devildog1986 Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 What's going on guys, I'm Ivan. I stopped my tanks about 2012. I had a 125 fish only, 200 bow front, 90 gallon bow-front, and a 60 gallon Cichlid tank. After life happened, I no longer had the time to run 4 tanks. Things are settling down now, and I'm gonna start my 125 gallon back up. But this time I'm turning it into a reef tank. Im hoping to buy a lot of good equipment because I will be upgrading later down the road to my dream tank build. Can't wait to start building! So here we go! Feel free to follow the build. I got this bad boy in today. Will be installing it Monday, as soon as the 55 gallon tanks get here. My buddy Louis at elegant reef in San Antonio is building a custom sump as we speak. I will be adding 125 lbs of Real Reef live rock. And 80 lbs of Tropic Eden Mini-flakes. I'm also adding two quad wall plugs with 12 gauge wire and a 20 amp circuit breaker each. Radio are the lights I want to go with, but I might save those for my dream build. I will be adding 5ft T-5s for the color it brings out in corals. My goal is to create a mixed reef tank, where I can use acros and chalices to shade for corals which don't require much light. I can't wait to get my Apex. I am looking forward to this build. Any feedback would be great.Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 Welcome to ARC sir. Glad you joined up and looking forward to your build. If you don't want to drop the coin for the Radions yet, I'd look into the Ocean Revive T247 fixtures. Cheap and effective and can hold you over until the dream tank occurs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 Welcome! I heard a lot of good things being listed off. This should be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 List sounds great. I have a great skimmer for that tank if you are interested. Nyos 220 in the for sale section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 Can't wait to see pictures, especially that new sump! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted July 30, 2016 Author Share Posted July 30, 2016 List sounds great. I have a great skimmer for that tank if you are interested. Nyos 220 in the for sale section. Thanks, I have an old school reef octopus Oct-2000 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 Time to drain and clean the 125. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 Ro/Di Installed just need the right containers. Got the wrong ones. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 Time to figure out the fastest way to remove 120 lbs of sand. I can't wait for the whole house to smell like vinegar after I clean it. I get two 55 gallon brutes tomorrow. I'll be plumbing those to gravity feed into my salt mixing tanks. I have some old power heads I will clean to add to the mixing station setup. I need to purchase a booster pump for the RODI. I'll be posting some custom sumps I got made for these tanks for sale to make money and buy upgrades for this build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 A kids plastic shovel or a sturdy dustpan should make short work of the sand. For the vinegar... Well... You'll just have to endure. [emoji4] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 A kids plastic shovel or a sturdy dustpan should make short work of the sand. For the vinegar... Well... You'll just have to endure. [emoji4] Thanks, I was thinking of throwing a little bleach in there mixed with the vinegar. lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 It looks pwetty again. I really like how the background and wall blend in! Added bonus! The 55 gallon containers came in today. The lids come in tomorrow. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 Well, I was expecting the sump next week. I got an email, the sump was ready. I realized I had to hustle and got my mixing station half way done. Enough to produce RODI water! Now I feel like I need to rush everything. One of the shipments of real reef arrived today. So things are coming together a lot faster than expected. I'll finish installing my electrical tomorrow, level the tank and hopefully get it to start cycling in the next couple of days! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 Sump looks great. Who built it? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 Alright, that sump turned out super nice! It looks like it's thicker than 1/4" material? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 That's a beautiful sump, wow! Everything's coming together nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 Thanks guys, I really like it. Can't wait to use it, I just need to find an external water pump to fill up my tank and get it started. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 Sump looks great. Who built it? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk It was Louis, at my local fish store. The store is called "Elegant Reef" in The San Antonio area. He asked me what I wanted, and he built the sump to my specs. He also threw in some nice little things like lid's all around. Probe holders, and dosing pipes to attach the dosing tubing. Really happy with it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 But how thick is the material on the sump? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 But how thick is the material on the sump? It's 1/4 in. It looks thicker because I asked for support bracing on top so it doesn't bow on me. So he pitched the lids . But when you get something custom. You can get any thickness you want. They also do colored acrylic. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 So I have the 60 lb box of Real Reef That came in, and I feel like the anxious kid 5 days before Christmas. I don't want to open it until I have the tank running. But the excitement is killing me! Who knew making rock piles could be so fun? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 Lol, this stage of the build is always so fun!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 Lol, this stage of the build is always so fun!! Yeah, it's probably my favorite. I like to plan ahead. Since I want a mixed reef I think I'm going to make a column with points for shadowing, and a island/pile/cave that tapers down. I really like how channels look. Hope I can incorporate it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog1986 Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 Well. Last night was another long night trying to finish the build. I got my electrical finished. I added a 1x6 to mount all my controllers and electrical. I also installed the new sump. However, I need to find something for cushion between the stand and sump. I don't like making contact with two solid surfaces. The only issue I ran into yesterday, was leveling the tank. I couldn't find my long level. So leveling with a small level was impossible. I simply gave up, lol. But that's all minor. Will finish the install today, and get the tank cycling with the 60 lbs of rock I have. Other 60 lbs should come in on Friday. Substrate comes in on Tuesday. I Well. Last night was another long night trying to finish the build. I got my electrical finished. I added a 1x6 to mount all my controllers and electrical. I also installed the new sump. However, I need to find something for cushion between the stand and sump. I don't like making contact with two solid surfaces. The only issue I ran into yesterday, was leveling the tank. I couldn't find my long level. So leveling with a small level was impossible. I simply gave up, lol. But that's all minor. Will finish the install today, and get the tank cycling with the 60 lbs of rock I have. Other 60 lbs should come in on Friday. Substrate comes in on Tuesday. I can see the finish line. see the finish line. Heres how I ran my electrical. I installed a 20 amp breaker with 12 gauge wire. I also used GFCI's instead of regular plugs. And of course, the mounting board for my controllers and pumps. Sump went into the stand with no problem. However, I might pull it out again to put something between the stand and sump for cushion. Last thing I need is for my sump to crack or leak. Talk about a tight fit with my skimmer. Here is where I mounted the pump and heater. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Coming along nicely! The only things I can think of are to not plug the heater in until you're sure you need it, and if you're going to use an Apex or similar, keep the temp probe in a different section from your heater, and pH probe away from a doser if you end up dosing alk. Or away from your ato if you use kalk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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