My 215 Oceanic Starphire project
 

Finally got the OK to upgrade my tank, decided to go with an
215g Oceanic Starphire Reef Ready!!!

The tank just arrived and what a beast this thing is! Kinda bummed as the canopy and stand won't arrive till next week

This is going to be a dedicated aquarium view room, we redecorated the entire formal living room, ripped out the carpeting and will be installing real harwood, added 2 huge, leather wingbacked recliners, the entire room is dedicated to simply viewing the tank

This is going to be a mixed softy & LPS tank with some SPS

Equipment
3x250 with 4x96 actinics Coralife PRO HQI
2 x 12 Mag drive pumps
MRC reactor
Euroreef skimmer (may change)
Neptune controller
3 x 4 Koralia PH's
3 x 1200maxijets (2 for behind LR and one for fuge)
3x250w Stealth heaters
160lb Aragalive sand
Eshops refugium
All-Glass Mission style canopy and stand in cherry
500lb of cured LR

[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/a300130001.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/b0040001.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/b0030001-2.jpg[/IMG]

And the chairs,....I'm going to be in heaven!!!
[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/products/a0030001.jpg[/IMG]

nice how was the weight on the tank:) nice chairs too

steve

I have no idea how much it weighs, but we almost dropped it getting it off the truck. Not even sure how we're going to get it off the truck and into the house.

we just picked up a 180 oceanic was heavy myself and brother n law lumped it 100 feet to his truck:( ohh the back still hurts.

what do you plan on keeping sps?


steve

It's going to to be LPS and softy tank...I like tanks that have a lot of movement, stuff swaying around...I have 2 massive Umbrellas that are about 20" around and a Kenya thats 18" across along with lots of clams and billions of zoas. Rics, shrooms. I've done the SPS tanks and it's just not mystyle...

This is my nano and pretty much the inspiration for the tank design.

[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/a0120001-2.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11330917#post11330917 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maxalmon [/i]
[B]It's going to to be LPS and softy tank...I like tanks that have a lot of movement, stuff swaying around...I have 2 massive Umbrellas that are about 20" around and a Kenya thats 18" across along with lots of clams and billions of zoas. Rics, shrooms. I've done the SPS tanks and it's just not mystyle...

This is my nano and pretty much the inspiration for the tank design.

[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/a0120001-2.jpg[/IMG] [/B][/QUOTE]

That's a beautiful looking nano tank. I am with you on the mixed reef. I just think a having nothing but SPS lacks character. I love a balance between all softies, sps, & lps and that is how I intended to outfit my 180 gallon RR Oceanic. Can't wait to see how yours turns out.

I noticed that you have a lot of the Koralia and maxijets. Did you look at the Vortech pumps? I think I am going to use either one or possibly 2 in my 180 gallon and that is it for circulation other than the return pump from my 75 gallon sump.

From all the videos I have seen on them I think they create some serious flow even with just one pump.

-Bill:)

The other pumps are extras for other projects....Going to install a few on my frag tanks

Gotcha. Regardless I am sure the tank is going to be awesome so I am looking forward to your thread.

Thanks.

more pics of the nano or link plllleeeeeasseeee

is lps and soft coral easyer to take care then sps ??

Here's the link to the nano.....
[url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1252520[/url]

Softie and LPS are somewhat easier to keep IMO.
SPS require pristine water quality in order for the colors and growth develop. Granted, SPS tanks are drop dead gorgeous, the colors are insane, but at this point I'm kinda over them. I want a tank that I can have fun with not slave over..

i like your idea,,,i am setting up one so this is what i was thinking too,,good very good,,i will keep follow up on this threa,,,,keep up picuture,,,,i love to coppy what people do to there tank,,,thanks

sweet pics

steve

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11332219#post11332219 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maxalmon [/i]
[B]Here's the link to the nano.....
[url]http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1252520[/url]

Softie and LPS are somewhat easier to keep IMO.
SPS require pristine water quality in order for the colors and growth develop. Granted, SPS tanks are drop dead gorgeous, the colors are insane, but at this point I'm kinda over them. I want a tank that I can have fun with not slave over.. [/B][/QUOTE]

Actually the SPS do not need pristine water quality. I think that is a misconception that everyone falls into believing. But I do think that maintaining a balance of different corals looks more natural than just a plain SPS tank. Of course this is all just my opinion but I keep all 3 types of corals and I do not have pristine water conditions and my coloration is just as good. Again my opinion.

Looking forward to seeing your progress. Thanks for sharing.

Flooring arrived and we are now letting it temperature acclimate so that we can install, hopefully this Wed....
.
Tank and all the external equipment has arrived and ready for install,....One big problem, a driver rammed my canopy and stand with a forklift, they don't have another one in stock. I was told they had re-ordered another one and that it could take up to 2 weeks. I may just drive to LA to pick it up as it will save me almost a week (truck only comes to Vegas on Tuesdays) Figured that I could make it over to the wholesalers and do some cherry picking if I get their early enough

Well that sucks that you have to wait on the stand and canopy but it sounds like it might work out better anyways.

Nice Nano! Wow! Congrats on the new tank. I just got my Oceanic 215 up and running. Yes, it was a bear to get inside! Wow, that thing weighs in pretty heavy. My tank will be a mix as well. Will be fun watching yours come together. GL, Marcye

Since I have extra time due to the canopy/stand nightmare we've decided to go ahead and install the 8" crown molding.
Here are a few photos of the start of the flooring install, we had to trim the bottom of the baseboards to allow for expansion of the flooring. Removing the baseboards and them putting them back down on top of the flooring wasn't an option as 2 of the hallways that enter the room butt up to tile and there would have been heigth issues of the baseboard in the room not beeing the same height as the baseboard in the tank room...Rotozip!!!
You take a plank of flooring, put it up against the baseboard and then run the Rotozip along the top of the plank and it removes the exact height off the bottom of the baseboard. We trimmed this room in about 5 minutes.....We start installing the flooring this morning....
[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/products/c0050001.jpg[/IMG]

Here is the pic of the baseboard that was just rotozipped, you can see the cut line on the bottom of the baseboard,

[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/products/c0110001.jpg[/IMG]

The removed piece of baseboard
[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/products/c0130001.jpg[/IMG]

A few more steps closer to my dedicated viewing room

Made some minor design changes to the room, because the stand/canopy is cherry we decided to paint the tank wall a darker color to make the tank stand out, going for more of a relaxed, old world look that makes the tank the center of attention....The stand/canopy should arrive on Thu and it's driving me nuts having to wait....
[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/products/f0040001.jpg[/IMG]

Decided to make some desing changes, the wall was just painted so there are lots of reflections, actual paint is matt so that reflections in the room are minimize, the paint dries to a much darker color, very dark brown

The stand/canopy are cherry and the greenish back wall would have made the stand/canopy stand out way too much, we want the tank itself to be the center of attention so we painted the wall to make the sytem blend

This pic was taken when the paint was wet, the color dries to a much, much darker color. We also used a matt finish to minimize reflections

Any Updates?

Finally, the stand and canopy arrived, took almost 3 weeks to get them because first set was crushed by a forklift driver, had to reo-order etc....Now the fun begins....Trying to round up some neighbors so that we can set the tank on top....
[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/b0030001-3.jpg[/IMG]

The new room loows awesome!!! Can't wait to see the tank on the stand. Who needs a TV with that setup!

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11432279#post11432279 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SuperAWE [/i]
[B]The new room loows awesome!!! Can't wait to see the tank on the stand. Who needs a TV with that setup! [/B][/QUOTE]
Thanks, I can't wait to get the x-mas tree out of the room, park the recliners right in front of the tank and start watching....

I can't believe how much of a beast this tank was to move, took 4 people and everybody was totally paranoid, as I kinda gave them this whole speach about how you can and can't lift the tank....None of the people who helped move the tank have aquariums...

Heres pics of the tank finally in place, this is my second stand/canopy of the same design from this company, I can't even begin to explain how much I love the flip-up top on this canopy..
[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/a0540001.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p187/maxalmon/a0520001.jpg[/IMG]

I'll start filling the tank today, then the fun of moving everything from the 125 over to this tank,