My 210 gallon first reef tank build.

mach2mack · Jan 4, 2017

Hello guys.

Well I have been into fresh water fish for quite a while now but I have always wanted to try a reef tank. I finally decided to go for it. Me and my wife spent about a month or so stalking craigslist , offer up , let go , local fish stores, everything trying to find a nice big tank. We finally found one and jumped on it.

This build might go a little slow. I am very experienced with freshwater but have zero experience with saltwater. If I'm going to be spending a lot of money on this I want to do everything I can to try and do it right. I've been reading forums , watching yotube , lurking in facebook groups all that. I'm kinda obbsessive when it comes to researching things it actually drives my wife nuts . In this case I think that trait will serve me well. PRIOR PROPER PLANNING PREVENTS tick POOR PERFORMANCE ! I can also be impatient so it might be a challenge for me sometimes.

Ok on to the tank I got.
210 gallon with twin over flows
Stand
Megaflow plumbing kit
Aqueon proflex model 4 36" sump
2 rio 3100 900gph pumps.

Not bad for $900 at least in my area.

I got it moved into the house. Tonight I will be stopping by lowes to get some lumber to reinforce my floor so it won't fall into the basement lol.

NCreefguy · Jan 4, 2017

Looking good!! Good luck with the build and be sure to post lots of pictures.

Travis Russell · Jan 5, 2017

Lets see how we do! Lol good luck!!

mach2mack · Jan 5, 2017

Ok time to reinforce the floor. So my house doesn't have joists like most. Above my basement the floor is supported by big 5x8 beams that are 55" apart. Here's a pic from my basement looking up at the area the tank will go.

I decided to run a support post to both of the existing beams against the wall that is not load bearing . In the 55" gap between the existing beams I added three 2x6 joists supported by a beam and two posts on both ends of the joists. I'm no carpenter but I think this should be good.

mach2mack · Jan 7, 2017

I got the sump all hooked up. Its not pretty right now but I will make it nicer before too long.

Ok so now that the floor will hold it its time to fill it up. Its been cold here and my hose is frozen so I had to bring it all inside to thaw it out.

After setting everything up I've found a issue with the sump. One of the two overflows creates a full suction and sucks a bunch of water down until the water level goes down to the holes on the side of the drain then the suction breaks and the water level goes back up. Its making a lot of noise and sucking a lot of air into the sump. Here's a video.

I think one of if not the only issue is that the tank seems to be just a tad off level.

Its not a lot but it seems just enough to make the one drain be doing most of the work and I think its over loading the drain. I have two 900gph pumps one going to each return. I've quieted it down a lot by only running one pump and enlarging the air hole on top of the drain . Its still pretty noisy. I'm going to have to get it leveled out better soon to see if that solves the problem. Maybe a Styrofoam pad under the tank ?

Its going to be probably two months before I can afford the rest of the equipment I need and dry rock so for now I put my cichlids in the tank. I left it bare bottom so it will be easy to clean out when I switch it over and really get started on the reef tank.

Its probably going to be a while before I get everything together and really get going on this but at least the tank is in place now.

mach2mack · Jan 29, 2017

Picked up a new pump today. Jacob DC9000. Got it all hooked up. Used flexible hose from the pump to a T then to the 2 returns. It's very quiet and is working great. I love that its adjustable and had a feed button. Now I won't have to worry about forgetting to turn it back on.

vic5hands · Jan 29, 2017

I have the same tank. sump and stand

Maritimer · Jan 29, 2017

Lookin' good so far! You've jumped into saltwater with both feet, haven't you?! That stand is a lot nicer than some I've seen - including the one I'm lookin' at next to me. I'd say you scored on that setup.

Not sure how that mixed bio-media will work with a reef - might become a bit of a nitrate producer - but it ought to serve those cichlids well! I'm sure they're happy in such a grand playground. That "totally awesome" kid looks pretty excited about it, too!

~Bruce, about to dive underneath virtually the same tank with some PVC cement . . .

mach2mack · Jan 29, 2017

Maritimer said:
Lookin' good so far! You've jumped into saltwater with both feet, haven't you?! That stand is a lot nicer than some I've seen - including the one I'm lookin' at next to me. I'd say you scored on that setup.

Not sure how that mixed bio-media will work with a reef - might become a bit of a nitrate producer - but it ought to serve those cichlids well! I'm sure they're happy in such a grand playground. That "totally awesome" kid looks pretty excited about it, too!

~Bruce, about to dive underneath virtually the same tank with some PVC cement . . .

I won't be using that media when I switch to salt. I haven't decided on what to use for that yet.

mach2mack · Jan 29, 2017

vic5hands said:
I have the same tank. sump and stand

Nice. I like it a lot. Fits what I was looking for perfectly.

mach2mack · Feb 5, 2017

A small local fish store got shut down by the city for messing with the electrical so they were selling every thing CHEAP. I picked up a complete 150 set up plus another 55 gallon packed full of live rock all for $200!

I mainly just wanted the rock. There's got to be a couple hundred pounds so I took all that and sold the rest. Score! Now I have rock for when I make the switch.