Zee's 180 Gallon Reef Build

[zhasan]

Originally Posted by warriorcookie

For sure look into bean animal or herbie style drain.

My first tank was a single durso and it drove me bananas.

Going with either one would mean I have to drill more holes of which I'm not a big fan of ATM.

Right now I guess I'm just looking at ways of making it as clog safe as possible. Just doesn't want the saltwater overflowing over top of the tank.

[zhasan]

SKIMMER

Hi all, having a hard time deciding on which skimmer to buy.

I have been thinking about the Vertex Skimmers, 180i and 200i specifically.

180i is rated for 180 gallons while the 200i is rated for 220 gallon. The price difference is about 200 bucks between the two models. Does anyone have experience here with either of these models.

I'm leaning towards the 200i because I intent to have a heavy bio load with lots of fish. However, I don't know if dishing out the extra $200 is worth it. Will the 180i be able to manage the bio load all by itself?

I was also checking out the Bubble Magus and the Reef Octopus product lines. Looking at the Curve 9 from BM, its rated for 225 - 375 gallons. Thats a lot of gallons for not a lot of bucks. Any thoughts on these? Are they similar to the Vertex line or is that more of an apple to orange comparison?

RETURN PUMP

Looking at the Ecotech Vectra return pump. Read some reviews and it seems like this is the way to go for me as I'm a fan of ecotech vortech pumps for movement in the tank and potential linkage of these along with lighting is the direction I see my reef going.

The only model I see for sale is the M1. I have not been able to find the L1 pump anywhere on a Canadian retailer's website. Is the L1 only sold in the US?

[zhasan]

Order is placed.... Santa will be arriving 1st week of Jan.

"I'm so excited" is now officially an understatement.

[DKoKoMan]

Originally Posted by zhasan

Order is placed.... Santa will be arriving 1st week of Jan.

"I'm so excited" is now officially an understatement.

What did you end up deciding on?

[zhasan]

Originally Posted by DKoKoMan

What did you end up deciding on?

I went with Vertex 200i for the skimmer and the Ecotech Vectra M1 for the return pump.

Also bought a bunch of goodies... I shall share some pictures once I get back home. Looking forward to give my system a vinegar bath by the first weekend of January.

[DKoKoMan]

Originally Posted by zhasan

I went with Vertex 200i for the skimmer and the Ecotech Vectra M1 for the return pump.

Also bought a bunch of goodies... I shall share some pictures once I get back home. Looking forward to give my system a vinegar bath by the first weekend of January.

Sounds good! I'm waiting on my new IceCap K2 160 skimmer I ordered. I'm curious on the Vectra M1 as I will need a return pump for my new 150g

[zhasan]

Hi All, had a very busy holiday season and didn't get much done except for ordering some essential components of the system as well as shipping most of my saltwater goodies from Vancouver to Edmonton.

Made a trip down to Edmonton yesterday and here is what I was hauling back...



Checked out some local fish stores in Edmonton during that day. Looked for PVC plumbing all over the city and finally made it to Lowe's where I found most of it.

Drove back home and got working early this morning.



All the live rock, water holding tanks and many many other things...



Got plywood cut to size to skirt the stand from the back and the top and bottom panels.



Couldn't hold myself back from the awesome deals at Lowe's. Finally have my own Miter saw... This is one of the best part I love about this hobby. So easy to convince myself to buy things I wouldn't buy otherwise. This should help me with building the water station.

Also picked up a shop vac to clean all the mess I'll be making in the next few days.




Here is the stand partially sanded. Stripping all the paint off and cleaning the rust from the few spots that have it. Its taking a bit of time but I'm looking forward to a nice clean paint job.