My first 150 Gallon Build

[dstew03]

I've been waiting for a while to upgrade from my 40 breeder to a larger tank, hoping I'd see some sales. Someone in my area happened to be moving and didn't want to take their tank with them, or sell it with the house. I was able to get everything for $1,500 which I felt like was a great deal.

It came with:
150 gallon tank and cabinet
3 - Radion xr30 lights and reeflink
2 - Nero 7 powerheads
Reef Octopus classic 200 INT skimmer
Lifegard Quiet One 6000 return pump
2 - storm clowns
2 - oscis
1 purple dottyback
1 biota tang
And about 300 lbs of live rock

It also came with a sump, but wasn't big enough for what I want to do, so I plan to finish my 55 gallon sump with baffles from marine biosystems this weekend.

Here's a picture as it sits right now. No water in it obviously since I haven't plumbed the sump yet.

Which brings me to a question. This is the first time I've done one this involved. I mocked up a drawing this afternoon of what I THINK it should look like, but wanted to see if some of you with more experience could weigh in on whether I have everything in the right (ish) place. Like check valve after return pump, unions, ball valves, etc.

 

[dstew03]

Oh, and forgot to mention that I plan on moving everything from my 40 to the 150 once everything is set up. The new Tang has to be a little cramped in that tiny apartment, and my elegance has tripled in size and is taking up the left 1/3rd of the tank...not sure if it's the reefroids or the fact that it ate one of my clowns the other day

 

[dstew03]

Got my baffle kit in from marine biosystems, and luckily petco has all of their aqueon tanks 50% off right now so was able to pick up a 55 gallon cheap! It's not the prettiest plumbing or silicone work, but everything functions.

After getting everything set up, I found out that one of the overflow bulkheads was faulty...luckily I caught it quick as it was dripping onto the power supplies for my lights. Ended up having to replace the bulkhead but saved the lights. Going to move all of my electronics out of the cabinet and build something to hide them.

Next up will be transferring everything over from my 40...trying my patience

 

[dstew03]

Update - Added a duetto ATO which has been super helpful, and a simplicity 4 head doser. Both were simple to set up, and have made keeping my levels stable a breeze over the last month.

Since this setup came with lights, I repurposed one of my AI Primes from my 40g as a light for my fuge, and set it to only run UV and blues. Tried it full spectrum, but the whites were super brights and bled out into the room from the back of the cabinet.

I was hesitant about moving everything over, but went ahead and did it since all the rock that came with the tank never came out of the water and replaced some of the pieces I didn't want to use with the rock from the 40. No issues as of yet, everything is stable, and all my fish and corals seem to be happier than they were in the smaller tank.

Here's the most recent picture