Blue Z Reef Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 (edited) Hey all, here is my LONG build that I am just now sharing now the tank is finally going. Hope you enjoy! MarineLand 210 gal 6’x2’x28” Refinished MarineLand stand to match house trim/cabinets Lighting: 2x Viparspectra 300w + 2x Euroquatics blue pop 60” LED T5 bulbs Skimmer: RLSS R8i Return: Jebao DCP 10k Water movement: Gyre XF350 x2 Control: Apex full system with DOS, ATK, TRIDENT Sump: eShopps r300 Media: Marine pure block + spheres Running with sand (special grade) this time. Some rock will carry over from my cube plus some that I’ve had soaking in the garage. My cube only has 2 clowns that I’ve had for 10+ years. Looking forward to having some bigger fish again! early shot of the 45 cube Here was the tank when I brought it home (sadly in Nov 2018!). It sat in my garage as I planned and waiting to buy equipment for MONTHS. Slowly gathered some things over the months... In March 2019 I moved my 45 cube from its spot in our family room... To the dining room to free up the spot for the new tank The stand that came with the tank needed repair in a spot or two as well as paint. I wanted to match paint it to our house trim/cabinets. Tons of sanding/prep went into it for a month or so on and off. First spray by my brother in law ran really bad. I sanded it all off and did it myself with a rental from Home Depot. Came out overall pretty good and smooth as I was hoping. This was all done August 2019. Garage was full paint booth status for about a month 😂 Fast forward...now it’s October 2019. Finally bite the bullet and pick up an Apex! I have traditionally done Reefkeeper and even had a running Archon, but the company out of business has made it more of an underground following of keeping things going. Apex was the logical choice for the long run. Now I get around to painting the back of the tank black FINALLY in November 2019 I have movers bring the tank up from the garage into the house. It’s about 4 months later than I originally planned... Then the fun begins! Testing gear, plumbing, setting up my controller board, etc Just before Christmas, the tank begins to fill! Things get salty and I put in my rocks that have been marinating in unheated (whoops) saltwater for the last 6 months Now it’s time to fix my water station! Here it was before, lots of 5 gal jugs and a 55 gal barrel stuffed in there. Grabbed this beefcake 200 gal reservoir from Brian. My 4 year old for size reference Made a small stand to get things level and slightly elevated. Moved my RODI hodge podge out of the way of the big boy Got a 75 gal tank for my salt mix from Green Concepts Containers Plumbed things together and did some final clean up and organization. Before this all I ran a conduit from this up to my tank so my Apex Aquabus and top off water goes through and up to the tank (my house has the garage below the main floor). Edited March 13, 2020 by Blue Z Reef 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted March 13, 2020 Author Share Posted March 13, 2020 (edited) So far the tanks inhabitants are: 2 FP clowns from my 45 1 Blue chromis Yellow eye kole tang 2 bar rabbitfish still figuring out getting better pics with current setup lol! Sorry for the iPhone pics for now! So far the causalities are 1 blue chromis 1 Kuteri Wrasse 😭 Need to talk to Jeff about these, doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with parameters. Clean up crew from Seahorse, did an assortment including a sand sifting star. Will add more later. Edited March 13, 2020 by Blue Z Reef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danik Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Looks good man! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 That is a really clean looking build! Obviously spent some time thinking everything through and it shows. Looks like another possible meeting venue in the future 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 Been a while since I updated, tank is cruisin😎 Current livestock: XL 2 bar rabbitfish blue hippo tang yellow tang yellow eye kole tang clown wrasse 6x blue chromis flame angel 2x FP clowns I’m itching for another big fish, probably a tang. What do you guys think would go good? I’d really like a large orange shoulder tang. Not sure at this point which fish are safe adds to avoid aggression? FTS Today Happy my chalices are getting their deeper colors back, they put up with some neglect in my last tank. I need to get a camera filter... Good things come in grey and orange packages! This will be my second DOS which will go in the garage for AWC in the near future, waiting on tubing and adapters. Also have to run another conduit up to the tank (not my favorite job 😂) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Wow how did I miss this! Great design ! Nice and clean and lots of patience on your part. I keep coming up with all these crazy ideas in my new house. I could build a fish shop in the shop. I could drill a hole and have a sump in the room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 2 hours ago, Emerald525 said: Wow how did I miss this! Great design ! Nice and clean and lots of patience on your part. I keep coming up with all these crazy ideas in my new house. I could build a fish shop in the shop. I could drill a hole and have a sump in the room. Haha I know the feeling, there is a closet in our hallway that I was debating having as a sump room but I’ve been happy with it all where it’s at 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 did you buy or build this? Great job on the build ( Im a little behind here) ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 6 hours ago, reefnjunkie said: did you buy or build this? Great job on the build ( Im a little behind here) ? That is a Marine Depot controller board, pre made. I wanna say it was $150ish? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 Here it is: https://www.marinedepot.com/standard-aquarium-controller-board-mounting-system-white-marine-depot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted December 29, 2020 Author Share Posted December 29, 2020 Saw in my phone it’s been a year since this day: So here’s the tank today! nems have been doing well in this tank. Lots of splits as well as some massive ones. nems are like kids...always getting into everywhere they aren’t supposed to be. my SPS zone. Getting crowded with zoas. Been struggling a bit with colors but growth is good overall. This tank has been cruising thanks to Apex/Trident/DOS AWC. It’s been super easy to maintain. I do need to do an ATI ICP test sometime soon and see how everything else is, but overall things are pretty stable (especially Alk!). Its been a weird year with Covid but has allowed me more time around my tank (working from home) as well as a few Opportunities to share some coral with others. I always enjoy helping out new hobbyists with some first corals, always reach out to me and let’s enjoy reefing! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 Looking good man! Seems like you had some pretty impressive Euphyllia growth - those are some large colonies in there 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 1 hour ago, albertareef said: Looking good man! Seems like you had some pretty impressive Euphyllia growth - those are some large colonies in there 👍 Yes, they have gone crazy. And along the way I sold off several so I’m not 100% hoarding 🤣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waldoz Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 On 12/29/2020 at 3:13 PM, Blue Z Reef said: I always enjoy helping out new hobbyists with some first corals, always reach out to me and let’s enjoy reefing! That is for sure! You helped us out when we first got started! Remember this BTA, he is still going good. We got him a buddy. These frogspawn still doing great! Just wanted to say thank you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titus'reef Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 You have an amazing reef! In person it looks even better! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 15 hours ago, waldoz said: That is for sure! You helped us out when we first got started! Remember this BTA, he is still going good. We got him a buddy. These frogspawn still doing great! Just wanted to say thank you! Those are looking awesome! Happy to get you setup with those corals. If you think of something else you’d like from my tank let me know 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Looking good, man! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.