90 Gallon Build from Scratch. El Paso Tx

[pnavarro170]

[pnavarro170]

[IMG][/IMG]

[pnavarro170]

temporary light of course

[pnavarro170]

rock decided to be placed like this, not me.


sand in, now we wait

[pnavarro170]

a few days later. here is the base of the tank, more equipment comes in in a few days, like a great hang on skimmer. and more stuff will be ordered next week, refugium, uv sterelizer, vortech, and hopefully halide lighting. any feedback is more than welcome.

[James404]

Lookin good so far but why a hang on skimmer? You have that cabinet underneath you could do a sump/fuge with a nice in sump skimmer...

[pnavarro170]

i know i know, i had success with my last 120 reef, all hang on. so now im stepping it up with this tank, equipment wise, and trying the sps game. for some reason i prefer the hang on stuff to where i can control everything seperately. plus the skimmer i ordered is the new octopus lx2000, should be bad ***.

what is the main reasons for going with sumps besides the bit cleaner look?? im open to change, just wont happen untill i do a 180 gallon at least.

[James404]

Sumps benefit by adding extra water volume,you can add a refugium which you can use for nutrient export as well as a spot to keep things like heaters and skimmers so you can get these things out of your display. From what I have heard most HOB skimmers are garbage but I have no experiece with them.

[pnavarro170]

well yeah those are the obvious benefits, and like i said i will do a sump when i do a bigger tank in the future, plus buying the best HOB skimmer on the market im sure they have come along way just like everything else. im adding a cpr medium refugium for sure. gonna follow what i did with my 120 reef only all the equipment will be the best i can get. i had great success with it even using a remora pro. this should be way better than that on a bit smaller tank. ill keep this updated and going as i go. thanks for the knowledge, ive been out of the game for a while. so keep it coming.

[wickedfish]

The main reasons i did the 90 g display with refugium (chaeto to reduce posphates and to house a good pod population, now wires in the tank walls or glass more interior room more water volume and more flush on the back,) I have the fish only with all those negatives I mentioned wires and hang on the back skimmers, uv,+ canister filter. I dislike that look it looks well not clean and just too many things going on in site. search my you tube chefesteban 1st reef tank something like that, my tank is now 90% sps compared to 70% in the video. The video is lame and not to good on the quality but you can see how much cleaner a sump is. Good luck all in all your the one that has to decide on whats best.

[robsnnny]

why go from a 120 down to a 90 and lose the 6 inches in depth ?
i sold my 90 and went to a 120.
Just curious?

[pnavarro170]

the 120 reef(soft) that i had and was deep(4ft) and great, but for now the 90 seemed like a perfect fit im trying to build a house next year and just thought about moving the damn thing, over all it was an apt thing. this will be my first try at an sps tank, and ill take what i learn here, and hopefully have a 180 or bigger when im fully settled into a house. this just had to hold me over untill then cuz i couldnt take not having a tank anymore, but i am trying to get the best of the best on this one anyhow.

120 soft corals with t5's
or 90 hard corals with halides. doesnt seem like im downgrading to me.

technically this will be my 3rd real tank, did a 55 with some fish, learned some, went to a 120 reef learned alot. now its time to step it up with this one and learn more.

[pnavarro170]

actually here is a picture of my old tank, like 4 years ago, no idea why i have the small rufugium inside that was only there till i added the bigger one, and this was very early in the process, i wish i would have taken pics better, im making sure of that now.

[James404]

Originally Posted by pnavarro170

actually here is a picture of my old tank, like 4 years ago, no idea why i have the small rufugium inside that was only there till i added the bigger one, and this was very early in the process, i wish i would have taken pics better, im making sure of that now.

old tank looked good, I look forward to seeing how this turns out!

[pnavarro170]

thanks, it means alot, cuz that was technically my first tank i did really, 55 gallon with random fish doesnt count haha.

[pnavarro170]

heres the latest

[rholguin]

What light fixture are you going to use and what are you going to use for water movement. Btw nice start and looking good.

[pnavarro170]

already ordered a vortech mp40, and the icecap reef illuminations halide combo. should be pretty sweet.

[zangmann]

I don't think Cash likes the new tank too much.

Are you going to add a canopy?

[pnavarro170]

haha, no canopy though. light fixture will be black, should look sleek.

[rhinonm]

How do you like the skimmer. Its the new octoXP1000S with the bubble blaster pump, right? I want that skimmer so bad but I hate (understatement) the red. Why didnt they make it black to blend in?

Also I downgraded from 125G with a sump to a 65 36x30x18 with an overflow box that I use to hide the HOB skimmer, heater, phosban reacter ect. I hated having a big return sump pump, the added heat, flooding from power outages ect. Much cleaner, quieter, fail proof method!!

[pnavarro170]

Originally Posted by rhinonm

How do you like the skimmer. Its the new octoXP1000S with the bubble blaster pump, right? I want that skimmer so bad but I hate (understatement) the red. Why didnt they make it black to blend in?

Also I downgraded from 125G with a sump to a 65 36x30x18 with an overflow box that I use to hide the HOB skimmer, heater, phosban reacter ect. I hated having a big return sump pump, the added heat, flooding from power outages ect. Much cleaner, quieter, fail proof method!!

so far the skimmer is a beast, taking out gunk right away, and its brand brand new. also i had a remora running on the tank the week before. i really think the red is cool, and for everything being HOB its gonna look pretty clean, vortech pump should be here soon, and im hiding the heater in the return part of the skimmer. the skimmer needs to be broken in, and ill keep you guys updated.

[pnavarro170]

oh here is a video of my tank, now remember this is after only 1 week, and im missing pretty much everything. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_bEZFtCH78

[velvetelvis]

I like it! Very sleek, and a lovely shoal of chromis. What kind of corals are you planning on?

[pnavarro170]

Originally Posted by velvetelvis

I like it! Very sleek, and a lovely shoal of chromis. What kind of corals are you planning on?

thanks, yeah again its gonna be simple and not crowded with corals, but i want to get just around 10 sps colorful frags and let them grow, not to much not to little, i am planning on having a good amount of fish, i actually got a male and female blue jaw triggers today. lights are off and the female is shy, ill post pics later.