Taking the leap

[rynosaurus]

The time has come to start the tank of my dreams!! I finally have my 150gallon tank a blank canvas to create my very own reef.

I’m not new to reefs but this tank will be more than double the size of my last biggest tank.I’m going to do my best to keep the pictures coming showing all progress and ideas. Any and all advice or opinions is greatly appreciated. I will also most likely have a ton of questions so please bare with me!

First step is to reseal the tank and clean and repaint the stand, than on to aquascape.

 

[AcroNem]

Nice! I'll be the first to say I'll follow along. I think I see a Halide/T5 fixture so I think you're off to a great start. When I got my 150 some 4 or 5 years ago (I've been in this for 15) it was a mess. Someone wanted to trade me their 150 for a 55 I had because they wanted to downsize. Only issue is they were using it as freshwater, it wasn't drilled, and the stand was trashed and needed a lot of tlc. So this reminds me a lot of mine, it should be fun and I can't wait to see what you do with it

 

[rynosaurus]

Well you got the light fixture correct lol! I quickly found out how much power these things pull, plugged in all three and lights alone blew my breaker so there lies my first challenge because I’ll still need to power alllllll the other equipment without burning my house down.

 

[AcroNem]

I've had that with those fixtures before, wasn't able to turn on all the plugs at once or it would trip.

 

[rynosaurus]

As I plan out my build I’ve begun researching qt tanks. I myself have never had one but hearing horror stories of thousands of dollars in fish being lost sure sounds tough.

What exactly needs to be in a qt tank?
Do you leave the tank set up continuously or set it up only when needed?

I plan to convert my current 20g reef into the qt tank once all is transferred into my new tank.
Just looking for some quick advice or tips, thank you in advance! I’ll be continuing my studying.

 

[rynosaurus]

Making some progress on the tank today, I have resealed the tank and sanded the old paint off of the stand tomorrow I’ll be adding a little structural support to the stand and giving it a new paint job. Than I’ll have all sorts of questions about my water mixing station I’ll need to build!

 

[rynosaurus]

 

[rynosaurus]

Well my tank is slowly coming along. I finished up with reinforcing the stand and repainting, got the tank resealed, and stared installing all equipment.

Here is my first problem I definitely need help with. I’m getting my equipment install and started counting the plugs, I have almost 20 plugs already and I have minimum equipment in the tank so far. How do y’all do it? How am I supposed to run this much power through two outlets. My MH alone blew the fuse when I tested them.

If anyone is keeping up with my build I could use some ideas, and today I begin with aquascape!

 

[xaflatoonx]

You will HAVE to use at least two circuits.
Pull an extension from a different circuit or have an electrician get you an outlet from it. A room next to here. Upstairs. Anything.

I pulled my second outlet from a circuit that’s directly upstairs to where my tank sits.

 

[rynosaurus]

Man definitely an obstacles wasn’t counting on

 

[Captain Quint]

Nice light you are using.

 

[Captain Quint]

Well my tank is slowly coming along. I finished up with reinforcing the stand and repainting, got the tank resealed, and stared installing all equipment.

Here is my first problem I definitely need help with. I’m getting my equipment install and started counting the plugs, I have almost 20 plugs already and I have minimum equipment in the tank so far. How do y’all do it? How am I supposed to run this much power through two outlets. My MH alone blew the fuse when I tested them.

If anyone is keeping up with my build I could use some ideas, and today I begin with aquascape!

clean

 

[RobW]

I'm running a few new 20 amp circuits to my tank. At least one just for the lighting and two for the equipment. Don't want any overloading issues. Plus the tank will be wired to my standby generator.

 

[rynosaurus]

Can I get some real honest opinions, I’ll have more rock in the center but for the outer reefs will look like this I think. This is my fist draft and I gotta say im getting very excited.

 

[rynosaurus]

This is my plan so far. My mixing station ( or water treatment facility as I like to call it) will be in the garage hence the need for the chiller. At the fitting will be a water hose so I can easily pump water to my tank for water changes.

My other thought is how do I accurately take out 50-55 gallons for water changes without having to use buckets?

 

[rynosaurus]

Well everyone I know the anticipation has been killing y’all just as much as me, but my mixing station is done! Or as I like to call my (what the heck) water treatment facility.

Last night I also finished wiring up my tank. All I have left is to figure out my ATO and fill it up!

 

[rynosaurus]

almost there!

 

[cracker]

Looking good !

 

[rynosaurus]

Can I fill the tank than mix the salt in or should I mix it all before filling it?

 

[rynosaurus]

So it’s up and running!!! Although I’m very excited I’m also quite upset with the operation so far.
Problem 1:
The far left pipe that is supposed to flow the majority of the water flows none! I have no idea how this is even possible I can only assume it’s due to a vacuum in the pipe causing water flow to stop.
Problem 2
I copied the design for the sump from the previous owner even though I rebuilt it I should have redesigned it. The flow isn’t correct( level and position of the baffles are not proper) so I’ll have to redo that soon.
Problem 3
I made the mistake of buying two bags of “live sand” that is super fine! This sand is so fine that after almost 2 days my water is still cloudy. I’m assuming that this will clear out eventually but it’s just frustrating. Should have stuck to the bigger grains to prevent this.
But the great news is the tank is full and I’m extremely excited to add my fist fish!!