Smaller place, bigger tank...my 200DD build

[EricB]

Got the box primed with Kilz and painted. Reservoir tank and box went into the stand very nicely. I will be able to remove everything from the stand, including the sump, without having to drain the tank. The switches will go into the box tomorrow when I set the rest of the equipment up for a FW test.

Also put some egg crate down. It's something I wish I'd have done on my last build but was in too much of a hurry to actually do it.

FW leak test tomorrow!

 

[Billymetz135]

Nice build! why the egg crates?

 

[Fin]

Really like those DD tanks. Wish I had room for the extra depth. Like your light hangers! Following....

 

[EricB]

Nice build! why the egg crates?

Thanks! Sometimes it is used to protect the glass by distributing the weight of the rock out over a larger area. My hope, since I'm not cementing my aquascape together, is that the egg crate will prevent the bottom pieces of rock from sliding on the glass while I'm actually doing the aquascape.

Really like those DD tanks. Wish I had room for the extra depth. Like your light hangers! Following....

Thanks! This was a bit of a stretch b/c of the size of my apartment, but it ended up working out really well. I wasn't going to do another narrow tank again. It took a lot of researching equipment and drawing out the "floor plan" of the stand but it's coming together nicer than I had imagined. I think a big part of that is that I'm so busy with work and school that I've kind of been forced to take my time with this build.

 

[EricB]

Found time today to glue the standpipes. Tomorrow will be final leak test and I'm going to start hooking up equipment/ organizing wires.

 

[EricB]

Got everything hooked up and was able to test out the overflow system, which works like it should. I ended up cracking two bulkheads. I had one extra one so I just ordered a replacement for the second broken one and a back up. Not sure how much I like using Rectorseal 5 over teflon tape. I never had leaks or broke a bulkhead when using the tape. I also realized that the gaskets that came with the threaded bulkheads are more difficult to "dial in" so to speak than the ones that came with the tank so I switched a few of the gaskets out when I was replacing the broken bulkheads. I just need to get some velcro to attach the controllers/ monitors to the electrical box.

 

[zemuss]

Good job with the electrical box and the tank looks very nice.

 

[EricB]

Good job with the electrical box and the tank looks very nice.

Thanks. I put a piece of acrylic over the reservoir tank to further protect the electrical box from moisture. Plus, the reservoir tank is a little wider than the box, so I needed something on top of it to prevent light getting into the ATO reservoir and creating an algae bloom.

I roughed it up with sandpaper and painted it black as well.

The tank is slowly getting there. I'll be happy to get the kinks worked out and start playing with the aquascape. Still aiming at this weekend for that.

 

[EricB]

There's a pretty sweet aquascape in there. You'll just have to trust me for now.

I used 120 of 160#'s of the sand I have. Going to wait for the cloud to settle before adding any more. I also have 60 gallons of water mixing to finish filling it up tomorrow.

 

[EricB]

Snapped a quick pic of the aquascape before stirring up another cloud by moving the sand around. There is a one-rock island in the front that is covered by sand in the pic that I will use for a zoa garden.

When I was just running FW through the system, the skimmer left something to be desired but as soon as the SW started flowing I was very impressed with the bubbles the Skimz produces

 

[ShinerMaginer]

I have the same tank, bought it used so its currently circulating with FW and vinegar to help get some of the leftovers off the glass! Can't wait to get started myself. Really like your idea for mounting the DJ strips, way cleaner than I have mine right now.

 

[duncangweller]

A skimmer won't do anything in fresh water. It needs salt water to function so that's why it seems to work so great now

 

[Fish76]

Great build, nice idea with the dj rack. The rock work looks nice too, from what I can see. Hopefully things clear up soon so we can get a nice shot of the scape!

 

[EricB]

Thanks guys! Here are a few more (bad) pics of the aquascape. I still have to clear the sand off of the small island in the front left part of the tank. That rock will be used for a zoa garden or possibly something else.

Sooner than later I'm going to have to devote some time on taking better pictures. I had a driver go bad in one of my lights, but Logan from ReefBreeders put one in the mail for me yesterday. I could have sent the fixture to them but because of my crazy schedule getting to the post office seemed like more of a hassle than fixing it myself. Once I get that taken care of I'll spend some time taking worthwhile pictures.

 

[EricB]

Looking for ideas on a stocklist. I'm thinking of sticking with smaller fish: anthias, wrasses, a flame angel, a mandarin and maybe a midas blenny. I'd like some blue in there so if I do get a larger fish it will probably be a powder blue tang, but they are so touchy. Also, I don't have a ton of LR and I don't want to push my filtration to its limits.

 

[Terry4505]

Love the tank.

I'm trying to convince my wife that a 200 DD wouldn't stick THAT much further into the dinning room than the current 120.

 

[EricB]

Love the tank.

I'm trying to convince my wife that a 200 DD wouldn't stick THAT much further into the dinning room than the current 120.

Thanks man! I think that a 200DD would look great in your dining room, LOL

 

[FLipp]

following this one! looks great eric.

 

[EricB]

following this one! looks great eric.

Welcome aboard man, and thank you!

I've been considering swapping out the VorTechs for a Maxxspect Gyre, but I think I'm going to wait for the second gen to come out. I'm heading out of town for Thanksgiving but when I get back I think I'm going to order some supplies like an automatic feeder and some back up reactor media.

Hopefully I'll be able to order a CUC soon. I want the rocks to be crawling with life so I'm going to get some peppermint shrimp, cleaner shrimp, and a few emerald crabs along with an assortment of snails. I had a single pom pom crab in my 125 and it was always special when I would see it...literally once a year. So I might add a few of them as well. Once I get some corals I'd like to have an acro crab as well.

Woke up this morning to a diatom bloom which, oddly enough, was a welcome sight.

 

[EricB]

So, there's a bunch of little patches of hair algae growing on the MarcoRock shelf rock I ordered and seeded a few months ago. It's not on any of my other rocks. I'm not going to start this off with a hair algae battle, so I'm just going to leave the lights off for a few days then I'll put some GFO in my Phosban reactor. It's really not much hair algae, but it's enough to have dropped the nitrate reading from 10 to 0ppm. I've never had a personal experience with H.A. but I'm hoping this will be the extent of it.

I'm guessing, then, that it's time to regenerate my kati/ani resins, which I'll hopefully get to this weekend along with ordering a small CUC.