CDA 250 Build.....but already built

jbreef44

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Hey all,

This is my first post on the forum. Long time follower. Lots of great information around here. My name is Jon. I hadn't been in the saltwater game for about 5 years. Moved a few years back. Got married, moved, whole nine yards. But the time had finally come to dive back into the hobby, back in the summer. I ordered a 72x30x27 aquarium from Crystal Dynamics back in mid June. Received it back in October. I put the tank in my basement. I wanted to run all the plumbing through my wall to the unfinished side. To really have a decent fish room to make the hobby more enjoyable and easier for maintenance. This is the space I started with:
6A7D445E-E8C5-4599-BE61-1BD5BC6B899C.jpeg

That was right after I painted the the entire room and redid all the flooring with vinyl plank flooring. Next was onto the stand build. I had to cut and then assemble everything in my basement since with the height I went with it was not going to fit through the door. Here is the stand fully built and in place. Built with mostly 2x4's and 3/4 hardwood plywood.
BD58BA33-7140-48F0-925D-066BC82FFA34.jpeg

Next was the large undertaking of the other side of the wall. I had to build the sink, run the plumbing for that, run a dedicated breaker to this wall. Installed FRP paneling for waterproofing. Many many hours involved.
5F4BE8E2-76CB-48D2-AE7F-41B3C7F905D3.jpeg

I was able to find a brand new LifeReef sump with refugium on Facebook marketplace and had the ATO reservoir made by Jeff after the fact, was able to get all that for a pretty good price.
7B431E84-52DC-47AC-A9F7-6203DC2121D8.jpeg

Everything sat like this for awhile until i finally planned out all my plumbing. After lots of debating and measuring and frequent orders from BRS and supplyhouse. It all turned out like this:
14355008-306B-4AF6-94C4-591E14977745.jpeg

I did also run to a Norwesco manufacturing warehouse that was a couple hours away and bought 2 105 gallon storage tanks for both RO and saltwater storage. And here it is with some added lights and most of my equipment mounted. Neptune, Maxspect xf350's, tunze ATO etc.
BAF2D39E-1944-4D78-A5C4-918A3E82DD2B.jpeg

Then lastly the difficulty of getting the tank down my basement stairs. I used a winch from the top of the stairs and lots of suction cups. And I decided to use all dry rock that I super glued all together. Here are those
60DE6AF9-EF94-4511-9475-6E588C92F894.jpeg

24C1798C-C5B8-45A1-BE8D-9D0B7AC1F0BC.jpeg

D900F13A-710E-48D5-8B4F-63DACA0E068E_1_201_a.jpeg


I used an aquaticlife t5 hybrid fixture. And will be installing 3 or 4 xr15's into the fixture. It has been cycling for about 3 and half weeks and currently just taking it easy and waiting on the water parameters to settle before I add a couple of fish. Didn't want to make this post too long since its my first time. I will try to update as I go with adding fish. And if anyone has any questions on anything I would be happy to answer! Thanks guys!
 

Peace River

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#WelcometoR2R!!! This is an amazing build - keep up the great work!
 

Buck75

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Hey all,

This is my first post on the forum. Long time follower. Lots of great information around here. My name is Jon. I hadn't been in the saltwater game for about 5 years. Moved a few years back. Got married, moved, whole nine yards. But the time had finally come to dive back into the hobby, back in the summer. I ordered a 72x30x27 aquarium from Crystal Dynamics back in mid June. Received it back in October. I put the tank in my basement. I wanted to run all the plumbing through my wall to the unfinished side. To really have a decent fish room to make the hobby more enjoyable and easier for maintenance. This is the space I started with:
6A7D445E-E8C5-4599-BE61-1BD5BC6B899C.jpeg

That was right after I painted the the entire room and redid all the flooring with vinyl plank flooring. Next was onto the stand build. I had to cut and then assemble everything in my basement since with the height I went with it was not going to fit through the door. Here is the stand fully built and in place. Built with mostly 2x4's and 3/4 hardwood plywood.
BD58BA33-7140-48F0-925D-066BC82FFA34.jpeg

Next was the large undertaking of the other side of the wall. I had to build the sink, run the plumbing for that, run a dedicated breaker to this wall. Installed FRP paneling for waterproofing. Many many hours involved.
5F4BE8E2-76CB-48D2-AE7F-41B3C7F905D3.jpeg

I was able to find a brand new LifeReef sump with refugium on Facebook marketplace and had the ATO reservoir made by Jeff after the fact, was able to get all that for a pretty good price.
7B431E84-52DC-47AC-A9F7-6203DC2121D8.jpeg

Everything sat like this for awhile until i finally planned out all my plumbing. After lots of debating and measuring and frequent orders from BRS and supplyhouse. It all turned out like this:
14355008-306B-4AF6-94C4-591E14977745.jpeg

I did also run to a Norwesco manufacturing warehouse that was a couple hours away and bought 2 105 gallon storage tanks for both RO and saltwater storage. And here it is with some added lights and most of my equipment mounted. Neptune, Maxspect xf350's, tunze ATO etc.
BAF2D39E-1944-4D78-A5C4-918A3E82DD2B.jpeg

Then lastly the difficulty of getting the tank down my basement stairs. I used a winch from the top of the stairs and lots of suction cups. And I decided to use all dry rock that I super glued all together. Here are those
60DE6AF9-EF94-4511-9475-6E588C92F894.jpeg

24C1798C-C5B8-45A1-BE8D-9D0B7AC1F0BC.jpeg

D900F13A-710E-48D5-8B4F-63DACA0E068E_1_201_a.jpeg


I used an aquaticlife t5 hybrid fixture. And will be installing 3 or 4 xr15's into the fixture. It has been cycling for about 3 and half weeks and currently just taking it easy and waiting on the water parameters to settle before I add a couple of fish. Didn't want to make this post too long since its my first time. I will try to update as I go with adding fish. And if anyone has any questions on anything I would be happy to answer! Thanks guys!
Keep updated. Nice setup.
 
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