ct_vol's 120 Rebuild Thread

[ct_vol]

So, I was asked to do a build thread when I set up my new tank... I have since decided not to buy a new tank, but to do a complete overhaul on my 120g... I bought a new stand, sump and canopy... Not sure if I'll set up the 140g in the picture or not... I may use it to replace my 75g... The deep dimensions would only work as a FOWLR for me...

I pulled all the Water, Livestock, Rock and Sand from the tank... I decided to go Bare Bottom only to cut down on some of the maintanence of the tank...

Here is the new MRC sump with my H&S A200-1260 next to it... For now I am using a QuietOne 6000 for a return pump... That will change shortly...

 

[ct_vol]

I redid the aquascaping and started adding water...

Finally got it running after a few days of fixing leaks... Note to anyone out there... Don't try and use old Silicone... lol

Skimmer pulling out some nastiness after only a minute or two of running...

 

[ct_vol]

Today I finished my canopy... I painted it black to match the cabinet and the inside white to reflect as much light as possible back into the tank...

I am using two 250w SE Lumenarcs w/ Radium Bulbs... I tore apart one of my T5 fixtures and made a retro out of it... It is 4x54w... 2 x 420nm and 2 x 460nm bulbs... I also have 6 LED's for moonlights...

And here it is as of today... It was a pain in the butt getting that canopy on there by myself... I forgot Ashley was working horses today and not coming home for lunch...

 

[Anchovy]

Looks Good

 

[ct_vol]

Thanks Kim...

I still have a lot to do to the tank... I have decided to use 2 part on this tank... That may change in the future, but I want to try it for now... I also have to get all of my Tunzes back in there... I plan to set up a refugium with a DSB in the sump as well... But haven't decided for sure...

 

[GPhiAce]

Darn you Randy for out doing me.
Very nice. I like the bridge and cave. Going to do more rock on top??I take it, that this will be a mixed reef tank?

 

[RevHtree]

Looks awesome Randy!

 

[ct_vol]

Paul~ Wasn't trying to outdo you... lol Its going to be a mixed reef, but SPS dominant... Some of my LPS and Zoas don't do as well in SPS conditions... But those that thrive and are pretty will go in there... Not sure if I'll do more rock toward the top... Hopefully that will be filled in with Acro growth... lol

Rev~ Thanks... Hopefully it will look as good as yours when its all said and done...

 

[acrodave]

mmmmm love the Lumenarcs

 

[jettster]

nice randy is it at the end of the room where it was at

 

[ironman2]

Sweet rebuild randy! Im debating lumenarcs. Just arnt sure which ones yet. Are you happy with them so far? Tank is looking good!

 

[tangboy]

Lookin' good as always Randy. I remember coming over that one time to get rock from you for the schools tank and was amazed at the great growth in all of your billion tanks Keep up the good work and remember... pics are everything keep em coming!
-geoff

 

[salt newbie01]

Dang Randy nice stuff!!! Really like the new layout. The shelf looks good - will be sweet when it is filled with huge acro's!!!! I think the favia will look better once you cut a few frags off of it!!!

keep up the pics - looking awesome as usual!!

 

[ct_vol]

Well, with the swap this weekend, and today being Ashley's birthday, I haven't had much time to do much more to the tank... But today I added the auto topoff and a Phosban reactor w/ GAC today... Nothing really worth taking pics of... But I'll take some shots here in the next few days...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13171660#post13171660 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ironman2
Sweet rebuild randy! Im debating lumenarcs. Just arnt sure which ones yet. Are you happy with them so far? Tank is looking good!

I really like my Lumenarcs, but I don't think you can go wrong with any of the Lumen "x" reflectors... The Lumen Max's are supposed to be better for not having "hot spots" since they are dimpled... The Lumen Max Elites are supposed to be specifically designed for a 2'x2' area and have superior reflectivity... But they are also supposed to be for 30" plus deep tanks... So I thought I'd stay away from them for now... The Lumen Brights are also supposed to be nice in a more narrow area... I chose the Lumenarcs because they have been around the longest and have endured the test of time... I also like their broad coverage area, I have definately noticed a reduction in shadows since I first added them... But that also means you'd better strategically place your LPS so they aren't blistered...


Geoff and Patrick~ Thanks for the compliments...

 

[ct_vol]

So I decided not to do a refugium in the front compartment of my sump... Instead I decided to use the far right as a frag tank... I replumbed so that I wouldn't have as much bubbles going through the frag area... This morning Ashley woke me up around 4:45 saying there was water on the floor... I have my skimmer plumbed direct feed from the overflow... I had resticted the return too much and water was overflowing from the top of the tank... Wasn't too bad, but I hated to get up that early...

Today I added the Precision Marine Fluidized Reactor... I have modded it a bit... I'm using BRS.com Pellet GFO...

Heres some updated pics of the sump and the Media Reator...

 

[ct_vol]

Well, its been forever since I updated this... lol So much for it being a log for my tank... Paul and I bought some Aquaconnects last week and I have those in now...

I dumped a bunch of frags at the MTRC swap, but still have 3 frag racks in this tank... But I did pick up a few nice additions at the swap...

Tomoko War Coral

Scoly

Pink Sandollar

 

[ct_vol]

Random Coral pics...

 

[ct_vol]

 

[ct_vol]

Some fish pics...

 

[ct_vol]

Some SA clowns and a Chris Ray Anemone...