Bender19
10/17/2013, 06:15 PM
Hello all. I've been lurking in the background posting here and there for a while but havent had time to document my newest build. I have off work for the next couple days due to an eye ucler and cornea irritation (I couldn't pronunce the correct word for a million $), so i have some spare time (and actually quite bored, i havent had a free day in months).
The History: So i started off with a 75g marineland tank from petsmart with a HOB Skimmer and a couple small powerheads. From there i installed a HOB overflow and added a basic sump (20g Tall). Then i built a custom stand, and bought a percision marine 36g sump. Drilled the tank (chucked the HOB OF) and ran that setup for a good 10 months.
Then the move: I moved about 3 1/2 months ago (give or take, days all blend together). The problem i had with my move was i had 2 1/2 days to move EVERYTHING. Tank, furniture, clothes, animals (Dogs, cats, guinea pig). And i couldn't get into the house to get the tank setup ahead of time. So what i decided todo was bought a 90g reef ready w/ built in overflow (same footprint as the 75) with my old stand, and get it set up with water before i moved the livestock.
The Basement: I was not able to use the sump in the bottom of this stand, so what i decided todo was do a basement setup. The basement had many advantages. Floor drains, newer concrete floor (no weight restraints ^_^), sink w/ sump pump attached to it (that should be an entire thread by itself getting that to work) and space. Lots of space. Cons: Gotta go down steep stairs as the house is an old farmhouse in Orchard Park, and being an old farmhouse, ceiling in basement is only 6'2" (i'm 6'1"). The center brace is much lower (I think i have a permenat bump on my head from now on :deadhorse1:)
The Move: I drilled the holes in the floor. Disconnected my sump from the old aqurium at my old house, leaving the PHs and heater on in the DT. Ran the pipes. Home depot run, Home depot run, Home depot run, Home depot run, Lowes Run, LFS run, Lowes Run, LFS run, Lowes Run, LFS run, and i can keep going. 24 hours, and probably less than 2 hours sleep, me and my buddy got it hooked up and water running in a circle. Two leaks - silicon - No leaks, Good to go! Added salt. Checked my parameters. Got the heaters cranking, and waited. As we waited we moved the furniture.
The Livestock: Now i got the livestock to move. Simple right? Actually yes it was. Got all the LR in some bins, and took them over to the new house (Luckily i was only moving ten minutes away). Got my aquascape somwhat how i wanted it (I'm still fine tuning it 3 months later) and went back. Got my GF pumping water out of the tank as i chase my fishies with a net. Got all the fish and Coral in buckets. Seeing as i was only going 10 minutes and into a set up tank i didn't bother adding heaters no air pumps to the buckets. Loaded up the buckets and went to the new house. In the fish and Coral went, all was good.
The old aquarium: Torn down. By now it was 8pm on sunday, beat, my friends and GF want to kill me by now, about 6 hours of sleep since friday morning, we wanted outa there. we tossed all the old sand and got the rest of the water outa there. The tank and stand into the pickup and back to the new house for some much needed sleep.
The problem: Everything was looking great. Coral looked as good as they did before, all the fish were happy, including my dog ( She sure likes to watch me work on the tank, more like yummy... daddy i want a fish!) And then bam! My new new MAG 24 (return pump) ceased. Who knows what really happened to it, but it failed. And it decimated my tank. Not entirely sure how, but after it failed, i had it outa service for 2 days before i replaced it, and stuff started dieing. I couldn't stop it no matter what i did, so i eventually just let nature take its course. It was a domino effect. First a fish died, then coral after coral. Hoards of SPS, gone, blue/green chromis gone (not to sad about that one), but my favorite fish, my Japanesse Muzzled Blennie, has parished :blown: (and am still unable to find any remenants of it). I tallied about $1000 in livestock dead by the time the tank finally balanced out.
The Fuge: After everything settled down,paremerters in check, i started thinking. I wanted to add new livestock, but wanted to give it more time to balance out any more impurities. All of a sudden i thought of that 75g i had in storage. So there came the idea of a fuge. Bought some silicon and acrylic, i went to work. Plumped up a spare MAG 12 i had and got it all up in running. Let it settle for a couple weeks then i fired up the mag and let it exhange water with the main tank.
Today: Today the tank is doing decent. I still am hessitant to add any more livestock to the tank. I did add a basic red Monti a week ago to dip my fingers and see how well it does. So far so good, i can already see new growth on it so i think my tank is ready for some new corals. :dance: Time will Tell.
The Display Tank:
90g
Built in Overflow
100lbs LR
Bare Bottom
x2 wp25
120 watts AquaticLife LEDS
The Sump:
PM 36g
1" Siphon Drain w/ Gate Valve
3/4" Backup Drain
PM 150g Skimmer
20lbs LR
Carbon Reactor
Canister Filter (Only runs when i am doing tank maintence)
200watt Heater
Mag 12 For fuge
Mag 24 For return
The Fuge:
75g
DSB
50lbs LR
Cheato (Was a baseball, now two basketballs)
AI Sol LEDs
x2 Mangroves
Othe Various Macro Algaes.
200watt Heater
Copepods and Ampipods GALORE! Any given time you can see hundreds on the glass alone.
Paremeters:
Salinity: 1.025
Calcium: 410
Magnesium: 1350
Alkinity: 7.3 dKH
Temp: abt 80
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/ResizedImage_1382049890769_zpsb58a6f5a.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/ResizedImage_1382049890769_zpsb58a6f5a.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/ResizedImage_1382048729798_zpsec31d8cb.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/ResizedImage_1382050370444_zpsc04ae228.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/ResizedImage_1382048754813_zps05ee33a3.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/ResizedImage_1382048775305_zps8db36601.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/IMG_20131017_181941_871_zps601c1f37.jpg
The History: So i started off with a 75g marineland tank from petsmart with a HOB Skimmer and a couple small powerheads. From there i installed a HOB overflow and added a basic sump (20g Tall). Then i built a custom stand, and bought a percision marine 36g sump. Drilled the tank (chucked the HOB OF) and ran that setup for a good 10 months.
Then the move: I moved about 3 1/2 months ago (give or take, days all blend together). The problem i had with my move was i had 2 1/2 days to move EVERYTHING. Tank, furniture, clothes, animals (Dogs, cats, guinea pig). And i couldn't get into the house to get the tank setup ahead of time. So what i decided todo was bought a 90g reef ready w/ built in overflow (same footprint as the 75) with my old stand, and get it set up with water before i moved the livestock.
The Basement: I was not able to use the sump in the bottom of this stand, so what i decided todo was do a basement setup. The basement had many advantages. Floor drains, newer concrete floor (no weight restraints ^_^), sink w/ sump pump attached to it (that should be an entire thread by itself getting that to work) and space. Lots of space. Cons: Gotta go down steep stairs as the house is an old farmhouse in Orchard Park, and being an old farmhouse, ceiling in basement is only 6'2" (i'm 6'1"). The center brace is much lower (I think i have a permenat bump on my head from now on :deadhorse1:)
The Move: I drilled the holes in the floor. Disconnected my sump from the old aqurium at my old house, leaving the PHs and heater on in the DT. Ran the pipes. Home depot run, Home depot run, Home depot run, Home depot run, Lowes Run, LFS run, Lowes Run, LFS run, Lowes Run, LFS run, and i can keep going. 24 hours, and probably less than 2 hours sleep, me and my buddy got it hooked up and water running in a circle. Two leaks - silicon - No leaks, Good to go! Added salt. Checked my parameters. Got the heaters cranking, and waited. As we waited we moved the furniture.
The Livestock: Now i got the livestock to move. Simple right? Actually yes it was. Got all the LR in some bins, and took them over to the new house (Luckily i was only moving ten minutes away). Got my aquascape somwhat how i wanted it (I'm still fine tuning it 3 months later) and went back. Got my GF pumping water out of the tank as i chase my fishies with a net. Got all the fish and Coral in buckets. Seeing as i was only going 10 minutes and into a set up tank i didn't bother adding heaters no air pumps to the buckets. Loaded up the buckets and went to the new house. In the fish and Coral went, all was good.
The old aquarium: Torn down. By now it was 8pm on sunday, beat, my friends and GF want to kill me by now, about 6 hours of sleep since friday morning, we wanted outa there. we tossed all the old sand and got the rest of the water outa there. The tank and stand into the pickup and back to the new house for some much needed sleep.
The problem: Everything was looking great. Coral looked as good as they did before, all the fish were happy, including my dog ( She sure likes to watch me work on the tank, more like yummy... daddy i want a fish!) And then bam! My new new MAG 24 (return pump) ceased. Who knows what really happened to it, but it failed. And it decimated my tank. Not entirely sure how, but after it failed, i had it outa service for 2 days before i replaced it, and stuff started dieing. I couldn't stop it no matter what i did, so i eventually just let nature take its course. It was a domino effect. First a fish died, then coral after coral. Hoards of SPS, gone, blue/green chromis gone (not to sad about that one), but my favorite fish, my Japanesse Muzzled Blennie, has parished :blown: (and am still unable to find any remenants of it). I tallied about $1000 in livestock dead by the time the tank finally balanced out.
The Fuge: After everything settled down,paremerters in check, i started thinking. I wanted to add new livestock, but wanted to give it more time to balance out any more impurities. All of a sudden i thought of that 75g i had in storage. So there came the idea of a fuge. Bought some silicon and acrylic, i went to work. Plumped up a spare MAG 12 i had and got it all up in running. Let it settle for a couple weeks then i fired up the mag and let it exhange water with the main tank.
Today: Today the tank is doing decent. I still am hessitant to add any more livestock to the tank. I did add a basic red Monti a week ago to dip my fingers and see how well it does. So far so good, i can already see new growth on it so i think my tank is ready for some new corals. :dance: Time will Tell.
The Display Tank:
90g
Built in Overflow
100lbs LR
Bare Bottom
x2 wp25
120 watts AquaticLife LEDS
The Sump:
PM 36g
1" Siphon Drain w/ Gate Valve
3/4" Backup Drain
PM 150g Skimmer
20lbs LR
Carbon Reactor
Canister Filter (Only runs when i am doing tank maintence)
200watt Heater
Mag 12 For fuge
Mag 24 For return
The Fuge:
75g
DSB
50lbs LR
Cheato (Was a baseball, now two basketballs)
AI Sol LEDs
x2 Mangroves
Othe Various Macro Algaes.
200watt Heater
Copepods and Ampipods GALORE! Any given time you can see hundreds on the glass alone.
Paremeters:
Salinity: 1.025
Calcium: 410
Magnesium: 1350
Alkinity: 7.3 dKH
Temp: abt 80
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/ResizedImage_1382049890769_zpsb58a6f5a.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/ResizedImage_1382049890769_zpsb58a6f5a.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/ResizedImage_1382048729798_zpsec31d8cb.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/ResizedImage_1382050370444_zpsc04ae228.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/ResizedImage_1382048754813_zps05ee33a3.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/ResizedImage_1382048775305_zps8db36601.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/benderb19/IMG_20131017_181941_871_zps601c1f37.jpg