jz's 60 Gallon Mixed Reef

[luvmyacans]

60 Gallon Mixed Reef - Started July 2010

FTS (10/11/2010):

Hardware:
36" x 20" x 20" Lee Mar Tank (Starphire Glass)
28" x 14" x 18" Advance Acrylics Sump w/ Fuge and Frag Section
2 x LED Lights from Reef Filtration
~50lbs Marco Rocks
~60lbs AragAlive Sand between display and sump
ReefKeeper Elite Controller w/ NET, pH, salinity, ATO, etc.
Vortech MP40 EcoSMART
Phosban Reactor "“ Carbon
Phosban Reactor - GFO

Dosing: Coming Soon

Feeding: Coming Soon

 

[luvmyacans]

Hi all!

This tank was started in July when I decided to upgrade from a 40 gallon setup. I have been reefing for just over 3 years now thanks to a wonderful girlfriend who talked me out of a freshwater setup. I started with a 30 gallon cube (sumpless), upgraded to a 40 gallon and finally to the 60 gallon starphire tank I have now which was built by Lee Mar.

In this tank I plan on focusing mainly on SPS and Acans, I haven't gotten the chalice bug quite yet. I also have quite a few maxi-mini anemones one of the larger rocks to keep the girlfriend happy and a few zoas/palys on the opposite side of the tank. I'm not too big into the fish but the tank currently houses a Clown, Marshall Island Mystery Wrasse, Spotted Cardinal and an Orangespot Diamond Goby.

After New Year's I plan on moving the tank to a different wall in the room that is adjacent to a small closet, which I will use to house the sump and a frag tank that will also be plumbed into the system. One of the main challenges I'm encountering with my current setup is lack of space in the stand, which houses everything you don't see in the display. I don't have a whole ton of room to work with in the closet but I figure I'll be able to organize everything much better than it is now while giving myself more room to work.

That's about it for now, I look forward to sharing with the community and appreciate any feedback and constructive criticism.

 

[chris88]

It looks great so far and it will look 100 times better when all of those nice sps frag grow in.

 

[TommyA]

Good looking tank.Did you build the light tree?

 

[luvmyacans]

Good looking tank.Did you build the light tree?

I actually worked with a local welder to build the light tree. It's essentially a rack which holds the two fixtures sitting on top of two L's mounted to the back of the stand.

Here's the rack:

And a different angle:

 

[TommyA]

JZ, Thanks for the pictures man.I'm going to do similar on my 75,wanting it to be so its adjustable from stand.

 

[shaggss]

Very nice setup! It will be fun watching it "grow out". Keep us posted.

An pics of the engine room? It always seems there is never enough room!

A small tip: You can run the electrical leads of your lights down one of the light tree's poles and you wont see them then.

Is that a GH overflow? How's it working?

What are you using for heater/chiller/return pump etc.........?

cheers :beer:

 

[luvmyacans]

Very nice setup! It will be fun watching it "grow out". Keep us posted.

An pics of the engine room? It always seems there is never enough room!

A small tip: You can run the electrical leads of your lights down one of the light tree's poles and you wont see them then.

Is that a GH overflow? How's it working?

What are you using for heater/chiller/return pump etc.........?

cheers :beer:

I'm currently running a Jager 250w heater (which rarely kicks in) controlled by the RKE, I don't have any need for a chiller since I'm using LED's and keep my apartment pretty cool. Even living in California my tank didn't go above 79 degrees this summer.

For the return I'm running a Maxi-Jet Utility Pump, once I move everything from under the sump to the closet I'll be using a TBD external pump.

Here's a pic of the empty sump:

And the sump as it is today:

The overflow was actually built by Lee Mar. I was looking for a low profile overflow that wouldn't take up space on the bottom of the tank. The overflow in my last 30g was so big and took up so much space I didn't have any room to do anything with my scape.

Thanks for the tip on the cords, I'm gonna give that a shot tonight!

 

[Highlandjedi]

looks good, cant wait for all the sps to grow out

 

[frozenreefer]

are you using the hole on the bottom for a drain?

 

[luvmyacans]

are you using the hole on the bottom for a drain?

That's not actually a hole in the bottom, just something they had on the bottom of the tank.

 

[luvmyacans]

A couple random pics...

Marshall Island Mystery Wrasse

Maxi-Mini's

Uknown (anyone?)