Irishman 180 Build
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Irishman
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During the water test yesterday, I started working on swapping out my receptacle to a GFCI one. Well that boiled over into this afternoon. Long story short had an electrician come over and he was able to get everything squared away with it and gave me an idea on circuit panel surge protector, obviously not going to use that as a means to not using one on my fish tank but thought it was cool since I’ve never heard of one.
After fighting with the GFCI last night, I was at my wits end and started to drain the tank while getting info on what could be wrong with the GFCI. There was still a decent amount of water in the tank, I wasn’t thinking clearly about how I would get it out so my wife suggested the shop vac, which was a 1.5 gal small one. I had to empty it twice on the return section alone so decided actually get a real shop vac and everything went smoother.
After getting the tank dried out I worked on my surge strip, got the ATO set up and mounted my lights. I decided to use my Kessil A360N and AP700 until I get more heavily into coral after the first couple months of letting the tank establish itself. Gotta let that budget build back up lol.
After fighting with the GFCI last night, I was at my wits end and started to drain the tank while getting info on what could be wrong with the GFCI. There was still a decent amount of water in the tank, I wasn’t thinking clearly about how I would get it out so my wife suggested the shop vac, which was a 1.5 gal small one. I had to empty it twice on the return section alone so decided actually get a real shop vac and everything went smoother.
After getting the tank dried out I worked on my surge strip, got the ATO set up and mounted my lights. I decided to use my Kessil A360N and AP700 until I get more heavily into coral after the first couple months of letting the tank establish itself. Gotta let that budget build back up lol.
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Irishman
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Almost there with the dry rock and sand. I pulled the reins back a little bit getting the tank going. I had some more ideas come up on how I want to make everything look clean and organized. I do have everything in place pretty much. Just gotta put my idea together, push the tank back to the wall, put sand and rock in then will come the water. Hopefully be full of water by the end of the weekend.
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Irishman
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Was able to fine tune the electrical mess on the tank tonight. I wrapped up the electrical in some split loom and added a bracket to the back of the tank to hold up the power bricks. I also drilled a hole in the wall for my RODI line to go straight into my ATO container, so I don’t have to worry about carrying buckets. I also labeled my powerstrip so I’m not guessing to often about what cord I may have to unplug. So what’s left is to push the tank back a little bit, plug everything in, aquascape and sand, then put in the water.
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Irishman
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Got all the electrical set up. Came up missing a power brick for the Kessil A360 so will have to get another one of those. Tank is pushed back to the wall and level. Aquascape is done, I think I did it three times. I do plan on putting sand and filling it up tonight.
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Irishman
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Got the sand in and tank wet! Total water volume including sump was probably 150 gallons since I still have some above the bulk head on my water mixing tank. Think I’ll put a light underneath the sump so I can see in there. But so far everything is running solid. Might have to look into another skimmer because my the water height is too low, according to the sticker on the skimmer.
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Irishman
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Dose the tank today with pure ammonia so cycle has officially began. I looked into buying one of the turbo start bottles but thought it was too expensive and just let my tank do it’s thing.
Anywho the wife let me put more holes into our new walls so I can be lazier in essence lol. With her giving me the okay on that I was able to plumb the RODI line directly to the ATO barrel and also put the waste water line down the drain of the washing machine. It originally was draining outside VIA overflow system incase our hot water heater sprung a leak and had to drain, I just piggy backed off of it. However when I was filling up my 175 water system it made the yard look like a like and a river steaming from the fence to the gutter, hence why it is now with the drain like from the washing machine.
Anywho the wife let me put more holes into our new walls so I can be lazier in essence lol. With her giving me the okay on that I was able to plumb the RODI line directly to the ATO barrel and also put the waste water line down the drain of the washing machine. It originally was draining outside VIA overflow system incase our hot water heater sprung a leak and had to drain, I just piggy backed off of it. However when I was filling up my 175 water system it made the yard look like a like and a river steaming from the fence to the gutter, hence why it is now with the drain like from the washing machine.
MoKan Reefer
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Awesome build! Far more sophisticated looking than my 180! Definitely interested to see how it progresses!
MoKan Reefer
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Also, noticed you're down by OKC. I'm up in Joplin, Mo but refuse to go to the lfs that barely exist around here. I always go to coralguy.com (name of the shop and website) in Tulsa. Just looks like a little hidden hole in the wall shop but Seth is beyond awesome and always has top of the line equipment, coral and livestock. He can also get anything you can want in. Definitely worth the drive to check him out if you haven't! Just figured I'd mentioned since you're not horribly far from him.
Gary Inwood
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i would not put the heater in the weir personally, it would be better of in the aquarium or in the sump I.e more water and a better way to control the temp in your system
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Irishman
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Thanks! I am kind of proud on how this build is turning up.
Good to know! I just moved here in December, so I haven't made my way to Tulsa just yet, but I definitely will check it out!
When I had my 120 up an running I put one heater and each weir and also have a heater in the sump. Wouldn't it be better on the heater if it heats up two small water columns that distribute through out the tank instead of heating up a big water column for the whole tank?
Gary Inwood
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I still say it is better not to put the heater in the weir as you are heating a small area of water to a high temp and your heater will be on most of the time.
putting the heater in the sump and letting the water flow over it is far better in my book
MoKan Reefer
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Any updates???
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Irishman
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I posted in the chemistry forum. I’m now doing the ammonia cycling since everything is pretty much set.
What I posted in there was that I spiked it with pure ammonia from ACE hardware and used a calc online. I did the dosage it suggested, for my water volume which was total 160 gallons, and I tested next day and got .25 as a reading for ammonia. So I decided to throw three pieces of raw shrimp in two days ago, tested today and I’m still at .25 ammonia lol.
Dad Aquarium
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Cool build! You're a few weeks ahead of me. Looking forward to following along 
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Irishman
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Well I’ve come to the conclusion that my test kit is no good. I took the shrimp out, dosed 14 ml of ammonia and it still reads .25 ammonia. Already have some on order and should arrive Tuesday. Hopefully I can get better results with Red Sea instead of Salifert.
So I am currently running three 200W heaters in the tank. One in the sump and two in each weir, where does everyone else run their heaters at?
So I am currently running three 200W heaters in the tank. One in the sump and two in each weir, where does everyone else run their heaters at?
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Irishman
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Good call, I’ll have to check that out. I’m thinking yes and that I checked before I filled the tank up with water. But now I’m second guessing myself. How many heaters are you running, also are they all in thebsinp?
What are everyone’s thoughts on titanium heaters? Thinking about investing in some of those.
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Irishman
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Just got my Red Sea test kit in and I tested my ammonia at lunch, Red Sea reads at 1.2 ammonia, which is a way better reading than Salifert.
Now here is the main question. Since I know what my ammonia is at now, should I dose up to 2 PPM, or just go with it and let it cycle where its at?
Now here is the main question. Since I know what my ammonia is at now, should I dose up to 2 PPM, or just go with it and let it cycle where its at?
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