Techie's in-wall 210g Build

[Techie_]

Hey all!

I just posted another thread over in the equipment advice forums to get the ball rolling on my research for equipment, but I'd thought I would post here too as a place to document the build.

My journey with reefing began about 10 years ago, I started with a 55g, then quickly moved to a 90g, and shortly after that went to college and had someone break it down and take it. As corny as it is, I had a mixed reef shaped hole in my heart and never found the time (or money) to get back into the hobby. Now as my life is getting more predictable, less hectic and actually owning a home large enough to have the tank I want, I've decided to pull the trigger. I thought I wanted to do a 10ft tank, looked at the cost and decided that an 8ft would suffice. However, a unique opportunity to inherit my uncles 210g tank popped up out of the blue and I quickly jumped on it and immediately began breaking down the tank and un-finishing some walls in my basement to prep for a fish room/closet.

As of right now, I've got all of his rock into 3 brute trashcans and a holding tank set up with his tang and some of the LPS I wanted to keep from the breakdown. I've amassed about $1500 in LFS credit from the breakdown process (including him just giving me his leftovers), which based on their selection, is probably best spent on equipment, hence the other thread. I took stock of all the used equipment that I intend to keep and have created a bin of working stuff which I will take down to the LFS for even more credit. Currently I am preparing a space in my basement to build a fish closet/room so the tank and blend much better into my office. Tore it all back to concrete and now preparing to plan out the dedicated electrical work.

My goals for this build are based on my previous experience with trying to do the best I could at the time. This time around I intend to be more methodical and take things slowly.

UPDATED EQUIPMENT LIST & STOCK LIST:

​

Return Pump: Vectra L1 w/L2 Controller & Simplicity 3200DC​

Powerheads: Jebao MCP-180 Gyre & 2x MP40s​

Lighting: 3x Noopsyche K7 v3 (III)​

Skimmer: Bubble Magus 9+​

Heaters: 1x Hygger 1000W Quartz Heater w/ ext. controller​

Overflow: @ModularMarine 3000gph ext. overflow​

​

Livestock:

• 1 Yellow-eyed Kole Tang
• 1 Hippo Tang
• 3 Green Reef Chromis
• 2 ORA Black Snowflake clowns
• 1 Royal Gramma
• 1 Diamond Watchman Goby
• 1 Tiger Pistol shrimp
• 1 Yellow Tang
• 1 Purple Tang
• 1 Scopas Tang
• 1 Six Line Wrasse

Started a clean up crew with currently consists of the following:

• 20 hermit crabs
• 10 margarita snails
• 10 nassarius snails
• 5 trochus snails
• 2 pincushion urchins

​

​

 

[smitten with ocean life]

sounds interesting! looking forward to seeing the progress!

 

[ReefTankENG]

I replied to you other thread about flow. Reading this, my tank may be more similar to you plans than I thought. I built mine out into my wall. My tank has been going for 6 months, hopefully things continue to go well. The roller mats instead of filter socks is a must for me. I have a trident sump. After adding tangs and seeing ich start to show up I added a UV sterilizer - that keeps the ich in control and haven’t had any issues since is got to work. I have a 15 gallon tank for RODI and 35 gallon for saltwater make-up. I do water changes with the Apex DOS (about 3 gallons a night). To make that work I have a sink and drain line next to the tank. It took me about a year to build the stand, knock down the wall, install the sink and plumbing and get all the cabinets built. It has been fun! Still not quite done though

 

[Techie_]

I replied to you other thread about flow. Reading this, my tank may be more similar to you plans than I thought. I built mine out into my wall. My tank has been going for 6 months, hopefully things continue to go well. The roller mats instead of filter socks is a must for me. I have a trident sump. After adding tangs and seeing ich start to show up I added a UV sterilizer - that keeps the ich in control and haven’t had any issues since is got to work. I have a 15 gallon tank for RODI and 35 gallon for saltwater make-up. I do water changes with the Apex DOS (about 3 gallons a night). To make that work I have a sink and drain line next to the tank. It took me about a year to build the stand, knock down the wall, install the sink and plumbing and get all the cabinets built. It has been fun! Still not quite done though

Sounds like it! Do you just run the two MP40s on the left side or am I missing something? Seems like the end of the tank could be a deadspot.

E: Duh, the Tunze on the other end... I'll probably use the Gyres along the top and MP40s on the back or something similar.

E2: I really liked the way @Bruttall s tank looked with the gyres on the end and the MP40s on the back. My tank is 18 inch shorter. @Brutall, what are you running your pumps at?

 

[Techie_]

Update! Ripped all the plumbing out and was able to safely remove the frame on the front side and cut out some drywall to pull it out, tank was installed here before the basement was finished. Moving it tomorrow morning.

 

[Techie_]

Update!

Tank is here! Couple of things, the tank does in fact need to be resealed and needs a cleaning. I went ahead and scraped a section with a razor to see how I could get it but I think I'm just going to get some barkeeper's friend to prevent myself from scratching the glass.

 

[Techie_]

Update! Got it all cleaned up and ordered 200 lbs of Marco rock from the LFS along with 50 of base rock. Gonna start scraping this silicone off.

 

[cilyjr]

Let me comment on your lighting choices. The Hydra 32hd and the reefi Uno 2.1s are simply not in the same class. It's like comparing a Toyota Tacoma to my Ford super duty. I'm not saying either choice is right or wrong for you. They are simply different by an order of magnitude.

When I set up my 320 I was running eight hydra32 HDs. At full blast. They sounded like a drone strike in my living room and I was getting about 200 par just above the sand. I switched to six reefi Uno 2.1 about 7 months ago. I am running them at about 180 w (300 is max) they are completely silent and I am getting about 450 par at the same levels.

My tank is fatter than yours so that may make a difference (6ftx3ftx2.5ft) I use 4x mp 40s on the back wall and 2x jebao gyres for cross flow.
2x mp 40s in the upper left and rt conners and about 2/3s down on either side of my center overflow.

If you are going to do this In-wall, I would highly recommend allowing some sort of access from the front. My old 180 was built into the wall and when I did it, somebody gave me that piece of advice that was very helpful. If you do not have frontal access, you're always trying to guess at where you're putting stuff as you are reaching over the back and over all your rock not to mention cleaning.

 

[Techie_]

Let me comment on your lighting choices. The Hydra 32hd and the reefi Uno 2.1s are simply not in the same class. It's like comparing a Toyota Tacoma to my Ford super duty. I'm not saying either choice is right or wrong for you. They are simply different by an order of magnitude.

When I set up my 320 I was running eight hydra32 HDs. At full blast. They sounded like a drone strike in my living room and I was getting about 200 par just above the sand. I switched to six reefi Uno 2.1 about 7 months ago. I am running them at about 180 w (300 is max) they are completely silent and I am getting about 450 par at the same levels.

My tank is fatter than yours so that may make a difference (6ftx3ftx2.5ft) I use 4x mp 40s on the back wall and 2x jebao gyres for cross flow.
2x mp 40s in the upper left and rt conners and about 2/3s down on either side of my center overflow.

If you are going to do this In-wall, I would highly recommend allowing some sort of access from the front. My old 180 was built into the wall and when I did it, somebody gave me that piece of advice that was very helpful. If you do not have frontal access, you're always trying to guess at where you're putting stuff as you are reaching over the back and over all your rock not to mention cleaning.

Thanks a ton. I ended up ordering all my rock from the LFS instead of getting lighting from them. I think I'm going to go with 3 reefi unos because of the top bracing and supplement as needed.

A drone strike in the living room, LOL.

 

[cilyjr]

Thanks a ton. I ended up ordering all my rock from the LFS instead of getting lighting from them. I think I'm going to go with 3 reefi unos because of the top bracing and supplement as needed.

A drone strike in the living room, LOL.

Hit up Daniel from reefi. He is a small business. He will talk you through what you need.

He's an honest broker he could have easily sold me 8 but assured me 6 would be fine. He chose honesty over an extra grand. That's rare.

 

[Techie_]

Hit up Daniel from reefi. He is a small business. He will talk you through what you need.

He's an honest broker he could have easily sold me 8 but assured me 6 would be fine. He chose honesty over an extra grand. That's rare.

Sounds great, I will reach out to him as well. You may not know the answer but I'm seeing used Orphek Compacts coming up for sale for around the price of the Reefis, would those be better bang for buck?

 

[cilyjr]

Sounds great, I will reach out to him as well. You may not know the answer but I'm seeing used Orphek Compacts coming up for sale for around the price of the Reefis, would those be better bang for buck?

Maybe, I don't know. My only experience with them has been pretty negative. I helped a buddy set them up but that was in 2015. Everything was a problem. I just texted him to find out why he got rid of them pretty quickly. He said the operating system was terrible. I don't know what it's like now.

I personally never used them.

 

[cilyjr]

Update! Got it all cleaned up and ordered 200 lbs of Marco rock from the LFS along with 50 of base rock. Gonna start scraping this silicone off.

Are you scraping it completely and taking it apart then rebuilding?

If so consider replacing the center braces with clear.

 

[Techie_]

Are you scraping it completely and taking it apart then rebuilding?

If so consider replacing the center braces with clear.

Was following the King of DIY tutorial on YouTube, I basically read that its gospel as far as tutorials for this sort of things goes. I went ahead and cleaned up what I took off yesterday and I'm yet to wipe the seams down with acetone (taking a break as I type this), so far, I'm quite happy with what I've achieved as far as seam cleanliness goes. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to do a complete rebuild, as much as I'd want to, the tank weighs a good 350lbs and I'm one guy with no help.

One thing I did find rather interesting is that the silicone in the corners at the top, where the black frame meets the glass was short a couple millimeters from the frame in all 4 corners. I checked another glass tank I have sitting around, and it goes all the way up. So, I'm not entirely sure what's going on with that. I was planning on just taking the new silicone all the way to the top of the corners.

Right now, I think this tank is probably pushing 30 years old, you think I could get clear bracing for the top? If so, where?

Maybe, I don't know. My only experience with them has been pretty negative. I helped a buddy set them up but that was in 2015. Everything was a problem. I just texted him to find out why he got rid of them pretty quickly. He said the operating system was terrible. I don't know what it's like now.

I personally never used them.

I won't bother with them then, considering most popular results when googling Orphek besides how great they look, is how channels tend to burn out.

 

[cilyjr]

Right now, I think this tank is probably pushing 30 years old, you think I could get clear bracing for the top? If so, where?

No,
You would need to cut them out and replace them with clear acrylic.

As you're just resealing, it would be more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Techie_]

Update!

Got the silicone on with some help, had one guy putting it down and one person following along with a 3D printed tool to get us a nice finish. I would have done this part differently because I wasn't smooth enough with it, you need constant motion if your tool is as ridged as mine was or you'll get a little but of roughness.

We were able to get good contact all the way around, I went ahead and doubled the factory seam from 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Probably a little thick but I wanted to make sure I was on some virgin glass just in case I missed a spot with my 4 too many alcohol wipe down and razor scrapings. Enough chit chat, here are some photos.

I've got some clean up to do after it finished curing but I'm confident that the seal is good.

PSA: Do not use orange frog tape, that stuff is WAY too sticky and difficult to take up, that's why some of the edge are ugly & the residue on the glass.

 

[Techie_]

Update! She holds water!

Had to wait a bit to get some bulkheads because the LFS and BRS didn't have all the sizes I needed for my sump or the tank. Finally got my hands on them. The sump has a jagged hole on one of the bulkhead openings that I think I will end up putting a patch over and using the Vectra L1 I picked up used, submerged. Other than that, everything is good to go!

Up next I will be getting an overflow box ordered and drilled.

 

[Techie_]

Update! Been pretty busy the last few weeks, wife lost her job so progress will be slowing pretty significantly as the extra money isn't as abundant until she finds a new gig. I also had to get out to Germany for a couple of weeks for work.

I've begun framing out the fish closet and successfully drilled the holes for the Modular Marine overflow. It was super, SUPER easy, just go slow and steady.

Next step is to get some Marco rock, my LFS told me they aren't able to get their hands on any which seems kinda of suspicious since it's in stock everywhere else.

 

[Amstar]

Can’t wait to see it up and running. I have my 150 built into the wall with the disheiom behind it

Have your tried aquarium artisans (in Springdale Ohio) for macro rock? That’s where I got my rock recently

 

[Techie_]

Can’t wait to see it up and running. I have my 150 built into the wall with the disheiom behind it

Have your tried aquarium artisans (in Springdale Ohio) for macro rock? That’s where I got my rock recently

Yes! I ended up getting mine there, all my credit is at A&E in Mt. Healthy. Both are 10 minutes from my house. AA actually sells marco cheaper than BRS. I went and picked up some foundation rock because they were running low on it.