BigBear’s 180

[BigBearMD]

congrats and wish you all the best !!!!

Thanks. We have my mother-in-law here for the first week. Then my entire family here for Christmas the following week. Having a almost three year old and a newborn it’s really nice to have the extra hands.

 

[BigBearMD]

Oh boy...that’s sand, water and rocks in the tank.

And best of all it’s all moving. It needs a little fine tuning but we’ll get there.

Next up. Warm it up and add salt.

 

[BigBearMD]

Oh and undercabinet led strips make all the difference.

 

[A_game43]

Great looking Build! My vote would have been "Rock Option 2" from above versus #1. Will follow.

 

[ReefNoobie88]

This makes me super excited to get my 180g going!! Tank looks amazing and so does the structure! Following along with this one!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Looking good!

 

[Jim Heenan]

Like'n what I'm see'n.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Nice and clean setup. Like it.

 

[BigBearMD]

Mother [emoji31].

I was cranking out some work on the tank tonight. Ie. getting all my apex gear setup.

I went to set the wav powerhead and noticed a drip,drip, drip.

It took a bit to find it but...

So it’s a 3/4” thread-thread bulkhead. I have found several thread-slip and slip-thread in my stockpile but no thread-thread.

I had to drain 10gal after filling the sump to the top. Ugh, I’ll be running to the lfs again tomorrow.

 

[BigBearMD]

Well. Double ****. There is a slight leak between then inside and outside overflow boxes. Not a big deal as long as water is moving. However, if the pump is shut down for a prolonged period of time the leak continues and slowly drains the display tank into the sump. Obviously I don’t have room for 3 inches of display tank water in my sump.

So after I gave up on a patch last night for the bulkhead I drain and tossed 10gallons of water to get the cracked bulkhead out of water. I also filled the sump nearly to then brim to save as much water as possible.

Well about an hour later I went to check in things and there was water on then ground. I had to drain another 10 gallons to get the leak out of the water.

Now I’m scrambling to find replacement parts before family arrives for Christmas.

 

[BigBearMD]

Alright. All fixed!!!

Getting salty!!!!

 

[dbraun15]

Congrats on both new tank and baby! Looking good!

 

[Keepswiming]

Very clean build! This reminds me of the big brother of the little setup I just put together. How do you like that trigger sump? I really like the layout of mine!

 

[Shahaab Iqbal]

I’m debating on getting the Triton 44 as well and selling off my Ruby 36 for my new 190 build next year and you are the only one that I actually know of right now that has it. What are your opinions on it as of right now?...I’m just curious

 

[BigBearMD]

I’m debating on getting the Triton 44 as well and selling off my Ruby 36 for my new 190 build next year and you are the only one that I actually know of right now that has it. What are your opinions on it as of right now?...I’m just curious

Sorry for the delay. Tank in cycling so I kinda ignored this thread.

The sump has a clean build to it. It comes stock with three 1” bulkheads but also a blank plate for you to drill whatever you need.

The fuge area is huge. I mean just freakin mammoth.

The skimmer section is a little narrow. I bought a Nyos Quantum 160 and I have plenty of room for it but I’m not sure I could go up one size. Make sure you take a look at that.

The return section is pretty small. Return pump, atk and my heater, Finnex 800, are all I have in there. The heater sits at a bit of an angle but I think it’s ok. Certainly better than two of any other heater.

The baffles are easily adjustable. You can set your fuge, skimmer height and return at all different levels. Currently my skimmer and return compartments are the same to minimize noise and splash.

So far I’m perfectly happy with it.

 

[Mark]

Sorry for the delay. Tank in cycling so I kinda ignored this thread.

The sump has a clean build to it. It comes stock with three 1” bulkheads but also a blank plate for you to drill whatever you need.

The fuge area is huge. I mean just freakin mammoth.

The skimmer section is a little narrow. I bought a Nyos Quantum 160 and I have plenty of room for it but I’m not sure I could go up one size. Make sure you take a look at that.

The return section is pretty small. Return pump, atk and my heater, Finnex 800, are all I have in there. The heater sits at a bit of an angle but I think it’s ok. Certainly better than two of any other heater.

The baffles are easily adjustable. You can set your fuge, skimmer height and return at all different levels. Currently my skimmer and return compartments are the same to minimize noise and splash.

So far I’m perfectly happy with it.

Did you have any trouble getting the sump into the stand? My new build will have exact same stand and sump.

 

[BigBearMD]

Did you have any trouble getting the sump into the stand? My new build will have exact same stand and sump.

Um. Frankly I don’t remember. Which means if I did have trouble there was an easy enough work around.

If I did it again I would consider having my dosing containers and Ato closer to the return section but I ended up here so my overflows would be a straight shot and easy siphon into the sump.

 

[Mark]

Um. Frankly I don’t remember. Which means if I did have trouble there was an easy enough work around.

If I did it again I would consider having my dosing containers and Ato closer to the return section but I ended up here so my overflows would be a straight shot and easy siphon into the sump.

Thanks! I figure if you had to remove a wood brace you would have remembered that.