150 to 220

[nayotte]

My new 220 gallon came in today!! 72"x24"x30" tall. Now that it's in front of me I can't belive the size. I don't know how I will get my arm to the bottom.



Built in corner overflows.

About a week ago I posted some pics of my 150 gallon and the new stand I was building. I didnt keep up on my photos but... here are a few.

The 150 I sold.

Start of the stand.

Here is where I didn't take to many pics.
Stand without doors.
Another

the finish nailer, what a great tool

Inside the stand. Overbuilt?? Underbuilt??

[nayotte]

Today I actually tore down the 150. Up and down the stairs who knows how many times. Here is where I put it... 30 gallon, 75 gallon, 55 gallon, 10 gallon, sump. Most of my rock and all my corals are in the 55 with a powerhead moving water. The fish and some sand/rock are in the 75 gallon hooked up to an old sump that I hooked up about a week ago with old tank rock and sand. Most of the sand is in the 30, not sure what to do with it yet. I bought 240lbs of new live sand for the 220 but want to seed that with my old sand. Should I use the old sand or is it polluted with nitrates??

[Keelay]

Nice stand. I have a 30" deep aquarium and regret it. I have horrible access overhead which makes it more difficult. I won't build another tank more than 24" deep again. Even thinking about redoing mine!

[skeletor121]

You should be fine with the old sand seeded into the new. I have seen it done numerous times without any problems.

[coralnut99]

Originally posted by skeletor121
You should be fine with the old sand seeded into the new. I have seen it done numerous times without any problems.

So long as you think your old SB had no issues, I agree 100%. It's the way to go.

[nayotte]

Okay, so I hired a moving company to move the tank. 100 bucks. Fully insured unlike the beer drinking buddies that were going to help and probably drop the tank.






I seeded the new 240lbs of live sand with about 75lbs of old sand from the 150gal.


Returns plumbed


New sump, filling slowly with RO


My girlfriend says the sump area is not pretty to viewers. She is wrong but I am building doors anyway.




2400gph, I'm a bit undecided about this pump. The tank is drilled so it has a 1" baffle on each side. Supposedly a 1" hole will drain 600gph. So that is only 1200gph total. Is this correct? I bought the pump in regards to cycling the entire tank at least ten times per hour. If I'm only dumping 1200gph the tank won't be running as planned. Thoughts??

[SuperAWE]

Nice stand build! I think you should seal the inside of the stand though. Kilz or some sort of primer would do the trick. That way you wouldn't have to worry as much if water splashes, spills, or leaks out.

[coralnut99]

I don't have any experience with the Quiet One, but I've read some negative things, so you may want to inquire further before you put it into service. The Koralias are nice powerheads. Very wide water dispersal. But I think a #2 will be all but undetectable in a tank that size. If you can exchange them, you may want to move up to #4's.

[coralnut99]

I just noticed your stand is bottomless, and sits over a parquet or strip wood floor. Just a word of caution: spills both large and small are inevitable. There's no floor less tolerant of water than wood floors. I've seen a couple of threads where guys actually waterproofed the inside to the extent that it would retain inches of water. I wish I had links to the threads.

[nayotte]

Originally posted by SuperAWE
Nice stand build! I think you should seal the inside of the stand though. Kilz or some sort of primer would do the trick. That way you wouldn't have to worry as much if water splashes, spills, or leaks out.

I agree I should have sealed the inside. I actually used a oil based primer and paint for the outside of the stand. I have paint left over.

Originally posted by coralnut99
I just noticed your stand is bottomless, and sits over a parquet or strip wood floor. Just a word of caution: spills both large and small are inevitable. There's no floor less tolerant of water than wood floors. I've seen a couple of threads where guys actually waterproofed the inside to the extent that it would retain inches of water. I wish I had links to the threads.

Yeah, the 150 gallon did a number on the floor. There were a couple occasions where the water just poured into my basement from above. There are actually salt stains in my stringers in the basement. I should have put a bottom on the stand. I was in such a rush to get the tank going and save my fish and corals I didn't bother. Notice all the shims in the pic?? The floor is not even close to level.

[nayotte]

Originally posted by coralnut99
I don't have any experience with the Quiet One, but I've read some negative things, so you may want to inquire further before you put it into service. The Koralias are nice powerheads. Very wide water dispersal. But I think a #2 will be all but undetectable in a tank that size. If you can exchange them, you may want to move up to #4's.

So I just fired up the quiet one 9000, it doesn't work. Soo...what pump to get to replace?? I have always had good luck with magdrive but my LFS doesn't sell one big enough for a 220. What do you all think?

[coralnut99]

Petsolutions has Magdrives on sale almost perpetually.

[nayotte]

It's been awhile messing with the tank trying to get the flow right. I ended up ordering a magdrive1200. Two 1" drains=1200gph. Well something just isn't right. I can't feed that pump even close to enough water. I have to cut the flow with a ball valve and then the return spits out next to nothing. AHHH!! Is this tank not engineered properly for a reef tank?

[kgross]

You don't want much more flow than the 1200 going over your overflows. But you will want a lot more total flow in the tank, than the 1200 through the sump and the 2 powerheads you have.

Kim

[nayotte]

Originally posted by kgross
You don't want much more flow than the 1200 going over your overflows. But you will want a lot more total flow in the tank, than the 1200 through the sump and the 2 powerheads you have.

Kim

What do you suggest to increase the total flow?

[dngspot]

I use an OR-6500 running through my 220 drilled tank. Flow rate is about 1500 gph.

I moved from a 150g to a 210g last May. You can look at my build through the little red house above.

[coralnut99]

If you use extrenal reactors to run carbon, or Phosphate removers you can T off your return line to feed both with a mag 12, and might still have to throttle it back a bit. The bigger mag drives are brutes.

[nayotte]

Well after spending some time playing with the plumbing I finally got it where I want it. Some updated pics.
My LFS actually took back my proclear 300 sump. I wanted to use this tote and buy a skimmer instead. I also have been reading some negatives to wet dry filters so thought I would try without this time around.


A shot with the rock. There are a couple chromis in there. I tested the tank today. If there was a mini cycle from all that new sand, it seems to be over. I will add my fish and coral slowly either way.


Oh, I found a 55 gallon complete setup. About eighty lbs of rock, 15 soft corals. I threw into my 46 bowfront. In limbo at the moment but I couldn't pass up the deal for 300$$!!

What do you think about my lighting for the 220?? I have 3-150w halides and 4 96w actinics. The tank is 30" deep but I have about 4 or 5 inches of sand. Do I need the 250w halides for sps?

[kgross]

Originally posted by nayotte
What do you suggest to increase the total flow?

I would suggest about 4 of the Korala 4 powerheads in that tank, or do a closed loop. Your tank will be quieter, and your surface skimmers will concentrate more junk for your skimmer to pull out with the lower flow rate.

Kim

[coralnut99]

I know folks will disagree, but I'm not one to spend more than I have to. I think you can keep sps with the 150's. It's all about where you place them in the tank. If you plan 100% sps in the future, the 250's would be the way to go. Light penetration will get to be an issue. But then again, there are sps that aren't very "light hungry". In my opinion it just depends on where you're headed with the tank.

[nayotte]

Originally posted by coralnut99
I know folks will disagree, but I'm not one to spend more than I have to. I think you can keep sps with the 150's. It's all about where you place them in the tank. If you plan 100% sps in the future, the 250's would be the way to go. Light penetration will get to be an issue. But then again, there are sps that aren't very "light hungry". In my opinion it just depends on where you're headed with the tank.

Thank!! I will give the 150's a try for awhile. I have a couple varieties of montipora right now so I'll keep em near the top.

[draleigh]

if you are looking at SPS you are going ot want more flow. I have two Hydro 4's, my returns, and two hacksaw modded maxijet 1200s in my 180 and i am thinking MORE FLOW for mine. Nice build anyway. i think you are gonna want more light too.

[Zestay]

im glad you pulled the bio balls. i was going to say something but you did it already =)
smart move you wont be cursing yourself later with threads like help with nitrate control plz 90PPM cant get it down in 2 years

with 150 watts thats not a whole lot for such a deep tank! keep your light hungry stuff at the top all i can say

[coralnut99]

Originally posted by nayotte
Thank!! I will give the 150's a try for awhile. I have a couple varieties of montipora right now so I'll keep em near the top.

Just wanted to stress that you should know the lighting requirements for any sps you add. The key is to have at least a medium-term plan for what you put in the tank. Upgrades and other changes are inevitable over the long term, so if you're thinking of a mixed reef now, you should be OK with the 150's in my mind. Again, if you want to go full-blown sps some day, you'll need the light penetration that 250's will give you. hth

[nayotte]

A few new shots. Tank is finally running. At the moment I have six powerheads and a mag drive 1200 for flow. The mag drive 2400 is in the mail. I also ordered 4 koralia 1200's. I love the gentle flow they create. I have two 600's in the tank and they probably are not enough. The skimmer is running. Not really pulling the sludge yet. Tank may be too "new".