10Seconds 220 Reef

[10Seconds]

A while back I posted when planning a 220 gallon build and instead of doing it, ended up buying a 220 setup already.

However, I am going to be making some major changed and will document them here as I go. Im going to be moving it towards a much more sps dominate tank.

First is the sand. Im getting rid of the gunk he had for TE Reef flakes.

Second is water movement. I am taking off the Jabeo powerheads and going to try 2 of the xf250 gyres.

Here is a picture of how it looked when I bought it.

 

[DLHDesign]

Good looking place to start from - looking forward to seeing where you take it!

 

[Skottikus]

A while back I posted when planning a 220 gallon build and instead of doing it, ended up buying a 220 setup already.

However, I am going to be making some major changed and will document them here as I go. Im going to be moving it towards a much more sps dominate tank.

First is the sand. Im getting rid of the gunk he had for TE Reef flakes.

Second is water movement. I am taking off the Jabeo powerheads and going to try 2 of the xf250 gyres.

Here is a picture of how it looked when I bought it.

I’m in the middle of planning a 220 build as well. I’ll be following your posts closely! Hey, is that a Puffer next to the tang?

 

[10Seconds]

Yes there is puffer there. He is pretty old, being 4 years in this tank and also many years in another. Not sure how old he live total.

 

[10Seconds]

WOW. Started at 9 am and am just now stopping for the day on setting up this tank. It has been a real marathon of tear down, move, set up. I will post more pics tomorrow but at least its home!

 

[10Seconds]

Prior to starting the process I knew there were certain things I would be picky about. Even though I am buying a previously set up tank vs starting fresh as I had planned, things will still be done to my standards. I knew the sump, lighting, etc would all be changed and the entire tank replumbed as I am also very picky on that. The sandbed was one of the first things I knew would go. This will be a heavy SPS tank so I will need a lot of flow but I prefer a fine and very white looking sand bed. After a lot of thought, and reading here I ordered the Tropic Eden Reef Flakes. I bought 240 lbs of it total in a slightly more than 3:1.75 ratio with the Mini Flakes too. This blend turned out to be exactly what I wanted and from the moment I added the first bag I could tell this was the best sand I have ever used.

The other thing I knew I was changing right off was the sump. I built a new one out of a 40 gallon breeder that fits my needs and will only take up 1/2 the cabinet space which is also important. I feel a smaller sump is more than adequate for filtration and the system volume will be larger anyways once I add the 40 gallon frag and growout tank in the garage behind it, which is where the salt and RO tanks are located also for it.

So prior to the tear down, this is where we started the day from: (also stocked up on some extra pipe and salt water as you can see)

 

[10Seconds]

The tear down at the original location. Since I knew I would replumb it, basically just cut off the old plumbing, drained out about half the water (saved about 100 gallons to reuse). Put the livestock in 5 gallon buckets with bubblers. Shoveled out the sand and vacuumed out the rest. Got some help from some friends and we loaded it up on three trucks to bring to my house.

Once we got it home, we made a brief stop in the garage to modify the stand to make it easier to access the bulkheads on the bottom of the tank. Also made an additional rear support that is removable. Once we got it cleaned up, we moved it inside the house. Here is where it will sit and you can see here the modification for easier access to the bulkhead areas.

 

[10Seconds]

Once we got the stand positioned right we set the tank on it and began the setup. Clean up and set up.

I took all the existing rock that came with the tank, powerwashed it, scrubbed it and dipped it before putting it back in the display

I am a believer in using the "egg crate" stuff in the bottom of the tank so got two sheets and cut to fit. The began playing with the aquascaping. This is still going to be a work in progress.

Then began to refill the tank.

 

[10Seconds]

I am going to build a new canopy when the new lights get here but for now just put the old one on it so I could temporarily hang some lights.

The tank is already starting to clear up a bit. Did I mention I love this Tropic Eden sand?

Tracking shows my Apex and Gyres should be here tomorrow. Still no calcium reactor and lights eta.

 

[A_game43]

Good build, I am in the same process now = rebuilding a tank that I got as well = tons of fun.

 

[10Seconds]

Realized this needed updated. I got my Giesemann Spectra 72" fixture installed and it looks amazing. I doubt I will ever go back to LEDs now. Just cannot beat this look.

 

[dbraun15]

Congrats on the new setup...looks great! I also have a 220 that was purchased running and hate the LEDs that came with it, but haven't spent the money to go back to T5s which I much prefer. Looking forward to updates.

 

[10Seconds]

Well life has got in the way of updating this thread but much has changed. Organized the dry side of the stand and made a cabinet for the Apex gear to go in.

I do not like a noisy tank so I decided to locate everything I could that was noisy to the garage. So I drilled some holes and did some replumbing and now have the calcium reactor and UV sterilizer running in the garage.

I am going to hook up the 3/4 chiller I bought here too but I didnt realize it was 230v so I am going to need another visit from the electricians.

 

[10Seconds]

I also have been making some livestock changes with a few new corals and fish.

Tyree Pink Linomade, Cornbread Maleficient, Jason Fox Fox Flame, PC Rainbow, etc.