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View Full Version : Justin's 100 Gallon Reef Build


silentscream
06/30/2010, 09:58 PM
Hello everyone!

My name is Justin and I live in Sacramento, CA. I'm lucky enough to live in an area where LFS's are plentiful and the reefing community is tight-knit and friendly. Between my local club MARS and all you folks at RC, I've come a long way since my humble beginnings and would like to build a new SPS dominant reef based on the few things I've learned along the way. Welcome to my thread :beer:

The Tank
48x24x20" rimless, 3 sided starphire locally constructed by a rather well known member in the Sacramento reefing community.

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm47/jfowl916/starphire/IMG_2597.jpg

I apologize for the dusty tank, it sat in my garage for 9 months before I was able to start working on collecting pieces. My longtime girlfriend and I became engaged and bought a house while Obama was still passing out $8k checks (none of which was able to make it to the reefing fund :confused: ). So needless to say, the wedding and house fund have seniority over the reefing fund.

The Skeleton

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm47/jfowl916/starphire/IMG_2672.jpg

Here's bare-bones system in its proposed location. The stand is square tubular steel fabricated by my father, and powder coated in a black/grey textured paint. Up close, it looks pretty nice and I'm going to feel bad about covering it with a skinned cabinet, but not everyone in my household can appreciate a well planned out sump area! :p

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm47/jfowl916/starphire/IMG_2686.jpg

silentscream
06/30/2010, 10:07 PM
The Components

Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here are some things I've got set a side.

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm47/jfowl916/starphire/IMG_2532.jpg

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm47/jfowl916/starphire/IMG_2679.jpg

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm47/jfowl916/starphire/IMG_2683.jpg

50lbs BRS eco rocks (cycling in my garage for 3 months now)
Some sch 80 plumbing parts
2x Vortech MP40w
Iwaki MD20RLXT (Japanese motor)
40BR for a sump

silentscream
07/05/2010, 03:35 PM
This weekend I was able to get some more work done on the tank. Last week I found a local plastic company that specializes in acrylics, pvc, etc... and I purchased some .25" thick HDPE to silicone down to the bottom. This will hopefully relieve some of the pressure of the rocks resting on the glass.

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm47/jfowl916/starphire/IMG_2712.jpg

Also last week I went to our local rubber company and bought a 16' roll of 2" wide rubber, about .25" thick. I used my leftover silicone to fasten this to the bottom of the stand. This will keep the metal stand from sitting directly on the wood flooring and will hopefully block any water from seeping under the stand in an accidental spill.

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm47/jfowl916/starphire/IMG_2713.jpg

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm47/jfowl916/starphire/IMG_2714.jpg

I've done a good bit of work on the plumbing and making RO/DI water to fill the tank up for its maiden voyage, if I can complete it today I'll post some photos tonight.

silentscream
07/07/2010, 09:55 AM
Success! Water & Rocks, sand is being cleaned this week. Skimmer around the corner. SRO XP2000 cone? Looks like the best bang for buck.

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm47/jfowl916/starphire/IMG_2725.jpg

nicknguyen
07/07/2010, 09:57 AM
looking nice.

silentscream
07/07/2010, 10:02 AM
looking nice.

Thanks! It's tough when there's so many big dogs posting some insane setups, but they're good to learn from.

nicknguyen
07/08/2010, 07:15 PM
yeah, I know what you mean. there are some insane set up out there. wish I had the bucks to do something awesome.

mcdonaldtj
07/08/2010, 07:37 PM
looks great, are you going to skin the stand?