JonezNReef's 180gal build

JonezNReef · 03/11/2016, 09:59 PM

Hello all,
I'm new to writing threads but thought I would give it a go. I have been in the hobby now for about 4 years. I have had a few tanks over the years including a 10 gallon nano, a 36 gallon bowfront and currently have a 65 gallon and a 40 gallon breeder that have been up for most of those years too. Both the 65 and 40 were in wall tanks that I have now moved to make way for my "new to me 180 gallon tank"! I picked it up for super cheap and have since resealed it and polished out some scratches which was a long drawn out process but worth it so far. I am a huge DIY guy that is reefing on a budget so I won't have all the bells and whistles most do but I love to make things and I am very hands on with my tanks. That said I am currently cutting the holes in my wall to make one big hole for my tank and working on a foam and dry rock wall to cover my single overflow which I wasn't too thrilled with but I can make it work( single overflow that is). I am also in the process of building a LED fixture for it since I built the ones currenly over both my other tanks. Once I get those done and going I will start making a protein skimmer too which will be my 2.0 edition since my first one was a success but too small for this build. I will get some pictures when I can since I lost a lot of pics of my old set up before I moved it and I also cracked my 65 when I was moved moving it but with a little silicone it's back up and keeping things alive. I will post some picture tomorrow.

JonezNReef · 03/12/2016, 08:10 PM

Ok so today I cut my wall out and made room for the 180gal. Tomorrow I will build the frame of all goes well.image.jpg

JonezNReef · 03/12/2016, 08:13 PM

Well that's how it was set up for the 65 and 40...for some reason it's upside down but here is how it looks nowimage.jpg

JonezNReef · 03/12/2016, 11:48 PM

Some of my LEDs are in and now I'm just waiting on the rest of the royal Blues to show up and then I will be able to light up the tank.
The LED fixture I am making isn't using a traditional heat sink but rather a 6 foot floresent reflector. It will have 36 3w Cree Royal Blues, 6 Cree Cool blues, 5 Bridgelux Cool Blues, 5 Bridgelux Deep Red, and 5 Turques Bridgelux LEDs being pushed by 4 Invertronic 42w CC Driversimage.jpg

JonezNReef · 03/16/2016, 07:47 PM

So I haven't had a chance to fix the wall and frame it yet. But I did finish my foam wall in front of the overflow and also got to see how my "argacrete" rock would look. It will be better when I put the live rock in there but first I have to wait on the silicone to cure. Also the rest of my LEDs should be here tomorrow and I am also getting the glass for my sump and then the fun begins.image.jpg

JonezNReef · 03/16/2016, 07:50 PM

image.jpg

JonezNReef · 03/16/2016, 07:53 PM

image.jpg

ForeverNoob · 03/16/2016, 07:55 PM

Looking cool! I have always liked the idea of an in-the-wall tank, but have not had the opportunity to do it.

Are your lights DIY?

JonezNReef · 03/17/2016, 06:48 AM

Yea Ive always liked an in wall tank a lot myself. When I changed my garage into the master bedroom my wife let me make part of the room into a fish room to get all my tanks from around the house in one area.

And yes the LEDs will be another DIY project. It will have less LEDs than what most people deem necessary but I have made a couple of other fixture with less and they have worked well over the years. But of course this tanks a little bigger than my 65 gallon but if it needs more then I can add to it later on.

ForeverNoob · 03/17/2016, 11:05 AM

Looks great, will follow along!

JonezNReef · 03/19/2016, 08:49 PM

Not too much has changed with th tank. I did get the overflow pipe drains installed. I'm going with the bean method since the tank was already drilled with three 1" holes and one 3/4inch hole which will be used as a return. This works for me because I like the idea of a dry safety drain for my safety drain. I also built my sump. I took a 40B and split it up so the the water drains into the back left section flows over to the right section which will be a fug and then flow to the right front section which will be the return section. I went wit his design because th DT is drilled all on one side with one overflow with the return coming up the overflow. image.jpg I also am going to include and emergency drain for the sump because I have witnessed the gallons upon gallons of water everywhere before and I want my fail safes to have fail safes. Lol

JonezNReef · 03/19/2016, 10:05 PM

image.jpg
This is the back side of the rock you see on the left side of the DT. I might put a small pump in side to keep it from collecting to much crap.
On a different note my LEDs are lost in the land of postal shipping

So that puts that project on hold until it gets resolved. But in the mean time I can wire what I do have and get the mounting cables put up. I will be hanging the lights on cables with pulleys so I can just pull the cables and get into the tank easier.

JonezNReef · 03/26/2016, 08:29 PM

I got to do my water test today which is the first time I have got to really run water in it since I resealed it and moved it into place. Also this is the first time I got to check out the sump since I put it together. My work has been crazy for me as far as hours and so I haven't got to do a fraction of what I wanted. But I should have the lights built and over the tank this week. I am hoping to get the tank drained and refilled with saltwater by next weekend so I can get it cycling.

image.jpg

JonezNReef · 04/17/2016, 09:08 PM

So work hasn't eased up yet. I haven't finished my lights yet. But I did get the tank filled and running and the cycling process has begun. Also started re wiring the fish room and put the whole room on its own breaker. Should have all of the wiring done by the weekend. I am hoping to also get my lghts finished and up this weekend also. Just depends on how this week goes!

JonezNReef · 04/23/2016, 10:53 PM

Ok so the tank is cycling still which feels like it has been forever! But on a plus side my lights are now 90% done!

Tomorrow I hope to finish up running the new breaker and electricity. Then everything will have its own switch and plug in the fish room.
Here was what the lights looked like when I got to test them
image.jpg

JonezNReef · 04/23/2016, 10:57 PM

Here they are with blues turned all the way up. The fixture is sitting on top of the tank just for a quick test so there are a lot of shadows and dark areas
image.jpg

I will update with a picture of the fixture when I get the lights hung above the tank

JonezNReef · 04/26/2016, 01:36 PM

Here is a picture of the lights finally above the tank.
image.jpg

JonezNReef · 04/26/2016, 01:40 PM

The lights are hung on pulleys for easy access into the tank. Here is a picture of the lights pulled up

image.jpg

JonezNReef · 04/26/2016, 01:44 PM

And here is a picture of the LEDs.

image.jpg

andrek787 · 04/28/2016, 12:45 PM

JonezNReef, seems like 58 x 3W leds is on low side in terms of power for a big 180 gallon tank. Is this going to be a fowler?

JonezNReef · 04/28/2016, 02:37 PM

No it wont be fowlr, it will be a mix reef, mostly LPS with some monti's and maybe a acro or so. I have ran 16x3w LEDs over my 40gal and 32x3w over my 65gal for years now and havent had any issues with it. I do plan on adding 2 or so more channels in the future but this will be it for a little while. I know its on the way low side but if it needs more I have plenty of room to add. We will just have to see how it goes.

andrek787 · 04/28/2016, 04:17 PM

Cool. My old mixed reef did well with just 1.5w/gallon. I like the led colors you chose, similar to what Pacific Sun uses in their fixtures minus the Amber LEDs. Is it a typo or do you not have any white LEDs?

JonezNReef · 04/29/2016, 08:04 AM

No typo. I tried the white LED's when I made my first fixture and about 6 months into it that channel shorted out. I was going to fix it but after a month or so I noticed that the coral was still happy and growing so I just left it. The Deep Red, Turquoise, and Royal Blue combo give the Ocean White look that some pucks out there offer. Plus I personally like a bluer look but if my corals don't seem to like it when I transfer them over then I will modify accordingly.

JonezNReef · 05/16/2016, 02:57 PM

Ok so a little update. After andrek787 saying something about the LED's and also after looking at the tank for a month with really blue lights I decided to add another channel of LED's.
I added 6- 3w Natural White, 4- 3w Deep Red, and 4- 3w Turquoise powered with a Invertonics 42w 700mA CC Driver. Did this to make a more complete spectrum and to take away from the over powering blue color. I am running this new channel turned down over half way with the rest of the channels at almost full power and it looks a lot better.

As for the tank it has finished its nitrogen cycle and is now to the extremely ugly algae faze. I have been vacuuming it out every other day or so and doing water changes here and there to keep it some what at bay and will be ordering my CUC soon. I also fragged off a few pieces of coral to see how they would hold up in the new tank and so far they haven't died and have been opening up everyday. Once the ugly algae is at bay and the rocks start covering in coralline algae then I will move more of my rock from my 65g and 40gb over to it and then soon after that I can start introducing the fish to there new home. Then I can get my cracked 65g taken down and move my 40gb over and make it the new frag tank one day.
But for now I will leave the 65g going with the fish and a few coral in it and leave the 40gb up and going for my clown fish and Seabae and other corals. Ive had the anemone for over 3 years now and don't want to stress it out any more than it already has been from when I moved the tanks from the living room to the fish room. Took 2 months for the Seabae to get its color back after that move. So that will stay its home until the 180 has matured completly. But almost everything else as far as fish and coral will be moved once I get the rock moved over and I am sure that all the die off on them is finished.
But slowly progress is being made. I should have the skimmer up and going soon too if all goes well. I will get some pics up tonight after work of the LED fixture and the tank so far.

andrek787 · 05/16/2016, 04:43 PM

I would love to see a pic of what the tank looks like with the new channel added.

03/11/2016, 09:59 PM	#1
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	JonezNReef's 180gal build Hello all, I'm new to writing threads but thought I would give it a go. I have been in the hobby now for about 4 years. I have had a few tanks over the years including a 10 gallon nano, a 36 gallon bowfront and currently have a 65 gallon and a 40 gallon breeder that have been up for most of those years too. Both the 65 and 40 were in wall tanks that I have now moved to make way for my "new to me 180 gallon tank"! I picked it up for super cheap and have since resealed it and polished out some scratches which was a long drawn out process but worth it so far. I am a huge DIY guy that is reefing on a budget so I won't have all the bells and whistles most do but I love to make things and I am very hands on with my tanks. That said I am currently cutting the holes in my wall to make one big hole for my tank and working on a foam and dry rock wall to cover my single overflow which I wasn't too thrilled with but I can make it work( single overflow that is). I am also in the process of building a LED fixture for it since I built the ones currenly over both my other tanks. Once I get those done and going I will start making a protein skimmer too which will be my 2.0 edition since my first one was a success but too small for this build. I will get some pictures when I can since I lost a lot of pics of my old set up before I moved it and I also cracked my 65 when I was moved moving it but with a little silicone it's back up and keeping things alive. I will post some picture tomorrow.

03/16/2016, 07:47 PM	#5
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	So I haven't had a chance to fix the wall and frame it yet. But I did finish my foam wall in front of the overflow and also got to see how my "argacrete" rock would look. It will be better when I put the live rock in there but first I have to wait on the silicone to cure. Also the rest of my LEDs should be here tomorrow and I am also getting the glass for my sump and then the fun begins.image.jpg Last edited by JonezNReef; 03/16/2016 at 08:07 PM.

04/28/2016, 12:45 PM	#20
andrek787 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 378	JonezNReef, seems like 58 x 3W leds is on low side in terms of power for a big 180 gallon tank. Is this going to be a fowler? __________________ SCA starphire 150 gallon, custom Advanced Acrylics 50g sump, 3 x Hydra52 Hybrids, 2 x Gyre xf-150, 2 x Kessil A150 6700k fuge lights, ATI 250is Skimmer, Skimz RR-153 bio-pellet, Kore 5th Doser

04/28/2016, 04:17 PM	#22
andrek787 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 378	Cool. My old mixed reef did well with just 1.5w/gallon. I like the led colors you chose, similar to what Pacific Sun uses in their fixtures minus the Amber LEDs. Is it a typo or do you not have any white LEDs? __________________ SCA starphire 150 gallon, custom Advanced Acrylics 50g sump, 3 x Hydra52 Hybrids, 2 x Gyre xf-150, 2 x Kessil A150 6700k fuge lights, ATI 250is Skimmer, Skimz RR-153 bio-pellet, Kore 5th Doser

05/16/2016, 04:43 PM	#25
andrek787 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 378	I would love to see a pic of what the tank looks like with the new channel added. __________________ SCA starphire 150 gallon, custom Advanced Acrylics 50g sump, 3 x Hydra52 Hybrids, 2 x Gyre xf-150, 2 x Kessil A150 6700k fuge lights, ATI 250is Skimmer, Skimz RR-153 bio-pellet, Kore 5th Doser

03/12/2016, 08:10 PM	#2
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	Ok so today I cut my wall out and made room for the 180gal. Tomorrow I will build the frame of all goes well.image.jpg

03/12/2016, 08:13 PM	#3
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	Well that's how it was set up for the 65 and 40...for some reason it's upside down but here is how it looks nowimage.jpg

03/12/2016, 11:48 PM	#4
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	Some of my LEDs are in and now I'm just waiting on the rest of the royal Blues to show up and then I will be able to light up the tank. The LED fixture I am making isn't using a traditional heat sink but rather a 6 foot floresent reflector. It will have 36 3w Cree Royal Blues, 6 Cree Cool blues, 5 Bridgelux Cool Blues, 5 Bridgelux Deep Red, and 5 Turques Bridgelux LEDs being pushed by 4 Invertronic 42w CC Driversimage.jpg

03/16/2016, 07:50 PM	#6
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	image.jpg

03/16/2016, 07:53 PM	#7
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	image.jpg

03/16/2016, 07:55 PM	#8
ForeverNoob Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 75	Looking cool! I have always liked the idea of an in-the-wall tank, but have not had the opportunity to do it. Are your lights DIY?

03/17/2016, 06:48 AM	#9
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	Yea Ive always liked an in wall tank a lot myself. When I changed my garage into the master bedroom my wife let me make part of the room into a fish room to get all my tanks from around the house in one area. And yes the LEDs will be another DIY project. It will have less LEDs than what most people deem necessary but I have made a couple of other fixture with less and they have worked well over the years. But of course this tanks a little bigger than my 65 gallon but if it needs more then I can add to it later on.

03/17/2016, 11:05 AM	#10
ForeverNoob Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 75	Looks great, will follow along!

03/19/2016, 08:49 PM	#11
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	Not too much has changed with th tank. I did get the overflow pipe drains installed. I'm going with the bean method since the tank was already drilled with three 1" holes and one 3/4inch hole which will be used as a return. This works for me because I like the idea of a dry safety drain for my safety drain. I also built my sump. I took a 40B and split it up so the the water drains into the back left section flows over to the right section which will be a fug and then flow to the right front section which will be the return section. I went wit his design because th DT is drilled all on one side with one overflow with the return coming up the overflow. image.jpg I also am going to include and emergency drain for the sump because I have witnessed the gallons upon gallons of water everywhere before and I want my fail safes to have fail safes. Lol

03/19/2016, 10:05 PM	#12
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	image.jpg This is the back side of the rock you see on the left side of the DT. I might put a small pump in side to keep it from collecting to much crap. On a different note my LEDs are lost in the land of postal shipping So that puts that project on hold until it gets resolved. But in the mean time I can wire what I do have and get the mounting cables put up. I will be hanging the lights on cables with pulleys so I can just pull the cables and get into the tank easier.

03/26/2016, 08:29 PM	#13
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	I got to do my water test today which is the first time I have got to really run water in it since I resealed it and moved it into place. Also this is the first time I got to check out the sump since I put it together. My work has been crazy for me as far as hours and so I haven't got to do a fraction of what I wanted. But I should have the lights built and over the tank this week. I am hoping to get the tank drained and refilled with saltwater by next weekend so I can get it cycling. image.jpg

04/17/2016, 09:08 PM	#14
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	So work hasn't eased up yet. I haven't finished my lights yet. But I did get the tank filled and running and the cycling process has begun. Also started re wiring the fish room and put the whole room on its own breaker. Should have all of the wiring done by the weekend. I am hoping to also get my lghts finished and up this weekend also. Just depends on how this week goes!

04/23/2016, 10:53 PM	#15
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	Ok so the tank is cycling still which feels like it has been forever! But on a plus side my lights are now 90% done! Tomorrow I hope to finish up running the new breaker and electricity. Then everything will have its own switch and plug in the fish room. Here was what the lights looked like when I got to test them image.jpg

04/23/2016, 10:57 PM	#16
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	Here they are with blues turned all the way up. The fixture is sitting on top of the tank just for a quick test so there are a lot of shadows and dark areas image.jpg I will update with a picture of the fixture when I get the lights hung above the tank

04/26/2016, 01:36 PM	#17
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	Here is a picture of the lights finally above the tank. image.jpg

04/26/2016, 01:40 PM	#18
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	The lights are hung on pulleys for easy access into the tank. Here is a picture of the lights pulled up image.jpg

04/26/2016, 01:44 PM	#19
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	And here is a picture of the LEDs. image.jpg

04/28/2016, 02:37 PM	#21
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	No it wont be fowlr, it will be a mix reef, mostly LPS with some monti's and maybe a acro or so. I have ran 16x3w LEDs over my 40gal and 32x3w over my 65gal for years now and havent had any issues with it. I do plan on adding 2 or so more channels in the future but this will be it for a little while. I know its on the way low side but if it needs more I have plenty of room to add. We will just have to see how it goes.

04/29/2016, 08:04 AM	#23
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	No typo. I tried the white LED's when I made my first fixture and about 6 months into it that channel shorted out. I was going to fix it but after a month or so I noticed that the coral was still happy and growing so I just left it. The Deep Red, Turquoise, and Royal Blue combo give the Ocean White look that some pucks out there offer. Plus I personally like a bluer look but if my corals don't seem to like it when I transfer them over then I will modify accordingly.

05/16/2016, 02:57 PM	#24
JonezNReef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Florida Posts: 782	Ok so a little update. After andrek787 saying something about the LED's and also after looking at the tank for a month with really blue lights I decided to add another channel of LED's. I added 6- 3w Natural White, 4- 3w Deep Red, and 4- 3w Turquoise powered with a Invertonics 42w 700mA CC Driver. Did this to make a more complete spectrum and to take away from the over powering blue color. I am running this new channel turned down over half way with the rest of the channels at almost full power and it looks a lot better. As for the tank it has finished its nitrogen cycle and is now to the extremely ugly algae faze. I have been vacuuming it out every other day or so and doing water changes here and there to keep it some what at bay and will be ordering my CUC soon. I also fragged off a few pieces of coral to see how they would hold up in the new tank and so far they haven't died and have been opening up everyday. Once the ugly algae is at bay and the rocks start covering in coralline algae then I will move more of my rock from my 65g and 40gb over to it and then soon after that I can start introducing the fish to there new home. Then I can get my cracked 65g taken down and move my 40gb over and make it the new frag tank one day. But for now I will leave the 65g going with the fish and a few coral in it and leave the 40gb up and going for my clown fish and Seabae and other corals. Ive had the anemone for over 3 years now and don't want to stress it out any more than it already has been from when I moved the tanks from the living room to the fish room. Took 2 months for the Seabae to get its color back after that move. So that will stay its home until the 180 has matured completly. But almost everything else as far as fish and coral will be moved once I get the rock moved over and I am sure that all the die off on them is finished. But slowly progress is being made. I should have the skimmer up and going soon too if all goes well. I will get some pics up tonight after work of the LED fixture and the tank so far.