High Tide Aquatics

Dick's 150 gal mixed reef

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First of all I want thank "coral reefer" also known as Mike Brown for doing the plumbing and exchanging ideas when I first thought about converting my 150 gallon freshwater tank to a saltwater tank. I started the process around Oct 20012 and learned from my mistake with my current Redsea max 250 that I better get more informed about what makes a succeessful reef aquarium. I started to read everything could by way of the Internet,books, and videos. I also had all the mistakes I made with the red sea max to fall back on. What might seem obvious so the importance of having a well thought plan. My research and past experience helped a great deal.
The following is how started the build out and the end result.
My plan encompassed the following: equipment, rock, lighting, water flow, filtration, corals, and fish.
Rock: I wanted rock that would give me the ability to easily place the corals and provide good water flow though out the aquarium. This is not also easily accomplished. What I did was buy "dead rock" form Bulk Reef Supply. To easily place corals I decided to purchase both their pukani(sp) rock which is very light and porous and shelf rock. To increase the flow I also decided to build a PVC platform with black egg crate. This provided about an inch of space between the bottom of the aquarium and the rock on top. I actually made three platforms so I could change the pattern from just a straight line all the way across the aquarium. I began by placing a layer of shelf rock on top of the egg crate. Next I placed some Pukani rock on the shelf leaving large gups for water flow. Then I placed more shelf rock on the Pukani rock, and continued this process until I reached the top which is the final layer of shelf rock. I now had a great deal of flat surface for the coral placement and also a lot of caves for fish to explore and water movement.

To be continued:
 
Equipment: this is not so straight forward because is seems everyone has their own opinion about what is the best. When I could I went with what the majority agreed on and some retailers I trusted.
Pumps: MP 40, seasweep with korola 1500 pump, (2) 250 gal. pumps placed on the bottom back corners facing the front, and lastly a 2600 gal. Reef Octopus water blaster return pump. These provide a turn over rate of about 30 to 35 times the tanks volume.
Lights: I have 3 kessil led lights. I started with 3 350 deep penetration lights and now that I won the kessil 360w I placed it in the middle. So far it appears that the corals like the lights. I have seen good growth with all the various types of coral in the tank. I will looking forward to seeing the readings from the PAR meter.
Skimmer: this was probably the hardest piece of equipment to decide on. I finally purchased a Skimz skimmer rated at 613 gallons which is 3 times may total water volume. So far it is working as advertised.
I also have an automatic top off system,dosing pump, 1000 watt heater, and PH meter.

P.S. Forgive some of my spelling errors

To be continued
 
I got to see this tank in person this weekend. It is gorgeous. Thanks for showing it to me. And it was great meeting you this weekend.
 
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