f3honda4me dream 180g transfer/build thread

[f3honda4me]

When I began my aquarium planning in our new home 3 years ago after we moved in, I had started with a small 20g long with a couple fish and coral. They were a few leftovers from my 75g and stock tank sump setup at our old home. Eventually tore that down with the plans to turn the room the tank was in into the fish room. Next came the reefer 170, which was just two months ago. With the 170 completed, I had been saving up and occasionally buying equipment used or at a discount in preperation for the eventual 180g which was the final/long term plan for our home.

Recently I came across an incredible deal from a local wisconsin reef society member. It is about a 5-6 year old tank. 1 year ago he had a mass coral die off and so the tank has just a few small frags, but still has all the live rock and fish. The timing couldn't be more perfect as I have the space for the 180g, and with buying his setup it will save me $$$ buying his used setup. But since it's basically a FOWLR tank with some small frags, it gives me the chance to aquascape and do my own corals etc. So, I'm jumping on his deal and my 180g will become a reality over the next month or so - instead of sometime next year as originally planned.

The setup is coming with the following: 180g DT, 125g sump tank, 55g holding/mixing/rodi tank, jebao 15000 return pump, ATS with jebao 12000 pump, heaters, a black box LED I'll use for frag/qt, and a beastly reef octopus 200 series skimmer, jebao dosing pump, etc. The DT has a custom built true coast to coast overflow, a custom drain system that's a mix between a bean animal and modified herbie. It also comes with all the liverock, sand, and livestock including a large Desjardini Tang, Blue Hippo tang, Coral Beauty, Yellow Tang, Melanarus Wrasse, Green Birdsmouth Wrasse, Ocellaris clown, Blue Spotted watchman goby, yellow watchman goby, pajama cardinal, orbiculate cardinal, and a very pretty rose/orange/yellow BTA.

In addition, my existing reefer 170 appears to have ich on several fish, or at least some other kind of disease/bacteria. Nothing that is severely sick yet but I see the salt grain spots now on then on a couple of the fish, and my blenny flashes at the bottom. This will give me the opportunity to properly treat this livestock, and fallow everything else in a holding tank after the 180 move.

Existing tank:
http://imgur.com/5Q6eI9M.jpg

http://imgur.com/4v7sVsV.jpg

Clown and his softy host:
http://imgur.com/MYlrBYJ.jpg

Sailfin tang:
http://imgur.com/UbbjIEa.jpg

[f3honda4me]

To start, before I do anything I need to get a second brute trashcan for saltmixing so that I can have enough water ready for the 55g holding tank. I also had to order more salt, more heaters, and tubing/airstones, buckets with lids (for transporting livestock), and other misc gear. I am also going to buy 120 pounds of dry sand (caribsea sea floor special grade 1mm-2mm) as the existing tank has just a thin layer of sand on the bottom and I like a 1.5" sandbed (personal preference).

Here is the overall plan:
- First steps are to prep my fish room, and get both brutes full of heated mixed saltwater.
- Next, pick up the 55g tank, along with any other equipment available. Also pick up all the live rock, coral, fish, etc. I'll be transporting all of this in buckets with lids or totes, as well as a couple livestock boxes I have from liveaquaria. I'd bring this all home, put the live rock into the 55g, fill it with the mixed saltwater, then acclimate and put the fish into the 55g along with the coral. I know some of the tangs are large, but this should be ok for the week or two they will be in this tank. I have eggcrate on the chance I'd have to separate any of the fish. This tank will have a 300g heater, a radion xr30w pro over the coral/anemone, and an MP40wqd.

This gives the current owner time to drain everything and break down the system and prep it for the big move.

- Next I have a professional moving company I'm hiring to move the big stuff. They will pick up the 180g, the DIY stand, the DIY top, and the 125g sump. I would also grab the rest of the gear at this time such as return pump, ATS, heaters, pvc/plumbing, etc. They will bring the big stuff to my place, and put the stand, DT, and 125g sump into their final spots.
- After this, I'll get the whole system plumbed through the wall to the fish room sump, add the sand to the DT, and begin filling the sump/DT with whatever premixed saltwater I have made up, and then RODI.
- Once full, salt mixed, and up to temp, I'll transfer my 2016 apex to the new system. Then I'll move over the liverock and then the fish/coral.

I am planning on doing a high salinity dip on the live rock either when I first get it or before going into DT in order to try and flush out any possible unwanted hitchikers. The tank will have two MP40wqd and 3 radion XR30w. Once the DT is set up I'll tear down the reefer 170, and put the liverock/coral/inverts/sand/etc into the 55g to remain fallow there for 73 days. The fish will then go into QT tanks for TTM treatment. Eventually, the rock/sand/coral/inverts and fish will all join the rest in the DT.

[f3honda4me]

Here is a few pics of the location where the 180g will go, along with some equipment I picked up recently! Got a crazy deal on still sealed in the box radion XR30w PROs from someone who bought them and never used them. I also have one xr30w non pro that will go in the middle of the tank where there will be a sandy area for an eventual haddoni.

http://imgur.com/GS1sK9o.jpg

http://imgur.com/FNduesz.jpg

http://imgur.com/XHDYPWx.jpg

http://imgur.com/kHJ0HB6.jpg

[f3honda4me]

Going to be setting up a 20 long and two brutes to hold fish/rock since it won't all fit in the 55g.

[marleesan]

Do you plan on keeping all of the old fish?

[f3honda4me]

Do you plan on keeping all of the old fish?

Yes. Except for his maroon clown and its nem. He is keeping that.

[marleesan]

I would recommend giving away the sailfin and blue tangs, they will get too big and three tangs in that tank will be too agressive

[f3honda4me]

I would recommend giving away the sailfin and blue tangs, they will get too big and three tangs in that tank will be too agressive

If that ends up to be the case I will look into selling them, but they currently get along fine at their current size and he's had them several years.

[JonezNReef]

Nice find on the tank! I am in the process of setting up a 180 myself. I will be following along to see how you choose to set it up. Your equipment list is good and not a bad list on livestock. As far as the tangs go, those particular tangs might be a bit big for the tank as I personal wouldn't want a foot long fish in my 180 or two at that matter. But with that said I had 3 tangs in my 180 for a while with no problems (Kole, Yellow, and Scopas). It depends more on the fish's personality than its genus.
Keep us updated as you progress

[f3honda4me]

Yea I've seen the fish behavior at his house, and they seem to get along fine. Though of course, as with any fish, invert, etc, if things change or aggression manifests, then a rehome is in order.

[f3honda4me]

Today is saltwater mixing day. I need to fill up the 20 long holding tank, and then have all 3 of the 32 gallon garbage cans filled and ready to go for next saturday, so that I have water ready for the 55 gallon tank, my 15 gallon "tote", and anything else I might need it for. I have a mag 9.5 and a 300w heater for the can I'm filling today. I have 2 more 300w heaters, and also bought 4x used 250w eheim jager heaters that should be here monday, just for spares and other stuff. I also got my shelving unit set up, and my wife is going to install a wire rack shelf above my work table so I can finish organization of the room.

But I just realized I don't have a 3rd mixing pump for the 3rd garbage can. :( Hmm, I may need to check RC forums for a used one or pick one up somewhere cheap as I can get it.

The other thing I need to figure out how to do is hang the black box LED light I'm getting with this deal over the 55g so that the coral have light while they are in the holding tank. Everything else can just get the room lighting and daylight while in holding, but the coral will need that LED for the 2 weeks they are in holding.


The 125g sump will sit on the floor on this wall, since the DT is on the other side of this wall.
http://imgur.com/oz8xPVx.jpg

This wall, next to the shelf unit, will sit the 55g which will first work as a holding tank, and later on will likely be the saltwater reservoir. I ordered the neptune DOS dosing system to do automated water changes, probably 3 gallons per day (15 minutes of run time per gallon). It will pull water out to the sump pump drain in my house the same time it puts the same amount of water in from the SW holding tank.

I will have to see if I can find a stand for the 55g.
http://imgur.com/DOTh9QX.jpg

20 long ready to get water and workbench organization going on.
http://imgur.com/Sa9hX4c.jpg

Filling up that water! Today I'm going to time the RO buddie booster pump I'm using to see how long it takes to fill this 32 gallon can. My system is technically a 100 gpd system, but I'm pretty sure I get a lot more than that with this crazy booster system. I already know I only get 1-2 gallons of waste for every 1 gallon of RODI, and my TDS coming out of my membrane is always 0!
http://imgur.com/Lege2Ay.jpg

[f3honda4me]

27 gallons in just under 6 hours. So roughly 110gpd. Not too shabby!

[f3honda4me]

Built a cheap, quick, and dirty LED light hanging rack using PVC. Didn't even have to glue it so I can change sizing etc later for different size tanks and whatnot. Perfect for QT or holding tank lights! Total cost was about $5.

http://imgur.com/GzIOhmq.jpg

http://imgur.com/d5vCgqj.jpg

http://imgur.com/pf9NFjz.jpg

20 long holding tank is ready for the coral I anticipate picking up today. :)

[f3honda4me]

And no that tank isn't leaning, I'm just bad at iphone pics :p

[mpderksen]

This seems like a fun build. Tagging along. I just got started on my 75 to 150 upgrade project. Stay ahead of me so I can learn from your mistakes.... lol.
I current have a DOS for water changes. You'll dig it. In the control panel, you set it for 24 hours/day, and the daily volume. It calculates the intervals automatically. If I have guests in the room (the unit is on the wall in the guest closet behind the tank), I change the time so it doesn't run at night and disturb them. But it does the same volume, just in less hours. Very slick.

[f3honda4me]

Picked up some amazing corals today. Into the 20 Long holding tank for now. 4 different SPS and an LPS.

http://imgur.com/sFq1pXH.jpg

http://imgur.com/mQskvaY.jpg

http://imgur.com/3W6xgId.jpg

http://imgur.com/kmSnJFv.jpg

http://imgur.com/7mMvKnz.jpg

[JonezNReef]

Wow very nice pick up there on the acro's

[f3honda4me]

Wow very nice pick up there on the acro's

Thanks. They were from a local reefer getting out sale. Got them for an amazing price.

I believe the LPS is a wellso.

[f3honda4me]

New items arrived today. Neptune DOS which will be handling water changes on the 180 system. Also salinity probe which will simply provide charted salinity measurement to ensure consistency. (not being used for determining actual salinity, just consistent salinity)

http://imgur.com/JdXpSBf.jpg

[f3honda4me]

So the big move has happened and the fish are now here. After 1 night I am happy to report that all fish are alive and eating great today. Took us a couple hours to get everything loaded up into the SUV, but we had enough room for everything. 6 buckets, 2 bins, a huge blue bin full of gear, a 55g tank, and two coolers filled with coral and fish bags. After a temp acclimation and a short mixed water acclimation, everything went into the holding tanks. The 55g has most of the live rock, the two cardinals, and the two gobys. The 20L has some rock plus the melanarus wrasse, the yellow tang, and the ocellaris clown, along with all corals and the bubble tip anemone (gorgeous colors by the way). While it's a rather small tank for those fish normally, the 3 seem to get along well and no aggression thus far, and after their short stay they should be fine. Last is a huge blue bin, probably another 50g of water, with the sailfin tang, blue tang, coral beauty, and birdsmouth wrasse, plus live rock. So far today, no ammonia, so looking good.

Discovered that I was tripping the breakers with all the gear I had plugged in, so had to temporarily run some extension cords. Went to the hardware store today and picked up enough wire, outlets, gfci, etc to run two new 15A breaker circuits to my fish room with 3 outlets each including the GFCI.

http://imgur.com/reRkEue.jpg

http://imgur.com/PmJe7Qg.jpg

http://imgur.com/dizlhU3.jpg

http://imgur.com/n1ArXxY.jpg

http://imgur.com/2YoIUQL.jpg

http://imgur.com/J4zGrg4.jpg

http://imgur.com/WapYKxb.jpg

http://imgur.com/lUYAqYo.jpg

http://imgur.com/0chOVPd.jpg


After a LOT of back and forth, debating, doing math, etc, I decided to go the route of two MP60WQD pumps instead of the 3 MP40WQD pumps. The biggest factor was that I'd have to run the two side MP40WQD pumps rather high for this size of a tank. The MP60s have tremendously wide flow and can throw it farther than anything. I'll be selling my 3 MP40s soon. I managed to pick up two used MP60wes and ordered the QD driver for both already.

I also need to find a new frozen food that I can pick up closer to home at petco or pet world I think, as there aren't enough places near me that carry the stuff I had been getting. :(

[JonezNReef]

Wow you were quite busy over the weekend. Been getting some stuff ready and done.
As for the food have you ever considered making your own? I go to the fish market and buy some fresh clams, oysters, shrimp, and fish then take and clean it up, blend it up and then freeze it in a mini cube tray I found at the dollar store. That can last me up to a whole month or more depending on how I feed. Just a thought

[f3honda4me]

New toys today. This is 2 brand new MP60 wet sides, one new MP60 dry side, one used MP60 dry side, and two brand new MP60wqd drivers.

Also picked up the RODI upgrade with the 2nd membrane, so I should be able to get around 200gpd now.

http://imgur.com/cTGXANM.jpg

http://imgur.com/l22vPSa.jpg

http://imgur.com/igR4UZl.jpg

http://imgur.com/zbtLljn.jpg

[JonezNReef]

Those MP60s are so nice... bet they will move some water. I just did the same thing with my RODI when I went to fill up my tanks and wondered why I didn't do that sooner.

[f3honda4me]

Those MP60s are so nice... bet they will move some water. I just did the same thing with my RODI when I went to fill up my tanks and wondered why I didn't do that sooner.

Yea they feel like beasts. And I'm running a great booster pump. I wish I'd done the upgrade sooner too! If my math is right it's pushing 200gpd.

[f3honda4me]

This weekend was very busy! I ran two new 15A circuits with GFCI outlets which was quite an undertaking as my entire basement is finished and the fish room is the opposite corner from the electric panels. I had to snake the wires through and along an I-beam, and only had to cut one hole in a soffit which I'll be able to seal back up with a panel. The outlets aren't totally level with each other, so it may not be pretty but it is functional. I tested everything and it all works as expected. So now I have 6 outlets on GFCI per 15A circuit!

I also got the return pump and the ATS pump into a bucket with a mixture of rodi/vinegar water so that they get a good thorough cleaning. The big move is thursday this week! The movers are confirmed, I checked that the floor where the tank is going is level, plus it's on carpeting so that usually makes leveling a bit easier as well. I bought a bunch of PVC piping just in case. I have 3 buckets full of mixed saltwater ready to go too. I bought PVC piping to create the "framing" to hold the ATS stuff over the sump, and I have materials on hand to set the skimmer to proper level in the sump as well. I'll be using the method of plastic bin with holes (overflow) to keep skimmer water level regardless of sump water level as the drains will drain right into the skimmer bin then overflow into the sump. There is quite a bit of rust on the grow light LEDs from the ATS which in my experience can leech metals into tanks and possibly cause issues. I'm going to try to sand them and use some rustoleum to seal them again - worst case I just have to buy two new LED lights such as the mars aqua LED grow light 300w units. We shall see!



http://imgur.com/u0Zfg33.jpg

http://imgur.com/qp8FfTU.jpg

[f3honda4me]

So much to update, where do I begin!!

To start, I have officially switched from using reef crystals salt to fritz. I have used fritz now and it's amazing. It mixes up within 20 minutes crystal clear, and the parameters are always the same. About 8.5 dkh, 440 ca, 1400 mag, and at 1.026 salinity. And it never gives me the brown sludge I get with reef crystals. Only $10 more a box than RC.

So a bit has happened as well since last update. The sailfin that I had as it turns out attacked the hippo tang one day, and gashed her side bad. I had pulled her out and had her in QT treating with kanaplex antibiotic. Unfortunately it was not enough and I'm sad to say that despite eating very well the cut was too much and appears to have gotten infected and she died. :( The sailfin went to a good home though in a nice 330g tank. In his stead though I picked up a different sailfin and a magnificent foxface that are literally best friends. I also picked up 3 lyretail anthias. So in the end here is the fish list:

sailfin tang
yellow tang
White tail bristletooth tang
Ocellaris clown
Two cardinalfish
Birds wrasse
Melanarus Wrasse
Trio of Lyretail Anthias (2 female, 1 male)

I think that's everything? I feel like I forgot something. It's probably hiding so I forgot it lol.

The movers did a phenomenal job getting the 180 here. They had 4 guys, but the biggest two guys beast mode lifted the tank using the suction cups and brought it into my basement. They put it exactly where I wanted it, waited til we had it on perfectly level spot, and made sure the tank was square on all sides. Highly recommend. And for a few hundred bucks, well worth it. I went to work, got the plumbing through the wall, filled the sump, filled the DT, and started running it. Unfortunately the DC 15000 jebao I had was too much even on the lowest setting! It overwhelmed the primary drain constantly and the second had to kick in all the time. Fortunately a quick pipe size change to a DC 12000 at the lowest setting did the trick. I have dual 1.5" drains and a single 1.5" return. Next was the sand, which made it super cloudy. I used CaribSea Caribbean Live Sand Original Grade. 3 40lb bags did the trick. The skimmer pulled out all of the nasty gunk overnight and next day tank was clear! Unfortunately the DC 12000 was meant for the algae scrubber, so I ordered a DC 8000 for that instead. I also ordered two mars grow lights as I was unable to repair the rusted areas of the previous LEDs.

So today, after a lot of work, I moved all the live rock over to the DT. I definitely need more live rock! Unfortunately my live rock in my reefer 170 has to sit fallow for 72 days. I'm not sure what I will do in the meantime. I might look for other local reefers getting out of the hobby and try to pick up more live rock. I can always sell extra later. But for now my two small islands will have to do. I moved all the fish over without issue, and they seem happy, even eating already. I bought a cleanup crew as well, and dumped them in. I have two of my radions set up, and my MP60WQD are doing great. It's incredible how much water they move and how wide the flow is. I have both at 40% and even that might be too high.

Tomorrow I'll pull the coral from the holding tank and glue some into the DT. Also, I'll be transferring my apex neptune and all of its probes etc over to the 180, as well as the last radion. Thus will begin the breakdown of the reefer 170. I'll put all of the liverock and coral and critters into the 55g to stay fallow for 72 days, feeding the tank occasionally for the inverts and for some ammonia for the bacteria. But first, I'll be dipping the live rock in a 1.035 salinity bath and trying to shake out any nasties. The reefer 170 has a lot of gorilla crabs despite my best efforts to trap and kill as many as I can. The little **** keep eating my LPS! >:( All fish from the 170 will go into 20 Longs for TTM (thanks to petco $1 gallon sale!)

Lastly, my wife wants to rebuild the siding for the stand, and also the top. She's incredibly handy at wood working so she wants to make something super nice for it.

And now - pics!

Mars grow lights:
http://imgur.com/rDB8zEA.jpg

Tank has arrived and is level!
http://imgur.com/j3kSUii.jpg

http://imgur.com/kkiuiAM.jpg

The plumbing begins:
http://imgur.com/Y5uZ8vD.jpg
http://imgur.com/xwrK7dc.jpg

Plumbing done and water filling:
http://imgur.com/nVzCrdL.jpg
http://imgur.com/TkML9PB.jpg
http://imgur.com/7GxiEOd.jpg

[f3honda4me]

Sand clouds:
http://imgur.com/GWKULYa.jpg
http://imgur.com/btKc1QY.jpg

Full tank shot! Sorry lighting isn't the best and the iphone struggles to color correctly.
http://imgur.com/RMa7EIa.jpg

Fish and coral and nem (note, any white specs are just dirty glass, etc)
http://imgur.com/j7E18jS.jpg
http://imgur.com/lMwifNE.jpg
http://imgur.com/YnUoDhY.jpg
http://imgur.com/roiZzLU.jpg

The sailfin and foxface are best friends.
http://imgur.com/kaeVrmt.jpg

[f3honda4me]

Today's updates, got a LOT done.

First, I broke down the reefer 170, moved all fish to QT and put all coral and rock into a holding tank. Pictures below!

http://imgur.com/QBTtT6t.jpg

http://imgur.com/s7ujvPJ.jpg

Here you can see I set up my ATO pump line (the black line) that routes around and into the sump. It is held/tied above the water so it won't ever siphon. Here is my ATO program. It uses a float switch, but also uses a "virtual" switch to detect if the float switch may be stuck in the "on" position. Basically, if the ATO float is "on" for more than 50 seconds, it will trigger and force the ATO pump off until I fix it by checking the float etc, and then resetting the virtual switch.

ATO pump:
Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If SumpAT CLOSED Then ON
If Output SwStuckCL = ON Then OFF
Defer 000:10 Then ON
Defer 000:10 Then OFF

Virtual switch:
Set OFF
If SumpAT CLOSED Then ON
Defer 000:50 Then ON

http://imgur.com/CPo1MUb.jpg

Here is the float and all of the apex probes!

http://imgur.com/sk5qv0C.jpg

All of the cabling and power boxes, apex, etc is all hidden below the tank. I still tied up the cords where I could so it doesn't make a huge rats nest.

http://imgur.com/xr8yd6i.jpg
http://imgur.com/RKPNSy8.jpg

3rd radion is now in place:
http://imgur.com/UxGciCS.jpg

Last order of the day, I set up the neptune apex DOS pump. This is handling automatic water changes. I'm starting it off changing about 4.28 gallons per day. My total system volume between display and sump is probably around 280 gallons. So this equates to about a 10% water change per week. It's really nice I just tell it how much to change per day and it handles all of it completely automatically. It breaks it up into intervals that run every 10 minutes per day, however long it needs to run. And it runs both the removal and add pumps at the same time so that the water level never changes. I will eventually set up a float switch in the saltwater holding brute so that it kills the DOS pump in case it were to run out of water.

http://imgur.com/IOXw7E6.jpg

[mpderksen]

Here's my DOS virtual outlet program:
Set OFF
If NSW_LO OPEN Then ON
If Outlet NSWLow5 = ON Then OFF
Defer 060:00 Then ON
I get a text hourly until I kill the alert. I have a float that is at the 3-4 day left mark, and a second when I'm actually out.

[f3honda4me]

Here's my DOS virtual outlet program:
Set OFF
If NSW_LO OPEN Then ON
If Outlet NSWLow5 = ON Then OFF
Defer 060:00 Then ON
I get a text hourly until I kill the alert. I have a float that is at the 3-4 day left mark, and a second when I'm actually out.

It's amazing what we can do with this controller. I'd never build another tank without one.

[bizacon]

Great build. I love my DOS for awc
Y

[f3honda4me]

So, after observing my fish for visible signs of ich the past couple weeks in the reefer 170, I never saw any salt grain spots nor any fish breathing rapidly. I assumed ich because I thought I saw salt spots but it was likely just sand attached to the fish's slime coat as I never saw it again the past few weeks. So today I'll be moving all of the rest of the rock and fish over to the 180 and attaching corals etc. Full tank shots will be coming soon!

[f3honda4me]

Tested parameters last night.

8.6 DKH
470 calc
1480 mag
0.33 phosphate
0 ammonia
10 nitrate

Solid and steady so far! I'll keep monitoring the numbers and adjust my automatic water changes up or down depending.

[f3honda4me]

Here's some shots of the tank! Hope you enjoy. My wife will eventually get some macro shots etc but these will do for now!

http://imgur.com/5BFxVWe.jpg

http://imgur.com/AWNhQU7.jpg

http://imgur.com/SE7d6QT.jpg

FTS
http://imgur.com/TZ3pNRJ.jpg

A few shots of my favorite acros. Macro shots would definitely be better!

http://imgur.com/gIv4ZKk.jpg

http://imgur.com/z6iQdHY.jpg

http://imgur.com/pR0HcrC.jpg

[Kactai]

Nice build! Thanks for the thread

[neilp2006]

Great build, looks great.

Question about your new electrical. You did it all yourself? did you pull permits or have an inspector look at it? Im asking because im about to wire up my small fishroom with a couple 20 amp circuits, but i would liek to avoid the $1500 bill if i can spend a weekend doing it myself.

the basement and fishroom are all studs right now, so it wont be too big a job if i DIY

[f3honda4me]

I did the electrical myself, no permits. I'd wager that if you do it to code, no one would ever be the wiser. :p