Back Again. 90 Gallon Build

[Lofty]

This is a re hash of a thread I started in 2010 of my tank build. I am re posting it, so I can continue the thread up to date. I decided to leave out some of the original content regarding restraining as I decided more recently to paint the stand and canopy black to match my decor. If you wish to view this thread in its entirety it is here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1942900&page=2 I look forward to your thoughts and commentary :spin1:

This will now be my 3rd time back into the hobby and not having a lot of money to start with (again), but having a thirst for a larger system and doing things right, I am taking my time. I started buggin again when I decided I was going to put a small tank in my office, that turned into a large tank real quick, then it turned into a large tank that I am going to keep at home because I fell into this deal on this tank and I couldn't pass it up.

I was digging through Craig's list for people looking to trade and I ran across a no pic ad that said reef ready 90 gallon looking to trade for? I emailed the post and almost immediately I got a response. After a few back and forths I got a pic and a price... my jaw dropped when I saw a 90 gallon with center overflow, euro braced, cherry stand and canopy, little giant pump, sunlight supply Maristar with upgraded ice cap 250 w mh ballasts. The dollar price was too much to even consider, so I started running through my head what I have in trade. I thought about my SW 9mm sitting in a safe which hadn't been touched for 2 years and I had a quick release gun safe sitting in my garage making beeping noises cause I hadn't gotten around to reprogramming it.

I was leery at first about trading it but offered it anyway... I was first negotiating for just the tank, stand and canopy as the light I thought was out of reach. I offered both items, but I wanted additional cash without the light... not a lot, but he came back and said he would be interested in a straight trade for all.

I pulled up to a very familiar house and realized I had bought something off the guy before, from the Frag Forum on reef central and was instantly more comfortable with the entire deal, so much so that I had to leave the tank back because I didn't have enough room in my suv for the whole set up. We drew up a document for sale of the gun, so I was protected in case something happened and had it notarized.

I decided that I was going to keep the light after all because it was the light I had always wanted for my tank but never had the $$ to buy one., so now because I am one to like the look of a finished product, I am rebuilding the canopy to contain the light. I was able to get the face pretty much done.

I am building the face at 17 inches, so the canopy will be a total of about 18 inches. I am retaining the lid because there's nothing wrong with it and it has some nice detail. I used poplar for the face as cherry is expensive and I couldn't get into a lumber yard on the weekend. I will have doors on the front and sides which I will order in cherry from this insanely useful website called Rawdoors.com.

The back will be pine and I will paint the interior with Kilz and the exterior will be a natural finish with a semi gloss poly coat. I am hoping that will match to the bottom enough or otherwise I will be refinishing the bottom as well.

As I said before, I want to do it right this time so I will take my time in collecting the right pieces. In the moment I am in the market for some items if anyone has them for cheap of trade for ??. A decent skimmer, a sump, reef keeper type system any thing else that could help this system come to fruition and I am entirely open to suggestion and comment. Thanks for tagging along and I hope you enjoy

Shop set up

 

[Lofty]

Canopy Build

Canopy Build

Here are some pics of the canopy assembly. I'm borrowing a brad gun tomorrow and need to do some finish sanding before staining. Then I will order doors (need to check measurements)

Assembled and ready for doors and stain.

 

[Lofty]

Original Sump Design

Original Sump Design

Ok, so, since I can't order the doors just yet (Waiting on $$) I decided to start some work on the sump... the dimensions are 25X17.5x12...total volume of 22.7 Gallons, although with baffles and chambers and refugium the actual water volume will be greatly different.

Here is my start:

Here is a pic of the routered edge (bottom) of the canopy face:

The sides will be of smaller gauge (cheaper) acrylic and the bottom will be the cheaper acrylic as well... the baffles will be of the heavy gauge acrylic used here (I believe I have enough) If not I will mix in some cheaper acrylic where water volume pressure wont be of concern. Here is a schematic of my plans... pardon the crudeness.

Sump is in... baffles will come later after I get some equipment and know dimensions.

 

[Lofty]

Sump Redesign

Sump Redesign

Ok, so I went with the good old 20 gallon long. The inlet baffle is 9 inches, the steps down to 8 inches for the refugium, then down to 6 inches for the return. There is about 9 inches in the inlet area for the skimmer. I am going to put in an off center baffle to separate the skimmer from a rock pile to have the inlet water fall into (Probably about 6 inches tall). I am looking into the Aqua C Urchin Pro, or a Kent Marine Nautilus TE. Both of which I am negotiating used from craigslist for around $100 with pump. Any thoughts on which one is more recommended?

Here are some pics of the sump: I used black silicone because I had it on hand for resealing the display and didnt use all 3 tubes. Plus I know for sure its reef safe because it was AGA brand.

 

[Lofty]

Long Awaited Updates (Dec 2011-Jan 2012)

Long Awaited Updates (Dec 2011-Jan 2012)

I had forgotten about this thread when I first got this tank... December 2010. I had made an new thread, but decided to go back to this one and update with all the progress and commentary about my experience. So here it goes: After I started my business I got really busy and I live in Phoenix and it got hot and the tank got put in mothballs until I got itchy again. Typical holiday season for my business slows down, so I got back at it in Late November and had water in it by mid December.
I had decided to change the finish to a semi gloss black as I wasn't digging the way the stain was coming out, or matching with my decor.
So without further a due; the finished product:

 

[Lofty]

Heat Issues

Heat Issues

At first I was having some fairly serious heat issues and was noting a swing from 77.9 to almost 85. I considered a chiller, but after a lot of thought and some redneck ingenuity, I decided to massage this 2 way fan into the canopy. I basically hacked all unnecessary plastic off the surround of a 2 way window fan which has variable speeds and the ability to run both fans inward, outward, or in/out. I currently run them at medium speed at in/out function and my temp remains between 78 and 80.5. If the Summer months change this dramatically, I can change to high speed, although high speed is quite loud, it's better than having a chiller IMO. Since I had the canopy off, I decided to insert my own version of moonlighting which consists of 2 LED night lights (look like Theatre step lights). They aren't as bright as typical moonlighting, but I like the effect and I think it's more natural.

In order to keep the in are moving one direction and the out air moving another, I rigged these register deflectors to the back of the fan.

 

[Lofty]

Kalk Doser

Kalk Doser

So at first I was using Sea Lab No 4 Blocks and then tested my calcium well above the top of the API test kit chart. I guestimated it was in the 600ppm range. These were suppose to be self monitoring, but obviously anything that easy is too good to be true. I decided to make a Kalkwasser doser. Here is what I came up with:

 

[Lofty]

More to Come

More to Come

More to come later... off to work :wavehand:

 

[Lofty]

The Kole Tang

The Kole Tang

Let me start by saying, this hobby is sooo tough for the impatient, especially the impatient with a 4 1/2 year old "Fish Buddie" as we lovingly call each other. So we were at the LFS, looking for another addition.... preferably something not too finicky and eats some of the algae that's popping up here and there., well.... along comes "Lucky". Oh My, I don't think I have ever thought I'd find a fish that I would love as much as the Copperband Butterfly, but this is close contention.
Anyways. Lucky did great for the first few weeks, but as impatience would have it (as well as evil sales at evil LFS) Coral Beauties went on sale. $14 and such a prime specimen. Well, not for long.... as you may guess, the Coral Beauty threw my Kole Tang into a fit and the Coral Beauty must have had, or maybe the Tang ICH.
Well its now 2 months later, I have just reintroduced my remaining inhabitants a smidge earlier than I wanted too, but I was having a flat worm issue and the other fish had been treated for that time and were all healthy. My Neon Dotty Back and Golden Coris Wrasse Made show work of the flat worm problem.
I don't have many pics from this timeframe as the fish were in QT, but here are a couple choice pics from prior to the additional of the Coral Beauty:

 

[Lofty]

 

[Lofty]

My Camera Skillz

My Camera Skillz

Last year I got a DSLR and have just recently started playing around with it and learning new settings and how to take different shots and use different equipment and settings. I have recently acquired a macro extension set, some filters and a remote shutter release. Ive been playing around with them and I hope I'm getting better. Your thoughts and comments are appreciated
Here are some of my latest shots:
Random Macro Algae in DT:

Maze Brain:

My Montis:

My Frog Spawn:

Zoa Colony:

Shrooms:

Acros:

Closer Acro:

My attempt to capture my Neon Dottyback in front of the GSPs:

 

[89Foxbody]

That macroalgae looks like bryopsis....extremely invasive and hard to eradicate. Toss it out quickly before it spreads!

 

[Lofty]

That macroalgae looks like bryopsis....extremely invasive and hard to eradicate. Toss it out quickly before it spreads!

Awwe... thats too bad... its really cool

 

[Lofty]

Done... its gone.... it wasnt attached to rocks as most of the threads were indicating, but my sustrate is crucshed coral, so when i pulled it, it pulled a bunch of substrate with it... hpe I got it... hant seen any more in the DT... hope its not in my macro in the sump... otherwise thats coming out too. Thanks for the heads up

 

[Lofty]

RO/DI Top Off

RO/DI Top Off

Quick Update with request for review of my plan and advice.

I just ordered and RO/DI from BRS (BRS Plus 75 GPD). Al also ordered the inline TDS, Pressure gage and 2 float valves. My p;an is to set up a reservior for mixing salt and T the ouput line into the sump with floats in both the reservior and the sump. I dont see why this would not work, but need some other eyeballs on it.

I plan to tap into my water main out side and bring an inlet line through the wall. The discharge line will empty into the sewer clean out conveniently located very close to the water main. The output line will be "T"ed out to the floats located in the 32 gal rubber maid and the sump.

Here is the schematic

Thoughts?

I will get some new pics up soon and definately will document the top off system.

 

[reefermad619]

Looking good. But hate to e the bearer of bad news, that tank doesn't look euro braced to me. Looks like just regular glass bracing. Also, on the rodi unit, will it be constantly on refilling the remote reservoir and then refilling the sump? If so, I would just make sure the floats are always kept clean and adjust the float in the reservoir to only come on once a week or so. Having the rodi constantly cycle on and off can cause it to burn out quicker. The guys at BRS recommended I make all water on one day, Vs making it daily. They also recommended I flush the valve for a couple of minutes before each use to increase longevity of the membrain. Can't do that if the float is the one controlling it.

 

[Lofty]

Pardon for my ingnorance, but what is the difference? Its not a major concern for me. I like the display tank as it is.

For the RODI Remote Res. I plan to have a ball valve at at the bottom to be able to quickly fill for water changes. I do bi weekly, so the heavy useage would onlu be 2 times a month. But based on what you said about BRS... it seems that having the top off Ted from the output is going to cause some issues... So mayby I run the top opp from the remote res as weel and just set the floater to go off only when its down 5-10 gallons. (i currently use 2-3 gallons per day).

Thanks for the extra set of eyes.

 

[reefermad619]

You liking the tank is what counts. But there is big difference in cost of a tank. Regular RR 90gal:$200. Same tank but with a euro brace:$400. Heres a pick of a euro...

Just would hate for you to some day sell it as something it's not. I personally would not pay for a euro. But that my opinion. I would rather save the money for coral.

The new way to run the top off I think is much better!

 

[rogermccray]

I really like the black stand better, good choice. Tank looks very nice!

 

[Lofty]

I really like the black stand better, good choice. Tank looks very nice!

Thank you, I like it much better too! :spin3: