The beginning of something beautiful......

[90greefman]

So to make a long story short I love this hobby for the corals. My wife hates/loves this hobby for the fish. I currently have a 90g reef tank. My wife always asked when can we get more fish, my response was never because the load will be too much. Sooooooo after two years of this I finally realized this was an opportunity for me to get a bigger tank. The next time she asked I quickly replied the only way we will get more fish is if I can get a bigger tank, hence this thread. Enjoy...

Let's start with the tank. This is a 120g rr tank from my favorite lfs in Colorado, Aqua Imports in Boulder. I have had my on this one for awhile. Glad I could finally grab it.
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Next is the stand. Nothing special but it looks nice and my wife approved of it. That's all I have to say about that.
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Next is my sump. I am very excited for this. It is a 40g breeder tank that will be modified to my likeings. I have some new toys to fill it so I will add pics later of those.
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And last is my overflow kits for now. I didn't know they even had these until Mike at the store told me they did. Man does this make my life easier.
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That's it for now. I should be getting some new toys over the next week. Until then I will be working on some plumbing and layout of the tank. Also I have NMM.(No more money). This will be a project spanned out over the next couple months so hopefully it will be up by the end of September. Will post more pics as I go.

Thanks for looking.

[BloodyWelsh]

So far seems like a good start! What are you planning to do for lighting?

[90greefman]

Originally Posted by BloodyWelsh

So far seems like a good start! What are you planning to do for lighting?

That my friend is tremendous question. I currently use a Suntek T5 system that I am in love with. However my lfs has some very nice 120w LEDs they are selling I am very interested in. They way I see it is, they run cool, last 5 years and will work very nicely. I currently buy new bulbs for my T5 every year which runs 150 so technically I could be saving a little money. However that could all change as I go.

[tmgrash]

I think LED is the way to go. Do some research though and get the ones that are right for you. There is a tremendous difference in quality, par output, expected life, spectrum, etc. with leds. I personally have the Aquaillumination leds and think they are great, I'll never go back to MH/t5.

[strike2867]

I bought that stand(in 18 inches) for my 90. My plan was to place a 30 gallon inside. The problem is now there is barely enough space to do anything in there. I had to get the 1 gallon jugs for my dosing/ato. It is a pain, so watch out.

[Grandreef 2]

It's not fare, I wish I could get a system that big, it took my 2 1/2 years of saving birthday money to obtain what I have today and a lot of my equipment are hand-me-downs from other systems for half the price. Cant wait to see it set up.

[90greefman]

Originally Posted by tmgrash

I think LED is the way to go. Do some research though and get the ones that are right for you. There is a tremendous difference in quality, par output, expected life, spectrum, etc. with leds. I personally have the Aquaillumination leds and think they are great, I'll never go back to MH/t5.

That is good to hear. Kind of why I am doing this thread to for feedback and ideas.

Thank you

[90greefman]

Originally Posted by strike2867

I bought that stand(in 18 inches) for my 90. My plan was to place a 30 gallon inside. The problem is now there is barely enough space to do anything in there. I had to get the 1 gallon jugs for my dosing/ato. It is a pain, so watch out.

Agreed. I just realized that tonight. My back up is to sit the stand off the wall a bit and put a custom ato behind it. We will see. The nice thing is my 90g is still up and running so I am not in a huge hurry so I can trouble shoot these issues.

[90greefman]

Originally Posted by Grandreef 2

It's not fare, I wish I could get a system that big, it took my 2 1/2 years of saving birthday money to obtain what I have today and a lot of my equipment are hand-me-downs from other systems for half the price. Cant wait to see it set up.

I hear ya. This is 2 years of wishing too. I bought a lot of my equipment from the used seller forum on RC here so I got some pretty good deals. Without that I probably could not have done this. I will post pics as stuff arrives.

[Paco]

I have that same display tank, same sump tank and those overflows. Funny thing is those overflow kits are about $40 or so, and yes, I could make them cheaper, but it had everything I needed and made my life SO simple. Money well spent I think.

For lighting I did pendants and love them -- Lumenbrights, Radiums, Icecap Ballast. I hung them from the ceiling. I don't have pics just now because I lost my picture hosting but I should have them back up next week.

[90greefman]

Originally Posted by Paco

I have that same display tank, same sump tank and those overflows. Funny thing is those overflow kits are about $40 or so, and yes, I could make them cheaper, but it had everything I needed and made my life SO simple. Money well spent I think.

For lighting I did pendants and love them -- Lumenbrights, Radiums, Icecap Ballast. I hung them from the ceiling. I don't have pics just now because I lost my picture hosting but I should have them back up next week.

Would love to see a pic of how you did your sump set up if you get a chance. Also your tank. Couldn't agree more on the overflow kit. I figure for all the time I could have spent at HD trying to figure out what I needed, I spent an extra few dolllars to have it all put in one kit for me.

[James404]

Good start!!!!

[90greefman]

Here is something I noticed too. On the bottom of the stang it had these whimpy supports on the side only stapled in.
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So you can see I added a few nails on the side to help support the staples.
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And then a few 2x4's never hurt anything. That should be more than enough to support the extra weight.
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[90greefman]

Forgot to add I added the extra supports because I didn't think what was there could support the 40g sump I was putting in. Seemed like a lot of weight for such little support.

[Paco]

Originally Posted by 90greefman

Would love to see a pic of how you did your sump set up if you get a chance. Also your tank. Couldn't agree more on the overflow kit. I figure for all the time I could have spent at HD trying to figure out what I needed, I spent an extra few dolllars to have it all put in one kit for me.

I'll be home next week and will re-upload the pictures to a new host and add them back to the my build thread.

For my sump I did a basic three chamber with the return in the middle, skimmer on left, 'fuge on right. The skimmer chamber is smaller than the return chamber, which is the conventional wisdom, but now that I have a great ATO, it really doesn't matter, so I'm probably going to swap the skimmer and return pump. This will give me a lot more room for my skimmer and my filter-sock hanger bracket and make it much easier to change my filter socks. It's such a pain right now that I'm not using socks for over six months.

You can look over my build thread by clicking my username and the clicking for my "home page". There's no photos but there is a build budget. On second thought, maybe you don't want to see what I spent .

[90greefman]

Originally Posted by Paco

I'll be home next week and will re-upload the pictures to a new host and add them back to the my build thread.

For my sump I did a basic three chamber with the return in the middle, skimmer on left, 'fuge on right. The skimmer chamber is smaller than the return chamber, which is the conventional wisdom, but now that I have a great ATO, it really doesn't matter, so I'm probably going to swap the skimmer and return pump. This will give me a lot more room for my skimmer and my filter-sock hanger bracket and make it much easier to change my filter socks. It's such a pain right now that I'm not using socks for over six months.

You can look over my build thread by clicking my username and the clicking for my "home page". There's no photos but there is a build budget. On second thought, maybe you don't want to see what I spent .

I have a good idea what you spent as I set a reasonable budget for this bad boy. LOL. I am considering the exact same sump as you described. Will wait for a pic as I am still waiting for my return sump to show up in the mail. Also my sump is glass so I will probably have it drilled professionally as I only have experience drilling 1/4" to 1/2" holes in glass.

[Paco]

Originally Posted by 90greefman

Also my sump is glass so I will probably have it drilled professionally as I only have experience drilling 1/4" to 1/2" holes in glass.

Go submerged pump: no sump drilling. Having run an external pump on my first tank, I'll never do another until I'm at the 180+ gallon size tank and need a Dart. Eheim 1262 is perfect for a 120 and dead silent submerged.

[90greefman]

Originally Posted by Paco

Go submerged pump: no sump drilling. Having run an external pump on my first tank, I'll never do another until I'm at the 180+ gallon size tank and need a Dart. Eheim 1262 is perfect for a 120 and dead silent submerged.

Too late. Already bought the external pump. I can always change it up though if I don't like it and go with the eheim. I have 3 submerged pumps in my 90 gallon and in summer time it gets hot. I am experimenting with the external pump to see if it makes a difference. We will see.

[Makenna]

Originally Posted by 90greefman

Too late. Already bought the external pump. I can always change it up though if I don't like it and go with the eheim. I have 3 submerged pumps in my 90 gallon and in summer time it gets hot. I am experimenting with the external pump to see if it makes a difference. We will see.

Although I would agree with you normally, the ehiems are an exceptional pump and woudl likely add less heat than your externals. Just something to keep in mind.

Good Luck on the build, its nice when you are not in a hurry!!

[strike2867]

Originally Posted by 90greefman

Too late. Already bought the external pump. I can always change it up though if I don't like it and go with the eheim. I have 3 submerged pumps in my 90 gallon and in summer time it gets hot. I am experimenting with the external pump to see if it makes a difference. We will see.

It does, but a simple fan inside the stand lowered the temperature 4-5 degrees in my 90. It also gave me the ability to control the temperature. I have an internal RIO, a bunch of other large pumps and 2x250 MHs , the temperature stays under 81. The house is at 75-77.

[90greefman]

Originally Posted by strike2867

It does, but a simple fan inside the stand lowered the temperature 4-5 degrees in my 90. It also gave me the ability to control the temperature. I have an internal RIO, a bunch of other large pumps and 2x250 MHs , the temperature stays under 81. The house is at 75-77.

That's a good idea with the fan. I will think about that as I ponder how I want to do the plumbing.

[90greefman]

So I got a few new toys in the mail today. Here is my knob c calcium reactor I bought in the used equipment forum. I have never used one before so I scares the daylights out of me setting it up and making the adjustments. Any thoughts on setting it up in the sump or outside of it would be appreciated. Also wondering peoples thoughts on ph controllers hooked up to solenoids on these things. LMK
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Here is an old co2 tank and regulator I had from my kegorator back in the college days. Hope it still works.

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And last is my favorite of them all so far, the tunze nanowavemaker. AHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhh.....I have been wanting one of these bad boys for awhile. Also purchased for a great price on the used equipment forum.

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Got some tinkering to do. Will post more as progress is made.

[90greefman]

So I received my return pump today. It is a genx pcx40 and it is awful. It is so loud I can't believe anyone would use one of these. Good thing I can return it, which is exactly what I am going to do. I'm amazed on some reviews I read people actually said this thing was quiet. Regardless, anyone know of a quiet external pump? If not I am simply going with the eheim 1262.

[Paco]

Eheim 1262. You'll thank me later

[90greefman]

Originally Posted by Paco

Eheim 1262. You'll thank me later

Done and done. When everyone that has viewed your thread says the same thing it's pretty much a no brainer from there. Appreciate the feedback.