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Turbosek

162 Gallon In Wall Aquarium Build

Rating: 4 votes, 5.00 average.
5 Comments
by
Turbosek
, 03-28-2010 at 12:27 AM (4669 Views)
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The last thing on my mind a month ago was setting up a 162 gallon reef tank. I was actually packing for 11 days in Cancun with my wife. My low maintenance 37 gallon FOWLR tank has been running for 9 years, and I was not too concerned about leaving it for the trip.

On day three of the trip, we had our first snorkeling excursion. My wife, not being the best swimmer, had to be peeled from the boat and thrown into the water by Julio! What we saw in that reef is 100% responsible for the project I am now immersed in. Cancun, being home to the second largest barrier reef in the world, opened our eyes to how beautiful a wild coral reef is. So, with my wife’s blessing, I am under way creating one in our home.

Below are the first few pics of preparing the location. We have a large room that consists of our dining area, kitchen, and bar. The tank will be located in the wall. The back side of the wall is a large storage room that I plan to slowly take over as a fish room:-) The room sits about 12 inches lower than the kitchen/dining/bar area and has a concrete floor. This is ideal because I have plenty of height for the sump and equipment, and the floor can get wet and hold the weight of everything.

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I am planning on using the following equipment:
Purchased already
162 gallon Aqua Vim glass tank (front panel is near StarPhire quality) - 52x25x30
SWC Skimmer Mini S
Pan World 250PS return pump
1x250W 10K, 2x400W 14K MH, 2x54 T5 actinics, 10 LED moonlights
APEX controller - purchased 2 ph probes (1 for the calcium reactor)

Still need help deciding on...
Sump style and setup
Calcium reactor
CO2 tank and regulator
Top-off system for evaporation
Water change system - I want to drain water from sump, through a ball valve into a drain.
VorTech pumps (how many?) Plan on using new control module coming out with APEX in 1 few weeks.
Heater
Phosphate reactor
Carbon reactor
What else?....

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Updated 03-28-2010 at 01:24 AM by Turbosek (trying to add inline pics!)

Categories
‎ Tank Entry

Comments

  1. melev's Avatar
    I fixed your image entries so they all show up. That one of the hut on the water - WOW!!! Was it Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, or Cozumel?
  2. Turbosek's Avatar
    The hut on the water is near Playa Del Carmen. This actual picture was taken at Xel Ha...a water inlet that had a lot of fish, but no corals. A few days before we were near Isla Mujeres, were we saw corals. I hear the best place to snorkel and scuba is off Cozumel, maybe next trip....wait, I am spending all the vacation money on this new tank!
  3. melev's Avatar
    I loved Playacar, and haven't been back in 8 years. I'm long overdue!
  4. Turbosek's Avatar
    Melev, I see you are using a Phosban...maybe 2 Model 150s? In one pic, it looked like you were running 100% carbon, then in other pics I saw just phos absorber. The instructions online say you can run a full tube of 100% carbon, or just phos absorber in certain amounts, or you can mix them.

    I am sure each tank requires different setups; however, what have you tried with your Phosban reactors?

    I am considering getting one of the larger Model 550s, and depending on my future water conditions, either running all carbon, or a mix of carbob and ROWAphos.

    What are your thoughts?
  5. melev's Avatar
    Years ago, my reef suffered from very high levels of PO4: it measured 3ppm!! I used everything I could get my hands on, and didn't have much luck with any of them. This included Phosban, Silphos, Rowaphos, Phosguard, and a few others that I can't recall at the moment. What worked for my reef was Phosbuster Pro, by CaribSea. I'd dose 1.5 bottles of their product, and overnight the phosphate levels dropped to 0ppm. I used this from time to time as needed for a couple of years. Then Blue Life USA came out with Phosphate Control, which is a small eye dropper bottle. Instead of pouring in about 1000ml of liquid (guesstimating here), I could drip in 120 to 150 drops of this product to get the same results. Either product works overnight.

    So I only use my Phosban reactor for active carbon filtration.

    FYI, even though the Phosban 150 is labeled as such, it can take care of a 300g system. Or you can buy the bigger Phosban reactor if you wish, which came out last year. I wouldn't combine the two (Carbon and GFO) in the same reactor since carbon is only good for a brief time while GFO should last significantly longer.

    I dose vodka daily in my tank, and that helps keep nitrate down. I also think it slows down phosphate accumulation, but it doesn't keep it out. Perhaps I don't dose enough vodka to make it handle both - I don't know.