New member, new build

[Phishyfish]

Hello phellow reefers. Welcome to my first ever build thread, all guidance welcome. I’m in the process of building a 180 reef in my dedicated “ocean room” in the basement, with not so much a fish room as a sump/utility/work room. To catch your interest, let me show you the blank slate I had to work with and the transformation.





Over the last year and a half, much has been done to transform the basement. I moved the washer and dryer, and transformed the plumbing/electric to a dedicated 20 amp outlet, a spigot for the RODI unit, and re-plumbed the washer drain line to use it for RODI waste and water change drain. The old dryer vent is still in place so I can use it for ventilation. I added a dehumidifier. I finished a 16 foot square section I am calling the ocean room. Framed some walls, finished with drywall, hung a drop ceiling, set up an entertainment center with surround sound and cat 5, furnished, and the decorating is still in progress.










Here is my current 120


My next post I will tell you more about my ideas and goals for the new system, as well as my hard won experience that led to those goals...thanks for looking.

 

[jsker]

Nice work on the basement and build.

 

[Phishyfish]

When I was married I had a 180 Marineland with dual overflows. Had a bunch of LPS and softies that were thriving, as well as a bunch of fish that were as healthy as could be, including my favorites, an orange shoulder and tomini tang. A divorce led to my purchase of the townhouse I have now, and much planning and work got everything moved to the new place. But my dumb self never thought to mention to my contractor to let me know if he needed to cut the breaker, and I lost everything when he did cut it to do some work.
As hard as that was I restarted the 180. I was getting the system back to where I wanted it, but do to my impatience dino’s and and algae were getting out of hand and then I added a blue jaw trigger sans quarantine, and sure enough, I had ich. I lost all my fish except for a purple tang, a flame hawk fish, and an azure damsel. I tore the system down, put all the live rock in the garage, and the 3 survivors in a 29 gallon tank while I figured out what to do next. I sold the 180. A couple weeks passed and the 3 fish seemed to be clearing of the ich. I still didn’t know what to do. I wanted out of the hobby, but couldn’t pawn ich infested fish off on someone else. A couple more weeks went by and all 3 fish were still with me, in fact, the tang seemed to have grown. Hmm. I bought a couple 20 long tanks. I researched the tank transfer method. I put all the old rock in a brute with bleach. A couple more weeks passed and no sign of ich. I bought a 120 and built a stand. That build took several weeks and all 3 fish were now thriving. I finished the 120 build and since added a few more fish and a bunch of coral. Now, 21 months later, I start another build.

 

[Phishyfish]

More pics of current setup

This is dick, the purple tang



And this is when I first set it up

 

[reef lover]

Welcome to r2r ! Great transformation on the basement! And great comeback with the new reef!

 

[Phishyfish]

Thanks so much, I was so close to just returning to freshwater.

 

[Phishyfish]

Thanks so much, I was so close to just returning to freshwater.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Thanks for joining. Amazing build. I will have to say what I tell anyone from philly. Send my 3 from Geno’s double wit

 

[Phishyfish]

A couple more pics of the current 120, which will become quarantine tank if I don’t sell it.




About the current build. I’m going with a Marineland 180 and I am going to drill it myself for a shadow overflow. I thought about going bigger (I have the space), and I thought about going with custom aquariums with ultra clear glass, but I just could not justify the cost difference. The biggest thing that sbothered me with my last 180 was the corner overflows. So by drilling it myself for the shadow overflow, I could use the difference in price to buy better equipment.

By the way, I am going with two VARIOS-4 return pumps (I like the redundancy as opposed to a single larger pump), how far from the top do people drill the return line holes?

The main goal of this build is ease of maintenance...not low maintenance as I have learned that that there is always going to be maintenance that has to be done. Therefore, I want to make that maintenance as easy as possible. I will do this by having the sump and support system in a separate room. The 75 gallon sump will sit on a shelf system on the other side of the wall behind the main display. This allows me to build the stand lower, easing maintenance in the DT. Above the sump will be the refugium, a 20 long, as well as a 20 long frag tank.

I have learned that having the refugium in the sump leads to unwanted algae growth due to light spill in areas you don’t want it. (Even with a trigger sump with colored baffles) in the room behind the DT I will have my RODI system. I also used the old washer drain line to plumb a waste water drain, so I can have RODI storage, salt mixing station directly behind the DT. A dedicated pump in the sump will be hard plumbed to the waste line, making water changes much easier.

I also have enough room to have multiple quarantine tanks. Yes, I have learned my lesson.

 

[Phishyfish]

Got much done last few days. Today I picked up the new tank and drilled the holes for the shadow overflow.




I also picked up the 75 gallon for the sump since Petco started their dollar a gallon sale. I am not that good about taking pictures as I go but I also got the stand built and skinned, still need to add trim, sand, seal and paint it.

 

[Bj’s Reef]

Welcome to the forum, Your build looks like fun.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Welcome and we are glad to have ya!!!

Looking forward to seeing the completed build.

 

[Phishyfish]

Progress on the stand.

 

[Phishyfish]

So I got a bunch done. I painted the back of the tank. I paid some movers I found on Craig’s list to move the tank to the basement. I cut a hole in the drywall to fit the shadow overflow. I ordered glass for the baffles in the sump, and made a setup for the 1.5” drains.









Leveling the tank and stand took more effort than I thought. Never realized how uneven a concrete floor could be. Also got everything to set up the 20 gallon remote refugium and 20 gallon quarantine tank. Also ordered T5 supplemental lights, new skimmer, bunch of plumbing supplies.

 

[Phishyfish]

I also bought 120 pounds of new sand, and I plan to rinse it when I do the next water change on my 120. I will use the waste water to rinse the new sand. I ordered a new RODI system, so also on the near term to-do list is plumb the new RODI system, as well as the waste water drain for it and Twitter changes from the sump.

 

[Peace River]

This is coming together well! Keep up the great work - it will be fun to start filling the tank soon!

 

[ludnix]

Beautiful room, I am going to be following for inspiration!

 

[Joshua Kerstetter]

Sounds like you have a great plan that you're following. I agree also, putting your sump and equipment in another room whenever possible is a great option and its what I've done. Enjoy your new setup.

 

[Phishyfish]

Thank you everyone for the kind feedback. This project is a dream project, but in some ways I underestimated the amount of work involved. I have been so focused keeping this project moving forward that I have been neglecting maintenance on my current tank. I sat down the other night to watch the tank for a bit, something I haven’t done in awhile, and I noticed algae growing on rocks that wasn’t there 2 months ago. I noticed some corals not doing so well. I realized I haven’t checked parameters or done a water change since mid June.
Now I am caught between making a final push to get the new tank ready, vs taking some time to maintain, clean and fix the problems in the current tank. I think I can get everything done with the new tank and be ready to make August 23 “moving day”. Monday and Tuesday are my two days off this week so Monday I will focus on maintenance of the 120, and Tuesday get as much done as possible. Any words of encouragement will gladly be accepted. Perhaps you can share a story about how you overcame doubts of your vision comin to fruition.

 

[Phishyfish]

Sounds like you have a great plan that you're following. I agree also, putting your sump and equipment in another room whenever possible is a great option and its what I've done. Enjoy your new setup.

Hey man! I’m in mechanicsburg, right by CV high school. If you are ever in the area and want to meet, I would love to have you come see what I got going on and offer advice, criticism, or encouragement.
Paul