NEWBIE 200 gal build diary

rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
Ugh nooo....
So I was having issues with flow right... so I bought a mag 24 pump and installed that a few days ago. Well, I put my hand in the tank last night and then I figured out that the water was like 90 degrees and then when I got the thermometer, it was really really hot. So, I iced it down and I am just leaving the lights out but it does suck. I think it just got too warm in there and I didn't even know...
UGH!!!!! now I am on the hunt for a chiller which I will be setting up this weekend, I guess.
BlUrG!!
 
fishyman1

fishyman1

New Member
this site is chock full of saltwater fish for dirt cheap..they are practically giving stuff away for free. www.petesfishplace.com i had to share this one. i had the guy come out to my location and maintain a 200 gal tank i had running for a while now..he got the job done in no time he even gave me a free clown fish for booking a second apointment with him to clean/maintain the tank for me.
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
So I found a chiller and a skimmer today, both used and I didn't have to pay cash at all. I just had to trade some used equipment to the guy and I got some really good stuff. The chiller is 1/3 HP.

We are hooking it all up right now.... chiller and skimmer should be done tonight.
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
haha alright. I took a few. They are okay but I am not good with this new camera yet, but lemme know what you think.
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
Alright... so PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES!!! I really do have some now, and I have a whole new tank too! There has been alot of trouble this week and alot of things going on that have been a major pain in the neck. I'll start off slow and explain everything.
1st... I had low flow (hence the cyano from a while back) so i bought a mag 24 and installed it. It seemed to work fine and it was quiet and pretty cheap wholesale (I get a discount from my new job). I was so busy with work that after I installed the new pump, I barely had time to look at my tank... I came home about 2 days after the new pump was in and put my fingers in the tank and noticed it seems really warm. The water was over 90 degrees!!! I started looking at my poor little guys realizing they were unhappy and then I realized that my long nose hawk fish died.
That is still making me really sad.
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
So we said oh we'll have to get a chiller. So we immediately went in search of a 1/4 or 1/3 hp chiller and were coming up really empty. We found one, a 1/3 hp chiller and it was used, looked nice, and it was nicely sized but when we got it home, plumbed it up and got it in, the next morning we found it had been leaking all night. It only leaked a small amount of water but there was a good 5 gallons that came out over the course of the evening.
We returned it and got another one, a 1/4 HP unit, and once we got this one all plumbed and put in, and refilled the tank with water and all, we discovered that the system now pulled too much power. The room that my tank is in is a "Great room" concept so its great because the tank is the center piece but it's crappy because the whole room is a 15 amp circuit and with the chiller, lights alone, the system was pulling 10 amps.
Every time you turned a light on, or the home theatre system, the breaker would blow.
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
So then what to do?? We looking into getting the room re wired for a bigger circuit but it was just too expensive and if the work wasn't done right, we were afraid that we would have it done and then the house would catch fire or something... I DK... So we came up with this option.
set up the 200 gallon as a swim tank and get some big fish, and then set up a 55 gallon reef and keep our community fish, and trade some others in.
There is a guy here who sells equipment that people trade in and he is also a distributor, out of his home. Great guy in the PHX area and he will even just give you cash on your trades! I have taken him so much stuff and it's great! I get rid of my stuff and get new things that I need!
I traded him a buncha stuff I didn't want and I got a new tank, stand, light, and some coral skeletons, tons of crushed coral, and some other things. All at no cost to me! Man that guy is awesome! You can just go over and buy things from him too.... It's a "green" approach to saltwater... RECYCLE!
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
So the 200 gal is now a swim tank (as it was built to be.)
stock list is as follows:
Currently:
1 foxface rabbit fish
1 orbicular burrfish
1 6 line wrasse
I want to add in the future:
1 volitan lion fish (medium size)
1 powder blue tang
1 emperor angel




 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
So the reef tank is a glass 55 gallon with a nice stand, open top and an internal over flow, complete with flow. I still have a K 3 in there for more flow, but I think it's too much... I dk. Fish seem fine. I nearly moved 100% of my fish from the 200 gallon, into the 55. The foxface and the wrasse stayed, and the dwarf pygmy angel, the harbour goby and the desjardinii sailfin are gone though.
The system is a 55 gallon with a 20 gallon sump. It's running a mag 7 as a return and a k3 for supplemental flow. Stock in there is as follows:
2 perc clowns
2 lyretail anthias (female)
1 mandarin goby
1 twin spot goby
1 tiny (1in) blue hippo tang (who may go into the swim tank once he is big enough)
1 rock beauty
1 royal gramma
2 cleaner shrimp
various hermits and snails
It's running a coralife 2 96 watt, suspended with 50/50 daylight/actinic bulbs. So far, all the corals seem to be doing well, though they are all low light. I plan to keep mostly mushrooms and softies, zoas and palys.
right now, I have the same corals as always...
1 turquoise shroom
1 stripped shroom
1 colony of zoas (20 heads)
1 yellow gorgonian
1 softball sized rock of GSP
2 misc leathers (I small, 1 large)
maybe some others too!




 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
So sorry I haven't been on....
I have been way way busy with so much and weekends are the only days that I get to do anything... let alone learn to use my new camera.
Lemme know what you think about the tanks and the pictures guys! Thanks!
 
melypr1985

melypr1985

Member
so that burrfish is the puffer right?
everything looks great! now you can have alot of fun! what happened to your fuzzy lion? is that one that you traded in?
 
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