250 Gallon...the odd shaped, budget upgrade

Andrew.oh17 · Nov 14, 2019

Well, I'm pretty excited to get this build started. I came away with this acrylic tank pretty cheap from a nearby LFS who could not get it through his door. It's 38 inches wide, 36 inches deep and about 60 inches at its longest. Over the next few weeks I'll be plumbing this into our system alongside our 150 gallon tank(I purchased a backup Skimz L110 when @Bulk Reef Supply sunk prices for a few hours) and then doing a tank transfer once parameters settle down. I am lucky enough to have a large fish room downstairs with a 100 gallon stock tank sump, 55 gallon refugium, and 60 gallon holding tank to offset some of the new water entering the system. I'll still be bringing it on slow so we don't shock things too much.

I'm going to test the bare bottom theory to push some more flow in this tank which will be a first for me. Any suggestions would be welcome - thinking of getting some ABS to lay down first.

I'll also be switching from T5 (4x's 54w) /LED(150w Maxspect Razor) to Metal Halide (3 x's 250w) / LED (150w Maxspect Razor) to get some more penetration that deep in the tank. I've read some good things about the Pheonix 14k so I'll be trying out those first. We have high ceilings and at least for the winter, the warmth from MH will be welcomed in NE Ohio.

Stay tuned for stand, canopy, and aquascape build! Still have some cleaning up to do on this acrylic as well. You can check out what I did in 2017 here.

andrewkw · Nov 14, 2019

Interesting shape. You've got a good opportunity to create a very unique reef.

nbc101 · Nov 14, 2019

I like the odd shape tanks.

Andrew.oh17 · Nov 14, 2019

andrewkw said:
Interesting shape. You've got a good opportunity to create a very unique reef.

I agree. The 36" depth will be the most challenging thing to get used to I think - but I'm hoping it'll help keep my hands out of the tank!

Andrew.oh17 · Nov 14, 2019

nbc101 said:
I like the odd shape tanks.

Same here. It's going to be fun setting it all up.

Malifry97 · Nov 14, 2019

Following FOR SURE!

Andrew.oh17 · Dec 6, 2019

It's been a little bit, but we're still putting things together. I'll be adding water this weekend and starting to get the aquascape in place. Here's a few pictures of the stand, self leveling cement and the tank in place. We'll be covering up the outside in due time, but I wanted to leave it open so I could finish all of the plumbing and wiring.