Brew's 90G. Quick Video update.

I'm planning on setting up a sump/fuge. I have a lot of space in the bottom of that stand, so I'll have to see what I can put in there. If i use the Wet/dry, it will temporary, but I'd rather just do plumbing once. I have a pretty healthy group of mangroves growing in an "in tank" fuge in my current tank, so they'll be going in the fuge.

To be perfectly honest, I haven't done enough research on wet/dry to give a valid opinion on if they work well or not. It's just so bulky, and doesn't leave much room for the kind of sump I have in mind.

Awesome to hear. I don't have a water supply close to my tank, so I'll have to mount it in the garage, and get a big tote to fill/mix salt water in.

This is going to be an expensive setup. Eeek.

Lighting wise I've decided on this

Sunlight Supply Tek Light High Output Fluorescent Lighting Fixtures

I'll need some advice on choosing bulbs. At this point in time I'm wanting to try mostly softies (I've only ever run a FOWLR tank), but I think that setup should support most anything I throw in there, Right?

 

You might be able to use the pump, and you are right about only doing the plumbing once. It's not worth the hassle. Wet/Dry filters are okay, but they require more maintenance than they are worth. the bio-balls(if not cleaned on a regular basis) end up just making nitrates for you.

You might just re post that sucker back on Craig's List...hahaha!

 

Lol. That's what I was thinking about doing.

I'm concerned that the pump is going to be too loud. The guy I bought the tank from said it made quite a hum. I'm not cool with a loud pump in my room. I'm thinking I'll be ordering a submersible to put in the sump.

 

Wall done, tank painted, holes drilled, put in place!

Wowza. I've done quite a lot in the past 2 days.

My bedroom, where I have put the tank, had this hideous green / mirror felt combo on one of the walls. I'm pretty sure it could have aired on the 70's show. It has bothered me for a long time, but I never did anything about it.

Naturally, I wanted the tank to be in good surroundings to make it look as nice as possible, so I started the carnage and got rid of the mirrors. It was way more involved than I thought it would be. I ended up tearing off some of the dry wall, and had to redo a lot of it. Nightmare. Anyway, it's over. I painted the wall a light grey, which matches my stand, and the tank nicely.

I also drilled the tank stand, cleaned out the tank, and painted the back black.

 

I would think you would be fine with about anything in the tank as long as you got some quality bulbs.

I would recommend ATI, I use these. Also Geissman, and UVL are both good too.

 

Ordered first batch of equipment!

Thanks for the input so far, everyone.

Last night I placed an order for a Spectrapure 60GPD RO/DI unit, a 200g worth box of Reef Crystals, as well as a Hydor Theo 400w Heater, and a Koralia Evo 1400gph powerhead. (all from Marine Depot)

I still can't decide what I want to do about sand. I love the idea of a very fine sand, but keep reading about complaints of it causing a sandstorm in the DT with very little disturbance. I'm thinking I'll probably go with an argonite bed, as I have in my 29.

The shipment will probably take around a week to get here. Once I set up the RO/DI unit, I'll go pick up some argonite from the LFS. I'm guessing I'll need around 80lbs of it to get a 2 inch bed. It should take a couple days to fill the tank up with the RO/DI unit running most of the day. Then I'm get the heater in there, throw some live rock in from my 29, and seed the sandbed with a few cups of argonite from my current tank. Get that little cycle started, and order a lighting setup within 2 weeks from then. ;D

 

So tonight was my first night off in a while. I worked 14 hour days the past 3 days, have today off, and am signed up to work the next 3 days. The hospital I work for is very very short staffed, so I'm wayy into overtime, and getting hourly bonus... I should be able to order my lights and some other stuff pretty soon.

I have the RO/DI system I ordered running into my tank right now. God, is it slow... I only have 45-50 PSI going into it at the moment, but it'll have to do for now. Right now, tank is right around 1/2 full. I'm expecting that by the time I leave for work tomorrow night it should be almost done. I've put enough reefcrystals into the tank for 88 gallons or so, and I just put in the powerhead and 400w theo heater to get things going. Tomorrow morning I'm going to head to the LFS to try get some rock and figure out what I'm doing about a sand bed. I have argonite in other tank... I love the way it looks, and how it doesn't blow around, but I'm interested in some sand shifting fish later on, so I'm wanting to get something a little finer. I'll talk to the guys and see what they have.

I moved some of my "nuked" rock into my 29G a few weeks ago, so that it could start to grow some bacteria. It's already covered in diatoms, so things are obviously working well. Tomorrow after I get some sand in the 90, I'll throw a couple of cups of sand from the 29 on top of it so that it starts to seed. I also need to order a new test kit (they charge an arm and a leg for them at the LFS) so I can start keeping track of things. (I haven't tested the water in the 29 in about 6 months... don't judge me).

I'll post pics of what I return home with.

I need to start working on a stocking list. I can't tell you guys how excited I am to be able to get a good variety of fish. The limits of a 29 gallon tank are so painful.

I think the most exciting moment is going to be adding my clowns from the 29 to the 90. It's going to be a MAJOR upgrade for them. I can't wait until the tank is ready for an anemone to really get them happy.

I'll be browsing tank builds to get some ideas. Expect lots of questions from a relatively inexperienced reefer!

 

EDIT: nevermind, the pics from my phone are so crappy.

I'll upload them shortly from my computer.

 

Update.

Ok, so ignore my last message. I tried to upload some pics via tapatalk, but they were so crappy.

So here is what's going on:

My tank is almost completely full via my RO/DI system (pictured). The system is running well, but very slowly, as I have poor pressure, which I'll address later on.

I made a trip to the LFS to pick up 90lbs argonite and roughly 40lbs of rock. It was $2/LB, which for them, is pretty cheap. I came home and did some rockscaping, used some epoxy to ensure nothing would topple over.

Have a 1400gph powerhead running and my new 400W theo heater.

I went to Lowe's today to get some final plumbing parts. I had a wet/dry lying around and a return pump, which were very easy to plumb. I figured I'd get the overflow working and let this system start to cycle before I rush into throwing a sump together before it's totally planned out. I'm going to take my time on the sump, but allow this wet/dry to run for now. I left the bioballs out, so I'll just be throwing some rubble in there and a skimmer. I'll turn on the skimmer and throw a phosban reactor in once the cycle is complete.

I'm guessing it'll be about 3 hours before I have enough water to turn on the return pump and see how things work out.

;D

 

New aquascape!

Plumbing is working great.... power cut is safe, siphon breaks nicely.

Today I hit up the LFS again, and picked up some more rock.

I've spent hours putting together my aquascape, but it just doesn't look totally right to me yet. It's like when you're playing the guitar... and friends think it sounds awesome, but you just KNOW you're playing that ONE note wrong.... the song just doesn't work for you, even if your family / friends say it's great...

Aquascaping truly is an art. I'm not sure I'll ever be totally happy with how it looks.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I threw on an old florescent light so it is visible. I'm hoping to order my T5 fixture this week sometime.;D