150 Gallon Saltwater Tank Build

Tony

Staff member
Hello everyone. I will be the first to say, the build thread on the 90 gallon tank went way better on here than I thought it would. That thread (LINKED HERE) went from Sept 28th 2012, and is still going because it will not be taken down for a while. However, it will be coming down, at least temporarily while I build a new stand and possibly a new canopy. The stand is junk and I have hated it since day one lol. But it was the "right price" back then.

Almost exactly 10 years later at the end of 2022, and we purchased our new tank. It says it's a 142 gallon tank, however I don't believe that. So I'm calling it my 150 build. It is 72.5x18.5x25. We were going to go with a tank that was 24" front to back instead of 18.5, however we didn't want it sticking out too far from the wall. So we decided to stick with the 18.5" front to back. To compare, the 90 is 48x18x24.

On this build, we didn't want to go "All Out", but rather go with the best without going overboard. When looking at parts, I ask myself on every one of them, "will this last 10 years?". If the answer is no, then I look somewhere else. And if the answer is yes, I usually pulled the trigger on it. So for about 6 months, this is what has been taking up my "free funds".

When I purchased the tank, it did come with the stand and a canopy that I thought I was going to love, however overlooked one major aspect.... Height.... This is a low profile canopy and in the store, it looked taller than it was, and I should have measured. So because of the canopy, my light choices were limited.

The lights I ended up going with are the Kessel A360X. I have 3 of them to put on this tank. This light has the widest throw and the highest par while being less than 6" off the surface of the water. I did test these out on the 90 gallon for a few weeks, and the corals LOVED THEM!! So I think this is a great choice. Only down side is they are pretty much pinpoint light source, so the shimmer is intense! I'm thinking about getting some "Fill Lights" to help with that, but on the 90, I got used to it pretty easily.

For a sump, we with with the Trigger Systems 34" Platinum. I was SO TIRED of cleaning filter socks that I was willing to spend the extra money for a fleece roller system. And that is exactly what I did! This sump has everything I need in a sump. A fleece roller, a lid to stop salt creep, a refugium section, a skimmer section and a decent return section. It also has 4 spots for 1/4" tubing for dosing and auto top off and it has a built in probe holder already there.

One thing that I wanted to do is pretty much "Start Over" on this tank. So with that in mind, this will be a "NEW" build. New tank, new sump, new electronics and New Rock & Sand. I went with Dry Rock, not wet and I went with Dry Sand, not live sand. I will use my 90 to help seed it, but it will be NEW and uniform looking. The 90 is just a mess of "what I could find" and I have not been happy with it for years. This new 150 build though, will have way more negative space for coral growth, fish swimming areas and a way to clean the sand during a water change. I went with 80lbs of dry rock and 80lbs of dry sand. And get this, I got free shipping on it lol.

So that brings me to the tank controller. As I'm sure you all know, on the 90 I have used the OG Neptune Apex controller and it has been AMAZING! So for the new build, I went with the A3 Apex Pro by Neptune Systems. This is the newest Apex and I can't wait to dive into programming it and getting everything setup. This was one of the "no compromise" purchases that I didn't care what he price was, I wanted the top of the line. And I have it.

For a return pump, I went with the Neptune COR 20 return pump. This is directly compatible with the A3 Apex Pro and should feed this tank nicely!

For a skimmer, I'm trying a cheaper skimmer, but I'm not quite liking it much right now. It is the Aquamaxx DFC-180. It's pretty much the cheapest skimmer you can get that is still DC powered. Does it work, yea it works, but it's finicky. It keeps overskimming when it is set super dry, and I have no idea why. I have turned down the air, pump, flow, and nothing helps. I may just have to bite the bullet and get a Nyos skimmer, but man, they are not cheap. But the theme of this build is "will it last 10 years", and I honestly don't think the Aquamaxx will. The Nyos... Absolutely. It's pretty much the best of the best from what I have read.

Powerheads, the small pumps on the sides of the tank on the inside, took me a very long time to decide on. I really do like the Jebao powerheads and I can control them with the Apex, however they are $80+ each, I would need 4 of them, and I have had 5, and every one of them die at the one year mark, like they have a timer built into them. So I'm done with Jebao for this reason unless they change.

I looked at everything from the Neptune WAV, which is their powerheads, however, they are saying the same thing, they die after one year. But man it would be nice to not have to have another controller. But, $200/ea and only get a year.... Nope, not yet.

I ended up going with pretty much the top of the line, what everyone that is going to stay in the hobby goes with. The EcoTech Marine VorTech MP40mQD. At this time, they cannot be controlled by the Apex, however I'm sure something will come along. I can turn them on and off with the Apex, so that will work for feed timers, and water changes. So I think I will be happy with them.

(Edit: PLOT TWIST!!! I just found a video from 5 months ago where Neptune Systems stated they are coming out with an MXM module, which is basically the Mobius app, which is what I need for the powerheads. This module has no date of release yet, and no price. And you know what, I don't care what it costs, when it is released, I'm getting it!!!)

These powerheads are something that I have wanted since my 55 gallon saltwater tank. There are NO WIRES inside the tank with these. They have a "Wet Side" and a "Dry Side". The dry side is on the outside and is the motor. The wet side goes inside the tank and is kind of like the little pill inside a beaker in science class that spins on top of the plate. That's pretty much how it works anyway. But these things push a lot of water, are a mix between a small jet for long reach and a wide pattern for wide water movement, so perfect for a 6 foot tank. These I think are the most expensive powerheads on the market, however compared to the Jebao and Neptune powerheads, they will pay for themselves after 5 years or so. So another "Buy Once, Cry Once" purchase.

For the plumbing, Again, no compromise. It was a "Buy Once, Cry Once" (or should have been lol) situation, however I did make one little mistake where I had to purchase fittings over again. I am running Schedule 40 Blue Pipe with Schedule 80 Gray Fittings. And IMO, it looks fantastic. I wanted to hard line everything but the return pump (due to vibration) and for that, I used 1" silicone tubing to reduce vibrations to almost nothing.

One thing that this tank does not have is a check valve. If I do decide to run a check valve, I will put one on each of the return lines. I have 2 returns in the tank, one right and one left in the overflow, so I will just put it there after cutting the tube to length and gluing it in place. Simple to do at any time.

For overflow (drain), the tank came with dual drains and at this time, I'm just going to run them stock to see just how loud it is. If it's too loud, then I will do a full siphon with one and let the other take up the slack. I really should do it with 3 pipes, however, I only have 2 to work with.

Tonight, I finished up the plumbing. The hardline tubing was definitely not easy to do and making some of these cuts that have to be Perfect was quite stressful lol. But, it's done! And just needs to be leak checked.

Here is a "First Look" at the sump and under tank plumbing.

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Now that the plumbing is done, it's time to start setting up the electronics and filling the tank!
 

Heliman450

Well-Known Member
Hi Tony, sounds great! around 27 years ago I also was heavily into fresh water fish and had a massive setup in my garage. Long story short, I'm not doing the hobby any more.

I'm interested in seeing some photos of the 'old' tank and following your transition to the new. Good luck!
 

Tony

Staff member
Hey Phil, I will definitely do more on the 90 up until I tear it down. I just released a video of doing a water change which is in the other thread. But definitely doing more.

And I cannot wait to get water in this tank, leak test everything and once everything is good, adding salt and getting the new cycle started. I miss the setup and tinkering for hours lol.
 

Heliman450

Well-Known Member
I'm a plumbing kind of guy and enjoyed every moment of setting up my tanks. There were 3 x 48-inch tanks for breeding and a main 84-inch. The main tank was separate from the breeding tanks. Happy times now distant memories.

I followed your link to 30 pages of the 90 gallon tank. Too much to checkout right now but will spend some quality time reviewing it.
 

Tony

Staff member
Yes, that thread is over 10 years old, and shows everything from my wanting to get back into saltwater, to finding the use tank, to buying the 90, to the new electronics to building the sup that is still under it. And of course, the hardships I had with it that were great learning experiences. So may memories in that 90, and I don't plan on selling it, but it definitely needs to start over at the minimum. Just not sure what I'm going to do with it yet since I really only need one tank lol.

But yes, definitely a thread that is good for sitting down with a morning coffee and knocking out a few pages.
 

D.O.G.

Goblin 380 Supporter
Hey Tony. Very nice plumbing you have going on there. If the new tank will be anything like your other tank...I know it's going to be sweet looking and relaxing :).
 

Tony

Staff member
Alright, getting back on the 150 build. You never know just how out of shape your arms and shoulders are until you have to hold a drill under a stand, 20" in front of you with arms extended, trying to hit your mark within 1/16th of an inch. Arms needed a break after mounting the Apex A3 Pro Base Unit, and the two EB-832 Energy Bars. I guess that was redundant as EB stands for Energy Bar lol.

Today is pretty much all about getting the controllers mounted and looking good. I opted to mount the EB-832's on the wall behind, but under the stand, and not to the stand itself. I think this will end up cleaning up the under tank area.

I have 3 other controllers that I need to find a mount for. One is the COR-20 return pump controller. I really wish they would have just used a plug on the EB-832, but guess it needs more power than the 24v plugs can supply. This mount is easy as it has a cleat you mount first, then just slide the controller on top of it and it locks in. Just like the EB-832's did. The base unit was just two slotted holes like you would find on the back of a power strip.

The other two controllers are for the MP-40 power heads and these have no mount. Just a unit that you must find a place to put. Oh, they do SELL a mount, and they are made out of powder coated metal, but they are $15/ea. IMO, with what these powerheads cost, not only should they come with these mounts, someone should come to your house and install them for you. But I digress lol.

Instead of forking out more money, I own a 3D printer, and there is a file online which I have added below, to a mount for these controllers. These are currently printing and show to have about 15 hours left.... I never said it was going to be a quick solution, although it could be if you count transit time to receive the other mounts from Minnesota lol.

So, taking a coffee break and letting the lactic acid subside in my shoulders, then it's onto finding out ways to wire all of this. And man, the wiring on this tank is going to be a nightmare. Challenge accepted.
 

Tony

Staff member
Well, removed the post about that being the last post in this thread as it is a little more complicated to move a thread to a new URL than I had thought lol. So yea, still giving up dates here mainly because there are quite a few that enjoy the updates here that may not want to join yet another forum. Don't blame you for that lol.

So last week (I know, didn't have time to edit and render the video) I filled the tank with water as you see in the above image and got it ready for the rock and sand. Took about 2 days to fill the tank since I didn't want to leave it running while I was sleeping.

There will likely be another video very shortly that I just shot today with a pretty major update. Stay tuned!

 

D.O.G.

Goblin 380 Supporter
Looking good Tony. By the sound of your voice, you're getting excited... one gallon at a time. Damn Tony, those fishes have a better filtering system than our house has. :waa: Thanks for sharing :).
 

Tony

Staff member
haha, yea they do. As stated in the video, I'm on a well, and when I moved in, it was pretty high in hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell) so this is the only water we have drank. Well, not the DI water (deionized) as that tastes very metallic and is not good for you since there is NOTHING in it. The top 6 filters (4 clear, and the two white on top) feed into a 3.5 gallon pressure tank and I have a dedicated faucet just for RO water, which is completely safe to drink, but lacks flavor because there is no calcium or other elements in the water in a measurable amount to matter. So although we do cook with the filtered water, we actually just drink bottled water as it's better for you with the minerals.

With all that said though, I have not had the strong odor of the hydrogen sulfide in about 3 years. I need to send off a test to have it tested as I may have just gotten used to it.

But yea, I'm getting excited about the build. Long road ahead of us though to get the tank cycled and ready to put in our first fish. And I have no idea what fish we will be putting in it first. Chromis, Clowns (not the same two) or Damsel's (maybe, they are pretty aggressive) are at the top of the list. will probably be chromis though.
 

Heliman450

Well-Known Member
Hi Tony, looking good. I wondered why the notification came through from here rather than OKIETONY. I recovered my memory jogger for the site and was pleased to read that I'm not the only one to be slow to load up on different forums LoL. I've been very busy with my favourite project and haven't found time for much else. Today, I'm chilling out a bit and catching up on other things so will watch the video a bit later on. Best to start with the least expensive option for the first occupants, just in case.

Be very careful with the H2S problem. If you can't smell it then it can be immediately fatal if it's still around. I doubt that it is that bad and the source has probably disappeared. get the water tested as a priority and find out why it's there especially if it's in a natural water source. It's the stuff of volcanoes and oil refineries. Believe me I know from a life time's work in the industry.
 

Tony

Staff member
haha, yea it's one of those projects that looks simple on the outside (just move the thread), but to someone that doesn't play with mysql very much at all, is a daunting task. I'm going to setup a test site for both Rc-Help and OkieTony and to some testing before I move anything from the live sites. Just to be safe. It's hard when it's a one man show over there lol.

As for the H2S, It was tested and was a low concentration, safe to consume, just had an off-putting smell. But that was almost 10 years ago now (where does time go...) so might be time to have it tested again.
 

Tony

Staff member
Been so busy that I forgot to post about the updates to the 150 here. So here we go, it's update time.

I just now realized that I missed a video on the 150 series here in this thread, and that was the Reveal video. So I'm going to double post the video above just to keep things neat lol.

Reveal video. Here I give kind of an overview of what this tank is going to be.

Adding water to the 150. This is the video that is above and you have most likely already seen

Here is the video for the start of the nitrogen cycle. Every new tank must go through a nitrogen cycle where you add ammonia and bacteria to the tank, the bacteria breaks the ammonia down into Nitrite, then breaks the Nitrite down into Nitrate. More on this update later.

The cycle continues. This video is a week into the cycle. It takes time lol.

And here is a video on doing some testing. Both the 90 and this 150 is in this video (tests, not the tanks) and is a little different than the above videos.

That gets you caught up on the videos that I have made for the 150.

I just finished testing the water again and as in the last video above, the Ammonia is still low if not zero, the nitrites are still maxing out my test kit and today, the Nitrates have maxed out my test kit at 75ppm. So we are waiting for the Nitrite's to drop to zero then it's water change time and we add our first fish. I can't wait.
 

Tony

Staff member
May 9th for the last update... oops lol.

In all reality, until just recently not much has been going on with this tank. I have been checking the Nitrites (purple liquid in the video above) and last weekend they fill to 0. I learned something about Nitrites and Nitrates last weekend as well. You see, I checked my Nitrates and they were off the charts (over 75) on my Hanna checker. That is when my Nitrites were maxed out (over 5ppm) with the dropper test. Turns out, High nitrites WILL affect the reading of the Nitrates. And I checked the Nitrates after the Nitrites fell to 0, and they were 16.5 and I just saw on my graph, I forgot to record that lol. Too much going on!

So yay, the nitrogen cycle is over, now it's time to get fish. Well, I had to wait until the following week to do that as I wanted the wife to come with me and when the Nitrites fell to 0, it was on a Saturday and she had to work. In all honesty, we should have went and picked up fish a couple weeks ago but we didn't know when the cycle would be over. Every tank is different.

I had thought about what fish we were going to get for a long time. The 3 most popular are Clownfish, Damsel and Chromis (which are still in the Damsel family but not near as aggressive).

Clowns.... If I get clowns, it's going to be a very specific pair and I just so happened to find some that I really liked at the fish/coral store yesterday, but to cycle a tank, two fish are not enough (for a 150 anyway) and I'm not risking $150 worth of fish (yea, they are $75/ea... ouch).

Damsel's... My first saltwater tank, a pair of Blue Devil Damsel's was the two fish that I put in the tank. They are super cheap, or were and were perfect. Cycled that 55 in no time. Well, what I was not told by the fish store (yes, the one in Norman that I refuse to ever go to because they will lie through their teeth to make a sale, they will crash your tank with parasites, you will get aiptasia, you will get brook/ick and every other fish disease and fun fact, ALL of their fish tanks are full of copper, which will kill any and all inverts and corals. After being completely screwed over by this store that is just 15/20 minutes from my house, I now gladly drive over an hour all the way to NW 23rd and Council in the NW corner shopping center to purchase my fish and corals. /rant)

So now that the rant is over. The store in Norman failed to mention one thing. Damsel's are extremely aggressive if they are the first fish to put in the tank. And yea, they cycled the tank so they were first, no other fish, so they took the tank as their own. And when I went to add other fish later on down the road, they killed them within 24 hours. As a new person to Saltwater, and the fish store knowing I was new, he never once made mention that "Oh hey, these are great to cycle your tank, but you will have to catch them and either kill them or bring them back for absolutely no refund because they will kill everything you put in the tank from now on....". Never a word. Just a "yay, I made a couple bucks and I will make more when those fish kill other fish and they will have to buy them again. Okay, So Damsels, not a good fish to start with. I need to get off this topic, I'm starting to get pissed off LOLOL.

So that leaves the last fish, the Chromis. There are a few different ones that you can get. Blue chromis, which are mildly aggressive (they are a damsel), blue/green chromis, and green chromis. The green and blue/green are the most popular, the wife and I both wanted the blue, but yea, he didn't have them in stock, so after saying no, I settled on 10 of the blue/green Chromis. These are very popular, are a schooling fish and will add a nice pop of color in the tank. And having 10 of them should be great for a 150 gallon tank to add some fecal matter to help the tank do what it does.

I will post a video soon about these fish which are in a 29 gallon tank for the moment.

Below is a link to a video that is within a Spoiler tag so it doesn't take up too much room. Just click on it to see (or listen to) the video. This is what the overflow sounded like on the 150. Once you get past the splashing of the overflow which is normal for this style, you will hear what sounds like a jet flying overhead CONSTANTLY! OMG this thing was so loud and it made so much foam in the first filter chamber that can be seen in multiple videos above.


Thankfully, this tank has dual 1.5" overflow tubes in the overflow that go into 1" drain lines. The returns are 3/4" lines. Even at 100% on the COR20 return pump, one drain line can handle the entire tank flow. So this made it PERFECT for the "Herbie" overflow. What is this overflow you may ask? It's one drain that is at a full siphon and the second drain that is set as an emergency overflow. Ideally you will never need the emergency, however if you do, it's there. Mine, because I want the water level as high as I can get it, I want just a drip or two going into the emergency which will reduce the splashing sounds you hear in the spoiler video above. And it doesn't hurt it.

With a full siphon, you have silent operation and the agitation in the filter chamber is all but removed. And now, sans the little bit of splashing sound that is still there (I think I can do some filing to remove most of it), this tank is silent. When I was under the stand, I could hear the popping bubbles of the skimmer because I had the cup off over all other sounds coming from the tank. That is pretty darn quiet.

So how did I do this, Well, guess you will have to read on below when I get he video posted about the new valve!
 
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