Upgrading to 225g

[PhilMStudy]

Hi, I have a 75g with a 40g sump that has been doing very well for a few months now and I came across a very good deal… 240g with stand. even got spouse on board!

won’t start switchover until Thanksgiving weekend, so I have some time for stress testing tank and reinforcing stand.

Ive never owned a tank this large… is my 40g breeder sump/fuge enough or should I look at turning my 75g into a sump/fuge? What are some large tank tips you could throw my way? Excited but also leery lol might be in over my head

 

[lapin]

Nice

Save your money. Big tanks will cost more to run. The extra room for more coral and fish can drain your wallet fast.

 

[Tom Stevens]

Yes, larger tanks are more expensive, but they are a lot of fun too! Just make sure your ready to keep up with it. As you know, reef tanks are all about stability and they are not very forgiving if you get behind on the maintenance.

Happy Reefing!

 

[PhilMStudy]

Picking up the tank today, lots of delays but it arrives today. Going to clean it out really well and let it sit dry for a couple of weeks. Have been playing around with rock formations…

21” wide by 26” tall at tallest point. Going to have two cave like structures on either side of this…

getting really excited about this!

 

[PhilMStudy]

Brace popped off bottom right when moving from stand to truck, other than that we have moved it to my house and can begin cleaning and preparing for thanksgiving weekend transfer

glass is not scratched, just needs proper cleaning.

anyone have tips on gluing the bracing back?

 

[PhilMStudy]

Leak test passed, but the center brace disconnected from one side and there is slight bowing.

you can see the center brace against the back glass of aquarium in second photo. The bow in the front is fairly slight but enough to pop that off of one side

how difficult is this to fix?

 

[PhilMStudy]

Found a specialist who had measured the top and bottom frames to replace them. Will be reinforcing center brace as well.

this build is now on hold for another 6-8 weeks. Patience is a virtue they say

 

[PhilMStudy]

My local MAS has a 100 gallon trough feeder I can borrow to help with setting up the new tank and I have the room to use it…

my initial plan was to break down existing tank (75g with a 40B display fuge and a 20B sump)…

use as much of that water as possible for the transfer, setup new tank, drop in existing livestock, keep the few corals I have in the 40B display fuge then wait for cycling

——

My new plan is to breakdown the existing tanks, use that water in a Reef trough (100g) setup, then let the new bigger tank cycle over time table it is supposed to.

——

I am going to “rinse” the sand from old tank, etc…assuming I reuse it, I also have about 200lbs of new sand I’ve purchased on sale waiting for this as well.

which of the two options do you see as most prudent? I can handle an irritated wife for a few weeks, especially if it makes tank transfer a better experience for her long term

 

[PhilMStudy]

Well, finding trim/brace pieces for a 72x24 proved to be impossible… I also landed a new job where I’ll be full time remote again…

so I bought a reef ready 72x29x24, 210 gallon aquarium that’s ready to go.
New pics coming soon! We are redoing the floors in the fish room/my office before we set this up

excited doesn’t begin to describe it

 

[fltt]

NIce, Congratulations !! Upgrading is always fun but stressful. Are you planning on setting up the new tank in the same location as the 75g?

 

[PhilMStudy]

NIce, Congratulations !! Upgrading is always fun but stressful. Are you planning on setting up the new tank in the same location as the 75g?

Yes I am. Wife wants to pull out carpet and change flooring in there first though, so we have a new wrench in our plans. I’d prefer to leave it on bare concrete foundation (on stand), but that’s new consideration before beginning switch over

 

[PhilMStudy]

We have hit the accelerator with this project!

tank transfer is scheduled for the 25th of January.

Additional lighting and heaters came in today
New sump/fuge comes in this weekend (ss-60).
Once new sump gets in I can make a decision on pump(s) for it.

I will post pics as things get closer… this was taken yesterday morning (8 months in, still a bit of an ugly phase) — and the floor is being replaced too lol started this 75g reef tank knowing we would be making changes to room over time, didn’t think it would happen this quickly… even my wife is slowly getting into the hobby. Emphasis on slowly

 

[PhilMStudy]

Additional light came in today, so did diffusers.

I will be using a T5 + LED combo, 60” fixture from ceiling. Hope to have 2 r30, one r15 with 4 T5 bulbs

new sump should arrive Monday/Tuesday

 

[PhilMStudy]

Sump is confirmed to arrive today, moving day is still Tuesday morning!

end of night aquasculpture forming for grins

 

[PhilMStudy]

Got an early start to the day with a reliable help… well travel companion

 

[PhilMStudy]

Ended about here… had to replace a bulkhead and redo plumbing (rookie mistake)

stopping here for the night. Fish are at a friends…

going to be really quiet around here for a night

 

[PhilMStudy]

Plumbing is done

 

[PhilMStudy]

Looks like a giant sandstorm in photos so passing on that, but the box is wet, has sand and rocks… we are officially wet

 

[PhilMStudy]

Barely got lights up in time for previous last 2 hours of day

custom lid will be here in a few weeks, rock work isn’t quite done, base work is all secured

all in all, 6 days into a tank transfer and we aren’t doing poorly.

lost a royal gramma and court jester goby…was not a good 36 hour period between break down of 75g and setting up 210

blood shrimp that prefers sump, but maybe he’s built for that life

my skunk cleaner shrimp are both pregnant, we think the blood shrimp might be the father, hence the decision to bail on the display tank and live life on the run

Glass Aquatics in Hurst, Texas was immensely helpful. Impossible to get this done on my timeframe without them

 

[PhilMStudy]

Sand is still settling from fuge and my tinkering