150 Gallon reef build

[Matt Carden]

I am relatively new to fish keeping. I have a 36 gallon bowfront with a canister filter. I tried freshwater first without much success because I work 60 hours a week and didn't take the time to properly maintain the filter/water. I switched over to FOWLR with the canister emptied essentially as a recirculating pump. I found FOWLR to be much easier to maintain. All I ever did in 6 months is add RO water.

I am planning a 150 gallon reef tank now. I bought a 50 gallon tank for my sump/refugium 48x12x21 off Letgo. I also just purchased my display tank from SCAquariums. I am going to build my own stand out of a mix of 2x6 and 2x4 sheeted with 1/2" plywood. I was planning on using a Jaebo DCP-8000 return pump. The tank has 3 - 1" overflow holes drilled in the bottom center with plumbing for a Herbie overflow. I was planning on having 200 lbs of reef saver dry rock from BRS. For my sand bed I am planning on getting some sand from an East coast South Carolina beach.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Welcome to the hobby!!!
I'm pretty new as well so you probably don't want advice from me. But I think it will look great! I grabbed my rock from Billy's reef it was reasonable and looks pretty nice. I ordered the same ro/di, opened the box but haven't taken it out yet. I'm sure the folks that have been in the hobby for awhile will chime in and help you out.

 

[Matt Carden]

Welcome to the hobby!!!
I'm pretty new as well so you probably don't want advice from me. But I think it will look great! I grabbed my rock from Billy's reef it was reasonable and looks pretty nice. I ordered the same ro/di, opened the box but haven't taken it out yet. I'm sure the folks that have been in the hobby for awhile will chime in and help you out.

Thanks HD for the rock connection. Billy's is gonna save me $180 in rock alone! Following is a link to their site https://billysreefconnection.com/quick-order

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Thanks HD for the rock connection. Billy's is gonna save me $180 in rock alone! Following is a link to their site https://billysreefconnection.com/quick-order

 

[Matt Carden]

I'm trying to figure out which salt mix I am going to use. I'm thinking to save a little money I want to use Instant Ocean for my cycle then switch to Tropic Marin.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Cool, I'm planning to run Fritz.

 

[Matt Carden]

I received my tank on Wednesday but it was too heavy to get it up my porch steps. So I went to Home Depot to buy some wood and a come along to pull it up my stairs. We finally got a break in the rain on Friday and I got the tank in my house! I started building my aquarium stand this weekend. The dimensions of my stand are 60"×24"×42". I also picked up a 50 gallon tank for a refuge/sump.

 

[Matt Carden]

Images of progress