Hey All! New here! Starting my 180G build

[DShrek]

Hey, thanks for checking out my build. I'm new to the forums and new to the saltwater and reef world so id appreciate any advice!

I have recently acquired a 180G DT with 70G sump, it also came with some skimmers(x2)and pumps(one with broken impeller), t5 fixtures and bulbs, china black box leds(white channel not working), 250w metal halide, return pump and closed loop pump. The tank is 5/8 glass drilled with dual corner overflows and 5 closed loop ports.THE BEST PART! I scored some life to care for in the mean time, i have a tank running with a canister filter and lots of maintenance to keep healthy. I also purchased a 4 stage BRS RO/DI system used off a local forum.

The plan was to have the tank be a see through peninsula/ room divider, with the corner overflows it means that one will always be visible, something i'm not thrilled about but with 7 holes already in the bottom of the tank i cant seem to figure a way to move an overflow to a "better" position nor would i see it being enough gain to spend the extra money. The stand will be painted black and when budget permits id like to remove the hood and go with a nice clean thin LED bar.

The Sump that came with it had a very odd flow and odd baffle system, the guy said he had it designed for him. That was 10 years ago as that's how long he had his tank up for. To explain it is hard, as i guess why trying to research it was near impossible. so it was at this point i figure i need to redesign this sump for what i'm trying to achieve.

Step 1 Redesign the sump, after many hours of youtube and forum reading it was decided to cut up an old aquarium that was broken sitting around. Oh boy! After breaking the old tank down a design was drawn up measured, thought out, researched and glass was cut. i would definitely recommend getting a good glass scribe and probably have a friend help you out. i wasted about 2-3 ft of glass before getting the hang of how to do it. some things that were taken into consideration; fitting a skimmer, having removable mechanical filtration, a refugium with some cheatomorpha, live rock area, and a lower flow area for possible fraging, predators, or display. It is planned to be a 1/2 visible sump.

I ended up with a sump that has 5 chambers, Chamber #1 (Incoming overflow) will hold 2.9 Gallons and some filter floss as a removable mechanical filter. then through an over under baffle to Chamber #2, it will hold 3.4 gallons and house some live rock rubble . then an over under over baffle into compartment #3, the refuge holding 16.7 gallons and housing the cheatomorpha, left with ample space to house a backup skimmer. Then another over under over baffle into Compartment #4 a low flow/display area holding 3.4 gallons, then a over under baffle into Chamber #5 the return pump. holding 2.4 gallons of water, and does not have to house the pump as i will be externally mounting it. as well as you may have noticed i said "backup" skimmer, yes I will be having an external skimmer.

I Will End here as i'm no sump expert and i'm not even sure the design will work so before silicone and water id love to hear what you guys think.

 

[Jason mack]

Welcome to R2R .. nice set up !! Happy Reefing !!

 

[jsker]

Came over to check out you build, look good so far!

 

[Radman73]

Looks good so far. Regarding your DT, if you can verify that the side panels are not tempered, feel free to remove the overflow glass, drill one end, and put in a ghost style overflow. I removed the corner overflows on my 220 and drilled the back for the overflow and have been very happy with it and the extra real estate I gained in the process.

On the sump, if there is any way to plan for and place the skimmer before the fuge area you should. Having the skimmer in with the cheato means you'll be skimming pods left and right. What's the total volume of the new sump? Will it be able to handle a power off situation?

 

[DShrek]

@Radman73 thanks for the input. im pretty sure the side panels are not tempered so i should be able to drill them. i will have to look into the "ghost style" overflow to see what you really mean but it sounds as tho it might be the solution to my problem.
The skimmer in the fuge is essentially for backup if my main skimmer fails. I have an oversized skimmer that will be running directly off my overflows, skimming water before it even reaches the sump, at least the plan for now as thats how it was running when i bought it off the guy.
The total volume of the sump is 70 gallons( little less with baffles) ive calculated about a 15g overflow in a power out or pump off situation and my sump will have 30 gallons flowing through it so there should be no water on the floor lol, to be tested before going fully operational

 

[DShrek]

Been a busy 2 weeks between holidays and trying to make some progress on the tank. I was in a slight rush to get water back in it as i didn't want to replace the silicone and did not want it to dry up.
After some more research i decided i may have over designed the sump and i removed a few baffles but did a few other cool things

What you can see is that i removed two baffles between chamber 2 and 3 and added what a call a "speed" ledge and aswell removed a baffle between chamber 4 and 5 and slanted the one that was left.

After a whole bunch of phone calls i was able to locate 7 1" bulkheads and a single 1.5" bulkhead from a couple lfs, so off to the local hardware store(Rona) to collect a large list of piping. Being this the first time i plumbed a tank and first time playing with pvc i went a little overboard and spent too much but it turned out so nice! Even after final glue.

I did not care for the blue/green/white color, i found it made it look tacky and sorta 90's so i went and bought some semi gloss paint and had at it. i think the color really draws your eye to the tank and makes the stand blend out of sight.

The tank is filled with freshwater from my well and only running the return pump with just some filter floss to strain out any dust and leftover bits from building.

 

[DShrek]

Been slow going but i managed to trade pretty much all my mushrooms for about 100lbs of rock from the lfs and then bought some more off a local forum. The stuff i bought came with some acroproa and montipora but also came with acro eating flatworms. My plan of attack is to frag some small pieces off and put them in the 55gallon that is now empty, use it as like a treatment tank. after some researching and a trip to the lfs i settled on a damsel as the swimming attack i already had a peppermint shrimp so he is attacking from the ground with my 3 hermit crabs and i will be scraping the eggs off manually.
here is the rock i picked up from the lfs and a few pieces i had laying around. im liking the 3 island look, i want to change up the left island to be taller and have more dimension. This is the island that will be visible from 3 sides so id like to have it almost have 3 caves, one on each side but they all meet in the middle. The island on the furthest right will probably be one more layer higher and i would like to also add some dimension.

The rock i acquired off a local forum. All the rock will be going for a 2-3 month cure so im not concerned about leftover coral/algae or pests as they all will be dealt with before the main tank is started up.

As you can see i went at the rock with a hammer and chisel harvesting as much coral as I could without losing too much rock. You may also notice that to aid in aquascaping i laid out cardboard and drew my tank dimensions amd where outputs and overflows are. this helps me visualize coral placement and ensure no dead spots as i make a visually appealing scape

Later today im going to collect some more shelf pieces and a pump for my skimmer! im getting really excited, its gunna be hard to wait for the cure, im just waiting on the new rocks i have to dry out so i can scrub them and rinse them before starting the cure hopefully next week.

 

[TinyChocobo]

Brilliant idea on the cardboard/layout. Looking forward to seeing this come together . Any pics of the corals you got with the rocks?

 

[DShrek]

i havent practiced taking pics of corals much but heres a couple quick shots. also if you happen to know what any of them are by name thatd be great too! lol

 

[RELLIK-REEF]

Nice build. Looking forward to seeing it finished. [emoji106]
Happy reefing