Beginnings of a 220Uk gallon reeftank

[Iron Man]

Wow you are so blessed....what an awesome tank! I like the foundation idea too. I've always contemplated some wood setup but never cement....for some reason. That is just too awesome! Please take the tv out of the room! lol

 

[daudy_dojo]

big tank... cute kid too

 

[LuBear]

cool down davie... stop the jealousy... turn it down...

 

[Gill]

Love this Shot the Most - Marine bettas Are Lovely when the Display

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Awesome tank and fish you've got there , great thread too- i've just finished reading all it, how long has the whole process taken you up until this point from the start ?

 

[Navarre]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone )

Its been alot of fun getting this tank running but of course it hasnt been without its problems.

Have you got a Halide for the right of the tank yet? Will you go for two 400W for the whole tank or get a couple of 250W due to the length of the tank? (or even, dare I say it, another two 400W? cool.gif )

Im afraid that the tank is still operating under a single 400w 10k Halide I am in the process of negotiating for a set of twin 250w halides with actinics lights at the moment. This will give me 900w of lights over the tank. I am also going to change the colour spectrum from 10k to 14k when i do this to enhance the colours on the corals. It wont be yet for a few weeks as i have a large Reef meeting to attend next week and this is going to be almost 800 miles round trip and whilst im there i have more stock to pic up. (one of them being my new sohal tang which i have a photo for and will show in a moment).

You must have some monster pumps in there. What circulation are you hoping for? and what have you got?

Good question!
I am not actually sure to be honest how much circulation i have.. all i know is its still not enough!
I have a large pond pump (modified to work in salt water).. 7000 ltrs per hour. A large ehiem pump.. not sure on the outpu but i think its about 5000 ltrs per hour. 3x powerhead that produce 3000 ltrs per hour each. a total of 21,000 ltrs per hour turnover.(4622 Imp gallons per hour turnover ) My god i didnt realise i had this much! for a 220 Imp gallon tank i would need minimum 2200 IMp gallons per hour turnver... all i can say is that this still isnt enough.. there are still flat spots and deadspots on the tank that im not happy about. WHen i finally get around to completing the plumbing then this turnover will change as the powerful pumps will be made to do other jobs so the need for greater flow stille exsists.

Even with the huge flow in this tank it still looks tranquil and calm, I will try and get a video clip and take a short footage and post somewhere so people can see just how this much flow still isnt enough

With the sump, did you decide to scratch the cryptic zone, or is that what is keeping it off line?

Nope, the cryptic zone is still on option i am working towards. The rason the sump is offline is due to the tank stand. I purposely designed the stand so that it can be viewed whilst sitting down. This means the stand is very low and the current sump only just fits under the stand. (the sump is 18" high and the gap is 20" high). Although the sump fits into this gap, the plumbing wont fit over the top of the sump as the gap is too narrow. I basically ned a sump with 15" height or even 12" so i can put the plumbing in position. Again its not a huge job but with limited finds and so muchto be done its just one of these things on the "List to do"

Finally, is any of the LR in there at the moment home-made, or are you still buying it?

I have 1 piece in there thats hand made, its about 4kg in weight and i would defy anyone to come and look at it now its been in the tank for so long and try to decide which is the liverock and which is manmade. The only reason i know which one is manmad is because of the shape, they are otherwsie the same.. life now covers all of the rocks, its works as well on filtration etc. I still however buy my liverock as i have an outlet where i can get it almost as cheaply as manmade stuff.. and for the extra little expense is costs me to buy the resl thing i am happy to continue buying real liverock.

how long has the whole process taken you up until this point from the start smile.gif ?

Well i did have my 100 gallon before this so i had alot of the equipment needed to get this job underway almost immediately.
Basically the story is that i was looking for a new tank last year (last August) and found a really nice deep hexagonal tank that was about 120 gallons. I thought it would look great in the corner so i went to ask for the price (£500 2nd hand!!!) I mentioned to a friend of mine that i was considering purchasing this tall tank and he told me not to waste my cash and if i was prepared to wait until December then i could have his 7ft tank free of charge as he was getting a new tank! WHo am i to turn down such an offer So i accepted this and then went home to worry about telling the wife and try and find room for this beasty. After lots of measuring and planning, it was finally decided the tank would fit but it would be HUGE! so the 100 gallon setup had to go. When december finally came we collected the tank and moved it to a freinds house where it was drilled and awaited the living room to be turned into a warzone, etc

So as you can see, the thread started in december.. much the same time as i got the tank.

February was when we started work on the living room to be able to build the tank stand.

March was when the tank finally arrived at the house and was placed on the stand. During this time the living room was a tight fit.. an empty 220 gallon tank with a full 100 gallon takn.. 3 piece suite and a family all trying to watch tv! it was a nightmare for a while but the wife was a saint and never complainted once (she actually complained constantly!.. err nah just kiddin )

March 17th was when the tank went "live". So the tank has been running for just over 8 weeks i think. Seems alot longer to be honest and during this time its faced 1 major disaster that lost many of my fish. It is now back on track however and the shape is finally coming together.

Still lots to do though....

New lights..
New sump
Plumbing
Completing the cladding for the tank stand
Building the tank backing panel
Fitting an auto topup system.

(not necessarily in this order i might add )

OK and lastly for this particular post...

I did mention i would post a photo of the Sohal tang. Well here it i s. This is the actual fish i am getting. A fellow reefer is breaking down his tank and this fish will have a new home with me!

I have also been offered the Lipstick tang too and i am seriously considering it

And the Lipstick Tang...

Updates to come real soon. And i will of course posts photos of the tank when these 2 monsters are added to the system!

 

[Doggfather]

Those two fish are great Nav!!!!!

 

[terrorist_124]

great setup..
how much did it cost you?

 

[Navarre]

great setup..
how much did it cost you?

Hmm.... Another good question.. One i havent dared to calculate so far

Ok, well considering the tank had alot of equipment from the old setup i guess its not cost very uch at all.. I will try and put a price to most stuff though even the equipment already in use frommy old system.

Building work
Laying 10ft x 4ft foundation. £60
Bricks to form the legs of the stand £30
Wood £30



Tank Free
Various powerheads approx £200
400w Metal Halide light with 10K bulb £125 (brand new)
UV filter £100
Skimmer £100 (did a swap so the cost is the trade in i gave )
Ozone £45 (ebay gotta love it )
Sump Free.. Just an old 3ft tank i converted

Liverock nearly £1000 And still need more

Fish and corals various prices.

So the basic setup has cost me over the last 3 years (when i first started up marines again) . Nearly £1700.

Sounds alot but when you consider that there are marine tanks out there that are smaller than mine and have had over £15,000 spent on them im feel that i have had a bargain so far!


If we ignore the huge amount of liverock costs so far and the equipment that i have had to purchase to simply get this tank running then its even cheaper...

Tank free
Sump (yet to be purchased or altered)
Plumbing yet to be completed

Additional liverock to add to the exsisting rock. £150
Skimmer £100
More powerheads and pumps £50
Ozone £45

So about £450 so far.
Still gotta add new lights. (about £250)
And cladding plumbing etc.. this should be approx £50

Hope this helps.

 

[john5748]

Just found this thread and I have to say your tank is awesome, I will keep checking this for your regular updates.

Just a few questions if you don't mind:

Do all of your family enjoy fishkeeping?
Did you start with tropicals, and how long have you been looking after fish?
When do you anticipate completing this project?
Is this your final project or are you planning something to top this, such as a indoor shark tank??

 

[Ethos]

Wow!
*Stong southern accent* I want that.

 

[Navarre]

Its great to see lots of questions coming in, keep em coming and I will answer as many as i can!

Do all of your family enjoy fishkeeping?

Probably not as intensly as me but basically yes!
The wife has just startd her own Nano reef tank and this has been running for nearly a month.
My oldest son (that lives with me) used to have his own marine tank but he then discovered "girls" and all his time money and attention went eleswhere!
He still loves marine however and wants to become a marine biologist. He is currently doing his exams and after this he will be preparing for his "A" levels and hopefully onwards to university.
My younger sons show little interst but i do her them often telling their freidns that come to visit the various names of the fish and corals. So i guess its in their blood also

Did you start with tropicals, and how long have you been looking after fish?

The first fish i owned was a goldfish (isnt this where most kids start out ) But i always wanted marines ever since i saw my 1st clownfish when i was 7 years old.

I joined a local fish club when i was about 14 years old and at that point i was keeping dwarf cichlids. Within a year i was keeping local marines and this was quite successful. I too however discovered girls and my interst in the hobby came a distant 2nd )
I started marines again about 10 years ago after a very long period in the wilderness (about 10 years). I started my first tropical marine fish only tank at this point and loved it but unfortunatly my son (my 10 year old) killed am all off by thinking he was helping daddy and addd a whole load of table salt to the tank erly one morning whilst i was asleep. i awoke to a takn full of dead fish. I vowed i would not try fish again untili could be sure this wouldnot happen. I restarted my marine hobby about 3 years ago anf havent looked back since. when i rejoined the hobby i had a huge learning curve to climb as the hobby had moved on o fast since i lest kept fish. Istarted with a small 40 gallon reef takn that was 100% natural, natural filters, no skimmer and even natural seawater. it was a fantastic tank but i wanted larger fish so went up to 100 gallons within a year. this was a great tank but it never really got off the ground because within 6 months of this tank being setup i was offered this larger one so i didnt really develop the 100 gallon too much.

When do you anticipate completing this project?

Very good question! Actually that is one i dont think i can truely answer. I really dont think that project such as this ever get fully finished. There is always something new to try out or explore. The basic addons i hope to complete within this year however the wife has other plans for my hard earned cash and is demanding a vacation

Is this your final project or are you planning something to top this, such as a indoor shark tank?? laugh.gif

I can honestly say that i simply annot fit a larger tank into the house! So unless we move anytime soon (unlikely cos we love it here) then this is the largest project i am going to do.
However.... Im always on the lookout for other projects that might interest me.. i have room for another tank in the hallway and i have conteplated putting a tall deep tankthere.. perhaps in a year or so..who knows!

 

[nitro]

Simply stunning!

How much water do you change every week or every other week?

 

[Bloo]

More importantly - how ?

 

[Navarre]

It hasnt had a water change yet. I top up with RO water each day to cover evaporation. This amounts to about 2 or 3 gallons per week!

As for water changes, i usually do a water change every 2 months. This one is due any day now so i guess its time to dig out the extra buckets and salt )
Last year in my 100 gallon system i only made 1 water change. i set it up in May and didnt do a water change until october. Marine tanks do not require the water changes that freshwater tanks do. In fact once they are setup they are much less maintenance IME.
When i do the water change soon it will be 20 gallons. (usually 10% of the volume of the tank).
Once the sump with the mud filter goes online then water changes will be done every 3 or even 4 months.

At the moment here are the water peramters.

SG 1.025
PH 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate under 10 (usually under 5 but i have been a bit enthusiastic with feeding lately)
Phosphate 0.25 again higher because i have increased feeding.
Calcium 430
Magnesium 1380


How do i do a water change? simply make up 4 buckets of RO water and mix with salt the night before. allow it to reach temperature. The next day i siphon out 4 buckets of used watr and then add the fresh back in.