100 gallon inwall tank

[scubajim]

Hello all obviously i'm new i've been on rc for a little while and i'm finally getting close to finishing my inwall tank build so i thought i'd post some pics. Well maybe i should start with my first tank a 15 gallon via aqua thats been up for about 8 months now

its been going good. I was amazed when somehow i had snails spawn and there was like 30 baby snails on my glass. So i decided to go bigger and its been somewhat stressful figuring everything out for the first time but its definetly been fun. So heres my wall before i told my wife i was going to smash it

heres my stand built and my hole cut

heres my marco rocks

 

[funman1]

First off!
[welcome]


Nice looking so far....
More pics?

 

[scubajim]

heres my sump and refugium with my new euroreef rs 250 and ocean runner return pump

my closed loop setup with a sequence dart. Havent finished plumbing it yet.

and the front tank in filling it up with water and working on my aquascape.

So i'm planning on doin a sps tank. Ive got 2 400 watt lumenarcs and i was goin to add some seio's for more flow. I have one thing i have to decide soon. Do you guys think i should do a deep sand bed or bare bottom? I'd personnally like a dsb because of looks and all the creatures that live in it. Is it really alot more work?
well hope y'all enjoy the pics
thanks
james

 

[kevin95695]

Bare bottom with a remote deep sand bed. Lots of reasons, like the flow for the SPS will toss your sand like crazy. And a rdsb can be swapped easier than the one in your display, etc.

EDIT: Sweet setup by the way. And welcome to MARS/RC.

 

[KMP]

agree w/kevin. if you're going all sps, do a bare bottom and put the sand bed down below. what room does the back open in to?

 

[scubajim]

Thanks for the fast response thats exactly what i'll do. the side with the pumps is in my game room now my fish room so i can be as messy as i want. The other side is in my office.

 

[KMP]

that's looking really nice. like the rock too! it will be neat to watch the progress.

 

[matttaylor]

Since you're going to do a remote dsb please make sure it is large enough to work for the tank. While i won't start a dsb argument, there is no point in doing a dsb remotely if it is not large enough to handle your tank.

 

[Bamm Bamm]

Right on I really like the setup It's coming along nicely

 

[scubajim]

matttaylor- Thanks for the input do you have any suggestions on how big/deep it should be?

 

[Bamm Bamm]

From my expierences and from being a previous huge proponent of DSB's... 4-6" Once I started with SPS I ditched my DSB and all sand together and have gone BB and it's much easier to clean=) It sucks when your corals blow all around the starboard though=)

 

[scubajim]

Thanks bor the reply and compliments bamm bamm.
I had another question since i was going to do a refugium of 14''x17'' can i just do a remote dsb in there would that work? Or should i look into adding on another tank? thanks

 

[Bamm Bamm]

remote dsb in there would be perfect then if you ever have any issues like someone stated above you can easily pull the bed from the refugium and not disrupt your main tank=)

 

[pbetito]

Hey James, I figured you would show up soon Very nice set up. Give me a call and we can go diving sometime.

Paul

 

[scubajim]

Sounds good paul. Hey you ever go out to the channel islands down south. I'm trying to talk my wife into going.I've had friends say its really nice and lotsa lobsters!!

 

[pbetito]

I fish there A LOT.. There are so many lobsters I have hooked them with rod and reel. Lets do it!!

 

[kdblove_99]

I just dont like the lok of a DSB in display. I like just a little sand or i would do BB.

How long is the tank? Seems like if it is over 4ft you will have some dead spots on the ends. Lumenars i believe are good for a 2x2 area

 

[scubajim]

the tank is 48''x24'' and 20 inches deep. So to have an effective remote dsb do i need it to be as big as my display dsb would have been? i did a search and didn't find too much info on rdsb's.

 

[kevin95695]

Different opinions on that. The Calfo rdsb thread here on RC suggests that even a single 5gal bucket rdsb on a large system is better than nothing, and they claim real results (if you believe is DSB's to begin with... I'm giving it a go 'round on my getup right now)

 

[Bamm Bamm]

Ok here's a bit of info from my expierences now...

There was a time when I had a 90g fairlyu basic hob lifereef dual overflow euroreef skimmer, sump etc...200lbs of live rock and lots of lps and softies running under 2x96w pcs and 2x250w mh's... at one point I started getting very very lazy with water changes but I could bring myself to take the tank down I actually had it setup and running all together for about 4yrs before i moved it to chico.. Before moving it to chico I didn't do a water change for 2years...... I had disconnected my sump, so no skimmer, i had like 5 or 6 powerheads inthe tank..I turned off the MHs and only ran the pcs... I topped off every like 3weeks or so...( I dont every recomend this...) so do they work.. YES...i was able to go skimmerless and with no water changes for 2 years..Due the extremally diverse DSB I had. I had sand from dozens of peoples of tanks in there for more diversity as well.. During this time I didn't lose any fish or corals..(well my lps hammer died but it was doing bad when I got it=).. The yellow tang I got back in 2000 was in there the whole time and is still alive in a 220 I think now. all my other fish are in new homes now also..
SO DSB's are good and bad.. if you disturb them you can ruin everything.......and lose everything and all that money/time invested..

Im not planning on running any refugium or any kind of DSB in my next tank though.. I tend to completely overkill everything and Im planning on some serious flow and Im going to have to go Barebottom=)

It all depends on whatcha lookin to do=)sps and nothing else(Id say barebottom) lps, softies and sps, dsb or a shallow bed could be cool because you won't be having extreme flow through there then...