A 90 Gallon Quest For Tank Of The Month

[druluv]

Hi everyone, My goal is to make my Reef Tank of The Month. But I'll need as much help as possible to make this happen.

I just purchased a tank from GlassCages.com. It should be here on Jan 5 2008, you know I can't wait.

Tank Specs:

90 Gallon 48L X 18W X 25H (Starphire glass panels)
Custom Stand and Canopy.

Sump:
Triggersys BERLIN sump with attached REFUGIUM.

My first goal is to get my lighting & Protein Skimmer straight.

My lighting: I'm thinking about 4 t-5 tek retros with 2 pfo mini HQI

How do you guys feel about pfo mini pendants? Can they fit a 400watt bulb?

[druluv]

Here some pics of the Sump:

[druluv]

The sump also has an effluent box. So the water coming from the CA reactor can be monitored. The box aslo has a place to neatly place ph probes. I hope this keeps my system neat.

You can also see a refugium to the left. I will us a coralife pc to light the refugium.

In the middle I will place a protein skimmer there. I'm thinking about Bubble King Mini. Its looks like a plug n play skimmer, and I don't wan to waste a whole bunch of time adjusting the skimmer.

I really love this sump!!!!

[druluv]

More pics of the Effluent box:

[druluv]

Here is part of my lighting set up:

I hope these are good reflectors, but they are the only hqi retros available.

I need a small retro HQI set set up so I can fit more t-5 in my canopy.

Here is a pic:


Link:
http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=1537#

specs:
Product Description:

* Advanced parabolic reflector design, shaped out of the highest quality polished aluminum mirror material.
* Designed for 1 250W Metal Halide HQI lamp.
* Mirror finish for up to 99% reflectivity.
* Fully assembled sockets with bracket (250W version).
* High quality, spring loaded contact inside the HQI socket to insure the lamp makes a more true contact.
* UV glass shield included.
* Dimensions: 11"L x 6"W x 3"H

[sirreal63]

I used a pair of those reflectors for a temp lighting system until my LumenArcs came in...they are horrible. Hot spots and shadows. Spend the money on real reflectors, it does make a difference.

[TheOtherReefer]

Nice sump, keep the pics comin

[pdfb55]

thats a pretty ambitious goal. Looks like you doing good so far. What are your plans for livestock? Keep the pics coming

[druluv]

Originally posted by sirreal63
I used a pair of those reflectors for a temp lighting system until my LumenArcs came in...they are horrible. Hot spots and shadows. Spend the money on real reflectors, it does make a difference.

Are they really that bad. I really need the space for my t-5 bulbs. The strength of the lighting is really coming from the t-5 bulbs, but I like the shimmer lines from the metal halide. Do you think I should go with the icecap or pfo mini reflectors

[carb850]

Your going to run a 400W bulbs but the main strength will be from your T5's?

[pledosophy]

I have that reflector and like it pretty well. JME I run a 150w HQI out of it.

Sump looks kinda cool.

Let's here some stocking plans.

[sirreal63]

No kidding. Yes those reflectors are horrid.

The ReefOpticsIII would be a better choice. With only 18" width you made a poor size choice in having a tank custom made if your goal was to squeeze all that lighting in there.

A pair of 250 watt bulbs would be plenty and you would have room left for a few T5's. If you are going for shimmer you should know that fluorescent lights will dull out some of that shimmer.

[USC-fan]

I use 2x ROIII with 250w 14k de bulbs. You could still fit maybe 2x t5 also in there with them.

To get TOTM with a 90gal you are going to have to spend A LOT of money on rare coral/fish. It is a lot easier to win TOTM with huge tanks.

[scotmc]

I would like to see a 90 TOTM. It could be done, with a lot of planning. The problem is, you just don't have room for error. Everything must be perfect and rare corals a must. You would probally have to create something that has not been seen before. I like the goal, but don't sell these TOTM short. They are very established tanks with owners with lots of experience.

[druluv]

Thanks for the love

Originally posted by pdfb55
thats a pretty ambitious goal. Looks like you doing good so far. What are your plans for livestock? Keep the pics coming

Live stock is going to be mostly Acros, birds nests, montis, and a limited amount of small fish. I like the real exotic type fish.

I have been wooed by the zeovit filtration method, any one has any sucess with it?

[druluv]

Originally posted by carb850
Your going to run a 400W bulbs but the main strength will be from your T5's?

I'm actually going to run 2 double ended 250 watt HQI bulbs. However, I feel that a get more spectrum choices with ho bulbs.

[druluv]

Originally posted by scotmc
I would like to see a 90 TOTM. It could be done, with a lot of planning. The problem is, you just don't have room for error. Everything must be perfect and rare corals a must. You would probally have to create something that has not been seen before. I like the goal, but don't sell these TOTM short. They are very established tanks with owners with lots of experience.

You are right about that, however, the TOTM should not be all about size. A properly matained 90 should have the same shot as a 350 gallon beast.

[scotmc]

With a 90 your room for error is very low. In a larger tank you can hide more thigs, that just don't look perfect. You have less room to create something that flows and looks natural. I would go with smaller rocks.

[druluv]

I'll try the reflectors I bought, if they're wack I will change them. Being 6" wide, this should allow me to fit 4-5 HO (ice cap 430 ballasts)Bulbs. I will also fit 4 bulbs inbetween the MH fixtures(tek ho reflectors). I will be using a dual galaxy 250watt ballast

[Lucky-rc]

Originally posted by druluv
You are right about that, however, the TOTM should not be all about size. A properly matained 90 should have the same shot as a 350 gallon beast.

I hope we all use the same judgment in this. I look for the livestock... health, color, ect. the tanks over-all look. is it clean, well kept area around it... ect.
I don't look at the size, anyone can gave a massive set up, But skill is what makes it worthy of TOTM... IMO. The guy that has kept a SPS with a Softy and 3 leathers in a 10 gallon nano with a pair of clowns and their babies for 5 yrs. has a shot at TOTM. This shows skill w/o miss. I've seen 300+ gal. tanks where people could not even keep a snail alive....BUT they did have a big tank?

In short... Build your 90 gal. put your heart into it and love it. If I see this comitment in it you'll get my vote.

Lucky

[druluv]

With my lighting settled, here is some more equipment:

Reef Keeper/ Premium Aquatics Controller:


For Flow: Wavy Sea/ 4 way OM Squirt



CA Reactor: Knop

[druluv]

Originally posted by Lucky-rc
I hope we all use the same judgment in this. I look for the livestock... health, color, ect. the tanks over-all look. is it clean, well kept area around it... ect.
I don't look at the size, anyone can gave a massive set up, But skill is what makes it worthy of TOTM... IMO. The guy that has kept a SPS with a Softy and 3 leathers in a 10 gallon nano with a pair of clowns and their babies for 5 yrs. has a shot at TOTM. This shows skill w/o miss. I've seen 300+ gal. tanks where people could not even keep a snail alive....BUT they did have a big tank?

In short... Build your 90 gal. put your heart into it and love it. If I see this comitment in it you'll get my vote.

Lucky

Its always fun to be the underdog hehe

[DaveP]

IMO your biggest challenge will be aquascaping and coral placement. Should be natural looking, yet unique and have depth to it.

Good luck!

[druluv]

Starting to plan out the filtration. I like the zeovit method, and I want to incorporate their filtration set-up.

So for protein skimming I'm going with a bubble king mini 180 skimmer.



http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merch...ode=bubbleking

My other choice was going to be an Aqua-C 180, but my experiance with them involved a lot adjusting. A good skimmer overall but I don't want to fiddle with them again. I know they are expensive but most of use spend mucho dinero on live stock anyway.

This was one of the reasons I wanted a 90 gallon. Bigger tanks are very expensive and energy hogs.

[druluv]

Originally posted by DaveP
IMO your biggest challenge will be aquascaping and coral placement. Should be natural looking, yet unique and have depth to it.

Good luck!

We are on the same page with this one. I already started picking out rocks I want. I plan to buy more rocks than needed, but only use the ones that I feel help with the look of the tank.

This will be the slowest tank build ever