Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > General Interest Forums > Reef Discussion
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 04/02/2016, 05:59 AM   #101
d2mini
Registered Member
 
d2mini's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 10,344
Well this is an interesting turn of events.
The tank wasn't supposed to arrive until sometime later this week.



The problem is, this morning I have family in from out of town and we are going to the zoo.


__________________
-dennis

Elos Diamond 120xl | Elos Stand | Radion G4 Pros | GHL Profilux Controller | LifeReef Skimmer | LifeReef Sump
Photos taken with a Nikon D750 or Leica M.
d2mini is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/02/2016, 06:07 AM   #102
bmullikin1
Registered Member
 
bmullikin1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: seminole florida
Posts: 1,797
time to call some reefer friends over, looks like someone is getting an Elos tank ?


bmullikin1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/02/2016, 06:52 AM   #103
d2mini
Registered Member
 
d2mini's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 10,344
Talked to Fedex and it ends up it's not REALLY out for delivery today.
But will be Monday!

And yes.... looks like it only took one post for someone observant enough to figure out where the tank is coming from.


__________________
-dennis

Elos Diamond 120xl | Elos Stand | Radion G4 Pros | GHL Profilux Controller | LifeReef Skimmer | LifeReef Sump
Photos taken with a Nikon D750 or Leica M.
d2mini is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/02/2016, 07:35 AM   #104
Bdial
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Huntington, wv
Posts: 675
Holy crap. Just looked up their tanks. This is gonna be beautiful.


__________________
Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good. Haste makes waste.

WINTER IS COMING
Bdial is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/02/2016, 09:58 PM   #105
hreef
Registered Member
 
hreef's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Richmond Texas
Posts: 162
Dennis I gotta see this in person...you don't live near me anymore but your close enough!
Badass tank can't wait! I'm loving the RedSea 525XL
Love your home and great location!


hreef is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/03/2016, 08:14 AM   #106
yuhbu
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 4
I've followed every one of your builds and looking forward another one that I'm sure will not disappoint.



yuhbu is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 08:04 AM   #107
frankabagnale
Registered Member
 
frankabagnale's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Missouri
Posts: 189
Today is the big day! I'm pumped for you!


frankabagnale is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 09:47 AM   #108
iced98lx
Registered Member
 
iced98lx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,258
can't wait for some pics of the new glass box!


iced98lx is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 12:10 PM   #109
d2mini
Registered Member
 
d2mini's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 10,344
UPDATE 4-4-16

Exciting day! The tank is here!
So here is a little backstory, because you know I can't just post photos and leave it at that.
Back in January sometime, things started to calm down and I started thinking about a new tank. I really wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go. All I knew was that I was severely limited on space compared to the previous build. It was also pretty recently that I had to go through the whole tear down affair, including trying to sell the house with the tank in place. It wasn't literally built into the wall, but it might as well have been, with all that cabinetry built around it. Luckily we found a buyer fairly quickly and they decided to leave the cabinetry, I just had to remove the tank, patch the holes in the wall, create a wood top for the cabinet where the tank was sitting, and paint everything. Not too bad, but a pain in the butt nonetheless, and additional stress. With that fresh in my mind, I wasn't too keen on doing that again. So this time I was leaning towards keeping things a bit more on the traditional/simple side as far as choosing a tank and stand. Even the stand I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go custom with it... not if I didn't have to. So i began to look at my options. One thing is for sure... compared to even just 5 years ago, there has been a MASSIVE improvement the different kinds of all-in-one kits that are available, especially in larger tanks. IM has a 120 long, Red Sea has several large tanks, etc. I was looking at these but I was having a difficult time finding something I truly liked because I was dealing with having to find a tank with a max length of around 48". As much as I like the Red Sea Reefer series, I really wished they had something with a deeper dimension front to back for the extra space/volume. I contemplated getting a custom tank again, maybe a cube like I used to have, but wasn't sure that I had THAT much space to come out into the room without interfering with other furniture. I could have gone with another Planet Aquariums custom tank. That wouldn't have taken too long. But again, I would have also had to have a custom stand made. I could have built one but my finishing abilities aren't up to what I would have considered necessary. I also briefly considered a Reef Savvy tank but I really didn't want to have to wait 6 months to get it. Then during my research I came across Elos. I've known about Elos but never considered them before due to the price. But taking a look at their current line of tanks, from what I could gather (informations is sparse), the price didn't really seem much different than a Reef Savvy tank. Then I saw that there was a brand new line of tanks coming out from Elos called The Diamond Line. The more I looked, the more I liked what I saw. And the clincher... they had a couple tanks that had a deeper dimension. Looking at the specs, the Elos 120XL would be perfect for the space I had in mind. Dims were 47.24″ x 31.5 ″ x 19.7″ which is about 125g. Awesome. But woah... price of the tank, plus price of their Classic stand was a bit... nutty. But since I had a fat paypal account from selling off all my old equipment and live stock, plus the fact that I had to go smaller and more contained with no fish room or anything like that, I figured what the heck. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right.

So decision made, I began the search for a 120XL Diamond Line setup. Well, it's a brand new line, so Elos wasn't shipping yet. I checked in with Coralvue who is distributing Elos now. They said sometime in the spring we should start seeing product here in the states. A few weeks later I checked back in and was told that the Elos Aqua Studio in NY (Actually, Jersey), had some coming in, so give them a call. This is where the frustration started. I can't even tell you how many times I called and emailed trying to get information. I would talk to someone, and then they were never get back to me. I would take several more calls/emails to get a response. This went on for several weeks. Even got to the point where I finally got an estimate for the tank/stand combo (I didn't want the complete system with the sump and all that) and they asked if I wanted a formal purchase order quote or whatever they called it. I said yes, and shipping would be to Houston. Never heard back. Called and left a message with one of the employees and the manager still didn't call me back. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. You have someone willing to spend THAT kind of scratch on an AQUARIUM of all things, and you don't have the common decency to at least make a phone call or shoot out a quick email? And apparently I am not the only one having problems with this store. In fact, someone else on the forums has also ordered from this store, way before I ordered, and they are still waiting. So if anyone else out there is considering an Elos purchase, I do not recommend Elos NY at all. Take your hard earned money elsewhere.

So I was googling one day and realized that Aquarium Specialty had Elos tanks on their website. It was the "old" line, but figured it was worth contacting them. I used their web contact form and just asked if they had any info on the new Diamond Line. Within an hour or two I had an email back from Scott Groseclose. Within another 5 minutes my phone was ringing. It was Scott. Long story short, he was in the middle of getting updated pricing info from Elos Italy and would be carrying the new Diamond Line. He was about to start getting that info on the website. He said he would contact Elos that day and get me the info on the 120XL. The next business day I get another call. He got the info, put the 120xl ordering information on his website, and I was able to go online and place the order. Boom. Now that my friends is customer service! So the order was placed that evening. I will never know for sure, but I think the total cost with shipping (which ended up being direct from Italy via Fedex Internation Freight) was a little more. I had to pay extra since it was going to a residence and then I needed a truck with a lift gate. But it was worth it. Because now I actually had a tank ordered. Then about two weeks later it shipped, and it took only 4 days to get to Houston. Since Scott was so awesome, I also placed the order for the other items that have been coming in. The ATI Powermodule, the Vectra L1, and the GHL Doser 2. Talk about a night and day difference in service! And they were rewarded for it. Thanks again, Scott!

So here we are! Fedex arrived this morning.
Hopefully that wasn't too boring of a story. But enough of that, here is a few pics.
Now I'm back at work, with this beauty sitting at home, partially unpacked.

A big old fedex truck backing up to my house...




There's my pallet. The last delivery.
There is a tank AND stand in there.
The stand I have to put together. Maybe I should have just gone to Ikea?




MURICA!




I thought this was neat.
All clear! But I asked Mr Fedex man to hang out for a minute while I opened it up and inspected the glass.




And we are good to go!
Everything intact, no damage.



The bundles of stand parts were sitting on top of the tank.
I'll be assembling that this week (pics to come) and then getting the tank in position.

That's all for now!


__________________
-dennis

Elos Diamond 120xl | Elos Stand | Radion G4 Pros | GHL Profilux Controller | LifeReef Skimmer | LifeReef Sump
Photos taken with a Nikon D750 or Leica M.
d2mini is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 12:28 PM   #110
moondoggy4
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: menifee So cal
Posts: 11,042
Wow nice tank, Scot is great. I have always drolled over Elos tanks and they have slipped lately with C/S so it nice to see that Scot is stepping in, so to speak.


moondoggy4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 12:40 PM   #111
zzl630
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: League City,TX
Posts: 132
Sweet tank. I like how small the overflow is.


zzl630 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 12:41 PM   #112
drummerboyevil
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 654
So effing jealous.


drummerboyevil is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 12:47 PM   #113
d2mini
Registered Member
 
d2mini's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 10,344
Quote:
Originally Posted by zzl630 View Post
Sweet tank. I like how small the overflow is.
That's actually a great point that I didn't touch on.
I'm normally a big fan of large overflows spanning the length of the tank, for surface skimming. And if it was any other tank, I never would have gone with a tiny little corner overflow.
But in this case, these new Diamond Line overflows are supposed to kick some serious booty. I believe this one is capable of flowing around 2600 gph if I remember correctly, hence the Vectra L1 purchase. And my old cube had those vented intakes at various levels of the overflow for taking in water from different levels of the water column which I always thought was a good idea. The flow is also adjustable and has an emergency system built in.
I'll try to get more pics and give a better explanation once I understand it all a bit more myself.


__________________
-dennis

Elos Diamond 120xl | Elos Stand | Radion G4 Pros | GHL Profilux Controller | LifeReef Skimmer | LifeReef Sump
Photos taken with a Nikon D750 or Leica M.
d2mini is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 12:56 PM   #114
zzl630
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: League City,TX
Posts: 132
Quote:
Originally Posted by d2mini View Post
That's actually a great point that I didn't touch on.
I'm normally a big fan of large overflows spanning the length of the tank, for surface skimming. And if it was any other tank, I never would have gone with a tiny little corner overflow.
But in this case, these new Diamond Line overflows are supposed to kick some serious booty. I believe this one is capable of flowing around 2600 gph if I remember correctly, hence the Vectra L1 purchase. And my old cube had those vented intakes at various levels of the overflow for taking in water from different levels of the water column which I always thought was a good idea. The flow is also adjustable and has an emergency system built in.
I'll try to get more pics and give a better explanation once I understand it all a bit more myself.

That would be great. I have a link here for Elos QuietDrain, I believe that's what you have. pass upwards of 5,000 gallons per hour through a single drain pipe seems a lot.
************.com/2015/09/15/elos-quietdrain-overflow/


zzl630 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 01:01 PM   #115
d2mini
Registered Member
 
d2mini's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 10,344
Quote:
Originally Posted by zzl630 View Post
That would be great. I have a link here for Elos QuietDrain, I believe that's what you have. pass upwards of 5,000 gallons per hour through a single drain pipe seems a lot.
http://************.com/2015/09/15/e...rain-overflow/
Yes, that's it.
The specs I saw for my particular tank were around 2600 or 2900 gph.
Maybe the larger tanks have a larger drain pipe.


__________________
-dennis

Elos Diamond 120xl | Elos Stand | Radion G4 Pros | GHL Profilux Controller | LifeReef Skimmer | LifeReef Sump
Photos taken with a Nikon D750 or Leica M.
d2mini is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 01:57 PM   #116
hreef
Registered Member
 
hreef's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Richmond Texas
Posts: 162
Bravo, whew!


hreef is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 04:05 PM   #117
tommyboynj
Registered Member
 
tommyboynj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 238
Youll love that tank. Buddy of mine has a 200 gallon elos and its a beauty. Youll also love those dimensions. My tank is 48*30*26 and set up as a peninsula. Initially I was going to get a 5ft tank and place it against the wall. When I had the opportunity to get this particular tank I jumped on it. It makes for a great aquascaping options being 30 deep.


tommyboynj is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 04:10 PM   #118
Mrs. Music
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Sylvania, OH
Posts: 636
Woot!woot!


Mrs. Music is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 05:22 PM   #119
sde1500
Registered Member
 
sde1500's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Glocester, RI
Posts: 3,336
Wow so the tank's return and drain can be dialed in at the overflow? And there is a high and low return for two areas of flow. That seems pretty cool, look forward to a review on how it works!


__________________
My build thread:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2548422

Current Tank Info: 65 gallon mixed reef, Eshopps sump and HOB overflow, RO-110int skimmer, Reefbreeder 32" photons V1.
sde1500 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 07:08 PM   #120
dkeller_nc
Registered Member
 
dkeller_nc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Central NC
Posts: 5,062
Curious, Dennis - Roughly how much does that tank weigh - so how many friends did you have to bribe with beer to get it inside?

I found the write-up on that other site about the Elos Quiet Drain interesting - it would seem to be a "variable BeAn Animal" in that it will work as either a normal overflow or a full siphon overflow depending on how much water's pushed through it.

I do find the claim about not using in-tank circulation and relying on a high flow from the return pump amusing. I suppose that'd be OK for a softie tank; perhaps the Elos folks have never seen the tsunami that most SPS keepers run through their tanks. In just my little 50g cube, the 4 vortechs a capable of 6000 gph, and typically run at 70% of the max, so 4200 gph.


dkeller_nc is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 07:18 PM   #121
GSMclowns
A Reef Enthusiast
 
GSMclowns's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Boston
Posts: 364
Beautiful, did you get the Absolute metal stand or the regular stand?


__________________
Bao
=================================
><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º>
·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. >((((º>
GSMclowns is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 08:38 PM   #122
d2mini
Registered Member
 
d2mini's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 10,344
Quote:
Originally Posted by sde1500 View Post
Wow so the tank's return and drain can be dialed in at the overflow? And there is a high and low return for two areas of flow. That seems pretty cool, look forward to a review on how it works!
I'm really not sure how it works yet. That review looked like it showed some kind of electronic gizmo for dialing in the return flow but there isn't anything like that included. But I got the Vectra pump for that. But yes, the drain flow can be dialed in at the overflow, so no gate valve is needed on the drain line.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dkeller_nc View Post
Curious, Dennis - Roughly how much does that tank weigh - so how many friends did you have to bribe with beer to get it inside?

I found the write-up on that other site about the Elos Quiet Drain interesting - it would seem to be a "variable BeAn Animal" in that it will work as either a normal overflow or a full siphon overflow depending on how much water's pushed through it.

I do find the claim about not using in-tank circulation and relying on a high flow from the return pump amusing. I suppose that'd be OK for a softie tank; perhaps the Elos folks have never seen the tsunami that most SPS keepers run through their tanks. In just my little 50g cube, the 4 vortechs a capable of 6000 gph, and typically run at 70% of the max, so 4200 gph.
haha, yeah i thought pretty much the same thing. No way. I still have my Tunze 6105 and might pick up another tunze. I can put these on the back wall and direct flow where I want, keeping them a little more hidden than Vortechs on the sides I think. Not 100% sure yet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GSMclowns View Post
Beautiful, did you get the Absolute metal stand or the regular stand?
I did not get the metal stand. Much too much money. My stand looks like this...



BTW, speaking of stands, one thing I was kind of shocked about is NEITHER stand option has a bottom! Your sump would sit directly on the floor! Ok I guess if you have tile but I have wood floors. We mentioned it to Nicola at Elos and he said they do it that way to keep vibrations from the sump transmitting through the stand and being amplified. Everything about the Elos is supposed to be quiet. He said he would build me something and what I appear to have gotten is two pieces of white board with big black rubber feet. Nice, but still not quite what I had in mind. I'll be looking at making an acrylic tray or something. I want spills contained. Anyway, something for people to keep in mind if thinking of buying one.


__________________
-dennis

Elos Diamond 120xl | Elos Stand | Radion G4 Pros | GHL Profilux Controller | LifeReef Skimmer | LifeReef Sump
Photos taken with a Nikon D750 or Leica M.
d2mini is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 09:12 PM   #123
reefanatik
Registered Member
 
reefanatik's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Oyster Creek, TX
Posts: 450
Sorry if I missed it Dennis but are u going to keep it open top or are u going to put a screen insert? I love my rimless but it bothers me a bit that I can still see my somewhat hidden screen, but I'm also scared of jumpers.


__________________
Custom 48x36x24 Planet Aquarium. Vectra L1 return pump, 3 mp40QDs, Ecotech battery backup. 2 MH 20k Radiums with M80 ballast, LET T5 supplemental lighting, Custom BAO sump, 36" Lifereef skimmer wit

Current Tank Info: custom 180g PA tank
reefanatik is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 09:33 PM   #124
d2mini
Registered Member
 
d2mini's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 10,344
Quote:
Originally Posted by reefanatik View Post
Sorry if I missed it Dennis but are u going to keep it open top or are u going to put a screen insert? I love my rimless but it bothers me a bit that I can still see my somewhat hidden screen, but I'm also scared of jumpers.
I may keep it open top because I might do a rock tower that breaks the surface of the water again, like I did in my old cube tank.

But if I did a screen top it would be the new ClearView frame lids from Artfully Acrylic.


__________________
-dennis

Elos Diamond 120xl | Elos Stand | Radion G4 Pros | GHL Profilux Controller | LifeReef Skimmer | LifeReef Sump
Photos taken with a Nikon D750 or Leica M.
d2mini is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04/04/2016, 09:47 PM   #125
reefanatik
Registered Member
 
reefanatik's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Oyster Creek, TX
Posts: 450
But if I did a screen top it would be the new ClearView frame lids from Artfully Acrylic.[/QUOTE]

Man i just looked them up. Deff a good call. They look nice


__________________
Custom 48x36x24 Planet Aquarium. Vectra L1 return pump, 3 mp40QDs, Ecotech battery backup. 2 MH 20k Radiums with M80 ballast, LET T5 supplemental lighting, Custom BAO sump, 36" Lifereef skimmer wit

Current Tank Info: custom 180g PA tank
reefanatik is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:49 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.