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Hey guys,
Decided to just move my build thread here to document the progress in one place
I'm currently in process of converting my 180g reef tank into a freshwater planted. I've taken out all of the reef inhabitants and some of the extra equipment already and now soaking the tank to get all the remaining tiny reef critters out as they die off >.>
Here is where I'm at so far

Tanks - 180g display, 120g sump, Herbie style overflow box.
Pump - Sicce Syncra 5.0
Controller - Apex with pH, Temp, ORP probes, two 8 outlet power bars, moonlight, two DOS units to dose four different liquids.
Heater - two Ebo Jager 300w on Ranco controller.
Flow - Maxspect Gyre XF150 in display, Hydor Koralia Evo 1400 in the sump (to mix in liquids from the doser)
Filtration - Filter socks from 1 to 200 micron.
Substrate - Black diamond blasting sand (not in yet).
Decorations - Fern Green boulders (link) (soaking in bleach for now).
Light - 5000k 14w LED Sylvania Floodlight (Mainly just to keep tank illuminated while I decide what light to get), similar light in the sump. Will probably exchange it for something else to illuminate the underneath better. These were originally used to grow macro algae in the sump for the reef.
Fish - not sure
Plants - high, med, low? who knows !
For the light I'm right now between buying a pre-built fixture from Finnex or Fluval or a DIY project.
Main issue with retail ones is the lack of 60" or 72" fixtures that would cover the tank well and I'm not even sure if they would cover the tank's 24" width, so I may need two of them side by side and then more to fill the length. But I imagine staggered two 48" fixtures would be good enough. That way side 2 feet of the tank would have one fixture covering them and middle 2 feet would have two fixture above.
On the DIY front for about same amount of money as two 48" fixtures I could make something like this.
I used something similar on a previous planted tank I had, running 16 XM-L cool white LEDs at about 1000mA on a 120g tank.
I'm also still debating if I want to get some manzanita branches in the tank, but will have to wait and see how it will look with just black sand and the rocks I've picked up today.
Decided to just move my build thread here to document the progress in one place
I'm currently in process of converting my 180g reef tank into a freshwater planted. I've taken out all of the reef inhabitants and some of the extra equipment already and now soaking the tank to get all the remaining tiny reef critters out as they die off >.>
Here is where I'm at so far


Tanks - 180g display, 120g sump, Herbie style overflow box.
Pump - Sicce Syncra 5.0
Controller - Apex with pH, Temp, ORP probes, two 8 outlet power bars, moonlight, two DOS units to dose four different liquids.
Heater - two Ebo Jager 300w on Ranco controller.
Flow - Maxspect Gyre XF150 in display, Hydor Koralia Evo 1400 in the sump (to mix in liquids from the doser)
Filtration - Filter socks from 1 to 200 micron.
Substrate - Black diamond blasting sand (not in yet).
Decorations - Fern Green boulders (link) (soaking in bleach for now).
Light - 5000k 14w LED Sylvania Floodlight (Mainly just to keep tank illuminated while I decide what light to get), similar light in the sump. Will probably exchange it for something else to illuminate the underneath better. These were originally used to grow macro algae in the sump for the reef.
Fish - not sure
Plants - high, med, low? who knows !
For the light I'm right now between buying a pre-built fixture from Finnex or Fluval or a DIY project.
Main issue with retail ones is the lack of 60" or 72" fixtures that would cover the tank well and I'm not even sure if they would cover the tank's 24" width, so I may need two of them side by side and then more to fill the length. But I imagine staggered two 48" fixtures would be good enough. That way side 2 feet of the tank would have one fixture covering them and middle 2 feet would have two fixture above.
On the DIY front for about same amount of money as two 48" fixtures I could make something like this.

I used something similar on a previous planted tank I had, running 16 XM-L cool white LEDs at about 1000mA on a 120g tank.
I'm also still debating if I want to get some manzanita branches in the tank, but will have to wait and see how it will look with just black sand and the rocks I've picked up today.