70 Gallon SPS Living Room Reef

[OrangeGoblin]

Looks great

Please understand I’m not Criticizing when I say this but I think your rock might be a little high if you’re going for a true “negative space” look.

I think the idea of negative space, as BRS refers to it, is that you use minimal rock and let the corals fill the aquarium.

Maybe off set the structures. Have one structure further back than the other, keep the highs and lows staggered.
Symmetrical doesn’t look too Natural.

IMO aquascape looks better when it doesn’t go all the way up to the top, fish can swim above the reef and corals can grow in naturally to fill the space.

Different heights and depth add more to the reef than rock all the way to the surface.

Again, these are just my opinions, To each is own.

Either way, nice tank, nice build!

I look forward to seeing it progress.

Thanks for the feedback! I very much appreciate it. Your points are all well taken....I've moved perhaps from NSA to something more like a structured rock wall look. I think we would prefer that look with less negative space.

Lovely setup!

Question regarding the rock ~ Are the holes within structure large enough for plugs? Or what's your angle when adding corals down the road? Sorry for the noob question.

Some may be, but I generally cut off the plug mount and epoxy corals directly to rock.

 

[OrangeGoblin]

Got started on the plumbing. There’s only one overflow hole and one return line, which comes up through the overflow. This was done to allow me to push the tank up against the wall as close as possible. In retrospect I would have got a 3rd hole for an emergency drain, but too late. The sump can absorb a lot of water in case of overflow and I will also be using several leak detectors to shut down the tank should something happen.

First, the return plumbing is shaped as a tee with the main line connected via soft tubing to two loc line assemblies. Here’s the layout:

The line is 3/4” and the loc line splits to two 1/2” nozzle lines.

The tee assembly is glued directly into the bulkhead which is in the bottom of the overflow.

Here’s what the loc line assembly looks like mounted:

And the tee assembly mounted with vinyl tube connecting:

The overflow line is a Durso pipe I ordered from the man himself. I also ordered a screen unit as I want some insurance for only having one overflow line.

The white too piece is visible through the overflow teeth, so I used black gloss Krylon fusion to paint the top black.

 

[OrangeGoblin]

With the rest of the plumbing tied in:

 

[OrangeGoblin]

Refugium light came in. I got a Nicrew light off Amazon for $30. I normally like really high quality gear but for this application the light is perfect, and it’s cheap so longevity is much less of an issue. I use Nicrew lights on my smaller 2.5g tanks and for the buck they do really well. Also the profile is exactly what I want, close to the water line, complete coverage and unobtrusive.

 

[OrangeGoblin]

Got a label maker so got to labelin:

 

[OrangeGoblin]

2 nights of work to get the cabinet lighting in place. This system works very well. The only drawback is that the switch is designed to be used on one door. This actually turned out OK because the right hand side of the sump is where all of my equipment is, and the left side is where the refugium is. The switch is mounted in the center upright brace, and is triggered by a magnet that is mounted on the door. When the magnet moves away, the light turns on. There are multiple color temperature options, I believe this one is 4.2k which is a really good color for this application.

Here’s a video of the system in action:

 

[OrangeGoblin]

A few musings on this setup after another TB12 victory....

Did some experimenting on flow. I've got 2 existing MP10 QDs that I'll be moving to this tank, so I set them up to test. For some reason I'm fixated on having a standing wave + supplemental random/high energy flow. I've tested the MP10s and the standing wave generates, but is not impressive - perhaps +/- .5". I'm trending towards 2x MP40s to generate a larger standing wave and the MP10s to provide the random flow. I think, on their own, the MP10s could provide enough flow for the tank but the wave effect is something we really want.

The second thing I've been considering is the refugium. I'd like to use it as something more than just a chaeto chamber. I'm moving more towards a lagoon type fuge with soft corals and some macroalages. I'm also seriously looking at Florida live rock and sand for the fuge. Up side is massive biodiversity to the tank - downside is unwanted species. From my research (read: reading Reef2Reef posts) it seems that the biggest offenders are gorilla crabs and mantis shrimps. If I confine the rock to my fuge, then this should be easy to correct while populating the rest of the tank with the desirables. KB Aquatics seems to be the place to get rock from, live sand is less clear but Gulf Live Rock offers it (they have horseshoe crabs in their pics which I'd hope not to get). In either case the point is to not get something that would endanger SPS but it looks as though AEFW and the like are not a Florida species to be concerned about....I think. It does harken me back to the old days of reefing when it was exciting to see what life the rock brought in.

Lastly we should have the tank filled with water this week. The holdup has been the rockwork itself. I am painting it with a pigment solution (paint?) that makes it purple. Anyways I ran out of my original jar the other week and ordered a second, it is taking some time to arrive and should be here Tuesday. Once that happens I will paint the rock, give it 24 hours to cure, then place in the aquarium with sand and fill with RO/DI water. More details on that once it happens.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

After a long wait, my sump from Lifereef is complete! I really loves Jeff’s work and recommend him highly. The sump has a skimmer chamber, a secondary chamber to which I will add a calcium reactor down the line, a third chamber for three reactors, the ATO and the return. There is also a refugium that has its own overflow back into the sump. Very happy with how it came out.

Does it come with the fish?!

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Please understand I’m not Criticizing when I say this but I think your rock might be a little high if you’re going for a true “negative space” look.

I agree if you're going for SPS... Lower the rock work 25-40%... let the SPS grow into that space.

 

[Reverend Turtle]

A few musings on this setup after another TB12 victory....

Did some experimenting on flow. I've got 2 existing MP10 QDs that I'll be moving to this tank, so I set them up to test. For some reason I'm fixated on having a standing wave + supplemental random/high energy flow. I've tested the MP10s and the standing wave generates, but is not impressive - perhaps +/- .5". I'm trending towards 2x MP40s to generate a larger standing wave and the MP10s to provide the random flow. I think, on their own, the MP10s could provide enough flow for the tank but the wave effect is something we really want.

The second thing I've been considering is the refugium. I'd like to use it as something more than just a chaeto chamber. I'm moving more towards a lagoon type fuge with soft corals and some macroalages. I'm also seriously looking at Florida live rock and sand for the fuge. Up side is massive biodiversity to the tank - downside is unwanted species. From my research (read: reading Reef2Reef posts) it seems that the biggest offenders are gorilla crabs and mantis shrimps. If I confine the rock to my fuge, then this should be easy to correct while populating the rest of the tank with the desirables. KB Aquatics seems to be the place to get rock from, live sand is less clear but Gulf Live Rock offers it (they have horseshoe crabs in their pics which I'd hope not to get). In either case the point is to not get something that would endanger SPS but it looks as though AEFW and the like are not a Florida species to be concerned about....I think. It does harken me back to the old days of reefing when it was exciting to see what life the rock brought in.

Lastly we should have the tank filled with water this week. The holdup has been the rockwork itself. I am painting it with a pigment solution (paint?) that makes it purple. Anyways I ran out of my original jar the other week and ordered a second, it is taking some time to arrive and should be here Tuesday. Once that happens I will paint the rock, give it 24 hours to cure, then place in the aquarium with sand and fill with RO/DI water. More details on that once it happens.

What pigment are you using? I've been looking around, but not sure I trust what I've seen.

 

[OrangeGoblin]

What pigment are you using? I've been looking around, but not sure I trust what I've seen.

I’m using this one from Addictive Reefkeeping. I tested it on a nano and so far so good.

8oz Purple Reef Safe Colorant for DRY Rock (Aquascape Touch Up)

addictivereefkeeping.com

Here’s a few pics of the painting and the final outcome:

 

[Reverend Turtle]

I’m using this one from Addictive Reefkeeping. I tested it on a nano and so far so good.

8oz Purple Reef Safe Colorant for DRY Rock (Aquascape Touch Up)

addictivereefkeeping.com

Here’s a few pics of the painting and the final outcome:

Thank you! That looks fantastic!

 

[OrangeGoblin]

Thank you! That looks fantastic!

Yessir, thank you!

 

[whitcory]

Really looks good! can't wait to see how this all comes together!

 

[CyberGuy]

Is your tank acrylic?

 

[OrangeGoblin]

Really looks good! can't wait to see how this all comes together!

Thanks, me too!

Is your tank acrylic?

Yeah - you know I had actually preferred glass but despite multiple inquiries, Reef Savvy and Planet Aquarium never replied to my requests. I can always get a glass tank down the road.

 

[OrangeGoblin]

Kicked the cycle of with some Microbacter 7. I did order a small amount of live rock & sand for the refugium, so I will dose Turbostart when that arrives. As far as cycling goes I'm just in standby mode while I tinker around with the equipment. One last major hurdle is the controller board. I asked the tank builder to install a door on the left hand side of the tank so I could mount one. I feared I got a little too greedy with the sump size, as I have about 6 inches between the side of the stand and the sump. Also as you can see the state of the wiring is currently disaster-tier:

But, I found this YouTube video where this guy has a custom board built and the total thickness is 4". The board setup is also pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. So, I contacted the builder who is out in LA. He said since this video, the guy's tank leaked and ruined the board (it was made of MDF). Because of this he recommends plastic (he mentioned acrylic but I inquired about polycarbonate). Anyways as you can see from the video, he has the precise measurements of all the Neptune gear that I'll be using. So I've asked him to help me with cutting one out for me. It will need to be in 2 pieces as there isn't a large enough opening in the stand, but I think that will be OK. I am interested in the color scheme to match the Neptune orange/grey, with orange LED accent lighting tied to a magnet switch like the main stand area.

 

[spsick]

Super awesome setup you‘ve got going here! I just tore down a strikingly similar tank in dimensions and design. FWIW with similar rock work and established SPS, I attempted to upgrade to 2x MP40 and could not for the life of me in any mode get them running where they were blasting the corals too hard most of the time. Ended up swapping back my Jebaos and saved the MPs for a longer tank, which I finally got running and they are perfect for 4ft.

 

[whitcory]

We have a new home and it's time to upgrade our seriously aged 11.4 gallon reef setup. I wanted a medium sized tank with furniture-grade cabinetry, and also a depth of 22 inches to enable some good aquascaping. We had Midwest Custom Aquariums build the tank and stand. The final tank size is 36x22x20, with a 36" high stand and a matching hood. This setup will be for SPS corals, clams, and a couple of our current LPS corals. With several custom components the build will take a little bit of time but hopefully worth it.

The equipment list is:

Lights - as shown above, 2x Radion XR30 G5 Pro
Sump - custom build from Lifereef. Jeff does a great job engineering a great custom sump. Hopefully I can fit in a refugium.
Controller - Neptune Apex. Accessories include Trident, feeder, ATO, water flow monitoring, leak detection, dosing pumps, and LCD display
Return pump - Neptune COR-15
Skimmer - Bubble King Mini 160
Flow - 2x MP40 QD, 2x MP10 QD
Heaters - 2 x Eheim

Here are pictures from the tank delivery this week:

Fragile - must be Italian.

Lights mounted into the hood with cooling cutouts:

Next to the tank it is replacing:

View towards the kitchen:

I had a door put on the left side of the cabinet so that I can install a controller board and access all of the equipment controls from the side of the stand:

Kicked the cycle of with some Microbacter 7. I did order a small amount of live rock & sand for the refugium, so I will dose Turbostart when that arrives. As far as cycling goes I'm just in standby mode while I tinker around with the equipment. One last major hurdle is the controller board. I asked the tank builder to install a door on the left hand side of the tank so I could mount one. I feared I got a little too greedy with the sump size, as I have about 6 inches between the side of the stand and the sump. Also as you can see the state of the wiring is currently disaster-tier:

But, I found this YouTube video where this guy has a custom board built and the total thickness is 4". The board setup is also pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. So, I contacted the builder who is out in LA. He said since this video, the guy's tank leaked and ruined the board (it was made of MDF). Because of this he recommends plastic (he mentioned acrylic but I inquired about polycarbonate). Anyways as you can see from the video, he has the precise measurements of all the Neptune gear that I'll be using. So I've asked him to help me with cutting one out for me. It will need to be in 2 pieces as there isn't a large enough opening in the stand, but I think that will be OK. I am interested in the color scheme to match the Neptune orange/grey, with orange LED accent lighting tied to a magnet switch like the main stand area.

LOL, that looks sort of like my fire hazard wire disaster! Love the link with the video though. If I find time one of these days I will do some work to organize my wires. Can wait to see how you do it.

 

[OrangeGoblin]

Wow! That's coming together nicely!

Thanks!

Super awesome setup you‘ve got going here! I just tore down a strikingly similar tank in dimensions and design. FWIW with similar rock work and established SPS, I attempted to upgrade to 2x MP40 and could not for the life of me in any mode get them running where they were blasting the corals too hard most of the time. Ended up swapping back my Jebaos and saved the MPs for a longer tank, which I finally got running and they are perfect for 4ft.

Yeah, you know I had the same concern (that and the sand). I've turned them down in wavemaker mode and it seems ok. I guess we'll see when the corals go in.