Jeremy's 225g Envisions Peninsula

[jtarmitage]

This hobby has been extremely rewarding and equally heartbreaking over the past few years. I have had a variety of reef tanks starting back in college in 1994. From a 55g w/built in trickle filter to a custom 120g, a 60g cube to a 250g behemoth, a 15g nano to a 70g Tech, as well as several different tanks in the office and the garage. Some of you may have participated in my previous tank build threads for my 250g tank, Jeremy's 250g build - Take II. If so, then you know how that ended, though you will no longer see the pictures of it's ultimate demise. I have delete the unsavory shots from my photobucket account so as to remember the good, and let the rest fade...
Up until late last year, I had an Oceanic Tech 70g running, with absolutely no intention(nor budget) to upgrade anytime soon. Well, so much for my intentions A beautiful tank popped up that just appealed to me on so many levels. The PERFECT size for the space we had available, the same great craftsmanship as my previous Envisions tank, external overflow....The only thing was that I had previously decided that my next tank would be glass. Cleaning the glass is so much easier when you can use a metal blade...But, the price was just too good to pass up. So then came convincing the wife, which proved rather difficult as our finances have not recovered to what we were accustomed. Luckily I had accumulated some higher end equipment over the years, so it was time to downgrade in quality so that I could upgrade in size. I could go on and on, and on...but lets get to the details:

Tank: 225g Envisions acrylic 60"x36"x24", 3/4" thick, external overflow

Return pump: Water Blaster HY 7000, will also feed the fuge and carbon/gfo reactors

Skimmer: Bubble Magus 220A Cone Skimmer w/Avast Marine Swabbie and skimmate locker

Flow: 2x Sicce Voyager HP 4000, both placed on the black panel, alternating flow

Cooling: Profilux Breeze 4x Fans....until my tank tells me I need a chiller

Lighting: 2x 250w Radiums in Lumenarc Mini's on SLS Galaxy ballasts
2x 5' VHO Super actinics
24" SunBrite LED accent that I've got on hand

Controller: Neptune Apex Lite, 2x EB8's, Lunar Simulator 5

Supp: 2 part dosing via Bulk Reef Supply dosers

ATO: Avast Marine hooked up to the Apex

 

[jtarmitage]

And time for a few pictures. Here is the tank as I got it home:

And out of the car:

As you can see, it needed a little TLC. The accumulated gunk in the overflow box was downright gnarly, and there were quite a few scratches that needed to get taken care of.

 

[jtarmitage]

And after cleaning and buffing(the majority of the scratches anyhow):

Next, the tank needed a stand, so off to Home Depot for a little lumber:

The bottom frame that will have a sheet of plywood sunk into the frame:

The upper frame waiting for it's ply top:

And the legs, triples for the corners and duals for the sides:

 

[jtarmitage]

The stand is complete, minus the skinning to be done shortly. Had to put it together in the house, as it's too big to fit through a door. Had to make sure that it'll be easy to disassemble in the future, in which case I will have to unscrew the skinning, then the posts. The top and bottom of the stand will remain solid pieces. Painted everything and sealed up the bottom to act as a basin to catch any spills/overflows. I'm also going to use some spray flex seal for the bottom tray
The pad on top is smaller than the overall stand size, but is the same size as the tank. Behind the pad, I will be drilling the overflow/return/cord line holes in the top of the stand, so everything will drop from the back of the tank and disappear into the stand immediately, keeping everything nice and tidy.

 

[jtarmitage]

Uuuuuggggghhhhhhhh............And why did I want to do this again???

As this tank is going to separate my office area from the rest of the house, and there is a very limited area to work in, I had to take the 70g tank down so that I could move the stand it was on, which would allow me to move my desk and filing cabinet, which would allow me to put the 225g where it was going to go...What a P.I.T.A that was...At least I was able to borrow a large stock tank from a good friend, Mark Poletti.
All of the corals and critters now reside in Mark's stock tank, something I've borrowed and used more than Mark himself I think(Thanks again Mark) The water and sand has been removed, but now I find myself sore and tired and not really wanting to lug those tanks out of the house tonight. I think that'll have to wait until tomorrow.
Next step(after I've moved those things out of the way) .... Bringin' in the beast. I had to get some help to move it, as it needed to be spun on it's side and carried about 50 feet and up onto the stand. Then I'll have to spin the desk out of the way(again), and move the corals and critters into the 225g. It'll only be a partially running system at that point, with no sump or primary water flow, but it'll let me get the stock tank out of the way to flip the desk for the last time. I'll have to rig up a temporary canopy/light mounting arrangement for the short term. Wow....Still so much to get accomplished!!!

 

[jtarmitage]

Well, it's up! Still a ton to do, but my body is telling me to sit down for a breather...

And the gratuitous mermaid shot:

That my friend is a 9 year old Jaidenfish. Very rare and valuable!!!! I know, you're all jealous

 

[jtarmitage]

Got a couple of cans of Spray Seal and applied a nice rubber spray coating around the bottom of the stand:

Then added a couple of plywood panels to add a little extra support to the tank, especially without the skinning on it yet. The end panel will eventually have shelves and a door on it

Another shot with the fuge in place. Now I just need to add a sump that is less than 38" long.

 

[jtarmitage]

Got my multi-GFCI outlet box installed under the tank, then moved that panel up a bit higher to clear the new 40 breeder sump.

And the canopy frame is up, and got the the 3 Lumenarc Mini's and 2 5' VHO Super Actinic's wired up and installed as well:

The sump is in, but barely got started on the plumbing, and the fuge needs to be elevated 2" to clear the rim of the sump. Hopefully I'll get a chance to get that finished up tomorrow...And I want to get the rest of the live rock out of the brute in the garage and into the tank

 

[jtarmitage]

As for updates, they're slim right now. I ran out of the plumbing parts I need, and I'm waiting on the return pump, so I rigged up a temporary setup just to get the system operational. The sump and fuge are now online, and I've got my I-tech 100 running just to help until my new skimmer gets here in the next couple of days. Also, the order for a pair of Sicce Voyager HP4000's, Koralia Smartwave, and Lunar module for my Apex lite is in, so those will be on their way soon. Was just waiting for the holiday deals to begin, and Premium Aquatics had an 11% discount
John at Your Reef is now able to get anything that Marine Depot has available, and I like to support local shops, so he helped me get a few other odds and ends as well. Too bad MD doesn't carry the Voyagers, and John hasn't heard back from Sicce yet about getting an account set up, or he would have gotten the rest of my order as well.
Now that the basic, even if somewhat temporary, system mechanics are in place, it's time to get the Apex Lite set up. I'll be working on that this evening, and eventually I'll get to the rockscape...

From pickup to having water in the tank took a grand total of 10 days. I ended up having to move everything out of the stock tank sooner than I wanted to as everything seemed to be struggling in the stock tank. It was a bit of a rush job:headwallblue:

 

[jtarmitage]

Well, still haven't got the Apex up. Ended up working on a couple of other projects. First up, added an LED rope light to the inside of the stand to shed a little light on the workspace:

And even had it pass through to what will be my shelf/storage area and where the Apex base unit will be, along with a wireless switch to turn the light on/off in the upper corner:

Also added a nice little 5k LED light for the fuge:

 

[jtarmitage]

Got the Apex online, though the wireless web access will have to wait until I pick up a game adapter for it:

And the delivery man FINALLY showed up....

I do love packages...:beer:

And not to leave you hangin' like some people I know....cough Mark cough...

It's a Bubble Magus 220 Cone skimmer that I got for a stupid good deal on eBay. You can see the size difference with my I-tech 100 in the background(foaming over at the moment LOL)
Too bad the package had to show up so late in the day, as now I don't have time to get it fired up before heading out of town for the holiday. Ah well, I guess I get to look forward to playing with my new toy when I get back late tomorrow night

 

[jtarmitage]

Well, got the skimmer in the sump. Now just need to break it in and get a foam head building:

And the rock is in the tank, though haven't even begun the rockscape yet. Waiting for the wife to get home and give me her .02 while I'm doing it so I don't have to hear about how I should have done it after I'm done

 

[jtarmitage]

Well, still haven't done the rockscape.....maybe today

The skimmer is rockin' a nice foam head:

And a night time shot of the fuge with the various macros:

 

[jtarmitage]

I've also got a few new friends in the cooker

Well, finally got the rockwork done. The pictures aren't very good, especially as the water was cloudy from moving everything around.

Left grouping:

Center (Anemone rock):

Right side:

 

[jtarmitage]

As for updates, well, I do have to work sometime....LOL

But I did pick up a few softies to add to the tank, courtesy of a couple of generous local reefers. As I've blown the tank budget (and then some) I've got a lot of real estate to fill on less than a shoestring budget
I miss the days of a true mixed reef, and want some of the movement back in the tank that you can really only get with a few good softies. i picked up 2 different cuttings of green sinularia, a small colt coral, a devils hand leather, and a pair of corals that will make most SPS'ers cringe. Green star polyps and pulsing Xenia. Oh yes, I did Add those to the anemone's and I could be setting myself up for troubles. The plan is to isolate them all on the center island where I can have some control over just where these critters end up. If all else fails, and they decide to wander, I plan to force them back, or remove them. The other 2 islands are strictly off limits.

Next up: My MP20 will soon become an MP40w ES:

A few non-cloudy shots of the tank and rockwork:

And an attempt at a video, if I can get it to load:

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[jtarmitage]

Been a bit tough to find time to work on the tank, but I have a few updates.
1) Got the Water Blaster HY7000 in and got it plumbed into the system to replace the Quiet One 3000 I had holding it's place Huge difference. More flow to the fuge and display.
Went ahead and split the returns to 2 return lines and drilled the top of the tank:

Was going to use flexPVC, but with the limited space, it was just easier to run with tubing. I may switch it out in the future, but it'll do just fine for now.

I also decided that I'm getting plenty of light with just 2 MH's, so I took the center one down. I never liked the idea of mounting it right over the center brace anyhow, and I'm looking into a DIY LED stip to add a little more actinic POP to the tank. More on that down the road when I have updates.

Unfortunately I also hit my first bump in the road. I woke up the other day to slightly cloudy water from a bacterial bloom, and noticed the fish all starting to show signs of ich The water also felt a bit cold, so checked the temp and it was down to 70 degrees. Checked the Apex, heater is on, checked the heater.....nada. I guess it didn't want to work for a living and kicked the bucket. Swapped it out with another and we're rolling again, though I do need a bit higher wattage to keep up with heating needs. I think it would be sufficient if I had the stand and canopy enclosed, but everything is still wide open and heat loss is a bit high right now. I'm crossing my fingers that the fish all pull through, but I've been down the "pull them and put them in QT" road before, and I don't believe that'll help with ich, as it tends to stress them out even more. Lots of food laced with garlic, and a few prayers to the almighty are on the menu at the moment.

 

[jtarmitage]

Got another package today :bounce1:

Nice little pair of Sicce Voyager HP4000's and a Hydor Smartwave controller for them. Here's a video with them running:

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0mW9EeNtaUY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Some crazy flow in there right now. Not sure if I even need the MP40. And here's a nog shot from the skimmer. Don't mind the lid, the real one has been shipped to Avast Marine to have a Swabbie retrofitted

It's amazing that I only paid $269 for this skimmer!!!

 

[jtarmitage]

Glue....I need glue.....

Finally getting around to placing some of the corals, but didn't realize that I'd already tapped my supply of IC gel Guess It'll have to wait another day.

I also took the MP40 off of the tank. I really don't think I need it, and that's a lot of $ tied up in an unnecessary pump. I'll give it a few days before making any decisions, but if I really would have preferred to have it placed in the top middle of the black end panel to add variable flow directly over the rockscape. Only problem is that is where the external overflow box is. If I was going to use it, it'd have to be on one of the sides, and there is way more than enough flow there already. Heck, if I need more flow, I may just get another Voyager...

 

[jtarmitage]

In answer to why I chose to go with the Sicce Voyagers over Koralias:

thus far my experiences with the Koralias have not been great. 1) I've had 2 of them just up and die on me with no known issues and 2) I intended from the get go to cycle them on and off with the Smartwave or by using my Apex. A Tunze or Vortech setup was just too expensive, so that left me (for the most part) with Koralia or Sicce. The Sicce's have a locking mechanism on the impellar assembly that prevents the "clicking" upon start-up that plagues the Koralias. 3) The Sicce's have a small clip on part to diffuse the flow from a more directional flow to a wider more diffused flow pattern, more similar to the Vortechs. So, the Voyagers are more of a true intermediate pump between the Tunze's and Vortechs.

As far as the Voyager's themselves, they are noisier than Tunzes, as they do have a little more vibration noise(which may subside a bit over time), but they are also far quieter than Vortechs. Flow-wise, well, there a good combination of Tunze and VT, allowing you to choose the pattern. The mounting clip is nice, as it allows full rotation of the pump, though if I mount it on the back wall, it will stick out a little far in order to allow for the full rotation. The magnets are nice and strong, more than strong enough to deal with the 3/4" acrylic. I am very pleased with the purchase...


Added a filter sock holder to the sump and cleaned up most of the cord clutterthough I will eventually have to revisit the cord situation, as it's still to much of a mess for me...)

Used a little of this rubber backed carpet to dampen any noise generated by the BRS 50mL doser I'm using as an ATO pump:

Cut to fit the mount:

And it's up. As you can see, I also got the 20g tank I'm using as an ATO resevoir. I sure am glad I kept so many odds and ends from my years in this hobby:

I also wanted to use my magnet mount to secure the bottom of the tubing in the top off tank, but the smallest clip I had was too big to hold the tubing. Time to bring on a little fire to soften it up and make it smaller

I also ran into road bump #2 today 1 of my Sicce Voyagers was noisier than the other one. As I was troubleshooting, it appeared that one of the impellars may have been the cause. So, I swapped the impellar assemblies between the 2 pumps. Sure enough, the vibration I was hearing transferred to the other pump. I pulled it out again to have a closer look at the 2 impellars and apparently let them get a little too close together in the process. The magnets snapped together, causing another snap :angryfire:

Sooooo, I put the Vortech back online until I get another impellar. Very not happy with myself for that little lapse in judgement.

I did manage to get about 1/2 of the corals placed, but my heart wasn't in it. I'll have another go another time.

 

[jtarmitage]

Got the wireless game adapter hooked up for my Apex Lite and managed to get it networked wirelessly on the first go round. It's soooo cool being able to access it via my laptop or iPhone.

I'm running 2-part on this system and decided to automate it for the first time. I picked up a couple of slim containers and built a box to hold them:

As most of us have experienced, tubing had a predilection to curl on us when we want it to be straight, causing problems getting to the bottom of containers. So, I notched a couple of pipes to insert the tubing into, keeping it nice and straight. A little bit of hard tubing airline would've worked just as well, but I didn't have any of that on hand

And the pair of BRS dosers:

The finished product: