Bigger is better? Lets try 475 gallons...Tangs gonna be happy!

deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
he usually dont carry the everyday fish.if there is a rare centerpiece fish you want hes the man.
i am really tempted to get a pair of crosshatch triggers from him for my reef.
have to wait and see how my business picks up first.
my fricken powerhead on the back of my tank keeps popping uff and pointing down.cant wait till wednesday to order the mp40's.must be a sign.i told my wife i am getting some expensive powerheads.i dont want to tell her its a grand .not that she will be mad but she will call me stupid for spending that kinda cash to blow water bubbles :O)
i cleaned my whole 250 reef this morning and did a water change.looks sweet just needs some more colorful corals now.
oh where does it end?
 
tangs rule

tangs rule

Active Member
It ends when the credit cards are maxed out - or the wife takes them away!!!
thank God for paypal right? though that could lead to divorce!
Filling the 475 with saltwater now (still)...am making about 125gal/day rodi with the 2 units running....so I mix for a few hours then xfer over to the biggun. It's about 4" above 1/2 way full now.......then gotta get some for the sump & fuge - about 40-50 gal worth...Still hoping for a tuesday startup!
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
i remember filling up my 250 with the r/o just one took 4 days.i was tempted to just dump some tap in there.but we werent living there yet .we were in the process of moving so had lots to do.funny when i turned to system on i didnt just look at it.i was looking at every corner and everywhere to find a problem .when there wasnt any i sat in the recliner and watched a tank with just water,sand and rock for a half hour.its a sweet feeling.
 
aquaman

aquaman

Member
tangs rule

tangs rule

Active Member
IT IS FULL! ! ! ! !
and running!!!!
Ugh! been no fun pumping 60gal at a time from the laundry room to the dining room, mixing saltmix, then pumping it into the tank, 2times a day now for 6 days- but it is full, and both "pool" pumps are runing......the protein skimmer is pulling all the residual dust from the new substrate and is working overtime! The tank is rather cloudy, but should clear up in a few days. I have put 3 giant chunks of dry base rock in the tank, so they can begin the process of becomming "live"....when the water clears & tests good, i'll add some established liverock & substrate......Have already introduced some good bacteria as I have a canister filter I pulled of a 100g and have it filtering water in the sump. Have started hanging MH lights, and have several heaters in the tank, getting the temp up to ~80.....the refugium is still dry, but it just needs a pump, little plumbing, and the "guts" from one of my established fuges to be up&going....it's still too soon to fire it up, and later this week I have to begin building my float valve for its' input. the fuge input is plumbed, and the valve is shut now....when ready i'll just open it slightly to match the output pump restricted flow......
The hard part is over (I hope) in that the tank is full &running, no major leaks, 1 tiny one that I can fix when I have more energy. The water has cleared up alot since 11am, when I first turned it on. A picture tomorrow, after I clean up the area some - looks like a sty right now, but it's been another 18 hour day at it and am wiped out/crosseyed!
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
cant wait for pics! new builds are a lot of work, but its fun work IMO. go to the filter guys website and check out kati-ani deionizer units. they are much faster than rodi, they produce water with less TDS, and there's no waste water. i've been using one for almost a year now and love it. i'm surprised that they havent gained more popularity in the hobby yet.
 
tangs rule

tangs rule

Active Member
Well, here it is running with only 1 400w light over it....I can tell it's gonna need 2000watts minimum...Water is still kinda clowdy/green hue and the ammonia is rising due to the debris in the new substrate & fine particulate in the water column. The nitrites are comming up too, but the trates still 0.. Tomorrow am going to add some LR from other tanks and a little substrate from them too - try to get this tank on a "quick cycle"
The rock in the center measures 23" tall by 16" wide - amazing that this tank makes it look small, while this rock really wouldn't fit in any of my other tanks! The pvc tubes you see are just temporary - so if a major plumbing leak developed below, and my shutoff valves could not stop it, I could get the step ladder and reach over into the tank with a pvc cap and plug the holes...There is a 1.5" pvc pipe raising the recirculation pump inlet too for the same reason, but the rock in the center hides it a bit....at least I would not loose the volume of the tank if things went to sh*@... the heaters draped over the side are temp too, just to keep the temp ~80. they will soon move into the sump, or be replaced with another unit.
Not alot of progress today, had to do some family things, tomorrow & saturday should be good work days on it.
Still gotta get rid of those mirrors on the back wall.....so much to do!
 
tangs rule

tangs rule

Active Member
The big rock actually only weighs ~40 pounds, and actually floated for a second when I 1st put it in the tank.....as the bubbles escaped, it sank and required only 2 fingers to place it where it is. It is a little heavier now that it is waterlogged.
This pic is from the side of the tank.....3 feet wide & 3 feet tall, so 9 square feet of area...I taped up a standard piece of copy paper, 8.5" x 11" to give it scale, as I am still amazed of the total size of this thing. I have begun installing the tank base trim, as this end is on now.
 
1snapple

1snapple

Active Member
I would say to go w/ LED lighting, but I don't think they will penetrate the full 3', maybe 3 400w pendants? I think it would cover good, 4 would be best, 5 is to many IMO
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
its funny i am used to my 250 tank but when someone comes over and sees it for the first time they flip out how big it is.
looking good.
 
frenchy in ny

frenchy in ny

New Member
Agreed & when I think that I was considering that my plan to upgrade from my current 80 Gallons to a 150-180Gallons was a big project ....
 
tangs rule

tangs rule

Active Member
I've another 400w unit comming, be next week b4 it is here. Am kinda using all my 250w units over existing tanks, but when the 475 is ready for fish, I'll have a couple of those I can bring over. It will be a fowlr tank for a few months anyway - the corals in the reef tank will have to stay there till summer at least. But with 2 400w and 4 250w units, it should be enough to keep the fish happy. I'll need an empty small 100g main anyway for new LR soon - just waiting for the quick cycle to take hold.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top