Through Wall 200 Gallon Construction Project

[Joe Glass Cages]

07/2024: Adding the side frames. Basic 2X4 assembly to create the outside cabinet look.
On this side I had to modify the 2X4 to account for the overflow.

Secured both sides in-place to the previously installed 3/4" plywood on the sides

Added 1/2" plywood on top to finish it off

Looking so good. Loving this build!!

 

[ReefTankENG]

07/2024: Hood Build: I debated on this one quite a bit. I was originally going to make multiple shaker door style pieces to create the hood because I was worried about weight and assembling something big with rails and styles. Also, I was concerned about hinge strength and capacity. Then someone told me about gas struts! You can get almost any size and capacity needed. That lead me to a "faux" shaker style. I made it with stiffened 1/2" plywood and MDF pieces to fake the look.
My fancy table saw set-up

Clamping on the stiffeners, adhered with gorilla glue. Took extra care to make sure it was flat.

Stiffening complete

Gluing on the MDF with wood glue for the "shaker" look

Ready to figure out how to install it

 

[ReefTankENG]

07/2024: Hood Install.
Calculation to size the struts and establish the connection locations.

I added these 2X4 spacer to clear the trim and use the struts. Also added a hole on one side for ventilation.

A bunch of hinges to hold the weight (this is the underside of the hood)

Test fit

Everything painted and re-installed

 

[Sam7]

Looking awesome so far.........Cant wait to see some life in that big tank

 

[JumboShrimp]

This is a VERY interesting project! Looking so beautiful.

 

[ReefTankENG]

Looking awesome so far.........Cant wait to see some life in that big tank

Thanks! life will be coming soon..

 

[smitten with ocean life]

looks fabulous! well done!

 

[ReefTankENG]

07/2024: Leak test. Before I did anything else crazy, I wanted to make sure the tank did not have any issues.
Starting the fill with just straight tap water.

Almost full, no leaks, time to drain and move on

 

[Sam7]

07/2024: Leak test. Before I did anything else crazy, I wanted to make sure the tank did not have any issues.
Starting the fill with just straight tap water.

Almost full, no leaks, time to drain and move on

Glad its leak free...looks great

 

[JumboShrimp]

Are you going to leak-test for at least a good 12-24 hours? And do you have the flow circulating through the pipes yet? Your house is quite nice-- I'd not be to quick to call it 'out of danger' with a shortened test.

 

[ReefTankENG]

Are you going to leak-test for at least a good 12-24 hours? And do you have the flow circulating through the pipes yet? Your house is quite nice-- I'd not be to quick to call it 'out of danger' with a shortened test.

Left it overnight and then siphoned it out with and 1/8” tube, which took another 12 hours. I didn’t have any plumping hooked up, just tested the tank

 

[ReefTankENG]

07/2024: Tank Plumbing: V3 Shadow Overflow, Bean Animal Set-up, ReefMat 1200 Fleece Roller, Protein Skimmer - Reef Oct Classic 200INT 8", Return Pump - Sicce SDC 9.0.
Painted black PVC pipe coming from overflow. Some supports in the back for RODI mount. I didn't trust the 1/2" plywood to hold all the weight without some help.

Overflow going into the reefmat. I "tee'ed" the main and secondary siphon together in the sump to enter the reefmat. The overflow siphon went straight into the sump.

Came out the return pump with a 1" line that split into two 1" soft lines going back into the tank.

The overall look at this point. On the return line I also have a 2-way valve in-line for easy maintenance and a check valve.

You can see the stand opening was sized specifically for easy sump installation.

 

[ReefTankENG]

08/2024: AquaScaping: I got 100 lbs of Reef Saver Dry Rock combined with the 50 lbs from my old tank (pukani) and several lbs of that real expensive ceramic bio-media for the sump. 5 bags of CaribSea Special Grade.
I bought several of the "flat" versions of the dry rock for a more stable base. Three islands was the target.

Installed in the tank from the dining room view

With the sand

 

[Fishy Guy]

Super clean build! I love how the built-ins hide everything away.

 

[ReefTankENG]

08/2025: Filling up with salt water: This took a few days. I kept the 5 stage RODI from my old system. I was going to upgrade to a 7 stage but did not have the space.
On of the best decisions I made was going with the rectangular open top containers from US Plastics. I don't recall seeing many of these in other reefer's systems. I was going to go with a cylindrical screw on top when I came across these. US Plastics has so many options. The removable lid makes it so easy for cleaning and maintenance. I have a 15 gallon on the left for top-off and a 35 gallon on the right for salt make-up.

RODI is set-up for a manual split. One going to make-up, one to top-off, one to the sink. Also have two VorTech MP40 on the one side of the tank when I have some water in it. The other power heads I will use are still in my other tank.

This is the set-up in the ATO. The float valve is only to prevent overflow - I am not using it to autofill. When the tank gets low enough (I will eventually add an optic sensor to tell me) I manually start the RODI to fill it, and then the float valve will shut it off, and then when I remember I will turn-off the RODI.

Starting the fill... 35 gallons at a time

All done, let the cycling begin

 

[Gumbies R Us]

08/2025: Filling up with salt water: This took a few days. I kept the 5 stage RODI from my old system. I was going to upgrade to a 7 stage but did not have the space.
On of the best decisions I made was going with the rectangular open top containers from US Plastics. I don't recall seeing many of these in other reefer's systems. I was going to go with a cylindrical screw on top when I came across these. US Plastics has so many options. The removable lid makes it so easy for cleaning and maintenance. I have a 15 gallon on the left for top-off and a 35 gallon on the right for salt make-up.

RODI is set-up for a manual split. One going to make-up, one to top-off, one to the sink. Also have two VorTech MP40 on the one side of the tank when I have some water in it. The other power heads I will use are still in my other tank.

This is the set-up in the ATO. The float valve is only to prevent overflow - I am not using it to autofill. When the tank gets low enough (I will eventually add an optic sensor to tell me) I manually start the RODI to fill it, and then the float valve will shut it off, and then when I remember I will turn-off the RODI.

Starting the fill... 35 gallons at a time

All done, let the cycling begin

Good luck with the cycle!

 

[JumboShrimp]

Appreciating the new photos.

 

[ReefTankENG]

08/2024: Lights Out Cycling. I did 3 weeks of lights out cycling. I used rocks from my old tank, Microbacter7, and some random stuff that came with a BRS order for free (aquavital bactosprint). I dosed randomly Fritz liquid ammonia, about 2 oz total and had a rotting shrimp in the sump. I never measured any nitrite level (or ammonia) and only towards the end did I pick up small amounts of nitrate . I did get this "snot" on all the rocks and in the sump. My LFS said it looks like too much bacteria build-up. I was going through about 200" of reef mat a day (normal now is 60)
The snot, not the best but you can see it stringing off

Look at the color in the protein skimmer. Looks like I created a "red tide". It actually stained the acrylic of the skimmer cup pink for a while.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Homemade Red Tide. Laughing with you-- not at you!

 

[Boosted2kSi]

I throughly enjoyed this thread. Thanks for taking the time to share.