mhowe9's 180g upgrade

[mhowe9]

I currently in the process of upgrading from a 90 gal FOWLR (with one leather coral) to 180 gal mixed reef. The tank our stock 180 glass aquarium (72"x24"X25"). I have decided to build the stand and some of the base rock DIY.

The Plan:

Current situation:
I currently have 2 tanks the 90 gal FOWLR and a 55 gal Freshwater tank.

My plan is to move the upgrade the 90 gal to the 180 and the freshwater fish in the 55 to the 90. I then plan on using the 55 gal. as my sump.

Current 90 gal inhabitants:

1 Foxface
1 Regal Tang
1 Purple Tang
3 green chromis
2 clownfish
1 royal gramma
1 six-line wrasse
1 leather coral

Lighting Strategy:

I plan to use 3 250w Metal Halide retro kits in the canopy of my stand. I currently have 2 PC fixtures that I will use as my actinics.

Filtration/Sump:

I plan on running my sump with a DSB and protein skimmer. I also plan on using filter sock to filter the water before I gets to my skimmer. The sump will be last part of this project since I have to move the freshwater fish out of the 55 gal.


Equipment List

I will use as much of the equipment from the 90 that I can but here is the list of what I have and what I still need.

Here's the equipment that I have procured:
VorTech MP20 (will possibly add another at some point)
Heaters
Red Sea Berlin Skimmer (which will someday be upgraded)
Overflow box
Seio MP20 Powerhead

Still required
Metal Halide Retro kit
RODI Unit
Aragonite Sand
Materials for Sump and DSB


Any input and suggestions along the way are welcome. Thanks for reading

 

[mhowe9]

The Progress

DIY Stand

Initial construction

Stand Completed with and set up in basement.

The DIY Base Rock

I finally got around to making the DIY rock this weekend.

The formula is used was approx. 4 parts rock salt to 1 part portland cement type 1. So far I am pretty happy with the results. I am waiting for the batch that I made today to dry and then I will start the curing process. That should take approximately 4-6 weeks. Below are some pics.

 

[revhtree]

This is going to be a good build thread!

 

[mhowe9]

11/04/08 Update
Last weekend I was able to find some used 250w Metal Halide Lights and pick up a new RODI unit.

Today I was able to install the RODI unit and install the lights into my stand. I made the top of the stand open so that I could modify it once I decided on my lighting setup. I have also been able to paint the back of the tank black. I still need to do another coat.

The PH on the DIY rock is still extremely high. Unfortunately it was out of the range of my test kit. My kit only goes to 8.8.

Below are some latest pics

RODI Unit Installed

Lights installed in canopy of stand. (Still have to figure out what to do with my PC actinics.

 

[ahayes13]

looking good!

 

[mhowe9]

looking good!

Thanks,

Quite a bit of work to still do

 

[mhowe9]

11/16/08 Update

Here is an update on some of the progress over the last couple of weeks. I have painted the back of the tank black and have been slowly but surely filling it with RODI water. I think that I have a couple more days of filling. I also have 100 lbs of sand in the bottom to which I will add some of my live sand. The rest will go into the sump as part of my DSB. Tonight I installed the heaters and hooked up the Vortech. I ran the Vortech for a couple of minutes to check it out. Here is the tank as it is right now.

I am still curing the DIY Live Rock. The PH is still high, but it is feeling more porous and the water is looking a lot clearing than it has been. I am guessing that it has a couple of weeks to go.

As for the sump location/fish closet, there is an area underneath the stairs that is perfect. I should have a little room in there, if I ever wanted to upgrade. Here is a pic

Finally, I never did put a pic up of the 90 gallon

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, I should be able to start at least relocating the 90 gal. into the 180.

 

[mhowe9]

November 22nd - Moving Day

Over the past week I have been able to get the tank completely filled and add salt. Yesterday, all of the parameters are good so I was able to do the transfer from the 90 gal to the 180.

As an added bonus, the PH on the DIY rock is at 8.4 so I was able to add that as well.

The move itself went ok. All of the tank inhabitants are doing well. The sixline wrasse buried himself in the sand and I was barely able to get him out.

Here is what I still have to do:

1)Install the PC actinics in the canopy. I will probably use picture frame wire and attach them to the joist above the canopy.

2) Add bulb to one MH ballast. On order will be here on Monday or Tuesday.

3) Clean 90 gal and move freshwater fish into 90 gal.

4) Build sump from 55 gal.

Here are some pics.

Best Full Tank Shot. (I will post some better ones once I have the other bulb)

 

[mhowe9]

12/5/08 Update

The last couple of weeks since the tank has been set up has been kind of rough and frustrating. I have had three issues that I have had to deal with. I'll detail them below.

1) I ended up having a mini cycle and extremely high PH. I ended up removing the DIY live rock. I ending up purchasing about 100lbs The PH in the tank has stabilized and my test now are coming out good. However, I might have to look at raising m alk going forward.

2) Purple Tang with HLLE. Started soaking food in Selcon and am only giving algae strips with garlic. Looks to be improving slightly had been only treating for 5 days so far. I will keep an eye on his progress and make other adjustments as necessary.

3) Loss of Foxface and Regal Tang in Vortech. This really upset me. Went down stairs this morning and found both the Foxface and Regal Tang dead. Both were fine yesterday. The Regal Tang had a big white mark on his body. I later found a large broken off piece of alge strip wrapped around my vortech and sumissed that both fish had perished trying eat the algea on the vortech. I had the Foxface for about 2 years and the regal tang for 1.5 year.

With all of that being said, I did purchase a clean up crew today. Othe than that I am going to take it slow and not add any live stock until after Christmas.

I have decided to leave my freshwater fish in the 55 gal. and use the 90 gal as my sump. I have the acrylic sheet to make the baffles I just haven't started. I will post pics once completed.

Here is the latest full tank shot with the new live rock.

 

[rarelyseriousb]

sorry about your luck. Did the suction cup for the algae cup come lose?

 

[mhowe9]

sorry about your luck. Did the suction cup for the algae cup come lose?

Yes, the suction cup came loose. I am going to start using the PVC pipe with a rubberband. I am getting sick of them coming off. Hopefully, that will solve the problem, so that doesn't happen again.

 

[rarelyseriousb]

http://reef2reef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10105&highlight=magnetic+frag+rack

2nd post. It works for me.

 

[mhowe9]

http://reef2reef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10105&highlight=magnetic+frag+rack

2nd post. It works for me.

Thanks for the link. I will definately look into getting the magnetic algae clip

 

[rarelyseriousb]

sure. did you have the sponge on the vortex. just wondering as I plan on getting one.

 

[mhowe9]

sure. did you have the sponge on the vortex. just wondering as I plan on getting one.

I didn't at the time. I do now. That is part of what mad me mad to is that I could have prevented it, if I had the sponge.

 

[mhowe9]

12/13/08 Sump Build Complete

I was able to find some time this weekend to get the sump built. I used the old 90 gal. that I upgraded from. It was pretty cold cutting acrylic outside in Michigan in December. Below is a pic of the sump (not in final location). I put the skimmer and a pump in to show how it is going to be set up. I will have the DSB, cheato, and some live rock in the middle.

As for the rest of the tank. The Purple tang's HLLE is starting to slowly but surely starting to recede. Over the Christmas, I will finish plumbing in the sump and hooking up the auto top off system. At that point, I will slowly add some livestock and coral.

 

[mhowe9]

12/24/08 Update

I have had another set back in my tank setup. I attempting to move the sump. It broke. There is a large crack in the front glass. I had set it in the closet and it didn't fit. I tried to move it back into the area adjacent to the closet. In attempting to move it, it cracked. I know it was my own stupidity but I am still mad at myself.

Anyway, I had to decide what I was going to do to replace the sump. I went yesterday and looked for a replacement and this what I found.

I ended up getting this for $25. I am going to remove the bioballs and eggcrate.

The good thing is that I will be able to fit this into closet under the stairs. However, I had to incorporate a different design in my sump. The basic design is going to be the sump above that flows into a remote DSB (made out of a plastic garbage can) then into 30 gal (that I already had) macro algae grow out area and then to a return. Below is a sketch of my idea.

I will post pics once this is completed

Merry Christmas

 

[mhowe9]

12/26/08 Update

I have made some more progress on the sump room Here is the actual picture of the drawing that I made above. I was a little upset that I couldn't get the door closed still but I will live.

In my quest to spend all of my Christmas money and gift cards. I managed to cause myself a little problem. I knew at some point that I would upgrade the skimmer but I didn't think that it would be this soon. Here is what I found in the used section of the LFS. After some research I have identified this as a Precision Marine CV630.

Comparison shot of today's purchase v. the original Red Sea Berlin.

The problem that this presents me is that the current sump plan uses a submresable pump. The new skimmer requires an external pump (i.e. Iwaki, Little Giant). I don't have any experience with these so I will have to do some research to see how people set them up.

Finally, I did pick this little guy up. He seems to be doing ok so far. He and the purple tang have quarrelled some. Which I expected. Nothing too bad though.

 

[mhowe9]

12/31/08 Update

I have made some changes to my sump design since my last post. I decided to move everything out of the area behind the stairs and against the wall in the adjacent room. This will give me more room to work. I also decided to use just the wet/dry filter body as my sump.

I have everything plumbed in and leak tested. My cousin came over yesterday and was a great help in getting the overflow started and helping with plumbing everything. I owed him some beer afterward. I still need to fine tune the skimmer (I have the pump turned off in the picture below). I have trouble getting tuned in, I either have no water or it is pushing tons of water into the collection area. Below are some pics.

Total Sump

Remote DSB made from trashcan

For Christmas my wife gave me a gift certificate which I used to buy 2 Hydor Koralia 4 pumps which I set up on the top of the tank. These have really help with flow. Below is a top of tank pic.

Finally a full tank shot ( I need to work on these a little)

Happy New Year!!!

 

[mhowe9]

Here is the latest update. After a recent Aptasia outbreak, I did quite a bit of aquascaping. Below is a full tank shot. (Sorry for the algea)

Below are couple of fish pics as well.

I'll update this as I add livestock and corals