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215 upgrade build


Robb in Austin

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My 75 sprung a leak last weekend. And, like any reefer worth their salt, I used the tragedy to upgrade.

Backstory;

A week ago or so, my wife worked from home on Friday and told me she found water on the floor by the 75. I figured it was due to the fish splashing water out whilst feeding (something that will happen from time to time) and said "don't worry about it". We woke up that Saturday and found more. Some quick research revealed a leak coming from the front bottom seam of the tank. sad.png We spent the rest of the day breaking down the tank. The last FTS are in my 75 build here:
http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/7750-my-75g-build/page-5

As of now, the only casualty has been my blue-green chromis.

Lots of research, mostly scouring ARC, the LFS, Craigslist, MAAST, DFWMAS, and MARSH, later and I found a reef ready 215g with a stand from Dave (aka Prof). It now sits in my garage being prepped.

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I snagged a 75 off Craigslist to turn into a sump (you can see it sitting on the floor in the background).

The first step is to strip the blue background and repaint it black.

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I suppose I should provide some updates.

The 75 I got for the sump had the center brace removed, due to being broken. I still need to clean up the edges due to being ratchet.

I've leak tested it and hope to build it this weekend. I quoted both Regal Plastics and Binswanger for 4 pieces total of 1/4" plastic or glass. 1 piece of 17.5" by 14" and 3 pieces of 17.5" by 10". They both wanted ~$44 for the material. And just FYI, Regal isn't doing the scrap bin anymore (or not at least last Tuesday). Thankfully, Prof had some scrap acrylic and hooked me up with for a nominal fee. (Also FYI, a 75 is roughly 17.5" inside dimensions so your baffles should be 17.25". :D) )

The 215 is leak testing in my garage, even though Dave leak tested it for me too, just to be safe. It's been leak free for 48 hours and I'll leave it for a few more days.

I stripped all the blue off the background (sooooo 1990s) and repainted it black with 2 coats. It looks like it will need another. (FYI, when SWMBO tells you to use a foam rubber/neoprene roller brush, do not listen. The sponge holds the majority of the paint and doesn't want to let it go. Cue Frozen theme song for the parents.)

I need to buy new bulkheads. I already bought a new skimmer, an Aquamaxx EM300 based on good reviews at Reef Central, but am waiting on it to come in. I also purchased some dry from from KB-Reefs.com and am waiting for it to show up. I'll need new lights eventually but that may have to wait until next month. And I'm looking at another MP40 for flow.

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Background is now black.

I just ordered 2 of the new Jebao RW-15 wireless powerheads for flow. I'm somewhat excited to see what these things can do in comparison to my MP40W. The plan is to run the MP40 along the length of the tank, towards the front, and place the RW-15's along the back wall (given the wires in the tank) to provide random flow. I'm not too terribly sure how I am going to orient the returns but will be aiming for random with some slight gyre effect.

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More pictures!

The rock and power heads all came in today. The rock will be rinsed then placed in SW to get it cycling. I also got new bulkheads from RCA and will get the plumbing started this weekend.

Here is the power head.

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It's tiltable but doesn't rotate, although you can change which axis it tilts by changing the orientation of the power cord.

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Size comparison. This is the wet side. It's about the same diameter of the can too.

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Close up of the controller.

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I'll get picks of the rocks in a bit.

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Rock pictures!

I got this rock from kb-reefs.com. I found them via eBay and knew from the pictures that it wasn't quite as nice as Marco Rocks but was hoping for close. I was scared when I first unpacked it. A good rinse helped. A little bit.

I got 175lbs for $300 and it arrived today. Marco Key Largo dry is 150lbs for $315. BRS dry reef saver is 175lbs for $419. From what I've seen, all of this rock is harvested from the same, or at least similar, locations in Florida. The MR and BRS stuff is very holey. In retrospect, I should have gone with Marco Rock. Much holier and the cost difference would account for my 2 hours of rinsing the KBR rock. It will be fine to use as base rock and build my aquascape but it could have been better.

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And in the tub with SW beginning to cycle. I put some rock rubble I had in the sump, which is now dry and covered in gunk, into the tub to hopefully help it along. I may drop some pellets or other food in there to help too. I placed my Eheim 1260 and an MaxiJet 1200 in there to help circulate the water. I used tap water and some Coralife salt mix to make up the water. I figure the fact that it's outside and circulating pretty well will drive off chlorine/chloramines pretty quick and as such I did not use any dechlorinator. Once the rock is done, I'll move it to the tank and add some Seachem Prime just in case any residual chlorine/chloramine laced water makes it over.

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