72G Bowfront 3 years old now PICS - Page 4

Ziggy953 · 03/07/2008, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mcrist
Awesome tank...How long has it been setup?

Your plans for the new tank look great. Can't wait to see you start it.

Thanks!!!

The tank has been up for almost 3 years now. It's been moved once in those 3 years (only 3 feet but a move non-the-less).

The 210 project is going to get going in a month or 6 weeks. I have to build a 24X14' building attached to our garage to hold all of the tools and junk that is in my way. I'm looking forward to it as well!!

mcrist · 03/07/2008, 05:47 PM

Moving a fully stocked tank 3 feet must have really sucked...

Ziggy953 · 03/07/2008, 05:56 PM

Yeah it was a PITA! It didn't have nearly the amount of coral in it as it does now. I actually took everything, other then the sand, out of the tank and moved it the 3 feet. It was a multi layered project. I had a naughty damsel that I wanted out of the tank, I built a fish room directly behind the tank and we wanted to rework the rock in the tank. It was an all day from sun up to well after sun down project. I'm getting ready to do it again but everything will be going into a 210g tank.

mcrist · 03/07/2008, 06:14 PM

That's a lot more fun since your upgrading...

Ziggy953 · 03/07/2008, 06:29 PM

Yeah we are looking forward to the upgrade. I'm going to improve a lot of things about my system as well as add a few things to it.

mcrist · 03/07/2008, 07:13 PM

My first salt water tank was an Oceanic 90 bowfront tank. When that tank had a leak I upgraded to an Oceanic 215 rectangular tank. Now I have custom 450 peninsula acrylic tank that I love. We both had similar upgrade paths so I see an even bigger tank in your future.

I definitely think your 72 bow front was nicer than mine.

mcrist · 03/07/2008, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ziggy953
The tank has been up for almost 3 years now.

DUH...I just reread your thread title.

Ziggy953 · 03/07/2008, 08:24 PM

When my wife and I build a house in the next 5 years we will have a 400+g tank. I'm heading that way!

mcrist · 03/07/2008, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ziggy953
Yeah we are looking forward to the upgrade. I'm going to improve a lot of things about my system as well as add a few things to it.

What improvements are you thinking of doing?

Ziggy953 · 03/07/2008, 10:42 PM

Well for one I'm going to do a lot more planning before doing anything. I want to have everything nice and neat under the tank as well as over it. I need to do some straightening out with the current system but getting the motivation to redo certain things is tough. I'm working on it. Tonight I upgraded my return tank from a 10g to a drilled 20g Tall. I needed the extra volume in case of power outage since I added the 55g frag tank to the system.

There are a lot of things that I want to change and do differently next time around. I want elctronic ballast instead of magnetic. I will have a Aqua Controller to handle the systems needs.

I have a long long list of things I'm going to do differently as well as things I will not change. I like having an over-sized refugium. I like having redundant return pumps. Things like that.

mcrist · 03/08/2008, 09:07 AM

Redundant return pumps are nice but one thing to consider is there power consumption. Make sure the two pumps donâ€™t use more electricity than just one. When I moved to my current system I was very conscious of electricity costs and tried to find equipment that wouldnâ€™t drive my electricity bill up. I am spending the same amount or lower on electricity for my 450 as I was for my 215.

Ziggy953 · 03/08/2008, 10:59 AM

That is part of the improvement I'm planning on the new tank. When we build our house I plan on having several alternative power sources. I'm developing a power supply right now to run my 72. Testing phase in a couple of months.

Ziggy953 · 03/08/2008, 09:31 PM

Well after doing some messing around with the plumbing and such this weekend I have upgraded the under-workings of the tank. Ok so I'm using a pair of worthless wet/drys that I got for free but who cares I'm just using them for water volume and a cleaner look under the tank. As you can see I had to get creative I don't have a lot of room under the tank and I'm not going to spend the time or money to build a custom sump for this tank as I'm going to upgrade in the next couple of months. So here is what I worked out.

The whole point of this was to accomidate the additional back-flow from the 55g frag tank that I added a month or so ago. If the power were to go out before this change I would have a mess the little 10g I used as my return tank just couldn't hold all the water from the plumbing of the 55. This seems to work out very well I have about 8g of room to spare in the return tank which handles the tank and frag tank with no problems.

When I go to the 210g tank I hope to have one of those fancy jobs that Melev creates! (a true artist of acrylic!!)

Reeftanks6 · 03/09/2008, 07:33 AM

Looks good.

mcrist · 03/09/2008, 08:40 AM

Nicely done...

Ziggy953 · 03/09/2008, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Reeftanks6
Looks good.

Thanks it seems to be working well as a solution to my possible flooding..

Ziggy953 · 03/09/2008, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mcrist
Nicely done...

Thanks. It is a much cleaner look then what was there before and I have more water volume and room for back-flow when the power goes out.

turtleman9100 · 03/09/2008, 11:31 PM

Thanks for posting such a beautiful tank. It uplifts my spirits because I to have a bowfront. 70 gallon. It was a gift from my wife 2 years ago and it sat empty till about 3 months ago. I wanted a bigger, square tank as my reef tank project but I have actually grown quite fond of the bowfront. You have a beautiful tank....

Ziggy953 · 03/10/2008, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by turtleman9100
Thanks for posting such a beautiful tank. It uplifts my spirits because I to have a bowfront. 70 gallon. It was a gift from my wife 2 years ago and it sat empty till about 3 months ago. I wanted a bigger, square tank as my reef tank project but I have actually grown quite fond of the bowfront. You have a beautiful tank....

Thanks! I really like the bow and I will miss it when I upgrade to the 210. I'm thinking maybe a giant seahorse tank for the 72.

Post some pics of what you have going so far!

Ziggy953 · 03/12/2008, 10:15 AM

My heaters completely crapped out on me. My tank temp went down to 75.6 degrees. I'm bringing the temp back up slowly with the new heaters I just got. Everything seems to be ok but I guess time will tell.

mcrist · 03/12/2008, 10:32 AM

I doubt you will have a problem with that little of a temperature drop. Sounds like you caught it pretty fast.

Ziggy953 · 03/14/2008, 10:24 PM

Well I did catch it pretty quickly but I have been wanting to replace my heaters for a few weeks now. I'm not happy with the ones I was forced into because of the crisis but they will work until I order new ones.

mcrist · 03/15/2008, 09:29 AM

I personally prefer only titanium heaters.

Ziggy953 · 03/15/2008, 09:57 AM

I've been thinking about going with titanium heaters. I've looked at them several times. I may just wait til I get the new tank and worry with it then. What I have now will work.

mcrist · 03/15/2008, 11:11 AM

Go with a model that has an external thermostat and not a built in model. Having a separate controller has many benefits over the all in one styles.

03/07/2008, 05:47 PM	#77
mcrist Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania Posts: 1,598	Moving a fully stocked tank 3 feet must have really sucked... __________________ Mark Current Tank Info: 450 Gallon Peninsula

03/07/2008, 05:56 PM	#78
Ziggy953 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Owings Mills, Maryland Posts: 690	Yeah it was a PITA! It didn't have nearly the amount of coral in it as it does now. I actually took everything, other then the sand, out of the tank and moved it the 3 feet. It was a multi layered project. I had a naughty damsel that I wanted out of the tank, I built a fish room directly behind the tank and we wanted to rework the rock in the tank. It was an all day from sun up to well after sun down project. I'm getting ready to do it again but everything will be going into a 210g tank. __________________ If you want to see my tank click on the little red house. Current Tank Info: 40g Breeder - RKE - LEDs the works...

03/07/2008, 06:14 PM	#79
mcrist Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania Posts: 1,598	That's a lot more fun since your upgrading... __________________ Mark Current Tank Info: 450 Gallon Peninsula

03/07/2008, 06:29 PM	#80
Ziggy953 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Owings Mills, Maryland Posts: 690	Yeah we are looking forward to the upgrade. I'm going to improve a lot of things about my system as well as add a few things to it. __________________ If you want to see my tank click on the little red house. Current Tank Info: 40g Breeder - RKE - LEDs the works...

03/07/2008, 07:13 PM	#81
mcrist Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania Posts: 1,598	My first salt water tank was an Oceanic 90 bowfront tank. When that tank had a leak I upgraded to an Oceanic 215 rectangular tank. Now I have custom 450 peninsula acrylic tank that I love. We both had similar upgrade paths so I see an even bigger tank in your future. I definitely think your 72 bow front was nicer than mine. __________________ Mark Current Tank Info: 450 Gallon Peninsula

03/07/2008, 08:24 PM	#83
Ziggy953 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Owings Mills, Maryland Posts: 690	When my wife and I build a house in the next 5 years we will have a 400+g tank. I'm heading that way! __________________ If you want to see my tank click on the little red house. Current Tank Info: 40g Breeder - RKE - LEDs the works...

03/07/2008, 10:42 PM	#85
Ziggy953 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Owings Mills, Maryland Posts: 690	Well for one I'm going to do a lot more planning before doing anything. I want to have everything nice and neat under the tank as well as over it. I need to do some straightening out with the current system but getting the motivation to redo certain things is tough. I'm working on it. Tonight I upgraded my return tank from a 10g to a drilled 20g Tall. I needed the extra volume in case of power outage since I added the 55g frag tank to the system. There are a lot of things that I want to change and do differently next time around. I want elctronic ballast instead of magnetic. I will have a Aqua Controller to handle the systems needs. I have a long long list of things I'm going to do differently as well as things I will not change. I like having an over-sized refugium. I like having redundant return pumps. Things like that. __________________ If you want to see my tank click on the little red house. Current Tank Info: 40g Breeder - RKE - LEDs the works...

03/08/2008, 09:07 AM	#86
mcrist Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania Posts: 1,598	Redundant return pumps are nice but one thing to consider is there power consumption. Make sure the two pumps donâ€™t use more electricity than just one. When I moved to my current system I was very conscious of electricity costs and tried to find equipment that wouldnâ€™t drive my electricity bill up. I am spending the same amount or lower on electricity for my 450 as I was for my 215. __________________ Mark Current Tank Info: 450 Gallon Peninsula

03/08/2008, 10:59 AM	#87
Ziggy953 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Owings Mills, Maryland Posts: 690	That is part of the improvement I'm planning on the new tank. When we build our house I plan on having several alternative power sources. I'm developing a power supply right now to run my 72. Testing phase in a couple of months. __________________ If you want to see my tank click on the little red house. Current Tank Info: 40g Breeder - RKE - LEDs the works...

03/08/2008, 09:31 PM	#88
Ziggy953 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Owings Mills, Maryland Posts: 690	Well after doing some messing around with the plumbing and such this weekend I have upgraded the under-workings of the tank. Ok so I'm using a pair of worthless wet/drys that I got for free but who cares I'm just using them for water volume and a cleaner look under the tank. As you can see I had to get creative I don't have a lot of room under the tank and I'm not going to spend the time or money to build a custom sump for this tank as I'm going to upgrade in the next couple of months. So here is what I worked out. The whole point of this was to accomidate the additional back-flow from the 55g frag tank that I added a month or so ago. If the power were to go out before this change I would have a mess the little 10g I used as my return tank just couldn't hold all the water from the plumbing of the 55. This seems to work out very well I have about 8g of room to spare in the return tank which handles the tank and frag tank with no problems. When I go to the 210g tank I hope to have one of those fancy jobs that Melev creates! (a true artist of acrylic!!) __________________ If you want to see my tank click on the little red house. Current Tank Info: 40g Breeder - RKE - LEDs the works...

03/09/2008, 07:33 AM	#89
Reeftanks6 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: PA Posts: 3,857	Looks good. __________________ 110g Reef build in progress Current Tank Info: 110 Gallon Reef

03/09/2008, 08:40 AM	#90
mcrist Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania Posts: 1,598	Nicely done... __________________ Mark Current Tank Info: 450 Gallon Peninsula

03/09/2008, 11:31 PM	#93
turtleman9100 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Memphis, Tennessee Posts: 570	Thanks for posting such a beautiful tank. It uplifts my spirits because I to have a bowfront. 70 gallon. It was a gift from my wife 2 years ago and it sat empty till about 3 months ago. I wanted a bigger, square tank as my reef tank project but I have actually grown quite fond of the bowfront. You have a beautiful tank....

03/12/2008, 10:15 AM	#95
Ziggy953 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Owings Mills, Maryland Posts: 690	My heaters completely crapped out on me. My tank temp went down to 75.6 degrees. I'm bringing the temp back up slowly with the new heaters I just got. Everything seems to be ok but I guess time will tell. __________________ If you want to see my tank click on the little red house. Current Tank Info: 40g Breeder - RKE - LEDs the works...

03/12/2008, 10:32 AM	#96
mcrist Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania Posts: 1,598	I doubt you will have a problem with that little of a temperature drop. Sounds like you caught it pretty fast. __________________ Mark Current Tank Info: 450 Gallon Peninsula

03/14/2008, 10:24 PM	#97
Ziggy953 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Owings Mills, Maryland Posts: 690	Well I did catch it pretty quickly but I have been wanting to replace my heaters for a few weeks now. I'm not happy with the ones I was forced into because of the crisis but they will work until I order new ones. __________________ If you want to see my tank click on the little red house. Current Tank Info: 40g Breeder - RKE - LEDs the works...

03/15/2008, 09:29 AM	#98
mcrist Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania Posts: 1,598	I personally prefer only titanium heaters. __________________ Mark Current Tank Info: 450 Gallon Peninsula

03/15/2008, 09:57 AM	#99
Ziggy953 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Owings Mills, Maryland Posts: 690	I've been thinking about going with titanium heaters. I've looked at them several times. I may just wait til I get the new tank and worry with it then. What I have now will work. __________________ If you want to see my tank click on the little red house. Current Tank Info: 40g Breeder - RKE - LEDs the works...

03/15/2008, 11:11 AM	#100
mcrist Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania Posts: 1,598	Go with a model that has an external thermostat and not a built in model. Having a separate controller has many benefits over the all in one styles. __________________ Mark Current Tank Info: 450 Gallon Peninsula