BPiers 200G DD

BPiers · Mar 7, 2015

Hi everyone. New to this forum.

Just finished setting up my 200g DD reef.
Still having one slow leak for the return and that's got me maxed out tonight!! Its where the slip joint goes into the bulkhead, so not a super easy or dry fix :squigglemouth:

I raised the stand up by 10" and built a new hood thats a little taller than the stock hood.

For lighting I went with 3 AI Sol Blues and two Kessil 360W
Flitration is in a ZeroEdge 36" dual sock sump with a Vertex Alpha 200 skimmer, with a Dolphin AmpMaster pump.

Once I get the water chemistry settled and the tank cycled, I will move over the contents from my 60G sps cube to start the reef out right!

I went with dry pukani rock, and its my first experience with this type of rock...its awesome. Lots of little hitchhiker remnants that I had to pick out but the volume to weight is unbelievable!

more pics soon!

flyfish · Mar 7, 2015

Sweet tank.... I just set up the 150 version.I would love to see how you raised the stand.That is my only complaint is the heigth of the stands.I'll be following along.Looks great so far

BPiers · Mar 8, 2015

flyfish said:
Sweet tank.... I just set up the 150 version.I would love to see how you raised the stand.That is my only complaint is the heigth of the stands.I'll be following along.Looks great so far

Quite simple really. I took 2x10's and made a box that contains 3 cross members inside it and attached a piece of 3/4 hardwood plywood on top. The entire 'box' is the exact dimensions of the existing stand, allowing me to put 5.25" baseboard and some chair rail accent moulding on the new lifted frame to integrate the whole thing together. You can see the moulding in the pics above. I also nailed in some furniture glides which made the fine tuning of the positioning against my wall super easy!
The scary thing is that the new lift box weighs about as much as the whole stand

iReef86 · Mar 9, 2015

Excellent work on lifting the stand, one of the main reasons I built my own stand for a 250g DD was the height issues! Cant wait to see your progress!

tureefik87 · Mar 9, 2015

Eager to see more, following this build!!

-galvin

BPiers · Mar 9, 2015

Did some aquascaping today. I'm sure it will go through several rounds

And I still need to fit the entire contents of my 60G SPS cube inside...90% of the rocks have corals encrusted on them. The rock in my 60G is all Tonga branch and shelf. Not sure how it will match with the Pukani rock.

BPiers · Mar 9, 2015

Here's a quick cut of the filtration

tureefik87 · Mar 9, 2015

Is that a green slimer that's in the photo?

BPiers · Mar 9, 2015

Yes, it's Acropora yongei. Have a few of them in the tank. Mostly green, some blue.

tureefik87 · Mar 9, 2015

That coral is my favorite, it just pops under the moons! What's your light cycle like with your AI's and Kessil, interesting mixture btw. Sorry if I missed up but what do you dose and is it by hand or doser?

Triggreef · Mar 9, 2015

Sweet set up! I love that you raised it, I also did the same. I'm trying to work on making a new canopy as well. The original does not work well for a reef. If you haven't and still have the chance to, I suggest making some sort of access on both sides in the rear. Otherwise, you have some long days ahead when you drop coral in the back, or just need to get to something back there. I love the aquascape in that first pic you posted, that is sick

fishroomlady · Mar 9, 2015

love the tank and your stand looks awesome! looks like you know what your doing! the cube looks awesome!

declanisadog · Mar 9, 2015

Tagging along. Love those DD tanks

BPiers · Mar 9, 2015

tureefik87 said:
That coral is my favorite, it just pops under the moons! What's your light cycle like with your AI's and Kessil, interesting mixture btw. Sorry if I missed up but what do you dose and is it by hand or doser?

This tank will inherit the automation of my 60G SPS cube: Apex with VDM, WXM, PM2, Auto Feeder, Breakout Box, Bubble Magus Doser, and Tunze ATO. I dose 3 part Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium; and mix up Kalk in my top off water. The SPS suck it out as fast as I can put it in! I make my own chemicals vs buying them...way more economical and it works fine. Homemade alkalinity is dirt cheap.

The light cycle-- right now with nothing in the tank, everything ramps up at 10:00AM to full blast, then back down at 9PM. Once I transfer my livestock I'll probably keep the photo period but max the intensity out at 55% and then go up over the course of a few weeks.

BPiers · Mar 9, 2015

Triggreef said:
Sweet set up! I love that you raised it, I also did the same. I'm trying to work on making a new canopy as well. The original does not work well for a reef. If you haven't and still have the chance to, I suggest making some sort of access on both sides in the rear. Otherwise, you have some long days ahead when you drop coral in the back, or just need to get to something back there. I love the aquascape in that first pic you posted, that is sick

Thanks @Tiggreef! Every time I open the hood I am already realizing how nice that would be

Time to break out the ole router and get a door!!

BPiers · Mar 9, 2015

fishroomlady said:
love the tank and your stand looks awesome! looks like you know what your doing! the cube looks awesome!

Thanks fishroomlady! The cube is great, but there isn't any room for growth!

fishroomlady · Mar 10, 2015

well, that's what we call "time for an upgrade"

BPiers · Mar 11, 2015

Will post pics tomorrow, but I got both Tunze wave boxes installed and tuned today. 1.5" standing wave folks!! They have the power to go higher but I capped myself at 1.5"!! ....And that isn't with any help from the VorTechs!

I also spent some time today building and installing my Apex board, so I just need to tidy up the wiring. All thats left is to wait for the replacement skimmer pump to be delivered on Friday (first one was DOA, which was a huge disappointment for a nearly $1000 skimmer!!), plumb the chiller in the closet behind the reef tank, plumb and set up the dosing units, and ATO. My middle AI Sol unit needs a new fan and motherboard reprogramming so thats going back to AI as soon as I can get it out of the hood!

Tank is still cycling and until I get that skimmer pump I'm in hurry up and wait mode :/

BPiers · Mar 12, 2015

Here's a quick video of my wave pattern using two Tunze wave boxes. A full 1.5" wave, easy!!
[video=youtube_share;FPeCUYZO56I]http://youtu.be/FPeCUYZO56I[/video]

And my new Apex board!