CRBISE65 Upgrade build

[crbise65]

After taking the fiancee to a few stores and showing her how great some larger tanks can look I have finally received the seal of approval to upgrade from our 13.5 nano reef. I wanted to document the entire process here not only for my myself but for anyone else that may be in my shoes, so they can see what works for me as well as what challenges I run into.

Now enough about that, let's get into some of the plan... We've both agreed that we want something with as much water volume as possible while still being manageable in an apartment. I also want a sump and was originally drawn towards the Red Sea Reefer series, but after some searching around I have decided that I actually like the Waterbox Marine 70.3 alot better. I am by no means set on one or the other and am still open to all other options, so I'd love to hear some insights and recommendations from all of you! Thanks in advance everyone and I will be updating this thread often with all of my progress!

 

[vetteguy53081]

After taking the fiancee to a few stores and showing her how great some larger tanks can look I have finally received the seal of approval to upgrade from our 13.5 nano reef. I wanted to document the entire process here not only for my myself but for anyone else that may be in my shoes, so they can see what works for me as well as what challenges I run into.

Now enough about that, let's get into some of the plan... We've both agreed that we want something with as much water volume as possible while still being manageable in an apartment. I also want a sump and was originally drawn towards the Red Sea Reefer series, but after some searching around I have decided that I actually like the Waterbox Marine 70.3 alot better. I am by no means set on one or the other and am still open to all other options, so I'd love to hear some insights and recommendations from all of you! Thanks in advance everyone and I will be updating this thread often with all of my progress!

Waterbox is gaining popularity and has come a long way. I personally love the Red Sea systems. Either will be a manageable upgrade !

 

[NY_Caveman]

After taking the fiancee to a few stores and showing her how great some larger tanks can look I have finally received the seal of approval to upgrade from our 13.5 nano reef.

This single sentence (impressive, BTW) cracked me up big time. You are supposed to wait until you are married. Maybe that is that for the 240 gallon upgrade?

Seriously, that sounds like a good sized tank. I like both to be honest.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I really like the IM 112 gallon lagoon style, depending on what you may keep.
35.4" x 35.4" x 19.7"

 

[crbise65]

Waterbox is gaining popularity and has come a long way. I personally love the Red Sea systems. Either will be a manageable upgrade !

I was an immediate fan of the Red Sea tanks when I first saw them in our LFS. I'm still torn between the two companies, but I'm sure that I will be happy with either one. Thanks for letting me know about the Waterbox, I haven't heard a whole lot about them good or bad!

 

[crbise65]

I really like the IM 112 gallon lagoon style, depending on what you may keep.
35.4" x 35.4" x 19.7"

This single sentence (impressive, BTW) cracked me up big time. You are supposed to wait until you are married. Maybe that is that for the 240 gallon upgrade?

Seriously, that sounds like a good sized tank. I like both to be honest.

Haha yea, fingers crossed next build thread will be in the big tank section! I haven't looked at the lagoon style that I can recall. I'll be sure to search it up a little later. I think I was attracted to the 70.3 because its Similar in size to a 40 gallon breeder if I recall correctly. It's just something about the 36" length pulls me in, with that in mind just looking at the dimensions of the lagoon with the extra capacity seems very tempting! Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[crbise65]

Although these pictures were taken last week this is a build thread so I feel compelled to share every step.

In the past I've always cycled rocks and sand in the tank with the ole shrimp method. This time just to be different and say I've atleast tried it I decided to go with the bacteria in a bottle approach, and I've also decided since I have yet to decide on the tank I'm going to begin the cycle in trash cans.

With roughly 55lbs in total of dry Atlantic coral rock the cycle was started on 7-30-19 using Dr. Tim's one and only. The live sand will be left in the bag until the tank arrives. After it is all set up I'll move 5 lbs of my live rock from the nano to the new tank just to ensure I've got a solid bacterial colony.

With that mouthful being said I always get super excited just to search through the rocks and envision how it may all come together. Thank you all for following along and I'm gonna be working on an equipment list for the next post, stay salty!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Rocks make me happy.

 

[crbise65]

Well ladies and gentlemen, looks like I will actually be getting a 90 gallon marineland RR tank and stand. Found an amazing deal on a local tank and I just can't pass it up. So now I will be needing suggestions on a sump. Obviously bigger is better, but I'm gonna try the Triton method on this tank so any advice or suggestions is welcome. Thanks and stay salty!