Matt's 225g Custom Build

[mattr777]

So a few of you have been asking for a build thread so here it is. I am upgrading from a basic 90g marineland tank. As many of you know I have been working on this for a few weeks now and its coming along pretty well. I am however going to start this thread from the beginning so I can share with you guys the steps I took along the way. Feel free to ask questions and provide feedback. Hope you enjoy.
The tank itself is 225g, 72x30x24 starphire glass, custom built by Exotic Aquariums in Miami. It has an external overflow, the back glass is cut out for the overflow with acrylic glued to the glass for basically an invisible overflow. I wanted minimal loss of space inside the tank so I went with this design. I plan on doing a bean animal overflow. The external overflow box is 24" wide. I also added black starboard on the bottom of the tank cut to fit inside the bracing. The stand is 2" structural aluminum powder coated flat back and made by a local welder name Doug. You can PM if you want his info. Both Karen and Bob at Exotic and Doug did an amazing job and I highly recommend them.
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[mattr777]

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[nivram]

Awesome to see you creating a build thread Matt. I didn't think you'd make it over here.

[mattr777]

One of the things that annoyed me with my previous tank was water leaking in the stand than onto the floor. Sometimes caused by general maintenance and a few times when I was out of town and the skimmer or something would overflow. So for this build I decided to waterproof the inside of the stand. I cut plywood to fit for the bottom and 1x3 around the edges. I painted these with whit silicone waterproof roofing paint. I also sealed all the inside edges with silicone to completely waterproof it. The stand itself will hold about 15 gallons of water in case of emergency then I can just shop vac it out and save my floors.

[mrx66699]

Looking nice Matt

[alex07]

Nice!!!

[mattr777]

Originally Posted by nivram

Awesome to see you creating a build thread Matt. I didn't think you'd make it over here.

Always planned to do one just short on time lately. Hopefully I can get caught up this week.

[jonnyu]

Nice tank. Will be following this one for sure

[Deep Reef]

Great tank, following along

[Stylo328]

Great looking tank. The dimensions are awesome and the external overflow will really make a difference with the aquascaping. Our tank is 60x30x24 with an internal overflow and it really gets in the way.

Really like the tray at the bottom of the stand. Wish I would have done something like that.

[AquamanE]

Redmond is on here!!!! WhoooHooo- Much better place to teach and learn bud!!!

Following for sure!!!!

I bought my tank used and the person I bought it from did an acrylic tray the full length of the bottom. It will likely accept 10 gallons or so. Its a good idea.

[props4you]

Awesome !!

I'm taking notes !!


Thank you again Matt for sharing !!

Maria

[rovster]

Awesome start! I'm legitimately jealous! Want to trade tanks? Haha

[mattr777]

Thanks everyone. So now some of the good stuff. The equipment I chose. It's been like Christmas everyday here. My wife doesn't quite think it's fair though. Lol. I looked and researched quite a few different sumps. After speaking with David (I think that was his name) at Trigger Systems I decided to have them build me a custom sump. It was built off of their Emerald line sump with some modifications. For starters I wanted white and not the neon Emerald color plus I needed modifications for the three drain lines needed for the bean animal overflow I planned on using. They did a great job.

[Stylo328]

Sump looks beautiful. Congratulations.

[mattr777]

For plumbing I went with black, red, and white. Got the colored PVC from BRS and Aquarium Speciality. True Union ball valves, gate valves and plenty of true unions.

[mattr777]

This tank will be primarily SPS so for lighting I went with a 60" ATI 8 bulb fixture. I also got 2-60" Reefbrites tech blue LEDs for supplemental lighting. This light is a beast.

[mattr777]

Skimmer is a Reef Life Support Systems DC 8, return pump is a Waveline DC-12000. I am trying to have as much control along with a dead silent tank so I went with all DC pumps.

[mattr777]

I was back and forth with a calcium reactor and two part and decided to stick with two part dosing for now. It's what I know and enough new challenges ahead. So for dosing I went with the new GHL Doser 2, and got some vertex dosing containers to match. I also went with two vertex reactors for carbon and GFO.

[mattr777]

[Stylo328]

Quick word of advice. Having been through three Reef Octopus Diablo DC pumps and now on a Jebao, get a backup. First two that went were bad pumps. Third was the power inverter.

Great looking equipment. Mirrors my tank almost exactly. ATI, Reef Brite, DC pumps, etc...

[mattr777]

Originally Posted by Stylo328

Quick word of advice. Having been through three Reef Octopus Diablo DC pumps and now on a Jebao, get a backup. First two that went were bad pumps. Third was the power inverter.

Great looking equipment. Mirrors my tank almost exactly. ATI, Reef Brite, DC pumps, etc...

Thanks for the advice. I will get a backup.

[thedragon]

Nice looking build

[Ryanaquarium]

Nice setup love the ati i was going to get ati but i went with metal halides and reefbrites as suplemental due to i hate replacing bulbs every 8 months but the color t5 gives is amazing

[mattr777]

I hate replacing those too especially 8-60" bulbs. Going to add up. I considered halides but I am trying to keep the heat down as much as possible but still get good growth. I want to avoid getting a chiller. Part of the reason I went with the DC pumps as well.

Originally Posted by Ryanaquarium

Nice setup love the ati i was going to get ati but i went with metal halides and reefbrites as suplemental due to i hate replacing bulbs every 8 months but the color t5 gives is amazing