Jims 6 year 180 Build and still counting

[JimmyV]

Hi folks,
I started this build 6 years ago after breaking down a 90 gallon that I was darn successful at growing hair algae at, and after my misses said she wanted to make a den out of the spare bedroom. So I thought hey how about a nice big aquarium built in the wall , she agreed with one eyebrow raised.
so I set out to make it happen. So I found a reef ready 180 on craigslist went to look at it and grabbed it. It has a few scratches but can't notice them unless your really looking for them. Next step was to figure out the height to cut the wall, (34 inches from floor to bottom of tank) then build the stand.

I built it out of 2x6's and deck framing screws , really strong and sturdy. i used 1 inch pine planking for the skin . This is the den side , the stand is not painted yet due to the den is not finished yet . My Kids have not let me spend money on things like this lol. So once i built the stand and finish the wall in the dinning room

I decided to build a sump using a 40 gallon breeder

I made it 3 chambers .the left chamber is holds the CPR two pipe drain and 7 inch filtersock holder and my skimmer pump. The middle chamber holds my skimmer, I purchased a red sea c-skim 1800. Its been going strong for six years with know problems and pulls a load of skimmate every week. the only problem I have with it is it is to big to fit in the first chamber so I cant use the middle for a refugium, so I have some extra rock in there and a bio ball area that I used eggcrate to box in. The right chamber is my return chamber, in there I have a life guard quiet one 6000 return pump, That also has been going strong for six years with no problems , I recommend them. The 10 gallon tank next to sump is my ato vessile, witch i use a jbj ato unit . I had a hydor ato but that unit quit went through two of those, I don't recommend them. I have the brs dual gfo/carbon reactor plumbed inline with a ball valve for flow adjustment . I just use it for carbon never had much luck using gfo.
Now for lights I am using 3-165 watt black box led's from ebay right now I have them set at 50% Blues and 30% whites . I have the blues on for 8 hours turning off at 9pm and the whites on for 5 hours turning off at 7:30pm.

well To be continued.

 

[Ento-Reefer]

I think you did a great job on that!! The tank looks really nice.

 

[JimmyV]

I think you did a great job on that!! The tank looks really nice.

Thanks. It is taking a long time for sure.

 

[JimmyV]

another pic of the lights they are 11 inches off the water ,as you can see that's as high as they can go unless I make a special mount. At some point this spring I will be building a full canopy above the tank and hiding those lights, cords and wall.

Moving on to water circulation in tank, I am using two jebao rw 15's one on each side. I have had these for a few years now and not had any issues with them I have them set to random flow so they are constantly speeding up and slowing down at different flow rates . I am however contemplating on buying a maxspect gyre xf 250 with controller.
the one on the left side points up slightly to give good surface agitation . also giving good flow over my red monti cap

the one on the right is lower in tank and behind a rock flowing water to the side.

I will be painting both sides of tank black so I wont see that view.
for a heater I am using one ehiem 300 watt heater and holding steady at 77 degrees.
I have 140 Lbs Bahama Aragonite Sand.
75 lbs of Marco rock
85 lbs of fiji rock from previous tanks.
(Fish)
1-yellow tang
1- Regal tang
1- Male lyretail Antias
1-Tomato Clown
1= Three Spot Damsel
1-Yellow Tail Damsel
(CUC)
1- Coral Banded Shrimp.
3- Emerald Crabs
2 - Brittle Stars
2 -fuzzy chitons
various hermit crabs
Dwarf cerith snails,Florida cerith snails, nassarius vibex snails, nerite snails,
1- black long spine urchin
1- pin cushion urchin
(Corals)
1- Red Monti Cap
1-Duncan
1- Pocillopora
1- Green Branching Hammer
green star polyps on one lone rock set off from main formation.

My water quality is as follows.
PH-8.4
Salinity- 1,025
Calcium- 460 (api0
alkalinity-8.0 api ( I have a Hanna Checker but ran out of regents)
nitrate- o ppm api
phosphate- 0 ppm api
Magnesium- 1320 salifert

I had terrible nitrate levels a while ago, no matter what I did I couldn't get the 80 ppm level down so I started a vodka dosing regimen. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/
Which to my amazement worked like a charm. brought my 80ppm nitrate level down to o, took awhile but followed the directions to the letter,
so my daily maintenance dose is .5 ml of cheap vodka.
My phosphate was still high after 6 months of zero nitrate and the hair algae was still my issue so I did a deep cleaning of the sand and rocks. then dosed the tank with 60 drops phosphate RX, tested the phos after 48 hours was down to 2.5 so I dosed again with 20 drops , tested again after 48 hours and the phos was zero . So I continue to have stable water FINALLY!
30 gallon water change every two weeks with reef crystals salt does the trick for now until my coral load is higher . then I will have to start dosing but for now the water changes are fine.
well that's about it for now. I will update as I add animals or new equipment. I am on a roll and do not plan on stopping. this has been long road, at times very disappointing, But I am determined.

 

[JimmyV]

Here is a pic of my pocillapora

And my red cap

 

[User]

Figured I’d drop by and say hi. Nice build. Any updates.

After reading nothing but good reviews of the hydrofill, I’ve now read two threads that are disappointed in them. Dunning Kruger effect i guess. What made yours quit?

 

[JimmyV]

Figured I’d drop by and say hi. Nice build. Any updates.

After reading nothing but good reviews of the hydrofill, I’ve now read two threads that are disappointed in them. Dunning Kruger effect i guess. What made yours quit?

Thanks for stopping by. Not sure what made it quit, When it was working it worked fine . that was the second one that crapped out so i decided not to try again with that on. Once I purchased the jbj I ll never use another. works flawlessly and never skips a beat.
As far as my tank updates nothing to report at this time. I do have some coral growth on my hammer my duncan and my pocillopora

 

[JimmyV]

well its been about nine months since I posted anything about my tank so I figured I would do an update. Here are a few pics .
My green hammer has three new heads since I put it in.

My duncan has about 5 new heads .

my pocillopora with a bunch more fingers on it

The summer got really busy this year so I had a set back , my nitrate level spiked up to about 40 . It was my fault but being in construction, summers alway get super busy with a lot of hours. But I am finally getting them back to normal.

 

[JimmyV]

Along with my nitrate spike , my red monti has this brown algae on it I hope it clears up

 

[JimmyV]

New shot of tank