Nico's 90G Reef - Build thread

you building your own canopy? i saw you are going to put t5s in. sounds great! what type of reef is it going to be?
 
As promised, some pictures:

The stand:
pictures005.jpg


Getting the tank ready to be painted :
pictures006.jpg


Tank is in position after 3 coats of black Rustolium paint:
pictures008.jpg


Here is detail of the plumbing:
pictures010.jpg


Waffleman
 
The tank is still filling. The level is about 2" from the overflow.
How long do you let the tank run with RO water before mixing salt?


dan10342, the canopy is existing, an oak kit from Petsmart that matches the tank. This is to meet WAF ;) .
I removed the 2 strip lights that were in there and I will build in 6 t5's
and 2 fans.

The tank will be a "reefgarden", basically a mixed reef.

Waffleman
 
Update

Update

finally an update. It's been crazy in the past couple of days (base ball broken appliances, work)

The return is a lot quieter, thanks to the input from URS members :thumbsup: .
I straightened out the drain hose so that it has a gradual slope. I also attached an old sock (clean one of course) so that the bubbles are getting trapped. That made a big difference as well. I will have to look for a real filter sock.

Yesterday I rinsed out the Kolorscape sand and put it in the tank. I rinsed it so much that there was no cloudiness in the tank.
I immediately continued with adding 60lbs of live rock to the tank. I had this rock sitting in a tub of salt water without lights for about a month and a half.
It had lost some coralline but the critters were still on it.

This morning there were dozens of feather dusters out

I finally place my order with Reefgeek for the 6x54 SLR T5 Icecap lights (Not overdriven) , and the fans.

This is the bulb combo I picked, with the help from the Reefgeek people. My target Color temperature is 12K to 14K similar to a Reeflux 12K bulb.

Actinic plus
UVL superactinic
Aquasun
Fiji purple
Actinic Plus
Aquablue Special

I forgot to ask if it comes with shades :D

I better finish the canopy before the lights show up.

This weekend I will post pics of the canopy build.

Waffleman
 
this tank is lookin good. got to see it when i picked up my leptastea today. cant wait to see what that combo of lights look like as i am getting ready to order some t5's myself soon.
 
thanks Morval, I hope the coral does well for you. Keep me posted.

This evening I started working on the canopy. I cut the holes for the fans and recessed around it so that the fans on sunken in.
IMG_3466.jpg


Waffleman
 
My T5 kits came today:

reefgeek_mod.jpg


They forgot to send me the clips for the reflectors :( . They will send them out tomorrow and I have to get some screws to screw down the stand offs.


Here is a pic with the fans mounted:

canopy01.jpg



Waffleman
 
Looks good Nico.. maybe I'll get a frag from you from something once it's all done just as an excuse to see your new tank :-D

T5's kick *** indeed.. i just got my tek 6bulb
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Here is an update:

I mounted the 3 ballasts on a separate piece of wood that I can slide behind the tank. with the ballasts facing the wall, to prevent salt spray.
pictures018.jpg



Here is a layout of the T5 bulbs.
pictures.jpg


and finally, I worked 7 hrs straight to move the corals from the basement to the new tank. All rocks received a good scrubbing, as I was trying to get rid of some hair algae as well as Xenias.
When I took the picture today, most of the corals seem OK. The mushrooms are not so happy at the moment but that doesn't bother me so much.
This tank lighting looks intense, and I don't have the reflectors on yet, and I use glass covers (for now)
pictures023.jpg


The color temp of the lighting is close to the 12K reeflux imo. so i'm quite happy with the arrangement.

The Icecap fans seem a bit loud, my wife coming over to check the microwave:-). I have to adjust the sensor placement a bit.
Temperature is up 1.5degF between day and night

Waffleman
 
Inkmates, just give a call and stop by;)

Chrisqueens,

Currently there is only a yellow clown goby in the tank, I swear I can see him grin... What he doesn't realize is that he will have to share the tank soon.

I'm looking to buy:

5 green chromis
1 hippo tang
1 long nose hawk fish or flame hawk
2 to 3 pyjama cardinals or banggai cardinals
1 sixline wrasse

I have a yellow tang and a clarckii clown that still need to be moved over as well.
I think this already maxes out the tank:( Input anyone?

Waffleman
 
The clips came in today, so we will see what it looks like tomorrow.
I just finished installing them.


I'm getting quite concerned about the heating:

My tank went 2 points above 82.0F
My 2 fans in the canopy are sucking the hot air out of the canopy and I have 2 slotsin the back, 2"x 18" each on the low side for air to come in.
Now with the reflectors I'm afraid that all the hot air is getting blocked by the reflectors.
As I'm writing this, I've decided to leave first reflector off so that the air can get sucked up from under the reflectors. We'll see what that does.
Does this make sense?

Now my next question is about the glass covers. would it help to keep the temp below 82 if I remove the glass, allowing more evaporation, although the glass didn't close the system off. Also is there truth to the green house effect that the glass causes, even if the hot air gets sucked away?



waffleman
 
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