Myka's 69 SPS Tank 2015

[Myka]

Hi all! Time for a new build. :bounce2:

My name is Mindy van Leur and I'm from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (say that 10 times fast). You may recognize my name if you read the Reef Hobbyist Magazine as I wrote a few articles for them in 2012 and 2013. I own a marine aquarium maintenance company here in Saskatoon, and I have been a MO breeder for the last number of years. I have recently decided to focus on the maintenance company though, and am shutting down the hatchery. My passion in the hobby is helping newbies out, and also SPS corals. I love SPS.

Here's a pic of me from MACNA 2012 that makes me look important (lol). I'm the one on the left...haha kidding. :wave:

I haven't posted much on RC over the years as I spend most of my time over on the Canadian CanReef forums. This is actually my first tank journal thread on RC.

I started up my first reef tank in 1993 off babysitting money. It was a 20 or 25 gallon hexagonal tank and had a sweet UGF (for those who remember what that is haha), and even housed a Queen Conch for a week or so. :facepalm: These days I know better.

My last SPS tank was never supposed to be an SPS tank. It was a 90-gallon that was supposed to a low maintenance system. I set it up in May 2009, the SPS started wiggling in by October. :uhoh2: In 2012 I moved all the LPS to a different tank and the 90 was now exclusively SPS. Unfortunately, winter of 2012 I spent 6 months out of province working and the demise was inevitable. Long story short, here it is just before it's demise...

 

[Myka]

Ok enough about me, here's the new tank!

36 x 24 x 21"

- False back wall made of black glass (I despise acrylic) making the display 36 x 21 x 21" (69 gallons)
- Full weir overflow
- Black vinyl wrap around the overflow
- (2) 1" holes for Herbie drain
- (1) 1" hole for return (will use a 3/4" reducer bulkhead)
- Low-iron glass, eurobraced, trimless, and black silicone
- All vertical edges on the front are beveled and polished

The tank will have a canopy "wrap" so the top edges and waterline won't be visible.

Tank is being built by Concept Aquariums in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and will be shipped to me. Don't blame Concept Aquariums for the newb 3D drawing - I did it myself. :lolspin:

 

[Myka]

Here is Sump V1.0. Hey it was a good start!!

Here is Sump V3.1. I think this is my final design.

The two cylinders at the back represent the Herbie drains, and the two cylinders near the front represent reactors. The grey mesh looking stuff represents egg crate to hold a filter pad. The black circle (not in the first pic) represents a 3/4" Uniseal which I can put a plug in that's super easy to remove. With this mod I can remove most of the water volume of the sump (a little over 10 gallons) for water changes, plus the Herbie emergency drain standpipe is removable and will drain an additional 9 gallons to the sump. I'm going to add a tee to the return that goes to a hose to a bucket, so I can do about a 19 gallon water change pretty easily. Plus, doing a water change this way, there won't be SPS branches sticking up out of the water.

There is enough space in the sump so that if the ATO gets stuck on the sump will hold that volume (4 gallons of RO/DI), and then if the power fails at the same time and the overflow chamber of the tank drains (it shouldn't drain) it will hold that volume (9 gallons) as well with about 1 1/2 gallons to spare.

The overflow chamber holds 9 gallons, and I will design the plumbing so I can pull the Herbie emergency standpipe, the overflow will drain to the sump, and I can use the return pump (with a tee to a hose to a bucket) to pump that 9 gallons out for easy water changes. A little smaller than I'd like, but maybe I can figure something out to get a few more gallons down to the sump. The skimmer area is 15 x 12" and would probably hold something even bigger if it fits in there at an angle.

The only drawback I can see to this design (so far) is that I don't think I could fit my Reef Dynamics biopellet reactor into the sump anywhere (footprint is 10 x 4"). I don't think I will want to run biopellets, but it's a nice option. I could always just buy the external pump for the BP reactor, so the option isn't completely ruled out.

 

[Myka]

Since I know you guys like pics, here are some SPS pics from my 90-gallon.

 

[cFloor]

Your last tank was very nice, I'm looking forward to following along. What type of lighting will you be running over the new tank?

 

[Myka]

Your last tank was very nice, I'm looking forward to following along. What type of lighting will you be running over the new tank?

Thanks! I do miss that tank, but this one will be better designed. It will start off as (4) 39W T5 with either ATI Blue Plus or Coral Plus bulbs and a blue ReefBrite XHO strip down the middle. I will probably end up with 6 or 8 T5. I'll see how the 4 bulbs do for now. I have 4 over my current 50-gallon (18" deep) and I have great color on the few SPS in there, but growth could be better.

 

[ReefCowboy]

VERY nice pics and the set up is promising! Looking forward to the next steps

 

[sahin]

Very nice. I've seen your photos Canreef as I'm a member there. Will be following here for sure.

 

[SeargentSlice]

Nice tank and sump design exciting times planning a new system look forward to the updates !!

 

[Myka]

So I sent some fair bit of mula via EMT to some random dude on Kijiji. I'm hoping to receive an ATB 840 protein skimmer in return.

Also, sorry I noticed my copy and paste fail in my 3rd post.

 

[Reef1589]

My last SPS tank was never supposed to be an SPS tank.

idk how many times I've heard that haha cant wait to see what the new system will look when its setup =D

 

[fishresponse]

Can't wait to see how your build progresses.

 

[Myka]

Thanks for following along guys! The next couple weeks will be a bit slow as I'm moving the hatchery out of the commercial location by the 30th, and GST is due on the 30th too haha! Once the air has cleared I'll get to work on building the stand and sump. In the meantime I'll post up some equipment pics with random bits of SPS just for fun.

Such as...what's in the bag??

 

[Hockeynut120]

Looks like the skimmer is in the bag LOL, following along looks like a nice build

 

[SeargentSlice]

Looks like the skimmer is in the bag LOL, following along looks like a nice build

Lol what makes u think that :idea:

 

[Myka]

Yeah, one of the skimmers is in the bag! I bought another one too - not sure which one I will end up using, but I'm excited to see how they compare.

It looks like my tank will be ready sooner than anticipated too. I better get a move on the sump and stand!

 

[noy]

nice corals - following along

 

[shih87]

...

...

Wow... Royal Exclusiv!!! Also my favor for serious aquarium ...

But why I never got such a bag for any of my Royal Exclusiv purchase:headwally:
What is it?

 

[Myka]

nice corals - following along

Thanks!

Wow... Royal Exclusiv!!! Also my favor for serious aquarium ...

But why I never got such a bag for any of my Royal Exclusiv purchase:headwally:
What is it?

Bubble King Double Cone 180 with RD3 Speedy pump.

So I got a FedEx box from aforementioned "random Kijiji guy".

I opened the box, and found this inside:

So this is skimmer number two. It is an Austrian-made (not US version) ATB 840 Econo Small with Eheim 1260 pump - well to the best of my research that's the model anyway. Compared to the skimmer inside the Royal Exclusiv bag, this ATB doesn't look very impressive - though I can see the design is smart. The very large bubble plate and smooth skimmer body all the way up to the top of the skimmer appears as though is should provide as non-turbulent flow as possible, so this is promising. This is the first ATB skimmer I've ever seen in person and I'm interested to see how it performs as some people claim it rivals the Royal Exclusiv skimmers.

The sump on my 50-gallon tank isn't big enough to accommodate the ATB, so it's having a vinegar bath right now. Maybe I'll haul it down to the shop and put it in one of the FO tanks and see what it does.

 

[Phludd]

Great macro shots, I need a macro lense for my NEX5. Love the SPS, nice color.