zerreissen's DSA Neo 105 build

[zerreissen]

After about 7 years with the 50 gallon, it's finally time to upgrade to a larger tank. As of this weekend, I have joined the ranks of the DSA Neo 105 club:

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/DSA_NEO_105.JPG

Here are the plans:
Sicce 3.0 return pump
AquaMaxx ConeS CO-2 skimmer (back-ordered)
Jebao WP-25 (on its way, may add another)
Bean Animal overflow (need to rework the plumbing in the tank)
2 AI Vegas (migrating from the 50 gallon)
Custom sump
120 lbs Fiji Pink Sand

[Big_Pun]

I love my 105 better than my 150 easy to work with and no need for big equipment

[zerreissen]

Picked up some egg crate and a few rock pieces from JJ at Zephyr:

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/rock_tower1.JPG
http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/rock_tower2.JPG

[ramsey]

That's a nice piece!

[clone]

Dude that is one sick ace piece of LR ������

[zerreissen]

Thanks! It's actually three pieces fitted together. I think it will look great in the tank.

[gcantu]

Welcome to the 105 club! I also configured mine with the bean animal overflow and it is super quiet.

[MrSkumFrog]

Very Nice! What are you going to do with the eggcrate? I look forward to more pics!

[zerreissen]

Very Nice! What are you going to do with the eggcrate? I look forward to more pics!

It's going on the bottom of the tank under the sand to help distribute any load across the bottom. Also prevents rocks scraping the glass if I move them. This is the first time I've used eggcrate like this, but it came at the recommendation of quite a few seasoned reefers. I'll post more pics soon.

[Dean]

Very nice tank buddy. Congrats! Never heard of egg crate being used like that but its sounds like a great idea.

[zerreissen]

Old tank moved, new tank in the house. Still waiting on more plumbing parts to come in, and working on modifying the sump.

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/DSA_3-12-14.JPG

Rock tower placement (looks much smaller in the tank...)
http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/DSA2_3-12-14.JPG

Egg Crate bottom:
http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/DSA3_3-12-14.JPG

[zerreissen]

Looking at the pictures, I just realized that I forgot to touch up the black paint on the back wall...

[MrSkumFrog]

So where did you find black eggcrate?

[zerreissen]

So where did you find black eggcrate?

Zephyr Aquatics, 24" x 48" sheet was $25 or so...

[350gt]

How high are the Vegas on the original tank?

[zerreissen]

I had them set at 10" AWL on the old tank. I'm not sure what they're at exactly on that makeshift stand, but I think it's higher than 10" AWL right now.

[zerreissen]

So, my Aquamaxx ConeS CO-2 finally came in today, great looking skimmer!

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/22/za5u5yzu.jpg

[zerreissen]

The tank that I bought came with a custom sump (likely from Dan, as it has his signature blocks), however, I was uncomfortable with the fact that I couldn't get the sump out without tearing down the whole tank in the event that the sump broke/leaked. I decided to cut it in half and turn it into a two piece sump, one side drain/filter/skimmer, other side fuge/return.

Pre modding:
http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/mod_sump1-1.jpeg

Fuge/return:
http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/mod_sump1-2.jpeg
http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/mod_sump1-3.jpeg

Drain/filter sock/skimmer:
http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/mod_sump1-4.jpeg

The two will be connected via bulkheads and likely flexible tubing, which I'll hopefully finish up tonight.

[zerreissen]

Finished up the sump(s). Leak and flow tests passed. The acrylic varies in color because I used scrap to cut down on costs. I know it's not the nicest looking sump ever, but it should be pretty functional. The two pieces of the sump are connected via two 1.5" bulkheads. I implemented a dump chamber and filter sock holder which forces all water through the filter socks. The socks are also super easy to replace (which hopefully will encourage me to replace them more often). I included emergency overflow holes should the filter socks clog.

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/mod_sump5.JPG
http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/mod_sump6.JPG

[Ratattooy]

Ok am I the only one that thinks that rock is shaped like a mans private part?


Airborne

[zerreissen]

Ok am I the only one that thinks that rock is shaped like a mans private part?

I guess with a stretch of the imagination? Highly deformed...

[Ratattooy]

24167


Still nice rock though

[zerreissen]

It's alive!

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/FTS-4-5-2014.JPG
http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/Tubes.JPG
http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/sump_skimmer.JPG

[Reefnub]

Looking good, wish I was that far along with my tank. Are the white 1/8" lines dosing lines and if they are where did you get that?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

[zerreissen]

Yep, they are dosing lines: alk, calcium, and magnesium. I got all of my dosing supplies from BRS, including the pumps.

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/dosing_ato_center.JPG
http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/eb4_brs.JPG

[Reefnub]

Very nice set up you have there. I think I'm going to get some of that line. Is it pretty flexible or is it stiff


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

[zerreissen]

Very nice set up you have there. I think I'm going to get some of that line. Is it pretty flexible or is it stiff


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

Thanks! It's nice to have a sink right next to the tank with cabinets to hide stuff. The line is stiff walled to be used with John Guest fittings, but flexible enough for my needs.

[zerreissen]

Tech Tip: Use a bit of vegetable oil on your bulkhead gaskets to help ensure a nice, leak-free seal!

[350gt]

Really? Its safe?

[zerreissen]

It's just enough to coat the flat portion of the gaskets, which don't come into direct contact with the water all that much. But yes, in general I believe vegetable oil is safe to use for this application, although I don't recommend dumping any in your tank...

[rrasco]

Looking good Chris.

You should also be able to use food-grade lubricant. I've never used oil.

http://www.buckeyehydro.com/o-ring-lubricant/

[zerreissen]

Thanks Robert!

I'm using all black PVC pipe and fittings from savko.com (except for the schedule 80 slip x thread tee, since I couldn't find one in black). It took me a little while to get the bean animal to proper spec and adjustment, but now it's pretty much dead silent AND starts up successfully following a (simulated) power outage.

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/bean_animal.JPG

[zerreissen]

Water has cleared up, added 20 nassarius snails, the rest will migrate from the old tank soon.

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/FTS_clear.JPG

Also migrated some live rock and chaeto from the old sump to the new sump.

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/sump_chaeto.JPG

[zerreissen]

Migration complete! Worked on this till midnight last night; everyone looks happy so far. I'll continue tweaking the aquascape for a while, no doubt; I'm not completely happy with how it looks atm. I have another Jebao WP-25 on the way, and I'll likely pick up a JBWave controller (http://www.joejaworski.com/jebao/) soon.

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/FTS_migration_complete.JPG

[zerreissen]

Sold my Flame Angel, still have my two misbar Percula Clownfish (from BSJF).

Thinking about adding the following to the tank:

Diamond Goby
3 Bartlett's Anthias
Yellow Eye Kole Tang

[clamgal]

Wow... Beautiful:thumbs_up:

[zerreissen]

Tweaked the aquascape a bit tonight. Water is a bit cloudy due to moving things around...

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/FTS_4-16-2014.JPG

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/left_4-16-2014.JPG

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/right_4-16-2014.JPG

[koa25]

Wow. Digging the aquascape. Tanks looking great man. :cool:

Sent from my SCH-I925 using Tapatalk

[zerreissen]

So, my Diamond Goby and one of my Bartlett Anthias from Diver's Den decided to go carpet surfing out of the new tank. I decided to put up a screen on the tank to keep that from happening going forward. This is my attempt at making a screen look as clean as possible on a rimless tank. I picked up some screen framing from Home Depot and ordered some 1/4" clear mesh from BRS. I then cut some acrylic triangles out and glued them to the corners for the screen to sit on top of so it would be flush with the top of the tank. Here are some updated shots:

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/fts_5-13-2014.jpg
http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/top_5-13-2014.JPG

I don't think it turned out terribly obtrusive in the end. I've since replaced the Diamond Goby and am waiting for Live Aquaria to ship out my new Bartlett Anthia. You can also see my new Neptune Automatic Feeding System hanging out on the top left corner.

[rrasco]

Not bad at all. I kept trying to figure out if I could put a top on mine but I just couldn't do it. I found my royal gramma in time to save him but lost a flasher wrasse to surfing. Other than that I've been lucky, I try to avoid jumpers. My anthias never tried.

[zerreissen]

I try to avoid jumpers. My anthias never tried.

It was my intention to avoid jumpers as well, but with my personal list of requirements, the list of fish that I could add to the tank was dwindling.

[MrSkumFrog]

I like the screen top. Can you show more pics of the corners?

[kkiel02]

Yeah I think that 1/8" clear screen is a must. I have that over mine as well and have saved many wrasse with this. They still hit it hard when feeding at times.

[Coral Chris]

very nice rock. kudos on the egg crate. Ive seen a few Reef vets do the egg crate on the bottom as well. GJ

[zerreissen]

Thanks guys! I used some leftover acrylic from building my sump and cut them into triangles, then cut the corners off (they were hitting the silicon in the corners of the tank). I still need to clean up the silicon I used to secure the corners...

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/corner.JPG

http://8178eb98aa3b1c5acb0f-6baba615fdd22958b50116503c3b7535.r45.cf1.rackcdn.c om/screen.JPG


Here's the clear netting I ordered: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/clear-netting.html

[CoryDude]

Nice screen you got there. I did the same thing but used hd bird netting in their garden section. I overlapped it to get a smaller grid. I actually saw it save a dottyback and a wrasse. Very nice, clean looking tank you have there.