180 Gallon Someday Reef

[NewFishGuy]

Well, here goes nothing! Got a great deal on this tank and 65 gallon sump, so home they came. I've been working on everything for just over a month, and didn't take a whole bunch of pics, but here's what I have so far.

The Tank was custom drilled, and I don't understand the way it was drilled, at all! Making due with what was there, I capped one and used 2 drilled holes for a Herbie type set up. I picked up 80lbs of dry rock from living aquarium, and another 120lbs from local reefers. My current return pump is a quiet ones 6000, which will be pushing around 1050gph with the head loss. I've picked up 80lbs of ocean direct sand, and an aquatop 500w digital thermometer.

The tank is now fully plumbed, and I've just picked up my custom acrylic overflow/weir. I'll be installing that tonight, and by the end of the weekend I hope to be able to test my plumbing for leaks.

Test fitting tank and sump

I still need to add the center braces. If rather not, I like the open access, but I've a feeling that much weight spanning 6', even in a stand made of 2x6, isn't the best idea.
One possible rockscape

Herbie drain set up

Custom acrylic overflow box, to hide the necessary messy internal drains.

That bulkhead on the back pane is capped. The sump is pretty basic, with a lot of wasted space (imho), and I'm thinking of pulling all the baffles and re designing it to include a refugium, and space for marine pure blocks.

That's it so far, off to silicone the box in!

 

[Nick James]

The third hole could have been used in a bean animal set up. I am with you though, weird placement of holes... glad to see you made the best of it!

If you had an "L" shaped acrylic overflow you could cover all three, and utilize the third hole, having you full syphon, trickle and dry emergency drains.

 

[NewFishGuy]

I had thought about that, but losing 7x18x23 1/2" of space (essentially 12 gallons) is bad enough, to me! At some point I'll be upgrading to a larger tank, and going with a coast to coast overflow, running a bean animal set up. This, for the foreseeable future, will get my feet wet, and will do the job. I'm happy with how it's turning out thus far, and it's a great learning experience!

 

[MeridiaRose]

Following along. Looks great and can't wait to see it progress.


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[Jewel]

There is never wasted space in the Sump, lol. Don't pull the baffles. They are there for a reason. Post a pic of the Sump. Just the fact that you have the space in the Sump is a plus. You can put in a fuge and you want the water to move though it as slow as possible, hense the baffles. Put extra rock in the space or a Carbon/Phosphate reactor. Nice tank a 180 is a great size. Keep the updates coming.

 

[Jewel]

Your sump is a very important part of your system. People think that the display should be as big a possible but I feel the Sump should be. I once had a 50 cube with a 180 sump. It was all scratched up so a sump it was. The benefit of all that room was a huge fuge and a dsb. And the sump can be in place long term switching displays when ever. Just take it slow. It won't take long to fill that baby.

 

[NewFishGuy]

There is never wasted space in the Sump, lol. Don't pull the baffles. They are there for a reason. Post a pic of the Sump. Just the fact that you have the space in the Sump is a plus. You can put in a fuge and you want the water to move though it as slow as possible, hense the baffles. Put extra rock in the space or a Carbon/Phosphate reactor. Nice tank a 180 is a great size. Keep the updates coming.

I'm not planning to pull the baffles permanently... I'm thinking of reconfiguring them. An empty sump that just flows water from one end to the other seems like a waste of a good bit of space to me.

I've been doing a lot of research on sump design, and it seems to me that many newer style sumps have a much smaller inflow compartment than mine (roughly half the tank). I'd like to shrink that, add a compartment for a protein skimmer, with space for dosing and reactors. Then a fuge, baffles to eliminate microbubbles, which could feasibly also house marine pure slabs, then the return chamber.

 

[Jewel]

Your in flow compartment should house your Skimmer. Then baffles or even one baffles that the water flows under to your fuge or reactors then three baffles to minimize bubbles to your return pump. There are many configurations as I'm sure you know. What I was able to do was have a fish room behind my tank so I had a ton of space to mt my Skimmer cup or dose in the sump or maintain all the equipment. Having the sump under the tank is a pain.theres never enough room. Good luck with everything. The display was nice of course but my focus was on more on the sump, fuge, frag tank etc. It's a wonderful hobby for sure.

 

[NewFishGuy]

Thanks Jewel, what you described sounds a lot like my current sump configuration, almost identical actually. My main concern was having a larger space for a refugium, and making better use of the allotted space in general. I completely agree that having the sump in stand is a pain, but I'm working with rather tight quarters, so I have to do what I can with what I have lol. I'll post a pic of the sump when I get home, I've had zero time to focus us on the tank this weekend thus far.

 

[Jewel]

If I had the choice between having a functional refugium and the space to have a carbon/phosphate reactor. I'd scrap the refugeum. They definitely have their pluses but having limited space under the stand means you need space for those reactors and they are needed. Maybe a biopellet reactor if you go that route as well. You could use a remote fuge. Hang it over your sump, pump water from the sump with a small pump into it and allow it to gravity flow back to the return section. I'm sure you've seen them. Usually acrylic, they come in two sizes. About 16 inches long and narrow, about 4 inches. Mount a small led light over it. Fill it with Cheato and watch that baby go. But as you say your space is limited. Check out a build by Spyd. He had a 180 like you. He's no longer in the Hobby but his build should be still in the Members tank section. His name is Derrick. Beautiful system with a fish room to. Boot. See all a 180 can be. Just for fun. If you have time. Have fun.

 

[NewFishGuy]

Thank you for all your input Jewel! This is why I love this site, so much helpful advice and guidance, with none of the ego and pomp of some of the other sites out there. So, not a whole lot to report, got the overflow box siliconed in, went a lot smoother than I was expecting.

Also managed to take a half decent pic of my sump, which was no small task considering the confines of the stand lol. Mind you, I'll have plenty of head room under there, so skimmer height is not a concern, and working in my sump should be pretty simple

Excuse the mess in there, I still need to clean it out before I put it into service. Also, I'll likely be changing out that vertical section of pvc on the return for a piece of spa flex, or something else flexible.

 

[Letsdiscus]

Thank you for all your input Jewel! This is why I love this site, so much helpful advice and guidance, with none of the ego and pomp of some of the other sites out there. So, not a whole lot to report, got the overflow box siliconed in, went a lot smoother than I was expecting.

Also managed to take a half decent pic of my sump, which was no small task considering the confines of the stand lol. Mind you, I'll have plenty of head room under there, so skimmer height is not a concern, and working in my sump should be pretty simple

Excuse the mess in there, I still need to clean it out before I put it into service. Also, I'll likely be changing out that vertical section of pvc on the return for a piece of spa flex, or something else flexible.

Looking great. Whats the reason for having the egg crate on the tank base??


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[NewFishGuy]

Looking great. Whats the reason for having the egg crate on the tank base??


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Thanks! I've always put egg crate down first, then placed my rock, then my sand. Stems from my freshwater experience with cichlids I suppose. Mostly to prevent falling rocks, from digging fish, from cracking the bottom of the tank

 

[Letsdiscus]

Thats a brilliant idea .


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[Jewel]

Glad to help. Yes the ,spa flex is a good idea for sure. As far as the egg crate is concerned. I wouldn't bother personally,reason being is you'll restrict any snails from getting through that part of the sand. Also the egg crate will trap the sand and could create problems later on long term. Not sure what type of substrate you plan,shallow or dsb. Rocks on the glass directly is best though. As with a Cichlid tank, fish digging is a pain but in salt. We hope they do. Any Gobies will as will snails and many other creatures.

 

[Jewel]

As far as egos go. Nope not here. Just remember we all started at some point. We all needed help and we continue to need help from time to time. And there's so much involved in this hobby. So many variations. Lights, pumps, skimmers, DIY, dosing, additives, just so much to choose from. Sps, LPs, softies, fish only, big or small tanks. I doubt any one knows everything there is to know on here. Well maybe Torx Naw just kidding. By the way if you have time get out to the Frag fest and meet the crowd. They're good people. A good bunch of hobbiests.

 

[NewFishGuy]

As far as egos go. Nope not here. Just remember we all started at some point. We all needed help and we continue to need help from time to time. And there's so much involved in this hobby. So many variations. Lights, pumps, skimmers, DIY, dosing, additives, just so much to choose from. Sps, LPs, softies, fish only, big or small tanks. I doubt any one knows everything there is to know on here. Well maybe Torx Naw just kidding. By the way if you have time get out to the Frag fest and meet the crowd. They're good people. A good bunch of hobbiests.

You know, I would absolutely LOVE to get out to fragfest. Sadly, I have no way out there.

As for substrate, I've picked up 90lbs of ocean direct Caribbean live sand, and will be going for right around 1" deep.

 

[Jewel]

We'll get on the board and see if you can get a ride with some one. Lots of guys live near you.

 

[Letsdiscus]

We'll get on the board and see if you can get a ride with some one. Lots of guys live near you.

Wheres this fest guys. Which place and when


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[TORX]

Wheres this fest guys. Which place and when


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Check it out.

London Fragfest - May 12th londonfragfest.ca or read up on a few threads here on it. http://www.thefragtank.ca/community/forums/5th-annual-london-fragfest-2017.639/