Chris' Acropolis (Reef Savvy 88)

[ChristopherKriens]

After 3 years of maintaining the ELOS 160, I've realized that one of my favorite parts of reef keeping is collecting, growing, and propagating coral. So, I'm adding a second aquarium to the mix, more tailored to that purpose. The first part of its life will be spent as a frag tank of sorts, but it was designed to leave open the possibility that it could some day become a display.

Specifications

Aquarium Dimensions: 44”L x 40”W x 12”H @ 88 Gallons (44"L x 44"W with overflow)
Materials: 3 Sides Low Iron beveled glass with black silicone, PVC+Glass Phantom Bottom
Overflow: 18” Ghost Overflow
Return: Dual returns on rear panel

Stand Dimensions: 44”L x 40”W x 34”H
Finish: High Gloss white acrylic, silver door accents
Access: Dual doors on all three sides with stainless hardware

 

[ChristopherKriens]

Starting at the beginning with this one. Tank was delivered yesterday.

 

[fragit]

Following along love your other build. As I mentioned there it is the inspiration for my build. Thank you for what you are bringing to this hobby.

 

[revhtree]

Hooray! Hooray!

Did you say "phantom" bottom and "ghost overflow?" Could it be a RS tank?

 

[jlanger]

Nice title, Dr. Jones.
Looking forward to seeing this build come together.

 

[Chac317]

Sigh looking like another frag tank nicer than my display....looking forward to following along!

 

[ChristopherKriens]

It's been a long time in the works; I made a quote submission for this aquarium 560 days ago. It was forgotten about, delayed, and the stand was scrapped and restarted. But it's finally here. On with the tour:

The build quality of the aquarium is excellent, on par with ELOS which sets a pretty high standard in my opinion. The stand itself is better in every way. I believe the position in the room will end up being neither of my two options from earlier, but what Jason had suggested. For now, it's been placed away from the wall so that I have room to work through the plumbing.




Access is going to be very good, but given the dimensions it has to be. Originally I had planned on having two sets of doors but Felix at Reef Savvy suggested that we do all three sides in case it didn't end up as a corner tank. I'm glad he did. All of the outside surfaces are high gloss white, and the inside is a matte white on the bottom and side walls. The rear of the stand is unpainted and has a 16"x20" opening to route the plumbing from the overflow. My initial thought was to place the sump against the rear wall since that's the shortest route to the overflow, but I'm considering putting it up against one of the doorways for easier maintenance. There is going to be a good deal of unused room under the stand, so I'm considering another little system for the purposes of coral quarantine underneath.




The doors don't have any handles or latching system, just a groove to grip and pull the top of the door. There is a subtle silver band that runs along the inside edge of the door, which has a "brushed aluminum" look and add a little character.




The glass is low iron, with the exception of the rear panel which is standard glass that's been blacked out. All of the panels have a beveled edge and are held together with black silicon. The glass measured from the outside is 12"H but the actual water level should be about 10 inches. No rims or bracing, just the way I like it.




The 1" Phantom Bottom covers the lower surface of the aquarium, and has a slight texture. Since there won't be any substrate in this system, it will be interesting to see if this is difficult to keep clean. This is constructed of layered ¾" glass and ¼" PVC.




The Ghost Overflow is far and away the coolest approach to an overflow that I've encountered. The inside portion extends only an inch or so into the aquarium and the actual overflow reservoir sits behind, attached via dual 1" bulkheads. The return holes are spaced 30" apart on either side of the overflow just below the water line.




The inside portion has a magnetically coupled grate that can be removed for cleaning or to work on the inside.




Here is a good profile view of the overflow footprint on the rear panel. The dimensions are 18"L x 6"H.




From the top, the drilled holes can be seen where the water passes through to the outside chamber. This newer system has three threaded ¾" outlets for plumbing various overflow styles. I'll probably go with Bean animal for this build. There is also a clear cover that sits atop the entire rear section, which isn't pictured here.




There are also windows to view the outside portion of the overflow box from the sides, which feature some fancy engraving. I really want to avoid red plumbing, as it's been beaten to death but dang it's cool. I might have to just fall in line. The forethought and build quality of this component has me leaning toward a Synergy Reef sump system.




That's all for now!

 

[Salty1962]

Looks like a winner. Awesome looking tank.

 

[McMullen]

This is gonna be sa-weet!!

 

[fragit]

Man you are one heck of a photographer! Are you planning on using Radions on this build too?

 

[gacolt]

That's a great looking tank you have.can not wait to see it in a few years.

 

[stunreefer]

Congrats, Chris! That's an amazing frag tank right there

I talked to Felix about his use of ABS in tanks now... IME it is very difficult to clean unless you stay on top of it. Once coraline takes hold, it's a pain to remove. So stay on top of it with an abrasive sponge, or let the coraline and/or coral go nuts. Coraline and coral grow very fast on it, similar to starboard.

 

[revhtree]

Wow what a tank! Just gorgeous!

 

[ChristopherKriens]

Man you are one heck of a photographer! Are you planning on using Radions on this build too?

Thanks- I am considering T5 or Radions. I don't like T5 on display tanks but it might make sense for my purposes here. Still on the fence.

Congrats, Chris! That's an amazing frag tank right there

I talked to Felix about his use of ABS in tanks now... IME it is very difficult to clean unless you stay on top of it. Once coraline takes hold, it's a pain to remove. So stay on top of it with an abrasive sponge, or let the coraline and/or coral go nuts. Coraline and coral grow very fast on it, similar to starboard.

Yeah.. I think I might try and tailor the frag rack system to minimize the lighting that hits it. It looks like a future headache.

 

[ChristopherKriens]

This tank will be placed in our basement. It will be situated from the position where this photo was taken, against an interior wall.

 

[aaron23]

um wow.... that tank is off the hook.

 

[jlanger]

Yeah.. I think I might try and tailor the frag rack system to minimize the lighting that hits it. It looks like a future headache.

A custom black polycarbonate frag rack system???

 

[ChristopherKriens]

Not much for updates.. Sump arrives tomorrow so I should be able to tackle plumbing this weekend.

To keep myself busy, I've been playing with the Phillips Hue lighting system and installed some LED strip lights underneath the stand for general illumination. Their strip light kit can be cut to length, is wirelessly controlled, and has an exposed API. Some cool things could be done, like changing intensity or color based on which doors are opened, by time of day, or signal a tank parameter. Project for another time. Here are some pictures of a few different colors.

Sump tour tomorrow.

 

[eg8r210]

Man, that tank looks amazing!

 

[Chris Adams]

Those lights are cool. Great idea for the tank. I was considering putting them out around my dock and koi pond