New 220 gallon tank
Well. Instead of posting every little thing i did at every moment in the build, I thought Id just finish or almost finish everything and then give a short description.
Simply put, bought a almost new 220 gallon All-Glass aquarium from secretweapons several months ago. I tried to sell my old 120 gallon tank but had no takers so I converted it to my sump by adding 1/4 glass in 3 locations to baffel it out and allow room for my skimmer, reactors etc.
Laid out my base using 3/4 ply and 4x4 cedar posts. Positioned my old tank on top, built around it allowing for plenty of space. Both tanks are 72 long so I built my stand 96inches in length. Aquired a Reeflo hammerhead pump also from secretweapon and figured on using that as my main return branching off into 3 seperate lines which split off into 2 lockline returns.
The new tank had 2 inch drains cut into it. Homemade clear acrylic overflows glass purchased for enclosing the top of the tank. The new tank does have 2 cross braces which creates 3 seperate areas.
I hard plumbed everything with 2 inch pvc. I ran 1.5 inch pvc from pump up to my return lines for more pressure.
For the sump (aka old tank) its divided into sections allowing for return (flowing into rock rubble) then under the glass into my protein skimmer area. From here I cut a 16 inch tall glass section to allow water to spill over into my deep sand bed area to help with circulation. From here, a 14 inch tall glass section was cut to further allow a second small cascading effect into my main return area. A 1/4 piece of glass was placed on a 45 degree angle to offset too much flow. This created a area for my mechanical filtration, and allowed to capture much of the bubbles created earlier.
Tank has been up and running for 3-4 weeks with my old fish being put back in 2 weeks ago. I went with a more open area for the fish to swim , so my total rock work is about 150 lbs. I created a approximate 8 inch deep sand bed in my sump to attempt better nitrate reduction etc.
Currently running a carbon reactor, phosphate reactor, and Midwest aquatic's nitrate reactor.
The entire setup will be hooked up to my reefkeeper elite systems to monitor PH, salinity (when they get their salinity probes fixed) daytime and moon light operations as well as main pump operation.
The photos show just the basic setup with out doors. I finished them last weekend and will be installing them Saturday I hope. Everything else will be install by the end of the weekend , as well as a Auto Top off unit (still awaiting my float switch from digital Aquatics)
Anyway, thanks for taking a look!
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