d2mini's "Essential Focus" Mixed Reef Build
- Thread starter d2mini
- Start date
bmullikin1
New member
time to call some reefer friends over, looks like someone is getting an Elos tank ?
frankabagnale
New member
Today is the big day! I'm pumped for you!
d2mini
Premium Member
UPDATE 4-4-16
Exciting day! The tank is here!
So here is a little backstory, because you know I can't just post photos and leave it at that.
Back in January sometime, things started to calm down and I started thinking about a new tank. I really wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go. All I knew was that I was severely limited on space compared to the previous build. It was also pretty recently that I had to go through the whole tear down affair, including trying to sell the house with the tank in place. It wasn't literally built into the wall, but it might as well have been, with all that cabinetry built around it. Luckily we found a buyer fairly quickly and they decided to leave the cabinetry, I just had to remove the tank, patch the holes in the wall, create a wood top for the cabinet where the tank was sitting, and paint everything. Not too bad, but a pain in the butt nonetheless, and additional stress. With that fresh in my mind, I wasn't too keen on doing that again. So this time I was leaning towards keeping things a bit more on the traditional/simple side as far as choosing a tank and stand. Even the stand I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go custom with it... not if I didn't have to. So i began to look at my options. One thing is for sure... compared to even just 5 years ago, there has been a MASSIVE improvement the different kinds of all-in-one kits that are available, especially in larger tanks. IM has a 120 long, Red Sea has several large tanks, etc. I was looking at these but I was having a difficult time finding something I truly liked because I was dealing with having to find a tank with a max length of around 48". As much as I like the Red Sea Reefer series, I really wished they had something with a deeper dimension front to back for the extra space/volume. I contemplated getting a custom tank again, maybe a cube like I used to have, but wasn't sure that I had THAT much space to come out into the room without interfering with other furniture. I could have gone with another Planet Aquariums custom tank. That wouldn't have taken too long. But again, I would have also had to have a custom stand made. I could have built one but my finishing abilities aren't up to what I would have considered necessary. I also briefly considered a Reef Savvy tank but I really didn't want to have to wait 6 months to get it. Then during my research I came across Elos. I've known about Elos but never considered them before due to the price. But taking a look at their current line of tanks, from what I could gather (informations is sparse), the price didn't really seem much different than a Reef Savvy tank. Then I saw that there was a brand new line of tanks coming out from Elos called The Diamond Line. The more I looked, the more I liked what I saw. And the clincher... they had a couple tanks that had a deeper dimension. Looking at the specs, the Elos 120XL would be perfect for the space I had in mind. Dims were 47.24″ x 31.5 ″ x 19.7″ which is about 125g. Awesome. But woah... price of the tank, plus price of their Classic stand was a bit... nutty. But since I had a fat paypal account from selling off all my old equipment and live stock, plus the fact that I had to go smaller and more contained with no fish room or anything like that, I figured what the heck. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right.
So decision made, I began the search for a 120XL Diamond Line setup. Well, it's a brand new line, so Elos wasn't shipping yet. I checked in with Coralvue who is distributing Elos now. They said sometime in the spring we should start seeing product here in the states. A few weeks later I checked back in and was told that the Elos Aqua Studio in NY (Actually, Jersey), had some coming in, so give them a call. This is where the frustration started. I can't even tell you how many times I called and emailed trying to get information. I would talk to someone, and then they were never get back to me. I would take several more calls/emails to get a response. This went on for several weeks. Even got to the point where I finally got an estimate for the tank/stand combo (I didn't want the complete system with the sump and all that) and they asked if I wanted a formal purchase order quote or whatever they called it. I said yes, and shipping would be to Houston. Never heard back. Called and left a message with one of the employees and the manager still didn't call me back. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. You have someone willing to spend THAT kind of scratch on an AQUARIUM of all things, and you don't have the common decency to at least make a phone call or shoot out a quick email? And apparently I am not the only one having problems with this store. In fact, someone else on the forums has also ordered from this store, way before I ordered, and they are still waiting. So if anyone else out there is considering an Elos purchase, I do not recommend Elos NY at all. Take your hard earned money elsewhere.
So I was googling one day and realized that Aquarium Specialty had Elos tanks on their website. It was the "old" line, but figured it was worth contacting them. I used their web contact form and just asked if they had any info on the new Diamond Line. Within an hour or two I had an email back from Scott Groseclose. Within another 5 minutes my phone was ringing. It was Scott. Long story short, he was in the middle of getting updated pricing info from Elos Italy and would be carrying the new Diamond Line. He was about to start getting that info on the website. He said he would contact Elos that day and get me the info on the 120XL. The next business day I get another call. He got the info, put the 120xl ordering information on his website, and I was able to go online and place the order. Boom. Now that my friends is customer service! So the order was placed that evening. I will never know for sure, but I think the total cost with shipping (which ended up being direct from Italy via Fedex Internation Freight) was a little more. I had to pay extra since it was going to a residence and then I needed a truck with a lift gate. But it was worth it. Because now I actually had a tank ordered. Then about two weeks later it shipped, and it took only 4 days to get to Houston. Since Scott was so awesome, I also placed the order for the other items that have been coming in. The ATI Powermodule, the Vectra L1, and the GHL Doser 2. Talk about a night and day difference in service! And they were rewarded for it. Thanks again, Scott!
So here we are! Fedex arrived this morning.
Hopefully that wasn't too boring of a story. But enough of that, here is a few pics.
Now I'm back at work, with this beauty sitting at home, partially unpacked.
A big old fedex truck backing up to my house...
There's my pallet. The last delivery.
There is a tank AND stand in there.
The stand I have to put together. Maybe I should have just gone to Ikea?
MURICA!
I thought this was neat.
All clear! But I asked Mr Fedex man to hang out for a minute while I opened it up and inspected the glass.
And we are good to go!
Everything intact, no damage.
The bundles of stand parts were sitting on top of the tank.
I'll be assembling that this week (pics to come) and then getting the tank in position.
That's all for now!
Exciting day! The tank is here!
So here is a little backstory, because you know I can't just post photos and leave it at that.
Back in January sometime, things started to calm down and I started thinking about a new tank. I really wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go. All I knew was that I was severely limited on space compared to the previous build. It was also pretty recently that I had to go through the whole tear down affair, including trying to sell the house with the tank in place. It wasn't literally built into the wall, but it might as well have been, with all that cabinetry built around it. Luckily we found a buyer fairly quickly and they decided to leave the cabinetry, I just had to remove the tank, patch the holes in the wall, create a wood top for the cabinet where the tank was sitting, and paint everything. Not too bad, but a pain in the butt nonetheless, and additional stress. With that fresh in my mind, I wasn't too keen on doing that again. So this time I was leaning towards keeping things a bit more on the traditional/simple side as far as choosing a tank and stand. Even the stand I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go custom with it... not if I didn't have to. So i began to look at my options. One thing is for sure... compared to even just 5 years ago, there has been a MASSIVE improvement the different kinds of all-in-one kits that are available, especially in larger tanks. IM has a 120 long, Red Sea has several large tanks, etc. I was looking at these but I was having a difficult time finding something I truly liked because I was dealing with having to find a tank with a max length of around 48". As much as I like the Red Sea Reefer series, I really wished they had something with a deeper dimension front to back for the extra space/volume. I contemplated getting a custom tank again, maybe a cube like I used to have, but wasn't sure that I had THAT much space to come out into the room without interfering with other furniture. I could have gone with another Planet Aquariums custom tank. That wouldn't have taken too long. But again, I would have also had to have a custom stand made. I could have built one but my finishing abilities aren't up to what I would have considered necessary. I also briefly considered a Reef Savvy tank but I really didn't want to have to wait 6 months to get it. Then during my research I came across Elos. I've known about Elos but never considered them before due to the price. But taking a look at their current line of tanks, from what I could gather (informations is sparse), the price didn't really seem much different than a Reef Savvy tank. Then I saw that there was a brand new line of tanks coming out from Elos called The Diamond Line. The more I looked, the more I liked what I saw. And the clincher... they had a couple tanks that had a deeper dimension. Looking at the specs, the Elos 120XL would be perfect for the space I had in mind. Dims were 47.24″ x 31.5 ″ x 19.7″ which is about 125g. Awesome. But woah... price of the tank, plus price of their Classic stand was a bit... nutty. But since I had a fat paypal account from selling off all my old equipment and live stock, plus the fact that I had to go smaller and more contained with no fish room or anything like that, I figured what the heck. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right.
So decision made, I began the search for a 120XL Diamond Line setup. Well, it's a brand new line, so Elos wasn't shipping yet. I checked in with Coralvue who is distributing Elos now. They said sometime in the spring we should start seeing product here in the states. A few weeks later I checked back in and was told that the Elos Aqua Studio in NY (Actually, Jersey), had some coming in, so give them a call. This is where the frustration started. I can't even tell you how many times I called and emailed trying to get information. I would talk to someone, and then they were never get back to me. I would take several more calls/emails to get a response. This went on for several weeks. Even got to the point where I finally got an estimate for the tank/stand combo (I didn't want the complete system with the sump and all that) and they asked if I wanted a formal purchase order quote or whatever they called it. I said yes, and shipping would be to Houston. Never heard back. Called and left a message with one of the employees and the manager still didn't call me back. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. You have someone willing to spend THAT kind of scratch on an AQUARIUM of all things, and you don't have the common decency to at least make a phone call or shoot out a quick email? And apparently I am not the only one having problems with this store. In fact, someone else on the forums has also ordered from this store, way before I ordered, and they are still waiting. So if anyone else out there is considering an Elos purchase, I do not recommend Elos NY at all. Take your hard earned money elsewhere.
So I was googling one day and realized that Aquarium Specialty had Elos tanks on their website. It was the "old" line, but figured it was worth contacting them. I used their web contact form and just asked if they had any info on the new Diamond Line. Within an hour or two I had an email back from Scott Groseclose. Within another 5 minutes my phone was ringing. It was Scott. Long story short, he was in the middle of getting updated pricing info from Elos Italy and would be carrying the new Diamond Line. He was about to start getting that info on the website. He said he would contact Elos that day and get me the info on the 120XL. The next business day I get another call. He got the info, put the 120xl ordering information on his website, and I was able to go online and place the order. Boom. Now that my friends is customer service! So the order was placed that evening. I will never know for sure, but I think the total cost with shipping (which ended up being direct from Italy via Fedex Internation Freight) was a little more. I had to pay extra since it was going to a residence and then I needed a truck with a lift gate. But it was worth it. Because now I actually had a tank ordered. Then about two weeks later it shipped, and it took only 4 days to get to Houston. Since Scott was so awesome, I also placed the order for the other items that have been coming in. The ATI Powermodule, the Vectra L1, and the GHL Doser 2. Talk about a night and day difference in service! And they were rewarded for it. Thanks again, Scott!
So here we are! Fedex arrived this morning.
Hopefully that wasn't too boring of a story. But enough of that, here is a few pics.
Now I'm back at work, with this beauty sitting at home, partially unpacked.
A big old fedex truck backing up to my house...
There's my pallet. The last delivery.
There is a tank AND stand in there.
The stand I have to put together. Maybe I should have just gone to Ikea?
MURICA!
I thought this was neat.
All clear! But I asked Mr Fedex man to hang out for a minute while I opened it up and inspected the glass.
And we are good to go!
Everything intact, no damage.
The bundles of stand parts were sitting on top of the tank.
I'll be assembling that this week (pics to come) and then getting the tank in position.
That's all for now!
moondoggy4
Team RC
Wow nice tank, Scot is great. I have always drolled over Elos tanks and they have slipped lately with C/S so it nice to see that Scot is stepping in, so to speak.
drummerboyevil
New member
So effing jealous.
d2mini
Premium Member
That's actually a great point that I didn't touch on.
I'm normally a big fan of large overflows spanning the length of the tank, for surface skimming. And if it was any other tank, I never would have gone with a tiny little corner overflow.
But in this case, these new Diamond Line overflows are supposed to kick some serious booty. I believe this one is capable of flowing around 2600 gph if I remember correctly, hence the Vectra L1 purchase. And my old cube had those vented intakes at various levels of the overflow for taking in water from different levels of the water column which I always thought was a good idea. The flow is also adjustable and has an emergency system built in.
I'll try to get more pics and give a better explanation once I understand it all a bit more myself.
That's actually a great point that I didn't touch on.
I'm normally a big fan of large overflows spanning the length of the tank, for surface skimming. And if it was any other tank, I never would have gone with a tiny little corner overflow.
But in this case, these new Diamond Line overflows are supposed to kick some serious booty. I believe this one is capable of flowing around 2600 gph if I remember correctly, hence the Vectra L1 purchase. And my old cube had those vented intakes at various levels of the overflow for taking in water from different levels of the water column which I always thought was a good idea. The flow is also adjustable and has an emergency system built in.
I'll try to get more pics and give a better explanation once I understand it all a bit more myself.
That would be great. I have a link here for Elos QuietDrain, I believe that's what you have. pass upwards of 5,000 gallons per hour through a single drain pipe seems a lot.
************.com/2015/09/15/elos-quietdrain-overflow/
d2mini
Premium Member
Yes, that's it.
The specs I saw for my particular tank were around 2600 or 2900 gph.
Maybe the larger tanks have a larger drain pipe.
tommyboynj
New member
Youll love that tank. Buddy of mine has a 200 gallon elos and its a beauty. Youll also love those dimensions. My tank is 48*30*26 and set up as a peninsula. Initially I was going to get a 5ft tank and place it against the wall. When I had the opportunity to get this particular tank I jumped on it. It makes for a great aquascaping options being 30 deep.
Mrs. Music
New member
Woot!woot!
dkeller_nc
New member
Curious, Dennis - Roughly how much does that tank weigh - so how many friends did you have to bribe with beer to get it inside?
I found the write-up on that other site about the Elos Quiet Drain interesting - it would seem to be a "variable BeAn Animal" in that it will work as either a normal overflow or a full siphon overflow depending on how much water's pushed through it.
I do find the claim about not using in-tank circulation and relying on a high flow from the return pump amusing. I suppose that'd be OK for a softie tank; perhaps the Elos folks have never seen the tsunami that most SPS keepers run through their tanks. In just my little 50g cube, the 4 vortechs a capable of 6000 gph, and typically run at 70% of the max, so 4200 gph.
I found the write-up on that other site about the Elos Quiet Drain interesting - it would seem to be a "variable BeAn Animal" in that it will work as either a normal overflow or a full siphon overflow depending on how much water's pushed through it.
I do find the claim about not using in-tank circulation and relying on a high flow from the return pump amusing. I suppose that'd be OK for a softie tank; perhaps the Elos folks have never seen the tsunami that most SPS keepers run through their tanks. In just my little 50g cube, the 4 vortechs a capable of 6000 gph, and typically run at 70% of the max, so 4200 gph.
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