65 DSA SPS Dominant Mixed Reef

[aggie13reef]

I have finally upgraded tanks and I could not be happier! I recently purchased a 65 gallon DSA reef ready. I have planned on doing a Herbie style overflow with the 1 1/4 inch as the emergency and one 3/4" as a drain and the other as a return. I plan on doing an SPS dominant mixed reef with a couple of nice LPS pieces. Here is what I have so far as far as equipment:

Bubble-Magus curve 5 skimmer
Jecod DCT-6000 return pump
Tunze ATO
~30 gal 3 chambered sump

I have began the plumbing this weekend and will include a couple pictures for opinions as this is my first plumbing job on a tank. As far as lighting goes I cannot decide if I want to do a 4x36" ATI sunpower or the 6x36". Super excited about this build and can't wait to get it wet! Here are a couple pictures of the tank and the plumbing I have so far:

About to start the plumbing!

I still need to add one 1" 45 bend on the emergency drainpipe and a union on the straight part of the emergency drain.

 

[markalot]

:beer:

 

[Scorpius]

I have the same exact tank, but I plumbed mine with soft silicone tubing and just used the one main drain. Once I got it dialed in it's not that loud.

 

[aggie13reef]

:beer:

It is actually a lot easier than I thought. The real test will be when I try and run it :spin3:. I just keep looking at the tank seeing it full of Acros! The dimensions on this tank are really great. Just need to decide on the light.

I have the same exact tank, but I plumbed mine with soft silicone tubing and just used the one main drain. Once I got it dialed in it's not that loud.

I wanted to do flex tubing as well but then decided against it. I found some black flex PVC but it was only sold in 2 foot pieces. I just figured I would hard plumb and see what happens. Hoping for no leaks!

 

[aggie13reef]

Well this afternoon after work I glued everything in place :uhoh2:... hoping like heck it is good to go. I ended up using 3/4" flex PVC for the return line going from the pump to the ball valve. Originally I wanted to use hard PVC but after messing with it for about 20 minutes I felt that it would not fit right once glued so I scrapped it and settled on the flex. Hoping that it was a good call. Can't wait until tomorrow after work to test it out! I figure I will just fill it up with hose water and then following the test let everything dry really well and really clean the tank and sump top to bottom. Heres a few pictures of the finished product.

Also heres a pic of the newest addition to the family...

 

[EvenFurther]

Nice work!

 

[robertifly]

Bravo! And actually the spa flex works best for the final pump connection as it prevents vibrations from transferring. Looking good ��

 

[aggie13reef]

Bravo! And actually the spa flex works best for the final pump connection as it prevents vibrations from transferring. Looking good í*½í¸€

Thank you! Didn't know that about the vibration prevention. Glad I used the flex even more now!

Nice work!

Thanks! I am pretty dang pleased especially since this is my first plumb job. The real test is tomorrow though haha

 

[aggie13reef]

After work today I filled the tank up with water and test ran!

I am very pleased to say that the tank runs :dance:. Other than a crack right before the return exit and a very small drip from the emergency drain bulkhead everything looked great! I feel like once I teflon tape the emergency drain connection there will be no more leak. I also had to adjust the height of the drainpipe as the water was falling too far and making quite a bit of noise. Once I raised it and adjusted the flow rate with the ball valve I was amazed at how quiet it was. The return pump makes almost zero noise as well. As of the test there is just a very small trickle of water going down the emergency drain. Also the return pump has 10 adjustable power stages so I can turn it up or down on the fly which is awesome. One step closer to the final product.

Clover approves also :thumbsup:

All I have to do now is order the light....

 

[Scorpius]

Two Kessil A360we's would work great just like on my tank.

 

[aggie13reef]

Two Kessil A360we's would work great just like on my tank.

I currently have LEDs on my 37 and 8 gallon and love them,. However I plan to do T5 on this build for something different and I feel I will get better color on my SPS. How is the coverage with your two Kessils?

 

[Scorpius]

I currently have LEDs on my 37 and 8 gallon and love them,. However I plan to do T5 on this build for something different and I feel I will get better color on my SPS. How is the coverage with your two Kessils?

It covers the whole tank. Still some shadowing due to my rock structure, but it should work great. I have the 360we's also.

 

[ReefKeep66]

It covers the whole tank. Still some shadowing due to my rock structure, but it should work great. I have the 360we's also.

I'm running two a360we over my rimless 75g and was getting a good amount of shadowing on my sps. I got a 120w led fixture to reduce most of the shadowing. I had a hard time trying to reduce major shadowing with just the kessils. Other than that great lights

 

[aggie13reef]

Has anyone had much experience with the AI hydra 26's. I know they are fairly new dont know if two of them would give me enough light for SPS. Originally I was planning on doing the 6x36" ATI sunpower and wasn't going to change my mind for anything. Now I am playing around with ideas about incorporating LED into the mix or just going 100% LED. I will not go with radions though as I could never spend that much. My wife has the AI prime over her 8 gallon and so far I am more than pleased with AI. seems like they make a good quality product. I also have a build my LED light currently on my 37. its 30" so I would have to hang mount it over the 65 but I figured it could be a supplement.

So my big question is all you SPS people out there, would a 36" 4 bulb ATI supplemented with my 30" build my LED reef spectrum light provide enough light in my 65 for SPS to be placed at all levels of the tank? And who has opinions on the hydras if I was to go that route?

 

[markalot]

T5 plus LED or LED plus T5 is the way to go IMO. No experience with the AI fixtures but if you go all LED you'll probably want at least 4 or them for coverage.

 

[aggie13reef]

Had a really busy day today with no work. Got the new tank set up in the living room and got EVERYTHING transferred over. It was a stressful afternoon. Had to go to the LFS and have my water jugs filled with saltwater. I used as much of the water in my 37 as I could. So far everything looks fine in the new tank. There is so much more room its awesome! I was going to try and epoxy the aquascape but I ran out of energy... The lighting situation is pretty comical right now as well. My build my LED light is set up on plastic plates for support :lolspin:.

I bought 19 lbs of Live rock from the LFS today to add to the rock I already have. Also bought 60 lbs of live sand. So far the plumbing works great. I haven't turned the skimmer on yet, probably going to wait until tomorrow after I get home from work. Also going to try and get the scape done tomorrow.

I have also decided to go with the Hydra 26's. Going to start with 2 and see what happens. My LFS has a display with the 26's over it and I really like how it looks. I can always add more light down the road if I need to.

Heres some updated pictures:

I will try to take a better FTS tomorrow after I get the scape done.

 

[aggie13reef]

T5 plus LED or LED plus T5 is the way to go IMO. No experience with the AI fixtures but if you go all LED you'll probably want at least 4 or them for coverage.

Yeah I feel like the combo would be the best also. Just going to start with the AIs and see what happens. I still think I will add T5 down the road which wont be difficult to do.

 

[markalot]

The BML strips can help add spread as well. If I have to go back to all LED is will be Maxspect Razors as the main lighting with 2 multi-channel BML 20K fixtures in front and back to help with spread.

 

[aggie13reef]

Yesterday I picked up two AI Hydra 26s and got them mounted above the tank. So far I love them. I have them running pretty low power so far (I think whites at 20, blues 50, and everything else at 15) and hanging about 11 inches above the water. I also have my Build my LED 30 inch hanging about 3 inches above the water in the very front of the tank. It is angled back a little and I think it helps with the coverage. My goals for today are to get the ATO set up and running and to finish the aquascape. Yesterday while the wife and I were at the fish store she picked out a few pieces of coral and a new fish.

Blue acro of some sort

Branching monti

And last but not least the lemon peel angel

I am a little worried about the angel nipping coral in the tank, but we are going to give it a chance and see what happens. Every fish is different! Plus the yellow color is striking in the tank.

 

[aggie13reef]

Heres a couple coral shots I took during the water change today.

I got the aquascape done today and am very pleased with it. Still need to add more live rock though. Still amazed at how much more room I have than with my 37 :dance:.