My 280g build....

[spotter]

Well, I am finally getting closer to my upgrade tank becoming a reality. First its important to know how I got approval for the upgrade. My wife bet me $1,000 that I couldnt use this piece of exercise equipment properly just once....
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=107XND8NXZVP3CHBEWF9

Before I accepted the challenged I realized that since she is home with the kids that her $1k is really my $1k and there was no real incentive to me. So I changed the bet and told her that if I was able to do it properly I would be able to upgrade to the tank size of my choice. Without hesitation she said yes...what little confidence she has in my athletic ability. With that, I got on the floor and snapped out not just one but I was able to do 10 before I felt something pop in my back

So I after 10 months of planning its all finally coming together and getting close to everything coming to life. The tank should be ready sometime in January but I wanted to start my thread now because I still havent decided on all of the equipment I will be using and figured this would be a good time to get some feed back before the holiday sales begin.

Without further delay...here's what I am planning.
Tank....
* 60x36x30 Tank will be 3 sides starphire glass, built on site in my basement by Coast to Coast Custom Aquariums
* 48x24x18 frag tank

Filters/skimmer...
* 48x20x20 MRC high flow sump
* Algae Turf Scrubber in place of a refugium
* Need help deciding on the skimmer...looking at Reeflo Orca Pro 2 or BK 300 ext THOUGHTS HERE?
* Undecided about getting a UV light

Pumps...
* trying to decide between one bigger pump to feed the skimmer, frag and display tank or two separate pumps...one for the display and the other for the skimmer and frag. THOUGHTS HERE?
* I got a really great deal on a used tunze package consisting of 2 x 6305's and 2 x 6301's.

Lighting....
* Definitely going with LED's for the display and was decided on 6 AI Sol's with T5 purple supplement but after seeing some of the Radion threads popping up....I dont know now.
* 48" 8 bulb T5 fixture for the frag tank

Finally location.......
This build is also part of a total basement remodel so the picture will give you an idea of where it will go minus my kitchen set and basketball hoop . Right now the stand height is set to be 32" but I am thinking about raising it up 4".




So, hop on and enjoy the ride as I am sure there will be plenty of ups and downs over the next few months. Thanks for looking and I look forward to everyones feed back!

 

[Sunny]

Nice start/stats .

Look at the reef octopus cone series skimmer. They are awesome. An XP-5000 internal would be perfect for your setup.
Depending on what skimmer you go with, you will need a pump for return and frag tank. A blueline HD100 can be used to do a lot

Good Luck!

Sunny

 

[howze01]

Sounds like it's going to be an amazing setup!

You should have stayed with the original bet, it would have cost you A LOT less!!!

 

[spotter]

Thanks Sunny and since I am getting the sump from you.....I was thinking about doing an external skimmer so I dont run into footprint issues. What kind of space is available in there for a skimmer? I have a dart that I am not using right now but I really dont want to drill a 2" hole for a bulkhead so I was thinking about a dolphin pump to match right up to the 1.5" bulkhead you have in there already or get a couple of blue lines...one to feed the display and one to feed a manifold which then would feed the skimmer, frag and anything else that might require flow. I am leaning towards the external skimmer at this point but not 100% sure. Orca's and BK's are so expensive and an external octopus could work just fine too.

 

[spotter]

Very true and I did think about that but this will be so much more fun!!!!

Sounds like it's going to be an amazing setup!

You should have stayed with the original bet, it would have cost you A LOT less!!!

 

[Sunny]

Thanks Sunny and since I am getting the sump from you.....I was thinking about doing an external skimmer so I dont run into footprint issues. What kind of space is available in there for a skimmer? I have a dart that I am not using right now but I really dont want to drill a 2" hole for a bulkhead so I was thinking about a dolphin pump to match right up to the 1.5" bulkhead you have in there already or get a couple of blue lines...one to feed the display and one to feed a manifold which then would feed the skimmer, frag and anything else that might require flow. I am leaning towards the external skimmer at this point but not 100% sure. Orca's and BK's are so expensive and an external octopus could work just fine too.

Skimmer section is 17 X 19. BTW, I love my XP-8000 internal

 

[spotter]

I currently run an sro1000 and it does a great job. Ill have to look at the xp's again. Definitely an area to save a little money.

Steve

 

[dnov99]

Looking great Steve, you know my thoughts on the BK, and you have seen it in person. As for pumps I would have two separate pumps, I think you will run into issues trying to run them all off of one.

 

[spotter]

Thanks Darren. Your skimmer is definitely a beast!!!! I am leaning towards one pump for the skimmer and then another pump to feed the frag and display. My big project coming up next is moving my current system because all of my equipment sits on the other side of the wall that I have pictured and that wall is being moved back 2 feet.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Love the plan Steve. Great size tank and I'm sure C2C will make it look awesome.

Is it going to be on a stand or is it going to be an in-wall display?

 

[spotter]

Love the plan Steve. Great size tank and I'm sure C2C will make it look awesome.

Is it going to be on a stand or is it going to be an in-wall display?

Its going to be on a steel stand but then my contractor thats finishing my basement will continue the wall around the stand and top of the tank. There will be access doors but it will look like its part of the wall.

The dumpster arrives next week so I can start taking down the wall in the picture to the area ready for C2C.

Steve

 

[TanksNStuff]

Cool, sounds even better now. Can't wait to see the progress pics.

 

[spotter]

Sloght update.....
Picked up my sump from Sunny (MonroeReef) this weekend. All my wife said was, "And the tank is bigger than that????"

Dumpster was a no show last week but I am told it will arrive this week for sure.

Still havent made my final decision on the skimmer...brand or external vs internal.


Steve

 

[spotter]

Some Thanksgiving updates......

So the last few weeks which have included a job change that has me back in NYC again and a change in the tank dimensions and builder have been very crazy. I know C2C would have done a great job but after speaking with a few other members on here, I realized it was a little too much and decided to go a different direction. The savings by doing this have been huge. So here are the rest of the updates....

Tank.....
72x36x28 315 gallons
Should be delivered late December or early January.
If anyone knows of a good tank mover or some really strong guys...please forward the information to me.

Stand....
2" steel tube made by a local fabricator

Lighting....
After deciding to save a lot of money on the tank, I decided to spend it on the lighting. I went with the Sfiligoi Genesis LED unit. It will be a custom made unit that will have 10 rows for a total of 500w, 3 of the rows will include RGB and the whites will be on 2 separate channels to allow better placement of corals with different light intensity requirements. Take a look at a demo video for the fixture demonstrating the RGB and dimming. Fixture is due to arrive the end of January....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6xZZT3cTuM

Skimmer....
I was in the air between an XP5000 and a BK SUPERMARINE but in the end I went with an ATB 10.5 deluxe. I found a lot of great feed back on them and emailed them with some questions on Sunday. I quickly received an email back from Victor with his phone number telling me to call him so we could discuss the skimmers. What I didn't realize right away was he wanted me to call him right then and there on a Sunday. I had heard a lot about his excellent customer service but this was beyond my expectations. He spent about an hour on the phone with me Sunday afternoon and after a little research I decided to go with that made the purchase with a 10% pre thanksgiving coupon.

Miscellaneous items.....
Substrate....Tropic Eden Reef Flakes
Rock....A bunch of the Pukani Rock from BRS plus picked up a couple of very large pieces from a guy in the city
RODI....upgraded my current system to 150gpd...theres no way I am going to wait 4 days for the new tank to fill up
Par meter....won a bid on ebay for a 1yr old apogee par meter so that will come in handy to do some par testing on the new lights. (I will make this available to local members that want to test out their lights)
Plenty of other things I am sure that I am forgetting but all I know is that as of right now the UPS man will be at my door step 4 days next week.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

[mnat]

Sounds like a great plan Steve, it was very nice briefly meeting you at trop the other day. I know there are a lot of local people who would help you out with the tank move. I would also ask Trop if you can borrow their suction cup moving things. They make the job 10 times easier.

 

[spotter]

Sounds like a great plan Steve, it was very nice briefly meeting you at trop the other day. I know there are a lot of local people who would help you out with the tank move. I would also ask Trop if you can borrow their suction cup moving things. They make the job 10 times easier.

it was nice meeting you too matt. i was looking for the suction cups online. I think Sunny has the info for the movers that trop uses to deliver tanks.

Steve

 

[Sunny]

it was nice meeting you too matt. i was looking for the suction cups online. I think Sunny has the info for the movers that trop uses to deliver tanks.

Steve

I sure do. LMK when you are ready!

 

[spotter]

I was bored tonight so I.....

Decided to build this for my frag tank.....

Considering this is the first time I built a stand, I am pretty pleased with the way it came out. I have a few adjustments to make but I am pretty happy with it.

 

[downbeach]

Nicely done.

 

[spotter]

thanks Jim. I am thinking about adding one more support in the front and the back for added safety. The frag tank is 80 gallons and I am thinking its better to be safe than sorry.