Hey guys, finally getting around to starting my build thread. This is my second build and I regret not doing one of these on my first tank. Ive been in the hobby right at 2 years now. I started off with a 100 gallon drilled tank with a 30 gallon sump. I learned so much in that first year, Ive lived on reef2reef and youtube to absorb as much knowledge as I can. So this time around Im really wanting to document everything and contribute back to the community that taught me so much.
I also have a youtube channel, here is a link if you want to check that out. Some videos of my 100 gallon up and running and some of the progress from my current 210 build.
So how did that come to be? I knew I was starting to outgrow my 100 gallon reef. Constantly buying frags, coral finally starting to grow really well after about the first year when I half way knew what I was doing, really wanting larger fish and more of them. So I started checking craigslist and facebook daily for deals. After a couple months of waiting and watching, I found a guy on craigslist selling a 210 Oceanic tank with stand and canopy. He was asking $900 and I was able to talk him down to $600, which was a heck of a deal if you ask me. Only one small problem, Im in DFW and this guy was in Oklahoma City, about a 4.5 hour drive. So I called 2 buddies, grabbed the trailer and off we went on a sunday about mid morning. Luckily, Im pretty good friends with the guy who owns my LFS so he let me borrow his hydraulic lift and suction cups he uses for tank moves. Finally got the tank home around 11pm that night, got everything in the garage and didnt touch it for about 2 weeks lol.
After about 2 weeks I was ready to get to work. Went and bought 10 gallons of white distilled vinegar from the local dollar store to start cleaning up the tank, still have a ways to go with that, I also pulled off the plasti dip on the back of the tank since it had a few tears. I am painting it black now, still needs one more coat to finish that.
Now the stand had a busted floor, big hole like somebody stepped through it, it also didnt have a top. I know it doesn't need one, but I went and and cut a top and floor for the stand out of a sheet of 3/4" ply, painted the inside of the stand and doors with white exterior Kilz, about 5 coats, painted the top the same white also. I figure that way if sand gets blown and exposes the bottom glass it won't look so bad. I plan on running a fairly thin sand bed, maybe an inch or 2 at most. I also installed some soft close hinges on the doors, which turned out very nice.
So now the stand is getting somewhere. Took a little break from that and started thinking about some things I could prepare ahead of time to increase success transferring my 100 gallon into this 210 gallon. I knew I would need more rock and I knew I wanted to use dry rock. I picked up 60lbs of key largo dry rock from my LFS, figured that plus what I have in my 100 gallon should be plenty for the type of aquascape I want to do. Went and and picked that up and got it curing and cycling in a brute in the garage. I decided to do a fishless cycle (dr tims method). I got a bottle of ammonium chloride from BRS for first cheap and I got some Fritz turbo start live bacteria from the LFS.
I figure if I have this rock cycled and running and drop a little ammonium chloride in their once and a while, it should be ready to rock when I finally transfer everything into the new tank! I am trying to limit a cycle as much as possible. I won't be reusing any of the old sand, going with all new. Im going to be ordering 140lbs of fiji pink when I get a little closer.
The latest update for now is the sump. I have spent the last couple of months going over options. Do I do a DIY sump from a 40b? No I thought that would be too small, I wanted to double the size of my current refugium, so I knew I needed at least 14 gallons dedicated to the fuge, not possible in a 40b after skimmer and return pump. I thought about a DIY 75gallon, but my hesitation there was that its awkwardly tall for a sump under the tank in the stand. I talked to several manufacturers about doing a custom sump, but my lord that was going to cost more than this tank did! So I kept exploring options and a deal fell into my lap like it always does if Im patient. My LFS did a tank breakdown on a 220 and the guy had an acrylic sump that was 42x18x18, that almost 60 gallons and the fuge section was 15 gallons! I picked this bad boy up for $150!
I plan to replace the bulkheads when Im doing the rest of my plumbing. The next piece to the puzzle is going to be the plumbing, I have a pretty good idea of the layout, I have a parts list together, just sleeping on the design for a couple of days before I place an order. Have to make sure I have plenty of unions, ball valves, etc. Those are the pieces I cant just run to home depot and pickup a couple if I forgot one or something like that. Ill keep you guys updated as things progress. For more updates and content check out the youtube channel linked above and follow me on instagram @bsreef
I also have a youtube channel, here is a link if you want to check that out. Some videos of my 100 gallon up and running and some of the progress from my current 210 build.
So how did that come to be? I knew I was starting to outgrow my 100 gallon reef. Constantly buying frags, coral finally starting to grow really well after about the first year when I half way knew what I was doing, really wanting larger fish and more of them. So I started checking craigslist and facebook daily for deals. After a couple months of waiting and watching, I found a guy on craigslist selling a 210 Oceanic tank with stand and canopy. He was asking $900 and I was able to talk him down to $600, which was a heck of a deal if you ask me. Only one small problem, Im in DFW and this guy was in Oklahoma City, about a 4.5 hour drive. So I called 2 buddies, grabbed the trailer and off we went on a sunday about mid morning. Luckily, Im pretty good friends with the guy who owns my LFS so he let me borrow his hydraulic lift and suction cups he uses for tank moves. Finally got the tank home around 11pm that night, got everything in the garage and didnt touch it for about 2 weeks lol.
After about 2 weeks I was ready to get to work. Went and bought 10 gallons of white distilled vinegar from the local dollar store to start cleaning up the tank, still have a ways to go with that, I also pulled off the plasti dip on the back of the tank since it had a few tears. I am painting it black now, still needs one more coat to finish that.
Now the stand had a busted floor, big hole like somebody stepped through it, it also didnt have a top. I know it doesn't need one, but I went and and cut a top and floor for the stand out of a sheet of 3/4" ply, painted the inside of the stand and doors with white exterior Kilz, about 5 coats, painted the top the same white also. I figure that way if sand gets blown and exposes the bottom glass it won't look so bad. I plan on running a fairly thin sand bed, maybe an inch or 2 at most. I also installed some soft close hinges on the doors, which turned out very nice.
So now the stand is getting somewhere. Took a little break from that and started thinking about some things I could prepare ahead of time to increase success transferring my 100 gallon into this 210 gallon. I knew I would need more rock and I knew I wanted to use dry rock. I picked up 60lbs of key largo dry rock from my LFS, figured that plus what I have in my 100 gallon should be plenty for the type of aquascape I want to do. Went and and picked that up and got it curing and cycling in a brute in the garage. I decided to do a fishless cycle (dr tims method). I got a bottle of ammonium chloride from BRS for first cheap and I got some Fritz turbo start live bacteria from the LFS.
I figure if I have this rock cycled and running and drop a little ammonium chloride in their once and a while, it should be ready to rock when I finally transfer everything into the new tank! I am trying to limit a cycle as much as possible. I won't be reusing any of the old sand, going with all new. Im going to be ordering 140lbs of fiji pink when I get a little closer.
The latest update for now is the sump. I have spent the last couple of months going over options. Do I do a DIY sump from a 40b? No I thought that would be too small, I wanted to double the size of my current refugium, so I knew I needed at least 14 gallons dedicated to the fuge, not possible in a 40b after skimmer and return pump. I thought about a DIY 75gallon, but my hesitation there was that its awkwardly tall for a sump under the tank in the stand. I talked to several manufacturers about doing a custom sump, but my lord that was going to cost more than this tank did! So I kept exploring options and a deal fell into my lap like it always does if Im patient. My LFS did a tank breakdown on a 220 and the guy had an acrylic sump that was 42x18x18, that almost 60 gallons and the fuge section was 15 gallons! I picked this bad boy up for $150!
I plan to replace the bulkheads when Im doing the rest of my plumbing. The next piece to the puzzle is going to be the plumbing, I have a pretty good idea of the layout, I have a parts list together, just sleeping on the design for a couple of days before I place an order. Have to make sure I have plenty of unions, ball valves, etc. Those are the pieces I cant just run to home depot and pickup a couple if I forgot one or something like that. Ill keep you guys updated as things progress. For more updates and content check out the youtube channel linked above and follow me on instagram @bsreef
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