This posting will update the build status of my two 250 gallon Marineland Deep Dimension tanks. I purchased both tanks from Midwest Reefs, a local aquarium store. I ordered both in mid-October, and they were delivered to my dealer by mid-December. Some scheduling snafu
This posting will update the build status of my two 250 gallon Marineland Deep Dimension tanks. I purchased both tanks from Midwest Reefs, a local aquarium store. I ordered both in mid-October, and they were delivered to my dealer by mid-December. Some scheduling snafu’s around the holidays resulted in a delivery to my home of one of the tanks on December 26th. Unfortunately, we discovered that Marineland factory personnel forgot to silicone in one of the overflows to the other tank, which delayed it’s delivery to my home until January 5th.
So now that they’re both delivered, it’s time to transition from the planning phase to the assembly stage. As you can see from the photograph, both tanks are placed end-to-end against an outside wall. The tank on the left will be the mixed reef, the tank on the right will be for softies, shrooms, and zooas.
MIXED REEF
This tank is intended to be a mixed coral reef. My equipment thus far follows:
1. Lighting – 2 x 5' Hamilton Belize Sun 2 x 250W 14k HQI’s + 2 x 80W HO T5’s + LED Lighting. Total 4 x 250W 14k HQI’s and 4 x 80W HO T5’s. Given the 36” front to back dimensions of the tank, and the fact that I’m using the factory canopy, I needed two fixtures to obtain the proper coverage.
2. Sump – modified 40 gallon breeder
3. Return Pump – two (2) Eheim 1262’s, each plumbed to a separate overflow return.
4. Skimmer – Skimz SM 251 Monzter E-Series
5. Calcium Reactor – Korallin C-3002
6. Freshwater top-off (to maintain constant osmotic balance) – 25 gallon transport tank, bellows pump and float switch
7. Water motion – 4x Tunze Turbelle Streams (the original versions). I’ve had these in operation almost continuously for 5+ years and four cross-country moves without a single problem and don’t see the need to change them unless they begin to fail.
8. Heater – Eheim Jager TruTemp 250 Watt
SOFT CORAL TANK
This tank is intended to be a dedicated to larger more aggressive marine fish. I’ll try to keep some of the more noxious softies here, but the focus will be fish and not inverts in this tank. Given the design of the room, this tank will receive a fair bit of natural sunlight on the right side.
Equipment (much the same as above):
1. Lighting – 60” T5 ATI SunPower (8x80W)
2. Sump – modified 40 gallon breeder
3. Return Pump – two (2) Mag-12’s, each plumbed to a separate overflow return.
4. Skimmer – Skimz SM 251 Monzter E-Series
5. Freshwater top-off (to maintain constant osmotic balance) – 25 gallon transport tank, bellows pump and float switch
6. Water motion – I’m going cheap here, and will try the Hydor Koralia product.
7. Heater – Eheim Jager TruTemp 250 Watt
Existing System
My existing system has been revised to an approximately 180+/- gallon quarantine/holding system composed of four (4) 10 and six (6) 20H tanks drilled and plumbed to a 40 gallon sump and a 23 year old Lifereef trickle filter (I think I bought it in the summer of 1990). Most of my used and leftover equipment over the years has been repurposed for this system. This system will handle quarantine duties and may be converted to a breeder system in the future.
CONSIDERATIONS
1. Canopy – I’ve received a fair bit of criticism over my use of a canopy on both tanks. Our previous tanks had always been open tops. My spouse always wanted a canopy. Both tanks have canopies to maintain symmetry. Period.
2. Natural light – The right hand tank will receive quite a bit of natural light, given that it’s right side is next to a very large window. That window is on the south side of the house, facing a patio. The patio is below a large second story deck and during certain times of the year it will receive direct sunlight. The rest of the year it will have indirect illumination from the outside.
3. Natural light part 2 – Both tanks will receive some ambient light from the windows and doors in the picture. If this proves to be problematic, I will have to develop a solution to address.
4. Quarantine tank(s) – Never used them before, and I always have had problems with ich outbreaks. I don’t really care about stories from people who never use them and never have had problems. Too much like Russian roulette. I now have a system dedicated for quarantine and intend to use it.
5. Sand Bed - I had originally intended to go BB, but after a fair bit of consideration I decided to experiment with a half and half approach. There are a number of animals I’d like to keep that would require some substrate. I plan on placing my rock on a base of glass blocks, and leave a SSB area. Until I actually get down to the aquascaping, I won’t know exactly how much sand versus BB I’ll actually have. I did something similar to this once before
6. Aquascaping – I’m using about 320 lbs of “Prime Cuts”. I placed ~180lbs in the mixed reef, the remainder will go in the other tank. I did something a little different with the aquascaping – I built a base of glass blocks, added a few sheets of