*d2mini's 200g Reeftastic Reef - Part Deux!*

d2mini

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Hi all... I've had my build thread going on RC for over 2 years and it was too much trouble to copy it all over here once i found R2R, but now I'm beginning PART II of this tank's little reefing journey so I figured this would be a good time to introduce myself and my tank to you guys (that don't already follow on RC) and continue with a build thread here from this point on. :becky:

This is going to be not unlike a completely new build, except the tank size will be exactly the same, in the exact same spot, surrounded by the exact same cabinetry.
Yet everything else will change!!! :faint2:

Here is a somewhat recent shot of my tank now...

i-Vm6tc7K-XL.jpg


i-WqMzX2G.jpg


i-3k8gFcv-XL.jpg





And here is a somewhat recent shot of my "fish room" located in my garage, just behind the display tank.

i-jNM5D5z.jpg


i-wNGjDwd.jpg


i-c6jpf3T.jpg





The home of all coral, fish and rock for the next month or two.... or longer?

i-gNbnGX2.jpg



The explanation:

Two things. First, I've come to the conclusion that it's finally time to wall off my little area of the garage that I use for the "fish room". Using a chiller to keep temps down in a garage in Houston was doable when I was running LEDs. But adding MH and T5 to a closed canopy, with all that water volume in the hot garage, has caused the chiller to run more than I would like. I've also had to deal with humidity issues in the garage. Without the dehumidifier I ended up buying, tools would rust if left out in the open. I always have to be wary of the open tanks when working on other projects in the garage. Have to try not to run the cars for fear of what the exhaust might do. Etc.

Second, I got some pretty nasty scratches on the front glass early on. Over the last couple years that have gotten more pronounced and probably multiplied. I don't know what brand low iron glass Deep Sea Aquatics used, but it's soft as POO! I've never had this problem with Starphire in the past. So I've known that someday the time would come that I would have to replace the tank or at least the front panel which means a tear down. Since I had that little mini crash of sorts recently, I figured this is the time to do it. I already had put the fish room changes into motion so why not just do it all at the same time?

Moving Forward:

Tomorrow I will be starting the transfer into that big white tub i posted a pic of.
I've been cycling it for the last few weeks.
All my rock, coral, fish, and a good portion of my water will move directly into that tub. I have also been cycling an 8x8x4 Marine Pure block in my sump that will go into this tub as well. This should be like a straight tank transfer. Fingers crossed.
The chiller and pump have to be hooked up outside the tub, and I'll just place the skimmer inside the tub on a support.

Once everything is transferred over, tear down of the current fish room can begin. Everything emptied out, everything removed, down to bare walls. Then I will begin to layout the two new walls.

Plans for the Tank and Fish Room:

There will be some small changes to the tank.
For one, we will use actual Starphire glass and the tank is being built by Planet Aquariums out of Dallas, through Urban Aquatics here in Houston. Just to maximize tank space in the existing cabinetry, it will be euro braced rather than having the black plastic trim, and no black cross braces. The tank will have a low profile "ghost" style toothless overflow built by the amazing BAO (Building An Obsession) here in Houston. It will be almost coast to coast with a little room left on the ends. I'm not sure if I'll have my returns in those back corners, or if I will wrap around to the front of the tank and point them backwards? Probably the former but we'll see.
I also plan to try to be a little bit more minimal in the aquascaping than I am right now. I'm working with live rock which is tough to do, so we'll see what happens.

The fish room will be COMPLETELY redesigned. Putting up walls limits my space a little bit so I need to maximize my use of space. Therefor I am going back to a traditional sump. A Berlin sump in fact, designed and built by Jeff at LifeReef. I've been on Jeff's wait list for the past 4 months! There will be built in filter canisters for carbon, gfo, etc, problem holders, connections for my CaRx, holders for my level sensors, connections for tubing for my auto water changes and ato... the whole nine.

The refugium is also being built by LifeReef and integrates seamlessly with the sump.

Above that, I will have a nice sized frag tank, along with a tank just for Mangroves. BAO might be helping me out with that.

I may be going external with my skimmer. This will allow for unlimited height and I won't have to reach into the sump.

And finally I will have a quarantine tank! Never had the space for one before, now I do.
This will be the last thing I figure out, which is fine since it's not connected to the rest of the system.
I'm basically just leaving room for it right now.




Below you will see the general layout of the new fish room.
Actual pics of the progress to come this weekend so stay tuned!


Thanks to everyone who has followed along over the past 2+ years and hopefully you stick around for PART DEAUX!!!
And hopefully I meet some new guys here and you enjoy the ride a well. :D






i-V9qbXKQ.jpg


And I hope this is allowed here. If not, mods feel free to delete.
But if anyone is interested in a little time travel and going back a couple of years and seeing how the tank started, you can check it all out here.
Tons of pics. And you'll even get to see me take a trip to Tampa Bay Saltwater to get all my live rock!
*d2mini's new 200g Reeftastic Build*

 

Diesel

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About time!!
Let The Diesel come by this weekend and we grow walls like Chaeto or HA for that matter for some under us.
You know how I did it and it's not overrated, love my frag room.
If it was up to me I would sleep in it and wakeup everyday like a slept on the beach like old days.
 

TruRacr314x

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Awesome...great to see you start a thread here. I've followed both of your builds on RC...top notch with everything you do. Will definitely be following the restructure here!
 

revhtree

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Well heck ya it's about time!! WOOT!
 
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d2mini

d2mini

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Thanks, guys!
Coffee is brewing... i'm gonna need it today. :D


About time!!
Let The Diesel come by this weekend and we grow walls like Chaeto or HA for that matter for some under us.
You know how I did it and it's not overrated, love my frag room.
If it was up to me I would sleep in it and wakeup everyday like a slept on the beach like old days.
The DUTCH is always welcome at mi casa! You know that! :thumb:

And at least us reefers have somewhere to go when we get sent to the doghouse... am I right? :xd:
 

Jimbo662

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WOW! I followed your original thread...going to be fun following this one now.
 

Diesel

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Thanks, guys!
Coffee is brewing... i'm gonna need it today. :D



The DUTCH is always welcome at mi casa! You know that! :thumb:

And at least us reefers have somewhere to go when we get sent to the doghouse... am I right? :xd:

We changed the definition of "doghouse or man cave"
The future is upon "The Fishroom"
 

revhtree

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Hurry and post more! HA!
 

Daniel@R2R

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AMAZING!!!! WOW!! One of my favorite tanks after just the first post! Please! PLEASE! PLLEEEZ!!! Post more! :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:
 
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d2mini

d2mini

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Hurry and post more! HA!
Alrighty....

PLUMBING DONE!
I was mostly able to use various chunks of plumbing from my old setup. :D
That's why it looks a little wonky, but it works and saves me some cash.
So the return pump and chiller are hooked up and running.
Next I need to do a big water change, place the skimmer, and then start transferring stuff.




i-Jtzmv8V.jpg



i-rVWMLCW.jpg
 

Diesel

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You want one door or double doors in your FishManRoomCave?
I wish I went with double.
 

KritikaL

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holy mother of god, this is crazy! :D jst read your old thread, or flicked through quickly! how much cleanup crew did you put in? it seemed like you actually have a fetish for clean up crew! hahahahah but you find so many weird and wonderful bits and bobs... unfortunately we don't have anything like that in the uk :(
 
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d2mini

d2mini

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You want one door or double doors in your FishManRoomCave?
I wish I went with double.
I already have the door and frame, had to special order to match the rest of the house. lol
Double would be nice, but its a small area so i need all the wall space I can get.

holy mother of god, this is crazy! :D jst read your old thread, or flicked through quickly! how much cleanup crew did you put in? it seemed like you actually have a fetish for clean up crew! hahahahah but you find so many weird and wonderful bits and bobs... unfortunately we don't have anything like that in the uk :(
LOL!
You can go here to get an idea of the clean up crew that Richard from TBS sends.
Live Rock - Tampa Bay Saltwater Aquacultured Live Rock - The Package Pricing Chart
 

kevantheman35

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Been following your builds since back in the cube days. Can't wait to see how this update processes!
 
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d2mini

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