J Rog's 70 gallon

[J Rog]

Hi All,
So I got out of the game here for a little over a year. I left the hobby because between moving and having and my wife and I having a baby it was going to be just to much and I was more then ready for a break. My old tank I had for about 5 years or so. It was a 120 and I was running 2 radion gen 3's. I was never completely happy with how my sps would look under these. I could never get them to color up to how they were suppose to look. Could have been contributed to other factors in the tank but non the less I told myself if I were going to get back into the hobby I would go T5. Every time I saw sps tanks with T5's I was always impressed.. Anyway, I started getting the itch for another tank 2 months ago or so but controlled myself and stayed away. But the itch got worse.. I was going to get the SCA 66 gallon cube. Looks really nice and loved the dimensions. But being that we have a 16 month old and 3 month old daughter i needed to at least try my best to save some money where I could. So I hit Craigslist.. ended up finding a really nice custom 70 gallon 36"x22x20. Came with a stand (wood not MDF), sump, custom auto top off container, and a reef octopus return pump. To top it off it has a ghost overflow! I got it for Extremely cheap which is what I needed.. So now I can get started! I'm am beyond excited. Just picked it up last night and will be doing a leak test today after work. I also have to figure out how the guy I got it from plumbed everything.. I want this tank to be sps dominate. That being said I need some advice. Let me know your opinions please

-ATI 6 bulb or 8 bulb? Definitely adding reefbrites but tech or XHO? Just really trying to get the coral pop out of the LEDs. So they will be the all blues

- Vortechs.. MP 10's (ideally on the back of tank wall) or MP 40's?

- Skimmer.. looking at Aquamaxx but CO1 or CO2? Open to other options but these seem to get good reviews

I know I know.. nobody wants to see a new thread started with no pics.. But this is all I got for the time being.. My wife and I got everything in the Garage last night but I only took a quick pic to show my buddy so this is all I have on me at the moment

 

[Matthew Dambra]

Great looking tank! i would suggest a six bulb should be more than enough 8 would be overkill i think also two mp10s should do the trick but if you could afford it i think you'd be better off with the 40s incase the flow demand increases as the colonies of SPS fill out

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I'd go 6 bulb if you're going to add the reef brites, 8 bulbs and reef brites would probably be overkill.
2 MP10's would work for a tank this size and save you some money over the MP40's
You have a lot of options with skimmers, I'd say wait until you have your sump figured out before deciding on a skimmer. Sometimes the layout can dictate what kind you can get.

Sweet tank though! Most craigslist finds in my area are nasty looking haha

 

[revhtree]

Cool little tank!

 

[J Rog]

Thanks everyone! I was thinking maybe the 2 mp 10s on the back wall and down the line I can add maybe a gyre or something on the side. So I think between your comments and a thread I started yesterday before I got the tank most people think the 6 bulb ati is going to do the trick. Any options on the reefbrites? Tech or XHO? Also, bulb combos. I was thinking maybe 4 blue + and 2 coral +?

 

[J Rog]

Here is the stand, sump, and auto top off container. Needs lots of clean up. Thinking about trimming it out shaker cabinet style..

 

[J Rog]

 

[jscholtz014]

Exited to see what's coming

 

[gar732]

Great looking tank, looking forward to see what you do with it. Being an sps tank I would spend the cash on mp40. 10's have a narrower flow pattern and once those corals grow out you'll wish you'd gone with the 40.

 

[J Rog]

Great looking tank, looking forward to see what you do with it. Being an sps tank I would spend the cash on mp40. 10's have a narrower flow pattern and once those corals grow out you'll wish you'd gone with the 40.

Do you think just 1 mp 40 on the side would do?

 

[J Rog]

What's everyone's opinion on the gyre these days?

 

[gar732]

I'd say start with one and add another if necessary. I have a 45 cube with an mp40 and I'll be adding another when budget permits. The goal is no dead spots. Im sure many would say it's overkill but I never have to worry about flow and I love my vortechs. Saved my tank during a couple power outages for almost a week on each occasion.

 

[J Rog]

Ok, decided to go a different route with power heads. I figured I went a different route with lighting then my last tank so why not try something different with power heads. I had 2 mp 40's on my last 120 gallon. So here is what I ordered today from Marine Depot
-2 x maxspect gyre XF230's
-ATI 36inch dimmable 6 bulb fixture
- bulbs- 4 blue +, 1 coral +, and 1 purple+

- 2 reefbrite XHO strips (all blue)
- Aquamaxx CO-1 skimmer

So now I'm super excited and super broke.. [emoji23] still need a couple of odds and ends stuff like heater, utility pump, RODI system, etc... but at least I got the bulk of the stuff heading my way!

 

[J Rog]

Leak test time.. I'm nervous.. lol

 

[J Rog]

Leak test was a success. Other then not closing some ball valves that I didn't realize was set up to feed a reactor or something from the back of the tank outside of the stand. So I had water shoot out the back of the stand through some bulk heads..[emoji849] other then that everything seemed fine. But I had s feeling something like that would happen which is why I did it in the garage [emoji23] So now I wait patiently for my marine Depot order gets here next week. Also just ordered an RO DI from Melves reef. Things should come together by the end of next week maybe. Or next weekend when I can make water. Also debating how I'm going to go about my rock work. I'm thinking of just putting all dry rock in so less of a chance of getting pests in the tank. Any recommendations where to order from (if I can't find what I need locally)?

 

[J Rog]

Just picked up some Marcos dry rock from world wide corals. I got about 55 pounds. Need to get a little more. Mostly want some more flat shelf pieces but they were pretty much out.. but I picked out some stuff and messed with it on the floor for a potential aqua scape..

 

[J Rog]

Messing around with the aqua scape. Let me know what you think and if you have any pointers or options. We all know this is a difficult fish to fry.. lol

 

[RyanCSGO]

Awesome build.
Our tanks are super close in size. Mines 36x24x20
Check out the link in my signature, I have a two rock pile type scape in mine. Didn’t want to post a pic of my tank in your build thread lol

 

[J Rog]

Your more then welcome to post anything you want here man! lol I wish I had that extra 2 inches on the width.. but for the deal I got on the set up I couldn't pass it up.. I think I got to many bulky rocks.. I need more skinnier bridge type pieces and flat pieces for the sps. But I think I'm coming up with some decent test runs for what I have. I will check out your thread as well RyanCSGO!

 

[J Rog]

Also for anyone looking for a nice light hanging kit for a T5 set up, I found one.. a little pricey but according to the reviews it's totally worth it and fills a huge gap in the industry.. Not sure if I can post a link being that there not a sponsor but there called Iquatics out of the U.K.