Hydra138
Community Member
Hello All,
Decided to start a build thread on the recommendation of some of you, to track the journey and progression as well as share it. I've always wanted a reef tank but the time and circumstances were never right, until now!
I managed to pick up this tank from a house that was being renovated, it was initially in the wall between the kitchen and the living room and managed to lift it out to my car using some straps and the help of a builder on the site. I knew even less than than I do now and didn't realize that ultimately I would end up drilling two holes the tank in the back corner using a 45mm diamond bit and drill jig from amazon. I did this outside in the garden with a friend holding the hose over the holes as I drilled, took about 5 minutes per hole and worked perfectly. Planning on building a glass weir over this once the bulkheads/plumbing is in and using a gate valve to control the overflow with the other hole being the emergency overflow.
Specs:
Tank Capacity: Custom 150G Tank (455Liters).
Dimensions (ft): 5x2x2.
Stand: 5x2x3 Fabricated from steel bar
Equipment so far;
Return Pump: Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0
Heaters: 2 x Delta Therm 300w Interpet
Sump: 6mm Glass @ 43"X 18" X 17"
Lights: Yet to decide
Protein Skimmer: Yet to purchase
Powerheads/Wavemaker: Yet to purchase
Auto Top-Up: Yet to purchase
RO/DI System: Yet to purchase
Aquascape:
30kg of Marco Rock - yet to epoxy together and build.
Location:
Office opposite my Computer (concrete floor thankfully)
Startup:
I'm in no rush, plan on cycling for at least a month, maybe some help from a bacterial starter. Yet to decide whether I'm going to put in any live rock to help, I'm leaning towards no and cycling from scratch as I don't want to bring in any pests.
Livestock:
Definitely planning on a pair of Clownfish but ultimately want to focus on corals, I'll have mostly utilitarian fish, but who knows where I'll end up.
Invert plans and goals:
Mainly an LPS/Softie tank, I love the movement generated by the flow in the water and that aesthetic is really what i'm going for. I haven't read a ton about clean up crews yet, i'll start with whats recommended at the beginning and add as needed I think.
As you can probably tell I'm an extreme rookie and would really appreciate any advice moving forward. I've yet to decide on lighting and as this seems to be very important, not sure what real spread and par I need for a 5x2x2, but looking at LPS/Softies.
Possible hardware additions:
Ca Reactor
Algae refugium
Roller?
Thank you for your time and attention,
Jake
Decided to start a build thread on the recommendation of some of you, to track the journey and progression as well as share it. I've always wanted a reef tank but the time and circumstances were never right, until now!
I managed to pick up this tank from a house that was being renovated, it was initially in the wall between the kitchen and the living room and managed to lift it out to my car using some straps and the help of a builder on the site. I knew even less than than I do now and didn't realize that ultimately I would end up drilling two holes the tank in the back corner using a 45mm diamond bit and drill jig from amazon. I did this outside in the garden with a friend holding the hose over the holes as I drilled, took about 5 minutes per hole and worked perfectly. Planning on building a glass weir over this once the bulkheads/plumbing is in and using a gate valve to control the overflow with the other hole being the emergency overflow.
Specs:
Tank Capacity: Custom 150G Tank (455Liters).
Dimensions (ft): 5x2x2.
Stand: 5x2x3 Fabricated from steel bar
Equipment so far;
Return Pump: Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0
Heaters: 2 x Delta Therm 300w Interpet
Sump: 6mm Glass @ 43"X 18" X 17"
Lights: Yet to decide
Protein Skimmer: Yet to purchase
Powerheads/Wavemaker: Yet to purchase
Auto Top-Up: Yet to purchase
RO/DI System: Yet to purchase
Aquascape:
30kg of Marco Rock - yet to epoxy together and build.
Location:
Office opposite my Computer (concrete floor thankfully)
Startup:
I'm in no rush, plan on cycling for at least a month, maybe some help from a bacterial starter. Yet to decide whether I'm going to put in any live rock to help, I'm leaning towards no and cycling from scratch as I don't want to bring in any pests.
Livestock:
Definitely planning on a pair of Clownfish but ultimately want to focus on corals, I'll have mostly utilitarian fish, but who knows where I'll end up.
Invert plans and goals:
Mainly an LPS/Softie tank, I love the movement generated by the flow in the water and that aesthetic is really what i'm going for. I haven't read a ton about clean up crews yet, i'll start with whats recommended at the beginning and add as needed I think.
As you can probably tell I'm an extreme rookie and would really appreciate any advice moving forward. I've yet to decide on lighting and as this seems to be very important, not sure what real spread and par I need for a 5x2x2, but looking at LPS/Softies.
Possible hardware additions:
Ca Reactor
Algae refugium
Roller?
Thank you for your time and attention,
Jake
