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View Full Version : New member and tank plans......


olsalty
11-05-2005, 11:51 PM
Hi, I just joined today, great site. Scott from Aquatic realms referred this site to me. Well, I had a 90 gallon reef aquarium about 10 years agao, but never had tons of success with it. So now I am planning another tank with research done ahead of time. I am planning on having mainly SPS and clams with one or two LPS. Here it is....

210 gallon (72LX24WX30H) AGA reef ready with Modern series stand and canopy. I will be modifying the canopy to give it more height to allow for metal halides. I will be using 2, 250w XM 10K bulbs on the ends and 1, 400w 10K XM in the middle. A 110w Actinic VHO will be in the front and back. A 4" temperature controlled Icecap fan will be mounted on each end of the canopy for heat control. One will blow in and the other will blow out to help with evaporation. I will be using large and/or show pieces of fiji premium and tonga deepwater live rock. Circulation will be provided by 4, 6100 Tunze streams on a controller, plus flow under the rock work via a spray bar type PVC/eggcrate structure and a spray bar for surface aggitation. Due to approximately 50X circulation at any given time the tank will be barebottom. The oveflows' grated edge along the top will be modified with a dremel to allow better overflow and help elliminate the chance of them getting clogged. Dursos will be used and the tops will be capped with black acrylic to prevent light, therefor algae growth as well as snails or fish getting in. The back of the canopy will have plastic mesh to prevent fish suicides. Fish and crab load will be low with moderate to heavy assorted snail load.
Now, below the tank....in the stand I plan and hope to house everything else needed except for the 1/3 HP JBJ Arctica Chiller. First, the bottom and 6" up the sides will be lined with polycarbonate sheeting to allow some degree of flooding without water leaving the stand. a 55 gallon acrylic fuge will be used with bulkheads overlfowing into the return sections of the 45 gallon sump. The fuge will either have a DSB or barebottom. Right now I am leaning towards barebottom. If I go with the barebottom I will use an eggcrate structure to raise a pile of rock rubble off the bottom of the fuge for pods production. Only chaeto will be used on a 24/7 light schedule. A powerhead will be mounted on the top blowing water towards the front of the fuge and a powerhead on the bottom blowing water towards the back of the fuge to hopefully keep the chaeto ball rolling at all time for optimal growth. Not sure on total circulation in the fuge yet, but water from the Mag Drive 18 return pump will be T-ed off into the fuge. The sump will contain a Deltec AP701 skimmer fed directly from one of the drain lines with a T to regulate flow into the skimmer. The other drain will feed into the skimmer section of the sump. Then water will flow over a set of baffles intot he return section where the Korallin Ca Reactor will be. Effluent from the reactor will feed into the skimmer for excess CO2 release. A pinpoint PH monitor will be used to monitor the Ca reactor. The sump will have enough empty space to allow for 25 gallons of overflow from the display during a power outage, siphon breaks will be used as well. All top-off water will be added via a 60gpd Kent Marine HI-S RO/DI. Dual inline TDS meters will be used to monitor the RO/DI. Some sort of auto top-off system will be implemented as well, but I am not sre exactly hwo I am going to do it yet. Also, a 25w Current USA UV Sterilizer will be plumber into one of the return lines and most likely be ran 24/7. A temoerature controller will control the 3, 200 watt Jager heaters and the 1/3 HP chiller. ALl plumbing connections to equipment will be made with true union ball valves for easy repair and maintenance.

Well, that is the long winded low down. Comments are very much appreciated.

marshalrckman
11-06-2005, 01:24 PM
Good lord! :eek2: Sounds to me like you knocked over a LFS.hahaha should be a verey nice tank once you git it set up.And cannot wait to see some pics.!Welcome to the forum!

icereefer
11-06-2005, 02:07 PM
well for one http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/icereef/welcomeIce.png
Sounds like you've done some well planing on this one.
one thing if you don't mind me suggesting on your canopy since your going to be running fans on both ends to help on your heat issues.
I would just like to let you know I did this on my canopy I learned from one of our others mods that did this and it works great.
on my home made pendant I made, I made the top out of wire mess. my pendant is about 2" from the top of my tank top, I went with the pendant so I didn't have to use fans on the ends I figured if I could have enough air space between the pendant and the top of the tank so air can draft up I should not need fans because heat rises, and it worked like a champ. with my MH on my air temp is only 2 degrees of differance between the room temp and the temp 1" from my water surface.
I made a canopy for a friend of mine. using the same design. on his 100 gal Oceanic. he hosts 250 watt 10k and 2 VHO actinics the top of his canopy I made wide open with wire mess plating and added the fans on the end pushing air out. and his tank temp only changes about 2 degrees when lights are on. I mounted the fans on each end eye level with the height of the bulbs. it's been going now for about 8 months, and he hasn't yet had a issue with heat and he's not running a chiller.
just thought I would throw this idea at you on the canopy design.
good luck and keep use posted on the up coming of your tank.
:thumbsup:
Jim

olsalty
11-06-2005, 06:23 PM
Thanks, I will definitely consider it. I really don't want to have to buy a chiller, not like the cost even matters at this point, but I know either way I will get one just for piece of mind. I can't imagine anything worse than coming home from work and seeing a melt down. But, the less it would have to be on, the better.

icereefer
11-06-2005, 06:37 PM
Heres a photo just to give you an idea what I'm talking about. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/icereef/pendant006.jpg
and I agree if you have the money to get a chiller it's better to be safe then sorry. again good luck and keep use posted .
heres my old post if you wanted to check it out how I built it...
http://www.coralforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4545&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=75

olsalty
11-17-2005, 09:32 PM
Well, I finally got the 4 6100 tunzes and controller, digital TDS guages for the RO/DI, Ca Reactor, and a 36w Turbo Twist UV sterilizer ordered today. I ordered my sump and fuge from glasscages.com yesterday. Of course, it cost extra for the special sizes I needed, but I need to use the space under the tank as best I can so I'll have to deal with it. Hopefully, before Thanksgiving I will have everything and can start putting stuff together over the holidays. Will post pics once I make some progress.

DKWICK
11-18-2005, 12:27 AM
I look forward to seeing some pics from you. Good Luck!

FishinInTheDark
11-18-2005, 12:29 AM
You must be so excited to get this all put together! Congratulations on your new purchases!