Firstly this is my personal experience, and the road to a large reef. its not just here's the tank, here's the stuff that's gonna go in it.
its my personal story as well, hope you don't mind.
also, i am not used to making large threads, so it might come out a bit chaotic, if you have any questions, i'd love to hear them.
So, first a bit about me.
i am 29 from the netherlands. i have been in the freshwater hobby for an easy 22 years now keeping everything from shrimp nano's to a 125 gallon south america biotope.
but i really wanted a reef tank, and my father always told me that reefing is super hard, and should not be attempted easily.
but as you all know, salt is in the blood and it wants to be.
and this is the story about a boys dreams to have a reef tank.
about 1,5 years ago i decided now that i have my own place, a good and stable job and an empty spot in my house, that i should try reefing.
and so got a cute 30 gallon cube to test if i had what it takes to be a reefer.
so i studied and studied and did some more studying.
and for the last year (after a cycle of 12 weeks) it has been running super stable (accept when i forget to replenish the evaporated water, and when my refractometer broke)
and the corals are super happy and exploding with growth, got my algae under control and have spotted coralline pop-up throughout the tank.
sorry for the blue, i don't have a gel filter... yet...
now that i can see i can do this, its time to plan.
i wanted a 150-225 gallon tank, just so i can keep the fish and corals i want.
i love the mixed reef with a focus on lps, i want a sand bed, rimless tank and a good sump that can house everything i need (had problems with that in the 30g and it annoyed me endlessly)
i want to spread out the costs of the tank over a larger period of time, since we got a cheap hobby right?
so a modular system that can be upgraded easily.
after a while searching on the internet (in the Netherlands large (reef-ready) tanks are rather rare), i found a freshwater tank that could easily be converted to salt.
i went to see the guy (who grows albino freshwater rays, of all things, which was awesome!)
the tank looked decent, a couple of small chips missing and its not perfectly made, but the price was good and it was available and i want to replace the tank with a black seamed lidless tank in a few years to make the inevitable move a lot easier (hopefully a house with a fish room behind the tank).
if my girlfriend lets me use a room like that, i haven't told you about her yet have i?
well she is unexpectedly more enthusiastic about a reef tank than i am. she doesn't have the will to keep one on her own, but dang does she likes corals.
anyway the deal is i can have my reef tank as long as she gets the space for a piano, which i am absolutely fine with because i can listen to her play all day.
so here it is, its a 160x65x70cm (63x25.5x27.5 inches) this is how i got it (it has a hood but who has time for that ) and i did a 2 week stress/leak test.
now that i got a tank i need to start measuring and designing everything.
First the sump.
i want a sump with filter socks (i love them and i don't need to throw out floss all the time)
i want a skimmer chamber, ALOT of filter media since i have had success with this, no fuge (i have had a bad time keeping my sump unclogged with cato and algae) and i will go for a algae scrubber.
dual return pumps because a failure has you cleaning your floors at 6:30 before work and i don't like that much.
i contacted a guy to build it, and he seems intent not to do the work. so ill do it myself. ordered the glass and it will be here in about a week.
for added logistical challenge i am doing this in my vacation, so everything needs to be ordered and received in a 3 week time span.
luckily i suck at planning, but i start early.
The bio chamber will be filled with acrylic rods on which i can mount the maxspect nano media balls, so it is easy to clean and has good water flow/contact.
next up is equipment, and with that i mean immediate equipment.
2x red sea reefled 90 i found used, and i will add a third if i need more par (these are amazing lights btw)
a deltec sc 1456 skimmer
2x 500w heaters (to be replaced with 2x 300w titanium heaters with a aquamedic twin controller, so i have a heating backup)
1x skimz wavemaker 6000l
2x skimz wavemaker 18000l
2x hydor seltz 4500 (one coming in a bit later)
next tank interior:
so i got a black plexiglass plate to cover the overflow (i dont want to see the red pvc i ordered in the tank), and painted the back black.
i am using aquamedic grid to support the rock work and all the rock will be drilled and cemented with acryllic rock. glue brakes to dang easy.
i got a bunch of carib sea arag-alive sand (i think 3mm size) and a few boxed of marco reef saver rock.
the plan is to have a tower at 1/3 of the tank, connected with bridges to a structure at 2/3 of the tank. because of the more natural look.
here is the design i quickly drawn up:
Gr = Caves, large and small
Oh = overhangs.
we will see if the rocks want to be in this configuration, but its an overall idea.
this is after a few jobs to clean up and modify the tank:
i still need to close the dry chamber hole with glass that comes in, but that should not be to hard to do, and fit the grid around that new glass covering.
and this brings us to now, need to wait for the glass so i can build the sump and ato reservoir, the alluminium so make a cover.
this week i will drill the tank for a 50mm bulkhead and make the cover once that is in, also mount the lights in the stand so i can see what i do in there.
and maybe dry build and lable the tower.
will update when i have the time/content for it
its my personal story as well, hope you don't mind.
also, i am not used to making large threads, so it might come out a bit chaotic, if you have any questions, i'd love to hear them.
So, first a bit about me.
i am 29 from the netherlands. i have been in the freshwater hobby for an easy 22 years now keeping everything from shrimp nano's to a 125 gallon south america biotope.
but i really wanted a reef tank, and my father always told me that reefing is super hard, and should not be attempted easily.
but as you all know, salt is in the blood and it wants to be.
and this is the story about a boys dreams to have a reef tank.
about 1,5 years ago i decided now that i have my own place, a good and stable job and an empty spot in my house, that i should try reefing.
and so got a cute 30 gallon cube to test if i had what it takes to be a reefer.
so i studied and studied and did some more studying.
and for the last year (after a cycle of 12 weeks) it has been running super stable (accept when i forget to replenish the evaporated water, and when my refractometer broke)
and the corals are super happy and exploding with growth, got my algae under control and have spotted coralline pop-up throughout the tank.
sorry for the blue, i don't have a gel filter... yet...
now that i can see i can do this, its time to plan.
i wanted a 150-225 gallon tank, just so i can keep the fish and corals i want.
i love the mixed reef with a focus on lps, i want a sand bed, rimless tank and a good sump that can house everything i need (had problems with that in the 30g and it annoyed me endlessly)
i want to spread out the costs of the tank over a larger period of time, since we got a cheap hobby right?
so a modular system that can be upgraded easily.
after a while searching on the internet (in the Netherlands large (reef-ready) tanks are rather rare), i found a freshwater tank that could easily be converted to salt.
i went to see the guy (who grows albino freshwater rays, of all things, which was awesome!)
the tank looked decent, a couple of small chips missing and its not perfectly made, but the price was good and it was available and i want to replace the tank with a black seamed lidless tank in a few years to make the inevitable move a lot easier (hopefully a house with a fish room behind the tank).
if my girlfriend lets me use a room like that, i haven't told you about her yet have i?
well she is unexpectedly more enthusiastic about a reef tank than i am. she doesn't have the will to keep one on her own, but dang does she likes corals.
anyway the deal is i can have my reef tank as long as she gets the space for a piano, which i am absolutely fine with because i can listen to her play all day.
so here it is, its a 160x65x70cm (63x25.5x27.5 inches) this is how i got it (it has a hood but who has time for that ) and i did a 2 week stress/leak test.
now that i got a tank i need to start measuring and designing everything.
First the sump.
i want a sump with filter socks (i love them and i don't need to throw out floss all the time)
i want a skimmer chamber, ALOT of filter media since i have had success with this, no fuge (i have had a bad time keeping my sump unclogged with cato and algae) and i will go for a algae scrubber.
dual return pumps because a failure has you cleaning your floors at 6:30 before work and i don't like that much.
i contacted a guy to build it, and he seems intent not to do the work. so ill do it myself. ordered the glass and it will be here in about a week.
for added logistical challenge i am doing this in my vacation, so everything needs to be ordered and received in a 3 week time span.
luckily i suck at planning, but i start early.
The bio chamber will be filled with acrylic rods on which i can mount the maxspect nano media balls, so it is easy to clean and has good water flow/contact.
next up is equipment, and with that i mean immediate equipment.
2x red sea reefled 90 i found used, and i will add a third if i need more par (these are amazing lights btw)
a deltec sc 1456 skimmer
2x 500w heaters (to be replaced with 2x 300w titanium heaters with a aquamedic twin controller, so i have a heating backup)
1x skimz wavemaker 6000l
2x skimz wavemaker 18000l
2x hydor seltz 4500 (one coming in a bit later)
next tank interior:
so i got a black plexiglass plate to cover the overflow (i dont want to see the red pvc i ordered in the tank), and painted the back black.
i am using aquamedic grid to support the rock work and all the rock will be drilled and cemented with acryllic rock. glue brakes to dang easy.
i got a bunch of carib sea arag-alive sand (i think 3mm size) and a few boxed of marco reef saver rock.
the plan is to have a tower at 1/3 of the tank, connected with bridges to a structure at 2/3 of the tank. because of the more natural look.
here is the design i quickly drawn up:
Gr = Caves, large and small
Oh = overhangs.
we will see if the rocks want to be in this configuration, but its an overall idea.
this is after a few jobs to clean up and modify the tank:
i still need to close the dry chamber hole with glass that comes in, but that should not be to hard to do, and fit the grid around that new glass covering.
and this brings us to now, need to wait for the glass so i can build the sump and ato reservoir, the alluminium so make a cover.
this week i will drill the tank for a 50mm bulkhead and make the cover once that is in, also mount the lights in the stand so i can see what i do in there.
and maybe dry build and lable the tower.
will update when i have the time/content for it