Awesome job brother looks great hard work always pays off when u love what u do. I must admit I’m a bit jealous of ur setup all shiney and new. Good luck I’m sure u will get enjoyment out of itSo after about a year and planning on a 120, I have a 90 long up and running. I am now (im)patiently waiting for full cycle so why not start my build thread.
My father had a "pet shop" within his feed and seed business when I was growing up. I would sit for hours at a time watching the fish. I ended up with a job where I am frequently out on the water. I have always been fascinated by sea life but a work trip to Fiji really started a fire. Somehow, I kept finding reasons why I didn't need a tank. Fast forward several years and my fiance brought along a 50g freshwater tank when we moved her in. I would sit for at least an hour a day staring into her tank, watching all the fish and shrimp interact with one another. I thought that would placate my salty desires but alas, here I am...
By nature I over analyze EVERYTHING so I started out by researching for about a year. I really liked the idea of an AIO tank. CJsAquariums was a huge inspiration. I learned a lot watching through all of his success and failure and many other YouTubers. However, everything I knew I wanted needed more space and I like gadgets. I ended up ordering the SCA90 long PNP on a Black Friday special.
Before I go on, after all my changes I still got a good deal and am happy with that decision. Haha So, Once the excitement wore off I realized I would not be able to handle the stress of having an MDF stand. I set about building my own between work trips. I am good at carpentry but I loathe it for some reason. I enjoyed the building process but I don't think I'll every paint my own stand again...
I can finally relax and enjoy my tank. No, wait, a year of research did not prepare me for all the work involved in doing it all yourself. I that line scared you off, don't let it. The end result is well worth the work.
I already knew I wanted to run the "Triton Method" BUT using ATI essentials. My provided sump design did not facilitate this. More fun (I actually really did enjoy this part). I was all over the map during this process so yes, the pictures will seem out of order. Made the compartments just big enough for their respective items and the fuge as big as possible for nutrient export. I set the skimmer chamber waterline at the max for recommended operation of the skimmer.
There we have it. Yes, I just realized I forgot to take a picture of my sump before the changes. It took a lot of elbow grease and 2 razor blades to remove all the silicone from moving the glass panels around.
Now you find out who your friends are. Time to move the stand and the dreaded tank inside. If you are unfamiliar with SCA, they have 1/2", rimless, euro-braced tanks with a center overflow. You can have them build to your spec and Steve is great to work with. My one regret is not going with a "ghost" overflow to free up more room in the center of the tank. However, this tank is a test for me. If I succeed and enjoy it I will be moving to something around 240g and giving this to the lady to convert to freshwater.
It's in! I wanted a stand with room inside to hide everything and on top for food, testing and whatever else I'm currently unaware of. Still deciding on how to make door. For now, we shall use a curtain (after I finish staring at it nonstop, every night).
I wasted no time in getting to work to clean up my enormous pile of goods so I could reclaim the garage from myself. Sounds like a good spot for a list:
SCA90 long PNP (includes skimmer) with modified sump
Hand built stand
RedSea screen top kit
Ocean Revive t247 LEDs x2
MaxSpect Gyre xf230 x2
IceCap Battery Backup
Billy's Reef Connection dry rock
Natures Ocean live sand in Samoa Pink
Reef Crystals salt
Jebao DCP15000 return pump (holy overkill, I like it)
Bubble Magus T11 dosing pump
Ming dosing reservoir
Kessil H380 fuge light
InkBird temp controllers
Finnex Titanium primary heater
Eheim Jager secondary heater
Tunze ATO
lots of testing and maintenance goodies
Plumbing time. I really regretted (not at the time) doing this in the house. Listen to the instructions and be well ventilated.
The far let pipe is the main drain. It dumps into my refugium. Controlled by a gate valve from BRS to get a full siphon and utilizes dual 45s instead of 90s for possibility of less flow restriction. It exits 2" below the waterline and runs silent. Return line has 2 90's and has NO PROBLEM with flow. Emergency drain is well above the waterline. This is great and serves as an alarm that something is wrong with the flow or main drain. The white lighting diffuser serves as a media/filter floss tray.
Add the skimmer, gyres and heaters and now looks like a good time to water test everything. I did do a tank leak test outdoors first. That still didn't prepare me for the stress of filling this thing in the house.
Success! No leaks and all works. Time to drain this as it isn't RODI water and begin the rest of the process. Time to hook up all the gadgets and start my reefscape. Many ideas and lots of failures.
More to come tomorrow as I am out of time (and available file uploads) for today.
Thank you for checking out my build.
