110 Gallon Safari Reef

ETBReefer05 · Dec 31, 2017

Alright, January will get things kicking off here. I previously mentioned going for the Triton method and will be sticking to that after cycling. Today I made a diagram for plumbing and will post it up here. I am thinking about ordering all the Plumbing from BRS, but if anyone knows somewhere that would be cheaper, I'm all ears haha. I love the look of Sch 80 fittings and Blue PVC so will be going with that. The tuning for my Bean Animal will be a Spears gate valve because I need it to be reliable and not super difficult to turn like some ball valves. I plan to start getting more filtration equipment this month, including a skimmer and my RO/DI (Santa brought BRS gift cards!). My lighting right now is between the Hydra52 and the SBreef Wifi lights, which, by all accounts and all I've seen look incredible and grow coral just as well as the AI/Ecotech fixtures. If I go with the SBreef lights, I'll definitely have more budget for my return pump and could step up to a Reef Octopus Varios or Vectra. Anyway! Here's the schematic, without the actual sump it will just be basic, but will try to make a better one once I buy a sump.

ETBReefer05 · Jan 10, 2018

New Piece of equipment being purchased soon...here's a spoiler. Hopefully I don't win the same thing in a contest here that I just purchased!

ETBReefer05 · Jan 11, 2018

Dollar per gallon kicked off this week at Petco...I am a little miffed that my stand is 17 3/4" wide due to bracing at the bottom and wish I could fit a 40B in there. I love the look of the made to order Acrylic sumps, but if I can build my own Triton ready sump for under $50, why would I spend 10 times that for the "cool" factor? I may try to work something out in the bottom of the stand to fit the 40b, but looks like I'll be going with a 29 gallon (would still hit my goal of 10% refugium volume with an 11 inch long chamber). Open to any other suggestions for ideas I may be missing!

Maritimer · Jan 11, 2018

Just keep an eye on the height of the 29, and make sure you'll be able to get things like your skimmer in and out for periodic maintenance.

~Bruce

ETBReefer05 · Jan 14, 2018

Maritimer said:
Just keep an eye on the height of the 29, and make sure you'll be able to get things like your skimmer in and out for periodic maintenance.

~Bruce

Thanks Bruce, good point on the 29, I’ll be going with a 40b anyway and you’ll see why in a sec.

My fiancée and future FIL were discussing the tank location and they decided it would be better suited out of the closet (they think it doesn’t look “clean”) they had thought the tank could sit flush with the wall. It is 1/2” too long to sit in the closet opening flush and I said I’d rather have access to the sides and back of the tank anyway. Looks like we’ll convert the closet into a custom bookshelf, build a new custom stand and canopy for the aquarium and call it a good compromise [emoji16]

ETBReefer05 · Sep 8, 2018

Hey gang! Long time no post. My life has been exceedingly busy. I got married and transferred to a new job. Luckily, the aquarium made the journey with me and I have been slowly working on it! Today, during breaks from Football (Go Blue!) my father in law and I were able to build the frame and skin out the stand. I am also excited to report that my Synergy reef system Triton 34 sump arrived last week and it is a beaut.

At the beginning of August, I did finalize my lighting choice. I settled on the AP700 from Kessil along with the Hybrid T5 system from Aquatic life. I’ll have some pics of the sump later but here is the stand. Will be putting on doors and staining later this week and next week.

ETBReefer05 · Sep 14, 2018

Thanks to @mixer911 and the Synergy Reef team for building me a world class sump. Here are a few pics of my new Sump under the AP700, I will probably end up with the Kessil H160 as my Fuge light, without further ado, enjoy!