Dodgersfan's 90 Gallon build thread

[leahfiish]

Option 1 for sure

 

[MapleReef]

option 1

 

[Dodgersfan]

Here are pictures from the other direction:

Option 1:

option 2

 

[Dodgersfan]

Update: been pricing out tanks and thought others might find it useful to see the costs. I requested pricing from 10 builders + my LFS, 7 or the 10 online builders I requested pricing from responded. I asked everyone to price low iron glass (some are starfire, others are generic low iron) with standard frames (some builders don't do standard frame, I requested euro bracing from those builders) i also requested the tank be drilled for a reef savvy ghost or synergy reef shadow overflow, & with the back painted black. most of their builders do glass, but i priced 1 or 2 acrylics too just to see. here's the results:

Glass Cages: $565 - but I've got to meet their truck at a gas station on its way to Florida to pick up the tank
AGE: $1495
SCA: $899 but 8-12 week lead time
or SCA's stock tanks with standard overflows are $799, and they let me know they would be going on Black Friday Sale for less.
Coast to Coast: $1698
Crystal Dynamic: $1335
Miracles: $1440
Reef Savvy: Didn't Respond :( really bummed i didn't hear anything back from them, I'd really like to have one of their tanks, but if they cant return 3 emails in 2 weeks they are probably going to take longer to make the tank than i want to wait.
My Reef Creations - Didn't Respond
Clear Vision Aquariums - Didn't Respond
LFS - $425


I was mainly leaning towards either giving up on the ghost overflow and getting one of SCA's stock tanks on Black Friday sale, or going with glass cages. but my LFS said they could get a standard Aqueon or Marineland and drill it for me for $425. Which seems really cheap for low iron glass, i asked them twice if they were sure it was low iron glass and they said they were sure. i emailed marineland and Aqueon to confirm... not saying they're lying to me... but it just doesn't seem right... anyone have experience with these?

 

[MaiReef]

SCA looks quite good, and I think I would go with them because of the Euro bracing. I don't think Aqueon or Marineland use low iron unless they are custom which I am pretty sure Marineland does.

 

[leahfiish]

That price is definitely suspicious.... But imo I would give up the low iron glass before the ghost overflow.

 

[Dodgersfan]

It’s been a while since I posted an update, I blame the holidays and home repair... anyway; a lot of progress has been made, new floors are in, and the tank arrived yesterday, I ended up going through glass cages and had my LFS drill it and install the overflow and returns. I ended up going with a eshoppes large overflow and dual 3/4” returns. Also all my Black Friday loot has arrived...

Black Friday loot shot!

Not pictured are the eshoppes overflow now installed on the tank and the two free $50 gift certificates I got from DFS, which I cashed in on an AFS and salinity probe... and got two new $25 gift certs, which will be used on a PM2 module... not sure who is taking advantage of who here... lol.

I’ll post tank pics later when I have it set up

 

[Dodgersfan]

Santa brought me a tank for Xmas!!

I ended up going through glass cages for the tank, it is 3 side low iron glass, standard bracing, and it was very reasonable in price, even shipped 1 state over, it was almost the same price as a stock marine land or aqueon, they weren’t able to drill the holes for me due to timeline of the next shipment, but my favorite local LFS (not the one that lied to me about the marineland tank) drilled it for me and mounted all the bulkheads and overflow for $100. They also helped me come up with a better design for the returns than what I had been planning, it’ll have a bit more head than my plan (I’m so happy I decided to go “overkill” on my return pump and get a varios 6 over a varios 4). Anyway, here’s pics:

Initial thoughts:
1 - low iron glass is awesome.
2 - I’m kinda wishing I had gone with a 120, 24” front to back woulda been nice. 18” feels like it might end up being a little bit cramped...
3 - I am SO glad I waited the extra time and spent the extra money for a ghost overflow, I definitely would NOT have been happy with the 18” depth and a big clunky overflow eating up a ton of space...

 

[Dodgersfan]

Dry fit the plumbing today, I’m not going to glue it in on lace for another week or so to make sure everything is the way I want it. Also want to give the fine folks here a chance to critique it and see If you’d make any changes. I’m doing a bean animal overflow. The overflow you see coming into the front chamber is the emergency, I want it to draw as much attention to itself as possible. The t with the ball valve coming off of the return pump is to plumb to the water mixing station in the basement. Let me know what you think and if you’d make any changes.

 

[leahfiish]

I like it, but maybe put a gate valve on the main siphon line instead of a ball?

 

[leahfiish]

Also keep in mind when you glue it the pieces will fit further into the valves and fittings than they do dry.

 

[Dodgersfan]

I like it, but maybe put a gate valve on the main siphon line instead of a ball?

Do you mean the main return? I don’t have any valves on any of the siphon lines.

 

[leahfiish]

Oh I looked at it wrong, I would consider putting a gate valve on the main drain in that case.

 

[Dodgersfan]

Oh I looked at it wrong, I would consider putting a gate valve on the main drain in that case.

I see a lot of people doing that, but I don’t understand why. I can’t imagine a situation when I’d want to shut off the drain where I wouldn’t also want the return pump off.

 

[Mark Gray]

Very nice build I want to follow, I am waiting on my 90 to be delivered I think it should be here in 1 to 2 weeks

 

[leahfiish]

I see a lot of people doing that, but I don’t understand why. I can’t imagine a situation when I’d want to shut off the drain where I wouldn’t also want the return pump off.

It's mostly to fine tune the drain speed to reduce noise if I recall correctly

 

[Dodgersfan]

It's mostly to fine tune the drain speed to reduce noise if I recall correctly

I thought that’s why they are doing it, but gate valves aren’t recommended for use partially open like that.

 

[leahfiish]

I thought that’s why they are doing it, but gate valves aren’t recommended for use partially open like that.

I was not aware of that. Why not?

 

[Dodgersfan]

I was not aware of that. Why not?

What I’ve heard is that the gate being partially closed can cause vibrations which can cause leaks over time.

 

[Dodgersfan]

Got the lights installed today, Two 16” SB reef lights basic units, these things put out a ton of light. Pics are at about 40%. I had been racking my brain trying to figure out how to hang them in a hood or a while now. My dad was in town this week and he came up with this setup using two eve hooks to hang them in the canopy. There about 5 inches from the top of the hood and 7 inches from on the water. Hope there’s enough clearance around the fixtures for air circulation.