A Pale Blue Dot – My SPS Dominated Reef

[chrishet]

Hi R2R's, This is my first tank build thread on R2R. I am very excited about getting my newest reef up and running and sharing discussions and images of its progress. I started this build 7 years ago - you heard that right! I had a lot of life changes but now I have the time to rededicate myself and get this thing going finally!

My inspiration for this new tank will be the Cosmos, thus the reference to Carl Sagan’s famous words after seeing a photograph of Earth taken from Voyager I as it left our solar system. As some here may know, I am a photographer and my favorite subjects have been rocket launches and deep space objects. This will be a very interesting project for me as I try to bring into this reef some of the shapes and colors often seen in my deep space photos. It may not turn out this way but it gives me something to work towards, and it should be a lot of fun!

I'll get a complete equipment list going but basically this is a 65 gallon Reef Savvy custom tank - a work of art! I have a custom stand and a lot of custom parts. I have a new interest in 3D printing and have been making a lot of brackets and parts for the tank. I'll be sure to keep the thread update with some of my designs.

Here is the first pic. I just started the cycle, the lights are on just for effect.

I'm looking forward to being a part of this community!

-Chris

 

[dantimdad]

Very cool!

Welcome aboard!

 

[Oscaror]

Hi R2R's, This is my first tank build tread on R2R. I am very excited about getting my newest reef up and running and sharing discussions and images of its progress. I started this build 7 years ago - you heard that right! I had a lot of life changes but now I have the time to rededicate myself and get this thing going finally!

My inspiration for this new tank will be the Cosmos, thus the reference to Carl Sagan’s famous words after seeing a photograph of Earth taken from Voyager I as it left our solar system. As some here may know, I am a photographer and my favorite subjects have been rocket launches and deep space objects. This will be a very interesting project for me as I try to bring into this reef some of the shapes and colors often seen in my deep space photos. It may not turn out this way but it gives me something to work towards, and it should be a lot of fun!

I'll get a complete equipment list going but basically this is a 65 gallon Reef Savvy custom tank - a work of art! I have a custom stand and a lot of custom parts. I have a new interest in 3D printing and have been making a lot of brackets and parts for the tank. I'll be sure to keep the thread update with some of my designs.

Here is the first pic. I just started the cycle, the lights are on just for effect.

I'm looking forward to being a part of this community!

-Chris

Welcome aboard Good luck with the tank!

 

[PanchoG]

Welcome to R2R!!! very interesting build, following along. [emoji106][emoji2533]

 

[chrishet]

Here is a list of equipment that I have - so far! I'll snap some pics once I clean things up a bit...

Tank - Reef Savvy - Custom 40x22x18 - 65 Gallon
Custom Stand - 4 sections - Sump (Wet), Electronics (Dry), Controllers, Storage
Overflow - Custom Low Profile Herbie - Made by Mike at Glass-Holes.com
Sump - Custom - Made by My Reef Creations
Return Pump - Varios-6
Lighting - 3 Radion XR-15 with Diffusers
Light Bracket - Custom - 80/20
Skimmer - Reef Octopus Essence S-130, Avast Locker
Refugium Light - Kessil H160
UV Starilizer - Pentair Smart UV 25
Neptune Apex Controller, Probes, iPad Display
Neptune EB8 - Sump
Neptune WXM - MP40, Radions
FMM - Flow Meters (Return, UV), ATK
Neptune ALD - Leak Detection
Neptune Breakout Boxes - Control Panel, Float Switches
Dosing Pumps - Neptune DOS (2)
IceCap Gyre Interface
IceCap Battery Backup - MP40
Ecotech Vortech MP40WQD
Maxspect Gyre XF230
Heaters - Finnex
Auto Topoff - Neptune ATK, Custom Sensor Bracket (3D print)
Media Reactors - Avast Marine, BRS
Rock - Stax - Two Little Fishes (Marco Rocks)

Water Changing Station:
BRS 6 Stage RODI
2 40 Gal Storage Tanks
Neptune EB8
FMM - Leak Detector, AWCS Flow Monitor, Neptune SV-1 Solenoid Valve
Neptune PM2 - Temp Control
Auto Water Change Pump - Stenner 170DM5
WCS Pump - Pan World
Heaters - Finnex

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Looks like it'll be a nice build. Why'd you select that size tank?

 

[chrishet]

Thanks and great question. In all honestly I made that decision a LONG time ago and I can't recall the exact reason, lol. I was stepping up from a 22g reef and was looking to step up but still keep it in that nano feel. The stand design had some to do with it but of course I could have made adjustments there as well. I was originally building a custom LED light and was using a Makers 36 inch heat sink and having a few inches on either side looked nice. I also wanted a rimless and a reasonable height for working in the tank. Again, not sure but I do like the dimensions of the tank and countertop space.

Here is a vid I took of the design - using SketchUp. A lot has changed since then but its fun to look back.

 

[chrishet]

So here is a short video narrated by Carl Sagan called A Pale Blue Dot. His story about turning Voyager around, just past Saturn, for one last glimpse of Earth is the inspiration I had for this tank. Humbling.
enjoy....

 

[chrishet]

One of my biggest questions right now is sand or bare bottom...I really love the look of sand and have never had a bare bottom tank. Just to be safe I installed a 1/4 inch ABS bottom to my tank. I have a bunch of Caribsea Special just in case....thoughts?

 

[PanchoG]

One of my biggest questions right now is sand or bare bottom...I really love the look of sand and have never had a bare bottom tank. Just to be safe I installed a 1/4 inch ABS bottom to my tank. I have a bunch of Caribsea Special just in case....thoughts?

I am a sand man, if you want to keep the black you could try black sand though.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Love this. I always felt a close relationship between my feelings for outer space and my feelings for earth’s oceans. Vastly unexplored with incredible beauty amidst large stretches of apparent nothingness.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[NY_Caveman]

BTW I went bare bottom with black Starboard and have no regrets. I never even notice a lack of sand. To me sand is just a place for waste to collect and fester. The only benefit I can see to it is if you desire specific livestock that require sand. Wanting sand purely for aesthetic reasons is certainly valid, but one must be prepared to maintain it and likely, one day, replace it.

 

[chrishet]

I suppose I can try bare bottom and add some sand later if I wish. I saw your threads/vids Caveman...nice!

 

[chrishet]

I suppose I can try bare bottom now and add some sand later if I wish. I saw your thread/vids Caveman...nice!

 

[andrewkw]

I prefer bare bottom, just glass. Tank and stand look very nice. I used to be really really into astrophotography to the point where it was almost up there with reef keeping. I actually thought it would reach that level of interest for me but now that I live somewhere where light pollution isn't an issue I've completely lost interest. Still interesting to see when different unrelated hobbies cross paths like this. You should post a few of your photos I'm sure a lot of people here have no idea what is possible to capture by an amateur.

 

[chrishet]

Thx Andrew....here is a link to my site (currently under construction) and some astro-photos taken over the years. I too have backed off this hobby a bit...I have many!
http://hetlage.com/astrophotography/

Regards,
Chris

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Nice! Following!

 

[andrewkw]

Fantastic photos better than anything I ever achieved. I think you should link at least one in your thread for people who aren't going to click on it. Very impressive. It's a long story which I won't get into in your thread but much like my reefs I could never decide on what direction to go astrophotography wise. I did a lot of planetary imaging along with long exposure and a bit of solar..

 

[chrishet]

Its update time. I am one week into my Tim's cycle and nitrites are rising a little and ammonia is still high. I'll keep monitoring. I suspect having no sand will slow the process down. I also added a ball of chaeto and some pods to my sump. I hope the high ammonia won't hurt them.

 

[chrishet]

I'll be happy to throw an astro-image out there every one in a while as well - to keep the theme alive.

This nebula/star cluster region is known as NGC 281, AKA The Pacman Nebula, and is located in the constellation of Cassiopeia about 9200 light years from Earth. This is a star forming region in our galaxy, the gasses seen emitting from the nebula are forming stars and as they do they glow, much like a florescent light bulb. I shot this image from my observatory at DAV during the PSSG event. It is a false color image, meaning I intentionally processed this image in such a way as to bring out the details in the nebula structure by assigning each narrow band image to specific color channel...The colors I used are the same as used by the Hubble Team in their processing techniques. The total exposure for this image was 12 hours.