Slow and steady 800L upgrade

[coley650]

I’m currently running a RSR 250 which is coming along nicely and really happy with it..

Back in the game... RSR 250 build
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=1020&share_tid=542982&url=https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/Back-in-the-game...-RSR-250-build.542982/&share_type=t

HOWEVER [emoji23] I am currently building a new house which is going to be open plan and a social space so I also want a tank to reflect that!

The build started 11 weeks ago and here’s the progression so far.

My plan for equipment:-
Tank - Custom build in the UK by aquarium connections.

• 1700Lx700Wx530Hmm
• External Weir
• Ultra reef overflow

Power Heads - Maxspect Gyre 350’s [emoji736]
Return - Maxspect Turbine Duo 9K [emoji736]
Skimmer - To be decided
Lights - Orphek V4 Atlantiks
Filtration - XFilter 1.0, Refugium
Controller - Apex 2016 [emoji736] Trident when it comes to the UK.

So I’ve been buying bits of kit as I go, it’s been great to get goodies but very frustrating I can’t play with them yet!

I have lots of time on my hands before the tank is ready to go in place. I managed to dig out some dead rock from my 1st tank 11yrs ago and so excited to revive it and get it back in a reef!

That given its needs some love!

My plan:-
Week 1 - bleach bath [emoji736]
Week 2 - dechlorination bath [emoji736]
Week 3 - water change and another dechlorination bath
Week 4 - dry rock out completely in sun
Week 5 to 9 - start cycle in bin with microbactor 7
Week 10 to 14 - expose to natural light add dr Tims
Week 14 to 18 - continue cycle add piece of coraline rock from existing tank
Week 19 onwards - continue cycle in tank with NSW

I’m hoping this schedule will offer some diversity in bacteria and make the in tank part quite short.

Thanks for reading, updates will be slow initially!

 

[coley650]

Not much going on, been away for a week but came home to the roof about done, just the end single storey part to do aka the fish room.

Ordered a couple more bits of kit with some Dutch courage at the airport. So I’m eagerly awaiting some Orphek lights, Maxspect skimmer and a reactor. So excited this is literally a combination of my dream home and tank and feel very fortunate to be doing them together.

Took a quick pic of where the tank will go, which is the kitchen, diner and living room. The tank will sit behind an L shape sofa so I can see it when chilling.

 

[coley650]

Tank should be here in a couple of weeks, I’m going to store it until rooms plastered, painted and dust free.

In that I’ve been thinking a lot about keeping it tidy and organised, one of the rules of the other half which is fair enough.

Plan is to build a small fixture in the cabinet using some profile and soffit board slotted in the insertion as suggested by a mate who did a cracking job with his, this will also make it easy to fit together! I’ll also use slotted trunking to manage the cables.

The boards on the tank are lift off so I plan to utilise the remaining at the end and go tight to the sump.

Attached the design I have in mind to give a better idea.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I like big builds and a I cannot lie......

 

[coley650]

Some goodies turned up today which was very exciting!! It’s all starting to feel real now!

I can’t wait to get this skimmer to work!





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[coley650]

Seeded the now cycled rock with some coralline algae today that I scraped from some parts it was growing on inside my rsr 250. I’ll continue to do this every couple of weeks now as it builds in my tank where I don’t want it.

In an attempt to keep this rock cycled I’ll ghost feed it. To manage phos I have a small bag of rowa in there along with a small clump of chaeto, noticed some pods running around too.
Never seeded coralline before so will see how it goes.

At the moment the rock has natural light only. Soon I’ll think about introducing small photo periods.

I’m open to advice on keeping it cycled and seeding the rock with beneficial life.
On the tank front plasterers started to put boards in today so need to get a move on with pipework I want hidden in the walls!

Scaffolding also down now

 

[coley650]

The tank is finally here! Horah!

When I got it home there was an issue getting it in the room I planned to store it and as the room isn’t ready and didn’t want to have to feed it through a door when it’s so heavy. None the less managed to store it at my father in laws!

More that happy with the tank! The pictures really don’t do it any justice!

I’ve now wrapped the tank until it’s ready to go into my house.

In the meantime I have built a control cabinet, I’m no expert at woodwork but I’ve have a go and quite pleased.

It’s still not finished but getting there.

I’ve also decided to go another way with the rock... I want to have time to aquascape and be happy and not end up changing things so have opted for TMC eco rock available in the UK. By far the best dry rock I’ve seen and not come across a bad review yet.

That said I’ve added some Maxspect bio blocks to my sump to seed for when the time comes to fill the new tank.

 

[coley650]

Nothing much happening, decided to use TMC eco rock so I can dry scape and have time rather than rush it.

Done some more on the control unit, added some apex gear.