TD2K and Protagonist's 225 gal Slowest Reef Tank Build in History

[TD2K]

Tested the ammonia last night and it was down to about 1.0, which is WAY better than the off the charts dark blue/green color like this time last week. Did another 30 gal water change, then tried to put the skimmer in. Plugged it in and the thing went totally nuts. so much foam it blew the top of the collection cup right off, couldn't drain fast enough. I let it go for a while, finally had to turn it off. Was afraid it would flood the whole garage if I let it go overnight.

I know you all talk of a "break in" period, but our little HOB Octopus 1000 we have on the 55 gal was just plug and play. This monster skimmer (Octopus 3000 INT) is a different animal apparently. I turned the red adjustment knob all the way on and all the way off, water still went everywhere. Will have to play with it more when I have more time to mess with it. Just glad I didn't plug it in for the first time inside the house. SHEESH!

Got our power heads on order, getting 2 MP40s. Will add a 3rd one later once we get things going. I think when they come in we can start the rock scaping and get water and sand in the tank.

Next up: lights. Leaning towards another DIY LED like we did for the 55, just way more lights and heatsinks.

 

[PAK]

very well thought out build. It looks great. what type of tank are thinking of making it. Mixed reef? LPS or SPS only?

 

[TD2K]

Thanks!!!!

Mixed reef, but mostly SPS. Gotta have a few LPS and softies in there though.

 

[TD2K]

Picked up our power heads last night. We'll eventually need to add a 3rd, but this will get us started.

 

[TD2K]

I was back and forth between the MP40s and something from Tunze. I'm trying to get as much as I can thru my LFS, and he said that he has contacted Tunze on several occasions trying to get set up with them and they will not respond. If they won't respond when he's trying to give them money, I was kinda afraid of what their customer service would be like if I had any problems. Maybe they don't think he's big enough, who knows (he just recently opened a new location, it's about 4x the size of his previous one). So I went with Ecotech.

 

[TD2K]

ammonia levels in the live rock have reached 0. YAY!!!!!!!!!

picked up our heaters yesterday. Going to order sand when my LFS guy gets back in town. Will probably go with the CaribSea Fiji Pink Aragalive sand, he has that in a display tank in his store and we really like it.

Getting closer to a decision on lights as well.

 

[TD2K]

Did a tap water leak test last night. Went well. Had to tighten up a couple of threaded connections, but there were no major floods so I'm a happy camper.

Sand will arrive at my LFS today. Rocks are cured and ready. Loc-Line is on order and should be here in a couple of days. Hopefully we can get this thing officially set up this weekend!

 

[cdrewferd]

Good progress. Can't wait to see rock in there.

 

[revhtree]

Sweet! Happy for you!

 

[_Alex_]

that is a awesome build!!! gotta ask where you got the sump from though??? that is sweet!!!

 

[TD2K]

the company I work for builds polypropylene water tanks for firetrucks, I do all the engineering and shop drawings for them. let's just say I abused my privileges and had one of our guys build it for me.

picked up our sand yesterday. my LFS guy also let us borrow a 200 gal water container to store and mix saltwater so we can add it right in once we get our rocks and sand in place. He ROCKS!!!!!!!!

looks like I have a busy (and very exciting) weekend ahead!

 

[TD2K]

Wrestled the 200 gal container into the dining room last night and started the RO/DI drip. Notice the hose running from under the kitchen sink over to the container. Hubby about had a fit. :bigsmile:

The RO is rated at 75 gal/day, so it should be nearly full by late Friday night or early Saturday morning. Then we can mix in salt, get the rocks & sand in place on Saturday, and get this thing wet!

 

[cdrewferd]

Sweet.

 

[creefer]

Very cool. My wife would completely crap her pants if I had a tank like that in the dining room, even if it's temporary.

 

[TD2K]

Very cool. My wife would completely crap her pants if I had a tank like that in the dining room, even if it's temporary.

I did it while he was at work. Once he got home, there was already about 4" of water in it.

 

[revhtree]

LOL! Well thought out! HA!

 

[creefer]

LOL! Well thought out! HA!

Agreed!

 

[TD2K]

Loc-Line arrived yesterday!

I put a "Y" connection on each of the overflows, facing towards center of the tank, put 1 of the outlets down the back of the tank to hopefully help with ditritus.

Each overflow looks like this:

 

[TD2K]

Still working on getting the balance just right. The drains are sucking air, gotta pick up a new cap today and drill a smaller hole. My LFS guys told me to drill a larger hole, but the larger I drilled the louder it got. Sounded like a kid slurping the last drops out of his big gulp.

If I turn the drains down to where they don't make noise, then I have to turn my pump side wayyy down (approx 50%) or I'll suck the sump dry. Will get the kinks worked out tonight and we'll start on the rockscaping tomorrow.

The 200 gal container is about half full this morning. Should be finished by late tonight or early tomorrow morning.

 

[TD2K]

OK so my pump is a ReeFlo Snapper Hybrid. It can be used as a Snapper at 2600 GPH or as a Dart at 4300 GPH. Right now I'm using it at the lower rate. With a tank my size (approx 280 gals of total water), will I need it at the higher rate? (This is of course after I get the drain noise issues solved and I'm able to open the drains all the way)