DJ in WV

It's been awhile since my last post and my 180 is up and running. After 6 months im glad to finally have a few pieces of livestock in the tank. So far it consists of 4 pj's 2 firefish 4 turbo snails and 10 red leg hermit crabs. Going to be adding to the clean up crew over the next month and will wait till the tanks been running for awhile longer before I start adding any corals. After having issues with the sand I feel that i probally didnt clean it well enough before adding it to the main tank as I used it in the fug after 3x more cleaning and didnt have to same issues but this could be that there was a bacteria source to clump the sand. I did have to clean the sump all ready to get rid of the slit form the sand. I did have a few issues with the skimmer getting it dialed in right going from not being in the neck to pumping the sump out had me scratching my head but is now under control and working well.

Here is a not so great shot of the siphon break to keep from having to drill the penductors it is a 1 1/2in swing check mounted horizontal it doesnt seal tight it may be because im running a hp pump(reeflo marlin) but only dribbles so i just ran a hose to the overflow box problem solved.

Her is a shot of the very empty 40 breeder fug it has some red garcia macro in it but seems to be bleaching for the new light going to remove some of the fugi rock i put in the main tank for the cycle to the fug and tie the macro to a stone in the corner hopefully this will help. The fug is lit by two 65watt pc 6500k which i happen to find at lowes for just under 6 bucks it is a bulb for a stand light they sell . At this time the fug is run by a spray bar which i may switch out for a 1in scwd in the future but it seems to tumble the algae well but time will tell after i get the rock and more macros in

I set my skimmer a cat2e reef octo up temp on a little stand in front of the pumps its currentlly run by a 3littlegiant pump and it returned in to the bubble tower, as i finish more it will be moved to the other side of the wall with cutting tanks and any eqip the i add in the future and returned thur a central drain line to the sump.in the back you can see the pumps and pump switch panel. This will get finished in after the skimmer gets more to its perm location

for the sump i went with a 31 1/4x24x24deep for water volume and to hold the back flow in power outages for future additions like cutting tanks . The bubble tower is 6x16x24 high with 2in teeth cut in the bottom with a 3/8 bit. The bubbletrap is 3 plates 8x16 spaced 1 1/2in apart with the center raised 1 1/2in off the bottom. With the pump running full open it almost over flows it so in the future think 1 1/2 for the first 1000gph and add one 1in for each 1000gph there after. I didnt have to add a top panel to since it is fully supported on all side by the cabinet. It is feed by two 2in drains.

Few things id like some input on are what are most of you running in your bubble tower to help break up the flow through I wasnt really wanting to put rock in it I have some old bio balls i thought of using keeping them covered with water. Second what is better for the fug a reverse light cycle or 24/7 and what king of clean up crew do you keep in the fug? Any thing else that anyone see that would be a plus feel free to throw out there. Thanks for looking and ill be post additions to live stock and to the rest of the fish room as it continues to unfold. Must say it feels nice to be able to post some tank shots instead of just getting to see everyone else's tho I enjoy that also