180G Office Reef Tank

[JDigital]

Hey everyone! I'm back.... with a tank!

So about 2 months ago, the owner of the company I work for moved back from Texas to Canada. And with him he brought his 180G fish tank that he had. Not wanting to start another tank he left it at the office, where it has been sitting, while I tried to persuade and convince my manager to setup a Salty tank.

I finally got approval this morning to go ahead with this build so it's time to start buying gear.

I've got my sump tank quoted already through dave@conceptaquatics which I am hoping to order tomorrow after work as long as he makes it back from Edmonton in time.

The tank I have to work with is a 180G tank with dimensions 60x24x29. This puppy will need to be drilled though as its not reef ready.

This is the only pic I have right now, but gives you an idea of what I have to work with.



So far what I have planned for this build is:

- 150lbs of Dry "Live" Rock (seeded with 20ish pounds live rock)
- 2x 250W MH (Thanks for GreenSpottedPuffer)
- 40"x19"x16" sump tank seperated into 3 sections
- Bubble Magus NAC7 Skimmer
- Mag drive 1800 Supreme Return Pump
- Korallia Powerheads
- 4 Stage RO/DI
- Herbie Style Overflow


More to come.... It's good to be back!

[lockrookie]

following along wellcome to the 2012 180 club lol

[Royal Aquariums]

Exciting, so this means you can go all out on equipment then? Lol

[freezetyle]

based on your tanks from the passed, If your in charge of this one, Its gonna be bad ass. Glad to see you building a tank again Josh

[JDigital]

Originally Posted by lockrookie

following along wellcome to the 2012 180 club lol

This will be the biggest tank I have had.. Pretty excited, while it is an office tank, I'm making sure that I am the only one doing maintenance on it, feedings.

Originally Posted by Royal Aquariums

Exciting, so this means you can go all out on equipment then? Lol

Umm not quite.. I do have to keep the costs down as much as possible. Lighting I am picking up used, because it was far to much new. I'm down Dry rock to save on cost (and hopefully nuisance pests).

Originally Posted by freezetyle

based on your tanks from the passed, If your in charge of this one, Its gonna be bad ass. Glad to see you building a tank again Josh

Thanks Jon.. I almost need a refresher course I've been awhile from tanks for so long. (2+ years).

[fishoholic]

The Nac-7 skimmer is rated up to 90g, pretty small for a 180g plus sump. I have a nac-7 running on my 34g cube/20g sump, a bit overkill but I figure if I ever upgrade to a 60g cube I'll be ok skimmer wise.

Also starting with mostly dry rock will take 6 months to over a year before becoming live rock. My advice is to stock the tank like you only have 20 pounds of rock in it or use mostly live rock and only a small amount of dry rock.

[JDigital]

Originally Posted by fishoholic

The Nac-7 skimmer is rated up to 90g, pretty small for a 180g plus sump. I have a nac-7 running on my 34g cube/20g sump, a bit overkill but I figure if I ever upgrade to a 60g cube I'll be ok skimmer wise.

Also starting with mostly dry rock will take 6 months to over a year before becoming live rock. My advice is to stock the tank like you only have 20 pounds of rock in it or use mostly live rock and only a small amount of dry rock.

I'm not sure where you got your rating but both Bulk Reef Supply and Bubble Magus' website would seem to disagree regarding the skimmer rating, and every other website I have come across that sells the Nac7.

http://bubble-magus.com/en/productShow.asp?id=972

Meshwheel cone protein skimmer
BM-NAC7
Capability : 500L-700L (130G-185G)
pump:atman ph2500 (made in china)
Pump power: 28W, 220V 50Hz /110V 60Hz
air intake : 500L/H
Dimensions: 240×200×510mm( 9.4" * 7.8" * 20.0 ")
cylinder: Max 9"
Water Level :9.5"-11"

Yes it is still a bit on the low end for this tank, but I have to work with the budget I have unless it comes out of my own pocket.

The NAC77 (rated at 210-315) would be ideal I think, I just don't have room in the budget right now. I may change this or try and persuade an increase in budget but it's not a top concern at this point in the build.


I realize Dry rock will take longer that usual and for most of my tanks in the past, I have usually let the tank sit longer that a normal cycle anyways before any heavy stocking. I haven't even started to think about stocking yet to be honest.

Right now my main goal is to get this up and circulating water and seeding as soon as possible. I can keep the rest of the office staff at bay regarding stocking until its ready as none of them have a clue about the biological cycle/filtration involved in a salty tank, they will just have to be patient and listen to my advise.

[JDigital]

Well I am starting to get the ball rolling on this tank.

Went to Concept Aquatics this weekend and ordered my sump tank from Dave. Should be ready for pickup today. I was rather impressed with his baffle design over my old school straight forward "over under over" design I had in mind when I went to see him. I'll get some photos of it when I get it picked up.

Also payed for my lighting this morning. 2x Lumen Bright Pendents with Coralvue 250W Dimmable Ballasts with 2x XM 20K bulbs and 2x Reflux Bulbs (can't recall the Kelvins)








Huge thanks to GreenSpottedPuffer to hooking me up with these. You rock Justin!


Next on the list is Salt, RO/DI unit, Rock, and Return pump.

[JDigital]

Picked up "sumpin" new for the build last night!

[fishytime]

ok......splain all the fancy cuts in the sump