Ichthys 150 Reef Build

[Ichthys]

Welcome to my thread where I will chronicle my 150 build. I purchased the tank used on CL a few months back for a screaming deal, it is a 2 year old 150 gallon with dual overflows and Starphire front glass. It is in excellent shape with no scratches. The tank is going where my current 90 was sitting so the first step was to temporarily relocate the 90 out of the bedroom to make way for the new tank. Moving the 90 had its share of issues and unfortunately I lost my prize Pocillopora colony along with a few other corals and 2 fish. I had set up a temporary holding tank, a 65 gallon and on the first morning woke to a crashed tank with things dying and smelling to high heaven. After recovering from that i started the 150 planning, and of course the wife took the opportunity of having no tank in the bedroom to put new carpet and paint in the room. Not quite fair when new carpeting gets added to your reef tank budget lol. So the bedroom is finished and this weekend i got the 150 moved in and started plumbing it.
First pic is of the old 90 in its place.

Here is the 150 sitting in the living room

 

[Ichthys]

The stand was in good condition and i sanded it down to bare wood and gave it 4 coats of MinWax WipeOn Poly, an awesome product (thanks Peppie).

The canopy needed some love and was a bit beyond my woodworking skills so it was outsourced to peppie to do some modifications and replace the backside. I am very excited about how the canopy and stand will look when completed, stay tuned, i guarantee it will be something different.

 

[Ichthys]

So today I got the 150 to its new home and started plumbing it. The plumbing comes out the bottom of the tank and directly out thru the wall to the garage. I cant really call it a "fish room" as it shares duty as a shop, storage, junk collection area etc. lol but i do have a little corner for my sump and a 35 gallon salt water mixing station.

 

[Ichthys]

Plumbing under the tank. I like it nice and neat.

Here is the sump all shined up and pretty, one of the baffles was kinda low and had silly holes drilled in it so we welded in another baffle.

Here is the sump with my drain tower which will have filter floss serving the same purpose as a sock, but much easier and cheaper to change. I know the downsides to mechanical filtration thats why i didnt want a sock as they are a pain to change and get spendy. Sheets of blue filter floss are dirt cheap and will be replaced every 3 or 4 days. The 5 gallon jug represents my OBD Protein Skimmer as it is roughly the same size.. dont you love that collection cup mock up lol.

 

[Ichthys]

So that brings me current. I hope that my lights will come in to BR by next weekend, I have ordered 2 Nova A8's they are 8 pods of 12 LED's each for a total of 192 LED's. The canopy should be nearing completion and then i need to pick up my skimmer at OBD. Have 200 pounds of rock in warm dark saltwater that has been cooking for 2 months, now its just a waiting game.

 

[kpiotrowski]

where's the sump......oh wait a minute, I see it now. its so clear I missed it the first time lol. thats a HUGE leather in the first pic, you should sell it for a like a billion dollars!

 

[reefman069]

nice tank. looking good. keep posting pictures . they thank you again for the zoanthids that i got from you.

 

[Ichthys]

Would like a few opinions. For a return pump I am looking for something that is variable so that i can run it wide open in the daytime and at night slow it down in order to decrease drain noise seeing as the tank is in our bedroom. I had been planning on a Reeflo Blowhole 1450. I recently came across the Diablo DC 5500 and have been reading a lot about them. I have no experience with DC pumps. Was wondering what the community had to say about them and the pros and cons of each of these two choices.

Thanks
Ichthys

 

[Tureefik87]

Tagging along with this build. Have fun and enjoy your build!

Galvin

 

[kpiotrowski]

my oveflow makes zero noise, but If I were to lessen the return volume at night like you are trying to do it would start sucking air and be noisey.

 

[myindoorocean]

The Diablo looks identical to the Waveline dc5000.

 

[Ichthys]

Question on the Waveline and the Diablo for that matter as well. In the event of power failure to these pumps remember where they were set at or do they ramp back to 100% My overflows wont handle 1500 gph, I have verified that with my GenX PCK100 at full throttle the tank begins to overfill and would overflow the sides if i didn't catch it. If the power went out when i was out and then came back on and this pump went back to 100% i would be sleeping on the couch forever.

 

[myindoorocean]

Yes, they're supposed to. I haven't tested it, though. I have a Waveline dc10000.

 

[Ichthys]

Updates, got the tank and sump wet and leak testing. Everything looks good so far. This weekend working on some electrical, installing new outlet that will handle DJ Power Strip, and DA RKL PC4.
Pic of tank finally full. Think i spent a brand new set of RODI filters just filling this sucker.

 

[Ichthys]

Garage with Sump area.

Salt Water Mixing Station. Its on casters so i can move it around.

Sump Shot

 

[kpiotrowski]

looking good! a thought on the filter pad being exposed to air, as I was going to do the same rather than a filter sock, but was concerned it may promote nitrates.

 

[Peppie]

Danny, Great looking sump room. Nice to have that much room to work with.
How is your little bandsaw working out for ya?
How long before you put life in there?

 

[senji]

on the filter pad if ther is light, basically its a algae scrubber may be an issue down the road. my thoughts.

 

[Ichthys]

looking good! a thought on the filter pad being exposed to air, as I was going to do the same rather than a filter sock, but was concerned it may promote nitrates.

on the filter pad if ther is light, basically its a algae scrubber may be an issue down the road. my thoughts.

........ How is your little bandsaw working out for ya?
How long before you put life in there?

The purpose of the tower as opposed to a sock is ease of changin the pad. I bought bulk fiber pad, 40 square yards. Cut into 100 pads and change pad every 3 days. Issue solved.

Peppie; The bandsaw is awesome, I don't know how i ever lived without one. It makes my PVC pipe cutter look like a dull rock. I cant even begin to guess how much time i have saved zipping pipe thru that band saw in the last 3 or 4 days, it is something no reefer should be without. As for life in the tank, I am waiting on lights from Barrier, should ship from China next week. I might pick up skimmer from OBD this weekend, depends on my schedule. Have all the rock and sand ready to go so will be short cycle. Though... am thinking about the sand.. I am a little tired of the sugar sand blowing around in my 90 all the time. The 2 clownfish are OCD and work all day and all night to make sure every grain of sand in the tank gets thrown up into the water column at least once a day.. I have been thinking of switching to a larger grain size of sand, something that doesn't float about as much as sugar sand.. what r your thoughts?

 

[senji]

lookin good real good man. way to go. cant wait to start moving forward with my builds.