The 210 build

Its begun. Ive decided to get an AGA 210 to build into the corner of my laundry room but first need to build an equipment house out the back door to keep all of my equipment. That will be the slow part because frankly, I dont want to do it.
My wife recently bought me a new skimmer as a few here already know. Also, I just traded my old skimmer for an AGA 150g tank that Ill use for my sump. The tank dimensions are 72"x 18"x 24"
Its only purpose will be to house the skimmer, heaters and return pump. Occasionaly it may house some colonies or LR but not likely. I already have a 65G remote fuge and a 40G frag tank. Im looking for ideas on how to split it up into compartments and why.

Im considering to make 1/3 of it for the skimmer bubble catch chamber and keeping the rest as one huge 70 gallon return chamber.
What do you think?

I am just glad you finally decided to go with the 210! Congrats!




PS - I haven't been ignoring your pm's just been busy!

Thales":14cs4twq said:

I am just glad you finally decided to go with the 210! Congrats!




PS - I haven't been ignoring your pm's just been busy!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the congrats! I know your busy. Im a dad too.
Did you notice I bought a nice big sump. Im copying you........
When you get an hour, could you give a quick description of your 180 sump? Or does my idea sound about right?

Your idea is kind of like what I did. I added that extra 50 gallon cube for the skimmer. In that cube I have baffles to stop bubbles.

Here is my finished sump. I built a 14" tall rack for the simmer to set on in the left chamber, the rack in the large return pump chamber will hold any extra LR and serve as a benthic area for sponges, feather duster and pods. Sometimes pictures dont speak a thousand words. This sump is six feet long.


Also, this is what the future 210 cut out will look like. So much bigger than a 120.

Im not too sure how Ill trim it. Sorry for the crummy pic.

What skimmer did you trade for a 150g?

cindre2000":1ihi8c88 said:

What skimmer did you trade for a 150g?

Click to expand...

My ASM G-3.

Cool. 300+g system. Gonna be a beast.

Where are you going to store all your existing corais etc,

What skimmer did your wife get you?

Sorry for the lack of response.

Where are you going to store all your existing corais etc,

Click to expand...

First I am going to build the shed, set up the sump, and then move the 105G garage system (65G and 40G) along with the 150G sump into it. After it cycles and gets reestablished Ill tie it into the existing 120.
Then Ill work on aquiring more LR, another lumenarc, possibly a 400w ballast, a neptune DC8, possibly an ozone generator, and other various upgrades for the "dream system". When I am ready Ill order the 210 and break the 120 down into the three tanks that are in the shed. At that time I can tear half of my laundry room apart to get ready for the bigger tank.

What skimmer did your wife get you?

Click to expand...

The ATI bubble Master 250 rated for 500Gs. My LFS has one on their 450G SPS display/frag system and it rocks. Much to my suprise, my 120 looked cleaner after only 24hrs. Polished was how the water was described.

I went out back the other day to get started and decided that a small 4'x8' shed is out of the question. I also found out that I have to build a small retaining wall (or stem wall) due to the grade of the back yard. This job gets bigger and more complex the more I think about it. It will have to be a 6'x8' storage shed. My sump and two other tanks will require a 2'x6' footprint stacked so that eats up one wall. I then need room for a large RO bin and an even larger makeup water container. I will likely have to break down and buy something large enough for a 100G WC. That will leave very little room for salt buckets etc.
Here are a couple pics I took. The first shows how small my original footprint would have been. Now Ive decided to build it out as far as the 6"x6" post on the left. The second shows how creative Im going to have to be with my roof design. Im still scratching my head on this one. I refuse to tear down the upper deck to build it.

Looks like it's going to be a monster system. LOVE the look of your 120 already! Can't wait to see the progress.

I feel for you......these projects always seem to get larger, especially dring the construction phase. I would agree though, go as big as you can for that outdoor room. Are you going to pour a concrete pad for the room?

Duane, it's been a while, brother!

Great to hear you've started on this. My 210G is finally getting out of the garage tomorrow. 8) It took me until November to gather all my equipment since things (work) got really rough for the last 4-5 months of last year. I will be moving to another house hopefully sometime towards the end of the year so plans for the 210G have changed a little since it'll be temporary. But I'm hoping to finally finish it up soon (for real now).

Anyways, glad to hear you're going with a 210G as well. Great size tank! It's going to look great in that spot with a side view as well as the front. And make that shed even bigger, man!!!




P.S. I want a Bubble Master!

Another update. I've finished the concrete work. Now I can start actually building a wood shed. My wife is almost as excited as I am.
The retaining wall is made up of about 50, 4"x 8"x 16" cinderblocks filled solid with concrete.

Looks good. Why didn't you just use wood all the way?

bleedingthought":2xhrot8o said:

Looks good. Why didn't you just use wood all the way?

Click to expand...

A couple reasons.

• 1) Just to the left, there is a pile of dirt that is six feet high and twenty feet long that needs to be terraced. I needed the wall to be three courses high to act as an actual retaining wall.
  2) Since I was building the wall already, I figured Id just go all the way up behind the stairs so I wouldnt have to preside and prepaint a wood wall before I could stand it. I hate to do extra steps like that at work so concrete made sense. Maintanance free forever.

Im sure Ill regret it when I want to mount electrical, tank stands, etc. to it, and when all of the moisture in the room is condensing on it and forming puddles on the floor all winter.

A little bit furhter along.

Go go go!

Keep the pictures and updates comin'!