Zee's 180 Gallon Reef Build
 

Hi All,

Finally starting on the new build of my 180 Gallon Starfire tank.

I had to tear down my 65 Gallon Elos Reef tank in 2014 due to a move because of work.

Now I've setteled in the new place and its time to get back to the dark side. This will be a slow build as I put it all together one piece at a time. My remote location is also a limiting factor as things are not close by.

I bought a used setup last weekend from Calgary. Its a 180 gallon starfire tank build by Concepts in Calgary.

I'll be using most of my equipment from my previous build and will also be taking advantage of the boxing day to scoop up some major pieces of the puzzle.

Time for pics...

This is the only pic i took of the trip... we tied the stand on the roof and the tank and sump made it in the back of the truck. The tank was HEAVY... wasn't easy to get it in the truck.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psg4o1bvap.jpg

Standard steel stand - Got some sand paper and started to sand the paint and a little bit of rust off. Planning on painting it RED. Lots a black stands around... I'm thinking red stand with white painted plywood cover along with Vertex equipment will look spiffy.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psuqrddpqa.jpg

Here is the tank. Its very dirty and needs a MAJOR cleaning.

Dimensions are 72x24x24

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psqye7vwtv.jpg

Here is the sump. Its a 3 Chamber sump. I'm contemplating adding a baffle in the middle chamber to add a refugium to the setup.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2cyadz3u.jpg

Thats it for now... will keep you all posted on the progress. Looking forward to learning from your ideas and enjoy setting this reef up.

Thanks,

Zee

Tank Location:

So I have a basement in my house and I'm looking to keep the tank on the main floor in the dining area. It'll be right next to an exterior wall so I'm thinking that it'll be enough support as it is certainly a load bearing wall of the home. The hone is only 3 years old so that gives me confidence that I will not have weight related issues.

Any thoughts on the planned tank location?

Congrats! Always an exciting feeling getting new kit :) I'd still take a look at what's in the floor underneath. New homes aren't necessarily built as good/better than the old ones lol! I wouldn't think you have much to worry about but an extra post and cross brace might not be the worst idea if you have doubts.

I think the red would look sweet!

Just make sure your tank is perpendicular to the floor joists. I am building the same kind of setup with a 220G on the main floor.

Exciting it is indeed!

I'm not sure if I'm concerned or just overthinking it. Underneath the tank location is a bedroom. Putting an extra post or extra bracing is not a simple task in this case. The concrete walls are right below where the tank is going and the main joist holding the back wall of the house is just to the right of the tank location.

Based on what I can see in the furnace room in the basement, the floor joists are running parallel to the tank. I'm thinking that because the tank is going next to two exterior walls,the floor should have ample strength to hold the weight.

Plumbing
 

Looking for some thoughts and suggestions on the plumbing.

The tank currently has two drilled holes in the return area. One is a 2 inch drain and the other is a 1.5 inch return. I've been thinking about having the possibility of the main drain blockage and what are some of my precautionary options if that we're to happen. Anyone has any thoughts? I'll be putting a strainer on the return to a kind things getting stuck in the pipe.

For plumbing I wanted to get the red pvc pipe but it seems like it'll cost quite a bit to get that delivered to me so I'm thinking of buying regular white pvc pipe from home hardware and then painting it with krylon paint. Quiestion is, if the pipe is submerged in the water for example the drain pipe going in the filter sock or the rerun pipe coming out of the internal return pump, will it have negative impacts on the water quality?

For sure look into bean animal or herbie style drain.

My first tank was a single durso and it drove me bananas.

Going with either one would mean I have to drill more holes of which I'm not a big fan of ATM.

Right now I guess I'm just looking at ways of making it as clog safe as possible. Just doesn't want the saltwater overflowing over top of the tank.

SKIMMER AND RETURN PUMP
 

SKIMMER

Hi all, having a hard time deciding on which skimmer to buy.

I have been thinking about the Vertex Skimmers, 180i and 200i specifically.

180i is rated for 180 gallons while the 200i is rated for 220 gallon. The price difference is about 200 bucks between the two models. Does anyone have experience here with either of these models.

I'm leaning towards the 200i because I intent to have a heavy bio load with lots of fish. However, I don't know if dishing out the extra $200 is worth it. Will the 180i be able to manage the bio load all by itself?

I was also checking out the Bubble Magus and the Reef Octopus product lines. Looking at the Curve 9 from BM, its rated for 225 - 375 gallons. Thats a lot of gallons for not a lot of bucks. Any thoughts on these? Are they similar to the Vertex line or is that more of an apple to orange comparison?

RETURN PUMP

Looking at the Ecotech Vectra return pump. Read some reviews and it seems like this is the way to go for me as I'm a fan of ecotech vortech pumps for movement in the tank and potential linkage of these along with lighting is the direction I see my reef going.

The only model I see for sale is the M1. I have not been able to find the L1 pump anywhere on a Canadian retailer's website. Is the L1 only sold in the US?

Santa will be coming soon!!
 

Order is placed.... Santa will be arriving 1st week of Jan.

"I'm so excited" is now officially an understatement.

What did you end up deciding on?

I went with Vertex 200i for the skimmer and the Ecotech Vectra M1 for the return pump.

Also bought a bunch of goodies... I shall share some pictures once I get back home. Looking forward to give my system a vinegar bath by the first weekend of January.

Sounds good! I'm waiting on my new IceCap K2 160 skimmer I ordered. I'm curious on the Vectra M1 as I will need a return pump for my new 150g

Update time: Work is underway....
 

Hi All, had a very busy holiday season and didn't get much done except for ordering some essential components of the system as well as shipping most of my saltwater goodies from Vancouver to Edmonton.

Made a trip down to Edmonton yesterday and here is what I was hauling back...

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psa0nj1zna.jpg

Checked out some local fish stores in Edmonton during that day. Looked for PVC plumbing all over the city and finally made it to Lowe's where I found most of it.

Drove back home and got working early this morning.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psokck9qfp.jpg

All the live rock, water holding tanks and many many other things...

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...pseskbdso3.jpg

Got plywood cut to size to skirt the stand from the back and the top and bottom panels.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0mr3nurj.jpg

Couldn't hold myself back from the awesome deals at Lowe's. Finally have my own Miter saw... This is one of the best part I love about this hobby. So easy to convince myself to buy things I wouldn't buy otherwise. This should help me with building the water station.

Also picked up a shop vac to clean all the mess I'll be making in the next few days.


http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psrxiguu0v.jpg

Here is the stand partially sanded. Stripping all the paint off and cleaning the rust from the few spots that have it. Its taking a bit of time but I'm looking forward to a nice clean paint job.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...pst7j4xmtn.jpg

Looking good! Following this build as I will be starting my 150g soon!!!

Update time...
 

Hi all, I've been busy working on the build. Below are pics form the past week.

Got the plywood board all sanded and painted.

Bottom panel.
http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9fdnrwpa.jpg

Top Panel.
http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psg0jk9pze.jpg

Back Panel.
http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psap5ljpgw.jpg


Here is the stand after the first coat of paint. I wanted a brighter shade of red but this is all that was available.. oh well.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psufy7lasb.jpg


Painted the bank pane of the aquarium black. Always wanted a jet black finish. It looking real good from the front side.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...pskpl3cwin.jpg

Got an awesome place for my RO/DI setup. Wife is not home these days so maybe this will have to move but I'm optimistic for now.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...pscvvsxd9k.jpg

While I waited for the paint to dry off it was time to nuke the dry rock and take out any possible trace of algea.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psmt9lwavl.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psmwtuzogq.jpg

Its cooking up a storm in there...

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psgwtdcfwv.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psxripxjtb.jpg

Didn't get a picture of the cleaned up rock but it turned out pretty nice. I ran short on the acid so have some pieces that didn't clean properly. I'll be picking up some more acid this week to nuke them again.

I finally got to open up all the goodies I had ordered over the holidays.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0fpztgrg.jpg

Really stoked about the skimmer. Its my first ever brand new purchase of an integral piece of equipment. Hoping this guy will last me years.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psel0sufdk.jpg

I decided to take full advantage of wife's absence. Got my temporary holding tank setup for cycling the rock in the dining area.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0e0kycqe.jpg

RO/DI system made enough water overnight for my purposes. Got the salt in this morning and temperature is now stable.

In goes the rock...

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...pskyyfy4lo.jpg

Will be adding Brightwell Microbactor7 and some food pellets to jump start the cycling process. Hoping for the cycle to be completed by Sunday next week.

More to come...

Got another toy delivered to my place in Richmond today. Thanks to fellow reefer reefaddict29 for dropping it off.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psmwixmqop.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/...psxlu8ynpx.jpg

I picked up all the plumbing from Lowes in Stoney Plain. I may have paid a premium but had no other option as I only make it out to the city on the weekends and every other supplies who carries PVC is usually closed.

Sump cleanup is going down tonight.

Hoping to dry plumb everything on Friday and finish it off by saturday and vinegar bath in on Sunday night.

Will be sure to post pics along the way.

Is it done ? :-)

Ya eager to see this thing :smile:

These cliffhanger build threads are killing me! The suspense ! It's like waiting a year to get a new episode of Game of Thrones/Walking Dead, etc. I don't watch either of those shows but I imagine this is what it feels like to wait for new episodes of those shows.

Well said!

Awe man, what happened to the build thread? Wife come home ?

Tagging along :-)

Is this still happening? :neutral:

Update
 

Yes it is done.

Wife finally came home a few months back.. been getting life on track since then...

Yes it is..

So, after my last post, I continued to work on the build. 10 days later I lost my father and that just threw our entire family in front of a fast moving train basically. Things have settled a bit now, but the void will always be there...


I just slowly put the tank together in March and its been up and running since.

I made the mistake of picking up a bunch of live stock from someone's ich infected tank so hit you can all imagine what that must've been like. Treated the tank with polyplab ich treatment. Things have been batter since then.

Just been picking up a coral here and there and didn't get much done otherwise. Its very bare still... will share a tank shot soon.

Currently taking a course for my CPA designation so not a lot of free time on my hand these days. Hoping to jumpstart reefing again this Christmas.

Gonna be my own Santa this year and get some much needed gear and ofcourse tons of coral and fish. More to come on those plans.

Thanks all!

Zee

Sorry to hear man. Hopefully you finish off the rest of the year making time for happiness and with family.

Cheers.