90 Long Build! The Wait is Over!

[ReefQuestCorals]

Sooo.. A little back story over the years of reef keeping

I have kept a reef tank more than half my life (roughly 20 years now) but I crashed my 90 gallon sps dominate system about 6-7 years ago. Didn't have the funds to recover so I ended up selling everything 2 years later. 2 years ago I picked up a 29 gallon nano cube from a buddy and a few months ago finally made it a zoa tank.

Fast forward to today I'm finally getting my hands wet again and picked up my new tank! It is a 5ft long 90 gallon tank, it was a little rough around the edges so working on getting it cleaned up as we speak. This system will hold mainly sps, with the exception I absolutely love chalices my wife wants "flowy" corals so the ends will have torches, hammers, frogspawn and probably gonipora garden somewhere.

So far today I got the tank home, sanded and painted the crap paint job the last person did to cover up wood grain plastic, and resiliconed the corners to give it a new look. The old silicone was nasty looking. I'm not sure of the brand? Seems maybe like an early planet aquarium look to it? That's all just a guess.

But here is to my next journey! I will be posting updates often as i plan to start this tank up as soon as the silicone fully cures. I will follow up with my plans soon on equipment and stock, this will be more of a budget system, no fancy equipment or high priced automation

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Oh and whoever owned this tank deserves a sponsorship from 3m for the amount of silicone they attempted to use to stop leaks

The drain didn't even have a bulkhead, it was silicone in, how they pulled that one off i have no ideal

 

[Tinnerito]

Sooo.. A little back story over the years of reef keeping

I have kept a reef tank more than half my life (roughly 20 years now) but I crashed my 90 gallon sps dominate system about 6-7 years ago. Didn't have the funds to recover so I ended up selling everything 2 years later. 2 years ago I picked up a 29 gallon nano cube from a buddy and a few months ago finally made it a zoa tank.

Fast forward to today I'm finally getting my hands wet again and picked up my new tank! It is a 5ft long 90 gallon tank, it was a little rough around the edges so working on getting it cleaned up as we speak. This system will hold mainly sps, with the exception I absolutely love chalices my wife wants "flowy" corals so the ends will have torches, hammers, frogspawn and probably gonipora garden somewhere.

So far today I got the tank home, sanded and painted the crap paint job the last person did to cover up wood grain plastic, and resiliconed the corners to give it a new look. The old silicone was nasty looking. I'm not sure of the brand? Seems maybe like an early planet aquarium look to it? That's all just a guess.

But here is to my next journey! I will be posting updates often as i plan to start this tank up as soon as the silicone fully cures. I will follow up with my plans soon on equipment and stock, this will be more of a budget system, no fancy equipment or high priced automation

Beautiful tank, can't wait to see how the build plays out!

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Beautiful tank, can't wait to see how the build plays out!

Thank you very much! I can't wait either, been without my sticks to way to long!

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Went and picked up rock today. Can't bet $1 a lb! In the next few days i will lay out tape for the size of the tank and start scaping, i plan to use the method tidal gardens used by securing my formations with sand and liquid glue.

Also bio starter came in, first time using bright brightwell brand so we shall see how it works! I will pair it with DrTim’sAquatics Ammonium Chloride to start my cycle. And got my hydrofill ato i love this one! Use it on my nano and works great, I like the fact it uses titanium sensors instead of an eye or float switch also the magnets make it so easy to set up wherever I want

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Today is rock cleaning day! Picked up muriatic acid to do an acid wash on the rock to remove all organics and top layer of rock. This is a 1:10 mixture of acid to water and will soak for roughly 1 hour

Anyone thinking about acid washing their rock please do your research. This is very dangerous and needs to be done in a open well ventilated area. As you can see it can and will overflow at times with as much organic crap it pulls out of the rock.

 

[Tinnerito]

Today is rock cleaning day! Picked up muriatic acid to do an acid wash on the rock to remove all organics and top layer of rock. This is a 1:10 mixture of acid to water and will soak for roughly 1 hour

Anyone thinking about acid washing their rock please do your research. This is very dangerous and needs to be done in a open well ventilated area. As you can see it can and will overflow at times with as much organic crap it pulls out of the rock.

I've never seen that before! I usually just rinse my rocks in high pressure water, soak them in tap, and then let them dry for a few days. Does acid washing have benefits?

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

I've never seen that before! I usually just rinse my rocks in high pressure water, soak them in tap, and then let them dry for a few days. Does acid washing have benefits?

Here is a post with someone explaining the process. Using acid to wash off the top layer of rock removes any nuisance issues such as algae that might be stuck in the top layer.

I don't trust rock iv bought from someone else, for all I know it could have been covered in something such as tuff algae that I won't find out until later down the road.

How to: LIVE ROCK ACID BATH

How to: LIVE ROCK ACID BATH Photo via MySafetySign.com Sometimes you get to the point where your rock is not working out for you. Maybe you had a stagnant tank and everything died? Maybe you have an insane algae problem? Maybe you just got the rock for free from some fishy character on...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

It is crazy how much rock can hold. This is the junk I am now keeping out of my tank

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Water damage inside the stand so removed sump and cleaned with vinegar, sanded down inside the stand, removed all hardware (was a pain in the butt) had to drill out 4 rusted in screws, then sealed the whole stand with Thompsons water seal to help soak into the wood and make it water proof.

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Finished up the day with filling the tank with tap water for a leak test, so far so good! Rock is soaking in its 2nd round of water after the acid wash, picked up new bulk heads and lock line so I can plumb the tank this week and my cross flow wave maker came in iv always used Jebao and had great luck with their products

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Went to plumb the tank today, got a list of parts for the return and lowes didnt have half the plumbing I needed! Their new style check valves have a metal spring and retainer inside so that was a no go.. So ended up just making a BRS order and going with red 3/4" return. Im usually a lowes white schedule 40 type of guy haha

Either way plumbing will have to wait a few days, I am running a Jebao DCT 12000 as my main return (pump is from my old tank) then I will have my cabinet doors on tomorrow with the new style hinges. These are painted so hopefully stand up to rust a little longer than the junk that was on there.

Tomorrow also will pick up my ATI 8 bulb t5, the reefer I sold my fixture to 2 years ago is selling back seeing he only used it for 2 months. I love the ATI fixtures and seem hard to find anymore! The bulbs have roughly 10 months of use, so I will go with a different bulb combo that what you see in the picture below. I am thinking of this combo, let me know your thoughts? I did not care for the purple +, and might consider adding 1 more coral + making it 3 coral + and 5 blue +

blue +
blue +
coral +
blue +
coral +
blue +
blue +
blue +

 

[Tinnerito]

Went to plumb the tank today, got a list of parts for the return and lowes didnt have half the plumbing I needed! Their new style check valves have a metal spring and retainer inside so that was a no go.. So ended up just making a BRS order and going with red 3/4" return. Im usually a lowes white schedule 40 type of guy haha

Either way plumbing will have to wait a few days, I am running a Jebao DCT 12000 as my main return (pump is from my old tank) then I will have my cabinet doors on tomorrow with the new style hinges. These are painted so hopefully stand up to rust a little longer than the junk that was on there.

Tomorrow also will pick up my ATI 8 bulb t5, the reefer I sold my fixture to 2 years ago is selling back seeing he only used it for 2 months. I love the ATI fixtures and seem hard to find anymore! The bulbs have roughly 10 months of use, so I will go with a different bulb combo that what you see in the picture below. I am thinking of this combo, let me know your thoughts? I did not care for the purple +, and might consider adding 1 more coral + making it 3 coral + and 5 blue +

blue +
blue +
coral +
blue +
coral +
blue +
blue +
blue +

That is a huge light:face-with-tears-of-joy:

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

That is a huge light:face-with-tears-of-joy:

haha it worked great on my standard 90! Check out a few of the corals I kept underneath it, great color and growth with this light

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Got super glue in today so starting on building my rocks structures. I'll post more pictures after getting this overhang complete

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Okay got the rock completed! I love the way this shelf looks and can't wait to get everything wet! I'll get some better pics once in the tank so it can be easier to see against a black background

Also picked up my t5 on the way to work. Once plumbing comes in Wednesday I can get everything plumbed up and test for leaks out in the garage before moving it into the house

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Got the tank moved into the house, plumbing completed and filled the overflow box to test for leaks at bulk heads.

Ended up making a small island in the middle, it just looked empty and not right. I feel it turned out great

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

My nano cube use to be in that spot also, moved it across the living room by the back door. I think it fits in well here

It's a 29 gallon with a filter tray in the back, only run filter floss and cotton for fine particles. Maybe 1 time a month run carbon. Grow light with 2 small rocks and chaeto for nutrient export.

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Salt has been added, sand is in and just waiting for everything to clear up. Running a cheap hang on 7" filter sock holder until I can upgrade the sump or modify it. I'd really like to do two 4" filter socks

I will be adding the ammonium chloride and bacteria today along with hanging the stand doors. Don't mind my wiring mess, it's temporary until I get everything situated then I will use some wire management to clean everything up

 

[ReefQuestCorals]

Tank is looking sooo much better today!