New 220g build

[Gorgar]

Hi everyone!! I recently (ish) acquired my first tank a 220g! (Yeah I know big head first dive into the hobby) but I've always wanted to get into it and since purchasing my home and on my final deployment I feel I can finally pick up the hobby!!! So with that being said I've done a lot of research on what types of equipment I should use and just how much power each thing should have and theres just so much out there I was looking to get some opinions from you guys!!

So far I've only just built a canopy and gotten an R300 Refugium sump, but the rest is all undecided!! I would LOVE to have a very automated system with a controller but it seems not everything is compatible with everything. Again just looking for your pro tips and advice, I'll be buying most of this equipment when I'm home from deployment in a few short months!!

Also!! Any tips on how to improve my canopy design would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Feet4Fish]

Awesome! Congrats on the new tank!

 

[Gorgar]

Hey (everyone)! I'm back from deployment so work on this build has resumed!! I did a leak test, gathered more equipment, started working on the plumbing (more learning than achieving as of yet). I also built my the saltwater mixing station, I plan on doing auto water changes with the apex DOS. Otherwise everything is coming along!
Equipment list:
Skimmer: Regal 250-INT

Return pump: Varios 8

Controller: Apex

Light: SBox 32" pro, they're a company based out of Pensacola, Fl and make great affordable lights that everyone seems to love so I'm sticking with it!

Heater: I have two heaters that the guy I bought the tank from had, but I dont know the brand or how reliable they are, any suggestions would be welcome!

Leak test

Prepping the water barrels for RODI and saltwater storage

Working on the aquascaping

Sump setup

RODI Unit installed

 

[Hydrored]

Awesome! Looking good!

 

[Gorgar]

Update!! So I've finished the plumbing, got the tank back in the house and its all set! I filled it up with RODI water straight from the unit (I have 3 water lines going through my wall through the attic and into the garage for top off and auto water changes from the mixing station)

as it was filling i finished installing the equipment in the controller cabinet

When it was completely filled (took a couple days) I tested the plumbing to make sure there were no leaks or catastrophes (there was a leak from pvc to bulkhead but I patched that, I think the pvc cement didn't get put on the entirety of the pipe causing a small hole between fittings)
After all the plumbing tested good I mixed in the salt and added the sand, i plan to just move the sand out of the way and kinda just bury my foundation rocks so they're not sitting on top of the sand, ive created some extra work for myself but I believe this to be the best way to go about setting this up, currently waiting for the sand silt cloud to settle before I start scaping! More updates to come!!

 

[Gorgar]

 

[Gorgar]

 

[Gorgar]

Hey everyone! Were rounding 4 months we've been running now so I suppose it's time for an update!!
Everything is going really well, im absolutely loving having a small piece of the ocean in my home, currently the fish list is as follows:
3x Green chromis
2x clownfish
1x Blue tang
1x Naso Tang
1x Nasarus Wrasse
1x Carpenters wrasse
1x Chalk basslet
1x diamond goby
1x Pink spot watchman
2x blue damsels
2x royal gramma
1x Fire shrimp
1x blue throat trigger
1x fighting conch
2x tiger conch
A lotx hermits and snails

I also have a few corals, including a green torch and some different zoas, torch is definitely my favorite and he's growing rather fast in the two months I've had him.

The plan for the next fish are probably one more wrasse, another tang, 2 jawfish and ***maybe*** a zebra moray (my aquascape was built specifically for an eel with a really big cave and lots of swim through so im set up for him, just been doing research to make sure its the right decision. Always super open to hear anybodies suggestions, ideas or advice!

Now for the struggles, the only fish I've lost so far are a Midas Blenny (very sad, loved him a lot, still not sure what the cause of death was) and a green chromis (also not really sure but it was 2 days after he went came home)

Overall though im loving this very time consuming expensive but rewarding hobby and plan to continue learning as much as I can and continue to build my reef. As always I'm open to comments concerns and advice so please feel free to send it my way!! Thanks everyone!