180 Display plus 250 Sump Build

[SeahorseKeeper]

Looking good!!

 

[DARTMOOR]

Well this whole build is going pretty slow. Not slower than I anticipated but still pretty slow. I attached a couple of pics of the tank I will be using as the sump. Hopefully I will be able to make some serious progress on the basement sump/fish room this week.

 

[zach_discus]

Neet build, slow and steady and done right is the way to go! Looking forward to watching this come together.

 

[DARTMOOR]

Ok so lots of new things have developed since my last post.

Basement dry wall and paint is finally done.
Sump has been moved into place and plumbed up along with the Reeflo Hammerhead which is plumbed in and mounted to a custom vibration dampening pump skid.
Frag racks and mangrove refugium has been installed in the sump.
And best of all, 12 bags of live sand and nearly 100lbs of dry and live rock later and we have water in the tank!!!!! Tank is up and cylcing.

 

[DARTMOOR]

 

[DARTMOOR]

 

[DARTMOOR]

 

[DARTMOOR]

I wasnt too happy with the drain fittings on the Marineland 180 since after loads of research it seemed the only way to plumb them was to glue a 1" line inside the bulkhead. This restricts the drain a lot more than I would have liked, but I increased the main lines to two 1.25" drain lines.

The return lines from the supply pump are 1.5" up through the basement floor an the Wye's into two 1" return lines.

 

[PCygni]

Looking forward to this one....

 

[DARTMOOR]

I've been awful at keeping this build thread up to date. In the time since my last post, the tank has completed it's cycle and i have moved all the fish and coral from my old craigslist purchased 75 gallon over to the new system.

The fish room is also nearly complete minus minor cosmetic touches and upgrades to come. The calcium reactor is hooked up, mangroves are in place, and everything seems to be happy and thriving.

 

[DARTMOOR]

I've been awful at keeping this build thread up to date. In the time since my last post, the tank has completed it's cycle and i have moved all the fish and coral from my old craigslist purchased 75 gallon over to the new system.&nbsp;<br><br>The fish room is also nearly complete minus minor cosmetic touches and upgrades to come. The calcium reactor is hooked up, mangroves are in place, and everything seems to be happy and thriving.&nbsp;

 

[DARTMOOR]

 

[DARTMOOR]

25 Red Mangroves in what I call "The Grove" in the sump. To the left is the refugium and to the right is the skimmer. The frag racks are just out of view.

 

[DARTMOOR]

Under the main display upstairs are the three Radion controls, the Vortec Drivers, and Reeflink mounted to a brushed stainless back plate with a matching brushed stainless drain pan incase of any small leaks in the plumbing system. I plan to add the Apex controller at a later date with a leak detector in the pan, and another in the fish room downstairs.

 

[DARTMOOR]

Display during cycling... it really is like watching paint dry. I started with dry base rock and lots of live sand and then added plenty more live rock to reduce the cycle time.

 

[DARTMOOR]

Moon lights on. The lights under the hood are on a reverse cycle from the display tank upstairs. When these are off, the display lights are on, and vice versa. This helps to keep the pH levels stable.

Some of the sump inhabitants so far include two servant starts, one brittle star, a clean up crew of snails and red legs, and a zebra damsel that I no longer wanted in the main display. I plan on adding sea horses to the mangrove grove at a later date.

The sump consists of a mangrove grove in the center, and a refugium to the left side consisting of cheato. It also houses two large frag racks and the Reef Octopus Regal internal 300 skimmer.

 

[fishroomlady]

looking great!

 

[revhtree]

Very cool!

 

[Mr.Rocc]

Super creative hood! i love this design! Great job!!

 

[NeverlosT]

Very nice! Keep it up!