180 Gallon Experience!

[Rijodan]

Alright! Time for a new tank as I've filled my 28g AIO full of growing frags and the want of tangs!

So asked around and watching different market places over the last few weeks. I was looking for a 120 or 75 as my house didnt have a good location for anything much larger, but a guy in my local reef club offered me a deal I couldn't pass up!

The tank is a 180gal with a 75gal sump.
Dimensions run 60"x24"x29" so it's a bit deeper than I wanted but I think it'll do well.

Along with the tank I got a 1056gph return pump, sca 302 skimmer, a 300watt titanium heater, 48" 6 bulb t5 fixture with 7 month bulbs, cycling live rock, canister filter for live rock, dry rock, random filter medias, stand.

Massive tank that weighs a ton, and I'm so excited for where it takes me.
Me and a brother with the tank.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi,

Were you able to get all the set up issues you were having resolved so we can see some water going in? Hoping it wasn’t to bad, I didn’t follow up on your other thread but hopefully you got them resolved. I love 180’s. That’s my main tank in my living room. Great dimensions.

 

[Rijodan]

So after doing the math we figure sump and display is ~200gals. Quick math makes that 1600lbs of water plus everything else. My house is not on a slab, and the size/ weight of this tank made me uneasy about the floors of my 80yr house.

So down the crawlspace we went! Initially to inspect it, then to support it. It was worse than I hoped but better than I expected down there. Added support in critical areas across entire house and then went overboard in that room in particular. Every 12-16 inches under the tank was supported and then every other joist staggered every 4 ft or so in that room.

Not so fun working in 4-6 inches of movable room! Had to dig a spot for my body in places to crawl forward! First few times of using the bottle jack to lift the house and hearing creaks and above you is nerve wracking but by the end I was one with the jack!

Couple pics from that adventure:

 

[Rijodan]

Hi,

Were you able to get all the set up issues you were having resolved so we can see some water going in? Hoping it wasn’t to bad, I didn’t follow up on your other thread but hopefully you got them resolved. I love 180’s. That’s my main tank in my living room. Great dimensions.

Yes! I'm getting to it, just wanted a clean set up for the build thread! It was a challenge and we tried a few different ideas until giant wedges worked.

 

[Forshurley]

Same demetions as my tank, love that size!

 

[Rijodan]

Next challenge was getting the tank leveled. Now again, nearly 80 year old house with sagging beams and all. Before we added the supports just walking cause the floor to be a springboard.

Long story short we tried a bunch of things but ended up using a board across the top of the tank with a level on top of that and lifted one side of the board until it showed level and measured the difference. About 1 5/8" left to right and 1/4" front to back. The final solution to this was 5ft boards acting as shims from left to right that leveled it perfect from front to back and only off 1/8th left to right. Much much better.

 

[Rijodan]

Same demetions as my tank, love that size!

Awesome to know there's others! Do you struggle any with par near the bottom?

 

[Rijodan]

Currently working 2 fronts on the tank set up. Plumbing and water spots. I'll start with the plumbing.

It already had dual drains and returns and we kept the plumbing for those after a good cleaning. Sump plumbing was too messy for my tastes so were redoing it.
The tank came with a single Uniclife dep4000 pump, 1056gph. Previous owner said dual pump was too much, but I figure even with 0% loss power itd only be 5x turnover, less with real world head pressure and efficiency loss. So one will be ordered to run each return individually. But for now we made a screwy way for it to run as a single pump. I know it's super ineffective but itll only be like this during cycling at worst.

As for the piping, 1inch all throughout to keep it flowing well and haven't glued it yet or strapped the pipes up to keep the weight off the bulkheads. But the basic idea is there. The two length wise pipes will be parallel to each other and I've done my best to do the same the drains/returns.

 

[Rijodan]

Now the biggest challenge I've had so far:

Water Spots

These things are the death of me. I've been scrubbing for 2 days trying to get them off. I've used vinegar and a rag, vinegar and a magic eraser, vinegar and baking soda on a magic eraser, vinger and baking soda made into a paste and let it sit on glass and come back to scrub it, now onto using bar keepers friend and a magic eraser.

If gotten the main front glass clean but the side panels, especially the left, are just not budging. I'm kinda wanting to just say screw it and fill with water, but come on it's a 180 and if I dont fix this now I wont be happy later. Just elbow grease and more time I guess.

Also as large as tank is and tall the stand is it is not fun to clean it, should have done this while on ground but hey hindsight is 20/20 right?

 

[Rijodan]

Now we're all caught up. Few random tid bits running through my head I'll post as I avoid working on the water spots, the sump is a little weird I think.

Now I've never had a sump and my only other tank is only 28g(I laugh that my sump is 3x the size that I'm upgrading from) so maybe I just don't know.
The water level is set pretty high, maybe only a few inches from the top. He said itd fill to about 60ish gallons when running. Also I've seen most baffles wide enough for a bio brick or similar, these are maybe 1/4th" apart. As well with how the stand is made, the 75 takes up almost the entire space under the tank. I'll have to get creative with dosers and other under take items as time goes on. Maybe a cabinet built onto the side under the A/C as I run out of space? Only time will tell.

Flow is also a floating idea right now. Should I do a gyre style pump or 2 on opposite sides? Is this tank to tall to do that effectively? Or maybe focused powerheads strategically placed through out, even one some where in center to help break up the center area.

Final thoughts are what would be a good combo of t5s. In my 28g I focused on LPS, love my blasto and chalices. Chalices are probably one of my favorites. With this size I definitely want acan island, and a scoly field. But most my club is heavy into acros and other SPS and some of them are just amazing to look at. So I'd want to do both. Maybe bottom par area. I do like my blue purple look that I get with my prime on the 28g but dont want to completely lose the colors of my future fish. I have no experience with t5s at all and worry about even being able to light the bottom of this tank.

 

[Rijodan]

Some random pics of sump and tank. Final pic is brother who has helped me every step of the way with this endeavor (minus water spot fight) and really I couldn't have done this as fast or assuredly without his help.

 

[Rijodan]

And probably my favorite pic that's been taken so far. Caught thinking and planning the future of the tank!

 

[Rijodan]

Got my pipes all glued, water going in later today once I get all my cleaners out!

 

[Elusive Fishy]

[QUOTE="Rijodan, post: 7366054, member: 143056]
... The water level is set pretty high, maybe only a few inches from the top. He said itd fill to about 60ish gallons when running. ...
[/QUOTE]
If I understood you, I am thinking that the water level in the sump is likely too high. The sump needs to be able to hold the water that drains into it if the return pump fails or there is a power outage.

I would start with the sump empty, a way to plug or valve off the intake, and the tank full. See how much the display tank drains before it naturally stops. You can judge a safe working volume for the sump and/or adjust intake height accordingly.

 

[lpsouth1978]

That sump setup seems questionable to me. I know you said the guy you bought it from told you the tank couldn't handle flow from dual return pumps. I truly believe the issue is the sump. That gap between baffles is a serious bottleneck in the system! If this were my tank, I would remove the sump, take those baffles out and clean it completely, then redo the baffles with a much better configuration.

 

[Rijodan]

Got the water in! Took alot less time than I imagined it would, less than an hour. Had a couple leaks, tighten a bulk head, remove the weight off a pipe etc,

That sump setup seems questionable to me. I know you said the guy you bought it from told you the tank couldn't handle flow from dual return pumps. I truly believe the issue is the sump. That gap between baffles is a serious bottleneck in the system! If this were my tank, I would remove the sump, take those baffles out and clean it completely, then redo the baffles with a much better configuration.

The gap is about 1/4" between the baffles, and I worried about flow rate, but once I got water in it and it kept going it still has enough room for the bubbles to pop and keep water level constant in each chamber even with pump on. I might change to a smaller sump, one thatd give me more room under stand later down road but for now it's working.

 

[Super Fly]

Nice tank! GL. U r a brave man crawling down there to do all that work even though u heard the house creaking while doing work!
In my cube I switched from MP10's to gyres and never looked back. Love gyres and they move a ton of water.

 

[Rijodan]

Nice tank! GL. U r a brave man crawling down there to do all that work even though u heard the house creaking while doing work!
In my cube I switched from MP10's to gyres and never looked back. Love gyres and they move a ton of water.

I've done some construction and even helped with subflooring rebuilds before, just never where I lived and not from underneath! Just figured either I'd get it done or suddenly wouldnt be my issue anymore!

As for gyre one for each side of tank or 2 high/low on one side, or vertical and on front of right side and back of left side?

 

[Super Fly]

I've done some construction and even helped with subflooring rebuilds before, just never where I lived and not from underneath! Just figured either I'd get it done or suddenly wouldnt be my issue anymore!

As for gyre one for each side of tank or 2 high/low on one side, or vertical and on front of right side and back of left side?

I have them on opposite sides running "alternating gyre" modes. Corals and anemone love this water flow.

 

[Rijodan]

Corals are the favorite part of my 28g. So those are my main concern! I haven't ever had an anemone other than a rbta in my fathers tank years ago that quickly became like 4. Not sure if I want to go down that road anytime soon lol