"Wally's World" 180.5 Upgrade

[WallyTime7]

<re-posting to create a BUILD thread> Sorry for the duplicate

Hi friends! Creating a build thread. I currently have a 9 month Reefer G1 9 month old RedSea. It's on our middle floor and somehow talked the wife into an upgrade. Bought a WB 180.5 and will be going into the basement. Overall, I had one brown jelly episode with this tank for letting my params get out of wack, it was my fault. But it's been overall really well taken with algae in the display tank. I run an AI Fuge in the sump and does a good job with nuisance algae.
The plan is to close this tank down 2 months after I get sand in the new tank going. The live rock transfer in this should be more than enough to jump start and avoid a full cycle plan.
Current set-up:
RedSea 250
CaribSea liverock (dry) about 60 lbs worth
RedSea skimmer 300
Filter socks x 2
RedSea wavemaker 25 (enough flow for this tank)
fish:
1x Anthias Lyretail
1x Blue Hippo
2 x clown
1 x six line wrasse
1 x pintail wrasse
1 x scopas tang
All get along great thankfully

Things I want in the new tank - RedSea Reefmat 1200 to avoid sock changes on the 3/4th day all the time. Add another Wavemaker but larger version.
I have 6 weeks until I want sand in the new tank, so I'm going aquascape the new area and keep existing layout when I transfer. That'll be good for avoiding a cycle. That way, I'll cure and cycle the new scaped rock in a bin for a month just to kickstart bacteria biome ahead of time.

Here we go!!

 

[WallyTime7]

About 6 weeks until sand is in with the new tank (estimate), so starting to scape the 1/3 extra space. Bought MarcoRock (40lbs) and beginning to create some different features from my existing rock set-up.

 

[WallyTime7]

After about 5-6 hours of work on the MarcoRock, visited my LFS. He didn't have the best things to say about MarcoRock and said he's seen tanks have more stability issues than non. So I went back to CaribSea dry rock which was on my old tank and had success with.

Purchased four arches, one foundation, 1 steel rod to hold it all together and a couple scrap pieces. This is completed after 8 total hours of gluing, waiting, gluing waiting.

 

[John Bolden]

Nice, It looks good

 

[WallyTime7]

Current status as of 12/16/22 Friday.
I'm not worried about the Waterbox cycling with bringing my old rock for the transition, but I want to make it even easier. So I started to cycle my new build with a bottle of FritzTurbo in a 20 gallon drum. Dosed 4ml of ammonia as well. Turned the heater higher for faster growth at 83 degrees.

Going to wait until Ammonia is zero, dose one more time and add occasional food for the next month.
Between this and my old rock, going to jump start the biome hopefully.

 

[Shunopoli]

I have your same old tank ( wish I went bigger) but surprised you only have 1 wavemaker in there. I have two icecaps 2k in mine. You will love the reefmat. I installed mine about a week ago still trying to figure it out, but it's working and the fact you don't have to change socks is nice. Also, now I don't get the sound from the red sea when my socks get full cause it's constant.

 

[Shunopoli]

Are you going to keep your old red sea tan or sell it. Just curious

 

[WallyTime7]

I have your same old tank ( wish I went bigger) but surprised you only have 1 wavemaker in there. I have two icecaps 2k in mine. You will love the reefmat. I installed mine about a week ago still trying to figure it out, but it's working and the fact you don't have to change socks is nice. Also, now I don't get the sound from the red sea when my socks get full cause it's constant.

Yeah the 1 wavemaker at 60% seems to push it around enough, no flow problem at all. I'll probably get the larger version on the other side and leave that be at first on the new tank.

How often do you replace the reefmat cartridge? Heard the 1200 is the way to go for getting the extra 2-3 days worth of length.

not sure yet - I'm not keeping it so plan on selling it at some point. Wife would kill me if I kept it

 

[Shunopoli]

Yeah the 1 wavemaker at 60% seems to push it around enough, no flow problem at all. I'll probably get the larger version on the other side and leave that be at first on the new tank.

How often do you replace the reefmat cartridge? Heard the 1200 is the way to go for getting the extra 2-3 days worth of length.

not sure yet - I'm not keeping it so plan on selling it at some point. Wife would kill me if I kept it

I got the reefmat 500 so might be different. My numbers are off cause the first day I was messing with it and advanced the role manually, but it's saying my daily average is 0.7 inch. At this rate it will last me a year. Granted I only have 3 fish right now so a small bioload. I thought it would advance faster than that, but who knows

 

[WallyTime7]

I got the reefmat 500 so might be different. My numbers are off cause the first day I was messing with it and advanced the role manually, but it's saying my daily average is 0.7 inch. At this rate it will last me a year. Granted I only have 3 fish right now so a small bioload. I thought it would advance faster than that, but who knows

Pshh, that would be amazing. Even if it extends to two weeks that's a bonus. I think that's fair to consider though. How many fish I get will easily jump the matt intake - could get costly pretty quickly.

 

[Shunopoli]

Pshh, that would be amazing. Even if it extends to two weeks that's a bonus. I think that's fair to consider though. How many fish I get will easily jump the matt intake - could get costly pretty quickly.

So from what I read there is a break in period and you will use more at first, but the roll are so cheap I will pay for that convenience instead of changing out socks, along with a consistent sump level

 

[C4Rez]

I have the RM500 with my WB145.5; 4-5 months since starting the cycle. I’m at 17 fish now? silly me. Had an algae bloom that used up 2 rolls in 3 weeks during the ugly stage. Now I’m averaging 33inches/day; so at 1 roll/month, I couldn’t be happier.

 

[WallyTime7]

Tank came in a few days ago!
spent the last two days putting it all together.
leveling on carpet wasn’t easy but I locked it down perfectly.
Suction cups are my best friend. Probably took the display glass on and off 4 times to re-level on the carpet.
off work this week, going to put her all together!

 

[collins.jason.k]

Tank came in a few days ago!
spent the last two days putting it all together.
leveling on carpet wasn’t easy but I locked it down perfectly.
Suction cups are my best friend. Probably took the display glass on and off 4 times to re-level on the carpet.
off work this week, going to put her all together!

Just a quick question. Looks like your moving the tank in on a dolly, was it packed good enough that it felt ok going that route without the contents shifting around? I know the sump and ATO reservoir and miscellaneous items are packed inside the tank and it was a concern I was having with having to move my own in the near future.
Also, did it come up off the pallet reasonably easy? I have a 180.5 on order and most likely I'll be having to move from the street to inside the house the same way.

 

[WallyTime7]

Just a quick question. Looks like your moving the tank in on a dolly, was it packed good enough that it felt ok going that route without the contents shifting around? I know the sump and ATO reservoir and miscellaneous items are packed inside the tank and it was a concern I was having with having to move my own in the near future.
Also, did it come up off the pallet reasonably easy? I have a 180.5 on order and most likely I'll be having to move from the street to inside the house the same way.

Movers took out the sump before putting it on the dolly to avoid all shifting.
thankfully it was just the display tank

 

[WallyTime7]

Quick update - sand going in.
YES, I'm putting in the sand first, only because I'm mixing within the tank. Once mixed, I'll move the sand over for the rock to hit the glass.
Since I've been getting my right most rock piece in bacteria for the last 5 weeks, I didn't want to lose any progress, so I'm happy to make it a little murky again when I move it back, worth the wait.

Went with 3x G6 Radion Blues and M2 Eco return pump. Wanted the extra boost since I'll be using one manifold for a CW-100 Scrubber V2. That fits MUCH better than the 200 version and will still be able to strip nutrients and control when I want to.
I wanted higher sand volume so I did 8 bags (150ish pounds) Caribsea arig-grain

Going to get this filled and cycled starting tonight with heaters. Hope to get the rock in tomorrow. Then the final move in a month to 5 weeks from the existing tank

 

[WallyTime7]

Rock I've been filtering with bacteria in a tub for 5 weeks is in the tank.

Putting my 2x clowns from my 55 RS display in about 2 days when ammonia is 0. I put a small amount back in after the move to keep the bacteria fresh with one last mini-cycle.

I'll do lights off with these clowns for 3 more weeks, than the BIG MOVE second week in Feb.

 

[hans4811]

Good luck ! Following along as I may be doing the exact upgrade …rs250 to a 180.5. Curious how the live rock and corals will go and how stressful THATS gonna be ! Why ive been putting it off tbh….

 

[WallyTime7]

Good luck ! Following along as I may be doing the exact upgrade …rs250 to a 180.5. Curious how the live rock and corals will go and how stressful THATS gonna be ! Why ive been putting it off tbh….

Yeah it’ll be tough for sure. My levels are almost identical so water wise is should be ok.
light will be the biggest jump. I’ll probably lose some and have to move my higher up LPS to the bottom half.

 

[hans4811]

Wait…what…water levels will be same ? Aren’t you going from a 55g display (rs250) to a 130g display (180.5) ?

How are you handling the extra water for mixing ? Bigger Brute cans ? Curious as I’ve currently been using a 25 and 45g container.

You said Radions…XR30s ?