Tremelle's 210 AGA Setup w/Info

[Tremelle]

I was keeping this log on the local DFWMAS club site. That website is becoming too political for my taste. I will be cancelling my membership there pretty quick. Now on the goodies.

10/06/05
Here, as well as my personal website, will be the location where I will be documenting the progress and experiences of my new 210 gallon system. I would first like to give a little background on my project, and also some thanks to a couple of people that helped to make it all come true. The website has not been upload as of yet.

Background:

In February of 2005, I gave a deposit of $800 for an Oceanic System 215 gallon dual Mega Overflow tank, and stand. This transaction took place at a store in Irving, TX. , which will remain nameless. When the deposit was placed, the order was faxed to the supplier. The next day I had to cancel the order due to personal reasons. Upon requesting a refund, I was informed I would not receive a full refund. I would have to pay a $325 restocking fee. I found this to be odd since no tank or stand had been delivered or even manufactured at that point. I was told once the order is faxed it is ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œout of his controlââ"šÂ¬Ã‚. The receipt I received when placing the deposit stated nothing of this policy. I took the $475 refund and left the store with the intentions of pursuing it further through my lawyer. After talking to my lawyer, pursuing it would cost me more in attorney fees than just walking away. So I no longer do business with this fish store in Irving.

During the first part of September, out of the blue, my wife says let get the larger tank. It really surprised me since we really felt burned by my previous experience with the unnamed store. So I started to look for a reputable store with reasonable prices to purchase the tank. I even looked at purchasing an established system from members of this board. My wife made it clear she wanted a new tank and stand. As luck would have it, Frankââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s Tanks became a sponsor of DFWMAS. I saw his banner and forum on this website and decided to pay him a visit.

I visited Frankââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s Tanks and talked to Frank. After about 5 minutes I knew he was the right person to make this sizable investment with. I had never been in a fish store and heard someone talk about the fish business and the livestock with such a passion. I then informed him of my concerns with ordering the tank and my previous experience. He pulled his calculator out and gave me a price for the same setup I was going to purchase before. His price was better than the previous price. He even took off an additional amount to cover my lost from the store in Irving. I ended up purchasing an All Glass Aquarium 210 gallon tank with dual Mega Overflow and Modern stand. I decided to go with the AGA tank and stand since the Modern stand is 34ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ tall versus the 32ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ tall stand from Oceanic. I know AGA and Oceanic are basically the same company so I am comfortable knowing it would be good quality equipment.

Well my tank and stand arrived on September 29. Boy was it big in person. Me plus 4 moved the tank to the house on October 1 and my adventures began.

I would like to thank my wife for being so supportive of my hobby, and Frank of Frank's Tanks for helping to make it happen.

System Equipment:

Ã"šÃ‚· All Glass Aquarium 210 Gallon Dual Mega Overflow, 72ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚L x 24ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚W x 30ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚H
Ã"šÃ‚· All Glass Aquarium Modern Stand in Medium Oak, 72ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚L x 24ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚W x 34ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚H
Ã"šÃ‚· All Glass Aquarium 40 Gallon Breeder tank for DIY Sump/Refugium
Ã"šÃ‚· Sunlight Supply Maristar 72ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ 3-250 watt MH HQIs with Phoenix 14k DE bulbs, and 4-39 watt HO T5s with ATI Pure Actinic
Ã"šÃ‚· Sunlight Supply Blue Wave 4 Electronic Ballast, 3-250 watt
Ã"šÃ‚· Deltec APF600 Protein Skimmer
Ã"šÃ‚· Tunze TS-24 Kit, 2-Stream 6100s, and 7094 Multicontroller
Ã"šÃ‚· Maxijet 1200s ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ 2
Ã"šÃ‚· Quiet One 6000 Return Pump
Ã"šÃ‚· 210 lbs Live Rock
Ã"šÃ‚· 120 lbs Live Sand

System Inhabitants:

Fish
Ã"šÃ‚· Golden Pygmy Angel, Centropyge aurantius
Ã"šÃ‚· Threadfin Cardinalfish, Apogon leptacanthus (3)
Ã"šÃ‚· Blonde Naso Tang, Naso lituratus
Ã"šÃ‚· Purple Tang, Zebrasoma xanthurum
Ã"šÃ‚· Chrysurus Angel, Pomacanthus chrysurus
Ã"šÃ‚· Peppermint Hogfish, Bodianus sp.
Ã"šÃ‚· Multicolor Pygmy Angel, Centropyge multicolor
Ã"šÃ‚· Starkii Damsel, Chryspteria starkii
Ã"šÃ‚· Arrowhead Pygmy Wrasse, Wetmorella sp.


Inverts:
Ã"šÃ‚· Blood Shrimp, Lysmata debelius (2)
Ã"šÃ‚· Bullseye Pistol Shrimp

Corals:
Ã"šÃ‚· Finger Leathers
Ã"šÃ‚· Toadstool Leathers
Ã"šÃ‚· Numerous Mushrooms

A pic of the tank and some of the equipment before installation

Testing the bulkheads for leaks.

Equipment making the transfer from my 105 gallon setup.

The beginning of the installation of the pondliner. I decided to line the bottom 2" of the stand with pond liner, to contain and spills. With the stand empty it would hold 14.96 gallons. Of course it will not hold that amount due to the displacement after placing the sump/refugium and other equipment.

Here is the pondliner after the installation. Since the stand did not have any support for the liner across the back in the spaces, I used some 2" pvc pipe to make the sides to support the liner.

Pic of the plumbing. I choose to use a submerged return pump. The plug on the wall is wired to GFCI installed in the main breaker box.

Here is a pic of the setup mostly finished.

A pic of the aquascaping. I have not cleaned the glass as of yet.

The reason you don't see the lighting is because it has not arrived as of yet. It will be here on Friday. I am currently using the 48" pc fixture from my 105 gallon setup.

Here is a pic of the ballast rack I made utilizing pvc connectors and pvc pipe.

I will post my progress as well as pics as I progress. So let me know what you think.

 

[Tremelle]

10/12/05
The Sunlight Supply 72" Maristar fixture arrived today. Last week, I was sent the wrong fixture. I ordered a 250 watt fixture and was sent a 150 watt fixture. Here are some pics of the fixture on my tank.

Here is a pic showing a closeup of the stands.

A pic of the fixture at night.

I light my tank in stages to keep down the heat. I have my mhs set to come on 45 mintues after each other, then go off 45 minutes after each other. Here is a pic showing the first mh on.

Here is a pic of the first and second mhs on

Here is the pic with all 3 lamps on.

When I first installed the fixture, my water temp went from 79.5 in the morning to a high of 83 at night the first night. After staggering the times of the lamps and installing 2 computer fans blowing under the lights, the temp gets up to 79.8 at the end of the lighting period.

 

[Tremelle]

11/02/05
Well I decided on the Aquatronica controller, http://www.aquatronica.com/eng/products/acq_products.htm, to control my system. I choose it for it expandability and high praise from it's users. It arrived yesterday, 11/1/05. The kit I bought contained the Control Unit, Power Unit, Temp probe, Ph Interface and probe, PC Interface, Water level sensor, and 2 probe holders. Currently I have it controlling my mh lights, T5 lighting, fans, and heater. Here is a pic right after I unboxed it.

I did like most men do. I broke open the box and started to play with things before reading the instructions. I spent the better part of the evening installing it and checking it's functionality. This controller doesn't use X-10 controllers like the Aquacontroller from Neptune Systems, although they now offer a power strip option. Here is a pic of the Power Unit installed in the stand. The Power Unit has 8 3 prong plugs, and 6 usb connections.

Once installed, the Control Unit looks amazing. It looks and feels like a quality product. It has a very nice blue and silverish lcd display. It is mounted external to the stand so I can monitor the system without having to open the door to see the screen. The control unit mounting hardware comes with a nice hinged mount that allows you to flip the control unit up to view if you are standing over it. Here is a pic of the control unit mounted on the right side of the stand.

I also bought the PC Interface to use with a computer to download data and also makes facilitating changes easy. Programming on the control unit itself is also easy, but not as cool. Here is a pic a screen shot from my laptop.

A pic showing the laptop connected to the Power Unit of the Aquatronica. The connection is made via usb.

Aquatronica uses usb connections for expansion modules, as well as connecting additonal Power Units. Since usb is used, this is a very flexible system.

 

[Tremelle]

11/04/05
As some of you may have seen, I sold the previous moonlight system I had installed on my Maristar light fixture. I choose to go with the Fishbowl Innovations moonlight system. The system I choose has a microprocessor that recreates the 29 day lunar cycle. The controller can be set for either automatic or manual. The automatic function tracks the days and illuminates the moonlight accordingly. The manual function allows the user, me, to make the moon as dark or bright as I want at anytime. Once the controller is put back into automatic mode, it will continue with the lunar cycle without missing a beat.

Here is a pic of the controller mounted in the stand.

A pic of the tank at full moon.

A pic of the tank at three quarter moon.

A pic of the tank at half moon.

A pic of the tank at quarter moon.

I didn't take a pic of the tank with no moon, since it was totally dark.

The pics didn't comeout as well as I hoped, but I do hope it gives you an idea of the lighting changes these moonlights can make.

The previous lights were white with the shimmy lines, like a mh lit tank. The new lights are blue with the same shimmy lines.

 

[Tremelle]

4/18/06
After the tank had been setup for about 2 months I started to get the dreaded hair algea bloom. I tried everything I could within reason to try to radicate the algea. Well I have not won that battle as of today, but I am winning. I finally found the culprits.

The first culprit was my ro/di system. My home's water pressure was not enough to force the water through the membrane at the recommended rate. I have it mounted on the wall connected to the cold water line of the washing machine. I then ordered a booster pump off of Ebay. Since it's installation, I have noticed an improvement in water quality and the time needed to make ro/di water. Here is a pic of the system mounted.

I also discovered that one of my overflows is barely removing water from the main tank. When I first setup the tank, I bought schedule 80 bulkheads. They are so thick that I had to use pvc piping that is smaller than normal. With the restricted flow to the sump, the sump could not operate as effeciently as it should. I have purchased two of the AGA Megaflow Overflow kits to install. I will install them in the coming days.

One of the best purchases I have made for this system is the Aquatronica controller. It has kept the water temp stable from day one. It charts the temp and ph for a month period. The only spike detected is from a day when the electricity was out at the house for 4 hours. Due to the outage the cooling fans were not functioning. Once power was restored the controller did it's job of resynching the lighting period and the cooling process.

The corals have really started to grow over the last 3 months. One thing I have noticed is how open they are on full moon nights as well as 3/4 moon nights. Their polyp extension is amazing under these lights. I absolutely love the Fishbowl Innovations led moonlighting system. It replicates the 28 day mooncycle.

As of Saturday, I have finished stocking the tank with fish. I finally found a replacment Blueline angel to replace the one I lost last year. I lost it to an aquascaping accident. Here is a pic of my new pride and joy.

My fish list:
Blueline Angelfish
Chrysurus Angelfish
Multicolor Dwarf Angelfish
Golden Dwarf Angelfish
Purple Tang
Blonde Naso Tang with streamers
Starkii Damselfish
Arrowhead Pygmy Wrasse
Twin Spot Goby
Oraange Spotted Blenny
Threadfin Cardinalfish (3)

My inverts list:
Bulleye Pistol Shrimp
Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (4)
Blook Cleaner Shrimp (2)
A few snails ( I need to introduce a larger cleanup crew)

Misc. leathers and mushrooms

Enough of the tank info and goings on. Keep in mind I am still fighing the good fight with hair algea. Now on to the pics.

Full tank shot

Right side shot

Left side shot

Right angle shot

Left angle shot

Right angle actinic shot

Left angle actinic shot

 

[DouzeCordes]

Nice setup. Are you using a 40 gallon breeder sump? What type of return pump are you using. Keep the pictures coming! I wanted to go with a 210 but decided on a 180 instead.

 

[DirtySouth056]

Nice thread! I cant wait to get my 210 setup, Im still picking up equipment. Looks like I'm going to have to add the moonlights to the list.

 

[Julio]

Looks great!!

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Very nice!

I just ordered my own AGA 210

 

[Tremelle]

Yes, the sump is a 40 gallon breeder tank. I bought acyrlic and made the baffles. I am using a Quiet One 6000 for the return pump. I am not trying to use the return for water flow. I rely on the Tunzes and the Maxijets for that.

 

[yoboyjdizz]

looking really good...how are the angels with the corals? man im jealous my 280 still sitting in the garage begging me to set it up.

 

[Henry22]

Very well documented, and I like how everything is automatic. The automation of my 15 is a timer, haha

 

[Tremelle]

The angels do fine with the corals. I only keep leathers and mushrooms since I love angels.

 

[steveboo]

Nice pics and nice tank. How do you like your maristar light, I have a 220 im setting up and I am really thinking about getting one. Did your electric bill go through the roof? Oh and where did you get yours if you dont mind me asking.
Thanks, Steve

 

[IS]

Where I can find Fishbowl moonlight system.Thank you..

 

[Tremelle]

I absolutely love my Maristar system. The only thing it lacked was the moonlighting. In hindsight, I am glad it didn't have them since I like the Fishbowl Innovation lights. I bought my Maristar from Premium Aquatics. They price matched the price from another online site. My electric bill did not take much of a hit. At least not enough for me to notice.

I bought the Fishbowl Innovations moonlights from their website, Fishbowl-Innovation.com. They also sale them on Ebay. I could have possibly gotten them cheaper on Ebay, but I did not want to wait for the auction to end to maybe save a dollar or two. The polyp extension on my leathers is amazing when there is a full moon.