Bloke's 90g Build Thread

[Bloke]

Here is a picture of everything together. I painted the back of the tank with black Krylon Fusion spraypaint.

Also, notice the height - from the floor to the top of the canopy it's right at 72.5" or basically 6'. And being only 5'10", I will finally have a tank that I can view while standing, instead of assuming the umpiring position.

[Bloke]

I got a lot of work done today, so here goes...

I got everything plumbed and filled the tank and sump with hose water. I started everything up and watched to see if there were any problems:


Once everything was good to go, I drained the 90g (this tank and stand were still in the garage, and began to take down the 55g in the family room. I started by removing the rock and then the fish and finally drained the water. I used the sand from this tank to fill the fuge of the new sump. Once it was finally taken down, I moved it out and brought the new stuff into the house.

I began by getting the sump filled with the sand and Fiji Mud from the 55g and slide it into place. I also glued all the PVC to finalize all the plumbing. The mud sure does make the water look healthy!


While I will probably use a little bit of the water from the 55g, but I made sure that I started to mix up saltwater a week ago making ready for this transition! Always plan ahead.


Here is the little princess modeling for her application for Future Reefkeeper of America!

[Bloke]

I cut a piece of eggcrate to fit the bottom of the tank and began to fill it up. I am using Aragonite Special Grade for the substrate and will end up using about 80lbs. The DSB will be in the fuge and not in the tank, but I will add another 40lbs after the rock is in place.


The last thing I got done this evening is the line for the auto top-off. I drilled a small (1/4") hole in the baseboard and ran the line from the basement (where those trashcans full of water were) to the new tank and connected it to the float valve.


Tomorrow I hope to start the aquascaping, will connect the Coralife Turbo Twist UV after I get some 5/8" vinyl hose, and will pick up another 40lbs bag of aragonite. Whew... I'm tired. Oh, btw, the fish were moved to a precycled 29g tank where the Desjardin's Tang and True Percula Clowns have been. Hopefully I can get some of them into the tank by Saturday.

[Bloke]

Well, I did not get as much accomplished today, but I did manage to fine tune a few things.

On the return line, I did not like the hole drilled in the 1" to 3/4" reducing elbow, so I replaced it. It was spraying water through that hole into the tank and making a lot of noise. I know the hole is drilled in the elbow to act as a back syphon, but the sump I am using was originally used on a 150g tank and even if the 90g does back syphon to the bottom of the locline, there will still be plenty of room in the sump in the event of a power outage. Oh, I also bought some new locline and swapped out the fan nozzels for straight nozzels. No pics.

Second, I bought some 5/8" vinyl hose and plumbed in the UV. I bought a Coralife 9w Turbo Twist. I can only guess, but I am running around 200-250gph through it.


Lastly, I managed to get 125lbs of rock into the tank. Don't mind the lights - that's 300w and will be replaced with the retrofits mounted into the canopy, but as you can see (barely) this round of aquascaping is done.


I have no doubts the look will change as I can see more clearly what is in there. I am not extremely fond of what I see right now, but you can only do so much with round Fiji rock. In any event, as the tank begins to clear I will continue to shift and shuffle the rock to get something a little more appealing. Oh - the MaxiJets are coming out too. They are there for circulation right now. I will be using two Koralia #3 pumps (850gph each).

I did manage to check the water and everything looks good. Every bit of the rock that went into the tank was cured and 75lbs of it came from the 55g, therefore, along with the sand and mud from the 55g, I hope to not have much of a cycle. I will add the fish slowly beginning tomorrow (maybe) and will use Seachem's Stability as I add new fish.

[easye123]

lookin good man. I love that stand and canopy!!! i wish i could make somethin that nice.

keep us updated!!

[Bloke]

Well, I am not thrilled about the aquascaping, but I moved a few things around and tried to get things looking as natural as possible. It has always been my opinion that if you stack too much, it gives it less of a "natural" look and that is not my goal. For example, the top left of the rocks is BUGGING me! However, like I mentioned earlier, it is sometimes difficult to get something natural when all the rocks are round...

Anyway, here is Aquascaping Round 2. Rather than build a rock wall in the back like others seem to do, I tried to build depth to the rock. I like it to come towards the glass as well as have caves. Of course, when things get purple it always looks so much better



Any ideas or suggestions are definitely appreciated!

[Bloke]

Well, today was dedicated to getting the lighting installed into the canopy. Again, I was planning for 4x54w Actinic T5 to supplement 2x250w 10k MH along with three 3" Sunon fans to keep things cool.

DNGSPOT offered his help and even though we started late, ate a liesurely lunch, made a trip to Lowe's and two trips to Home Depot, we managed to get everything working.

Here is a shot of the project once completed:

[Bloke]

Also today, I managed to quiet EVERYTHING down quite a bit. The return line was burping and about every 15 seconds a large bubble would come out of the drain line making a loud... well, bubble sound. Anyway, while at Lowe's on one of the trips, I picked up several PVC reducers to get the noises stopped.

The drain line is 1.5" PVC and here are three reducers getting it down to 1". It's pretty cool in that it creates a funnel and the water sort of spirals out of it.

[Bloke]

Overall, except putting the side paneling back on, the project is done!

I have fish and a few corals to put in over the course of the next few weeks, but now I can sit back and look at the tank and enjoy the hours of my labor. Of course, there will always be another project, but now this thread and change from "build" to "progress." YEAH!

Here's a shot - lights on and plumbing running! It's amazing how the water clears up in a day or two!


And here is a shot of the first occupant. I have been checking my water over the last few days to make sure my pH and dKH were right as well as reverifying my gravity, etc. Things looks great and again I don't expect much of a cycle, but I'll watch it. (Also, king oz, since you were so critical of my last picture, I tried to get EVERYTHING in focus this time. ) This Desjardin's Tang has been setting in QT for about 2 weeks.


Here he is making a pit stop to the Cleaner Shrimp:

[easye123]

lookin good!!

[Bloke]

Thanks man! It's definitely been a job - but it feels good as it all comes together. And you should DEFINITELY try to build your own stand. For the money you pay for a Perfecto, AGA, etc. stand, you could make something far better with better woods and much more stable.

I, personally, will never buy another stand. For the wood, the stain, the varnish, and the hardware, I might have $250 in this stand including the canopy. There is no way you could buy something like this for 4 times that amount. Think about it!

[easye123]

ya i just bought my tank with the stand and its better than anything i could ever make.. i ended up payin two bills for the canopy o well.. when i uprgade ill prob take a while and build it all my self.

[Bloke]

$200 for the canopy?!

I remember walking into the LFS and looking at a 90g tank. They had the cheap little Perfecto canopy on it with a sign saying "Add the Cap for $175."

I built this canopy out of scrap pieces left over from the stand. Well, I am by no means a carpenter, but there are plenty of people who would be willing to share plans/ideas when you're ready. Let me know if I can help.

[easye123]

you get wat u pay for though. For 200 bucks i didnt have to worry about making one, getting all the stuff and waiting for it to be made. made my tank look incredible.

[Bloke]

By the way, my lights have been on since 12:00 and it's about 3:00. I put my hand on top of the canopy and it wasn't very hot. In fact, it was about as warm as the back of your computer monitor. The fans I am using do a fantastic job of pushing air. I think these are fans I purchased: http://www.alliedelec.com/Search/Pro...99638039AEE17F. They are far better than the IceCap or Coralife fans sold by most aquaria vendors.

Look at the specs... Coralife Fans (3" push 31 CFM and the 4" push 67 CFM) Cubic Feet per Minute https://www.aquarium-supply.biz/orde...ting_fans.html. These Sunon fans push 105 CFM. They have a metal fan instead of plastic and they spin incredibly fast; so fast the finger guards are not a suggestion, but a requirement. If you get your finger cought in these fans, it might take it off! With three of them pushing air in, it keeps things fairly cool.

My temperature hasn't raised a degree in the three hours my lights have been on, but I'll watch it to see what happens.

[Bloke]

I added the True Percula Clowns this afternoon around 2:00. The tank temp still stable and not rising and the canopy is only warm to the touch. When I reached up there, I could barely tell where exactly the MH were... I guess that's a good sign regarding any heat issues.

I also checked my water params and thought I would log them. The tank was initially filled on Thurday, July 12th... so that would make today Day 4, I guess.

pH: 8.2
dKH: 11
NH3: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
Ca: 520
SG: 1.023

[easye123]

i must of not read when u started the tank.. uve only had water in your tank for 4 days? u should not be addig tangs and perculas that fast. even if u had established LR and LS thats still way to early..

[Bloke]

It'll be fine.

There might be a slight cycle, but very little and it will be done within a few days. I've done it this way before and never had any trouble.

As long as you use estalished LR and LS, the startup is VERY fast. I also like to use SeaChem's Stability each day during the first week. It helps to establish the biofilter. As long as you add fish SLOWLY there is already enough bacteria to consume the NH3 and NO2. And the sump is full of macro to remove the NO3.

I'll watch it though and proceed with caution as I always do since the three fish in there are not the cheapest fish!

[Bloke]

OK - here is a tank shot showing progress thus far. Things are progressing swimmingly without trouble. I do get more evaporation than I thought I would, but the auto top-off takes care of things as long as I check the water params like I should. I am even seeing things starting to purple up a little bit.

Water Params Today:
pH: 8.3
dKH: 10
NH3: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
Ca: 460

You can't really see, but I do have the K3 pumps in full force and it has really help to keep algae suspended and off the rocks, etc.

I tried to get a shot where you could see everybody, but I think the Coral Beauty is missing from this picture. Right now livestock includes, from left to right, the Cleaner Shrimp, the Desjardin's Tang, the Mimic Tang, and the two True Percula Clowns. The dorsal fin of the Mimic is healing nicely after his butt-whoopin' and the only fish remaining in the QT is the Purple Tang. I do not want to add him before I add a Kole Tang, but I am trying to hold out to see if Sea Dreams can get me a Chevron Tang instead.

[theatrus]

Originally posted by Bloke
Anyone heard any reports on Fulham Electronic Ballasts?

I've used a Workhorse5 to fire 2x36w PC actinics without trouble and was thinking about buying a Workhorse7 to fire 4x54w T5. I've gone to Fulham's website and if you select the lamp type (T5 Linear HO) and then select 4x54w T5, they suggest the Workhorse 7.

Most online vendors price other T5 ballasts at twice what this ballast would cost me to run a similar setup.

I already have a 2x250w MH 10k setup, and was looking for something for actinic supplementation. I know Bogey runs 2x96 PC in her 90g and since T5 bulbs are cheaper and seem to last longer, I thought I would go this route instead of PC lighting.

Also, am I correct in my understanding that URI bulbs do not require a reflector because one is built into the bulb?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

I would run Triad T5 ballasts. Workhorses are fine, but not optimal for T5 longevity. But for that matter, I run two actinic T5s off of a Fullham WH 7 (half used), and it works.

My UVL Super Actinic T5 bulb doesn't have an internal reflector. Their VHO bulbs are the only ones I know of having that.

[Bloke]

yeah - I just bought 4 reflectors anyway and didn't go with the Workhorse. Instead, I went with Advance ballasts from HelloLights. Each ballast pushes 2x54w. No problems thus far.

DIYReef.com offers those Fulham ballasts, but I;ve heard other people complain about them, but I never really trust anyone else's wiring. Not to be rude, but when i do it, I know it's right. So when other people tell me about their lighting issues, I start wondering if they wired things correctly, etc.

[easye123]

hows the new fish!!

[theatrus]

Tank looks great!

Advance ballasts are also good for T5s.

[The Shan Man]

Wow tank looks great!!!! I am in the process of upgrading my 29 to an 85. I have alreay purchased the workhorse 7 to drive my T5HOs. Why do you not recommend this ballast???

[Bloke]

Thanks for the looks! I think the tank is doing great also...

easye123 - fish are doing great! No problems and no aggression which is good.

Shan Man - I used to run Fulham Workhorse ballasts to power my PC lighting and never had trouble. However, even though the Workhorse ballasts say that they can push T5 lighting, you cannot truly run 4x54w on a Workhorse 7. The ballasts are very reasonably priced, which is great, but I wanted to make sure I get the right color out of the bulbs.

In the long run, I think you will be happier if you went with something else, but for the money there is no reason why you shouldn't try them. I mean the Workhorse 7 will run you less than $50 to power 4x54w whereas other brands of ballasts will run you somewhere around $75 to power only 2x54w. And since you already have the Fulham ballast, give it a try and let me know how it all works out.