Dave's 90 gallon reef story

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mogurnda

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Apr 29, 2003
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New 90 gallon: the start

I finally got my act together and uploaded some photos of the tank as it has come together.

It started as a free 90 gallon AGA tank, with stand and canopy, won in the raffle at the WAMAS Reef Symposium.

After a lot of money and time, it's now a tank full of ammonia, nitrite and sand.



Note the stand has already been painted brown to match our earth-tony room.

My wife picked a nice shade of blue for the back:



The freshwater test run went fine:



So I put in ASW, playsand and some dead live rock ("reef bones"), and ran a powerhead and quickfilter:



Now it's sitting with some rotting bits of crab, innoculated with live sand from the 20 gallon.



The current specs are:
90 gallon reef-ready tank with AGAs version of a durso
20 long sump, now in its second redesign
mag 9.5 return pump, going to 3/4" SeaSwirl
[there's also a Euroreef CS 6-2 skimmer that will get added after the cycle]

Next series: modding the canopy for the halides.
 

wastememphis

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Sep 6, 2003
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Looking good dave! Do you have a close up on your sump? Congradulations.
 

mogurnda

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Here's a diagram of the mark III. The top is a front view, the bottom is a top view, with the front at the bottom. The idea was to use baffles to direct the flow behind the return pump, to allow bubbles to get to the surface. So far it seems to work, and I'll post a pic of it in action in the next few days.



Meantime, the canopy has been modified, and just needs another coat of paint and some wiring. Stay tuned.
 

OrionGirl

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Looks good! Will you keep the 20 up and running? Any decisions yet for stocking?
 

mogurnda

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When the 90 is ready, I am going to move everything over from the 20. Then I'll use the 20 for a qt tank for a while. I have found it hard to pay as much attention as I would like to two SW tanks at the same time.

The plan for the moment is to do a mixed soft/stony tank, but to segregate the two on separate islands of rock. In addition to what I have, I'd like to add a few acropora species, and maybe a crocea clam in the rockwork.

As far as fish, I'm going to try to get as much tank-raised as I can. One of the reefers here is growing out some banggais, and I have dibs on a pair when they come up. I have recently seen some CB fangblennies, which look really cool as well. Plus a few more gobies. When all has settled down, a kole tang would probably be the final fish.

Overall though, I want to take the stocking slow and easy, so I can be picky and enjoy the process.

PS. Welcome back!
 

mogurnda

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Lighting

During the big AC outage, I also got the lighting installed and running. The thing is almost cycled, and I'll be putting in an order with TBS very soon.

Here's how I modded the AGA canopy for the halides and T5s:

First, I extended the height with 1X8s. The corners aren't beautiful but they are adequate. Also installed a couple of 4" fans and cross members for the T5 actinics:



Here's a shot before painting to give an idea of how much it's extended:



And then painted monkey[censored] brown:



The interior got painted black (because much of it started that way), and the halides and T5s got installed. The equipment is 2X250 watt Iwasaki lamps, with one Icecap and one Blueline ballast. The T5s are 54 watt actinic and 60/40, because I want it a bit less blue when the halides are off:



Actinics on:



Halides on. Since the halides are so much more intense, it's hard to find a good exposure for comparison:



Well, that's where I'm at so far. The sump still needs a bit of tweaking, but it's pretty quiet now.
 

Cearbhaill

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Mar 22, 2003
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Looking good- I can't wait to see how you lay it out.
I went with the "two piles" design as well- and a fair mix of corals.
I must admit though that I am heavily favoring stoneys even though I vowed initially not to get "sucked into the SPS hype".

There's just something about them...
 

mogurnda

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I vowed initially not to get "sucked into the SPS hype".
Most of the reefers around here are SPS snobs, but I really want to have some large softies even if it means I get sneered at. Partly because I have a strong attachment to my sarcophyton, but I also like the look of softies moving in the current. Of course, I also want a huge staghorn acropora as a centerpiece, so we'll see how the tank looks in the end.
 

Cearbhaill

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I have only a yellow Figi leather, a Lobophytum, and an un-named "lime green leather" from IPSF that could possibly cause me problems, so am keeping a really close eye on my SPS. I just added the Sarco and Lobo last week, so the jury is still out.
If I see problems I'l crank on some carbon and if that doesn't fix it I'll rethink things.

But I agree- I especially love my clear yellow mushroom.
Softies can be stunningly colorful and really pack a visual punch.

I think we may end up with very similar tanks!
It's the whole "great minds think alike" thing :D
 
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