Toomnymods 215 gallon Mixed reef build thread

Toomnymods

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I recently decided to get back into the hobby after being out since 2013. I purchased a Planet Aquarium 215 gallon reef ready tank 72" W x 24" D x 29" H with black silicone. This tank pictured has clear silicone which I didn't like, so the store owner had the tank made for me with black silicone and the right color stain for the stand. The color of my stand is close to this one but with more brown..

Some aspects of this build I'm still torn on, such as lighting, substrate, controller, fish bio load, etc. Hopefully you guys can help me decide which way to go :)

Equipment:
Metal halide with t5 hybrid fixture such as the Giesmann Spectra
GFO reactor
GAC reactor
Bubbleking mini 200 gen 3 VS12
Eco-tech Vectra M1 return pump
Calcium reactor (undecided on brand)
2 MP60's
undecided on controller (Apex or profilux?)
Trigger system 39 sapphire series sump 39"x 16"x 15" (skimmer section 14" x 15.5")
JBJ chiller 1/4 hp if needed


Substrate: torn between Tropic eden reef flakes and Carib Sea special grade (don't want it blowing around in the tank as I will have 2 MP60's in use) want a 2" sand bed at a minimum.

Will probably be using 200lbs to 250lbs of MarcoRock

So far this is a list of the fish I'd like to include:
1 - 6 line wrasse
2 - black ice percula clown fish (male and female)
1 - potters angel
2 - McCoskers flasher wrasse (male and female)
1 - blonde naso tang
1 - powder blue tang
1 - Achilles tang
4 - lyre tail anthias (1 male and 3 females)

IMG_4675.JPG
 
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Toomnymods

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Some goodies arrived today :)
This is the newly released 100 GPD Ultra High Efficiency Performance Plus RO/DI They claim it has a better than 1:1 ratio on making ro/di water and better prolonged life for the Mega max cap color indicating cartridge and the Enduro DI cartridge (not familiar with this di cartridge) Lady also claimed this unit is even more efficient than their $800.00 UHE unit




 
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Toomnymods

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My tank arrived friday.. it takes up the whole wall nearly :) cant wait till its full of water. But still have the Marco liverock and sand to buy before it can get wet..
Which sand is preferable for being the most resistant to blowing around with MP-60's in this size tank??
Tropic eden reef flakes or Carib Sea special grade??
Had to hire a moving company to move the tank and stand..





Should still have plenty of room underneath for my calcium reactor, CO2 bottle and other gear..
 
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Daniel@R2R

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Very nice so far! Following. :)
 
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Looks good, I'm looking at this same tank but in the mocha color. Do good so I can copy lol
love the build quality of the tank. you wont be disappointed.

Very nice so far! Following. :)
Buying 250lbs of Marco rock, 300-400lbs of sand for a 4" DSB and my 2 - 150 gallon rodi tanks. All are enroute then I should be able to start my aquascape and finally get the "tank wet"
Still will need the skimmer and lights but that'll have to be in another 2 weeks :)
 
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so after doing some research on the Carib sea optimal grain size for a DSB of 4" Dr. shimek recommends this:
Most sediment-dwelling organisms appear to have similar precise preferences. However, most will also live at least marginally well in mixed-sediments with sizes around their optima, and most sediment particle size optima seem to be in the range of 0.050 to 0.200. Consequently I suggest a range averaging about 0.125 as a good compromise. It isn't specifically the best for most infaunal species, but it will allow a diversity of species to live pretty well.
This is pretty much oolitic or sugarsized sand right? This would be a constant sandstorm in a sps reef with 2 mp-60s blasting :/
What should I do would it mess the dsb up If I put maybe the first 1 - 1.5" layer on top a more bigger grain size such as the 1.0-2.0mm like the carib sea special grade reef? then use the oolitic or sugarsized sand for the 2.5 - 3" below that?

Sediment_Particle_Size_Distribution_bw.jpg
 
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This weekend I also hired a window tint guy to come and install "blackout window film" onto the back pane of glass and it matches the overflow perfectly and should also offer a better long term solution than just regular "spraying the back with flat black paint"
 
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Looks good, I'm looking at this same tank but in the mocha color. Do good so I can copy lol
I think my stand is mocha but 2 coats instead of one, as our furniture in the living room is a dark mocha as well. I know it appears black but it's not, the lighting just sucks in my living room
 

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Looks great!
 
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Just a small update:

Got my order of Carib Sea livesand
I decided to go with the Bahamas oolitic and Pink fiji as this would fufill the DSB grain size im looking for. I plan on adding 160 lbs of the oolitic the bottom and 80lbs of the fiji pink on top as its grain size is larger and will hopefully not blow around.

I also recieved my two 150 gallon tanks for my rodi and saltwater mixing station


Plan on plumbing these this weekend.
Ordered 500lbs of key largo dryrock from Marco's rocks as well and it should be arriving this coming week.
Getting close to finally getting wet :)
 
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Got a question for the gurus out there..
Kinda torn between these two skimmers Which is the better performer for my 220-250 gallon heavily stocked reef tank??
bubbleking mini 200
or the
Vertex omega 200i
Cost really isn't a issue but hate to pay more for something that won't work as well, also the Vertex alpha wont fit. Skimmer compartment is only 14 x 15.5"
 
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Toomnymods

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Have a few updates to give everyone :)

Finally got my RO/DI mixing station finished and started mixing 150 gallons of Fritz RPM salt.. lot of people are raving about this salt and thought i'd give it a try.



Got over 500 lbs of Marco Rocks Key Largo dry rock and hand picked the best pieces :)
Going to sell the rest. Probably will end up with 200-240 lbs of rock in my display and maybe 20 or so in my refugium.





Finally decided on a skimmer that would fit inside my sump and have awesome performance at about half the cost of a Bubbleking mini 200. It's a Reef Octopus Elite 200 SSS





Got these two large boxes in today with a bunch of random stuff such as my tunze osmolator, trigger systems crystal 10 gallon ATO box, avast medium spyglass for my vertex rox carbon, flipper algae scraper, finnex controllers for my 2 eheim jager 250 watt heaters, and a bunch of other misc stuff.




Starting the plumbing on the display now and hope to be done with it by this weekend so I can get this tank started onto its cycle
:)

Stay Tuned..
 
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Toomnymods

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Finally managed to get the tank loaded with my Marco rocks key largo dry rock and 80 lbs of oolitic sand on the bottom 1/2" or so because didnt want the rocks scratching the glass. Then added the saltwater, seachem stability to start the biological process and added in 9 green chromis for a small bioload.

Heres some pics of the aquascaping, thiers one portion to me that just doesnt fit and am wondering if the middle of the tank just needs some rocks removed so the tank isnt all the same height or ???
Opinions please







 

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does not look like you left yourself any room in the back of the tank? all the rocks toward the back glass..
 
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Toomnymods

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does not look like you left yourself any room in the back of the tank? all the rocks toward the back glass..
I have since re-aquascaped the tank, I didn't like the way it was all the same height, and I took a few pieces off of the back wall so the bigger tangs will have some fun darting thru the rockwork at speed. Will get a new pic up tommrow when the lights come on..

Other updates are:
Added a Apex controller to my system ( new style )
Started my refugium with a fist sized ball of chaeto, in two weeks its nearly tripled in size :)
Added a yellow cori wrasse and 4 orange lyretail anthias to the display two weeks ago.
This week I plan on adding a potters angel and a flame angel.
I also got tired of not having a light on my tank so I went and bought a "cheapo" 48" current led light fixture, I plan on adding my giesmann infinity 72" light fixture next week. (the overtime at work has been non existant which makes costly upgrades difficult, LOL)
 
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Toomnymods

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Sorry it took so long, been working overtime and with two kids doesnt leave much time for anything besides work and family life, lol

I ordered my Giesmann Infinity 72" light fixture, 4 ATI T5 bulbs 2 blue + and 2 super actinic bulbs.
Should be here next mon or tues :)

Heres some new tank pics out of all this rock only two pieces touch the back glass and its a very small portion just to help stabilize the structure.
The combonation of marco dry rock and 4 pieces of live pukani is really nice imo.










 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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