180 Gallon In Wall Tank

With the braces done, I also finished the stand for the 40g breeder sump and the plumbing for the tank. It was time to add water to the tank. This is always the most stressful time for me. I never get a good nights sleep right after I fill up a tank. especially a large tank. the whole time it was filling up I would keep checking everything. "Is it still level", "how is the stand", "how is the silicone holding up". Everything went perfect. The stand was perfect. The tank was perfect. There were no leaks.



 
With the braces done, I also finished the stand for the 40g breeder sump and the plumbing for the tank. It was time to add water to the tank. This is always the most stressful time for me. I never get a good nights sleep right after I fill up a tank. especially a large tank. the whole time it was filling up I would keep checking everything. "Is it still level", "how is the stand", "how is the silicone holding up". Everything went perfect. The stand was perfect. The tank was perfect. There were no leaks.



That looks great!!
 
Yes, I like my current aquascape a lot. I have one tower and one rock that leans up against the wall. It is very open, even for the big fish. I think that I will try an replicate it if I can.
Here is a picture of my tank right now.
 
I got a light rack put together. I made it out of some aluminum c channel. I made it so that it can be moved up out of the way if I need it to. The kessils are not very big though, so I dont think that I will need to have them move very often. In order to make sure that there was never too hard of an impact while moving the lights, i also added some 2lb springs to the wall attachment. It works great.







I also got all of the lights hooked together. Hopefully a physical connection will be better than the AI Director that I have been using for my old lights. I like how simple the kessils are

 
I got a light rack put together. I made it out of some aluminum c channel. I made it so that it can be moved up out of the way if I need it to. The kessils are not very big though, so I dont think that I will need to have them move very often. In order to make sure that there was never too hard of an impact while moving the lights, i also added some 2lb springs to the wall attachment. It works great.







I also got all of the lights hooked together. Hopefully a physical connection will be better than the AI Director that I have been using for my old lights. I like how simple the kessils are

That looks awesome
 
I filled up the tank with ro water and salt. It is very close to being ready for the fish. I hope the move will go ok. On a side note. Our previous house had a well with very hard water. The TDS of the water was like 16 after the RO membrane. We also had (after some disscusion with BRS) what appeared to be CO2 in the water. I would go through 1 can of DI resin in 60 gal or less of treated water. I am happy to report that my water at this new house has a TDS of 1-2 after the RO membrane and I have filled up almost 300 gallons of tanks and I have barely used any DI resin. I guess that means more money for everything else.



 
Moved the fish tank this weekend. Life can be crazy. My little brother came to help and I am glad he did. We started about 1:00pm and had most things finished by 6:00. Things got a little crazy. I lost the Lamark Angel and a Chromis and my daughter decided to break her leg. It was rough to say the least. I think that everything has calmed down but I am really going to miss the angel. RIP All add some more pics and info in the next few days






She broke her leg crawling out of the crib both bones. ouch!
 
Oh man that was a hard fall, poor kid :( at least it wasn't something worse... time for a toddler bed lol

Sorry about your angel but good news that you got the tank moved. In order to get 000 tds we had to hook our RODI unit up after the full house softener system. We are at 197-205 going into the ro unit now. Before coming from the well it was 671 going in!
 
So to tell you all a little more about the move. I was able to get everything in one load. I only had a few corals and the anemones to worry about so that made moving the rock easy. The fish were easily caught and we headed to the new house. When we got to the house i put all of the fish in the 2 quarantine tanks. The clownfish and the smaller fish went in the upper and all of the others went in the lower. I quickly got the rock into the tank. I connected the apex, set up the protein skimmer and got the return pump going. Everything went fine until we had to go. After everything was said and done the aquarium was the last thing I was worried about. The tank was running, the fish were in the quarantine tanks everything would be ok until I came back the first thing in the morning. I was wrong I think that there was not enough oxygen in the water. When I showed up the next day the Lamark was long gone and the yellow tang was gasping on his side. I quickly threw all of the large fish into the main display except for the yellow tang. I did't want him dying under the rocks so I threw him in the sump. The hippo and sailfin we almost imediatly better and the yellow tang was getting better until he got too close to the return pump ( I think). I got the yellow tang back into the tank with the clowns and did an 80% water change. I think that the main culprit of the Lamarks death was the fact that circulation pump in the lower quarantine tank was not working right (that's why I think the oxygen was too low). Everything is fine now but it was hardly the best tank move I have ever done.

Here is the tank right now. I will work on aquascaping more once things settle down a little more.


Here is the back of the tank. Chords are a mess but I will work on that later.



Here is the quarantine tank. I am planning on trying my hand at raising clownfish. That is why they are in there.
 
It has been a little while but here is a quick update. I was able to get some aquascaping done. The style is similar to my last tank. I has one main island on one side of the tank and an open cave network on the other. I think that I want to get some more rock but we will see.



Here is the Cave Network


Here is the island


Here is my favorite view. It is the side of the tank just as you walk in the fish room.


Clownfish Tank


Everything is a process right now. The tank has looked better and I am struggling a little with the cyano. I am changing out 6 gallons a day to make sure that the water is as good as possible and to help some new fish in the quarantine.
 
Tank looks great. That aquascape is sweet looking
 
I really like the aquascaping too! I noticed the other day that my main island kind of looks like a man striking a pose. I like that I think that I will keep it.
Man by Nate Owen, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
Love the aquascape and it really does look like a man posing! Awesome tank!
 
Well it has been just over a year since I started my tank and it has been way too long since I have done an update. I have been through a lot including bryopsis, and ich outbreak, and a blue tang that decided he was going to go rouge and eat all of my zoanthids.

Here is a picture of my tank right now. It has done really well over the last year and I am starting to see the corals start to take off.
20180611_211327 by Nate Owen, on Flickr


The main show piece of my tank is this bunch of anemones and a pair of Picasso clowns. that host in them. There are probably 10 or more anemones in the bunch. Some people have asked me ho I get them to stay and the middle and to be honest I don't know. The anemones do so well in my tank that I think they are spawning because I will have little ones pop up randomly all over the place. To avoid having a tank full of anemones I remove any one that does not stay in the middle. The clownfish are my favorite part of reef keeping and I am so glad that they decided to host in the anemone.
20180611_211144 by Nate Owen, on Flickr
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
Back
Top