My 210 Build thread

[cmor1701d]

Some of you have seen my posts about getting back into the hobby after the devastation SuperStorm Sandy did to my 125g ten years ago.
Now that I'm retired, and just moved to a new house with a perfect spot for an aquarium I decided to start over. I found a 180 gallon system about 90 minutes away for all the equipment. He had already sold all the livestock. After seeing the tank and stand we did a video chat of everything else. The stand was a bit rough with lots of scratches and dings, but he had alot of 3-5 year old equipment. He had Kessil 360 Tuna Blues, a protein skimmer (discontinued model), pumps, etc. At the last minute he backed out and decided to part all of of it to get more money.
The next day I found this 210 beauty back on the market after the 3rd guy couldn't get his wife onboard LOL. The tank and custom stand are only 2 years old. It was a fw tank. He got permission to take over the dining room and is setting up a 610 gallon fw tank. I recently found out that he purchased the tank from my our LFS.
So here is the start of my new 210 gallon tank build...

 

[Peace River]

Congratulations on the latest adventure!!!

 

[cmor1701d]

Some of you have seen my posts about getting back into the hobby after the devastation SuperStorm Sandy did to my 125g ten years ago.
Now that I'm retired, and just moved to a new house with a perfect spot for an aquarium I decided to start over. I found a 180 gallon system about 90 minutes away for all the equipment. He had already sold all the livestock. After seeing the tank and stand we did a video chat of everything else. The stand was a bit rough with lots of scratches and dings, but he had alot of 3-5 year old equipment. He had Kessil 360 Tuna Blues, a protein skimmer (discontinued model), pumps, etc. At the last minute he backed out and decided to part all of of it to get more money.
The next day I found this 210 beauty back on the market after the 3rd guy couldn't get his wife onboard LOL. The tank and custom stand are only 2 years old. It was a fw tank. He got permission to take over the dining room and is setting up a 610 gallon fw tank. I recently found out that he purchased the tank from my our LFS.
So here is the start of my new 210 gallon tank build...

OK time to list current and planned equipment.
On hand or ordered...
210 gallon glass tank with built in overflows (72" x 24" x 27"
Stand is custom made furniture cabinet in black
Trigger Systems Sapphire CR44 Sump
Current USA eFlux DC 3170 gph return pump
Jebao DCP Sine Wave DCP-1300 3645 gph return pump (spare)
2x EcoTech MP60QD
2x EcoTech MP40QD
Reef Octopus POV-DC2 protein Skimmer (yes, it's obsolete but cheap from my lfs)
Finnex 800w titanium heater
Neptune Systems Apex Controller
Neptune Systems FMK add-on
3x Radion XR30 G5 Blue (diffusers on order)
320# sand - 1/2 live
200# ARK base rock, rinsed and starting aquascape outside of tank.
30# Gulf LR from Salty Bottom
BRS GFO & Carbon Reactor with Sicce Syncra 1.5 pump
Inkbird ITC-306A temp controller
Inkbird ITC-306T temp controller
3x Titanium ground probe
Air, Water Ice Typhoon III 100 gpd RODI with booster pump
4x 50 gallon plastic barrels (formerly used to store pickles)
Portable GENERATOR so the next storm doesn't wipe me out again!

Still need to find
ATO system (Jebao; Tunze; other???)
4x Auto Doser pump

Livestock:
SPS dominant

Fish wanted list started, mostly based on what I had in 125.
2- A. percula juvenile pair
1 - Royal gramma basslet (Gramma loreto)
1- Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani) tank raised
1- Blue Neon Cleaner Goby (Elacatinus oceanops)
1- Bicolor Blenny (Ecsenius bicolor)
4 - Lyretail Anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis)
1- Blue Hippo Tang (Paracanthus hepatus)
1- Foxface Lo (Siganus vulpinus)
1- Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma veliferum)
1- Green Mandarin Goby (Synchiropus splendidus)
3- Flame Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus jordani) OR;
3 - Scott's Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus scottorum)

And an assortment of snails and shrimp. I expect it will take about 2 years to add all the livestock and corals, and based on current pricing some of them will not make it into my tank. I'm very open to opinions and alternate choices for my livestock.

 

[cmor1701d]

Aquascaping is done. Not exactly as I had envisioned it, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. I have some nice caves and swim throughs. I thought I was going to need more rock, but now think I have just the right amount to grow out SPS colonies.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Aquascaping is done. Not exactly as I had envisioned it, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. I have some nice caves and swim throughs. I thought I was going to need more rock, but now think I have just the right amount to grow out SPS colonies.

Aquascape looks great!!

 

[Phil Steel]

This might be unpopular, but you might want to compete the rock scape? That way it’s a solid case and place your corals based off that?

 

[cmor1701d]

Aquascaping is done. Not exactly as I had envisioned it, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. I have some nice caves and swim throughs. I thought I was going to need more rock, but now think I have just the right amount to grow out SPS colonies.

Time for an update. Actually it's well past time.
I got 2 large corals back in early December. Then TSA had their black Friday sale, posting new wysiwyg corals every hour. I bought 11. I also bought a 30" long by 1/2" drill bit so I could place the frags where I wanted, though I've moved a few around.

The only tank inhabitant was a Mandarin dragonet which was added in December after seeding the tank and sump with thousands of pods from Algae Barn. I hardly see him but he pops out a few times a week if I'm lucky enough to be at the tank when he comes out. At times I see him upside down in a swim through or crevice picking pods off the rock.

During this time my QT tank was hosting a powder brown tang, royal gramma, and a flametail blenny.

After going through a prophylactic hyposalinity treatment they just got added to the DT.
The next day I cleaned the QT tank thoroughly and started it back up.

This past Thursday I went to the lfs hoping to buy the purple tang and one of the yellow tangs I had seen there as well as foxface lo.
Well the tangs were gone but as he gets new stock on Thursdays I went through the list with one of the employees who was unboxing them. I told her to reserve the Sailfin Tang and the rabbitfish for me and I would be back Saturday to get them.

I went back to say hi to the owner and after chatting for a while I told him I'd be back to get those two fish. He's like why put them through the stress of being moved twice in a week, take them now especially as their going into QT. GOOD IDEA!

As I was waiting for the fish to be found in the boxes I spotted a powder blue tang that had just come out of the box and into a tank to temp acclimate. I grabbed that one too. The owner gave me a 20% discount on each for taking them right out of the boxes.
Those three are now in the 40 gallon breeder QT tank. I call them the 3 amigos.

They ate when I fed them frozen brine shrimp and spirulina an hour after being fully acclimated.
The 3 rocks I pulled out of the QT tank and put in the DT sump are back in the QT tank. It seems there's enough algae on those rocks that the three amigos are constantly grazing.

I previously had a foxface. As you can see in the pictures, the DT has a hair algae outbreak. The foxface generally eats it so I can't wait till QT is over.

Surprise, surprise, surprise. Yesterday I saw the powder brown tang nipping at the hair algae on the back glass. It's already made a huge dent back there.

Equipment update:
That's a new MP60 on the left side of tank. I bought 2 used MP40's a while back and didn't think to ask, but they were not Mobius ready. So I bought 2 chips and now they're all good. They are lower down on the right side of the tank.
The Simplicity 540D protein skimmer is dialed in and producing nice dark skimmate.

I got some chaeto in the sump and recently noticed some red ogo growing in the tank. I'm thinking of moving most of it to the sump before the tangs realize how tasty it is...

Onto the pictures..

 

[cmor1701d]

Somebody stop me, PLEASE! LOL. Fraghouse got me with their Valentin Day sale. Now I have to figure out where to put them. Such problems....

 

[Monsaas]

About what percentage is your eflux return pump at? I am upgrading a a 210g as well with 2 built in overflows and I currently have a Eflux 1050 return pump I was planning to use on the 210g but wondering if I would need to upgrade to the bigger Eflux like you have. Please let me know. Thankyou

 

[cmor1701d]

I never could get that pump to work over ~30%. I spent much too much time with support . They sent me 3 replacement controllers. All were about the same.

I replaced it with a JEREPET 3170 GPH I found on Amazon. The first one died after about a month. The replacement has been great ever since.