DangerDave’s 160 gallon reef in wall build

DangerDave · Jul 27, 2018

DarthSimon said:
Geat job Dave!!! Keep up the great work. I think your goby is a Rainifords if I'm not mistaken...

Not that one, but that’s one of two fish I lost since this build started. I think the little sand I have didn’t have enough life to sustain it. The other one loss was a bangaii, killed by the bangaii I still have.

DangerDave · Jul 30, 2018

Getting ready for the frag tank addition..

DangerDave · Aug 2, 2018

The good. I’m getting there. Tank in place, insulation board still needs to be put under it. I hope to have it drilled and wet by the end of the weekend. I should have done this sooner, summer may get in the way of my schedule lol.

I’m a little annoyed with myself. I have an AP700 to light it, but I’m going to have to remount the cabinet and shelf above to allow enough room for the light to be high enough to get full coverage of the tank. I just moved it a few weeks ago, and was off on my measurements. dang you beer goggles, it looked spot on that night!

DangerDave · Aug 6, 2018

I was a bit nervous about drilling the low boy, as this would be my first time I’ve drilled glass. I picked up a broken tank from @DarthSimon and was able to do a bunch of practice holes. It really helped.

Once I was confident, I had at the low boy. It was a success, and it’s ready to go. Of course I’m short a bulkhead gasket. I need two for the way I’m installing the overflow. It’s a cpr overflow with a back. No silicone, just need that extra gasket. I hope to pick it up from LFS today.

DangerDave · Aug 8, 2018

So interested two days for me. Frag tank is still not running.

Last night I got some of the plumbing done, decided to take a break and hang the light. Had to lower both DOS to accommodate the light. I used a couple of metal brackets I found at the hardware store and bent them to fit.

I dumped 30 gallons of rodi water on the garage floor while trying to multitask. No biggie, just drained and dried. While cleaning up, I noticed that my alk container was low...uh I just filled it. When I put the (now labeled) DOS heads back on I mixed up the AWC salt-in head and the alk head. I dumped 900ml of alk into the tank. Alk was now at 17, ph 8.6. I did a 50 gallon water change (it’s what I had left after the spill). All down to 14.9, ph is 8.45. The corals don’t look bad, but they mostly close at night anyway. The was water still clear.

Today after work, I came home to 50 gallons of fresh rodi, so I quickly made water. Almost everything in the tank looks good, like nothing happened. Almost everything anyway, I have a nice colony and some frags of candy canes that are real stressed. Some other candy cane frags look great though. I also have a small gold hammer that is struggling. Other than that no issues so far. I hope the cc frags all come back, I was hoping to trade for other corals.

Ph is down to 8.24, alk is down to 13.3. I was happy about the numbers and decided to not do another large water change. I turn the auto water change back on (after checking my plumbing was right) but increased the daily change to 10 gallons. Once I get down down to 12 dkh of the Red Sea Coral Pro mix I will drop the AWC back to 3 gallons a day. And let it drift down to 9 and then start dosing again.

The biggest issue I have is my KH guardian is erroring out since the incident. I’m gonna have to figure this out. As easy as the Hanna checker is, glancing at screen is easier.

Dave

DangerDave · Aug 9, 2018

I’m up and running. Used a small pump, have some plumbing to do, and a manifold to build.

DarthSimon · Aug 9, 2018

Looking good Dave!!! Gotta fill that bad boy with Corals now!!

DangerDave · Sep 11, 2018

A couple pics from tonight, blues mostly off, just the atinic and super atinic T5s. Things were starting to close up for the night when I turned them back up for the pic.

OffTopic · Sep 11, 2018

This tank looks amazing, tbh I was initially a bit hesitant about the aquascape but seeing it with corals it looks absolutely amazing! I must say I really enjoy tank in wall aesthetic, hopefully one day I can have one. Looks beautiful, great job

DangerDave · Sep 11, 2018

Thanks!

DangerDave · Sep 20, 2018

DangerDave · Jan 19, 2019

I haven’t updated this in a while, so here I am.

I’ve added a Kalk Stirrer and removed the kalk dosing system and 35g container.

I went to a maxspect turbine 9k for my return and manifold. This was a mistake as the pump doesn’t come close to published specs. In fact it can’t move more than 275 gallons in the same plumbing that a Rio 12hf was able to push 550gph. That’s getting replaced shortly, going back to a $60 Rio.

I’m running out of space in my frag tanks. I may add two more low boys. Hard to beat for $100 a pop.

DarthSimon · Jan 19, 2019

Dude!! Amazing job my friend!!! Looks like your running an LFS!!! You open for biz yet?

DangerDave · Jan 31, 2019

A few night pics under the blues...

myrjon · Jan 31, 2019

wow looks good dave .pictures do not do it justice.... myrjon/ chris

DangerDave · Feb 1, 2019

Thanks R2R!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-tank-365-featuring-dangerdaves-160-in-wall-reef.548934/

DangerDave · Mar 23, 2019

Ok, so it’s been a while since I posted. Things with my reef are changing in the near future. I’ve ordered a 90 container for use as a sump. I will be adding two more frag tanks, one initially and one to follow. I will also be building a partition wall in the garage to make it a proper fish room. The dimensions will be 10x20 feet. I’ll post pics as progress is made. Happy reefing peeps!