AriMiko's 156G Oceanic Build

[AriMiko43]

Hello Everyone I am new here on Reef Central but I have been on another forum. I want to share with you all my 156 gallon build that started in 2011. I am copying and pasting my build from the other forum I am on, on to here. Hope you all enjoy it.

02-11-2011
After a few months from moving from NY to NJ and going through all the first time home owner painting, unpacking and setting everything up I finally really started to get my build going. I currently have a 65 gallon mixed reef that I moved along with me from NY. Let me tell you it was not a fun thing to do. It was very tough breaking the tank apart that I put so much time into aquascaping, placing corals in certain spots and making my own little reef so amazing for me to view.

The move to NJ with the tank was a rough night. I came home from work on a Fri night at the end of October and started my tank tear down. I removed all corals and bagged them up individually, drained the water into buckets along with the live rock. I then bagged up my fish and shrimp and got everyone ready for the drive. The sand I ended up throwing away because I didn't want to risk an ammonia spike. By the time I got into NJ that night and reset the tank up and got everyone in there it was 4am Sat morning. I was so stressed out and worrying about my corals and fish. The temperatures of the water did get cold on the drive but thank god everyone has survived and doing real great since then.

I never really set my 65 gallon up to the way I had it before in NY because I am doing an upgrade to a bigger tank. I just made it somewhat presentable and decent for my corals and fish to have a home till the new tank is ready. After all the work I had to put into my home and making it nice for me now it's time to start my build and create that beautiful home for my fish and corals that I always wanted but never had the room for.

Everyone tag along and see what I make of this and give me your feedback or even ideas. I haven't been on MR in a while because of the moving, housework and having a full time job. I am now back on and will be posting my updates as this build gets deeper and deeper. I also want to thank all the wonderful people I have met on here from back in NY that have given me advice and introduced me to some beautiful corals that I still have in my tank and are doing great. Thank you also to the people I haven't met but yet gave me advice on questions I had or help I needed. THANK YOU EVERYONE, Now get ready and check out some pics of my build


The Build Begins, Keep Posted For Updates


Tank

156 Gallon Oceanic RR with Starphire front and black background
[60" x 24" x 24"]

Stand

DIY Custom stand built by me, made from 4x4's, 2x4's, 3/4" plywood and then wrapped in cedar planks with a maple top and trim

Lighting

DIY 96 Cree 3W LED's [36 White/60 Royal Blue]
Two 24" x 8 1/2" heatsinks with custom Aluminum frame
2 cooling fans
Drivers

Sump

42" x 18" x 16" Custom DIY Acrylic sump with 3 chambers
[Drain/Skimmer, Fuge and then Return area]

Equipment

Two Vortech MP 40's
Two 250 watt Jager Heaters
Two 2 lil fishies reactors [Carbon,Bio Pellets]
160 lbs of CaribSea dry sand [Special Reef Grade]
160 lbs of dry rock [BRS reef saver & Pukani]
SWc Xtreme 230 Cone Protein Skimmer
Reeflo Dart pump
Neptune Apex controller
Bubble Magus 3 part doser

[AriMiko43]

3/7/2011

Drilled in my bulkhead and filled the sump up with water to leak test it. I will be dropping the sump into the stand tomorrow and then placing the tank on the stand.

[AriMiko43]

3/8/2011

I started my plumbing tonight. I ran 2" intake piping with 1 1/2" discharge T'd off to 1" and down to two 1/2" valves for carbon and bio pellets in the reactors. I'm also running the 1" back into the fuge with a valve in case the pump sucks water to quickly, I can replace it back into the sump so it bypasses the whole DT overflows. The 1 1/2" pipe will be reduced down to two 3/4" hose barbs to supply the return to the tank.

[AriMiko43]

3/9/2011

Here are some updates... I got a lil more done tonight

[rpjaws74]

Like the fish room! and nice set up...tagging along

[PistolShrmp]

Nice start, keep up the good work.

[laredo300c]

Very clean, great looking sump, display quality

[OzoneParkGuy]

Great start... nice, clean and can tell it was thought out carefully. More More!! LOL

[AriMiko43]

3/12/2011

Here is a update of my tank build. I changed the plumbing around and added extra valves for future use. Tank is on the stand and ready for sand and rock tomorrow.

[AriMiko43]

3/13/2011

UPDATE...

Skimmer, Sand, Rock and water being filled up into the tank

I went with the SWC 230 Cone, this skimmer is a beast [Thank you TB Aquatics]
160 lbs Caribsea Special Reef Grade sand
160 lbs of BRS Reef saver and Pukani rock held together with Marco Rock mortar mix in some areas

[AriMiko43]

3/14/2011 <`~~ One year BIRTHDAY coming soon. I will have a nice update for it.

Ok, It's all filled up and running. It took 2 days to fill with ro/di. Everything on the plumbing is leak free and the sump is working good. I finished my aquascaping, I might add some more rock in the future piled a bit higher to get the sps on. I'm leaving areas open so the fish can swim through. So what do you all think of it so far?

[LoJack]

Looking good!

That stand is beautiful!

[SpencerG]

Great attention to detail! I am considering upgrading from a 75, like your 65, so I'm grateful you're sharing your build progress. Also, interesting choice with cedar. Personal preference or function?

[Loveroftangs]

Love the stand good job.

[rpjaws74]

I think your good on rock IMO specially if your keeping tangs in the future. And it gives the coral to grow n fill in the gaps nicely..

[AriMiko43]

I used the cedar planks as more of a personal preference. The room the tank is in has it on the walls as you can see in some of the pics, the rest of the room has the cedar as a 36" high wall with chair railing around the top. As for the rock, I have added more. Keep in my mind I am copying and pasting this build from the other forum. This tank is almost a year old. So much has changed and I can't wait to give it that nice update. Wait till you see the led build I did.

[Playa-1]

Nice Job

[TheReefJedi]

Nice!

[AriMiko43]

3/27/2011

Started my led build today. It consist of 60 XRE Royal Blue and 36 XRE Cool White. I first made a frame out of angle and square aluminum from Home Depot. I am using two 8 1/2" x 24" Heatsinks along with two 3 1/2" x 24" Heatsinks. I have 8 meanwell ELN60-48D drivers that I will be wiring in a series of 12 leds to each driver. I will then hook the meanwells up to my Apex controller for dimming. The first pic is the pattern I am using for each 24" Heatsink.

[AriMiko43]

4/13/2011

Let there be light....

[mark54321]

Beautiful build.Very detailed and clean.Subscribed.

[AriMiko43]

5/30/2011

Some random shots I took with my Iphone, I'll leave it to my Girlfriend's brother [Staaan] to take the real pictures lol

[AriMiko43]

5/30/2011

[AriMiko43]

Ok going to end it here and start off with recent pics, I will take some nice new photos of my equipment and tank. My girlfriends brother is working on a video also. Let's see what he comes up with.

[BigCountry74]

Great job on that light Miko.