115gal SPS & Frag tank build........or built.

[DrMark]

I was going to do a build on this, but ended up just taking pictures of near final outcome.
It will be a SPS dominated tank with bare bottom and likely a single species of fish...an anthia sp. leaning toward the blotched anthia, although very expensive for about 8 of them.

Tank is 115gal (36" x 24" x 30"); Frag tank is a glass cages 20" x 20" x 8"
Dual corner overlflows in main tank and a single corner overflow on frag.
Cabinets were built to match the rest of my house and my "playroom" where this tank resides.
Fuge is seperate and is fed from main tank with flow regulated by ball valve with overflow into return compartment of sump.
Frag tank drains to main drain area of sump and is fed by a ball valve regulated flow from main return to the tank.

There is a seperate chiller circuit flowing to a 1/4hp chiller.
Return pump is a Mag 12.
Thus far there are 4 Koralias for additional flow. 2 K3's & 2 K1's. Wires are hidden (hate to see the wires). This may change later depending on wave making decision. Although leaning to the new Tunze Nano Wavemaker coming out 12/08.

Skimmer is a Life Reef SVS3-24 powered by a Mag 9.5
Ca reactor is Geo Reef 612 with eheim pump.
17 gallon topoff container with Auto Top-off controller (raffle, thanks MAAST).
Main tank lighting is Current Outer Orbit Pro 669watts with two 250watt MH (currently XM 10000K) and four actinic T5s.
Frag tank has a viper 150watt MH with its stock bulb.

Tank is a bare bottom with 1/2" black HDPE.
150 pounds of rock. Rock aquascaping was a challenge to say the least. I am not perfectly happy with it, but satisfied for now. Two acrylic rods were used for stabiliation.

Ozone is hooked up but not running. ORP monitor reads 325 and no ozone tuned on. Just letting whole thing run for a while before adding anything. Rock was kept in circulated water during build so should be a minimal cycle. Prob need to add some bacteria to help things along. Mineral mud and miracle mud in the fuge.

Sorry to be so long winded, but 3 months of work in this. major trouble was the electrical. I wanted 2 dedicated 20amp circuits. Accomplished, but was difficult.
Thanks for looking!!
Mark

Pictures:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0250.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0261.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0272.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0273.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0274.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0275.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0277.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0279.jpg

[BioCube14]

clean!

[aquasport24]

very nice aquascaping, can't wait to see it fill with livestock and coral.

[stoneroller]

Dang, very nice.

[Kristy]

I propose an early 2009 MAAST meeting be at Dr. Mark's house. I want to see that tank in person in a few months! Very sweet setup!

[Texreefer]

Very nice clean look.. I like it

[apedroza]

Nice job Mark, how did you get the cords thru the overflow?? I don't see that big a hole!!

[DrMark]

Thanks! Only troubles were a couple of minor leaks where I used the 3/4" flex PVC, easily fixed, lots of unions and valves. This was my first attempt at doing the whole thing myself (Someone else set up my big tank). I really enjoyed the whole process.
Still need to add a controller, still tempted by the RK Elite. For now, timers for lights, ORP controller, and will add a pH controller for the Ca reactor.
mark

[RayAllen]

Nice Mark, beautifully done!

[DrMark]

very nice aquascaping, can't wait to see it fill with livestock and coral.
....me too. BTW, your frag is doing well in my other tank.

I propose an early 2009 MAAST meeting be at Dr. Mark's house. I want to see that tank in person in a few months! Very sweet setup!
....maybe late 2009, LOL. Long road ahead with this one.


Nice job Mark, how did you get the cords thru the overflow?? I don't see that big a hole!!
....wish I could say it was some high tech maneuver, but instead cut the cord near the plug, fed it through, and reconnected.
mark

[Bill S]

Very nice. Need to get by and see one weekend!

[topsoil]

I like the rimless look on the frag tank!

[fishn]

very nice!!!!

[SoLiD]

You sly dog you... :D

[Mr Cob]

I vaaant yo'r taaank!!!

Maybe I will Ninja loot it!:ph34r:

[swjim]

That's a great looking setup! Very nice job!

[rg]

nice setup

[DrMark]

very much appreciate the kind comments.
mark

[sharkboy]

impressive!!!

[ErikH]

I am very jealous! :) It looks great! You advanced at a rampant pace. It's cool to see how we all get swept up in this hobby. :D Congrats on a sweet tank!

[subsailor]

Very nice Mark!

[DrMark]

Thanks again! It is true I have been swept up in this hobby.
In a year and a half, I went from the original mixed reef to a total of 4 tanks.
One doesnt really count as a 3gal pico for son. I also have the original 214 gal mixed reef, a 34gal red sea max, and now this one. All 3 have their own chiller.
I admit I have gotton carried away. At least I didnt jump on either of the 600 gal tanks here recently, although thought briefly about it.
Down the road, a few years, i will be ready for the monster tank.
mark

[Iplantz]

Its times like these i wish poorness was a disease I could just be cured of :D. Very nice setup!

[glennr1978]

Looks great, good job!!!!

[cpreefguy]

Any updated pics?

[DrMark]

Those pics are current as of a couple of days ago.
Will get more as things progress.
mark

[cpreefguy]

LOL
duh

Sorry, I overlooked the date!

Biocube said it,
Clean!

[JeffCo]

Really nice job Mark. You'll be happy with the barebottom.

[DrMark]

So I will be adding livestock to the tank fairly soon.
i have been thinking a lot about flow and waves, etc.
I may forego the tunze nano wavemaker due out in Dec and change my pumps.

I want a little advice......

I have been looking at the Vortech MP40Ws for this tank.
The set of 2 of them with battery backup is likely where I am going.

But, the tank dimensions are 36" long x 30 " tall x 24" deep.

Questions:
Is two the right #?. To do countersync wavemaking you need two
Would they be placed directly across from one another on sides or one higher, one lower?

Thanks for any input.
Mark

[clone]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLYKrI0equQ
take a look at that .
i think in a tank your size two would be just fine

[clone]

also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtguWT1A55Y

[clone]

im sorry for posting so many times but look at this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQl3NMl4tmI&feature=related

[dustint21]

Here is a couple more videos! The 2nd one looks like it is around the same size as your tank! I think you can run them either way!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLPmea2II-A&feature=related
Sorry about the music! LOL!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9L2FaZwfwo&feature=related

[DrMark]

looked at the videos, some big waves created.
the tank on the right in the last video looked good.
I guess these were all with two of the MP40W mounted directly across from each other.
Thinking that might be way to go, can turn them down to 1000gph each, so thinking there is a way to make a pair of them work well for me.
mark

[rz1a]

i have two mp40w's and i cant make waves like in the video since i have a 4' tank but for smaller ones youll easily achieve that. just put them in antisync, short pulse, dial in the flow and set how often you want the powerhead to switch on/off and thats it, its really simple. pump is great but crappy for shallow tanks or tanks that have sugar fine sand. they create undertows that will pull in sand and blow it around.

you should look at reef central in the for sale forum to see if theyre selling any. lately there had been a bunch of people selling used ones really cheap.

i bought both of mine in a group buy from here http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=159161&st=140&start=140 for 360 shipped each. bought 1 at a time. cant imagine using any other pump out there

[DrMark]

i have two mp40w's and i cant make waves like in the video since i have a 4' tank but for smaller ones youll easily achieve that. just put them in antisync, short pulse, dial in the flow and set how often you want the powerhead to switch on/off and thats it, its really simple. pump is great but crappy for shallow tanks or tanks that have sugar fine sand. they create undertows that will pull in sand and blow it around.

you should look at reef central in the for sale forum to see if theyre selling any. lately there had been a bunch of people selling used ones really cheap.

i bought both of mine in a group buy from here http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=159161&st=140&start=140 for 360 shipped each. bought 1 at a time. cant imagine using any other pump out there

My tank is not shallow at 30" and is barebottom...........maybe on right track for the vortechs to work well.
Thanks.
Mark

[DrMark]

Well, despite the potential hurricane, which seems to be trending South now, I am still moving forward on this tank. Been up and running a few weeks with nothing in it. I sent water to www.awt.com (http://www.awt.com) and 14 parameters are good. I have clean up crew arriving Thurs.
I also have some frags coming today. Fairly long list and I got a pretty good package deal. Some of the frags I wasnt particulary interested in, but came with it anyways, maybe can go in one of other tanks.
Anyway here is list of what is arriving any minute, i hope:
1-orange zoos with purple rim
2-PRPE
3-tubbs blue zoos
4-AOG
5-purple deaths
6-nuclear greens
7-pokerstar monti
8-LE blue tip monti
9-LE undata
10-LE superman monti
11-blue with yellow polyp monti
12-red with blue polyp monti
13-LE idaho grape
14-purple haze monti
15-LE palawassi monti
16-LE sunset monti
17-tubbs birdnest
18-LE pink jade stoddarti
19-ORA roscoes
20-tricolor nana
21-atlantis palleta blue acro
22-Ocean's paradise rainbow milli
23-Aquarium's crayola
24-Insanely blue milli
25-blue tip tenuis
26-ORA rose milli
27-blue vermiculata
28-(freebie)- ATL blue clove polyps
29-(freebie)-aquariums blue tort

mark

[Texreefer]

Thats a nice list!

[DrMark]

Thats a nice list!

.........a nice start anyways.
thanks

[aggman]

nice frag tank, is it purchased or did you make it? i was on the garf website and found some plans for a custom acrylic tank. so i'm off to lowes, hopefully mine will look as sleek as yours...

~alex

[DrMark]

nice frag tank, is it purchased or did you make it? i was on the garf website and found some plans for a custom acrylic tank. so i'm off to lowes, hopefully mine will look as sleek as yours...

~alex

frag tank was made by glasscages.com
worked out real well.
mark

[Aquapod24]

Looks great so far Dr. Mark. Did you get any of that shipment of frags yet? I'd like to see it now.

[glennr1978]

I'd like to see some pics too!!!

[justahobby]

You should've been the one they sent to fix the space station's plumbing.

[DrMark]

After my adventure with the Vortechs for this tank (I sold them), I decided to try a different route.
I left the flow as before, with the returns and two K1s and two K3s.

However, today I added the Tunze Nano Wavebox #6206. After some playing to hit the right frequency, I have generated a nice wave. I think it will work out real well, I am very happy thus far.

I also have many new corals in there and recently added eight Lyretail anthias (1 male).
The MH bulbs I changed to two Phoenix 250watt 14000K from XM 10000K. Slightly more blue than other 14K bulbs, but they are growing on me.

i will post some pics this weekend. Has come together nicely.
mark

[DrMark]

Took a few pics. Tank coming along nicely. I am happy with the Tunze nano wavebox. I also have the Lighthouse Pro XLS controller up and running, is a great unit.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/IMG_0399.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/IMG_0401.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/IMG_0402.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/IMG_0433.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/IMG_0484.jpg

[cpreefguy]

Wow Mark, just wow!
Love it. Everything looks so healthy and happy.
Keep up the good work.

[DrMark]

Not entirely SPS, as needed some stuff down low. Tank is tall.
Here is what is in there:
Down Low:
Nuclear Green Palys
Purple Death Palys
AOG Palys
RPE
Tubbs Blue Zoas
Radioactive Green Zoas
3 other unnamed reds and orange zoas.
ATL Blue Clove polyps
Micromussas

UpHigh:
Superman monti
Pokerstar monti
Rainbow monti
Sunset monti
Red with blue polyp monti
LE Palawassi monti
LE Tyree undata
ORA Supernatural monti
Idaho Grape monti
Purple haze monti
Tubbs mystic blue
JG yellow milli
$500 Efflo
ORA Roscoe's
ORA True Oregon tort
ORA Blue voodoo
ORA Plum crazy
ORA Purple plasma
ORA Electric green birdsnest
ORA Red planet table
ORA Pearlberry
Aquaholics Tommyknockers (prostrata)
Tyree Phonape birdsnest
Tubbs purple birdsnest
Tyree Pink lemonade
Paletta lovelli
Acropora meridiana
Alien eye chalice
Alligator eye chalice

mark

[LoneStar]

The photos are not showing for me......

[txav8r]

Can't see them either...

[cpreefguy]

I can see them

[SoLiD]

I can see them

Really, I couldn't see them last night and I still can't see them...

[cpreefguy]

Really, I couldn't see them last night and I still can't see them...
Yeah, I could see them last night, and can still see them :D

[DrMark]

Dont know what happened to the pictures, they were there last night.
Will try again.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0399.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0433.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0402.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0401.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0484.jpg

[txav8r]

Thanks for reposting the pics! That looks awesome!!

[stoneroller]

... and the pink aussie zoas? Any shots? Sadly, mine are gone. Awesome tanks!

[Aquapod24]

Nice pics but let me tell you all something.... These pics do no justice to this tank in person. It has a really nice actinic blue tint throughout. Thanks for the grand tour again Doc! :applause:

[RayAllen]

Very beautiful tank Mark, Love the Anthias!

[apedroza]

great looking tank Mark!!!

[DrMark]

... and the pink aussie zoas? Any shots? Sadly, mine are gone. Awesome tanks!

Those are in the other tank, 214gal, I grew your one polyp to about 30 or so. I will get a picture for you.
mark

[DrMark]

Nice pics but let me tell you all something.... These pics do no justice to this tank in person. It has a really nice actinic blue tint throughout. Thanks for the grand tour again Doc! :applause:

Glad you came by. I should have the ro/di for you very soon.
mark

[Aquapod24]

Wow thanks again sir. By the way, that Milli is really happy and fuzzy lookin!