SoonerFan Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 This 225 Gallon tank was a great find on ebay. The agreement with the wife was that all other tanks had to go if I got this one. Managed to snag the tank, stand, and canopy for $610. It was in Texas just south of Fort Worth. Here are some pictures of the tank as it looked on ebay: It took me 6 weeks to redo the stand and canopy. I painted the inside of both with Kilz (about 3 layers each). I then stained with a Golden Oak and added Starfish knobs (from ebay as well). Next up - Filtration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerFan Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 I wanted a cryptic refugium with a deep sand bed that could be taken off-line quickly if need be. I got the idea from Reef Central. My sump was custom made by Ace (Hobogate) and Brian (Kingfish Aquariums). The sump has a space for my protein skimmer (Euroreef 180 with upgraded Sedra 9000 pump), a frag growout section that will be light with 150 Metal Halide Phoenix 14K, and a return section powered by a Panworld 150PS. I bought the CJ Standpipes to replace the Durso's I had made. To be honest, for the money, I didn't really notice a big decrease as both were pretty quiet and the CJ's cost about $50 bucks for my tank so in hindsight I would have stuck with Durso's. The tank has around 200lbs of Fiji Live Rock most of which I have had for three or more years so it is very mature rock with tons of pods, sponges, stomatella's, and all kinds of life. SUMP: Has probe holders, holder for JBJ ATO, and eggcrate for holding frags in growout section. 20 Gallon Tall tank with (2) 1/2" drains for cryptic refugiums. Fed by a T coming off the left drain pipe: CRYPTIC REFUGIUM: Contains one black serpent star and a blue Coral banded Shrimp. Eggcrate for holding live rock off sand bed in cryptic refugium: By turning the (2) 90" elbows sideways they skimmed the top of the water in the refugium and drain directly into protein skimmer section" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerFan Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 Well, to get started I made a plumbing station. I had originally bought an Iwaki pump off of Reef Central but when I got everything set up and turned it on it didn't work so I got a Panworld 150PS from River City. Love the pump and it is very quiet for a large pump. I used threaded bulkheads, lots of unions, and ball valves to allow easy dissassembly for maintenance. The tank is a brick tank with dual overflows on each end. I plumbed with 1" spaflex and PVC for drains and returns until right before the returns entered the tank where I went back to 3/4". Right drain and return: Left drain and return: I mounted the drain lines against the back wall of stand to hold in place: Skimmer in sump: Plumbing and wiring: The skimmer has a gate valve mod and I put a gate valve on the return line from the pump to dial in the flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerFan Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 The tank is lit by (2) 250 Watt HQI Sunlight Supply Reefoptix Pendants with dual ballast and (1) 250 Watt HQI AquaMedic Pendant. All three run Phoenix 14K 250 Watt bulbs. I don't like raising a canopy and being blinded by light so I wanted to design something where the lights would rotate and continue to point down and light the tank when the canopy is raised. I knew due to the weight of the canopy lid I would also need gas springs (from ebay). Here are photos of how I designed the rotating light bar: Here are the pendants mounted to the light bar (6' aluminum square tube painted with appliance paint). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerFan Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 Close up of clips that allow bar to rotate: Pics in action: The canopy is cooled by (2) IceCap fans attached by brackets made by Brian at Kingfish Aquariums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerFan Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 Water movement is provided by: (1) Tunze Wavebox (1) Tunze 6080 (2) Tunze Nanostreams 6025's (1) Koralia #4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerFan Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 I learned about liverock pillars on Reef Central and decided I wanted to give it a try. Went ot Regal Plastics and picke dup some 3/8" acrylic sheets cut in 1'x1' squares and some 6' 3/4" acrylic rod. I also bought some masonry bits for drilling live rock. Here are the pillars without the rock: Shots of the actual live rock pillars: Left Pillar: Middle Pillars: Right Pillar: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Super Cool! Fantastic job of documenting a tank build. I really like the columns and the light hangers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrispar Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 i like the right pillar its my fav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.