FoD's Über 250DD Build Thread

FoD · Jul 4, 2015

Born on the 4th of July! I have 80 gallons of water made up, 40 gallons filled in the 250 so far. Just going to fill up the 250, but not allow it to overflow. Sump still needs some work, I'm waiting on parts. It'll take me all day, but I should have it filled up!

jason g · Jul 5, 2015

Almost complete. I am looking forward to seeing your tank up. I have a 240 DD tank myself I'm working on.

FoD · Jul 7, 2015

Tank is filled. Sump is complete, but not filled yet. QT is setup and awaiting my new fishies. My wife rewarded all my hard work with a P. attenuatus, and a C. cf lanceolatus. They should be out of QT at the facility next week and then shipped to my facility for another round of QT. Sump will be filled later today and a temporary return pump will be installed to cycle. I added Prodibio Start and BioDigest to begin, along with a good amount of ammonia. Let the cycle begin!

I'll get a pic up tonight once everything is going.

FoD · Jul 8, 2015

Done. Now we play the waiting game.

And I'll tidy up the electrical...I know you'll say something Hunter.

evolved · Jul 8, 2015

We're all always waiting on something in this hobby; the whole thing is a waiting game.

Oh, and I think those MH reflectors are a bit low...

olaggie01 · Jul 8, 2015

Looking good. I like the deep sea 80 as a sump. I have one as my frag tank.

Are you still looking for a Profilux? I have one for sale. PM me if you are interested.

Fishphi784 · Jul 8, 2015

FoD said:

It's funny how pictures don't always capture the scale of a tank. Some nano's look disproportionately large while your 300dd looks like a much smaller tank in the lower picture than in actuality. Love the prop tank.

FoD · Jul 8, 2015

evolved said:
We're all always waiting on something in this hobby; the whole thing is a waiting game.

Oh, and I think those MH reflectors are a bit low...

Nah. I need more PAR. Someone should make a submersible reflector box so my corals can get more light!

olaggie01 said:
Looking good. I like the deep sea 80 as a sump. I have one as my frag tank.

Are you still looking for a Profilux? I have one for sale. PM me if you are interested.

I love this sump! Great dimensions, and cheap too!

Fishphi784 said:
It's funny how pictures don't always capture the scale of a tank. Some nano's look disproportionately large while your 300dd looks like a much smaller tank in the lower picture than in actuality. Love the prop tank.

Thanks. The picture you quoted is from the back side. It is only between overflows. I think the viewing pane is only 38" wide. It looks small from that room...but from the other side, it makes my 120 look like a desktop pico! So far it is DEAD SILENT too, minus the Mag 18 that I'm temporarily running as the return. I can hear that across the street!

evolved · Jul 8, 2015

FoD said:
And I'll tidy up the electrical...

Don't ask Alex for advice on that.

(I couldn't disappoint)

FoD · Jul 8, 2015

evolved said:
Don't ask Alex for advice on that.
(I couldn't disappoint)

Yeah...I've seen him lurking lately. I figured he'd chime in eventually. I did think of organizing it first and then posting the picture just because of him.

iReef86 · Jul 17, 2015

Looks great. Ill be tagging along for sure. I just added water to my 25og just last week!

FoD · Jul 17, 2015

iReef86 said:
Looks great. Ill be tagging along for sure. I just added water to my 25og just last week!

Awesome! It holds a lot of water, huh?! Nice work on the wood. I am dreading getting that started.

Mine is still chugging along. I am going through ~1.5 gallons/day of evap. I don't know if my 9 gallon ATO storage I built into my sump will be enough. Hopefully once I get my cabinetry built and close it in more, I'll have less evaporation to deal with. I priced out all the lumber I'll need to get the lower cabinetry done. I'm waiting on doing the canopy until I fully commit and buy lighting. One thing I do know that will be happening; I am going to source and retrofit a motorized lift for the light rack so I can keep it close to the water, but raise for maintenance or acclimation.

iReef86 · Jul 17, 2015

FoD said:
Awesome! It holds a lot of water, huh?! Nice work on the wood. I am dreading getting that started.

Mine is still chugging along. I am going through ~1.5 gallons/day of evap. I don't know if my 9 gallon ATO storage I built into my sump will be enough. Hopefully once I get my cabinetry built and close it in more, I'll have less evaporation to deal with. I priced out all the lumber I'll need to get the lower cabinetry done. I'm waiting on doing the canopy until I fully commit and buy lighting. One thing I do know that will be happening; I am going to source and retrofit a motorized lift for the light rack so I can keep it close to the water, but raise for maintenance or acclimation.

Nice! I started with the canopy, only because the last build I had, never got the canopy. Light sat on 2 ugly 2x4s. I was adamant about having a canopy this time! If only I had the ability to have a light rack that moves!!!! That would be sweeeet!

Whitenoise3k · Jul 17, 2015

Just had to acknowledge the V avatar picture. I'm a fellow owner of a CTS-V. Are you a member of the Facebook group "cts-v vs. the world"? If not you should come over. Btw nice build

FoD · Jul 17, 2015

Whitenoise3k said:
Just had to acknowledge the V avatar picture. I'm a fellow owner of a CTS-V. Are you a member of the Facebook group "cts-v vs. the world"? If not you should come over. Btw nice build

Thanks. I don't do the FB thing, but I do know about the club. I recently sold my V. Waiting on the new ACR. I miss my V. Currently riding in a '15 Silverado...SOOOOOO SLLLOOOOOOWWWW.

s2nhle · Jul 18, 2015

Tagging along. Sorry for the lost. I really like your aquascape. Thank you for sharing

FoD · Jul 24, 2015

Small update. I built my first drawer today. I am building another right now. The first one is a shallow drawer that I will be lining with either PVC or glassing it myself. It will be used for wet work, i.e. fragging and such. I have never attempted actual cabinetry before. I'm jumping in head first on this. Hopefully I'll learn enough of what NOT to do on the stand cabinetry, that the matching bar on the adjacent wall will look like a Pro did it!

FoD · Jul 28, 2015

Well, I jumped on a deal on R2R for some Kessil's. I had planned on buying the 160's and use just for actinics. But, (3) 360's with goosenecks for like half price. Yeah. I'm that guy. Soooo, I'll be running 2x250W Radiums, 4x54W ATI Blue+, and 4!!! Yes 4! Kessil A360WE's. They arrive tomorrow.

FoD · Aug 10, 2015

Somewhat unimpressed with the Kessil's. I thought the spread would be better. Oh well. They'll be fine for the actinic's I seek. The shimmer is great.

Cycle is done. 14-Day Zeo Cycle is done. I began work on the cabinetry this weekend. Picked out paint scheme, and began all that jazz. It won't get done until later this week at the earliest, but it's a start. I am planning on adding half the stock from my 120 Saturday to start up the bio-load in the 250. A week later, I'll add the rest. One round of prazi done on the 3 newbies in the QT. One more to go. They'll be added one at a time in my sweet EA Acclimation Box.