My first 180G Reef tank 5'x2'x2.5'

[hondas3000]

Hi everyone, just want blend in with the forum so I would like to introduce my first salt water setup ever. I use to keep fresh water and I push myself to the max with 1200 gallon plywood tank before I gave up the hobby due to my favorite fish die. Now I am back with fish keeping but want something different so I go with the reef. This 180G is my hospital tank for my fresh water and lucky I still keep it so mind as well use it. Also thanks to Anthony (aka Seahorse fatastic ) for helping me out and answer to all my question regarding the salt water setup and boy it sure is expensive :).


So here go, 180g acrylic with a build in cabinetry from the front entrance.
http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd340/hondas3000/IMAG0626_zpsypapchf7.jpg (http://s529.photobucket.com/user/hondas3000/media/IMAG0626_zpsypapchf7.jpg.html)

Inside stand I paint it white and have a layer of epoxy on it so in case water leak wont damage the stand as it is a build in unit and I have a 2x4 all across the bottom where sump fit so no water will leak out of the stand.
http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd340/hondas3000/IMAG0623_zpscolpdnza.jpg (http://s529.photobucket.com/user/hondas3000/media/IMAG0623_zpscolpdnza.jpg.html)


skimmer is Euro reef which come with the other setup that I bought but no motor so I go through and custom it like deltec skimmer with 2 pumps.
http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd340/hondas3000/IMAG0479_zps9i2urea0.jpg (http://s529.photobucket.com/user/hondas3000/media/IMAG0479_zps9i2urea0.jpg.html)

http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd340/hondas3000/IMAG0624_zps1licfl5n.jpg (http://s529.photobucket.com/user/hondas3000/media/IMAG0624_zps1licfl5n.jpg.html)

http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd340/hondas3000/IMAG0625_zpsqjlk8uag.jpg (http://s529.photobucket.com/user/hondas3000/media/IMAG0625_zpsqjlk8uag.jpg.html)


that's it for now more pics will follow.

[hondas3000]

This is my fresh water stock before I sell off and tear it down and turn it into a living space.
http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd340/hondas3000/PIC_0603_zps54b053d7.jpg (http://s529.photobucket.com/user/hondas3000/media/PIC_0603_zps54b053d7.jpg.html)

[Bblinks]

Nice freshwater tank! Man, that would've been awesome to see. I am glad you are back and welcome to the wonderful world of saltwater keeping. It will be even more expensive than you ever would have thought...not to deter you or anything..:mrgreen: our hobby sure is expensive but it's definitely worth the time, money, and effort. It's extremely rewarding to keep a piece of the ocean in my living space. I truly feel privileged. Soon you will too, I'll stay tuned to see the progress. Good luck and don't hestitate to ask any questions.

[gregzz4]

Keep the pics coming David
We all want to see your progress :smile:

Don't be shy to ask for help, we're all here to lend a hand.
And there are more of us close to you than you know :wink:

[Piscez]

Welcome, and good luck with your build! Well the first thing you did right was getting Anthony he is a source of valued knowledge without breaking the bank on methods and ways of making this hobby happen. As you will see the are many diverse systems and methods which is all part of the fun. Bonus is you didn't live too far from J&L!!! Many trips there in your future....

[hondas3000]

Nice freshwater tank! Man, that would've been awesome to see. I am glad you are back and welcome to the wonderful world of saltwater keeping. It will be even more expensive than you ever would have thought...not to deter you or anything..:mrgreen: our hobby sure is expensive but it's definitely worth the time, money, and effort. It's extremely rewarding to keep a piece of the ocean in my living space. I truly feel privileged. Soon you will too, I'll stay tuned to see the progress. Good luck and don't hestitate to ask any questions.

that fresh water tank save me a lot of money because I don't have to take my kid to vancouver aquarium :). I haven't tell my wife how much I already spend on this yet as I don't want to freak her out and put a stop working paper on the tank :)


Keep the pics coming David
We all want to see your progress :smile:

Don't be shy to ask for help, we're all here to lend a hand.
And there are more of us close to you than you know :wink:

thanks Greg, its been 3 months and that is what I get so far. Life just get too busy. I will have more good stuff coming.

Welcome, and good luck with your build! Well the first thing you did right was getting Anthony he is a source of valued knowledge without breaking the bank on methods and ways of making this hobby happen. As you will see the are many diverse systems and methods which is all part of the fun. Bonus is you didn't live too far from J&L!!! Many trips there in your future....

You sure right about Anthony as he help me every step. J&L sure get a lot of money from me already and more will come as they are too close.

[tang daddy]

Your large plywood tank, I vaguely remember looking at a massive free plywood tank with a friend that was picking it up awhile back in bby. This goes back 2 years ago but the thing was a beast.... Looking at your pics of where the drain on the bottom is I am sure it was the same tank lol.

Good luck on the new reef build, and nice skimmer mod!

[hondas3000]

Your large plywood tank, I vaguely remember looking at a massive free plywood tank with a friend that was picking it up awhile back in bby. This goes back 2 years ago but the thing was a beast.... Looking at your pics of where the drain on the bottom is I am sure it was the same tank lol.

Good luck on the new reef build, and nice skimmer mod!

Yeb that is the tank. Were you there to pick up? I love building stuff just don't like to break them apart so it easy for free.

[hondas3000]

Here is my temporary tank that I bought while I finish my build. As you can see I already over stocking it as there is so many good stuff out there.

http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd340/hondas3000/IMAG0637_zpss3lib0oo.jpg (http://s529.photobucket.com/user/hondas3000/media/IMAG0637_zpss3lib0oo.jpg.html)

[hondas3000]

I have a question see anyone can help me out. As I am running 120G right now with live rock, coral and fish. So my question is can I use new water for the new tank and I just do a quick dip on all live rock and coral and put in the 180G with new water? The new water will get temp and parameter match closely as the old one and will it be ok with the coral? just a cheap beginner coral.

So what I want to do is having the new setup all clean with no disease what so ever and everything going into the new setup will be quarantine as I will be using the 120G quarantine the fish once the coral and live rock is out, just not sure what else I can do to clean the live rock and coral.

[gregzz4]

Depends on how anal you want to be
Your question covers a lot of topics ...
And I see you've bought a lot of stuff lately ... where did it all come from ?

If you want to ensure that absolutely nothing 'bad' gets into your new system, then the answer is NO
If you don't plan on adding any fish to your 180 for the next 10 or 15 weeks, then apply this to the corals ...
A pic I saw of your's shows a yellow tang with a nasty pink mark on its side so I'll assume your fish need some clean water
And this alone would stop me from adding anything to my tank :surprise:

For corals;

If you want to take a chance, then you're perfectly fine rinsing your corals in a tub of tank water before you add them to your new 180

Using a dip and looking for 'stuff' that comes off is a good idea before adding to your new DT

For rock;
You'd have to wait a minimum of 72 days if you want to avoid Marine Ich. So, it depends on what you are trying to avoid ... :wink:

If I was you, I'd keep my stuff in QT for awhile longer ............

[hondas3000]

Depends on how anal you want to be
Your question covers a lot of topics ...
And I see you've bought a lot of stuff lately ... where did it all come from ?

If you want to ensure that absolutely nothing 'bad' gets into your new system, then the answer is NO
If you don't plan on adding any fish to your 180 for the next 10 or 15 weeks, then apply this to the corals ...
A pic I saw of your's shows a yellow tang with a nasty pink mark on its side so I'll assume your fish need some clean water
And this alone would stop me from adding anything to my tank :surprise:

For corals;

If you want to take a chance, then you're perfectly fine rinsing your corals in a tub of tank water before you add them to your new 180

Using a dip and looking for 'stuff' that comes off is a good idea before adding to your new DT

For rock;
You'd have to wait a minimum of 72 days if you want to avoid Marine Ich. So, it depends on what you are trying to avoid ... :wink:

If I was you, I'd keep my stuff in QT for awhile longer ............


Thanks Greg, I am not adding any more fish or coral for now until new tank is up and running as I have no more room :). I am only planning to keep 7 fish and sell off the rest. I don' have problem with keeping QT tank running longer for the fish. All my fish come from store newly caught and from member tank as well. Not to mention I have lots of snail, crab as well.

[hondas3000]

I also want to use white sand base, any brand or type of sand is good? Planning to buy it at J&L and I will have jabao RW20 x 2 so hope I don't blow away the sand. It is will 1-2" base only.

[hondas3000]

so now i have to redo my sump as 90G standard size with 24" high won't give me room to have my skimmer cup remove to do cleaning. Going with 75G sump now and hopefully will get tank fill up with water this weekend.