ProStar 150 Build Thread

[DeadEnd]

Hey everyone,

I recently adquieres a Pro Star 150 as my first ever saltwater aquarium tank! I will try to keep this thread up to date but I am making a slow build (I didn't know how expensive it could be until I purchased the tank).

Today I just finished building one of my structures with dry rock. I tried to do HNSA but I don't believe if I was able to ahieve the goal, nevertheless I love how it looks.

The next step is to make up my mind in which lights to purchase. I was thinking I could get by with 2 Radion XR15 but I might not be able to... (The display tank dimension is 48x24x24)

Feel free to voice your opinion! Constructive criticism is welcome in this thread and is the best way to learn!













Thanks!

 

[blaxsun]

Very interesting!

 

[trvrstnk4837]

Love the scape man

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Nice!

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Lookin good brother or ms. Keep it going!
D

 

[DeadEnd]

Update #1:

Hello everyone! I hope you all having a good day.

Here is a quick update on my tank build in case anyone is interested.

I just finished adding the emarco 400 cement to the aquascaping. It took me this long because my wife also did her own aquascaping structure and she had to put together a lot of small pieces of rock so we ran out of the cement. She named her structure after the Disney attraction "Matterhorn" so you can imagine how invested she was on it.

After a lot of questions and help from people all over the place I finally bought the thermostat... I got a Helio PTC 700 Watts (2x350 Watts). I decided on this thermometer because of all the safety features they added to it. There was not a lot of reviews because it's a newer product but I hope I didn't make a bad choice.

Now my next challenge is going to be picking the return pump lol... I am eyeing for the apex cor20 but I am still doing some research. Hopefully it won't take me too long but hey at least I am learning a lot!

Thanks everyone for reading and I hope you have a good day!

 

[DeadEnd]

Update #2:

I bought the return pump today! I was between buying the Vectra M2 or the VariosS-6. Both looked like a solid choice but I went ahead and bought the Vectra M2.

The reasoning why I picked the Vectra M2 is because I don't have a controller and I will be able to use their mobile application Mobius to program it a little bit. From a quality perspective it seems that everyone agrees that both pumps are good picks.

Now I need to see which poweheads to buy. I might grab some economic ones and upgrade them later. Also, I am thinking about buying an GHL controller in the distant future instead of the Apex.

 

[Slickzxz9]

I love that scape! Did you have that in mind when you went to pick out rocks? My wife and I sat in the floor at the store and pulled out a bazillion rocks to see what we liked. Lol. Can’t wait to see it with some fishy’s

 

[DeadEnd]

I love that scape! Did you have that in mind when you went to pick out rocks? My wife and I sat in the floor at the store and pulled out a bazillion rocks to see what we liked. Lol. Can’t wait to see it with some fishy’s

We actually went to the store and pulled all the rocks too. We bought like 80 lbs but after we started building the structures we noticed that we were missing rocks so we went and bought more! Now I am sitting on like 40 lbs of extra rock...

 

[Slickzxz9]

We actually went to the store and pulled all the rocks too. We bought like 80 lbs but after we started building the structures we noticed that we were missing rocks so we went and bought more! Now I am sitting on like 40 lbs of extra rock...

Same here. We had to go back and get a few more pieces. lol

 

[DeadEnd]

Update #3:

We had some fun this weekend setting up a 15 gallon QT tank.



I learned some new stuff... i didn't know that copper can give a false positive on some of the most popular ammonia tests. It took me a few to figure it out and luckily my wife bought one of the seachems ammonia alert which are made for this...

 

[DeadEnd]

Update #4:

I bought new poweheads and a sump!

For the poweheads I went with two MP40's from EchoTech. I already have a Versa Pump so it's going to be easier to use one app to control the whole flow of my tank.

For the sump I got a Trigger Systems Platinum 39. The quality of the sump looks pretty good so far but... I had an unexpected issue... after installing the roll I noticed that it was too lose and it didn't stay in place. A small movement makes the roll fall... I know I can figure out a solution but I reached out to Trigger Systems for their assistance.

The sump takes almost 90% of the ProStar 150 cabinet but it leaves a small space for equipment. I was able to install a slide out control panel from RedSea with the basket.

I was about to do the plumbing but the Pro Clear ProStar plumbing is in Japanese metric system (JIS) and not standard... so now I need to convert it.

I found two options to convert it:

1. Buy the 3 transition unions from flexpvc.com and hope they fit.

2. TopLids sells the adapters. They are not on their website but I reached out to them and they have them.

I was going to buy the adapters from them because I didn't want to take any risks but just when I was about to pull the trigger the person that referred me to them brought to my attention that he paid less for the adapters just a few weeks ago... I explained this to them and asked if it was the final price and I never heard back from them. It sucks because I really wanted one of their lids...

So I went ahead with option #1 (not by choice lol). I paid $60 for 3 unions and hopefully they fit and I don't have to buy anything else to make it work. I will report back on this and if it works I will link the unions I bought and write a quick tutorial showing how I installed them.

I will attach pictures in a bit of the sump and the cabinet with the slide out control panel.

Thanks everyone for reading and have a great day!

 

[DeadEnd]

Finally! I just started to cycle my tank!

This turned out to be a busy holiday weekend for me. I did all the plumbing and repaired the aquascape (the cement didn't hold one of the rocks and it fell) but other than that nothing major came happend.



The plumbing took me a long time to finish since this is my first time doing it but I believe I didn't do a bad job since it has no leaks lol



Here is the tank after I added the water.



Today I added Dr Tim One and Only. I am following his fishless cycle guide and hopefully soon I will be able to add some fishes!

Also, I still miss a skimmer. I will be sure to buy one and install it soon lol

 

[DeadEnd]

The tank is cycled but I had an issue today with the Helios heater. The temperature dropped to 72 and the alarm didn't sound... I called IM and they believe that two alarms were triggered at the same time and that's why it didn't sound.

I got some fish that are currently in quarentine. Hopefully I will be able to introduce them to the tank once I verify that the heater is working properly....

I am honestly considering getting a ranco and two BRS elements as a backup.