250g Reef - Build Thread

zportell

zportell

Member
Hi everyone,
I've decided to develop my 250 gallon build thread to help me keep control of what all has happened, happening, and what could happen in the future. So this past Christmas, my wife and I decided to build out our basement. We added approximately 800 square feet of space and within that area, I was lucky enough to incorporate a fish room! By no means is the fish room big, but it has certainly served it's purpose. The room is about 8-feet wide by 7-feet deep. Perfect size for what I wanted to do. I decided to I wanted my new tank to be an in-wall build. The tank I chose is a Marineland Deep-Dimension 250. This tank is nothing shy of 250 gallon and it has a footprint of 5-feet wide x 3-feet deep. It's height stands in at 27-inches tall. Dry, this beast weighs around 350 pounds. It took 4 grown men to lift it into the Odyssey to drive it home and then because the Odyssey leans forward, it took 5 grown men to carry it out and into the house. The tank is stellar. I have no complaints what-so-ever. The front of the tank is Starphire glass. It was designed with 2 corner overflows and returns that are seemingly quiet. Besides a "whistle" from the overflow every now and then, I've managed to keep the tank as silent as possible. I could continue to talk about this build or I could just show pictures. I think i will opt for pictures. Enjoy!!

The overall design of the basement that includes the tank and fish room.

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After the studs are in place, the room is becoming more distinguished!

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A view from inside the fish room. This is where I will have access to the entire system.

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The next two pictures really allowed me to visualize just how big this tank really is. That is my 3-year old son sitting on the tank's stand!

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After two days of trying to figure out the exact route to get the tank downstairs, we managed to get bring it down without injury or loss of fingers / toes. The result is my son sitting in the tank to show it's true size.

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Adding the finishing touches to the trim around the outside of the tank. The black rim around the tank really helped out and played a key part in being able to add the trim to the casing. We actually caulked the trim directly onto the tank and siliconed it from the inside to prevent any splashing to come through the front of the tank. The front of this tank will forever be dry.

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After adding approximately 280 gallons of RODI water out of a 75gpd RODI system, I was able to mix in the salt! Progress!! The light is a single MH grow light that is mounted up high just so I can see inside of the tank. At this point, I was really hoping that my current t-5 / LED fixture would be large enough to get rid of the shadow. There was some worry at this stage of the build as I didn't have the cash flow to replace the light or add another.

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After several days of waiting for the salt to mix in and for my heaters to arrive (There are 3x 300w - 900w heating this tank), I was able to transfer everything from existing 100g reef from upstairs. This was the part my wife was waiting for as she wanted her kitchen back! I think this was a fair trade - 250g for a kitchen! Notice the shadow. I was still worried that my light from the 100g would be strong enough to dissipate the shadow from the center brace. Nothing like seeing a $700 shadow in the middle of your new system.

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After looking at the shadow for a couple of hours, It was around midnight when I decided to swap the light. Out went the Metal Halide and in went the T5/LED combo light. I am excited with the outcome as it allowed me to have semi-shaded areas on the perimeter of the tank and a really nice amount of light in the center. My light is 36-inches in length and I think it spreads very nicely over the new 250 gallon display.

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As for the fish room, those pictures will come soon.
 
zportell

zportell

Member
Ryandragon said:
are you going to keep corals?
Click to expand...
Yes. I have about 26 different species in the tank right now. Most are LPS. Not sure if I'm going to get heavy into SPS just yet. We'll see as time goes on. Had a hard time with SPS in the previous 100 gallon.
 
zportell

zportell

Member
Ryandragon said:
they are doing well with only the 3 feet T5 and led combo ?
Click to expand...
Yes. All of my coral that require high lighting are directly under the light. Those that don't need high light are the ones I've chosen to be on the perimeter of the tank. Most of my corals are LPS. Since moving everything to the bigger tank, I've already noticed bigger polyp extension and brighter, more vibrant colors. My RBTAs were a little bleached in my 100. Even though they didn't move from their spot, I think they were getting to much light. Now they are deep, vibrant red!





 
zportell

zportell

Member
It's still a work in progress, but here are a few shots of the backside of the tank and the fish room. I've installed counter tops that allow for testing and any other maintenance that will need to be done in the tank. Including allowing space for quarantine systems for new live stock. I've also included a picture that shows the back of the tank which allows you to see the plumbing of the system.

The plumbing allows for easy water changes as I don't have to lift a single bucket. On the right side drain, I've included a "T" that I can open which will drain the tank directly into the floor stain and straight into the injector pump for the house. No buckets needed to remove old saltwater. Once the appropriate amount is drained, I then closer the T and then refill using the containers on the bottom left of the tank. The blue is for RODI, purple for salt mixture.

Since I constantly maintain this tank on a fault basis, I have yet to really see the need for auto dosing mechanisms. I dose everything manually. The control box mounted in the middle is for my wave makers. I use the Coralife DC 5800 wave maker. Soon I will be adding another set just so I get more random flow and I don't have to then run the pumps at full capacity.

There are 3 heaters in this tank. All of the are 300 watts. I have placed them throughout different tank locations. There are 2, 300 watt heater in the overflows and the third I paved in the sump. This will allow for even heart distribution throughout the tank and it also help free up space in the sump.

Above the tank is the light and Rodi system. The light is a T5/LED combo, 36 inch fixture. It is on for approximately 10 hours a day representing sun up to sun down. The Rodi is a 75 gallon per day unit that is connected to a child water pipe specifically installed for the unit. The water is directed to the blue reservoir while the waste is directed to the drain that leads to the injector pump. Again, no buckets required. For a small room, there is a lot that goes on to keeping this tank growing.

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Sawdonkey

Sawdonkey

Premium member
zportell said:
I have placed them throughout different tank locations. There are 2, 300 watt heater in the overflows and the third I paved in the sump. This will allow for even heart distribution throughout the tank and it also help free up space in the sump.
Click to expand...
I don't know why I never thought of putting a heater in my overflow. This makes a ton of sense. Tomorrow I'm putting my second heater in my overflow and putting my temp probe in the other overflow. This way, if my return pump were to ever fail, I'd still get heat to my DT (I assume there'd be some heat transfer through the overflow). Thanks for the idea.

Really nice looking build. I'm jealous of the fish room and the fact that you don't have to cart around buckets. Nice work.
 
zportell

zportell

Member
I didn't have the idea of putting the heaters in my overflow until I purchased this tank. I realized "there is a lot of room in the overflows". So to utilize it, I've included a heater in each one, the temp probe and I just added a grounding probe.

I currently have the following electrical devices in the system:
1 x mag18
1 x maxijet 1200
3 x 300w heaters
2 x coralife 2600 gph wavemaker powerheads
1 x Sicce skimmer pump

All in all, after unplugging every piece one by one, I couldn't get rid of the stray voltage. After speaking with several people, it seems that the tank has a lot of watts running through it which could cause this problem. To rectify the issue and to keep my fish from getting HLLE, i've elected to use a titanium grounding probe. The probe simply mounts onto a suction cup and is placed in the water. The end of the grounding probe gets plugged into an outlet. Since the Hot and Negative prongs on this grounding plug are made of rubber/plastic, all that is used is the metal ground plug. (3rd prong on a plug). The ground goes into the outlet, the outlet is grounded to the electrical switch box, and the switch box is grounded outside. All in all, after putting my finger back in the water, I don't feel anything. I can only assume the fish felt an instant relief. No more "Mr Shocker"!
 
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zportell

zportell

Member
Aiptasia has entered my tank... I am guessing there were some on the rocks when I transferred them from the 100g into the 250g. I know they produce spores and then they go all over. So before it has become an outbreak, I am managing to nip this in the bud before it grows into a epidemic. My choice of termination is using Julians Thing Tool with Aiptasia X.

I attacked these creatures earlier today as described on the instructions. This was my first time using the product and I must say, it has worked a lot. I think i've managed to get rid of the clusters in the tank. I've noticed a couple that I missed. However, as per the instructions on the box, I have to wait 24-hours before "dosing" again. In the mean time, I've added yet another character to reef. Today I picked a wee little Paracanthurus hepatus (blue hippo). He is about 2.5-inches. Looked a decent size at Reefwise. By no means a show size, but compared to the other companions in his fish apartment, he was one of the bigger ones in the tank. Now that wee man is in my reef, I have a hard time finding him! he's so small!!! He instantly tried to make a friend with my yellow tang. Lucky for me, they bonded quickly. So to give a livestock update, the following critters are in my reef system.

Yellow Tang x 1
Blue Hippo Tang x 1
Lyretail Anthia (m) x 1
Flame Hawk x 1
Flame Angel x 1
Mated Pair Occ Clowns
Peppermint Shrimp x 1
Hermit Crabs x handful
Assorted Snails x handful
 
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