93 Gallon Fish Only Quarter Cylinder Build

Feet4Fish · Feb 20, 2015

I just kicking off this build but am so excited. So far most of this build is in my head. I have the tank and the skeleton of the stand. There is a lot to follow, but I will document t every step of the way.

I am going to throw out all my thoughts and I welcome your feedback ...

Stocking

Absolutely want - Australian tusk, volitans or fuzzy dwarf lion, blue jawed trigger, majestic angel

Considering - Toby puffer, bottom dweller ( scorpion v sea goblin), indigo hamlet

Want but probably bad idea - wartskin angler, small boxfish

My wife really wants - blue hippo tang and yellow tang

Aquascaping - considering rock or rock with live plants. Also have received quote on custom synthetic coral insert. Not sure. My wife loves the idea of instant colors with the fake corals.

Filtration - Jeff at lifereef is building me a custom trickle filter, refugium and protein skimmer. Before you bash on then trickle I talked to Jeff and Jim Stime about the trickle. Both feel with the depth and the relatively little water surface area that it would be best for oxygenation. Additionally will have UV and likely (if needed) an algae scrubber or possible GFO/carbon instead of algae scrubber. All filtration will be in basement.

Will have ro/di into in basement with water mixing station.

In Tank Circulation - thinking maxspect gyre 150 mounted vertical.

Lighting - not sure but currently leaning toward aquamana LED.

There are some of my thoughts. Critique and ask away. I am in early stages and not committed to anything yet.

Feet4Fish · Feb 20, 2015

Tank and skeleton of stand. My father in law ( a contractor) is going to build a canopy to ceiling and finishing the whole thing off to match the trim to give it a built in look.

stunreefer · Feb 20, 2015

Awesome! :thumb: Pay no attention to misinformed people bashing trickle filters. I use them throughout my office as they're efficient as heck, particularly coupled with a good skimmer.

Be careful adding the big time swimmers in a tall tank with small footprint like that. Chances are the tusk and tangs will become very stressed as they grow. They should be afforded long lengths to swim back and forth.

Feet4Fish · Feb 20, 2015

I can let go of the idea of tangs easily. The tusk is hard... That is my jewel fish in the tank! Any favorite dish of yours you think would work in there?

stunreefer · Feb 20, 2015

Man I love them too! Unfortunately I've seen them grow so fast that I've had to remove them from 8' long tanks numerous times and move into one of two public aquariums I have connections at.

I have lots of favorite fishes, particularly angels. Maybe go with a pair of majestics or consider some other Pomacanthidae? Really it boils down to what do you want to keep. Have to keep yourself interested! I just foresee the tusk outgrowing that tank within a year or two if properly kept, even starting with a 2-3" juvenile.

Feet4Fish · Feb 20, 2015

Thanks for the info. Your knowledge and experience is exactly why I wanted to post this.

SeahorseKeeper · Mar 5, 2015

I'm interested in seeing how this comes together. Please keep us posted! :)

Feet4Fish · Mar 5, 2015

Sure thing! It will be a slow build for two reasons. Those being I won't do it right and not rush it and some cash flow priorities.

Feet4Fish · Mar 23, 2015

I want to throw something out and am hoping for great feedback. If you read my first post in this thread you can see my filtration plan was a wet dry with skimmer, UV sterilizer and possible and algae scrubber or chemical filtration. As far as the algae scrubber in that scenario I was thinking a hang on glass upflow style.

Now here is where I need your help.... I met a gentleman from a LFS (Inland Aquatics) who helped pioneer and perfect algae turf scrubber. He has been running these systems since the early 90s or perhaps even earlier. He uses this filtration and only this ... No skimmer, chemical or anything but some activated carbon every year or two if water yellows. This type of filtration does make a lot of sense to me and is substantiated not only by his experience but scholarly work done by Walter Adey of the Smithsonian.

I don't have his years of experience and that's why I am reaching out to all your collective experience. What are your thoughts on these dump style ATS?

The two major filtration goals for my system are to handle a heavy bioload and effectively oxygenate as the water surface area is somewhat minimal. I appreciate any feedback that you might have. I am on the precipitous of purchasing my filtration.

revhtree · Mar 23, 2015

Following! Looks like this will be a cool tank.

One question from me is where will you locate your filtration equipment?

Feet4Fish · Mar 23, 2015

revhtree said:
Following! Looks like this will be a cool tank.

One question from me is where will you locate your filtration equipment?

All filtration plumbed into the basement. Space is not a problem,

Feet4Fish · Mar 23, 2015

I guess it comes down to one straight forward question.... If algae scrubbing (dump style, upflow and/or waterfall) is pretty much the complete filtration answer then why is there a multi-million dollar industry of sumps, refugiums, skimmers, uv filters, and chemical filtration? The overwhelming major of use employ the aforementioned multi-faceted approach rather than a solitary filtration system.

Thoughts????

Daniel@R2R · Mar 24, 2015

Looking forward to seeing this one filled and stocked! :thumb:

Feet4Fish · Dec 5, 2015

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Sorry for so long between updates. Changes of jobs, health bills and 6 kids all took priority. Things are about to start rolling now. Have picked up some odd and ends twenty over Black Friday. Grabbed an iwaki 70 rlt for me return from the basement sump. Picked up a couple sicce power heads, tunze osmolator, Aqua uv sterilizer and ocean revive t247 led.

Also did some really dirty work an prepped my basement which was a very dirty unfinished basement.

Should get the rest of my filtration in the next couple weeks and should have the rest of the cabinet/canopy install finished with the month.

Feet4Fish · Jan 21, 2016

Update: filtration on order and should be here by Tuesday. Steve Rotter doing a rotter tube for me for a pre filter. My custom insert is almost done. See pictures below.

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Feet4Fish · Jan 21, 2016

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One more pic

Feet4Fish · Jan 22, 2016

Just got the news that my custom made filter, skimmer and refugium have been shipped. Should receive it all on Tuesday (winter storm willing ). Super excited!!!

gcrawford · Jan 22, 2016

Just like I've wondered from watching the tv show, what will the fake corals look like after a few months of algae growth? Hopefully you have it figured out and it won't be an issue. Following along to see how it turns out.

Feet4Fish · Jan 22, 2016

gcrawford said:
Just like I've wondered from watching the tv show, what will the fake corals look like after a few months of algae growth? Hopefully you have it figured out and it won't be an issue. Following along to see how it turns out.

Excited to have you following. With synthetic inserts nutrient export is important and many friends of mine use snails as the primary clean up crew.

Feet4Fish · Jan 28, 2016

The heart and lungs of the build arrived yesterday - the wet/dry, protein skimmer and the refugium. After almost 2 years of debate I decided to have Aqua-link build my filtration. I couldn't be happier with my decision. The build quality is awesome. 1/4 inch acrylic, rounded edges and perfect seams. All came excellently packaged with not a bit of damage. The owner of Aqua-link is Tim Link. He is a wealth of knowledge and has been in business since 1983. I encourage anyone interested in exceptional quality equipment at an amazing value to check out Aqua-link! Also if anyone has any questions about my choice of filtration and/or vendor feel free to start up a discussion. Check out my pics below. With this now I hope to have the build finalized in February!