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Alright! This build has been a long time in the planning! but let's start (if you're interested) with a bit of background
Background:
So, in November of 2023, I bought a Red Sea XXL 625 G2+ on a black Friday sale. I took a long trip from December until late January, so the tank didn’t get set up until February. I transferred rock and corals over from my 4-year-old 75-gallon reef tank I already had.
However, only a few months after setting the tank up, I had the opportunity to buy a house we had been interested in previously (it’s a long-complicated story, but when I got the tank, the house wasn’t going to be available, but the owner’s plans changed) That being the case I would have probably had a custom tank built after the move but given I already have the red sea tank, I will just modify it to fit the needs and down the line after this tank is filled and overgrown I will upgrade to a different system.
I tore the tank down in August of 2024 but kept corals, rock, and fish in a 40 breeder. The original plan was to set up the tank at the new house and go from there. But then I had the bright idea to finish the basement and build a fish room.
I planned to start the build in August and have the tank set up in a month or so. Given it is now December, and I am just starting the project it’s safe to say things haven’t gone to plan.
Despite complications with the move, lack of time with school, shipping delays on materials, and permitting delays (many), we finally have all the materials and permissions in place to get started.
"The Plan"
The plan is to finish out a room in the basement to act as a fish room, this will house the sump, equipment, maintenance station, QT/Hospital systems, and eventually frag tanks. I will then connect the fish tank from the floor above down to the sump. I have plumbed tanks through walls, but never from different floors of the house, so there is a lot of learning to be done.
Rough floor plan: (not the plans I submitted for the permitting)
This is the space in the basement we will be working with! The tank is directly upstairs against the exterior wall
This is when I first moved it into the house August 2024:
Late August 2024: I ended up filling the tank and running it dark with rock in the sump to let it “cycle” while I was getting the basement built. I figured there’d be less of an ugly phase when I transferred everything over if it had been wet for a while. Didn’t know at the time it was gonna be running as a box of water for months. So the rock is pretty well cured!
I put most the rock that wasn’t in the 40 breeder in the sump since the tank gets light from the window in the mornings, and I didn’t want to just grow algae.
Recent photo:
I also have a few plants that will likely end up in the fish room, they are being stored in the dining room for now
August 2024:
Here is the 40 breeder when I first transferred the corals over in august. There has sadly been a good bit of die off since then. I’ve set up a kalk dosing system to help maintain alk/calc since it’s been running a lot longer than anticipated. I’ve also been doing 10 gallon water changes once a week or 20 gallon every two weeks if I miss a week. I have several clams that I intend on highlighting in the tank specifically my Gigas
I’ll post some more photos of the corals and clams but need to get my lens back from a buddy!
Background:
So, in November of 2023, I bought a Red Sea XXL 625 G2+ on a black Friday sale. I took a long trip from December until late January, so the tank didn’t get set up until February. I transferred rock and corals over from my 4-year-old 75-gallon reef tank I already had.
However, only a few months after setting the tank up, I had the opportunity to buy a house we had been interested in previously (it’s a long-complicated story, but when I got the tank, the house wasn’t going to be available, but the owner’s plans changed) That being the case I would have probably had a custom tank built after the move but given I already have the red sea tank, I will just modify it to fit the needs and down the line after this tank is filled and overgrown I will upgrade to a different system.
I tore the tank down in August of 2024 but kept corals, rock, and fish in a 40 breeder. The original plan was to set up the tank at the new house and go from there. But then I had the bright idea to finish the basement and build a fish room.
I planned to start the build in August and have the tank set up in a month or so. Given it is now December, and I am just starting the project it’s safe to say things haven’t gone to plan.
Despite complications with the move, lack of time with school, shipping delays on materials, and permitting delays (many), we finally have all the materials and permissions in place to get started.
"The Plan"
The plan is to finish out a room in the basement to act as a fish room, this will house the sump, equipment, maintenance station, QT/Hospital systems, and eventually frag tanks. I will then connect the fish tank from the floor above down to the sump. I have plumbed tanks through walls, but never from different floors of the house, so there is a lot of learning to be done.
Rough floor plan: (not the plans I submitted for the permitting)
This is the space in the basement we will be working with! The tank is directly upstairs against the exterior wall
This is when I first moved it into the house August 2024:
Late August 2024: I ended up filling the tank and running it dark with rock in the sump to let it “cycle” while I was getting the basement built. I figured there’d be less of an ugly phase when I transferred everything over if it had been wet for a while. Didn’t know at the time it was gonna be running as a box of water for months. So the rock is pretty well cured!
I put most the rock that wasn’t in the 40 breeder in the sump since the tank gets light from the window in the mornings, and I didn’t want to just grow algae.
Recent photo:
I also have a few plants that will likely end up in the fish room, they are being stored in the dining room for now
August 2024:
Here is the 40 breeder when I first transferred the corals over in august. There has sadly been a good bit of die off since then. I’ve set up a kalk dosing system to help maintain alk/calc since it’s been running a lot longer than anticipated. I’ve also been doing 10 gallon water changes once a week or 20 gallon every two weeks if I miss a week. I have several clams that I intend on highlighting in the tank specifically my Gigas
I’ll post some more photos of the corals and clams but need to get my lens back from a buddy!
