Rekonn's 90g Tank

Rekonn · #1 10/24/2007, 09:56 PM

I've been looking forward to getting back into the hobby for months and I'm really excited now to finally have the chance. My wife and I just moved into a new loft three weeks ago and I've started setting up my tank again. I'm planning on making this a barebottom, half LPS, half SPS system. Below is a pic of the tank being tested for leaks, so far so good. I'll be posting more pics and details as the tank progresses.

Malster1 · #2 10/25/2007, 01:24 AM

Welcome back!

black_kapre · #3 10/25/2007, 01:51 AM

yay hes back, i don't know you but your back..........

Rekonn · #4 10/26/2007, 12:23 AM

Set up the RODI system tonight. The tap water here is incredible, only 22 TDS. Back when I lived in AZ, the TDS I typically saw was 600, sometimes spiking up to 750. I thought about just using straight tap water, but I used to have algae issues with 40 TDS water I got from RO vending machines, so I'd rather hook up the system I already have and play it safe.

So, tap water TDS at 22, after RO TDS is 1, and after DI TDS is 0. Not like they have a tough job to do, but it looks like the new filters and membrane from thefilterguys.biz are working out well.

Rekonn · #5 11/03/2007, 09:27 PM

Below is a pic of my 40g sump that I put together before moving here. I bought a used tank, measured carefully, and had some 1/4" glass baffles cut which I then siliconed in place. The sections from right to left are resevoir, protein skimmer, refugium, and return. The resevoir is something I don't see too often, but I'm really glad I have it. It holds 11g of RODI water, and with an auto topoff, I wouldn't need to add water more than once a week.

I used to have an external Panworld 50PX-X pump, and it was good, but this time around I wanted a quieter setup. So, now you can see a plugged bulkhead and an Oceanrunner 2500 pump. To make room for the new pump, I had to remove a couple baffles. I just finished doing that, and gotta say it's the hardest thing I've done in this hobby yet. Made me pretty nervous to push that hard with a razor blade. I kept thinking, one mistake, and I'd slice my hand open.

Used a fishing line, that worked a little too. After over an hour and some sweat, it was finally done.

raddogz · #6 11/03/2007, 11:00 PM

Looking good!

Rekonn · #7 11/06/2007, 02:59 AM

Thanks! Plumbing is finished now, as you can see from the pic below I'm using Herbie's method. It's a massive thread that basically says use a regular standpipe for your main drain with a screen, and have a gate valve. Dial the gate valve until the water level remains steady above the main drain. Have a backup drain just in case.

This eliminates air going down the drain like you have with dursos. No air / water combo falling down noise and no bubbles coming to surface in your sump noise. Lastly, the water level in the overflow is pretty high, so no waterfall noise source either. In addition to the backup drain I have an ultralife float switch controlling the return pump.

I needed a nice stable way to mount the float switch, and decided to try working with acrylic for the first time. It's pretty easy and cheap too! I had the pieces precut at TAP plastics, which was only $6, and the wedon #16 was like $3. I dremeled two notches where you see the zip ties. I also dremeled the vertical piece to have a curved surface where it meets the float switch. Measured so it would fit well over the tank trim, applied the weldon, clamped the pieces together, and viola!

jtarmitage · #8 11/06/2007, 03:02 AM

Nice work with the float valve in the overflow. I think I need to borrow that idea when I set up my 250g. Thanks for the idea.

Rekonn · #9 11/27/2007, 03:10 AM

Since my last post, my order from the cutting board company arrived. They cut it to whatever dimensions you specify, and will round over one side or both as a free option. I decided to go with 1/2" thick black starboard with rounded top, and cut it with a jigsaw to fit around the overflow. Fitting it into the tank with AGA's center brace wasn't easy, good thing starboard itself is a bit flexible.

I've been reading up here and in the other forums about rock, and decided this time to go with Marco Rocks. Ordering dead rock as opposed to live is cheaper, doesn't come with potential pests, and there's no hurry in working with it. My order came in a couple days before Thanksgiving, but I didn't have a chance to work on the tank until Sunday. If that was live rock I'd have a wet, smelly mess! Marco rock is very light, and is the most porous I've ever seen. I ordered a 50lb and 20lb box, and still have some left over. I've read some posts saying that it smells nasty out of the box, but my order didn't. Seemed thoroughly dried out and the smell was very faint.

Below is a pic of me starting to work on the aquascaping. I bought the cheapest 1/2" masonry bit Home Depot had and a 1/2" acrylic rod from Tap Plastics. I never drilled through rock before, and am finding it's easier than I thought it would be. My goal is a pretty simple one, just to prevent a landslide whenever there's a tremor.

hawaiianwargod · #10 11/27/2007, 10:51 AM

Looks great so far....you could also use cement (Thorite) for your aquascaping to prevent landslides...I used it on mine with no issues...the only thing about it is it will be permanent structure...

Rekonn · #11 11/27/2007, 04:23 PM

Thanks

. I may do that in the future, but right now I'm not ready to make it permanent.

One other thing I did was drill a bunch of holes for frags. I used to have sea urchins and turbo snails that would regularly knock stuff over. Plus I was never good at using crazy glue or epoxy underwater to mount frags. This time I'm going to mount them on plastic golf tees, allowing them to be stable and removable.

Rekonn · #12 12/11/2007, 01:07 AM

Here's a couple pics, two weeks into cycling now.

earthboy17 · #13 12/11/2007, 03:08 AM

Just catching up to this thread. Looking forward to tagging along. Very good so far!

How long have you been out of the hobby for? Where did you move from? (I'm relatively new, so there's a great chance that you are extremely well known in the area and I'm the only one who doesn't know you.)

What kind of lighting do you have?

fraidso · #14 12/11/2007, 07:19 AM

i just jumped on to the forum today, and i get to see a professional build his tank. Im going to be starting a 55gal tank soon, but i just want to read as much as possible so i know exactly what to expect. Observing you put yours together will definitely be a great help.

Oh, question about the rock. Been reading that live rock is more beneficial to the inhabitants. How long will it take for the marco rock to turn into live rock? i like the fact that it is cheaper and to see a reef tank starting with dead rock can work.

thanks for the session

Chris

rommelgin · #15 12/11/2007, 12:03 PM

Rekonn, where did you get that large piece of black acrylic your using to layout your aquascape? Looking good btw!

Rekonn · #16 12/11/2007, 04:00 PM

earthboy17 - Thanks! I grew up in NJ, lived in AZ for 5 years, and then moved to San Francisco in March. The apartment my wife and I moved into wound up being too small, so I didn't bother setting up the tank again because I knew we'd move again soon. In Oct we moved into a nice loft in SOMA that I think we'll be in for a while, and that's when I started the tank up again. Guess I've been out of the hobby for 8 months. I'm new here and don't really know anybody else in the hobby. Raddogz was really nice and gave me good info about the city when I was moving, that's about the longest conversation I've had with someone here and it was over pm.

The lighting I have is a 4x54W retro kit from reefgeek. The bulbs are long overdue for being replaced, and I'm planning to have that done before bringing in the first coral. The pics were taken with only two bulbs being on.

fraidso - professional

, I don't deserver that praise, but thanks, I'm glad to help. As soon as the cycle is over, the marco rock will be live rock, and I guess that'll take a month. I'll keep the thread updated when that happens. Will it have as much bacteria and be as biologically diverse at 5 weeks as rock that's been in the ocean for years? No, but over time the bacteria population will grow to be as good, if not better considering the huge amount of surface area on marco rock. As for diversity, I think it's overrated. The last time I set up my tank with LR, aiptasia and valonia were part of the diversity, and this time I'd rather choose exactly what goes in. Check out Kinetic's threads, he's setting up a sweet system now with marco rock as well.

rommelgin - that's not acrylic, that's starboard from the cuttingboardcompany. It was handy for aquascaping, but I got it mainly for the rock to sit on. I have an irrational fear of the glass breaking if the rock is directly on top, and an aesthetic preference of that surface over reflective glass. Right now it's a dusty grey because of the shedding rock, but it should be black, hehe.

wakskat · #17 12/12/2007, 02:03 AM

Let me know when your tank is up and running and I'll give you some frags. I'm in the inner sunset and work in Mission Bay.

-Mark

Rekonn · #18 12/12/2007, 12:33 PM

Thanks wakskat! I live close to the caltrain, so maybe we can meet after work sometime. PM sent.

Mikey Donuts · #19 12/12/2007, 05:59 PM

Rekonn, the tank looks very good! Before this thread I hadn't heard of Herbie's overflow. My tank (which will be plumbed next month) has two drains in the overflow so this idea is perfect! Thanks a lot!

Rekonn · #20 12/13/2007, 02:35 AM

Your welcome! I'm happy with the plumbing so far, the only thing I hear is the low hum of pumps and a little whine from the computer fan I have in my canopy. It's a Vantec Stealth that's about 2 years old now, I should probably replace that soon with something better.

Herbie · #21 12/15/2007, 05:51 PM

Hey,
Its lookin good so far. I always liked the 90's. They will fit where most 55's will fit, but with great depth and height. I may have to get one to replace my overgrown 75. I like the look of yours.

I like the idea of using the float switch as a second fail safe. Great job with that. In this hobby, things WILL go wrong, so its good to have back-up systems, for your back-up systems !!!

Good luck with it!
Later...........Herbie

Rekonn · #22 12/16/2007, 11:33 AM

Thanks! You're right, the float switch is totally redundant. As a test I completely closed the gate valve on the main drain, and the backup drain was fine on it's own. I already had the float switch though, so I still wanted to make use of it.

Only difference between a regular 75g and 90g is 4 inches in height. If yours is overgrown, I think you need to go bigger still. It's funny, when I had a 29g, the 90g seemed massive. Now I could see myself with a 180 someday.

Rekonn · #23 12/20/2007, 02:10 AM

Here's a pic of my 15g QT tank alongside my 90g. It's been running for about 4 and a half weeks now, ammonia down to 0, nitrate down to 5ppm.

jellygeee · #24 12/20/2007, 02:17 AM

Nice Tek light fixture =)

Rekonn · #25 01/01/2008, 07:35 PM

Since my last post I bought a pair of oscellaris clownfish from Robin (fingerwrinkles) and got some chaeto too. Below are some pics of them in the QT tank, so far they're doing great. For the chaeto, that got a 5 minute dip in tapwater, then a rinse under the sink, then was put in the 90g's refugium. A couple days later I added some tigger pods. Time in the display without any fish should lead to a pretty good population.

The Tek light was a big purchase that I had to think about for a while. I told my wife to take it easy on the presents this year since I've been celebrating Christmas with myself for a couple months now.