205G Tank Build

[Fish4Me2]

Aleonn - a leak in a 180 is awful. That sucks. What have you done with your livestock? My last tank was a 180, and it was a great size and shape, but I couldn't have anything quite as tall in our new house. I got to "compromise" by going for greater depth! I love the footprint so far.

I'm really happy with the finished product from Lee Mar, and with the great help I got from them on delivery day. The communication in between ordering and getting the tank was a bit spotty. I wanted to confirm the exact location of the bulkhead holes, and I didn't get a solid answer from them. I purchased through Amazing Aquariums and Reefs in orange, and with the tank here in place, I have no regrets.

[Fish4Me2]

I thought I'd share some pictures of the rock structure, now that it's in place. Please excuse my inexpert pictures. I have no software on this computer to correct the color. Overall I'm happy with the front view, but will probably continue to play with the left most island.

Front view:


Side view


Left side view:


At the moment, the rock is sitting on plastic cutting boards. Those will be replaced with sand colored starboard when it arrives.

[Metal Man 1221]

Well when I have money to burn, Ill have to try and get the equipment to "redefine" my aquascape

[Fish4Me2]

The best thing about this aquascape is that the fiberglass rods were less than $10 total from McMaster-Carr, and the drill bit was less than $15. So total cost was under $25, and for the first time ever, I'm not worried about tipping my rocks off each time I place a coral.

[Fish4Me2]

Sadly, I have no pictures from this weekend's work, but I did manage to build a platform for my skimmer and get it running, and get my ATO up and working. The skimmer has already pulled out several cups of brown ick, despite having "cooked" the rocks for weeks.

I also now see pods on my glass, and the start of a diatom bloom, so I think the cycle is going, although ammonia is still barely detectable.

[Fish4Me2]

Going on the theory that a thread is nothing without pictures (and because someone wanted to know how to build a platform for their skimmer), here is my updated sump:


The white PVC pipe to the left of the skimmer keeps the ATO hose above the ATO water line, which stops the siphon. So far, so good.

[Metal Man 1221]

very nice so far. I like the clean plumbing, it makes a system look so much nicer.

I will also have to check out the acrylic rods. What type of bit did you use and where did you get it?

[Fish4Me2]

Originally Posted by Metal Man 1221

very nice so far. I like the clean plumbing, it makes a system look so much nicer.

I will also have to check out the acrylic rods. What type of bit did you use and where did you get it?

Sorry for the slow reply: work has been crazy and I haven't spent much time here. The bit I used was the Vermont American brand they had at Home Depot. This isn't the exact size, but it's close: http://www.homedepot.com/Vermont-Ame...atalogId=10053

For the rod, I purchased both acrylic and fiberglass, and the fiberglass worked MUCH better for this. I got that from McMaster Carr. If you search their online catalog for Fiberglass Rods, and then look under "Rods and Disks", you can find lots of options. A 10' length was less than $5. Probably the cheapest thing I've done for the tank!

[Fish4Me2]

With many thanks to my amazing dad, I now have all the plans together for the electrical. My goal is to have most of the electronics equipment on the "dry" side of the wall, and run wire from my EB8 on that side to individually controlled outlets on the "wet" side under the tank. Here's an overview shot of the plans for the "dry side", with more detail below:


All of the EB8/DC8 outlets will run from the EB/DC into the wireway, and then into conduit, through the junction box, and through the wall. Specifics of what's mounted on that side:


On the wet side, the wire coming through the lower part of the wall will break into two groups. On the left side of the tank there will be 16 outlets, controlling most of the under-tank equipment, like the skimmer pumps, reactors, etc. On the right side, there will be 8 outlets, plus the controller itself. This will be mounted outside of the tank on the wall, and I plan to cover it up with a cabinet to match the stand. Some of these outlets will be running to an always-on DJ power strip, that's covered by a UPS. The goal is to make sure I don't ever fry my Apex or Litermeter if there's a power surge.

Here's the left side of the tank:


Here's the right side:

[Fish4Me2]

We've already cut holes through the wall, so the goal is that by the end of the three day weekend, all the wiring will be done. I guess that means I should get off the computer and get started!

[Metal Man 1221]

The electrical plans look very good, cant wait to see it all installed.

[Fish4Me2]

Time for a bit of an update. Last weekend's electrical progress was slowed when our dishwasher decided it would rather be a multifunction machine, and started washing our wood floors along with our dishes. Despite that setback, some progress has been made.

After cutting holes through the wall both below the tank for the under-tank electrical, and above the tank for the lighting, I assembled the gang boxes for the left side outlets. I used 3/4" plywood to mount everything directly to the wall.


With that done, I then measured out the various wire runs, based on which outlet on the tank side would power each outlet on the utility room side. Power is split between a DB8, EB8, EB4, and a DJ power strip. My controllers and other sensitive equipment will be run on a DJ power strip off a UPS, to ensure that any fluctuations in power don't fry the controllers.

For ease of pulling the wire, we used 14 gauge stranded. I cut the wires, and then stripped and soldered the ends. With 16 outlets on the left side of the tank, my garage workstation was covered in wire!

[Fish4Me2]

Initially, I had all of the wires bundled with just painters tape at each end, to identify which outlet the bundle belonged with. This was my first attempt at pulling wire through conduit, and I discovered that the wires were able to tie themselves into mind-bending knots during the pulling process. With those knots, I couldn't get the wires all the way through.

Thus, I pulled them all back out, and used electrical tape to first bundle each triad of wire, and then each pair of triads going to the upper or lower outlets in the same gang box, and then each group of four in the same gang box, and finally each group of 8 sets going through the same 1" conduit run. After that, I pulled the one bundle through, and it worked out great. Here's a shot of the first 40 wires coming through the holes in the wall.


Back on the wet side, I was able to wire up the first 16 outlets. I will be replacing at least one of the white face plates with another wet environment cover.

[Fish4Me2]

On the utility side, I have the board where I'm mounting my electrical equipment. You can see the wires coming out of the junction box. I still need to put heat shrink tubing and plugs on them, and run the last 8 outlets to the right hand side of the tank.



Much work left to do, but at least there's progress!

[Fish4Me2]

More progress! All 24 outlets below the tank have been wired. This includes 16 outlets under the tank itself, and 8 outlets outside the tank. The board that contains those 8 will also have the controller mounted on it.

I still need to run ethernet, USB, and phone lines for the controller, and I still need to mount the EB8 and the other ballasts, but here's the "electrical panel":

[Metal Man 1221]

wow very very nice, I wish i had the time to make my wiring neat and clean looking

[Fish4Me2]

I'm a bit of a neat freak, and the tangle of cords and wires on past tanks has always bothered me. This took way too much time, but I've learned how to do something new, and I think the long term result will be worth it.

[Fish4Me2]

Next step: I have to get my fish into QT. I admit, I keep postponing this step. I'm really worried about loosing livestock that I've had for almost 5 years. But I know I have ich, and I don't want to move it to the new tank.

Someone please give me some words of wisdom on the most successful, low stress way to treat fish for ich. I'm thinking hypo, but I've read others who have performed hypo and weren't able to eradicate the ich. Maybe copper is the better way to go?

[Fish4Me2]

Well, today was supposed to be the day when I got the first two fish into QT in prep for the move to the big tank. Unfortunately, I think the stars are aligned against me on this one: the water main that feeds our house ruptured. Water has been gushing down the hill above our house for hours. The valve to shut the main off is busted, and the water Co can't find a crew with a backhoe to excavate our street and fix the leak. Instead of working on the QT, I've been trenching to keep our hillside from collapsing our retaining wall and filling our bedroom with mud.

Since no post is complete with out pictures, here's how things looked at our retaining wall right after the leak started. It's much worse now.

[Metal Man 1221]

that does not sound fun at all, good luck with everything

BTW I use life guard by IO for pre treatment on all fish, it works very well eradicating ich IME. Just make sure you dont add it with inverts, i dont think its as bad as copper but probably fairly close.

[Fish4Me2]

The countdown begins: T-minus 8 weeks until the tank gets fish! I added the first two fish to the QT during a pre-dawn raid on Sunday, and started the hypo today. It really is easier to catch fish when: a) they're sleeping and b) they're sleeping in PVC parts that you can just scoop up in a net.

Next project is building the light rack and figuring out how to hang it and how to cover it so it looks nice. That's the one part of this build I don't feel like I have any good ideas on. I want to be able to get in and service the tank, but the clearance I've got is very limited. The light reflectors will be almost touching the ceiling, so I can't raise them for service. There's a wall behind them, so I can't put them on tracks and slide them backward. In front of them is our living area, so I can't put tracks that will show on the ceiling to slide them forward. . . . .anyone have any ideas? I'm stumped!

[duncantse]

I love your minimalist aquascaping! So much open space for fish to swim

[Fish4Me2]

Thanks! My goal was to give the fish room and to hope that someday I'll have enough corals to grow out and need the room. With my tiny little frags, that may take a lifetime or two!

I also hope it will be easier to clean this way: open enough to have flow all the way around the rocks.

[Fish4Me2]

I learned a very important lesson in the last few days: when trying to raise the pH of RODI water for hyposalinity purposes, a tiny bit of baked baking soda will do the trick, and when trying to lower the pH (if one uses too much baked baking soda), it will take a lot of water to make a change, but then the change will be dramatic. I guess this demonstrates the power of a buffer?

What I'm really learning is that I need to stock up on pH test kits!

[sharkman121]

great work so far.. i soon will be encountering my 200 gallon build. I jus hope i have enough patience as u during this process. Patience is not one of my strong points sorry to say but fishkeeping has brought me a long way.

Cheers mate.