My Tank

[jerpa]

I thought I'd share some pictures of my system. I have a 120 gallon display tank in my living room. It was started in January of this year. It is plumbed to a basement system that includes a 40 gallon sump, 40 gallon refugium, and a 30 gallon frag tank that I hooked up today.

I used the rock from a 29 gallon system along with ~70lbs of BRS Reef Saver and Pukani rock. The pictures below we're taken when my tank was lit by 2 Kessil A150's and 2 54W ATI Aquablue Specials. I just got two Kessil A350W's but haven't had a chance to take pictures yet. It's an SPS and LPS tank but it's trending to mostly SPS.

My sump includes a DIYBSE skimmer and a BRS Carbon/GFO reactor. The reactor, frag tank, refugium, and main tank are fed by a Reeflo Blowhole 1450. Right now I dose kalk through my ATO and occasionally adjust with 2 part.

The refugium is lit with a 150W MH/PC Actinic Coralife Fixture that was above my old tank. I grow chaeto, caulerpa, red gracillara, and I recently added some ulva. I also have a pile of rock in there beneath the chaeto. Oh and aiptasia...

The frag tank is a 30 gallon Deep Blue rimless. It's lit by one of the Kessils I previously had above the main tank. It looks very empty.

Thanks for looking.

 

[on388]

I like how you did the rocks in the DT it looks great. Do you have a zoomed out picture of all the equipment in the basement in one picture?

 

[jerpa]

I like how you did the rocks in the DT it looks great. Do you have a zoomed out picture of all the equipment in the basement in one picture?

Thanks. I do now. This is as good an angle as I can get.

 

[on388]

Looks so organized if I tried that I would have a mess but definitly looks great. Hows the humidity in the basement?

 

[jerpa]

Well it was fine until a few weeks ago. It looks like I'm going to have to run a dehumidifier for a few months in the summer. I feel like mine is very disorganized compared to some I've seen. It's very pleased with the functionality but next time I think I'll try to make it a little cleaner.

 

[screamingibis]

It's a basement. No worries. What return pump are you running?

 

[jerpa]

I have a Reeflo Blowhole 1450. I've been pleased with it thus far but reliability has yet to be determined since it just came out last year. It is very quiet and quite efficient. I like the adjustability as well. I'm running on the medium setting and pulling about 120 watts.

 

[jerpa]

Picture with the new Kessil. The tank was more blue than the pictures above indicate but it is significantly more so now.

 

[gb530]

SSSWEEET SETUP! That frag tank is sick, black silicone rimless is clean!

 

[jerpa]

Thanks. It's a Deep Blue Rimless Tank. I wanted a 24x24 frag tank and this was the cheapest so the rimless black silicone was just a bonus.

 

[Charley Diesing]

Update please!

 

[Buzz1329]

Nice setup! What does the BSE in DIYBSE skimmer mean? Especially like the aquascaping in the DT and the frag tank. I would be very happy with one of those as the frag racks in my DT are starting to bend. What's the purple fuzzy stuff under the SPS on the top rocky side of the tank?

 

[TimmyD16]

Man, so jealous of your fish room... I bet it's nice not having everything shoved under your DT... Also, I LOVE the aqua-scape, the little lagoon made by the rocks looks like an awesome place for little critters to hide, totally dig it!

 

[jerpa]

Thanks for all the comments.

The skimmer was Do It Yourself By Someone Else. I got it off our former reef club president for $50. It's an AquaC type design powered by a Mag 12. I honestly bought it because the pump alone was worth $50 but I've been impressed enough to not upgrade. Quite a bit of dark skimmate every week and it is very low maintenance.

The purple stuff was some sort of algae. It looked kinda cool so I let it grow a bit. It's gone now.

I have switched my lighting again. The Kessils we're too blue for my taste and I wouldve needed four if I ran them where I wanted too. I have since switched to 2 250w Phoenix bulbs in LumenMax Elite reflectors and M80 Ballasts. FTS to follow

 

[jerpa]

 

[Cstaricansrfer1]

The purple stuff was some sort of algae. It looked kinda cool so I let it grow a bit. It's gone now.

Very nice setup! The aquascape looks really good.

It's funny I had an algae (I believe) similar to that growing in one of my tanks. It was on an isolated rock so I also let it grow as well because it was interesting. It was some kind of calcareous purple algae, almost like what yours looks like in one of your pictures. But it ended up just disappearing.
Here's what it looked like:

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Great setup! I really like it. Do you have plans to cover the back of the DT? I think that would greatly improve the look.

 

[jerpa]

I've thought about it but can't think of a suitable way to cover everything. I've been changing lighting so much I haven't put much effort anywhere else. It's a regret that doesn't bother me much. My next build will be much cleaner in every aspect.

The algae formed a mat of very thin individual strands. It felt a bit calcareous as well. I had gotten lazy with the GFO which allowed it to grow. Once I put it back online it turned white and began to die so I removed it. Didn't really attach to the rock very tightly almost sat on top of it.