SkyStar's 100g BB Acrylic Build

[skystar]

Hello Everyone,

Back in November 2012 I purchased a used 100g'ish Acrylic Aquarium that came with a really nice cabinet. The tank itself was so-so, used for freshwater, had a blue back, and had some scratches. It also had 1/2" holes drilled on the bottom for an undergravel filter that ran into canister filters. The main reason I bought it was because it was really cheap and had a really nice cabinet.

At the time of purchase we lived in a rented condo, which didn't really have space for the tank. Fortunately we moved into a home a few months after in February 2013. The tank sat dry for most of the year until I started slowly working on it again in November 2013. During this delay I was able to order most of the equipment I planned to use.

I decided to not use the original Sea Clear acrylic tank the stand came with. Some of the seams were in bad shape and I did not really like the blue background. Also, it already had 3 holes drilled on the bottom and I did not want to add any more holes to work with the overflow/return setup I wanted. It had really thin 1/4 acrylic.

So I decided to order a new custom tank from Advanced Acrylics. John from AA was great. He took my order over the phone on Thursday 11/21, and the tank was ready Wednesday 11/27. I also ordered a matching sump that would fit perfectly in the middle section in my cabinet.

Tank Info:
100g Tank (72x18x20 1/2" Acrylic) Advnaced Acrylics Custom
-Black Back, Black Bottom, Center overflow and returns
Matching Sump
-Black Bottom, Fuge left, Return Center, Skimmer/Filter Sock Right

Here is the tank at the shop the day I picked it up:



And the sump:



Couldnt wait to get this home:



Advanced Acrylics did an awesome job on the tank and sump, I could not have been happier.

Here is a pic of the cabinet on furniture dollies in its intended location. The cabinet was originally an oak color but I painted it semi gloss black:



Thanks for reading so far, next post will be about plumbing and mounting equipment.

[skystar]

For lighting, decided to go with 2 Apollo Reef LED SolarBlast UV 6000-LB

Joe at Apollo Reef LED was great in answering all my questions before and after the purchase. Great customer service.

These are great units that are Apex ready. The 6000-LB is the longer version of the 6000 model. Full Spectrum Dimmable LED

[skystar]

Here is my ATO setup, a small RO DI unit and custom made acrylic reservoir. I had a bracket glued near the bottom to attach a float switch. Towards the top is a float valve and another float switch. A normally closed solenoid will turn water supply to the RO DI unit on and off. I plan to use my Apex to automate everything.

[calistyle]

Lots of new tanks going up! w00t

[skystar]

I used these cheap magnetic door switches to automatically control my under cabinet lighting through Apex:

[pandimus]

Looking good dude.. When you getting it wet? I lost your number when I formatted my phone. Can you pm it to me? Johnny

[skystar]

Originally Posted by pandimus

Looking good dude.. When you getting it wet? I lost your number when I formatted my phone. Can you pm it to me? Johnny

Whats up Johnny, definitely getting it wet this week! Finally! I still got your number I will send you a txt. Thanks

[skystar]

Here is my center over flow setup. Herbie method with 2 1.5" drains, and 2 3/4" returns.

[skystar]

Dry fitting the Reef Octopus DCS-170 into my sump:



Sump fits like a glove in the center compartment:

[GTboosted]

This is looking like it will be great build. What are you're stocking plans?

[skystar]

Originally Posted by GTboosted

This is looking like it will be great build. What are you're stocking plans?

Thanks, for fish, just the usual suspects (Clowns, Tangs, Angels). Corals I'm not that sure about.

[skystar]

Shot of the drain plumbing. Valved pipe on the right is the main drain into the filter sock. The pipe on the left is the emergency drain:



And return plumbing. One valve for the left fuge area will have loc-line below it, then to a manifold to the left. I ended up adding more valves to the manifold on the left compartment:



My return pump is a Reef Octopus Diablo DC-10500

[pandimus]

You're doing an excellent job

[skystar]

RO DI and ATO Reservoir in the right side compartment. Also houses most of my Apex gear. RO DI water is made when the reservoir is nearly empty, a float switch tells the solenoid to open and when its nearly full (around 12 gallons) a virtual timer expires turning the solenoid off. It also has a mechanical float valve and high float switch as a fail over. My sump will have two float switches monitoring water level, when it needs ATO water an aqualifter pump will slowly pump water from the ATO Reservoir until the correct level is reached. This will also be on a timer and have a second switch as fail safe.

[skystar]

Originally Posted by pandimus

You're doing an excellent job

Thanks Johnny, took a lot of time but I'm glad its finally happening. BTW sent you a txt.

[pandimus]

You get rock yet?

[skystar]

Originally Posted by pandimus

You get rock yet?

Yea, 83lbs of BRS Reef Saver Dry Rock. It's been sitting in my kids bathtub for almost 6 months! Luckily my wife is very patient..

[pandimus]

Nice. If you need help or seed rock lemme know.

[skystar]

This was meant to be a spare refugium, I'm going to fill it up with 5 gallons of Pond Matrix and use it to supplement my live rock.



Modified it so water is forced through the Pond Matrix rocks:

[skystar]

Still dry, can't wait to get some color in this thing





Circulation in the display will be powered by 2 Tunze 6105 Apex controlled pumps, one on each side.

[Albert184445]

I really like how nice and neat under the tank looks. Gets me wanting to get under mine and get to work lol

[skystar]

Here is a shot of my new Manifold (left compartment). A little over kill but I like to keep my options open

You can also see the loc-line I put in for the fuge section of my sump:

[Albert184445]

Looks sweat. What type of lights are those on the top to light under the stand?

[skystar]

Originally Posted by Albert184445

Looks sweat. What type of lights are those on the top to light under the stand?

Thanks for the kind words. Those are just under cabinet lights I had left over from a kitchen project.

[liquidgold]

Nice System. Can't wait to see it wet and stocked. Going to look awesome.