A 90 Gallon Quest For Tank Of The Month

[Zestay]

also with TOTM stands + canopy + hiding your wires play alot into peoples votes. also your photography skills. bikini mermaid shots help!! =P

chose your fish list carefully the tang police will be on you with only a 90 gallon tank as most TOTM are SPS / TANG dominated. so if you do chose a tang or 2 chose carefully. also careful with linka( orange / blue /red ) starfish probably another police attention grabber.

id get some awesome looking SPS and some rare ones. and try not to use the same coral more than once .

my 2 cents
( and the plan for my 90! )
keep your glass clean!

[druluv]

Originally posted by Zestay
also with TOTM stands + canopy + hiding your wires play alot into peoples votes. also your photography skills. bikini mermaid shots help!! =P

chose your fish list carefully the tang police will be on you with only a 90 gallon tank as most TOTM are SPS / TANG dominated. so if you do chose a tang or 2 chose carefully. also careful with linka( orange / blue /red ) starfish probably another police attention grabber.

id get some awesome looking SPS and some rare ones. and try not to use the same coral more than once .

my 2 cents
( and the plan for my 90! )
keep your glass clean!

Good Advise! It hard but I will stay away from the tangs! The pressure is on, I thought the sump would of been enough for the prize hehe: D

[MrPike]

Aquascaping a 90 is a challenge. Its the 18 depth vs 24 height thing that is killer. You have to avoid the rock wall look, but still get rocks high enough to take advantage of your height. A 120 gallon is a much better choice for a reef, but you can be creative and make it work with a 90.

Keep the rock work open, keep your stag horns on the very back and let them grow up and fill up the space. It will looks a bit ridiculous for the first 6 months while everything is growing, but ends up looking so much nicer at about the year mark.

Have you thought about what you are going to use for flow? A pair of Tunze's, or Vortech's creating an oscillating current would be very nice.

[gman0526]

Even when I'm not 100% "happy" about the way some TOTM have been selected ( I think it should be an award for regular/helpful/active members of RC not just a tank that somebody just happened to see on a random website and posted a link about...) the truth is while most TOTM are bigger tanks, not all of them are humongously big, there's even a couple of nanos in there that are truly spectacular and have been selected TOTM, so keep the spirit and don't be discouraged. Here's just a couple of them.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-10/totm/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/totm/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/totm/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-11/totm/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/totm/index.php

Make sure that your tank is unique on it's own and make your best effort to keep everything healthy, but most importantly make sure that YOU'RE happy with it. That will be a satisfaction on it's own .

PD... That Bubble King skimmer sure will help your goal

[druluv]

Originally posted by MrPike
Aquascaping a 90 is a challenge. Its the 18 depth vs 24 height thing that is killer. You have to avoid the rock wall look, but still get rocks high enough to take advantage of your height. A 120 gallon is a much better choice for a reef, but you can be creative and make it work with a 90.

Keep the rock work open, keep your stag horns on the very back and let them grow up and fill up the space. It will looks a bit ridiculous for the first 6 months while everything is growing, but ends up looking so much nicer at about the year mark.

Have you thought about what you are going to use for flow? A pair of Tunze's, or Vortech's creating an oscillating current would be very nice.

I'm taking much time on the flow part. The flow, I feel is the most important part of this tank.

I already have Tunze wave box. A very ugly looking device, but the best wave maker on the market. So this needs to be hidden with rock work or sprayed with pond filler foam to look like rock work.

I have wave 2k boxes but they wear out when you use kalk-reactors but I really think that small snalls were finding their way into the box and jamming the shaft. So no snails in this set-up. However, this device is even better than Tunze wave box. On my old 120 I used both devices and the wave action was crazy. But the box didn't last too long

The return is a wavy sea device. I may split the line and use two for the return.

In the overflow box, I have a 1 1/2 bulkhead and a one inch return. But I'll use both to feed the sump. The inch bulk head will feed the refugium, and the 1 1/2 will be split to feed the drip tray.



I also plan to have 2-3 tunze nano streams hidden on the back wall conected to multi-controller for more wave action.

The OM squirt, two lines will be under the sand bed, and two facing the front of the tank. I'm also flirting with the idea of going with two squirts and treat each 24" section as its own section with flow.

There is a lot to think about

[druluv]

Originally posted by gman0526
Even when I'm not 100% "happy" about the way some TOTM have been selected ( I think it should be an award for regular/helpful/active members of RC not just a tank that somebody just happened to see on a random website and posted a link about...) the truth is while most TOTM are bigger tanks, not all of them are humongously big, there's even a couple of nanos in there that are truly spectacular and have been selected TOTM, so keep the spirit and don't be discouraged. Here's just a couple of them.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-10/totm/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/totm/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/totm/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-11/totm/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/totm/index.php

Make sure that your tank is unique on it's own and make your best effort to keep everything healthy, but most importantly make sure that YOU'RE happy with it. That will be a satisfaction on it's own .

PD... That Bubble King skimmer sure will help your goal

Thanks for the link! I going to use tubs Xenia scrubber idea. I'll use Xenia with miracle mud in the attach fuge

[pdfb55]

You say you have a 120. That may be a better candidate for creating a TOTM. A 120 is much easier to aquascape and you could light it how you want. I wouldn't reccomend using waveboxes in a 90g that you want to be a TOTM. They take up too much room and some people dont like the look of them. For a TOTM you might want to rely on tunzes or vortech or closed loops for flow.

[druluv]

In all honesty, you are right, and I would use a 120, but the six extra inches make wifey a little uncomfortable, because it doesn't fit well in the space provided.

The wave box needs to be hidden in such away that it blends in with the rock work. The wave box is very important becauce it produces the most natural waves. If the wave box looks wack, then it will go, but I will try my best to incorporate it.

[druluv]

gman0526, Dude I hope you are right, I drop some serious cake on that skimmer

[flyguy7150]

Sorry druluv, but i'm gonna be the first 90g to get totm lol , well idk if there was a 90g totm before. I don't think it's hard to aquascape a 90g. Mine doesnt have that wall of rock look whatsoever...

[druluv]

I like the rock work. It looks like two reef islands, with the center going on forever.

[druluv]

flyguy7150, just skim your thread. Nice work! Based on your thread, I will have little room after I put in the sump.

Because of space issues, The return pump has to be internal.

I'm going with Eheim 1262 Pump :



Pump Output: 900 gph
Delivery Head: 11`6"
Power Consumption: 80 W (120V/60Hz)
Hose Connection (Suction Side): 1"
Hose Connection (Pressure Side): 3/4"
Dimensions: 8.6" x 4.6" x 6.3"
Weight: 5.7 lbs

I will spilt this between two Wavy sea pumps. I know the flow seems slow, but after reading melv website, he recommended:

Question: What size pump do I need?

Many hobbyists try to use their return pump to create massive flow in their display tank. This almost always creates microbubble problems. The flow going through the sump should be 3x to 5x the volume of the display tank. Most return pumps can easily provide that much flow without creating any microbubbles. For additional flow, consider a closed loop.

So I will have one external pump running the (2) OM Squirts, The Knop CA reactor with CO2 tank, and a Geo Kalk Reactor. I should have enough space.

[flyguy7150]

Originally posted by druluv
flyguy7150, just skim your thread. Nice work! Based on your thread, I will have little room after I put in the sump.

Because of space issues, The return pump has to be internal.

I'm going with Eheim 1262 Pump :



Pump Output: 900 gph
Delivery Head: 11`6"
Power Consumption: 80 W (120V/60Hz)
Hose Connection (Suction Side): 1"
Hose Connection (Pressure Side): 3/4"
Dimensions: 8.6" x 4.6" x 6.3"
Weight: 5.7 lbs

I will spilt this between two Wavy sea pumps. I know the flow seems slow, but after reading melv website, he recommended:



So I will have one external pump running the (2) OM Squirts, The Knop CA reactor with CO2 tank, and a Geo Kalk Reactor. I should have enough space.

thanx!!!

[kynan]

Good choice on buying the right stuff the first time around, make sure you are patient and you'll get there...better stuff does not speed up things, at least until after the 1st year when things seem to "snap" in.

Make the tank pleasing to you first, before pleasing to others!

[druluv]

Originally posted by kynan
Good choice on buying the right stuff the first time around, make sure you are patient and you'll get there...better stuff does not speed up things, at least until after the 1st year when things seem to "snap" in.

Make the tank pleasing to you first, before pleasing to others!

Yeah you are right on this, I had so many false starts, I'm really taking my time on this project.


Hey any one know any place to buy grey(Schedule 80) PVC Parts?

Well I already made a mistake. When I ordered my tank for glasscages, I always wanted to put the over flow on the back of the tank(External), instead of in the tank. However, my tank is already built and is going to be shipped next week. I shot a e-mail over hoping to make this change. I would even wait longer to get my tank, in order, to put this major detail on my tank. Hope it works out.

Good news is that I was going to get a geo kalk reactor, but I change my mind, and I'm going for Austin Oceans Kalk stirrer.
I like this one better. Anyone using this as their Kalk Reactor?

Here is a pic:


So far I have been researching zeovit as a filtration method. I really impress with the colors of the corals I have seen.

So I'm using a phosaban reactor as my zeo filter. More on this, As I learn more.

[druluv]

Look what I found:

[Fusch13]

[/B][/QUOTE] Hey any one know any place to buy grey (schedule 80) PVC Parts?

Savko.com

I order all my plumbing parts from here for my tank...

Great build so far....by the way!

[druluv]

Here is a pic of my 120, 2 years ago, I made to many mistakes and this is the reason I'm taking it slow with this tank.

[druluv]

Originally posted by Fusch13

Hey any one know any place to buy grey (schedule 80) PVC Parts?

Savko.com

I order all my plumbing parts from here for my tank...

Great build so far....by the way! [/B][/QUOTE]

Order some parts from savko, you saved me mad money! Even better, they had black piping!

[druluv]

Bad News, I can't get the tank changed for the external overflow. Oh well. Didn't even matter if I remembered any way, glasscages doesn't do external overflows

Well anyways,

Here is my first coral on my hit list:

[Fusch13]

Hey your welcome man...i know anytime i can save some money, the better it is....

[druluv]

Another problem, just got my Mini-Bubble King 180, but the foot print was suppose to be 8.5 X 8.5. The base plate that the skimmer is on is 8.5 X 8.5 but the riser tube and the internal pump extends farther than that by a half inch. I need to read the spec again, how could I miss that detail? Major bummer I need a new sump!!!! to hold my skimmer. This put a major cramp in my reef budget.

[scotmc]

You can make your own sump for short money. I have a 30 long under my 90. You can also play around with the pump to get it closer to the skimmer body.

[Reeftanks6]

was your niger trigger agressive to any fish and did he pick at any corals

[mg426]

I like your approach and your equip. Best of luck to you.