Mr. Saltwater Tank’s 206 Gallon V.I.P. Build
Building a saltwater tank is one of my favorite things todo. I enjoy the client interactions, the planning, the challenges and I REALLY enjoy seeing the finished product. It never hurts when the tank is thriving as well.
Browse the Store! Questions?
Thanks for sharing, been using the same lighting system (Ecotech LED+T5) sense 2012, and you’re right you get a “pop” that LED a lone just don’t seem to give you.
Thanks for sharing, Mark. A beautiful tank, for sure. One question – If they clients had indeed kept a low bio load, how would the corals have responded? That’s a lot of coral and, without a significant amount of fish poop (aka the world’s best coral food) I’d be concerned about keeping the corals healthy.
Thoughts?
what T5 fixtures did you add to the Eco tech LEd lights. im looking to do the same and id like to purchase the right equipment the 1st time.
jason
Nice work on the clients tank Mark. when we will see a video of your new 400?
Good job Mark, we need more updates on client tanks and your new build.
Best video yet! Unlike your previous video’s this could have been a tv show episode. You still need to work on that talking through your nose thing, though.
I have a FOWLR with some mushrooms and button polyps. Using LED’s and have 2 36″ T-5’s if anybody’s interested. $50 for the both of them. Local to the Charlotte, N.C. area only.
Hi Mark, wow beautiful tank thanks for sharing. Question, you said that you don’t feed the coral can you expand on that. I don’t put much of anything in my reef tank but food really. That includes brine shrimp, rotifiers (frozen), roti feast, phyto-feast and every couple of weeks a little Logol’s solution. I don’t have a refugium, just a hang on protein skimmer for my 46gal bow front.
Mark, did I miss how the water changes happen on this easy to maintain tank? Thanks for what you do!!!
Those Nano’s looked unbelievable, haha
Surprised all the corals with such a young tank. Seems to be working.
I need to learn more in dosing. I dose for alk and mag. My calcium is always good so don’t need to dose for that
Mark, I’ll let you know when I’m ready to setup my beauty….if you don’t mind taking a long flight in a few years to Japan, lol
I thought I was the only one that used a “filler” led. I use the current usa fusion led and I have to tell you WOW. my lfs said I would just start a huge alge problem but that is what dimmers are for! thanks I cant wait to show them this!!!
Excellent job Mark it looks great
Beautiful…great job Mark!
T-5’s do a great job getting rid of excess shimmer and color separation on the sand and around shadows from LED’s. I love my LED’s but the t5’s make them much better.
OMG Mark that is an incredible tank build and looks AWESOME!!! If I had the money, I would have you build my next tank! Keep up the GREAT work Mark!
Hi Mark, I live in the Whitsunday in Australia will reef all round us. I do 600 litre water changes monthly directly from the sea. The tank holds 1200 litres, sump 250 litres and seperate refriguim of about 90 litres, which has good plant growth and micropods. I have always been told that I must feed the corals for them to survive. In this video you said no feeding of coral. Could you please advise more on how to keep my corals healthy. Everything seems to be growing, however I am feeding some corals prawns and Acro Power suplements. Is this really necessary or is it just good marketing. Thanks Jeff Boyle
With thanks Jeff Boyle
Jeff…unless the coral is non-photosynthetic, it’s really good marketing.
I used Radions for 2 years. I took them off and put on metal halides per the advice from another reefer. BIG difference. My SPS corals didn’t grow at all under Radions and have grown like crazy under the metal halides.
Hi Mark,
I bought you PDF books and are about to setup my own tank following your guides 😉
One think i just want to ask you. Are you still starting tanks up on dead rocks and Dr. Tim? because i get ALOT of people WHO say DON’T do that you will never get anything good from “cheating the normal cycle”
So this tank in the video was build in 4 months so my guess is that it has not been run with a “normal” cycle?
Best Regards
René
Thanks for your support Rene. This tank was started with dead rock and Dr. Tim’s bacteria. I’ve setup nearly all my tanks this way and have had zero issues with the dry rock/bacteria in a bottle approach.
Where did you get the PVC sheets you used for the tray under the sump? I’m doing something similar and was planning on using solid surface material. PVC sounds like a better and cheaper way to go. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing this setup. Amazing setup. I love the idea for the sump area. How was the drain setup to go to the lower lever on the town home and how are the water changes made?