220 Gallons of Eye Candy

Discussion in 'Show Off Your Fish Tanks!' started by civiccars2003, Oct 22, 2013.

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  1. civiccars2003

    civiccars2003 Great Blue Whale

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    Well heres the start of what will be one awesome build. Over the weekend I purchased a 220 gallon tank with stand. The dimensions are 72Lx24Dx30H. This build will be an upgrade from my 55 gallon mixed reef (see link below). I will have a bunch of questions to throw at my fellow 3reefers, given large tanks are new territory for me. Anyway, as mentioned before this is an upgrade from my currently running tank. The new tank will be an in-wall install with a third bedroom that shares a common wall with my living room. I was thinking for lighting, (3) value fixtures from reef breeders (90 deg optics). A 55 gallon refuge (my current 55 tank setup) will be under the stand. Thoughts so far??? Lots of pictures to come...



    http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/55-gallons-eye-candy-94837.html
     
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2013
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  3. saltaddiction

    saltaddiction Flamingo Tongue

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    Congrats..!! I also started my 220g build last week. mine is 84x24x24. I haven't posted any pictures (I'm new here and haven't quite figured it out yet). I'm currently working on my DIY overflows and DIY Sump.

    As for lights I'm looking at the 72" T5 HO, 8 bulbs. I was thinking 1 massive light would look sharp and clean. Good luck with yours..!!!
     
  4. civiccars2003

    civiccars2003 Great Blue Whale

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    Congrats to you as well and welcome to 3reef. I do like the idea of an 8 bulb 72" fixture. I just love t5's and how corals look under them. I will look into someting like this.
     
  5. Marshall O

    Marshall O Giant Squid

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    What are your plans for the tank? Mixed reef? I have 3 value fixtures over my 125 and they are perfect. I imagine you should be fine even with the extra 6" width and 8" height. For the sump/'fuge, 55 is actually on the small size believe it or not. Ideally you want to be about 1/2 tank volume. This way you can keep the flow rate (velocity) down in the sump.
     
  6. civiccars2003

    civiccars2003 Great Blue Whale

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    Plans for the tank will be a mixed reef. SPS near the top, LPS and softies near the bottom. I want to make two mountains of rock (mostly to cover some of the two overflow boxes.) with the middle being open. I was afraid you'd say the 55 is too small. I will have to explore this a bit more.
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2013
  7. Marshall O

    Marshall O Giant Squid

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    I believe the general rule of thumb is to aim for between 3-5X your tank volume per hour to flow through your sump, and 6-10X your sump volume. So for a 220, between 660-1100 GPH flow through a ~110 gallon sump.
     
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  9. saltaddiction

    saltaddiction Flamingo Tongue

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    I'm in the same boat civic. When i got my 220g off Craigslist he gave me a 50g sump (too small). I'm in the process of building my own 100g DIY sump from Rubbermaid roughnecks containers. I know it wont be pretty but then again, it's behind closed doors. Saves me $$$ for the more important things, like a skimmer and lights.
     
  10. civiccars2003

    civiccars2003 Great Blue Whale

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    What about using my 55 gallon as a sump and my current 20 gallon tall as my refuge? Basically just hook it up as it is now. I have two overflow boxes one could go to my 55 and the other to the 20.

    Just a thought.
     
  11. civiccars2003

    civiccars2003 Great Blue Whale

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    Well here it is...
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2013
  12. Av8Bluewater

    Av8Bluewater Giant Squid

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    Looks great.
    It really depends on how you set up the sump. I have a 67 gallon sump on my 230.
    Flow rate through the sump .. I plan to run my pump full blast at 1500GPh but it is T d off to put a couple hundred through the refugium section. I have a sump with center return. Refugium is to the side so I can control the flow through it with a valve. You would want a bigger sump for taking water back from the display when the power is off/fluctuations and such. Also like said above with a small standard sump you would have to limit your main pump flow through it to slow it down.
    I modeled my sump after Marks Model F:
    Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums