Firehousereef440- Upgrade from 75g to 220g

[JJ440]

Over the past year I began collecting as much used gear as I could find. Even though a lot of our equipment is considered high end I couldn’t buy most of it new. I worked overtime, picked up a few odd jobs helping friends out and selling aquarium equipment I could restore and sell.

 

[JJ440]

Awesome Progress. It looks great.

Thank you!

 

[JJ440]

One thing I’m definitely grateful for is my crew donating funds and resources to help with my slight addiction to this project.

 

[ReefChef19]

Wow, is all I can say. You have an amazing build going on, that stand is looking great and I love the way he incorporatesiyour house logo. Great job so far, I look forward to watching the progress. Good luck and take care!

 

[JJ440]

A manifold was set up to feed a 40watt UV sterilizer, a calcium reactor, and a bio-pellet reactor I modified to act as a carbon reactor

 

[JJ440]

Wow, is all I can say. You have an amazing build going on, that stand is looking great and I love the way he incorporatesiyour house logo. Great job so far, I look forward to watching the progress. Good luck and take care!

Thank you!

 

[JJ440]

The sump is a used custom built sump that came along with the Reef Octopus skimmer as well as a lot of other very nice equipment. This literally saved thousands on the build. This was largely due to an Air Force Colonel and his wife who gave us an amazing deal on the gear because they were moving. I hope to be able to have them stop by and thank them once everything is in place.

 

[JJ440]

I decided to add led strip lights under the stand for work light. I also came across an ad on Facebook for a 65g aquarium that came with a calcium reactor, co2 tank, and a seaclear 30 gallon hexagon aquarium. I repurposed the seaclear to act as a Refugium. I drilled two 1-1/2” holes in the side and installed bulkheads that will let the water drain from the Refugium into the sump.

 

[Aqua fire/medic]

This build is epic!! I’m in for the ride. Great job fellas...... let me in on the secret. How do I get my station captain to buy in? [emoji848]

 

[JJ440]

This build is epic!! I’m in for the ride. Great job fellas...... let me in on the secret. How do I get my station captain to buy in? [emoji848]

We started of with a smaller fresh water tank. This is still set up in an office and pretty much takes care of itself

 

[JJ440]

Our Captain is one of the biggest supporters of the project. He is also the Captain in charge of the actual station which definitely works in our favor. The cool part about all of this is that the Captains across all three shifts are all supportive as well as many chiefs.

 

[JJ440]

Once I knew I was able to set up a calcium reactor I started looking for a way to control it. I looked through Facebook, Craigslist and eBay. I came across a discounted apex El on eBay and decided to go for it. I then patiently watched eBay for extension modules. I’m not even sure if anything actually works. Hoping for the best. One of the biggest challenges would now be figuring out how to mount and arrange all of the equipment. This is what I came up with.......

 

[JJ440]

The plan for the aquascape is at least 3 islands. I started glueing pieces of dry rock together to make the 3 unique structures. The dry rock was from another reef that was broken down a while back. I think it cost around $100 for 100-125lbs. Not bad for used dry rock. I bleached it for a week then let it soak in rodi water for another 2 weeks. Then I glued the pieces together and let them soak in saltwater for about a month and a half. I added a pump for circulation along with a heater. About 2-3 weeks into the saltwater soak I added bacteria and ammonia hopefully seeding the rock to speed up the cycle. The only problem with this so far is that some of the pieces have broken apart in the brute container.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Great build !!! Coming along nicely.. Following>>>

 

[JJ440]

I had an idea about the lighting because of the great deal we received from the Air Force Colonel. We received three gen 3 Radion pro lights. I have to give a huge shout out to @ecotech customer support! They were more than helpful and patient with my questions and concerns even though these were used lights. I know there are a lot of choices as far as this hobby is concerned but after my experience with their customer service I have become a huge fan. In my line of work how you treat and talk to others is paramount! I may have to save a little longer for there equipment but I’m ok with that after my experience!

The lights came with an rms system for a 6’ tank. The aquarium is a foot longer so I had to get creative. I also knew I wanted a canopy and decided to create a rack system to mount inside. Due to the length of the aquarium I was also concerned about shadowing and started searching for supplemental lighting. Originally I hoped to use diy t5 lighting. Then I stumbled across the Orphek or bars. After a little more overtime I was able to purchase 4- 35” or 90 bars. 2 blue sky and 2 uv.

 

[JJ440]

Great build !!! Coming along nicely.. Following>>>

Thank you!

 

[JJ440]

Another challenge was trying to build and set up everything at three different locations. Some of the used equipment was cleaned and modified at my place. The stand was built at my buddy Chip’s place. Then everything was put together at the firehouse. Let’s just say not everything fit perfectly. I came to Chip with the idea of a floating canopy. The only problem is that because of the firehouse location, I was unable to make any modifications to the building. I tried to make sure all of the systems could be moved fairly easily. This is how it came together......

 

[JJ440]

Staining and clear coat

 

[RacinJason]

Awesome build, really cool stand and canopy!

 

[JJ440]

While Chip took care of the canopy I had to figure out the floating part. My thought process was thinking of a way to make accessing the tank easy without taking the canopy down. I started looking into a way to build a bracket or arm that could support the canopy and pivot towards the rear of the tank. I noticed many others using 80/20 for different projects and decided to check them out. Originally I just wanted to be able to push the canopy up and secure it in place with some type of stop. By chance as I was searching for parts I came across an ad for actuators. After a little more research I ordered a pair from eBay and tried mounting them to the canopy arms I made from 80/20.....