My 150ish gallon reef

[bobman]

Hoping to pick up the tank this sunday if all goes well. Its a acrylic 4' 150 gallon tank. I will be running a heavily modded ASM g5 (Modding to come soon). Lighting I am thinking of going with 2X250 watt halides with 2 Mars aqua leds and if I can fit it 2 T5. Not sure what size sump yet but most likely will be a forty breeder.

My plans as of right now (subject to change without notice lol)

Skimmer as stated is going to be a ASM G5 mainly because I picked it up really cheap. In my opinion the ASM is a decent skimmer but is way outdated so I will be upgrading it. First the skimmer will not fit under the stand so I will be doing the recirculating mod on both pumps to make it a external skimmer to sit out side the stand. I will be plumbing it to my overflow. Now since the tank has duel overflows I know it is next to impossible to get water level consistency if hooked to 1 of the overflows as in the reef tank we can not control how much water goes down each overflow and the water level in the skimmer will fluctuate. To combat this the tank has 2X1" overflows that I will plumb together into a 1.25" or 1.5" pipe so both overflows go to the skimmer. This should fix the issue and keep the water level consistent. Then I will be installing a bubble plate inside the skimmer. Then the pumps that came with the skimmer are shot and IMO the sedera 9000 pumps are just not very efficient pumps given whats out on the market. As of right now I am not sure what direction I will be going. I was thinking of getting some bubbleblasters and running those but then looking at my currently up and running lifereef I am starting to consider buying a couple venturi injector nozzles from lifereef this way I can run say duel mag 9.5s or what ever pump looks good. I like the idea of having the flexibility to run whatever pump I feel is fit for the job.

The tank is not coming with a stand but I already have a cabinet that will be able to hold the ank just fine and just needs so paint and a few mods to it. It does come with a canopy That has been hacked up to fit a 8Bulb T5 fixture. Thats not what I am planning to run but going to take the canopy as its free and might be easier (and cheaper) to mod the canopy to fit my lights rather than build one from scratch if not its not the first time I have built a canopy so should not be a problem.

The sump will be a simple design as the skimmer will be external the output of the skimmer will of course run to the sump. Not sure yet if I want to add a filter sock but either way sump will be just a large refugium some baffles and return pump. Simple and effective just the way I like it.

The return pump I have not picked out yet but it will have a manifold plumbed to it for reactors or what ever I decide to add at a later date. From all the tanks I have owned I have found when it comes to plumbing it is best to leave room for later upgrades now rather than hacking your plumbing to bits later.

Thats all I have for now if anyone has any opinions or comments feel free.

Oh and reef2reef keep my name in mind when giving away that return pump that would help solve one of my decisions I am going to have to make

 

[SaltyJD]

Sounds like you have a fun time ahead!

 

[bobman]

Didnt get as much done as I hoped to do this weekend but still got some things done. I built a stand for a 150 I was supposed to be getting from a local reefer but after deal with his dodging me I decided to go on craigslist and sure enough I found the same exact tank only glass with a stand canopy 40 breeder as a sump and lights. Only down side it is not drilled but thats a minor setback as I can drill it sometime soon.
Tank 4foot big and heavy

Stand could use some touchups but is overall in really nice shape

The what used to be a canopy (The guy that built it had no idea what he was doing and it did fare so well in transport so I will have to remake the canopy

The sump since I am making a external recirculating skimmer I am going to remove the first set of baffles as they will not be needed and that will give me more room for a refugium

 

[bobman]

I also got the skimmer close to complete the LFS didnt have enough uniseals to finish the mds to the ASM g5 But I did get a bubble plate made and installed



The bubble plate is 4" pvc with a 4" coupling with a plate on it I drilled 3 holes into the skimmer and into the bubble plate 2 are for the recirc pumps and the other will be plumbed to my overflows from the tank. then to the refuguim. I also spoke to lifereef and I will be ordering a couple venturi injectors fr the recirc pumps and using (most likely) mag 9.5 pumps instead of the old sedra 9000 pumps. This gives me more options for pumps other than the old inefficient sedras.

For the overflow I will be using the 1500 GPH kit from glassholes.com. The tank does have a sticker that says do not drill on the bottom but I am pretty sure I can drill the back as the glass is 1/2" thick. I think just like my old 75 that also has the same sticker it is for the bottom pane and not the rest of the tank.

 

[bobman]

Looking for opinions on lighting I am going with 3 marsaqua led fixtures but debating if I should get 2 X 250 watt mh as well. The tank is 30" deep so lighting at the sand bed will be an issue. However if would give me a chance to try some deepwater acros and such cool low light and non photosynthetic corals. So not sure if the mh will be needed.

 

[bobman]

Here is my idea on lighting I was doing some looking at the tank stand last night and I can fit 3 marsaqua LEDs and 2x250 watt mh in the canopy (or at least I think I can as of right now) here is a drawing of how I plan to install the lights MH will be toward the back of the tank with the marsaqua toward the front I think this will give me a decent amout of light for a 30" tank. Looking for opinions.

 

[bobman]

Well some more work done over the weekend

First after a trip to the lfs they hooked me up since the tank is not drilled I wanted to drill it so I got a bulkead and they hooked me up with a drill bit and plate to hold it


End result took a while to get through the glass it was a lot thicker than I originally thought


Since the ASM g5 will not fit under the stand I bought a plastic cabinet to hold it and also hold my electronics. Painted it black I think it came out pretty good.



Cant finish the skimmer till my venture from lifereef comes in should be in by the end of the week. I also decided to ditch the marsaqua lights and I ordered a 2X250 watt mh fixture with 4 t5s. Think it will work beter for the 30" depth I am working with. All that's left is a few pieces left to order and a beer party so some local rednecks can help me toss this thing on the stand . Then plumb it and its go time. I would say a couple weeks out. I also picked up more salt and 200lbs of sand. Things are moving right along cant wait. I also need new RODI filters before I fill this tank my other ones are getting a little old.

 

[revhtree]

Following!

 

[bobman]

Welcome Rev was starting to wonder if anyone was home lol

 

[bobman]

Well got a little done this weekend. Could not do a lot as I am waiting for parts to come in. I did get my injector and pump so I was able to attach it to my skimmer but cant do the suction side yet as I am waiting for my uniseals from aquacave. It was a tight fit especially when I plumb the other side but I should have enough room. I also got the tank on the stand and the canopy repaired. I noticed a few issues with the canopy so I will have to take it back off to make further repairs. I was going to have to take it back off to install the lights anyway. I did pick up the metal halides today on my way to work. So I will be installing them along with 3 mars aqua leds sometime this week.

Here is the skimmer in the cabinet


The tank (cant believe how small my 92 gallon looks next to it)


Cant start plumbing the tank till I tare down the 92 as that's where the cabinet for the skimmer is going in the corner. Taring down a tank and building one on the same weekend is going to my for a long weekend but should be worth it. So far my plan is to get a few brute trash cans to house the rocks in one and corals and fish in another while I tare the tank down. Hopefully be able to get them into their new home quickly. All that's is left is the uniseals and the ro membrane both will hopefully be in this week.

 

[bobman]

Finally got all my parts in over this last week. So I was able to finish my skimmer and man this thing is mean. I think the duel mag 9.5s I used for the recirculation mod are a little to much. The bubble plate I installed worked to slow down the turbulence but its still got quite a bit of turbulence. Think next time I might go with mag 7 pumps. Not sure yet. All in all I am very happy with the way it came out. I found a small leak in my plumbing on the skimmer so I will have to go back and fix that tonight after work. I can now say my skimmer holds more water tan some peoples tanks lol.

My Skimmer getting ready to go outside for its first test fire. It don't have the pumps hooked up with the injectors as I have to remove them before moving the skimmer so the weight of the pumps don't break the plumbing. Its did good but after I get the small leak fixed I will have to play to tune it down a little.



I managed to get my 92 corner tank taken down and the 150 in place. I used 120 lbs of sand and 140 lbs of rock. I went ahead and put my fish from the 92 and corals into the tank even though it is not full. It still might be a few days yet waiting on my rodi to full this bad boy up and I didn't want everything sitting in buckets in my living room for that long. Since I used dry rock and the rock from my 92 I do not expect much of a cycle if any and I have a few bottles of biospara just in case.



I did get my lights installed into my canopy but have not been able to run the wires over to my command center (cabinet lol) that will house the skimmer and electronics. I hope to be able to get to that tonight after work but there is still quite a bit left to do there. In fact I have not even started so all of it is left to do lol. Only thing that's done is the outlet already had a GFI I installed for the other tank lol. Cant wait to see whats coming next. Just waiting on the rodi is pain staking.

 

[bobman]

Have not updated lately. Not to much to update as I have been going out of town for a while. Tank is doing great no cycle. Skimmer had a few bugs but after ironing out some kinks it work perfectly. Fist issue with the skimmer was my riser tube on the outlet was not high enough so when I tried to raise the water level in the skimmer it overflowed out the riser tube so we raised it up (way up). Then after that every time I check the simmer its water level was low so I would adjust it only to find it overflowing (thank god for tile floors). After so serious searching I found that even with a 1.5 inch riser tube on the outlet of the skimmer on the other side of the gate valve it was creating a siphon. Then I would see the water was low adjust it but once the siphon broke the water level would rise and overflow the skimmer. I drilled a small hole just above the water level in the sump to break the siphon on that side of the gate valve and that solved that issue.

Here are some pics of it up and running
Almost filled


Little man was happy to finally see it done


Still have a few issues to work out. First is if I shut the recirc pumps off on the skimmer they both will spit a little water into the collection cup. Its not much water so no big deal but would like to stop it. Second is I cant fit a spiral bulb under the tank with the 40 breeder in there so I used a marsaqua LED. Starting to think it is a little to much light as the chetaio and turning a little white on top and drying out and cayno in the refugium is horrible. Going to look into another decent led or the like for the refugium along with a small power head for extra flow. That hopefully will take care of that. My next issue is I have to run the mars aquas on the display on full blast to get light to the sandbed which is creating that spotlight effect. I got a used 4 bulb t5 fixture to run so actinics but everytime it fires it trips the GFCI outlet. I have narrowed it down the it is the fixture itself. So I am now thinking of adding 2 more mars aqua leds in the canopy along with a brand new 2 bulb t5 fixture and just run 2 purple actinics. I think that should do it. I can turn the leds down a tad and the t5 should offset the spotlight especially if I offset the leds with the 2 that are already in there.

 

[bobman]

Have not made an update in a while. Tank was just getting to where I really liked it and then I had to move across town. Took the tank down and lost almost everything in the move. Not sure what happened but it was like a chain reaction everything was fine then boom gone. I went ahead and set the tank back up as fast as I could to get what livestock I had left out of the brute trash cans they were in. I also downgraded my skimmer as the g5 worked well but I felt the neck was a little to big or the bio load. So I found a box type skimmer and gutted it then swapped some parts from I had on the g5 over to this skimmer. I have no idea what kind of skimmer it is but man it is working very very well so far. Tanks been back up and running for about 3 weeks now. I had a major set back last week. I painted the walls in the dinning room where the tank is. Next morning the tank water looked like someone dumped milk in it. the next day my sons glo fish tank also clouded up. The only thing these 2 tanks have in common is the rodi source water. The glo fish tank was on the other side of the house. After checking the rodi all checked out ok. My only guess must be voc's in the paint. The fumes were pretty strong. Didnt think it would travel across the house. Anyway tossed in a carbon reactor and aggressive skimming and lights out a few days later things are getting back to normal again. Not perfect yet but I tink I can turn the lights back on tomorrow. No losses though so thats a good thing. Not sure I could handle any more deaths. It was heart breaking and the tank is pretty bare. All my fish survived the crash though. so here are a few pics.

My poor tank a couple days after painting the house.



My skimmer loved the bloom in the tank lol



Tank last night (just turned the light on for the pic