new 90g reef build

[craigory44]

so i guess i should say that this is my first saltwater tank and i have spent the last year reading every post on this forum to make sure i do it right. i guess ill start off with where i started off; the tank. 90 gallon reef ready tank with corner overflow. i have a friend that custom built the stand for me that is 38" tall instead of the standard 30" that is at the stores. i hate having to bend over to look into the tank and the extra 8 inches really helps. i also got it built with a huge 24"x38" front opening so that i could get the sump (35 gallon) into and out of the stand without having to remove the display.

[IMG][/IMG]

unfortunately the one piece of trim on the right didnt take the stain very well but ah well adds character right? anyways so that was back in march and after almost 10 months and waaaay too many late nights watching how to's and other vids on youtube i got the tank set up and cycling.

[IMG][/IMG]

[craigory44]

there is about 130 lbs total of rock; 120lbs being dry "man made" rock and 10 lbs live rock to seed the tank. ive also hit up all the LFS's and got a cup of sand from each of their displays to help. my plans for now is a softie/LPS tank with maybe an anenone and as many fish as i can get in there comfortably. current stocking list is hopefully:
-Kole yellow eyed tang
-yellow tang
-2 bangaii cardinals
-pistol shrimp/watchmen goby pair
-flame angel
-6 line wrasse
-possibly a mandarin down the road
-2 clowns w/ bubble tip anemone
-2 jawfish
-cleaner shrimp

let me know if this is too much for a 90 cause i know the number is high but they're mostly small.

[craigory44]

i built a water station based off of the space i had and many different setups on the forum. im still waiting for my uniseals from brs but until then heres what i have; sorry for the crappy angles i have it tucked under the return plenum on my furnace:



for water filtration i may have gone a little over the top.... i have a spectrapure maxcap 180gpd 5 stage ro/di unit filling a 45 gallon barrel. before the spectrapure i installed an aquafx dolphin i had lying around from a previous setup i purchased and am using it as a "pre-filter"/for drinking water. im not using the ro membrane but just installed a 5 micron sediment filter and carbon block. i figure its not doing much for my ro/di but for drinking purposes its gotta be better than those brita filters right?

[craigory44]

one problem with the reef ready" tanks is they come with a durso drain that in my experience isnt very quiet, so i wanted to install a herbie style drain. i dont know if this has been done before but to do this on the tank without drilling any more holes i had to get creative... this is the result of my brainstorming and about 50 bucks in fittings and pipe:

the 2 drains running to the right and the return nipple on the bottom left


ran the return up the back


and into the same spot the loc-line would return originally


had it set up like this for 2 days now with no leaks and almost silent overflow!

[craigory44]

and a whole shot of the sump:

[Salty Dog24]

Looks Good!

[Mrbh22]

Love your scape! I wish I had enough rock to make a tall scape like that. I have a very similar (proposed) stocking list. Keep us updated with how it all comes together!

[craigory44]

oh man it took me the better half of last saturday afternoon to get the rock stable without hitting the glass! thanks guys ill do my best to keep the updates coming

[Cymonous]

Looks good. Do you get any vibration through the return pump plumbing and stand? I have a 65 with corner overflow and had changed my plumbing similar to what you have, but the vibration through the return plumbing through my canopy was too loud. So, I put it back to single drain and single return through the overflow.

[Leanan]

Looks good, keep the updates coming!

[chrisfont23]

Very nice!

[Mussin]

Looks good, those SWC skimmers kick butt. I have the 160 cone in my 90 and it is a beast!

[craigory44]

Originally Posted by Cymonous

Looks good. Do you get any vibration through the return pump plumbing and stand? I have a 65 with corner overflow and had changed my plumbing similar to what you have, but the vibration through the return plumbing through my canopy was too loud. So, I put it back to single drain and single return through the overflow.

i have a little vibration but not too much, i cant hear it at all from other end of the room where i sleep (12 feet away).

its day 9 in the cycle and i have a brown algae bloom consuming most of the sand and a good portion of the rock,
parameters are showing:
temp: 77 deg. F
ph: 8.3
ammonia: ~2ppm
nitrates: ~6ppm
calcium:3-350ppm
alk: ~11.5dkh

i used instant ocean sea salt mix for the cycle but when i start doing water changes i have instant ocean reef salt mix and seachem salinity that i will be using once i start water changes and have dosed calcium, magnesium, alk and iodide to try to get some proper levels to promote coralline algae growth. also when should i set up my refugium and add macro algae? LFS said wait till readings are all 0 but ive read other places that i should add sooner. whats your take? and is it safe to add some scarlet hermits yet to control algae or should i wait for ammonia and nitrates to hit 0?

[CoralReeForrest]

Wow! Looks awesome! Keep the pics and updates coming!!!

[craigory44]

day 11 and my readings are as follows:
phosphates: 0ppm
nitrates: 5ppm
ph: ~8.3
calcium: 400ppm
alk: 11dkh
ammonia: 0.25ppm

picture of the tank with algae bloom

[BlindZide]

Don't add anything until that ammonia hits 0ppm. Nitrates at .5 are tolerable but don't let it get higher. That may actually benefit depending on what corals you are keeping. I set my refuge up as soon as my ammonia hit 0ppm and I had some live stock to dirty the water as to not starve the macro algae. Macro algae will help consume Phos & Nitrates if present.\

What are you using for flow? Are those koralia 425s?

[CoralReeForrest]

You don't need to have the lights on for your cycle by the way. Looks great still!

[craigory44]

Originally Posted by BlindZide

Don't add anything until that ammonia hits 0ppm. Nitrates at .5 are tolerable but don't let it get higher. That may actually benefit depending on what corals you are keeping. I set my refuge up as soon as my ammonia hit 0ppm and I had some live stock to dirty the water as to not starve the macro algae. Macro algae will help consume Phos & Nitrates if present.\

What are you using for flow? Are those koralia 425s?

thanks for advice, and yes they are i have 3 of them for now, i have 2 tunze 6045's on order that ill add before any corals. im hoping this should be enough flow for most softies/lps

Originally Posted by CoralReeForrest

You don't need to have the lights on for your cycle by the way. Looks great still!

thanks for the tip! i like looking at the tank when i can but maybe ill cut the lights down to 2 hours a day or when im actually in the room

[craigory44]

shipment of goodies from brs black friday sale came in today!

[CoralReeForrest]

Gah how you already get yours!? Mine will be here friday!!!

[craigory44]

ammonia has been at 0 for a week now so i figured it was time to add the first fish, few days i added 10 scarlet hermits and 10 margarita snails too. yesterday i also added 3 peppermints, and 2 molted already so good signs of whats to come i hope!

[BenBradford]

I always have used more inexpensive damsels or chromis to cycle tank. Patience is the key here. I would wait 2-3 months for tank to truly settle before making any major changes. This is a good time to read and plan

[craigory44]

so i was busy over christmas. bought the rest of my livestock and got some tunze powerheads, titanium heater that better fits in my sump, and a bunch of additives and other goodies. the stocking list now sits at:
1 Kole yellow eyed tang
1 yellow tang
1 atlantic blue tang thats still yellow
2 clowns
1 royal gramma
1 6 line wrasse
1 firefish
1 emerald crab
1 cleaner shrimp
3 peppermint shrimp
1 tiger tail sea cucumber
35 red leg hermits
30 margarita snails.

couple more inverts will be added when im done school in the spring but thats pretty much it for fish.






every time i try to grab the veggie clip out of the water i get "attacked" by this guy, quite amusing actually: