Wonkabar's Custom 220 SPS Build

[Wonkabar]

Good morning everyone,

I am starting a brand new build to upgrade from my measly 50g tank. Will be mostly SPS. So far I have ordered the below.

-Tank from Glass Cages. 72x26x26 eurobraced with a shadow overflow, and 2 1 inch returns. Low iron front and sides.
-Stand from Alufab. 3x3 extruded aluminum.
-Custom sump and ATO reservoir from Advanced Acrylics. Sump is 42x21x20. 14 inch space for Reefmat 1200, 13 inch space for OCTO Regal 200SSS 8" skimmer,4.5" space for ceramic media, 7.5" space for whatever pumps I decide. ( Currently thinking about varios, vectra, or maybe i bite the bullet and go Abyzz.)
-Chandler Rocks is going to do the scape for me.

I could really use some suggestions on the best lights you all would recommend.(thinking radion or Dalua)

Will be doing a built in 132" long next to the stand with a cutout in the side of the cabinets for room to expand equipment as well as space for my electronics. I plan to wrap the aluminum stand with doors to match the built in. Will be sealing up the windows the tank is going in front of. Going to have a custom hood built for the lights into the ceiling since the height is only 7 feet. That would put my lights approximately 18" above the top of the tank.

Have not ordered the below so any and all suggestions would be great.
-5 Radion 30s or Dalua Beast mode with an extra x4
-2 m2's, 2 varios 6, or Abyzz a200 and one of the other cheaper pumps
-Aqua UV 57 watt
-Avast or 2 little fishes Kalk stirrer
-4 mp 40's
-2 Maxspect Cloud 300 gyres

 

[JumboShrimp]

Can't wait until it arrives and gets watered-up!! :)

 

[twentyleagues]

Nice! looks like a great build.
I am going to through a curve ball your way on lights. Look into Reefi 2.1 for the price of 5 radions you could get 10 reefi. Some people would sign up just for that. Looking at your build I bet you dont care about that. 1 reefi 2.1 out preforms 1 radion every time. Smaller form better performance more watts.

 

[Wonkabar]

Nice! looks like a great build.
I am going to through a curve ball your way on lights. Look into Reefi 2.1 for the price of 5 radions you could get 10 reefi. Some people would sign up just for that. Looking at your build I bet you dont care about that. 1 reefi 2.1 out preforms 1 radion every time. Smaller form better performance more watts.

I do really like the reefi lights. I am over radion's. I am deciding now between x4's and the reefi's. Do you have them? If so how is the app?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along! I always love seeing custom tanks and what people end up doing with them!

 

[twentyleagues]

I do really like the reefi lights. I am over radion's. I am deciding now between x4's and the reefi's. Do you have them? If so how is the app?

I do. I have 1 2.0 on my 28x28x24" tank. I just received 3 more 2.1s for my 180g I am setting up. Its a web based set up wifi link log into the ip address. It works great lots of control 9 channels of color control, ramping, acclimation, moon light setting with phases. They have all the bells and whistles you could want. My biggest selling point was dealing with Daniel directly He has no issues answering questions or giving advise. Its nice to be able to support someone "local" instead of a big corporation especially when hes on point with customer service. It doesnt hurt that he has designed a very nice light at half the cost of some name brands and it typically blows the competition out of the water in par, spectrum and spread.

 

[Featherweight]

Very cool start. Following

 

[Wonkabar]

Update
-I decided to with 3 dalua x4’s (may end up adding another) and 2 ai grow blades to avoid the spotlight look and try to cut down on shadowing. ( may also add another grow and a glow here as corals grow out)
- went with two L2 pumps
- I got 2 mp60’s in addition to the 40s however I am thinking about tossing in two reef wave 45s instead. I currently have one and I am happy with how easy it is to clean and maintain.

Still undecided on calcium reactor or two part.

 

[Wonkabar]

Update
-Went with 5 of the illumagic x4s and will supplement with bars if I need to down the road.
-Changed up the cabinets from cheap home depot ones to the same custom cabinet manufacturer who did my kitchen. Rendering attached.
-Went with l2s for the returs
-Doing away with the ato reservoir and just going to run the line direct from my mixing station ro to save space under the tank for future growth.
-Ran all the water lines through my ceiling from my mixing station to where the stand will be.
-Cabinets getting delivered this week so will update with pics after they are installed.
-Decided to start with 2part till it gets annoying enough to add a calcium reactor.
-Using 2 reefwave 25s I had laying around to start until they release the new ones instead of the Maxspect. The red sea gyres are just tooooooo easy to clean lol.

 

[Wonkabar]

Update

-Got the cabinets built and stand is coming this week along with the countertop for the cabinets.
-Most of the mixing station is plumbed, just waiting on the L2 so I can plumb that in as well. Plumbing for water changes is ran through the ceiling to make changes easy and fast. Upgraded to a spectrapure max cap rodi system as well as an ro buddy booster pump to try and preserve resin.

Thinking about adding 2 orphek LED bars to suppliment the 5 Illumagic x4's so I can cut down on shadowing as much as possible. If anyone has any experience with this please let me know if you think the additional lights will be necessary.

 

[Featherweight]

Look into quanta helix instead of orphek. Really happy with my helix bars

 

[mjszos]

This is going to be absolutely fantastic. Following along!

 

[Wonkabar]

Look into quanta helix instead of orphek. Really happy with my helix bars

Thank you I will check them out today.

 

[Wonkabar]

Update
-Stand is put together. Got it from Alufab and this thing is built like a freaking tank. Very happy with it.

Countertop going on the cabinets and building the wrap for the tank as well as a box to hide the plumbing up to the ceiling tomorrow. Will post pics over the weekend once its done.

 

[skey44]

Following!

 

[Wonkabar]

Update, its starting to come together
-Wrapped the stand
(It is fully removable and each door is magnetized on its own so they can be taken off independently for easy maintenance.
-Made a 3 inch molding piece to hide the sandbed
-Built a box to hide the plumbing to the mixing station that is in the cieling.
-Put a countertop on the cabinets
-Hung the 5 X'4s from Dalua


Pulled the trigger on a tunze macroalgae reactor since I am not planning on using a traditional refugium.

 

[Wonkabar]

Look into quanta helix instead of orphek. Really happy with my helix bars

Did you go with the reef crest or the blue? Which one would you recommend?

 

[Thunderbirdsc]

Build looks great!

 

[Wonkabar]

Sad update day
I received my sump and it is too tall. Absolutely no way I will ever do maintenance with this amount of room. I am ordering a new one and going longer and lower. The old sump was 40x21x20 and I have it listed on marketplace hoping to help out someone. New one on order is 60x15x21 and should give me the headspace I need to work in the sump.

New York - Sumps - Dry Goods - SOLD - Brand New Advanced Acrylics custom sump. Never used!!! SOLD

Brand new sump I just purchased from advanced acrylics. This is too tall for my setup. It is a hybrid PVC/Acrylic. Paid $2500 for it and my loss is your gain. Upgraded dark grey pvc with red welds. 40” long X 20” high X 21” deep. Has a space for a roller mat which is 10.5”x14”. Skimmer...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Update, its starting to come together
-Wrapped the stand
(It is fully removable and each door is magnetized on its own so they can be taken off independently for easy maintenance.
-Made a 3 inch molding piece to hide the sandbed
-Built a box to hide the plumbing to the mixing station that is in the cieling.
-Put a countertop on the cabinets
-Hung the 5 X'4s from Dalua


Pulled the trigger on a tunze macroalgae reactor since I am not planning on using a traditional refugium.

Those lights look great!