90g build thread

[lazydaze73]

So i was trying to sell some stuff on here i acquired as a package deal when i got my tank and stand off of craigslist but it got yanked because i don't have enough posts, so i figured i'd share my build of a 90g tank and get some quality posts. So here it is.Ive always wanted a reef tank and this will be my first one, so bear with some eventual mistakes i will make. So far i only have a 90g acrylic tank (48"x18"x24"), the stand, and a DIY light tree that i made. Ive been slowly buying the needed stuff here and there when i find a good deal or something is on sale.

The light is an old grow light that i had lying around. Its a 48" 4 bulb T5 fixture. I have the following bulbs in it:

KZ fiji purple
KZ coral light
KZ coral light 2 new generation
ATI blue plus

I used some simple light hangers that are adjustable that i found at the local hydroponics store. Going to cut them long enough so that the fixture can rest on the tank for easy removal and i also wanted them so i could raise the light so i could reach in the tank without having to remove the entire fixture everytime i wanted to add something.

Light tree was pretty simple. Just googled DIY light tree and found a pretty easy recipe. The one where you just bend the metal in your local hardware store. Cheap, easy, and looks pretty good in my opinion.

Also going in my setup is a set of Koralia Evo 1500gph powerheads with wavemaker that i acquired on this forum for a great price, and i'll be using a quietone 5000 return pump that i got with my tank and stand. (from what ive seen its 1400gph)

Thats it so far. My skimmer is on back order at marine depot and im currently searching for a sump to fit under my stand. I'm having trouble locating a fish tank that will fit under my stand that i can turn into a sump. I've been looking at the trigger systems ruby 36s, its really nice and it will fit under my stand but its $300 as opposed to building one for about $100. I cant seem to find a tank that is between 36"-40"L x 16" max D x 18" T. 303014

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[ThatReefGuyTV]

Nice build

[lazydaze73]

Thanks. Just got word my skimmer won't be in till mid February.

[lazydaze73]

Ok so i went to petco today and picked myself up a 10gal tank ($1 per gallon sale) for a qt tank. I then discovered i have the perfect size nightstand to put it on that was just taking up space in the garage.I'm gonna sand it down and paint it white to match the tank stand. I also plan on removing the inside of the drawers, mounting the two faces of the drawers together and installing hinges on it so it swings to the left as one cabinet door. I'm gonna use the inside of it to camouflage my reservoir for my ATO (5 gal bucket), and store other maintenance items. Think im just gonna use the light next to it with the adjustable head as my light for it. What do you guys think?

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[lazydaze73]

Alright so i cleaned up the nightstand and turned the two drawers into one cabinet. Did a little sanding and some spray painting, added a couple hinges and a handle. I think it turned out pretty nice, fits a 5 gal bucket pretty easily with some room to spare.

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[lazydaze73]

And a shot of the inside

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[lazydaze73]

Finished up painting the qt tank and set up a saltwater mixing station with an RO/DI setup in the garage. Just gonna keep it simple with two brute trash cans. One for saltwater and one for RO/DI water. I'm gonna use a submersible pump to move water out of them. Sump should be here within the next couple days and i should be almost there. I also made a durso standpipe. On my test run with the tank the overflow and drain were extremely loud with the 20" fall and gurgling sound at the bottom. With this installed its significantly quieter, which the wife much appreciates.

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[lazydaze73]

Had a busy day today, got everything except for the skimmer, which is on back order for another 2 week, but im bored so i'm gonna set it all up and start the cycle and just add the protein skimmer when it gets here. Think im gonna change the aquascape, its a lot harder than i thought finding good spots for 90lbs of rock. Only had enough saltwater made to make it just above the rock line. Gonna fill the rest and sump tomrrow, powerheads are going for now. Ill post more pics when its up and going.

Oh you'll see in the pics i had to cut a hole in the side of my stand, it was the only way to get the sump in. I made a cabinet door to cover up the hole but its not on yet.

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[lazydaze73]

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[lazydaze73]

OK so its up and running. Filled it up and tested the power out scenario, all is good. Cycle begins today.

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[crabbydan]

Looking good. I am just starting a 105 gallon build almost same measurements just a little taller. I am worried I will not like the 30 inch depth top down. I am upgrading from a 24x24x16 cube approx 40 gallons. I have had my new 105 gallon tank since October. Good luck with your build.

[lazydaze73]

So today i installed the Tunze osmolator ATO and got that all squared away. This is gonna make life a lot easier. Really like the setup, so simple and very well built. I also put on the cabinet door to cover the hole i had to cut in the stand to get my sump in and did my first test. Ammonia and nitrite are off the charts on day 2 of the cycle. I was also having a slight "flushing" affect from my durso drain, i found an article saying there might be to much back pressure from having the pvc drain to far below the water line. So i took it out and cut it so it only extends about 1 1/2" below the water line now. "Flushing" gone, and it allowed me to fully open the valve on my return line, so i'm getting more flow now and no more glugging sound. I love when i get lucky. Anyways let me know what you guys think.

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[lazydaze73]

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[SassyAngel111]

Very nice build

[markh50]

looks like you know what your doing looks very nice that is the same size tank i would love to get scared to get acrylic because it i read it scratches easy

[Joesvwbora]

Sweet build

[lazydaze73]

Thanks for the compliments guys. Here's a couple more pics. What do you guys think of the aquascape. Tried to make for a lot of caves and good flow through the rocks.

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[Mark9]

Just being honest, to me, looks like a pile of rocks.
Sorry.

[lazydaze73]

^^ I was kinda feeling the same way. I'm not very artistic and with 90lbs of rock it seems to take up a lot of space quickly.

[justthewife]

lol, there are just piles of rocks in everyone's aquarium. If you like it go with it. If it has spaces for everything you are going to put in there, it will look completely different when you have corals in there. Caves are good for the fish. There is a link somewhere online on how to do your aquascape in the best way. I will try to find it. I actually have changed my rock work a ton of times and have now ended up with a pile of rocks lol.

Ahhh here it is http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2217633

[Mark9]

^^ I was kinda feeling the same way. I'm not very artistic and with 90lbs of rock it seems to take up a lot of space quickly.

Get the wife to help, I had to move mine until she was happy.
I got a lot of "you can do better...".

[patiof]

Thanks for the compliments guys. Here's a couple more pics. What do you guys think of the aquascape. Tried to make for a lot of caves and good flow through the rocks.

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it looks kind of mechanical. like a spreadsheet. there are lots of caves though.

i'd throw some triangular rock shapes in there and work in thirds in terms of space.

[lazydaze73]

Ok so i re aquascaped, still not sure im sold on it but i think it will allow me better placement of corals and i think it will look good when its all covered, and its a pain in the *** and im not doing it again so this will have to work. lol. Anyways ammonia is at zero, according to the API test kits, i suppose it could have a trace amount but i'm judging by color. Nitrites are still high and it looks like the nitrates went up a tad. Seems to be progressing well.

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[lazydaze73]

Alright so its day 12 of the cycle. Ammonia still at 0, Nitrite still over 5ppm, and nitrate seems to have gone up to about 15-20ppm. The live rock has some sort of hairish algae all over the light exposed sides and the sand appears to have what i think is the diatom bloom going on right now. Some feedback on that would be appreciated.

Oh and and another question i have is: Once you guys get your salinity set at a certain SG does it ever slowly drop? Do you ever have to add a little bit of salt? I ask because i left for three days and when i left i had the salinity set at 1.025 and when i came home it was 1.024. Water level hadn't changed at all thanks to my ATO.

[lazydaze73]

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[lazydaze73]

For some reason every picture i take with my lights on wont upload.

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[cmoore806]

following!

[lazydaze73]

Another thing i noticed today was some small air bubbles floating to the top coming from the algae on the rocks and sand. Whats that all about?

[oneilwiz]

nice build,

[danielmitchell]

ofcourse its going to look like a pile of rocks, but imagine a pile of coral ;) thats what you have to look forward to.

[lazydaze73]

Well the tax man was very good to me this year so the wife gave me the go ahead to blow some more money on this endeavor. One of them showed up today. I got the maxspect gyre xf150. I just wasnt really satisfied with the flow from my two koralia 1500's. I felt it could be better and boy is it. This thing is awesome. Kicked up so much crap when i first turned it on. I could see the crap floating in the gyre pattern. Very cool to watch. Its so strong that it overpowers my return pump and starts filling my sump to much after 60%. I have it flowing against my overflow and return because it is to long to fit horizontally on the other side. I tried the vertical mount and just didnt like the flow pattern as much, not as much rippling on the surface of the water that way. Anyways pretty impressed so far, very quiet up to about 70% too.

I also got a cheap clamp on light for my refugium that i set up with a 75w equivalent 6500k cfl. And got another test kit to measure phosphate.

My nitrites are still very high, nitrates seem about the same and still 0 ammonia. Hoping these nitrites start going down soon. Well let me know what you guys think.

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[bubbasmithson]

looks awesome

[South City]

Your ATO probably was the cause of the slightly lower salinity. If it put in just a bit more fresh water than what evaporated, your salinity would drop. Without an ATO, the opposite normally happens. Your salinity creeps up slightly due to evaporation in between manual top offs.


Oh and and another question i have is: Once you guys get your salinity set at a certain SG does it ever slowly drop? Do you ever have to add a little bit of salt? I ask because i left for three days and when i left i had the salinity set at 1.025 and when i came home it was 1.024. Water level hadn't changed at all thanks to my ATO.

[lazydaze73]

Alright so finally my nitrites are down to zero. Current parameters are:

SG: 1.025
Temp: 79
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 40ppm
Phospate: .25ppm

So with these parameters would i be ok to do a water change and add a cleanup crew maybe 2 fish? Or should i wait until the nitrate comes down more.

I keep reading conflicting info on that so some feedback would be appreciated.

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[lazydaze73]

Today i got a very nice pair of clowns from a fellow forum member. Nice and healthy with a good appetite. Put them in the QT yesterday, and my cleanup crew arrives tomorrow.

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[lazydaze73]

I installed a GFO reactor today. I went with the BRS single reactor with the cobalt aquatics mj1200 pump and BRS hi capacity GFO. I love the build quality, very sturdy and the push connect fittings make setting it up quite easy.

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[lazydaze73]

Well i finally got my skimmer in, after a two month back order. I now have the Aquamaxx EM200 cleaning my tank. Anyone have any suggestions on how to adjust it. How high up should it be bubbling?

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[lazydaze73]

Also what is the yellow tube coming off the collection cup for? Some sort of overflow?? It didnt come with really good instructions.

[lazydaze73]

thought id post a little video of my build so far. So far its been cycled for exactly 1 month. Things seem to be going well except for the green hair algae, which im hoping will start dying off soon with the help of the gfo.

http://youtu.be/hzViOEjc95o

[jml1149]

Just a suggestion, but in my albeit limited experience, clowns do not take to PVC. Add a small 4" terracotta pot to the QT tank and they will be much happier.

[lazydaze73]

I did notice that when they were in the qt but now they're in the display tank

[lazydaze73]

A quick update

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlXOtCxSyeg&feature=youtu.be

[imindtim]

does it include lights?

[cvhjyguj]

http://computerstalk.com/red/images/60.gif http://computerstalk.com/red/images/40.gifThanks. Just got word my skimmer won't be in till mid February. http://computerstalk.com/red/images/41.gif

[lazydaze73]

Includes everything in sale thread which does include lights

[jayball]

Oh and and another question i have is: Once you guys get your salinity set at a certain SG does it ever slowly drop? Do you ever have to add a little bit of salt? I ask because i left for three days and when i left i had the salinity set at 1.025 and when i came home it was 1.024. Water level hadn't changed at all thanks to my ATO.

No it will not change unless you are removing it and replacing with top off, Wet skimming and changing media can do it but not over three days.

Check the calibration on your refractometer.

I like your new rockscape much better.