90 gal Tank Thread

[Rychek]

I told Ace I would start this thread when he drilled my tank and it has been a while, so I figured I'd better get to it.

First the detailed specs (special thanks to MrCob for the layout/formatting of the specs. He made it look so nice in his thread that I couldn't help but imitate it):

TANK/STAND (I had a CPR BakPak skimmer on the tank, but the pump died and I haven't gotten around to getting the parts to modify my MaxiJet 1200 yet)
-90 gal tank 48"X18"X24"
-~120 lbs sand (mixed live and dry).
-~100 lbs Live Rock
-Light oak colored stand

SUMP/FUGE
-30 gal long DIY sump/fuge
-CSS 65 Skimmer (Soon to be upgraded)
-30 lbs aragonite live sand
-Live rock rubble
-Cheatmorpha

OVERFLOW/RETURN
-Ace made Calfo overflow with 2" plumbing
-Mag 9.5 return pump

LIGHTING (Soon to be supplemented/upgraded with T5s)
-256 Watt Current-USA SunPaq PC (2x 10K/6700k 64 watt 2x 460 nm/420 nm watt actinic) lighting

DISPLAY FLOW
-Return line (haven't completely finished this yet)
-Koralia 3 powerhead

FISH (despite the appearance in a pic below, there is no longer a blue damsel in this tank).
-2x Ocellaris Clowns
-1x Neon Gold Goby

INVERTS (I have some work to do on the cleanup crew still)
-1x Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
-1x Green Mythrax Crab
-2x Brown Mythrax Crabs (1x light and 1x dark)
-4x Red-legged Hermit Crabs
-9x Nassarious Snails
-1x Trochus Snail
-1x Mexican Turbo Snail

CORAL (nothing to get excited over because I'm just beginning to experiment with softies)
-1x Purple/green mushroom
-3x Brownish zoanthid (I had about 6 polyps, but the dark brown crab decided to have a snack this morning when I wasn't looking)

Now for the pics. These pics were taken with a Sony P&S, so they aren't the best. I've got an EOS Rebel XTI coming in the next couple days. I'm going to skip the gory build pics (unless you really want to see them).

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc246/Rychek426/90GalSetup.jpg

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc246/Rychek426/Tank3.jpg

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc246/Rychek426/Tank.jpg

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc246/Rychek426/Sump-1.jpg

[Rychek]

I forgot to mention that I have about 120 lbs of sand as well as about 100 lbs of live rock. you can't really tell from the pictures, but I put a layer of eggcrate on the bottom, added about 33 lbs of "live base rock" then put the sand in on top, so the visible rock is actually sitting on rock and not sand.

I plan on adding more base rock in the fairly near future and moving the rock away from the back glass. I'm also going to finish plumbing my return line so I can open up the ball valve on the pump and get the water flowing like it should be. I'll be adding another power head (or split the return line) to provide flow behind the rocks as well.

Anybody have any suggestion to make my tank better/safer? Constructive criticism welcome. :)

[SKNR]

Looking good Rychek
The only thing that I would suggest (and by all means I am still learning too) is to move the fuge to the middle of the sump. As any pods that come out of the fuge would be taken out by your skimmer. I know what a pain it is to redo the sump as I had to redo mine for a different reason. so from right to left skimmer, fuge, and then the return.

[Rychek]

Thanks Rich!

I originally intended to do that, but read on a different forum (before I was introduced to MAAST) that this was the best way (though I can't remember now why that was...). I'm afraid swapping the sump and fuge chambers isn't an option at this point for the following reasons.

1) I can't pull the sump out without moving the stand away from the wall (the sump won't fit out the front doors of the stand).
2) the current fuge chamber is 10" deep, which is too tall for my current skimmer. I may be able to find a skimmer that'll work in 10" of water though.

Despite the above reasons, I may may be able to swing a swap (if I can convince myself its worth the trouble/risk). I've only three small fish and two small softies, so sooner would be better than later. I'll look into it.

-Ryan

[Rychek]

I did some searching and found the thread I was reading on the other forum. The reason for putting the fuge before the skimmer was to keep the flow rate through the fuge controllable.

I think my best bet (if I were to change my sump configuration) would be to move the return pump to the middle section and have the drain empty in to the current return area (so it works more like a Model F on Melev's Reef) and leave the fuge where it is. However, do that would require modifications to my return line plumbing. Hmm.... Any suggestions/recommendations?

[Rychek]

I picked up an IceCap 660 and 3 sets of end caps yesterday. I'm planning on using T5s to replace my PC lighting. I know I need another set of end caps, but I'm not sure which bulbs to get or where to get them. I was thinking of using 2 10k bulbs and 2 actinic bulbs to start with. I'll probably get a second ballast for the actinic lights and put in 2 more daylight bulbs, but that's in the future, somewhere.

Any thoughts on this? What types of corals could I keep in a 90 gal with a 4 bulb T5 setup as opposed to a 6 bulb?

[Rychek]

Just for kicks, here are a few updated pics of my tank with new specs:

TANK/STAND
-90 gal tank 48"X18"X24"
-~110 lbs sand (mixed live and dry).
-~115 lbs Live Rock
-Light oak colored stand
-Custom light oak colored canopy

SUMP/FUGE
-30 gal long DIY sump/fuge
-Reef Octopus NW 150
-30 lbs aragonite live sand
-Live rock rubble
-Cheatmorpha
-Mangrove seedlings
-1x Peppermint shrimp (for aptaisia control)

OVERFLOW/RETURN
-Ace made Calfo overflow with 2" plumbing
-Mag 9.5 return pump

LIGHTING 2x IceCap 660 ballasts driving 6 54w T-5 with IceCap SLR reflectors with the following bulbs (front to back)
-ATI Blue Plus
-ATI Aquablue Special
-Geissman Pure Actinic
-Geissman Actinic Plus
-KZ Figi Purple
-ATI Blue Plus

DISPLAY FLOW
-Return line
-Koralia 3 powerhead
-Koralia 2 powerhead

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc246/Rychek426/FTS-7.jpg

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc246/Rychek426/Canopy2-3.jpg

[LittleReef]

Looks great! I like the rock structure. :D Not to mention the magnificent coralline algae!

[Captain Jack]

The baby-food jar adds a nice touch. haha, j/k. I like the new aquascape. Corals look great, it will be nice to see them grow out more. I think you need more of those bright orange shrooms (or cowbell :wink_smile:).

[Rychek]

That baby-food jar has been an all too permanent part of the tank for far too long. I need to find a new home for it's contents. I have too many orange shrooms as it is... need to off load a few. Cowbell? :confused: