Fayes O.R.A. SPS build thread.

[Faye]

Well sir, after seeing many beautiful build threads with plenty of pics here on RC, I have decided to make my own build. Awsome.

First, a little back round info. I have been in this hobby for about five years now. In that five years, I have slept, ate and **** reefing. I took a break for about a year, and than a few months ago I decided to set up an anemone and clown fish only 40B. That turned into a snowflake eel speciman only tank. I have always been drawn to clams and anemones, but I did have a really nice SPS tank in the past. After seeing some of the nice threads with the colorful sticks, I figured I'll flex my reefing muscle and make something awsome.

I have two goals with this tank. The first is to make a work of art. The second is to have everything aquacultured from A-Z. I would like to show that it is possible to have beautiful reef and not negativly impact the ocean. Granted, I have an eel, but we'll look past that in this build, LOL.

The Tank
My tank is a custom made acrylic tank that Advance acrylic in Anaheim, CA. has made for me. I should be receiving the tank in about a week or two. The dimensions are 42''Lx24''Wx19''T (83 gallons). It is eurobraced and polished. I went eurobraced instead of rimless due to the fact that I only wanted 1/2 or less walls. Rimless would have required full inch thick walls. I also had him make me a two chamber sump. 30''Lx18''Wx16''T. The skimmer section and return section are 8'' deep. I also had John rig something up so I can plumb my drain hose right into the sump, and spill into a 7'' filter sock. I am really looking foward to putting pics up once I receive it.

Lighting
I will be using a 36 inch, eight bulb, ATI powermodule.

This is by far the most superior T-5 fixture I have ever owned. The bulb combo is:
ATI Aqua Blue Special
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Blue Plus
GE 6500k Daylight
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aqua Blue Special

The Rock

I have fifty pounds of marco rocks, and twenty pounds of marco rocks prime cuts. Marco rocks gives it some sort of bath to release organics, but I went ahead and gave it a muriotic acid bath just to be on the safe side.

Rock soaking in acid>Rock soaking in water> Quick rinse

Rock drying

Rock dry

That is where I am at on my build as of now. I will post new pics and more information as my build progresses.

Thanks for looking and will update ASAP.

 

[glennr1978]

Your sig contradicts this thread, just sayin'.

 

[Faye]

^Yeah I know. I'm surprised someone picked up on that so fast.

 

[mightymizz]

Tagging along! Thanks for sharing so far!

 

[Chris Lakies]

Following!!!

 

[Noypi]

subscibed looking for more updates

 

[rtbm]

Do you mean to only put ora corals in this tank?

 

[Atomikk]

Your wife lets you put rocks on your washing machine??!?! Lucky you.

 

[Faye]

Do you mean to only put ora corals in this tank?

Probably as O.R.A does not have a very large fish selection. Same thing with inverts. As far as coral, it's all going to be O.R.A

 

[Faye]

Your wife lets you put rocks on your washing machine??!?! Lucky you.

My wife was just releived I didn't get burned when I was dealing with muriotic acid on the deck and I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. No gloves, glasses, shoes, socks, nothing.:lolspin:

 

[myzislow]

Probably as O.R.A does not have a very large fish selection. Same thing with inverts. As far as coral, it's all going to be O.R.A

Why? I mean ORA has some nice stuff but IMO that is going to leave a lot to be desired, as there are TONS of nice aqua cultured stuff out there. To be quite honest, ORA has fallen back behind the curve with a lot of their recent releases, or should I say re-releases of already proven corals.

 

[glennr1978]

Why? I mean ORA has some nice stuff but IMO that is going to leave a lot to be desired, as there are TONS of nice aqua cultured stuff out there. To be quite honest, ORA has fallen back behind the curve with a lot of their recent releases, or should I say re-releases of already proven corals.

Whatever dude, eveyone knows that ORA makes the best corals...

 

[unbelievable]

LOL. ORA has some nice stuff but they sure don't "make" any corals. The Ponape birdsnest has been around for years and now there is an ORA Ponape. It's the same damn coral I've had in my tank for years now. So I guess putting ORA in front of corals that have been around for a long time is their new thing........lame!

 

[myzislow]

Whatever dude, eveyone knows that ORA makes the best corals...

I think you are joking, right? If not, sorry, but you have been very much misinformed.

 

[Pallobi]

i have a buddy who only has ORA corals in his tank... it is now a year and a half old, maybe a little more, and it looks great... he doesnt overcrowd, and has like 15 different ones... i like your choice of staying with your theme, good for you for knowing what you like and want... i have been thinking about incorporating another 75g into my system and jus displaying DRS Foster & Smith, maricultured corals, but thats jus me... i love your concept

 

[glennr1978]

I think you are joking, right?

yes.

 

[Faye]

i have a buddy who only has ORA corals in his tank... it is now a year and a half old, maybe a little more, and it looks great... he doesnt overcrowd, and has like 15 different ones... i like your choice of staying with your theme, good for you for knowing what you like and want... i have been thinking about incorporating another 75g into my system and jus displaying DRS Foster & Smith, maricultured corals, but thats jus me... i love your concept

Well, with this build don't expect to see over crowding. That is one thing I've noticed with some is there is no room for grow out space.

Everyone else, I was on O.R.A. web site and I looked at their stony coral section, I was quite happy with what I saw. The only pieces I would add to a tank that was not O.R.A. (at least I don't think O.R.A. cultures it) are the pink lemonade acropora, and the purple monster.

Edit, the O.R.A. purple plasma is awsome. I will definetly have that coral at some point.

 

[glennr1978]

ORA does make some nice ones, I'll give you that. I think what some of the others are trying to tell you is that they aren't the only ones that make nice corals so you shouldn't limit yourself to just one builder.

 

[Faye]

Yeah if I see something I like that isn't ora that doesn't mean I wont buy it. I just like a lot of what ora offers.

 

[ANGRY JOHN]

I like ora and that means that you will not have any ocean collected corals. I love this idea and is what i am doing with my tank. It makes our hobby more sustainable.