DIY 400 gallon Reef Finally done

[Nicks Extreme Aquarium]

I am FInally done or at least I'm to the "adding fish" point of my 400-gallon tank. I posted some pics of the assembly of the glass part of the build so if you haven't seen that, go check it out, or check out my video on assembling the glass for the 400 here

Once I filled up the tank and began cycling the water I finished painting the removable panels and I built the rig for the lights.
Once I started the pumps though, I realized a big mistake on my part. I did a bad job rinsing the sand and it clouded the water pretty bad.

I waited a week or so and it didn't clear up one bit. I tried to use 4 or 5 different water clarifies on the market to clear it up and still none of it worked. while I waited for it to clear up and cycle, I went ahead and began setting up the apex wiring and the calcium reactor areas.




I ended up having to find a huge water tank so that I could do some water changes since it wasn't clearing up. After two 250 gallon water changes it cleared most of it up. There was still a haze in the water so I upgraded my skimmer since the old reef octopus that I had was only made for about 150 gallons. This helped but still the water wasn't perfect.



To finally kick this issue in the butt I added a 25 micron canister filter witch did the trick perfectly.



Now I can enjoy the fruits of all my labor. Here are some recent pics of the tank and some of the fish I've added. Enjoy







If you'd like to see more of the build you can find more pics and videos on
Instagram at Nicks Extreme Aquarium
or on
YouTube, Just search for Nicks Extreme Aquarium.

 

[Scurvy]

Wow, great looking build, I tagged along on IG and YouTube.

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

Looks pretty good, what was your final cost? If you dont mind me asking

 

[Nicks Extreme Aquarium]

Looks pretty good, what was your final cost? If you dont mind me asking

Im not going to lie, I have no idea. I can see if i can roughly figure it out
the Glass for the tank was $1,600 sourced locally (plus beer and Pizza for some friends to help me assemble) lol
the stand I had a friend weld for $700 (labor and materials
then a few hundered in wood to encase the metal stand.
$250 for the 75-gallon to use as a sump and glass baffels i made.
h2overflow box was like $300 or so
I had some rock but then i bought about $100 worth of more dry rock
I dont remember the cost of sand
bought a used ATI light fixture for $100
Aquamaxx simmer, 400 and something
calcium reactor and CO2 tank id say was another 300
and there's much more than that but all of that adds up to (roughly) $3,850.

Keep in mind I saved a lot of things I had from my old 220-gallon tank I recently took down.

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

Im not going to lie, I have no idea. I can see if i can roughly figure it out
the Glass for the tank was $1,600 sourced locally (plus beer and Pizza for some friends to help me assemble) lol
the stand I had a friend weld for $700 (labor and materials
then a few hundered in wood to encase the metal stand.
$250 for the 75-gallon to use as a sump and glass baffels i made.
h2overflow box was like $300 or so
I had some rock but then i bought about $100 worth of more dry rock
I dont remember the cost of sand
bought a used ATI light fixture for $100
Aquamaxx simmer, 400 and something
calcium reactor and CO2 tank id say was another 300
and there's much more than that but all of that adds up to (roughly) $3,850.

Keep in mind I saved a lot of things I had from my old 220-gallon tank I recently took down.

That's cheaper than I thought. Why not use your 220 as the sump?

 

[User1]

Here is the deal. You have skill, and guts to do this. Specifically f this size. That is a lot of water. Way outside my skill set so I wouldn't even consider something like this :). I have considered plywood a few times but I must say this...amazing job.

 

[Nicks Extreme Aquarium]

That's cheaper than I thought. Why not use your 220 as the sump?

because of the diameter that was used in the making of the stand, the 220 wouldn't fit. my best option was a 75-gallon tank for now. I'm the only one with such a huge tank and still has space issues in the stand. lol Eventually I would like to have a custom sump built to maximize my filtration area.

@saf1 Thank's man. I'm not going to lie, when I first filled it up my chest felt like I had a ton of bricks on it and I was thinking "what kind of idiot just thinks they can build a 400-gallon tank themselves". Well it's still holding water lol

I did rebuild my 220-gallon tank so that's what gave me the confidence to do this one. Still though, I made sure to over-engineer it, using 2 sheets of glass for the bottom and 5 inches wide with the euro braces as well as 2 cross braces.

 

[Devaji]

Dang that is nice DIY tank. deff. the way to go in your situation. it is crazy how mush $$$ the big tanks are. that said I just dont have the skills or balls to try that on my own....yet.
I have also thought of a plywood tank IDK maybe when I finish the basement I might try it?

Is this gonna be a reef or FOWLR?

 

[Nicks Extreme Aquarium]

Dang that is nice DIY tank. deff. the way to go in your situation. it is crazy how mush $$$ the big tanks are. that said I just dont have the skills or balls to try that on my own....yet.
I have also thought of a plywood tank IDK maybe when I finish the basement I might try it?

Is this gonna be a reef or FOWLR?

It is pricy, Just the tank alone, if I bought it premade, would have been around $4,000. Buying one like that also comes with peace of mind and a warranty but then I wouldn't have been able to afford to finish it lol It is scary filling up a tank you have no idea if it will hold water :oops:
This tank will eventually be a reef. Once all the fish are added and everything is running well then ill begin adding a few corals. Another thing that sucks is the cost of filling this thing.:D I just keep telling myself that it will all be worth it in the end.

 

[najer]

Great work, bigger ones than me! ;)

 

[Redcar802]

Great work dude!
Do you mind sharing your light fixture build? Looking for Ideas. Thank you!