CFI - custom 155 Gallon - 60L x 30W x 20H

[NC2WA]

Joe,

I try that for the fish I buy too. I also tell her, I bought a fish for one of my kids.
)))

 

[csdoyle]

Still working on things. RO/DI water is almost to the overflows in the tank, getting ready to finish the plumbing in the next few days. I only wish a sweet Bubblemaster skimmer was available locally!

I am trying to decide between the BM 200 and 250. The 250 sounds like it would be overkill, but maybe that's a good idea.

Happy Holidays,

Chris

 

[NC2WA]

Chris,

FWIW, I would go with the BM 250. Better to overskim then underskim. For example, I have a H&S 250 for my 375 gallon tank. This skimmer is rated for 700 gallons. The main reason I chose this skimmer is I knew that I plan on having at least 4 large angelfish in my tank. This skimmer will allow me to do this and most importantly maintain good water quality which is a must if you are keeping angelfish.

HTH,
Kirk

 

[Skimmy]

DONT put the bm250 on a 155g!!!!!

that would be waaay too much overkill,...and that's coming from me, the skimmer freak.

think about it, we have a bm250 at barrier reef, it's on a 300g main display, with 180g frag tank, and 75g sump for a total amount of about 550g,
the tank stays pretty damn clean to be sure.
so i can say without a doubt, the ati bm200 can filter a normal fish load tank with mixed coral of up to 250g or an sps/heavily stocked 200g.

the only thing is, that the ATI bm200 is NOT for noobs, or lazy people!! you will have to adjust the airflow to accomodate your individual tank's skimming requirements, as well as have a chamber in your sump with a baffle where the water level never changes, and have to learn the tricks of this pump to deal with start up issues, as well as trimming/maintaining the mesh wheel impellar. BUT, it is a bad ass performer that produces a ton of skimmate, is dead quiet, it's cheap (if you compare it to other skimmers of the same power), and the short skimmer body allows it to fit in most aquarium stands. to me, unless your going to buy a royal exclusive bubble king, or ATB, the ATI skimmers are the way to go. but if your the kind of person who likes to set things and forget about them, then this skimmer is not for you. the other thing about the ATI's is that you get 1,100 lph of air for each 23 watt pump. try to find another skimmer that can beat that...

you might also want to look at the new octopus knock off's of the ATI:
http://www.marinesolutionsinc.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=22_48

i actually like that bubble plate design better, it's actually more like the bubble king than the bubble master skimmers. same sicce psk 2500 pump as the ATI's too. and that price...wow

 

[csdoyle]

Thanks for the advice, Skimmer Whisperer. Certainly going to continue to do some research!

Happy Holidays,

Chris

 

[csdoyle]

Woo hoo!

I have RO/DI water flowing through the tank and the sump. Keeping a keen eye on my plumbing to make sure I don't have any leaks. The dual Eheim 1260's are pushing a surprising amount of water. I am impressed.

The overflows are a little noisy, but I know Jason has mentioned some tricks using the backup overflow and ball valves on the overflow returns to dial in a silent system. I can see how it will happen, just waiting to pressure test my plumbing for a day or two before I start getting crafty.

I also can't wait to get the Closed Loop plumbed and see the turbulence a Reeflow Dart will create in my little tank. I am also still researching proper skimmers for my nearly 200 gallon system including the sump/fuge.

A question for anyone reading.. how much flow would you suggest for a 21 gallon fuge built into my sump. I am planning out my fuge pump purchase and unsure what flow rate to aim for. I intend to DIY a spray bar of some sort.

Happy Holidays,

Chris

 

[Jobiwan]

Looking good Chris, you don't need a huge amount of flow, I'd use an MD-3 myself, I love Mag Drives, they last forever and do fine with back pressure, so your spray bar will be no problem, by installing a small inline ball valve, you can play around with different turnover rates and see what feels right, gives you the option of increasing flow to flush out more pods if you want, but if you go smaller you won't have the option of running a higher flow rate, cost difference is pretty negligible,,,,

 

[csdoyle]

Thanks for all the advice.

I'm still here, but the tank project is on hold at the moment. We ran into some electrical problems with water seeping into our meter box outside the house (not tank related). It caused our whole panel to short out and we luckily were spared a full blown fuse box fire.

The bad news is I have to install a new fuse box and run a new service to the house.. the good news is that I will be doubling the service amperage and getting the new power runs to the new tank thrown in as freebies.

The electrical work should be <fingers crossed> - completed tomorrow and then the tank migration can begin again in earnest.

Happy New Year,

Chris

 

[csdoyle]

Happy New Year!

I've been making progress. I installed a Mag 5 for my refugeium pump and throttled it with a valve. It's nice and adjustable to avoid return bubbles to my main tank and powerful enough to push out some pods when I want to. Pic attached it is in the center of the skimmer area of the sump. The foam prefilter is attached to catch plastic bits floating around and will be removed when the system is live. There are a couple of stand pipes to take the weight of the plumbing till I secure it in the shot. If it looks odd, ignore it!

The plumbing for the closed loop is almost done. I had everything running tonight for a bit and was disappointed to find some leaks around the fittings to the Reeflow Dart. My suspicion is that I inadvertently made the connections to tight. I'll have another go at it tomorrow with newly threaded connections. Thank goodness for union valves...

I've attached a pic of the closed loop return manifold. Jason is still due to come out with a few things and to plumb the emergency overflow from the tank to the sump, by then I should have the leaks in order.

Please excuse the purple dribly PVC cement in the pics. This is my first try at PVC plumbing and I am certainly not as graceful as some. The good news is none of my PVC cemented joints have failed, only the teflon taped ones. More pics to come...

Advice as always is welcome,

Chris

 

[Jobiwan]

Sweet setup Chris, you've inspired me, I've had a jury rigged setup on my fuge for two months, I'm going to tackle that today and basically try to do what you did with the throttled MD, regards, Joe

 

[csdoyle]

Well I solved the leaky closed loop problem. I tried a few times with teflon tape and decided it just wasn't going to work for the plumbing to the Reeflow Dart.

I picked up some Rectorseal T plus 2, gooped up the male and female threads real good and the leaks were history. As messy as this stuff could be, I think it will become my new standard on fittings over 1" in size. It is very satisfying twisting a fitting together and seeing this stuff ooze out filling all the gaps and threads so definitively.

I dropped in a 5 gallon bucket of salt tonight with the pumps all blazing and things are mixing up nicely. I should have some pics soon.

I should be seeing a new Skimmer somewhat soon as well which is always exciting.

Best wishes,

Chris

 

[Krish]

Looking nice!!!

 

[NC2WA]

chris,

so the skimmer of choice is the BM 200 ???

 

[csdoyle]

Actually I am leaning towards the Marine Solutions Xtreme 200 that are recently in stock at Marine Solutions.

That look pretty darned bubbly for the price!

Cheers,

Chris

 

[vwmoneypit]

i just question one thing????? sorry guys looking out for peeps ....the stand strenght ???
all else hail plankton !!!looking super sweet will be a clean install for shure !!

 

[csdoyle]

VW,

Thanks for your concern with my stand, however I feel very confident with it.

I have a great deal of faith that my stand will hold. Oak is significantly stronger than pine which many DIY stands are made of and built up with a great deal of 2 x 4 and even 4 x 4 overkill, IMO. This wasn't a "cheap" stand to build - quality lumber can cost $$.

If you take a look at the particle board stands some folks pick up with stock tank/stand combos.. a solid oak 3/4" frame with a notched in 3/4" oak plywood platform for the tank to sit on starts looking a whole lot more attractive both visually and structurally.

We put a lot of fine wood work touches into the construction with the way we glued and screwed everything together to create greater strength all around. You don't see the usual three or four screws drilled through one board to another. I also did put in the extra work to seal in the sanding and polyurethane it to high heaven to add additional strength.

I am 100% confident in the design and look forward to it lasting many years to come. I will be the first to post if it does fail or cause any problems at all, you can count on that.

At the moment, it's sitting real pretty with a 155 gallon tank full of water! If you are ever in the Seattle area and want to have a peek at it, get in touch via a PM and we can arrange something.

Here's to a clean install ,

Chris

 

[vwmoneypit]

well good !! U know i was over at my buddy house WE are setting up a 185 and we were looking at the original stand l.o.l. what a joke pine dry as a popcorn fart painted brad nailed p.o.s. it would be one of those typical what was that errrrrrchunchun ttttttkkkkk .???????? ohhhh shhhiiiii%$$& CABOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!! DEALS! WHO ARE THEY KIDDING WITH THOSE THINGS .WELL I HOPE WE HELP OTHER COME TO THERE SENSES OF EVER USING ONE EXCEPT FOR A FRAG TABEL L.O.L. LOOKING GOOD YEAH I MAY BE MOVING OVER THERE UHHHH!

 

[csdoyle]

A quick update -

All the power issues at the house have been sorted and the new tank is running on two dedicated GFI circuits which is a relief. All the grounding is proper and ready for whatever I can throw at it.

I have had about 25% of the live rock from my current tank seeding the new system for the last week. I am going to continue to add in all the non coral covered rock this weekend and get the sugar sand in to settle.

Over the next few weeks - parameters allowing - I am going to transfer over the corals from my current tank to the new darling. Still deciding if I will QT the fish for a couple months for ICH treatment and observation in the event it is present as, QT was not used prior to my inheritance of the current tank. At present there are only a couple of fishies.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to receive my new skimmer which is a Marine Solutions Xtreme 200.

Looking forward to the weekend, for sure.

Cheers,

Chris

 

[seawandrr]

Great to hear the power issues are sorted so you can get back to the important stuff!

Looking forward to a report on that new skimmer...

~K

 

[csdoyle]

SWC MSXtreme 200

Real quick first impressions:

Holy bubbles Batman!

I received the MSXtreme 200 today all in great condition. Being a skimmer noob, I was stunned at how big this thing is. As for build quality which has been a debated topic on the forums, IMO it seems built well for the $. I could imagine the collection cup feeling a bit more sturdy, but with care.. it shouldn't be an issue.

The assembly went together pretty easy after giving it an RO/DI wipe down. I got hung up on one little piece that seems that it should slip into the opening of the pump after you get the venturi tube in place.

It dropped into my CFI sump nicely with tons of wiggle room. Thanks to Jason's fine work the skimmer area baffles keep a real nice level in the sump which this skimmer will surely appreciate. Once I transfer the ATO from my current tank it should be easy to maintain the level.

I wanted to have a plug and play experience so I didn't get in there and mess with the mesh wheel assembly. I put the skimmer in the sump, plugged it in and viola loads of bubbles. I have tried unplugging it a couple times and it restarted without incident each time. The pump runs with a distinct hum, by no means loud, but audible. With doors on the stand it likely wouldn't be a real issue.

I am already impressed at all the bits and pieces of live rock and plumbing debris it is collecting. I am running it with the outlet pipe about half open which adjusts nicely with a little twist for tweaking. I like that method a lot more than the idea of raising and lowering the outlet pipe. It makes it feel more like a valve adjustment.

I'll have some pics up tonight, I took some of the shipping packaging and the first shots of it on the kitchen table as it came out of the box. I will also have a follow up report on any crud accumulating.

My first impression is a very positive one.

Cheers,

Chris