Bills Crystal Dynamic Aquarium 225 gal tank upgrade

Billldg

Billldg

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I currently have a 120 gal mixed reef tank, but now I am in the process of shutting it down to make room for my upgrade tank which will go in the same spot.

My new tank will be a 72x30x24 225 Crystal Dynamic Aquariums tank and metal stand.
Filtration/Plumbing:
24in Modular Marine External Overflow
Bashsea Signature series SS-48 sump/ Black and Blue color
Bashsea 10 gal ATO tank/ Black and Blue color
Bashsea carbon reactor/ Black and Blue
Tunze 3155 ATO
2 Neptune Cor-20 return pump
Reef Octopus Regal 250SSS skimmer
2 Ecotech MP40 powerheads
Gyre XF350 with 2 Pumps
CW-200 Clear Water Scrubber

Inside tank:
180 pounds Marco Shelf rock
Several pieces of Marco foundation rock
60 pounds live rock to seed tank

Lighting:
Aquatic life non dimmable X18 T5 61 in fixture
Probably 5 XR15 G5 Blues

I will remove the Apex and modules from my existing tank and install in this tank.
 
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I also built a mixing station for the upgrade. I didn't want to have to keep several 50 gal Brute trash cans with water around, LOL!!! After building it and using it on my 120, all I can say is what took me so long.:) Excuse the braided line in the photo, as it is kinda photo bombing, I just haven't installed a wall mount for it yet. The mixing station is downstairs in the basement and I use a Pan World 200ps to mix the water and pump it upstairs. It has 39 ft of head, so pumping upstairs will not be an issue.

20201219_144938.jpg
 
Crystal Dynamics Aquariums are built like a tank! I love how all the seams are armored throughout the entire tank. Bottom trim, sides, all of it!! Never have to worry about your algae scraper hitting the seams.

Let me know what you think of their steel stand. I went with a different direction since I knew an old time ARC friend that can build me a custom one and I don't regret it one bit. The old school ARC peeps will remember David (groupertherapy).

Very nice that you have all that reservoir! You can probably fill it in just a day emptying them both and running your ro/di. I wish I had something that large as well. The wait is excruciating!!
 
I really like the dimensions for the tank. Having that extra width will be nice for rock scaping.
 
civics14 said:
Crystal Dynamics Aquariums are built like a tank! I love how all the seams are armored throughout the entire tank. Bottom trim, sides, all of it!! Never have to worry about your algae scraper hitting the seams.

Let me know what you think of their steel stand. I went with a different direction since I knew an old time ARC friend that can build me a custom one and I don't regret it one bit. The old school ARC peeps will remember David (groupertherapy).

Very nice that you have all that reservoir! You can probably fill it in just a day emptying them both and running your ro/di. I wish I had something that large as well. The wait is excruciating!!
Click to expand...
I piped the mixing station in such a way that I can mix in both at one time. The left is saltwater and the right is RO/DI water, but I can open the right container to mix as well in case I need to do a massive water change. Lets hope that never has to happen. I just paid the last payment, so hopefully I will hear from them on a shipping date.

Adam said:
I really like the dimensions for the tank. Having that extra width will be nice for rock scaping.
Click to expand...
Having that 6 extra inches helps out a lot. I am not a NSA person, I went with all Marco Shelf rock. I already have it pretty much done, I just like the caves and ledges that I can create.
 
Billldg said:
I piped the mixing station in such a way that I can mix in both at one time. The left is saltwater and the right is RO/DI water, but I can open the right container to mix as well in case I need to do a massive water change. Lets hope that never has to happen. I just paid the last payment, so hopefully I will hear from them on a shipping date.


Having that 6 extra inches helps out a lot. I am not a NSA person, I went with all Marco Shelf rock. I already have it pretty much done, I just like the caves and ledges that I can create.
Click to expand...
Oh man, I did that split payment as well. They said they were going to ship the next day, which was a Tuesday. Then I followed up on Wednesday for tracking info. Radio silence. Friday night at like 1am, Zoya emailed me the tracking advising me that the person handling shipping didn't get it out... So frustrating.

So, only concern I have with my tank was when they cracked the back wall (peninsula), they didn't take apart the entire tank. Rather they only took off that cracked piece to replace. Everything I've read was that the silicone is suppose to be one single seam for strength. However, Zoya assured me that they don't use regular silicone, rather a 2 part industrial strength adhesive and it was fine. I hope she's right cause I inspected the seam and I can see where the two different glues meet by difference in color but there is no gap but still a concern for me.
 
civics14 said:
Oh man, I did that split payment as well. They said they were going to ship the next day, which was a Tuesday. Then I followed up on Wednesday for tracking info. Radio silence. Friday night at like 1am, Zoya emailed me the tracking advising me that the person handling shipping didn't get it out... So frustrating.

So, only concern I have with my tank was when they cracked the back wall (peninsula), they didn't take apart the entire tank. Rather they only took off that cracked piece to replace. Everything I've read was that the silicone is suppose to be one single seam for strength. However, Zoya assured me that they don't use regular silicone, rather a 2 part industrial strength adhesive and it was fine. I hope she's right cause I inspected the seam and I can see where the two different glues meet by difference in color but there is no gap but still a concern for me.
Click to expand...
Since the tank will not be running by, well, today, as I thought it would be, I am in no rush on the shipping. I wanted the tank to be ready for SPS by Macna ATL, but even if I get it up and running my the end of Jan, for it to be high end SPS ready is a stretch.
 
I set up a 40b and have been steadily moving corals that I will be keeping over to it. Today I did a 25 percent water change on it and shut down the return and flow pumps in the process. When I saw this I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Its my TSA Black Panther torch, aka NY Knicks. With no flow it looked like a troll doll, so I kinda want to change the name to the TSA Troll Doll torch, LOL!!!

TSA black panther, aka troll doll torch.jpeg
 
The drains are done, and with the exception that I need to redo the left return because I messed up, :rolleyes: , The plumbing is almost done. I just need to install the dual return pump sections to connect the pumps themselves.. The plumbing isn't full complete for the algae scrubber and carbon reactor, but the are at a point were I can just simply turn off the ball valves. I will not need to run either at the start, so no big deal.

2D2ECE5F-0E30-4C02-852F-5051E1B162B6.jpegF923D7BC-EEDD-4278-992D-04D179F56E99.jpeg
 
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