SaltyRoo's 210gal Home Office Journey

[SaltyRoo]

SaltyRoo's 210gal Home Office Journey

What better way to introduce myself and have my first official post here on Reef2Reef than to start a new build/journal for my new addition to the home office.

My hope with this is to document my build and get suggestions along the way. And with any luck, some new comer like myself can pickup a few ideas.

As of December 25, 2019 the tank was filled with saltwater. At the time of this post the tank is going through the cycle.

So lets use these next few posts to get everyone up to speed.

Tank
72" x 30" x 24" glass aquarium but by Coast to Coast Custom Aquariums.
Euro-braced with external overflow plumbed for bean animal style overflow.
Starphire glass on front and both sides.
Nothing out of the ordinary here, but so far I have been very pleased with the tank.

 

[CasaReefer]

Hey Salty... Welcome to R2R.... Nice way to make an entrance.... I am excited to follow along and watch everything come together.. Please keep us posted.... and the crowd screams..... New Tank... New Tank.... New Tank...

 

[SaltyRoo]

Getting Caught up #2

Stand/Cabinetry

• The structural portion is made up of standard 2x material.
• All 2x's we planned and jointed to ensure known, consistent dimensions. Really very simple following plenty of well documented designs on this and other forums.
• The stand was then skinned and bookshelves built on either end.
• The cabinetry is paint grade but ensured all solid wood was used. MDF near moisture made me nervous.
• As seen in the pictures below, I was very limited on the size of the stand and aquarium. Marking those turns into the office were interesting. Let just say we got lucky it all fit.

 

[Dragon52]

 

[TexAgReefer]

SaltyRoo's 210gal Home Office Journey

What better way to introduce myself and have my first official post here on Reef2Reef than to start a new build/journal for my new addition to the home office.

My hope with this is to document my build and get suggestions along the way. And with any luck, some new comer like myself can pickup a few ideas.

As of December 25, 2019 the tank was filled with saltwater. At the time of this post the tank is going through the cycle.

So lets use these next few posts to get everyone up to speed.

Tank
72" x 30" x 24" glass aquarium but by Coast to Coast Custom Aquariums.
Euro-braced with external overflow plumbed for bean animal style overflow.
Starphire glass on front and both sides.
Nothing out of the ordinary here, but so far I have been very pleased with the tank.

Exact dimensions I’m going to get! Although I’m going for rimless. Looking forward to following along!

 

[SaltyRoo]

Getting Caught Up #3


Equipment (fun stuff)

• Sump/Refugium
  • Custom built by Advanced Acrylics in order to fit under the aquarium, this was a challenge without removing the center brace.
  • Sump is 34" x 24" x 15"
  • Refugium is 16" x 24" x 20"

• Skimmer
  • Reef Octopus Regal 250
• Return Pump
  • Two (2) Varios 6 Returns
  • 1-Right Side display return and feed to refugium
  • 1-Left side return and future uv sterilizer/manifold
  • Right now they can both run at 100% and the overflows keep up, but I keep them both about 50% for now.
  • Both controlled by Apex, for now. At some point I may put one on a dedicated circuit to prevent losing both if I lose the Apex.
• Lighting
  • Two (2) Radion XR30 Pro Gen 4
  • Both controlled by Apex
  • I believe a 3rd is in the future
• Controller
  • Apex and love it so far. The Radions synced right up, so did the Vortechs.
  • PH, Temp, ORP, and Conductivity are the probes I am running.
  • I am going to put some high water float switches and auto top off stuff.
  • Just scratching the surface on this so any input on what you like to use your Apex for is much appreciated.
• Flow
  • Two (2) Vortech MP40
  • Placed on opposite ends of the tank, just getting to know all of the options.

 

[CasaReefer]

Wow.... First Class Stuff..... Nice Kitchen by the way... have you had a tank before...

 

[SaltyRoo]

Getting Caught Up #4

Current/Future

• Currently the tank is salty and in the cycle, which brings me to my first speed bump.
  • I am recording ZERO ammonia, even did the dead shrimp thing.
  • My rock did cycle for the past few months in a remote Rubbermaid so hopefully the cycle is complete, we shall see.
• I did not discuss my quarantine process yet, because I don't know what it is. There are so many great threads on the many processes and some great articles for those opposed to it.
  • But I can say I am leaning towards quarantine and observe for fish.
  • I plan to dip and observe in quarantine for corals.

So to conclude getting caught up, I am doing my best to resist the urge to go buy a bunch of cool new fish and corals and trowing them in this new shiny fish tank.

Bad news is I work 5 minutes from a very nice LFS, I am not sure how long I can hold out.

Until next time, wish me luck!

 

[SaltyRoo]

Hey Salty... Welcome to R2R.... Nice way to make an entrance.... I am excited to follow along and watch everything come together.. Please keep us posted.... and the crowd screams..... New Tank... New Tank.... New Tank...

Thank you very much for the welcome.

 

[SaltyRoo]

Thanks for the welcome Dragon.

 

[SaltyRoo]

Exact dimensions I’m going to get! Although I’m going for rimless. Looking forward to following along!

Tex, I love the dimensions. You will not be disappointed.

And Geaux Tigers!

Sorry had to

 

[CasaReefer]

Looks AWESOME... Take it from me... I didn't think that QT'ing was worth my time... But after losing 1000 dollars in fish having to tear my tank down to catch the fish that hadn't died yet. Setting up a QT last minute and running the tank fish-less for 80 days... You will wish you would have QT'ed...It really sucked,,

 

[SaltyRoo]

Wow.... First Class Stuff..... Nice Kitchen by the way... have you had a tank before...

Thanks Casa, yes I have had a tank before. I had one about 8 years ago and when I moved after college I planned an upgrade and bought a 150gal.

Never set it up, moved again, sold it and bought this one.

But I must confess, I would sneak in the local reef stores and just walk around missing my tank.

 

[SaltyRoo]

Duly noted Casa. I agree on the quarantine. My plan is to dip and quarantine corals and quarantine and observe the fish.

I really don't plan to do the whole 72 day process to keep a completely sterile tank as I do not think I will be dedicated enough to not make a mistake. But I do plan to observe and medicate as needed prior to making their way into the DT.

Currently I am not experienced enough to have an educated opinion, so my plans may change as I do more research in the coming weeks.

Tank you for sharing your experience, I am certainly trying to avoid that situation.

How did things work out for your tank? Hopefully all is well.

 

[CasaReefer]

Thank You... Not trying to be scary or anything I just went though a lot and if I can at least make you think about it .. Then I feel like I am helping.. The fish I got to in time survived but to be honest I have not put anything new in my tank for months... Still kinda skittish. I was pretty traumatized over the whole thing..

 

[Zach W]

Welcome, and this is an awesome build!! Following for sure

 

[SaltyRoo]

Welcome, and this is an awesome build!! Following for sure

Thank you for the welcome Zach and glad you are following.

 

[SaltyRoo]

Small Update

Cabinet doors and shelves installed. Wow, the doors really quieted things down. Now to find some fans for the upper cabinet.

Trim still needs to be installed... soon I hope.

Got both lights mounted and connected to the apex. Currently running the on Coral Lab AB+ Lighting as a test, looks a little blue to me and really blue in the pictures.

I must say, the "shimmer" looks very artificial as seen in pictures (better in person, but not much). I will try a few other schemes and see if it gets better.

MP40's also online. Currently running them on pulse in anti-sync. I will be adjusting soon, if you have a favorite setting please share it, I will be happy to try it out.

Also, it is pretty clear I need to fix my returns. Currently I am running the returns pointed towards the front bottom of the tank, which is blasting a big bald spot in the sand. I have the correct plumbing coming Monday so will get that squared away.

When looking closely, you will see my returns come into the tank, then 90 up. This was done to keep from pulling to much water in the sump if power goes out. A more permanent fix is coming shortly with the new plumbing and loc-lines.

 

[SaltyRoo]

01/19/2020 Update

And we have new friends...

(2) Maroon Clowns
(1) Rose Bubble Tip Anenome

Unfrotunantly, no picture of the RBTA, it found a wonderful spot on the back side of the rocks.

Also, the skimmer finally seems to have settled down, the refugium is up and running, ATO online, and cooling fans installed.

• Kessil H380 for the fuge light
• To prevent overflow, a float switch is hooked up to Apex via breakout box which kills power to the feed pump.
• Tunze ATO (seemed to have the most and best reviews)
• 24v Fan was way to loud, hooked up 12v and it is whisper quiet, unfortunately the Apex doesn't have a 12v outlet that I can find so it runs 24x7 for now.
• Did some cleaning up on the equipment cabinet, wow that is a mess.

Side note, clearly I need to spend some time in the photography threads.

 

[SaltyRoo]

Sunday Update: 01/26/2020

1-Month Anniversary

• First water change today, roughly 10% water volume. Came out to be 25 gallons.
• Prior to the water change

NH3/NH4	PO4	N03	Ca	Alk	Mg
0.0	0.03	0	390	8	1,400

• Fish stocking list, any input is welcome.
  • (2) Maroon Clowns (already in tank)
  • (10) Blue Green Chromis
  • (1) Red Fin Lawnmower Blenny
  • (1) Fairy Wrasse and/or (1) 6-Line
  • (1) Yellow Belly Regal Tang
  • (1) Yellow Eye Kole Tang
  • (1) Desjardini Sailfin Tang
• I expect this stocking list to grow slightly as I would also like to add a few anthias if possible.
• Coral Stocking list
  • Currently I do not have a specified list, I plan on the tank become SPS dominate.
  • When the tank is 3-months old (so in 2 months), I plan to purchase a few corals and put into my observation tank, which still needs to be set up.
  • 1-Month with dips and observations and then in at the 4-month mark if all is going well.
  • This will be a small first order, if all goes well the next batch will be a little larger.
• I am currently considering the following equipment:
  • Carbon Reactor (already in the mail)
  • Kalk Reactor
    • I am not convinced on this just yet, but the plan is to use this until the demand exceeds the supply.
    • Plan to run inline with ATO.
  • Calcium Reactor
    • Will put online when Kalk no longer keeps up.
  • Currently researching the dosing pumps for when the need arises.