Bloke's 210g

[Bloke]

I built a new house last June and now I have this unfinished basement that has become this summer's project!! As I begin tackling this job I thought that it would be a perfect time to setup another in-wall system.

I've been thinking for several weeks about a plan and first things first, I wanted to get a basic floor plan for the basement which will include 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, utility room, family room, a bar, of course a fish room, and storage.

Here's where I am thus far:



I plan to brick the outer walls of the fish room and arch the display opening. I've given it a great deal of thought and in the end, I think it will look great!



I have the 210g ALL-Glass tank along with a 125g sump. I am going to run an SRO-3000 internal skimmer, two MP40 powerheads, and a Panworld 150 return pump.

[Bloke]

Here are a few shots before the mitre saw begins the work...

[Bloke]

The first thing I had to do was move the door to the fish room. With a 24.5" deep tank I will have about 2' behind the tank but only a mere 11" to move in and out of the room. The problem is that the wall with the door is also the wall holding up one side of the stairs so the door cannot move very far before the wall is load bearing. I was, however, able to move it about 6.5"; that's not very much, but it does give me a little bit more space.

[Bloke]

Stand complete:


Stand reinforcement

Tank in place:

[Bloke]

I've finished framing and the drywallers are scheduled.

[Bloke]

The beginnings of the RO system. I still need to pick up the DI canisters.


I also installed the GE 120cfm exhaust fan and to control the exhaust fan, I ordered and installed a Broan DH100W Dehumidistat

[Bloke]

Drywall installed; mud and tape to come. I hope to have the mason begin his work on the walls covered by OSB shortly after. As you can see in the picture, down the hall there is a small wall with an arched recess. The plan is to have the mason brick an arch over the tank to compliment that arch and others throughout the house.

[Bloke]

Mud and tape completed. Starting the masonry!

[Bloke]

Day 1 - Progress shot...

[Bloke]

Progress... Currently building the temporary support structure for the arch. On schedule to be completed by midafternoon.

[Bloke]

DONE! I think the arches compliment each other quite well.

[Bloke]

I have about 120lbs of BRS Fiji that I plan to begin cycling in a trashcan. I will be ordering another 100lbs to add in a second trashcan.


I will be making pillars/columns of varying height out of the rock by drilling it and placing atop PVC piping. Once installed, I will lay secondary pieces at the base of the pillars and as needed.

[Bloke]

I worked on the aquascape some and am not 100% on it, but when are we ever completely satisfied with it?

[Bloke]

I tweaked the aquascaping just a little. Here are closeups of the two sides of the rock. There is an additional 75lbs of rock in the sump for a total rock weight close to 250lbs.

Left Side:

Right Side:

Basement Bar and Tank:

[Bloke]

Installed BRS GFO/Carbon reactors


...and started to fill tank with water.

[Bloke]

I finally got the system completely plumbed. I ran a "T" into an existing 2" drain line to easily dispose of waste water when changing out tank water. I simply open the valve and pump the desired amount of water into the drain.


With everything plumbed and tank parameters stable, it's time to start the cycle!

[Bloke]

I checked the water to see how things were coming along. It looks like I need to add some more fish to get this thing really going...

My nitrates are at about 2ppm so I finally added some caulerpa prolifera to the fuge. When this stuff takes off it looks great!

[Bloke]

I've been working on the rest of the basement so the tank progress has been slow. I've got everything painted and now it's time for some ceramic tile. As far as the tank goes, things have been moving along and items have come out of QT. I am still lighting the tank with the same single lamp bulb which lights the fish room. Ha ha!

[wozza]

looks great so far

[Bloke]