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Thread: Starting a 180G All Glass Aqaurium Build.

  1. #16
    Registered Member
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    Apr 2014
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    Rick

    Default Re: Starting a 180G All Glass Aqaurium Build.

    19300213.jpg
    Pumps, LED for refugium and overflow kits

  2. #17
    Registered Member Cove Beach's Avatar
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    May 2015
    Location
    Sheffield Lake Ohio
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    Mark

    Default Re: Starting a 180G All Glass Aqaurium Build.

    Hello, looks like a fun build, the 180 is a great footprint. Something to consider about plumbing material is ease of maintenance down the road. I also came from recent saltwater experience, and used both vinyl hose and hard pvc, but in the end went this time with a middle ground of spa-flex. Vinyl is cheap and easy to fit in small sizes but can be a problem as it gets larger and wants to go where it wants to go. Also disconnecting and reinstalling can be a problem. Hard pvc fixes those issues with the use of unions, but it can be noisy. Since it looks like the tank will be in a living room you will want it to be silent as possible. That’s where spa flex will shine. And since your sump is directly below you won’t need much.
    One other thing on tank setup with the dual overflows, make sure to level the tank from the bottom glass surface, not the top edge. Start with a level stand, then verify level in the tank bottom otherwise you will have one drain running faster. Adding gate valves to both drains will give you fine adjustments to balance things out.
    One question I had is, will you be running just the bio reactor or additional filtration? Something else to consider would be purigen,which would be easy to add a reactor to the sump. I have found using a reactor makes re-generating really simple and fast. Just thoughts from my experience, I’m sure others will chime in. Looking forward to seeing it come to life.

  3. #18
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    50
    Real Name
    Rick

    Default Re: Starting a 180G All Glass Aqaurium Build.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cove Beach View Post
    Hello, looks like a fun build, the 180 is a great footprint. Something to consider about plumbing material is ease of maintenance down the road. I also came from recent saltwater experience, and used both vinyl hose and hard pvc, but in the end went this time with a middle ground of spa-flex. Vinyl is cheap and easy to fit in small sizes but can be a problem as it gets larger and wants to go where it wants to go. Also disconnecting and reinstalling can be a problem. Hard pvc fixes those issues with the use of unions, but it can be noisy. Since it looks like the tank will be in a living room you will want it to be silent as possible. That’s where spa flex will shine. And since your sump is directly below you won’t need much.
    One other thing on tank setup with the dual overflows, make sure to level the tank from the bottom glass surface, not the top edge. Start with a level stand, then verify level in the tank bottom otherwise you will have one drain running faster. Adding gate valves to both drains will give you fine adjustments to balance things out.
    One question I had is, will you be running just the bio reactor or additional filtration? Something else to consider would be purigen,which would be easy to add a reactor to the sump. I have found using a reactor makes re-generating really simple and fast. Just thoughts from my experience, I’m sure others will chime in. Looking forward to seeing it come to life.
    Thanks for the tips. I had PVC plumbing before on this tank. A little noisy for my taste. I decided to go with black vinyl tubing from Bulk Reef Supply this time. It has pretty good customer ratings. I know it is pretty rigid and it will try to curl up to the shape of the spool it came from, but I am going to heat it up and shape it the way I want it and it should cool down the way I want it (in theory).
    I will be using media in the sump. In the first section the one with the filter socks I will have the Bio-Reactor and I will run Purigen and activated Carbon. I know there are some out there saying not to, but I have been running carbon consistently for years on my 60G cube. It keeps my water clear, no odor(No Fishy Smell) my fish are healthy and the plants are thriving. The 2nd chamber will be the refugium. I will have Eco-Complete substrate, plants and some fish. The third is where the return pump sits.
    I will double and triple check the leveling of the tank since I only did it when I sat the tank on the stand and I have not checked it since I have been working on it. I placed the sand and some drift wood in it.

  4. #19
    Registered Member Shan_Evolved's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Location
    Virginia
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    711
    Real Name
    Shan

    Default Re: Starting a 180G All Glass Aqaurium Build.

    Looking sick man. Keep up the good work!

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