First Large Build, 230 Gallon!

[Hugh Mann]

I sort of did a build on my 55, though it was already up and running before I joined R2R. This time, it's truly start to finish. Definitely going to take a while to set up, as I'm sure you know, things get exponentially more expensive as the volume goes up. It's going to be a FowLR, sort of. By that I mean I'll end up with a couple anenomes, and basic corals like green star polyp. Lots of clean up crew of course.

The tank I purchased used, along with the stand and assorted equipment. It's 72x24x30 with dual corner overflows. 265 gallons by my estimation. Only one hole drilled in each overflow, and I don't want to make modifications, so will likely use Durso style standpipes.

I picked up a sump today, also used. 56x24x24. Fits perfectly under my stand.

Alongside that, I also have a Vertex IN-180 skimmer and 2 250w metal halide lights, unknown brand. I'm going to sell the lights, as I only have 23" of space between the top of the tank and the ceiling. Worried about fire hazards and overheating the tank. Replace them with some decent LEDs. Quite possibly a pair of Mars Aqua 300w, depending on what else is out there.

Substrate is going to be black sand, likely Caribsea Arag-Alive. Shallow sand bed, about 1". Just enough for nassarius, maybe gobies. Primarily going to use dry rock, if just because it is cheaper than live rock.

Still working in a stock list, but it's definitely going to have.
Marine Betta, pair or trio.
Greyfaced Moray Eel.
Hippo Tang.
Maroon Clown, Pair.
Flame Hawkfish, single or pair
Niger Triggerfish
Emperor Angel
Coral Beauty Angel
Bluestreak Wrasse

Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

 

[Hugh Mann]

I can apparently do math, me. I rechecked the volume calculation, and it's actually 'only' 230 gallons. Somewhat disappointing, but still plenty big enough. Also still huge savings, the cheapest new 210 I found was $1800. Just gives me motivation to set up a custom 1000 in wall with attached fish room.

 

[KWT]

Looks like you are of to a good start, keep on keepin on

 

[ichthyogeek]

I know you’ve been working super hard on that hippo and ich/velvet problems, so I’m glad to tag along and join this build thread!

 

[Hugh Mann]

Speaking of which, guess who I woke up to this morning with a dozen white spots? That dang Hippo. Still eating, and isn't shy at all, I can get right up to the glass and she stays out. I'm honestly contemplating surrendering her to my lfs, as evidently I can't keep her healthy.

I'm flabbergasted that the mollies still haven't shown anything, by everything I understand they should be riddled with the stuff before it touches the saltwater fish.

Oh, and my other turbo snail died too.

Happy birthday to me I guess.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Speaking of which, guess who I woke up to this morning with a dozen white spots? That dang Hippo. Still eating, and isn't shy at all, I can get right up to the glass and she stays out. I'm honestly contemplating surrendering her to my lfs, as evidently I can't keep her healthy.

I'm flabbergasted that the mollies still haven't shown anything, by everything I understand they should be riddled with the stuff before it touches the saltwater fish.

Oh, and my other turbo snail died too.

Happy birthday to me I guess.

I'm beginning to wonder if it's Lympho and not ich/velvet. Just because of how often it keeps coming back...

Sometimes mollies are raised in saltwater, so it's not unfeasible for them to have been exposed to Cryptocaryon/Amyloodinium....

But still, Happy birthday!!

 

[Hugh Mann]

Definitely not lympho, classic salt like ich I'm afraid. I'd post a picture, but she moves too much. Definitely not velvet, not enough spots, no light sensitivity or swimming into flow.

I did buy these ones from a chain store that only had freshwater, but I won't rule out that possibility.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

How's the hippo doing @Hugh Mann? Hope it's recovering

 

[Hugh Mann]

It goes in a general forward direction. The spots went away after a couple days, as expected. 5 days later she had largeish white marks on one side of her belly that are still there. I can't get a good look as she moves too dang much and hides if I get too nosey. Looks more like a scrape than ich. Her hidey hole is a tiny crevice between the rock and glass. Took me 20 minutes of looking to find her. There's also white spots on one fin, again, can't tell if it's a minor ich infection or damaged fin. Either way, she doesn't seem to be any worse, still swims and eats well. Doing all that I can, but I don't know if it's going to be enough. I'd love to pull everything, fallow the tank and burn the ich from existence, but I currently lack the materials to house my fish comfortably and safely for 80 days, and due to budgetary constraints, and that my lfs moved locations and is now on the other side of a wintertime death trap highway, I don't see myself gaining the ability to do so anytime soon.

 

[fugitiveALiEN]

Following for more updates

 

[ShepherdReefer]

I sort of did a build on my 55, though it was already up and running before I joined R2R. This time, it's truly start to finish. Definitely going to take a while to set up, as I'm sure you know, things get exponentially more expensive as the volume goes up. It's going to be a FowLR, sort of. By that I mean I'll end up with a couple anenomes, and basic corals like green star polyp. Lots of clean up crew of course.

The tank I purchased used, along with the stand and assorted equipment. It's 72x24x30 with dual corner overflows. 265 gallons by my estimation. Only one hole drilled in each overflow, and I don't want to make modifications, so will likely use Durso style standpipes.

I picked up a sump today, also used. 56x24x24. Fits perfectly under my stand.

Alongside that, I also have a Vertex IN-180 skimmer and 2 250w metal halide lights, unknown brand. I'm going to sell the lights, as I only have 23" of space between the top of the tank and the ceiling. Worried about fire hazards and overheating the tank. Replace them with some decent LEDs. Quite possibly a pair of Mars Aqua 300w, depending on what else is out there.

Substrate is going to be black sand, likely Caribsea Arag-Alive. Shallow sand bed, about 1". Just enough for nassarius, maybe gobies. Primarily going to use dry rock, if just because it is cheaper than live rock.

Still working in a stock list, but it's definitely going to have.
Marine Betta, pair or trio.
Greyfaced Moray Eel.
Hippo Tang.
Maroon Clown, Pair.
Flame Hawkfish, single or pair
Niger Triggerfish
Emperor Angel
Coral Beauty Angel
Bluestreak Wrasse

Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Nice

 

[Hugh Mann]

Yeah, progress has been quite slow on this one I'm afraid. Partly due to Covid causing significant delays in getting supplies, and holy bugger do the costs add up quick. I'm $1200 in and I've barely begun.

Sump is all cleaned up and ready to go as soon as I have a moment to plug a hole in the bottom. Had a piece of glass cut, and even that took 2 weeks to get.

 

[Hugh Mann]

Finally! Progress. Sort of.

After delays, followed by more delays and yet more delays, I am finally, slowly, making progress on this build.

Acquired 25lbs of dry rock and 20lbs of cured live rock from a localish reefer. Absolutely gorgeous stuff, and not a trace of any pests, nuisances or hitchhikers. Currently have that in a bin with heater and powerhead. A friend of mine is taking down his tank, and is selling me his 5 year old rock for cheap as well from again, a pest free tank. Another 75lbs. I'll be pulling 40lbs from my current display and nuking it as it has bryopsis, Aiptasia and bubble algae. Puts me at 160lbs of my 230lb(ish) goal. So still lots more rock to get and I want to have it all so I can solidly epoxy it together. Don't want to rely on stacks, as with the braced top, working in the tank will be difficult.

The Carib Sea Hawaiian Black sand I have been waiting on since November is finally at my LFS, just have to go pick it up. Which sucks because my truck caught fire today. Again. They also have the bulkheads I need, as they are the only place in 250 kilometers that has 1.5" bulkheads, and they are 200 kilometers away. While I am there I need to also buy a ton of salt as this sucker is going to have 300 gallons of water in it.

Also got a used Little Giant return pump. It looks a little rough, but it works. It will suffice to get me going, as it's not currently in my budget to get a better one. (Curse you Covid-19!)

A trip to the hardware store to buy my plumbing supplies to get that all set up. Again, made problematic by a truck that thinks I am Ghost Rider while I'm not in fact, Ghost Rider.

Assemble plumbing, leak test, drain, build aquascape, fill with salt mix, and if all goes well, I'll be ready to add some fish!

Sounds pretty simple put that way, but it's still a couple grand and a few months away.

So close, but so far.

 

[phillybean]

Look’s great, very similar set up to what I’m doing (same size tank & one one hole in each overflow).

Sorry about the truck, hopefully nothing too bad.

Good to see a relatively close build too, I’m in Kelowna. Which LFS do you use?

 

[Hugh Mann]

Glad to hear from a local(ish) reefer! And welcome to the forum!

It's two of the spark plug wires. Seems like something in the wiring is causing too much resistance, jumps the current, which results in fire.

My usuals are Canada Corals and J&l Aquatics, sometimes Aquarium West has good stuff. Haven't been to Purple Seahorse since the new management revamped the saltwater, but looks promising.

 

[phillybean]

Thanks for the welcome.

Hopefully you can figure the truck out.

I've never been to Canada Corals, will have to check them out next time I am in Vancouver, which unfortunately isn't often. Purple Seahorse is doing well, still growing but a huge improvement. Decent drygood and good live stock as well. Impact Aquariums is also really good, the best place for Coral in town and decent dry goods. AJ's in Vernon is probably the best for equipment, lot's of EcoTech, Neptune but Jabeo to keep the cost down as well. It's nice having a few decent options so close.

 

[Hugh Mann]

Thanks for the welcome.

Hopefully you can figure the truck out.

I've never been to Canada Corals, will have to check them out next time I am in Vancouver, which unfortunately isn't often. Purple Seahorse is doing well, still growing but a huge improvement. Decent drygood and good live stock as well. Impact Aquariums is also really good, the best place for Coral in town and decent dry goods. AJ's in Vernon is probably the best for equipment, lot's of EcoTech, Neptune but Jabeo to keep the cost down as well. It's nice having a few decent options so close.

Never even heard of those two. Will have to check them out sometime. Always looking for saltwater stuff near me.

I highly, highly recommend Canada Corals. They're still getting set up at their new location, and aren't as big as J&l, which is only a few minutes away, but the staff are far friendlier and go above and beyond. I try and do most of my shopping there.

 

[mattgsa]

Looking Good!

 

[Hugh Mann]

80lbs of carib sea arag-alive Hawaiian Black! Finally, at long last. I have it.

And two 1.5" bulkheads. Which means I can start working on the plumbing too! Whoo hoo!

After some consulting on a thread, my sump definitely needs some modifications, none that are overly difficult. Just lots of glass, acrylic and silicone.

Once I acquire the rest of the plumbing supplies, all I need is 25 kilos of rock and it's really going to get going.

 

[Hugh Mann]

44.5lbs of South Sea Shelf Rock arrived today, a full day ahead of schedule. Whoo-hoo!

It's better described as "Base Rock" than "Shelf Rock", but getting 44.5lbs out of a 40lb box at $4.00/lb AFTER tax, I genuinely cannot complain.

Durso Style standpipes are in, though I think I need to adjust the height on them before gluing it all together.

Still need to work on the plumbing, and I mismeasured the sump/space under the tank. It will fit, I just have to get... Creative... To jam it in there.