23174424.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-23174359.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-23174359.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-23174415.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-23174415.jpg.html)

[worm5406]

Very nice.... Hummm... I do not see any water in there yet...

[yagesz]

Skimmer Looks Good. Bit crowded in the first section IMO.

Plumbing is looking good.

[fltekdiver]

Yeh I messed up. The baffles were supposed to go towards the return area, not the skimmer area
I'm deceiding if I should just redo the baffles

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[pja24]

Look what I got yesterday!!!
Mine will not be up running as soon as yours but interested in performance.


http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j352/pja2424/image-12.jpg (http://s1081.photobucket.com/user/pja2424/media/image-12.jpg.html)

[fltekdiver]

No way ! Awesome!
I started a thread yesterday under filtration, for the skimmer, can you post some pics for everyone also ! Looks great congrats!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[pja24]

I will. I won't be up and running for month or so. Getting ready to stain stand. Need return pump. Rock being delivered. Etc,etc. I'll be following yours though.

[fltekdiver]

Very cool, good luck, please post a link to your build , so I can follow

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[pja24]

Very cool, good luck, please post a link to your build , so I can follow

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

I'm gonna try to set up build thread today. I've been slacking.

[HarlequinTusk]

More Pics !

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18110952.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18110952.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18105147.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18105147.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18161302.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18161302.jpg.html)



http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18174210.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18174210.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18195003.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18195003.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18194954.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18194954.jpg.html)

I'm curious why you chose to use plywood for for visible parts of your tank stand. I'm looking to do something similar, and my choice would be to use hardwood lumber....probably Oak.

Did you do this as a cost saving measure, or is there a functional reason you did this. I'm not critiquing your decision, I just want to make sure I'm not overlooking something before I start my build this winter.

[fltekdiver]

Thanks for asking

Theirs no plywood except on the bottom where the sump is, where it got painted white on the stand :)

The entire stand is made out of 3/4" oak

Well, as always with this hobby, 2 steps forward, and one back

I pulled all the plumbing today, thank god I used Unions everywhere!

The glass shop is making my 3 new baffles for the sump, which will be skimmer section 9.5" tall, 1/4" glass with seemed edge, next middle baffle, then return baffle 8.5" tall

Now I will not need a stand for the skimmer, and this time I'll start at the skimmer side, and shrink the return side the 4"

This will leave me more room in the 1st compartment, and also leave the skimmer cup visible , instead of on a stand and where I can't see the cup

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-24182555.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-24182555.jpg.html)

[fltekdiver]

Got the glass cut today, $23.42 for 3 sheets 1/4" with seemed edges

Had to overnight from Amazon ( Prime member ) another tube of RTV 108, comes in tomorrow

While I'm waiting for that, I painted the bottoms off all 3 sumps today after work

Also hung the LED's ( 48 Proton Reef Breeders ) on the shelving brackets

I'm going to order the 24" LD light now that I went to a 180

Also painted the plumbing gloss white, everything got painted gloss white except for the down pipes that go into the sump

I didn't want any painted pipes in the SW

Tomorrow the RTV 108 Silicone comes in, I'll remake the sump

And get her wet over the weekend!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-25185453.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-25185453.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-25190355.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-25190355.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-25190432.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-25190432.jpg.html)

[Lilmatty5dimes]

awesome marco. looking really really good. what no pics with the ligts on. lol

[fltekdiver]

LOL, no, my rock's are just thrown in their, I figured I would wait at least until it looks a little better my pump has a full of crap and I had to pull all the rock out with the phone that I used to aquascape it I have little foam particles floatin all around on the surface I can't figure out how to get it out yet

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[wrxreefer823]

Alright, its the weekend! Is she wet yet?! lol

[fltekdiver]

Third trip back to Lowes already this morning. I didn't want to permanently glue the returns over the tank in case I want to change the water flow down the road just bought 21 inch unions so if I need to take it apart I can. Made 60 gallons of water last night used it all up made another 60 gallons overnight to top off the sump and everything else. I am on my last batch of water I think to be able to turn everything on today

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[fltekdiver]

Also had to remove a hundred pounds of Rock because the foam was going all over the place. I would like to get the Aqua scaping somewhat close so I can get fish in it today or tomorrow and get everything started up

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[wrxreefer823]

Very nice. I know that feeling!

[fltekdiver]

Hearts racing ! No leaks no floods balancing out everything now is Herbie system with all this gate valves is a little tricky everything is up and running for the past half hour still tweaking everything now will take pictures

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[fltekdiver]

Ok, picture time, excuse the cloudy water, my friend Kevin came over today, and helped me with the Aquascapin, it was kickin my butt. I think it came out great, thanks Kevin!

After finding my low & high water marks on the sump, and testing the overflows to make sure they can handle a power outage, topping everything off, balancing two overflow box's, a remote fuge, ann return pump, I now have everything fully balanced

Here's some pics of the progress today!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-28171703.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-28171703.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-28171714.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-28171714.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-28171544.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-28171544.jpg.html)

[fltekdiver]

It's amazing how 250 gallon total volume is moving water, and you have to listen to hear something. It's so quite! The return pump you can't hear running, you have to feel it to make sure it's working, and the skimmer has alittle hum, that's it, nothing else with the Herbie siphon running, it's amazing, check this video out I just shot of everything !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB4MPXmZoU0&feature=youtu.be

[pja24]

Looks good. Let me know how that return pump works for you. I'm thinking of going with the 10500, or maybe waveline 10000. Good job

[fltekdiver]

Thank you !! Just added my clowns from my QT tank, as I tested the water in the DT, everything's perfect!

I have the DC5500 on high, and the gate valve on the return wide open

I have a good amount of flow through my sump, skimmer area, as the fuge is controlled by a gate valve

I don't have a ton of flow coming out the 1" return pipes into the tank, but If I increased flow their, I'd have to much flow through the skimmer area

I don't have my reactor in yet, comes in next week, which runs GFO & Carbon, so my flow will drop about 80 GPH to run the reactor

I'm boarder line I think the 5500 which is 1,450 GPH is to small, I think I should have went with the Reef Octopus DC10500, and used it on a medium setting

I wouldn't want any more flow in my sump though, so I'm not sure yet at this point

I'll know more in a few days with the system running

[wrxreefer823]

Very nice! Congrats on the awesome progress. Now the fun part comes!

[Mark...]

Thank you !! Just added my clowns from my QT tank, as I tested the water in the DT, everything's perfect!

I have the DC5500 on high, and the gate valve on the return wide open

I have a good amount of flow through my sump, skimmer area, as the fuge is controlled by a gate valve

I don't have a ton of flow coming out the 1" return pipes into the tank, but If I increased flow their, I'd have to much flow through the skimmer area

I don't have my reactor in yet, comes in next week, which runs GFO & Carbon, so my flow will drop about 80 GPH to run the reactor

I'm boarder line I think the 5500 which is 1,450 GPH is to small, I think I should have went with the Reef Octopus DC10500, and used it on a medium setting

I wouldn't want any more flow in my sump though, so I'm not sure yet at this point

I'll know more in a few days with the system running

Thanks for the update on the 5500. I'm in the planning stages of a 180 with a basement sump. I was leaning toward the dc 10500. Its rated for 16ft of head, but wonder if the flow will be enough at around 10ft...

At 84watts at full power, you have to love the electric savings.

[jimnchal]

Very nice looking build. I currently have a 180 that I had just set up. Wish I would have seen this thread before I had. I just love the stand. Looks like a piece of furniture.

[fltekdiver]

Thank you ! I'm not going to lie, I think their was 3 times I counted during the build I got frustrated and was going to sell everything. I kept telling my wife, I'm just going to walk I'm a store, but the tank, stand, canopy, and sump ! And that's it, I had it ! LOL, last night I put my 2 clowns in their , and all this relief and stress, went away, I said were finally there!
Lots to still do, finish the canopy, stand, ato, controller all gets hooked up today , and a trip to the fish store for my birthday today !

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[SABOB]

Happy Birthday,love your build

[wrxreefer823]

Happy Birthday dude! Hope its a good one :)

[fltekdiver]

Thanks ! Just left the LFS, bought 3 LPS frags, some clean up crew, sea fans, shrimp, horse shoe crabs !

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[Pife]

Happy Birthday. We will expect pictures. Great work. Have you measured that 2x8 across the front to see if there is any sagging? I'm building a 250dd and don't know what to build the stand out of.

[Huntor0]

Happy birthday! I love this thread it gives me so many great ideas to help me with my current 180g build. Keep up the great work.

[fltekdiver]

Happy Birthday. We will expect pictures. Great work. Have you measured that 2x8 across the front to see if there is any sagging? I'm building a 250dd and don't know what to build the stand out of.

I followed the build thread here, easy to do, and everyone is very helpful if theirs any questions :

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1567110&highlight=stand

Using this method of building, I used the 2x8 for the cords around the top frame, with no middle supports for the stand. If I had used 2x6, It would have called for a center support

[fltekdiver]

Some pictures of frags picked up today $7.95 a pc !

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/frag3.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/frag3.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/frag1.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/frag1.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/frag2.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/frag2.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-29171728.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-29171728.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/tank1.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/tank1.jpg.html)

[paradisecave]

I have a 180 gallon as well. Love the footprint. Stand turned out nice. Have you done any woodworking in the past? Looks very professional. Subscribed!

[fltekdiver]

No, I just bought a pocket jig and didn't even know how to use it when building the stand :)

Thank you though, I really appreciate it, as I was about to give up a few times building it, everything between the stand, canopy, plumbing, sumps, electrical, designing everything, was really getting over whelming

I sat here for hours tonight watching the tank, for the first time in the 2 months building everything, The wife and I really got some enjoyment and good laughs tonight watching everything interact

I think the $1.99 horse shoe crab, swimming around upside down, banging into everything, then going in front of the powerheads, would go flying across the tank, land upside down, rite it's self back up, dig under the sand, was a real joy to watch !

I just hooked up my Apex Controller, tank is running 80.3 with the heater kicking on, so I'm glad to run such low temps with all this new equipment

[Pife]

I followed the build thread here, easy to do, and everyone is very helpful if theirs any questions :

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1567110&highlight=stand

Using this method of building, I used the 2x8 for the cords around the top frame, with no middle supports for the stand. If I had used 2x6, It would have called for a center support

Thanks for the quick answer. Did you get anything from the fish store? You sure did and the frags look great especially for 8 bucks a pop.

[worm5406]

The horse shoe crab is NOT a frag... LOL

[fltekdiver]

Yeh, I should have put a couple of frags and horse shoe crab

I'm going again in a few days, to get some butterfly fish or maybe a fox face :)

[fltekdiver]

Good friend of mine Kevin bought me a Powder Blue Tang for my birthday this weekend,( Thanks Kevin! ) picked him up last night, with a yellow tang. Left the lights off all night, let them get used to the tank, today their out swimming around, hiding in the rocks, feeding on the seaweed clip, loving life !

Some pics of the new fish enjoying their new home !

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/PowderBlue.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/PowderBlue.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/Yellowtang.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/Yellowtang.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/tank.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/tank.jpg.html)

[Lilmatty5dimes]

sweet. nice birthday present and addition to the tank. looks great.

[fltekdiver]

Thanks !!

Fuge light mounted, have to clean up the wiring

Reef Breeders shipped my Proton 24" LED's out today! Next week, canopy gets finished and rest of LED's will be up!

Were getting their!

Also added another frag today!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-10-03174952.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-10-03174952.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-10-03175002.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-10-03175002.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/frag3-1.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/frag3-1.jpg.html)

[Lilmatty5dimes]

awesome. just got a reef builder dimmable led and i've got to say i'm loving it. check out bars and look at the new nano i just bought.

[fltekdiver]

You got the Nano ! Awesome, that was a beautiful tank, ill check it out ! Is it up and running ?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[Lilmatty5dimes]

yea up and running. the move was easier than a water change. lol scoop out 15-20 cups of water into a 5g bucket than move the rock and coral pick up the tank and everything left set it in the back of the car and grab the bucket and off to the new home. and than setting it back up was just as easy.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2337584

[wrxreefer823]

Love the progress! I just picked up a yellow tang yesterday, and within an hour he was eating like a champ and swimming around like he owns the place, and I may go look for a powder blue this weekend :)

[fltekdiver]

Very cool! I'm checking both your threads out now :)

[fltekdiver]

Tanks doing great! Did it's first 15% water change today, next time I'll do either a 10% or 5%. Cleaned up the sump, skimmer, and added some news things in the last few days!

One Spot Face Face, he's in their since yesterday, I didn't think either he, or the yellow tang, wasn't sure, but they were stressed out adding him. Last night theirs colors were in defence mode, and fins

Today I woke up, and everything getting along fine now!

Some new pic's of the new corals!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/newcoral.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/newcoral.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/frag1-1.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/frag1-1.jpg.html)

[fltekdiver]

New You Tube Video of everything up and running!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P37ZUq0PqfU&feature=youtu.be

[dave.m]

I like the way you have left lots of room for coral growth and swimming room for your fish.

Dave.M

[fltekdiver]

Thank you ! I appreciate it !

I'm glad to be at this point after all the work involved

[BOSLawGuy]

fltekdiver:
Everything looks great!

can you explain your plumbing please? I've been tagged along on this thread for a bit but finally got my 210 Gal (similar footprint as yours) and am in process of starting to build my stand.... but want to have plumbing all planned out.

I see so many ball/gate valves etc and am just a confused! :headwalls:

Thanks!

[fltekdiver]

Good Luck, My friend is also building a 210 here soon,. beautiful tank! I love the fact it's 30" high in the front!

The reason why you see so many gate valve's, is because I'm running " Herbie "

If I was running Durso pipes, or the Mega Flow Drains which Aqueon sell's with their tanks , their would be no need for all these expensive valves

Starting from the left looking at the tank, Is the Refugium

The Refugium has a 3/4" line fed off the return pump. It has to have a gate valve, because I need precise control, because It's Tee'd off my return, which tie's into the complete " Herbie " plumbing. It all has to balance out together to work.

Middle 40 Gallon Breeder consist of from left to right, Return section, baffles and skimmer section.

The return is 1.5" plumbing, with a 4 way TEE about half way up. Going from return pump, water direction up towards the tank, left side feed's the Fuge, right side is going to feed a Dual Reactor , water flows through the TEE and over the top into the tank

On the bulk heads, I used ( 2 ) 1" - main Drains running full siphon. below these drains are 1" gate valves. You need these to balance the " Herbie " plumbing. These gate valves are what create the back pressure, and height in the weir's.

The other 2 - 1" bulk heads were used for " DRY EMERGENCY " Stand pipes. In the event I have a power outage, or shut the return pump down, these two 1" DRY Emergency drains run directly down into the sump. You do not want any valve's on these

There-for, my ( 4 ) 1" Bulk Heads are now all used up, now having to feed the return up over the back of the tank

The 3 most important gate valves are the one on the return pump, which is a 1.5" Gate Valve, and the 2- 1" Gate Valves, which are on the 2 drains
These 3 valves all balance together. The return pump is wide open on my system, and the 2- 1" gate valves are somewhere around 1/4 open each

Hope this helps, any questions feel free to ask :)

New pic of the new LED's on the tank today, and I lowered the lights, using HD Shelving brackets

Using the shelving bracket's, I can now lower or raise the LED's if needed ! Yes, I know, you could adjust the intensity of them, but not when they were 13" above the water like before !

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-10-12161242.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-10-12161242.jpg.html)

[worm5406]

Not a bad ideas on the shelving brackets, just becareful of humidity and rust. I had one set before and talk about RUST... And it was not even above a tank.

Nice progress so far.

[Lilmatty5dimes]

awesome progression so far marco. everything is looking great. that other light looks good. thats a great idea for the adjustable shelf brackets. like mentions above watch out for ther ust. maybe get some truck bedliner and cover them to prevent a very expensive accident. keep up the good job.

[fltekdiver]

Thanks guys!

I'll keep my eye's out. Worse case I could remove them and spray them like you said

It was driving me crazy to figure out how to mount them

[fltekdiver]

Update!

Added more coral this weekend, and 80lbs of more Live Rock!

Re Did the entire aqua scapping ! WOW ! The fish LOVE all the places to hide, and caves to swim in and out of!

Here's some You Tube Video's I just shot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4ycE2JQo0c&feature=c4-overview&list=UU9rW-dOqFNrKEs7kBWJQudA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NROWf9bN0mw&feature=c4-overview&list=UU9rW-dOqFNrKEs7kBWJQudA

[Lilmatty5dimes]

man i need a bigger tank. lol everything is looking great.

[fltekdiver]

Tank shots 2 months after cycle started!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/tank2.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/tank2.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/tank1.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/tank1.jpg.html)

[tbettis]

Hold off on the rocks. IMO you need to removed some of those rocks and re aquascape with island and pillars instead of a buch of rocks stacked up

[leveldrummer]

Hold off on the rocks. IMO you need to removed some of those rocks and re aquascape with island and pillars instead of a buch of rocks stacked up

Let him/her scape how they wish. lol. not everyone likes the islands and pillars look.

[fltekdiver]

LOL

I had islands before

Went to the LFS this past weekend, and fell in love with their 180

It was aquas caped pretty close to mine.

I loved the fact all the caves for the fish to hide and swim through

It looks from far away like it just thrown on top of each other, but theirs lots of caves and swim throughs

I left a 3" + gap between the back the glass and the rock all across the bottom, they can swim all the way through the back

Here's alittle better close up's

BTW, I'm not changing it, I LOVE it, LOL

Here's some You Tube Video's I just shot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4ycE2JQo0c&feature=c4-overview&list=UU9rW-dOqFNrKEs7kBWJQudA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NROWf9bN0mw&feature=c4-overview&list=UU9rW-dOqFNrKEs7kBWJQudA

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/e4e99065-5f06-4d95-8402-74c64d063299.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/e4e99065-5f06-4d95-8402-74c64d063299.jpg.html)

[wrxreefer823]

Very nice!! Love the new scape. It'll really look nice once all the coral grows out!

[Pushwood]

I love your aquascape! Also, the extension of polyps on your Goniopora are awesome!

[fltekdiver]

Thanks !

I'm making a trip tomorrow to get maybe a mushroom and some Zoa's !

Checked the water parameters again tonight. Everything still perfect !

I was going to buy a Sailfin Tang today, all most got him !

But I sat down this week, and ran week by week, the progress of my tank, and realized Im only cycled a month.

So I didn't want to overload the bio-load, figured I would slow down for a few weeks, for my next fish

Geez it's tempting !

[GrampaDon]

Hey Marco whats up ... see you got the plummin figured out..lol
Tank is looking nice. :beer: You should resist hard about that tang. They can and will beat up or kill any newcomers after they get settled in. They normally are added last. [I like the Red Sea Sailfins]

[Newbie Aquarist]

The new aquascape looks good. do you have space between the rock and back wall? Also the rock on the left side looks like its touching the glass and might give you a challenge when its time to clean the panel. Maybe its a reflection.

[fltekdiver]

Thanks Don! I appreciate it!

Also didn't know that about the Sailfin Tang.

I'll leave him out then for sure

Good point on the rock. It is against the side glass, but I left spaces for the magnet cleaner to slide below them and clean around the rock

The rock is up against the back wall , leaning on the glass in a few places, but the base rock starts a few inches away from the back, so they fish could swim the entire length of the tank behind the rock, and for flow

Hmmm, Look's like every 6 months or so, I may have to remove a few pc's off the side panel glass to clean, good catch!

I'm running a GFO now, so hopefully it will help with any little algae on the glass

[fltekdiver]

Well, Went back to the LFS today, and what a deal I got!

I wanted a few schooling fish, so I decided to pick up 3 Cardinals for $12 bucks a pc!

They also had a sale 2 for $20 bucks for Rock Flower Anemone , so I had to get 2 of them!

Also picked up a really cool Mushroom's pc growing on a open clam for $20 bucks!

Here's a few tanks shots of everything!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/rock2.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/rock2.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/closeuprock.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/closeuprock.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/rock11.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/rock11.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/coarls2.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/coarls2.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/cardnials.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/cardnials.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-10-26072553.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-10-26072553.jpg.html)

[cilyjr]

i like (and have a few) flower nems. they seem to stay put too.

[Chelle's Ocean]

I love your aquascape! Also, the extension of polyps on your Goniopora are awesome!

Ditto! :)

[fltekdiver]

Not sure what happened today, lost my powder blue tang
Bought the. Water to the store, everything s perfect.
Bought a baby blue hippo today
RIP my powder blue. First fish lost in 6 months

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[wrxreefer823]

Aw man sorry to hear that. I lost all but my hippo and cleaner wrasse this past week. I know why mine died though... Everyone decided to jump.

[fltekdiver]

Wow, that's crazy! They just jumped out? < Geez , sorry to hear that!

Been 2 months now since it's been filled with water

If you look at my past tank pictures,( Post # 202 ) you'll see I removed the white PVC Returns, and ordered black 1" PVC. Now you can't see the returns in the water no more

Here's the most recent tank shots:

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/tank4.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/tank4.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/tank3.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/tank3.jpg.html)

[Lilmatty5dimes]

awesome fts. everything looks great. did you ever find the 3 cardinal?

[fltekdiver]

No, I can't find the one. Also made a bunch of War the last night did a water change yesterday I knew I should have filled the quarantine tank with the tank water I did a water change yesterday 20 percent today I do not like the way to blue hippo looks I'm going to pull him and QT him today

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[N9BX]

Hello Marco:

Finally got internet here, and all is well. I notice the three Cardinal Fish in the Tank, did you stop the quarantine process? And hopefully you are dipping the corals. It is a bummer to loose a fish but a whole tank full can really make the hobby discouraging.

But on to better things. My tank now has 120 lbs of dead rock in it, and 100 lbs of dead argonite Sand. I will begin to make RO/DI wather today and start the filling process on the tank and also the 20 gallon Quarantine tank. As soon as I get it filled with fresh water, and the filter has run for a few days to get the particulate out of the water, and before I start adding salt I will send you some pictures. Good Luck Buddy!

Bruce

[fltekdiver]

Sounds great Bruce! Please let me know when you start posting pics!

My LFS runs the fish through cupermine etc

I paid for a Sailfin Tang 2 weeks ago, they just called me yesterday, after treating the fish for 2 weeks with cupermine and hydro salinity, and said pick him up , he's ready and eatting well !

I picked him up last night, and put hin into the 180, but the yellow tang which I was worried about is pretty aggressive towards the sailfin tang


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[reeftanknewbie]

Great looking tank. This is going to hopefully be my next upgrade.

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Hey Marco any updates?

[fltekdiver]

Hey Matt,

Sure thing buddy, added a Sailfin Tang 2 weeks ago, he's doing great!

Here's some video's I shot yesterday on you tube, Notice the 2 Flower Rock
Anemone also :)

First video catches allot of the fish, 2nd video allot of the fish and coral close-up's

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJl74abBFGw&feature=c4-overview&list=UU9rW-dOqFNrKEs7kBWJQudA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exyXcjMgSdw&feature=c4-overview&list=UU9rW-dOqFNrKEs7kBWJQudA

[Mark...]

Looking good...the tangs seem to be getting along very well...

[fltekdiver]

Thanks !

I'm still having alittle trouble with the yellow tang. Every once in a while he swims up and bumps the Sailfin Tang to show the Sailfin who's boss

2 Weeks after introducing the Sailfin, he's now out swimming around and not hiding no more, which is a good sign

He's always ate well, next day after introducing him to the tank he was eating

Tanks levels are still doing very well, which I'm very happy with

PPo4 levels are 0.002 ppm , way down since adding the MR1 GFO Reactor a month ago

I'm very happy so far, 4 months in, and everything's been pretty smooth

I been doing 25% water changes every other week using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt

I been going through about a 1.5 gallons a day of RO water

Water bill doubled last few months, going from $57 a month to $113

I'm making water now every two weeks, vs changing the water out every week in smaller amounts

[Lilmatty5dimes]

everything looks great. its come along way.

[fltekdiver]

Some more Pictures, and Merry Christmas to Everyone!

Tanks really coming along nice !

I found some sponges growing in my Refugium today! You can all the pods in their also!

Also Added 2 Leathers Coral, and more!

Enjoy!

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/rockatnight.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/rockatnight.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/Sailfin.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/Sailfin.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/shrimp.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/shrimp.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/halftankshot.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/halftankshot.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-12-12125333.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-12-12125333.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-12-12125319.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-12-12125319.jpg.html)

[N9BX]

Very Nice Marco. Glad you are Happy with its Progress. Taking the slow and easy route sure makes for a Nice established Tank. Merry Christmas to you and your Family Also. Bruce

[smilonas]

Thanks !

I'm still having alittle trouble with the yellow tang. Every once in a while he swims up and bumps the Sailfin Tang to show the Sailfin who's boss

2 Weeks after introducing the Sailfin, he's now out swimming around and not hiding no more, which is a good sign

He's always ate well, next day after introducing him to the tank he was eating

Tanks levels are still doing very well, which I'm very happy with

PPo4 levels are 0.002 ppm , way down since adding the MR1 GFO Reactor a month ago

I'm very happy so far, 4 months in, and everything's been pretty smooth

I been doing 25% water changes every other week using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt

I been going through about a 1.5 gallons a day of RO water

Water bill doubled last few months, going from $57 a month to $113

I'm making water now every two weeks, vs changing the water out every week in smaller amounts


Hi Marco...just read this entire thread and it is awesome. What a great job you did not only on the build but also sharing tons of useful information. One question I have is the amount of water changes you specified above "I been doing 25% water changes every other week using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt". Are you still doing that or have you lowered the % and/or frequency? I have a 200 gallon and am still trying to get the water change ratio/timing down and would appreciate any advice.

GREAT JOB! :beer:

Stacy

[fltekdiver]

Very Nice Marco. Glad you are Happy with its Progress. Taking the slow and easy route sure makes for a Nice established Tank. Merry Christmas to you and your Family Also. Bruce

Bruce, Merry Christmas to you and your family also

When you get the 120 up and running, please let me know

I'm very excited to see the pictures, it will be great!

[fltekdiver]

Hi Marco...just read this entire thread and it is awesome. What a great job you did not only on the build but also sharing tons of useful information. One question I have is the amount of water changes you specified above "I been doing 25% water changes every other week using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt". Are you still doing that or have you lowered the % and/or frequency? I have a 200 gallon and am still trying to get the water change ratio/timing down and would appreciate any advice.

GREAT JOB! :beer:

Stacy

Hi Stacy,

Thanks so much! I appreciate it, allot of hard work to get it here :)

I do 32 gallons of Red Sea Coral Pro Salt every other week, and 40 gallons every other time

So for example, yesterday I did my bi-weekly water change, using 32 gallons

in 2 weeks from now, I'll do a larger water change of about 40 gallons

I change my GFO in my Reactor every 8 weeks ,or until I see the glass needing to be cleaned more then twice a week. Yesturday when I checked, it's 6 weeks since it was added, and I'm still at 0.002ppm on the hanna checker

Do you have a build thread of your 200 ? Also how long has yours been up and running?

Thanks again !

[smilonas]

Hi Stacy,

Thanks so much! I appreciate it, allot of hard work to get it here :)

I do 32 gallons of Red Sea Coral Pro Salt every other week, and 40 gallons every other time

So for example, yesterday I did my bi-weekly water change, using 32 gallons

in 2 weeks from now, I'll do a larger water change of about 40 gallons

I change my GFO in my Reactor every 8 weeks ,or until I see the glass needing to be cleaned more then twice a week. Yesturday when I checked, it's 6 weeks since it was added, and I'm still at 0.002ppm on the hanna checker

Do you have a build thread of your 200 ? Also how long has yours been up and running?

Thanks again !

That 0.002ppm is super impressive! Nice work.

I do not have a build thread for mine, as I didn't want to get beat up :headwalls: First 2 1/2 years of running a mixed tank (without sump) went fine then everything went belly-up last december. Rebuilt in January but being extremely cautious this time to be sure I do things the best way possible. Upgrading almost everything except the main tank this time so fingers are crossed. So glad you had all that info regarding your protein skimmer choice and why...I will be following your lead and ordering the same.

Stacy

[fltekdiver]

That sux, sorry to hear that after 2+ years you had trouble.

I found that the 8" cup instead of the 6" cup on the skimmer really helps from having to empty the cup so much

My cup gets all most full about the 2nd week right towards the water change. I usually cut it close, having about a 1/4 cup left till it over flows right at the water change

I been putting easy corals in the tank, allot of easy LPS, as I don't want to get into dosing for a while.

With water changes, and allot of cleaning., I been pretty lucky

Every month I break down the skimmer and give it a vineager bath, and then do the power heads. Lasy water change I did the return pump, and let the power heads run while the return soaked for a few hours

I'm keeping my fingers crossed also, So far been pretty smooth though

[davyjone]

Every month I break down the skimmer and give it a vineager bath, and then do the power heads. Lasy water change I did the return pump, and let the power heads run while the return soaked for a few hours


I've been following your thread for awhile now. Glad you've made so much progess. I'll be setting up a 180 when I free up some money.

I was looking for the best way to do just a general cleaning on equipment. Do you just let it soak? Is there a certain type of vineager?

[fltekdiver]

Thanks !! I just buy any Vineager from a local store

I bought a 18 Gallon round tub from Home Depot I believe for $7.00 , it works great, I just through the skimmer in with the pumps, fill it less then half way, pour some vineager in it, and let everything run for a few hours

[fltekdiver]

Gotta Love Florida,

Was out fishing today with the family, and swimming in the water's off the beach with the boat, 3 days before Christmas !

Picture of the boat beached at an island for lunch, and then my daughter and myself swimming around in the ocean off the beach with the boat :)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-12-21133705-1.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-12-21133705-1.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-12-21114758.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-12-21114758.jpg.html)

[fltekdiver]

Some tank pics & Refugium :

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/Sailfin.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/Sailfin.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/shrimp.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/shrimp.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/rockatnight.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/rockatnight.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-12-13105404.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-12-13105404.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-12-12235537.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-12-12235537.jpg.html)

[lluv24]

Nice!!!!!!

[blkg35]

Just curious why the pics in the beginning of this thread were deleted or not viewable?

[fltekdiver]

I uploaded the pics to photobucket, then to here, so they appear larger.

Photo bucket said I hit my limit, and I had to pay for additional pictures

So I went into Photo Bucket, and deleted allot of pictures

Next thing I know, they were all erased from here also, because they were linked to photo bucket

It ****ed me off, because I didn't save any of them on my computer

[davyjone]

I'll have to give that a try, thanks. I'm just going to assume there's a rinse after the vinegar. How is that skimmer working out? I was thinking that might be the one for me.

[fltekdiver]

Yes, sorry, I rinse them in RO water after

Here's some pics , new designer snails picked up yestuday.

I havn't added anything new now in 6 weeks. So I'm giving the tank lot's of time to mature

I did add 2 weeks ago 2 new leather coral

I love the skimmer. It works great, havn't had any issues, and I'm glad I went with a skimmer with a 8" cup.

I'm a big Reef Octopus fan, so this was really a hard decision going with something that just came out

It's dead quit, easy to work on and clean, cup removal is a simple twist, haven't found anything wrong yet I could complain about. I'm really happy with it, and I'm very picky

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/leather.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/leather.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/halftank.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/halftank.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/longhalftank.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/longhalftank.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-10-25212032.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-10-25212032.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-28171601.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-28171601.jpg.html)

[davyjone]

What's the tank on the right for? Is it your auto top off?

[fltekdiver]

Yes, its a 20 gallon high. I have my Apex set for 2 minutes every 6 hours. This way if my ATO can't keep running if it fails.
I top off about 1.5 gallons a day

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tap Talk

[justa210]

Really like how your sump is setup. Vey nice setup

[fltekdiver]

Thank you!

[fltekdiver]

Here's a few pics, maybe were deleted along the way

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-21193627.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-21193627.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-10-25212032.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-10-25212032.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-28171601.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-28171601.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-09-23173356.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-09-23173356.jpg.html)

[fltekdiver]

Here's a few pics, of the build of the stand, and my friend Kevin next to the stand to show you how big the stand is when I built it, lol

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18174210.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18174210.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-18194954.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-18194954.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-23190325.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-23190325.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-25121720.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-25121720.jpg.html)

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm200/fltekdiver/2013-08-25121822.jpg (http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fltekdiver/media/2013-08-25121822.jpg.html)

[Brian Crook]

I just placed an order for the same skimmer - Aquamaxx ConeS CO-3 for my 220g... How are you liking it so far?

Also, I love the way you finished the corners of the stand.

Cheers

[fltekdiver]

I like it allot, so far no complaints. I'm glad I didn't spend anymore money, because I'm happy with it. I love the 8" cup, ease of removing everything for cleaning, and it's very quite. I run a " Herbie " style plumbing, you can hear a pin drop next to the tank everythings so quite

You can't go wrong with it, you'll like it

[Brian Crook]

That's awesome! Good to hear :)

[fltekdiver]

Everything doing great, just shot a 5 month video of the tank!

Haven't added any new fish now in 2 months. It's time to start looking at what I should add next

I did add more coral, 2 leathers, and some other stuff, as well as 6 large snails that are really cool looking



http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8cXtWc2nFN0&list=UU9rW-dOqFNrKEs7kBWJQudA