I posted a few pic's when I first joined this great group of folks! Now I'm sharing what I have and where I'm going with this build. 1st off it is a 144 gallon 1/2 circle. You have probably seen this tank on old posts from yesteryears. This little gem was my dream tank years ago, found it still brand new, never wet and it was calling my name (my wife is still calling me names since I bought it). I have heard and read how bow fronts are distorted, how some people love them, some people hate them but hey, it's like my Harley, I always wanted one, took years before I was able to afford one and when the time came I pulled the trigger. The tank will be sitting in my man cave along a wall that can be viewed from anywhere in the room. Bar area, poker table, watching a flick on the big screen or walking down the hall. Yes I found the tank of my dreams.
I got lucky because it fits perfectly on the wall and I have an empty storage room behind it, so guess where the sump/refugium and all the other noise makers are going. You guessed it correctly! Behind the wall! I did make the mistake of listening to my lfs' and went with the eshopps r-200. Members on the forum shared views on it but it was to late to return it and go with something else. Although it is rated within the size of my tank, looking at it in that empty room made me think....dang! I could have gone much bigger! But it's to late to return it and I'm not slowing down now, I'll use it and continue my upgrades as they system matures (and my wallet recoups).
Never plumbing a tank before I really have no idea what I'm doing. I have looked at numerous builds on this site and I'm thinking...I'm missing something. 2 lines from my tank to my sump, 2 lines from my sump to my tank and a valve on my return pump. Is that all I need? Or are you still sitting there laughing at the noob? Ok, that made me laugh too!
I am using the eflux dc pump, they seem to have decent ratings and I have to keep the cost of this build somewhat under control. Like I mentioned earlier, I can upgrade to better stuff as it grows. Size of the pump area also played a factor in my decision for this pump.
For flow I will see how one Icecap 3k works in the tank, I'm thinking with the tanks design I might get good flow moving around the tank. If not, I will circle the wagons and go to plan B. I haven't figured out plan B yet.
Lighting. Oh boy, now that's a tough one. Decided to start out with 2 Al hydra 26's and adjust with more or a hybrid if needed. It's challenging because you don't see many of these tanks, so you can't just go see what the other guy is using and how they look.
My plan was to use all dry rock and seed it with one or two pieces of live rock from my wife's 32 Biocube. But we got to experience velvet for the first time so her tank is now a coral and invert display tank for 72 days (just to make sure there wasn't some ich in there as well). For people that don't quaritine, let me share some news, a Fishless tank is pretty boring. Now it's dry rock only. Yes I know what your thinking, the noob had a cause of rectum cranial inversion. I did, but now brothers and sisters we have a quaritine tank. Never again will we put anything in our tanks without quaratine first!
Now the skimmer, I haven't picked it up yet because hey, it's a new build so I can pick it up a few weeks after I fill it. But I'm leaning towards the curve 7.
Got a great deal on the figi sand. My wife has the Hawaiian black, but it's too dark for my taste. It seems to absorb to much light for my eyes.
So my reef family, that's where I am today, plan to fill it in another week. Feel free to give pointers, advice, laugh or take some friendly jabs and I'll promise to post more as I continue the build. Thanks for reading my post!
I got lucky because it fits perfectly on the wall and I have an empty storage room behind it, so guess where the sump/refugium and all the other noise makers are going. You guessed it correctly! Behind the wall! I did make the mistake of listening to my lfs' and went with the eshopps r-200. Members on the forum shared views on it but it was to late to return it and go with something else. Although it is rated within the size of my tank, looking at it in that empty room made me think....dang! I could have gone much bigger! But it's to late to return it and I'm not slowing down now, I'll use it and continue my upgrades as they system matures (and my wallet recoups).
Never plumbing a tank before I really have no idea what I'm doing. I have looked at numerous builds on this site and I'm thinking...I'm missing something. 2 lines from my tank to my sump, 2 lines from my sump to my tank and a valve on my return pump. Is that all I need? Or are you still sitting there laughing at the noob? Ok, that made me laugh too!
I am using the eflux dc pump, they seem to have decent ratings and I have to keep the cost of this build somewhat under control. Like I mentioned earlier, I can upgrade to better stuff as it grows. Size of the pump area also played a factor in my decision for this pump.
For flow I will see how one Icecap 3k works in the tank, I'm thinking with the tanks design I might get good flow moving around the tank. If not, I will circle the wagons and go to plan B. I haven't figured out plan B yet.
Lighting. Oh boy, now that's a tough one. Decided to start out with 2 Al hydra 26's and adjust with more or a hybrid if needed. It's challenging because you don't see many of these tanks, so you can't just go see what the other guy is using and how they look.
My plan was to use all dry rock and seed it with one or two pieces of live rock from my wife's 32 Biocube. But we got to experience velvet for the first time so her tank is now a coral and invert display tank for 72 days (just to make sure there wasn't some ich in there as well). For people that don't quaritine, let me share some news, a Fishless tank is pretty boring. Now it's dry rock only. Yes I know what your thinking, the noob had a cause of rectum cranial inversion. I did, but now brothers and sisters we have a quaritine tank. Never again will we put anything in our tanks without quaratine first!
Now the skimmer, I haven't picked it up yet because hey, it's a new build so I can pick it up a few weeks after I fill it. But I'm leaning towards the curve 7.
Got a great deal on the figi sand. My wife has the Hawaiian black, but it's too dark for my taste. It seems to absorb to much light for my eyes.
So my reef family, that's where I am today, plan to fill it in another week. Feel free to give pointers, advice, laugh or take some friendly jabs and I'll promise to post more as I continue the build. Thanks for reading my post!
