DSA 135g Starphire Reef Upgrade Build

[richfavinger]

Lots of photos, you have been warned…

Tank Specs
DSA (Deep Sea Aquatics) “Pro†135 Gallon 48x24x27 with matching DSA Pro Stand
Drilled w/ standard 3/4" Returns (x2), 1" Drains (x2)
Custom: Starphire (Low-Iron Glass) on Front Panel
DIY Latex Matt Black Paint on Back and Left panel(s)

Sump
Elite Aquatics "ELITE M2†33.5x15.5x15 - No Furge
Running BRS 4†filter socks (x2)
Reef Octopus Diablo DCS200 In-Sump Protein Skimmer
Diablo DC 5500s Pinwheel Pump, Skimmer air-line run to outside air
BRS Dual GFO & Carbon Reactor run by a MJ1200
Return Pump is a Pan World 50PX (Max Flow: 590 GPH / Max Head: 16.5')

Other Stuff
Tank Circulation MP40wES (x2) (w/ EcoTech Battery Backup)
Dosing BRS 1.1ml Pumps (x2) using BRS 3 Part (Recipe 1, via Apex)
ATO SpectraPure UPLC-II Liquid Level Controller (via Apex)

Controller
Neptune Systems Apex w/ Fusion
2x EB8 Energy Bars, 1x EB4 Energy Bar (Controlled in basement for push-button water fill), BRS ORP & pH Probes, Wireless Expansion Module (WXM) to control Radion(s) and VorTech(s), Advanced Leak Detection Module (ALD) w/ 2 Hard Surface detectors

Heater Eheim JAGER 200w TruTemp Aquarium Heater x2 (via Apex)

Lighting EcoTech Marine Radion XR30w G2 Pro LED x2

On-Demand Water Change
Pan World 100PX (Max Flow: 790 GPH / Max Head: 21’) from basement
[But I still manually syphon water to buckets for removal]

Substrate and Rock
BRS Pukanie (cured for about 5 months while waiting for tank delivery)
Rock structure underpinned by 1/2†PVC to provide safety and stability of the pillars
3" Tropic Eden Reef Flakes

And now on with the show...

I’ve been kicking around the idea of rebuilding my 75g reef aquarium for nearly 2 years now. I’ve been in and out of the hobby for nearly 20 years and the tank that currently housed the reef when I down-sized from my 125g system a few years back was pushing nearly 20 years itself.

It was one of the first large tanks I had - complete with original partical-wood stand, that always made you think twice about crawling under it. All filter equipment was hang-on, as the stand never had room for a proper sump.

It was time for a rebuild, but this is certainly not how I planed to do it.

Some time around mid-August 2013 to the beginning of September I noticed my Kole Tang was looking a little pale, but I didn’t think much of it. About a 2-weeks later my Long-Nose Butterfly fish that I had for nearly a year was acting strange and looked a little “dusty†- with in a few days he was most defiantly sick with full blown Marine Ich.

I had to setup a quarantine tank, and fast! With a trip to the local fish store. I picked up a 40g breeder, Penguin 400 power filter (both large enough to handle any fish I’d ever get later), thermometer, Ammonia Alert badge, some 3†PVC fittings (so the fish have a place to hide), some “Egg-Crate†(light defuser) for a makeshift top, and a bottle of Instant Ocean Bio-Spira Start Up to kick start the bio filter… and of course a bottle of CopperSafe and a copper test kit. - Not the cheapest setup in the world, with local prices higher then other venders. But their really isn’t much you can do, when you need it NOW!

The next day would be the move. By then I had already lost my Long-Nose Butterfly. With no time to waste… About 20 gallons of water was removed from the main display and taken to the 40-breeder tank in the basement. Rocks where moved out of the way, and corals moved very carefully as to not break any thing. Fish where caught. It was now or never for the rebirth.

Since I had no place to stock live coral, all corals where sold off over the next few weeks and went to good homes, others to the LFS (funny how people kill for frags, but don’t want to pay the worth for 8â€+ colonies.)

In the last week of September 2013 my Deep Sea Aquatics (DSA) 135g (48x24x27) with Starphire front was ordered with matching stand. Miss measurements and a bad old floor seam scraped the idea of a DSA 190g (60x27x27).

While waiting for the new tank that took longer then expected (6 months total) to arrive along with bad weather (about 2 of the 6 months, snowed in)! We did some much needed renovations and area prep.

Say goodbye to the aged All-Glass 75g

Tank area before drywall…

In the same time, about 140lb of BRS Pukani rock was ordered and setup to cure. Since I wanted all new rock…
They sent me 160lb!!! I never worked with Pukani or dry rock before...

I sacrificed my saltwater mixing station to cure the rock (for the time being)…

Mid September 2013

The poor fish in QT

The Renovations

The floor seam that nixed the 190g - Because the tank would have been 60â€, an edge would have been right on it. I just didn’t want to take that kind of risk, and therefor simply decided to avoid it by opting for a 48†- 135g system...

We still had to level it as best we could…

After sanding and primer, time for paint!

Late September 2013

Time for flooring… Extra heavy duty vinyl lock-togeather flooring. OK for damp areas… Under you can see the dreaded 9x9 asbestos tile that we decided better to leave in place after consulting a contractor friend.

Done...

Underneath, likely unneeded… but better safe then sorry… some floor jacks for extra support…

 

[richfavinger]

October 2013

Now the fun part… New reef toys… Since all my old equipment was HOB, every thing needed to be new. I also wanted to make the reef more energy efficient… It was time to ditch the 250w halides and VHO’s [48†PFO hood w/ all IceCap ballast's] … EcoTech Marines Radion Pro fit the bill. Also a nice new sump from Elite Aquatics, as well as a big bad skimmer from Reef Octopus… I already had a Neptune System Apex, so we just added to it…

Elite Aquatics M2 Sump with Reef Octopus Diablo DCS200-INT DC Skimmer

Here is the Apex EB4 power bar that will run the water change pump and saltwater mixing later. A 15’ Neptune USB cable connected it to the main Apex system upstairs.

Mid November

Stil no tank and the fish are now snugged up under some foam with 2x 200w heaters in my unheated basement…

Sadly their is not much else to the story after this point. I did all I can do in preparation to the tank. The rock was cycling and renovation work was done. Now we just have to wait for the tank… and wait and wait we did. In the meanwhile through late November, December and January 2014 we experienced one of the largest snowfalls here in PA, along with some of the coldest months in a very long time. We had almost 2-3 weeks of solid sub 30F weather with nights in the teens.

Nearly every week I lost one fish after another in the QT system. Just too stressful I guess. Keep in mind, they had been put in around the end of September 2013… do to weather, extreme cold - shipping delays - and what seemed like an all around bad experience… [with I had went with Reef Savvy] I’d not receive the tank until mid-March 2014 … thats right folks, nearly 6 MONTHS!!!

All fish I managed to cure of ich - died in holding while waiting for the tank!

In March of 2014 the LFS that I had ordered the tank from finally delivered it… Took them less then 20min to get it in the house.

The sump fit perfectly

Level it up (still a lot of dips in the old floor), lots of composite shims

Paint the back glass and left side with flat black latex paint… Did about 4 coats… Turned out GREAT!

Test fill with about 90g of freshwater, left it sit for about 2 days and fine tuned the level

Drained it and then added about 90lb of new Tropic Eden Reef Flake (also used about 30lb of well washed left over mini-flake)

Plumbed the return pump, a PanWorld 50PX around the back so it would take up less space and get good air

Plumbed with unions and duel union ball valves

Hard plumbed the sump in (that was a PAIN, but worth it)

Ran the fill line to the basement for the semiautomatic water fills

A PanWorld 100PX sends water upstairs for water changes on-demand controlled by the Apex

 

[richfavinger]

End of March 2014

We have water!!!

And first aquascape v1.0… it will change, it always does...

A few weeks later, first critters…

True Percula (Pair)

Orange Spot Goby (Pair) … the other one as hiding...

And we have to keep the critters safe so… BRS DIY screen tops…

April 2014

And I did say the aquascape would not stay long didn’t I? - I felt the layout was very “tight” with not many caves. Since I ordered enough rock expecting to do a 190g but ended up doing a 135g (a full 12” less space) the instinct was to “pile it in”. It didn’t leave much cave space for larger fish to swim.

So the right side was done with a 1/2” PVC framework, and the rock was drilled and then threaded on. This is one base rock and one flat top “V” shaped rock… A smaller “V” shape rock was threaded on a shot pipe in front that was also attached to the framework. - It’s not going to place!

A day or two later the left side was redone… a little different… I had a huge bolder rock that I chiseled out a cave in… drilled a hole through the top and placed a 1/2” PVC peg in… A top rock was drilled, and then placed on top of that. The PVC peg was placed in deep enough, but not all the way through to enter the cave and then generously glued into place with EcoTech Marine Coral Glue (Super Glue Gel).

Aquascape v2.0

End of April 2014

First semiautomatic water change. The water runs from the basement mixing station up and through the main returns. The main tank return is shut off, it’s valve is closed… the what change pump line valve is opened and then the pump is switched on. In all it takes less then 5min up pump up the standard 25g (about 20%) water change. - A water change now takes me 15-20min.

Some more new friends arrive...

Green Digitate Acropora Coral Fiji and a Chalice Coral Indonesia

Blue Velvet Zoanthus Indonesia

Blue Reef Chromis (Trio)

Acclimating - Needed to use the old Tunze magnet mount for something, right?

June 2014

And aquascape v2.5 (Messed with the rocks a little on the left)

 

[richfavinger]

July 2014

More friends… Lots of cleanup crew this time… and a bottle of live copepods (the small top box)

Cleaner shrimp (we got a pair)

Hitchhiker!

TCN Fire Echinopora Chalice

TCN Starbright Capricornis Montipora

Starry Blenny

That should have every one caught up for now… From now on, expect a slow burn… I’ll update with some more photos and any thing major going on. But for now it’s rest and recuperate… and save some money to get what I really want.

Fish so far…
Blue Reef Chromis (Treo)
Orange Spot Goby (Pair) - Pistol Shrimp and sudo replacement Pistol Shrimp, have yet to be seen
True Percula (Pair)
Starry Blenny

Major invertebrates so far...
Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Pair)
Serpent Starfish x2
Mexican Turbo Snails x3
Countless red and blue hermits, snails and a few peppermint shrimp

On the list we want…
Yellow Long Nose Butterfly
Other Reef Safe of “Fringe" Butterflies
Some kind of Tang
Some kind of Dwarf Angel
Perhaps a Rose Bubble Tip Anemone (I’ve never had one before)
Tuxedo Urchin
Linckia Sea Star
… and who knows what else

For equipment later….
Kalk or Calcium Reactor
Automatic Head Cleaner and Waste Collector for the skimmer

This has been a long time coming for me and I hope you enjoy the ride along with me...
Happy reefing folks!!!

Questions and comments welcome!

 

[danangelo]

Looks good ..great start..

 

[richfavinger]

Snagged this mated pair of Flame Angles from Divers Den... they where in the DD QT for 30 Days...
Still need to grab 1-2 more things to round off the order for free shipping... Not sure what else (coral wise)... at the moment...

Tips welcome to keep these guys happy... This will be my first Flame...

 

[Scubafrog]

Nice tank and rebuild.

 

[richfavinger]

I did say the build was going to be a slow burn. But, I am on my final month of 0% interest on my credit card that got me though all the home renovations and new appliances… So why not splurge just a little? :bigsmile:

I’ve set every thing up on this tank with all the nice things the last tank never had… a sump... huge skimmer… LED… semi-automatic water changing… and now finally, the ultimate reef junky toy… a calcium reactor…

I decided to go with a GEO 612 Calcium Reactor (rated for tanks up to 250g) and AquariumPlants CarbonDoser Electronic CO2 Regulator. The reactor will be run off of a MaxiJet 400. I did not think ahead enough for the tanks main plumbing to include tee-offs to add reactors. - That will likely get fixed some day, but not now… lining up hard lines to bulkheads was enough of a pain! Prior to the reactor I was dosing 2-Part with BRS 1.1ml Dosing Pumps run off my Apex.

The reactor is controlled by my Apex with the addition of an Apex PM1 pH Module (the Apex built in pH probe and ORP are already used on the system to monitor the tank itself). The probe is inserted in the top of the GEO 612 and is setup to control the CarbonDoser. Though my objective is to dial in the CarbonDoser so it barely ever needs to be shut off by the Apex.

At the moment the reactor is receiving about 12 bubbles-per-minute from the CarbonDoser and running around 90ml/min of effluent via the MaxiJet 400. The effluent is being controlled by a medical grade pinch valve (not a needle valve). And two high grade CO2 safe check valves are inline to protect the CO2 regulator from any backups. The reactor has settled in at a pH of about 6.6. The reactor is filled with one container of CaribSea A.R.M. Course media.

Medical Grade Pinch Valve (from Premium Aquatics)

Surprisingly enough finding a supply of CO2 was the hard part. I was going to buy a nice new 5lb or 10lb aluminum cylinder from AquariumPlants (very affordable). How ever in doing some investigating ALL local suppliers of CO2 (Paint Ball, Beer Distributer, Micro Brewery and even Welding Supply) exchange tanks… No one will FILL a personal tank. So I ended up finding a local home-brew supply store that exchanges nice 5lb aluminum cylinders. It will cost $20 per-exchange. The welding supply would have been nearly the same; but they only deal in ugly, heavy steel tanks. Either one, the initial perches for the first (full) tank was $90.

This is still a work in progress and I will have to dial in the reactor over the next few weeks by testing the tanks carbonate hardness (dKH) daily.

 

[spspirate]

Looking awesome!

 

[richfavinger]

Update 8/17

By now I suppose we’ll call this aquascape v2.6?
I decided to swap out the top rock on the left with a large, much flatter rock. I was concerned with coral placements; they really wouldn’t have any place to go with only being 2â€-3†from the top… This gives every one a little more room. The rock was drilled and threaded onto the PVC pin thats part of the cave base rock below.

As of 8/15

We also glued up some of the acclimated peaces like the Green Acro and “Mystery†Acro, as well as placed the Green and Red Mont Caps’ on the low front rock on the right.

Picked up a few new corals, and fish!

Divers Den, Flame Angels (Bonded Pair) - Added 7/16
- Doing well, eating and established, no issues… Slight SPS nipping, but NO damage… and they have seemed to calmed that down a lot...

Yellow Long Nose Butterfly - Added 8/16
- No updates yet… still kind of shy...

Tahitian Butterfly - Added 8/16
- Much larger then expected! He came in bigger then the Yellow Long Nose… Eating right off the bat like a little pig!

Pink Birds Nest - Added 8/16

Pink Stylophora - Added 8/16

ORA Blue Mont Cap’ - Added 8/16

Tank parameters are stable with no major issues…
Temp 78.8F, S.G. 1.026
pH 8.0-8.3, KH 10.5, Ca 460, Mg 1390
Nitrate sub 2ppm, Phosphate 0.00-0.03

 

[fishroomlady]

tank is looking completely awesome!

 

[richfavinger]

Here you can see the right side better... The base rock and pillar rock have been drilled and threaded over 1/2" PVC with a base like an "H" buried in the sand... The smaller front pillar rock is threaded over 1/2" PVC that was attached to one of the corners with an elbow... The PVC is glued, but the rock is just threaded over; it can be lifted off if ever need be.

This is the PVC pin used on the left side (heavily glued in!)

 

[richfavinger]

Others had asked what I used to drill the rock...
I used a 18" - 7/8" Masonry standard bit (non-hammer drill) and kept the rock wet. The bit cost me about $18. I kept the rock wet and left the bit do the work... A hammer drill was not needed, so why spend the extra money for a hammer-drill bit? [+ I don't own a hammer drill!]

7/8" x 18" Carbide Tipped Masonry Drill Bit, Drill America
7/8" x 18" OAL Carbide Tipped Masonry Drill Bit, Drill America | DrillsandCutters.com

I worked the base with a cold chisel to make them blend nicely before placing it in the tank.

 

[richfavinger]

Well that purple birds nest SPS sitting on the frag shelf on the left, just went total RTN in about 4 days...

 

[ethridge78]

Any new updates ?