155 New tank build!!!

Well, its finally coming together! I thought I would share it with you guys. Have done a lot of research and planning, so here we go!


My Ro/Di unit..


Building the fuge..


The fuge plan in a 55 gal. Its hard to read, but the left will be the LR and skimmer, the right is the fuge area, and center is the return. I want to control the flow through the fuge..


The Rea Sea C-Skim skimmer..



The live sand..


The salt and fuge mud..


My live rock came yesterday!! 110lbs of it! ( i know I need more, but $$$ got real low) Will add more later. Due to poor timing on my part, I ordered it before my tank was ready, so I filled up 2 containers of RO/DI water to house them till the tank is full.




In the containers with a heater and a Korilla pump.



This was as of last night, the tank filling..


An hour ago it was this...


Gonna be rinsing the live sand tonight, and putting in the tank, and looking for acrylic rods to start "rock-scaping" the setup!

 

you may have enough rock. It depends on the way you stack it. If you are smart about it and leave your aquascape open, you will have plenty. Flow through the rock is WAY more important the the poundage IME. I've got about 110 lbs in my 150 gallon and it looks completely full but I left the back hollow for swimming area for the fish and to allow allow flow behind it;

 

I've heard plain unscented kitty litter is the same thing as the fuge mud.
Can't wait to see it all up, and curious to see how that skimmer works.
Whatcha gonna do for lighting?

 

oh and DON'T rinse the sand

 

alright! looks awesome
I was surfing the web yesterday and saw that skimmer
you will have to tell us how it does.
also what size is your sump/fuge tank?

 

I plan on doing the same thing. Leaving some room behind for circulation.


Lighting I need to decide real quick here. I realize that MH is the way to go, but OMG! $$$$$! I need one 72 inches long! I saw this on e-bay.
72' Metal Halide 250 T5 HO Aquarium Light w/ LUNARS NEW - eBay (item 180318642955 end time Feb-04-09 10:09:55 PST)

I know its a no name brand, but all feedback is good on this and other length items. Opinions?

Oh, and no rinsing the sand????

 

no sand rinsing! If you can build a canopy you can get a mh retro fit kinda cheap. I'm extremely partial to MH so I'll say that is the way to go.

 

Checked out this place yet?
Buildyouraquarium - 72'' Metal Halide T5 HO Aquarium Light 3 X 250 HQI
Someone new posted something from this site a few days ago.
I sent an email to the store/owner about one of these b/c they had PC and T5HO mixed up in the description for the 60" one, but haven't heard back yet.
Maybe not such a bad price for 3x 250 HQI (double ended MH) with T5HO actinics?
But still waiting on their customer service response time - if it was 911, I'd be dead

I'm guessing that's really not a bad price, considering even the 72" outer orbit on Petmountain 3 x 150 HQI with PC actinics is $935 and the coralife aqualight (same basic specs 3 x 150 HQI with PC actinics) is $984.

 

You could go t5, but MH might be better for a tank that size.

 

No kidding. If you rinse the sand then it won't be ALIVE anymore and you will have just wasted your money.