180 Gallon Mixed Reef Aquarium

[Wayne Scott]

Hello All,

I am new to this forum.
This is what my Salt Water System will consist of ( no livestock or coral listed):

1) Show Tank:
180gal custom built Marineland Perfecto Starphire glass aquarium with the overflow panels centered on the sides.

2) Pumps:
1. (Main) External Return Pump: Little Giant - TE-5.5-MDQ-SC Inline Pump 2250 GPH
2. Misc Pumps: (2) Mag 12 Pumps connected to reactors,
3. (4) Rena Pumps (all rated >1000GPH)

3) Controller:
4. Reef Keeper Elite with SL1 & SL2 and Net Module
5. Profilux II controller w/ 2-Simu L light Bars
6. Pin Point PH Monitor w/ PH Probe

4) Temperature Controls:
1. Chiller_In-Line: 2HP Arctica Titanium Chiller model DA-2000B
2. Heater Temp Controller: Finnex Temp Controller
3. Heaters: (1) 300 watt titanium heater, (1) 500watt Titanium Heater
4. (2) Fluval 300watt Digital Heaters

5) Lighting:
1. T5/MH HQI Combo Series, 72 inch 3 x 250MH + 8 x 39W T5 – 453nm & actinics,
2. MoonVue 45” LED strip
3. 1-400w Metal Halide on 300gallon Sump
4. 1- 36” Fixture: 4_T-5 actinics & 10,000K on 56gal frag tank

6) PowerHeads:
1. (4) HYDOR Koralia Evolution 4/1450GPH for 180 gal show tank
2. (3) HYDOR Koralia NANOs for 56gal frag tank


7) Reactors/Media Canisters:
1. Calcium Reactor: AE Tech CR600 CR-AET-CR600
- PH Controller: Pin Point PH Controller
- CO2 Auto Solenoid
- CO2 Canister
2. Kalk Reactor: Precision Marine
3. Nitrate Reactor: NEXTREEF MR1 Substrate Reactor
4. Aqua Medic Media Reactor (Phosphate Removal)
5. 36” Tall Media Chamber w/ Pura multi removal media
6. Fluval FX5 Canister filled with carbon / used for polishing

8) Ozone Setup:
1. Red Sea 100mg/hr W/ Neptune Labs ORP Probe
2. Oxygen Generator: Airsep AS-12 (supplies dry 99.97% Oxygen to Ozone generator inlet: aids Ozone Generator ORP efficiency)

9) Protein Skimmers:
1. Protien Skimmer: ASM G-5 Protein Skimmer PS-ASM-G5 (950GPH)
2. Protien Skimmer: ASM G-6 Protein Skimmer PS-ASM-G6 (1900GPH)

10) Filter Bags (3):
1. First Stage (65 Gallon Refugium)
2. Second Stage (90 Gallon Clarifier)
3. Third Stage (300 Gallon Surge Tank)

11) Tanks for Filtration & Propagation:
1. 65 gallon Acrylic Refugium (1st Stage)
2. 90 gallon Clarifying Sump (2nd Stage)
3. 300 gallon Sump w/ pond liner (3rd Stage)
4. 56 gallon Frag Tank w/ built-in overflows

12) Substrates:
a. ~220 LB live rock covered in coralline algae (in show tank)
b. ~600 LB live rock covered in coralline Algae (in 300gal sump)
c. ~200 LB crushed coral (in 300gal sump)
d. ~350 LB live sand (in 65 gal refugium & Show tank)


I am always looking for some SPS that has unique characteristics to add to my reef tank. I do not expect a deal, I just want to create the ultimate reef.

Please contact me if you have some cool corals that you would be willing to sell some clippings from.

Wayne

 

[DJE]

Welcome Wayne and sounds like an awesome setup. How about some pics of the tank?

 

[fastrc]

Welcome to Chicago Reefs Wayne!

 

[BADGUS]

Welcome aboard,,,,,,,,,,,,,,where the pictures?

 

[DanSreef]

WOW! That is one heck of a system. Welcome to the community.... I can't wat to see pictures....

 

[jcarlilesiu]

Based on your post, it looks like you are still deciding on the equipment so in each category you are going to get one of the options presented.

At least, I hope that is right considering if you took all of the options, you would have way too much equipment.

Look forward to the build with regular updates. Let us know what you pick out or if you have any questions on particular equipment.

 

[Wayne Scott]

Hello All, I did post photos of my setup. As for whether I am deciding what equipment to use, that is not the case. Everthing that I posted is currently in use in my setup.

This is not a build. The only thing left to do on this setup is complete the stand and setup a panel for all the electrical equipment to be plugged into to reduce tangled cords anywhere.

Check out the photos I posted and you can see what I got going on.

I may adjust the PVC Return Piping for Better flow.

But that is about it.

I hop that you all like the setup.

 

[Wayne Scott]

This is my show tank.

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[EricTheRed]

Sounds like a very robust system. Welcome to CR!

I'm curious, you said you had a 400W over your 300G sump...are you growing anything in there?

 

[jcarlilesiu]

Hello All, I did post photos of my setup. As for whether I am deciding what equipment to use, that is not the case. Everthing that I posted is currently in use in my setup.

This is not a build. The only thing left to do on this setup is complete the stand and setup a panel for all the electrical equipment to be plugged into to reduce tangled cords anywhere.

Check out the photos I posted and you can see what I got going on.

I may adjust the PVC Return Piping for Better flow.

But that is about it.

I hop that you all like the setup.

Why did you need a PH monitor, temperature monitor, and a reef keeper? Why did you need 500 watt heater and 2 300 watt heaters.

Just curious. Seems a bit over kill.

 

[kurens]

Welcome to CR

 

[Wayne Scott]

No, Not overkill, I do not have a heated basement. That is where all the filtration is at.
I agree that my system is overkill for someone on a budget. But I do care about that, I am person that if I see something that I want to buy: I usually buy 3 of that item.

Anyway, Overkill to me means that the inhabitants of my show tank are suffering in some way. I would definitely have to say that they get the best of the best.

As for the 400 watt metal halide question about growing something? I am growing something in there I have some SPS and LPS in there and I am focusing on promoting the Coralline algae Growth which is thriving in the 300 gallon sump.

My goal in the next year is to recreate a reef pond with all SPS.

 

[MMreef]

Welcome to our site.Great tank you have.

 

[jcarlilesiu]

Wow, that sounds like a great set up. Hope to see more pictures of the whole system. Good to have you here.

 

[lunacris]

very nice i love the overflows on the side instead of back wall dont think ive seen this great for looking thru tank

 

[Wayne Scott]

Filitration & Response

"very nice i love the overflows on the side instead of back wall dont think ive seen this great for looking thru tank"

Thanks for the compliment on the aquarium Lunacris.

When I decided to have a tank custom built:
I thought of what I wanted in this aquarium:

1) Starphire Glass on All Sides
2) Glass 1/2" thick or thicker
3) Be able to view from both sides with an unobstructed vied on the front and back side.
4) Overflows.

Then I realized the only way to accomplish this was to center the overflows in the inner side walls of the of the aquarium.

Here are some photos of the filtration system! These photos were taken about a month ago, a cleaned and organized the area since then.

I added about 400 lbs of rock since this photo. I broke down 2 of my setups, sold them and kept the rock!

 

[DanSreef]

I really like your tank. In fact I was giving a lot of consideration of starting a 120 - 150 SPS reef.... that would have overflows on the sides like that so I could build it into a wall. The thought was to be able to see it from my home office and the kitchen. The problem is that costs just got way out of control. The tank, the filtration....the stand and canopy would have been way too expensive.

You have one heck of a system!

 

[Wayne Scott]

Thanks for liking the aquarium. The costs got way of hand on this project, but win some lose some I guess.
I did everything that I could to not have to pay retail for anything in my system. The way that I created this system was quite an adventure. What you are looking at is 6 saltwater setups ranging from 56gal to 220gal that I purchased over the course of about 6 months. The cost of each system averaged ~$1,200.
I pieced out the systems and sold off what I did not have a use for. Each system that I acquired was purchased from private individuals. 5 of the 6 systems had a retail value ranging from $3500 to $10,000. Each system had something unique that I wanted, so I bought the entire system to get a discount rate and I knew that certain Items would sell quick, while others would take some time. I recouped all the money that I spent on these 6 systems.
My wife was pissed. But, she came to understand that I actually knew what I was doing and that all of the purchases were based off of reasonable calculated risks.
I am definitely not saying that I am breaking even with this hobby, my electric bill is $200 Higher every month, food, livestock & corals, new lights, salt mix, R/O filter replacements, media reactor replacements, supplements & additives, pump replacement parts, the costs associated with building a custom stand and much-much more….I would say that this year alone, I am looking at ($14,000) spent with no means of ever getting it back. And I am totally O.K. with that.
My goal is to create the ultimate reef, not the best one that is out there and not to compete against anyone else’s setups. I love the hobby and want to meet people who love the hobby too.
Regards,

Wayne

 

[EricTheRed]

LOL! My wife recently gave me the "greenlight" to get a small tank for my office (as a birthday present). At first i was looking at pico's then nano's and then 125's. I finally settled on a 75. I could see the look in her eyes when i told her i was getting another big tank. However, like you, I bought a used complete system from a guy. It needed some work but I was able to sell off what I didn't need and made all my money back on the initial purchase That's a good way of doing it!

 

[DanSreef]

Eric and I also tell our wives we don't spend more than $5-$10 on a piece of coral..... If they knew the truth....

Wayne I also like your approach. Of course patience is a virtue that was not necessaily bestowed on me... I am looking forward to seeing more of your tank!