ELOS 120 Upgrade

[Lionsreef]

So my new tank upgrade starts today.

My first saltwater tank started just over 2 years ago when my wife gave me a 38 gallon bow front for Christmas. I had never had a saltwater tank and therefore never knew how much I would get hooked on keeping a reef tank. It started out slow with a dwarf zebra lionfish, 2 maroon clowns and a sand sifting diamond watchman goby. Over time I added a maxima clam and then started to add corals. The corals became the obsession and now I have no room left in my tank for anything more.

My wife has been nudging me for the last year to go bigger so now is time to upgrade. After looking at Red Sea, Waterbox and ELOS I have now decided to buy an ELOS 120 and set it up as a peninsula in our living room. I've also found that ELOS is now making powder coated metal stands with magnetic panels so that is the set-up I'm going to go with. Just waiting to get a quote for the extra back panel as I'm setting it up in a peninsula configuration and the stand comes normally with just 1 longer side panel and 2 end panels.

 

[Lionsreef]

The first step started today.

I purchased 140 pounds of dry marco rock from BRS which got delivered today. I probably won't use all of it but wanted to be able to pick out the best pieces from my aquascape. I was really happy with both the rock I received and how it was packaged. It was shipped in 4 boxes and not a single broken piece. Most of it was premium shelf rock with several other small and medium foundation pieces that have the bottom flat cut which I will place on the bottom of the tank.

 

[Lionsreef]

After making 40 gallons of saltwater, this morning I have placed all the rock in a 55 gallon Brute trash can and started the cycle by adding a bottle of Dr. Tim's One and Only and dosing Ammonium Chloride. I also placed a heater and a powerhead in the trash can. I now plan to leave this in my basement cycling for the next 3-4 months with a lid on to minimize evaporation while I plan and set up the new tank. Hopefully by the time the new tank arrives and gets set up the rocks will be seeded and start to even grow some coraline

 

[SPR1968]

Well that all sounds great so far

Make sure you show us the final aquascape design for ‘our’ approval! Lol

And welcome to R2R as well it’s great to have you with us!

 

[Lionsreef]

Thanks @SPR1968. I certainly will show some pics once. I don't plan on using any cement as the marco shelf rocks seems really easy to stack. I've got some inspiration from watching a previous video on here that was posted by @uniquecorals.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a...ing-prime-cuts-and-premium-shelf-rock.450454/

 

[Lionsreef]

Besides the new ELOS 120 tank I am planning to order a Bashsea SS 36 sump. I've never had a sump so am looking forward to having the extra water volume and moving my heaters to under the tank.

I'm also planning the to re-use my existing VorTech MP40 and MP10 from the old tank plus I have a single AI Hydra 26 HD. I've had a good experience with the Hydra 26 so I'm thinking of buying 2 more and hanging all 3 of them on a rail from the ceiling.

So my big question on equipment is what to order for a return pump and skimmer. I've got no experience with in sump skimmers since I've only been running a HOB skimmer previously so looking for inputs.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Sounds like a great start!

 

[Lionsreef]

Since I started to cycle the rocks yesterday by adding Dr. Tim's and dosing Ammonium Chloride to 2 ppm I tested the ammonia level today. It measured midway between 0.5 and 1 ppm today. I'll wait until tomorrow and test again before maybe dosing Ammonium Chloride again.

 

[Gablami]

Besides the new ELOS 120 tank I am planning to order a Bashsea SS 36 sump. I've never had a sump so am looking forward to having the extra water volume and moving my heaters to under the tank.

I'm also planning the to re-use my existing VorTech MP40 and MP10 from the old tank plus I have a single AI Hydra 26 HD. I've had a good experience with the Hydra 26 so I'm thinking of buying 2 more and hanging all 3 of them on a rail from the ceiling.

So my big question on equipment is what to order for a return pump and skimmer. I've got no experience with in sump skimmers since I've only been running a HOB skimmer previously so looking for inputs.

First you should decide between AC or DC. Lots of threads on that subject. If the tank is in a noise sensitive location, you’re probably going to go with DC. Also I’m sure you’ve seen some of the posts where reefers have had problems getting the elos overflow system quiet. You’ll probably want a DC pump to adjust the amount coming into the tank, because that can help you dial in the overflow noise-wise.

Among many DC options, reef octopus and ecotech vectras are commonly used. I have research the Elos tanks to some degree and I believe that the return outputs are restricted to 1/2” in order to fit in that “quiet drain” overflow. And there are two 1/2” outputs, one low and one high. These will restrict your return flow somewhat. I’ve had my vectra fail within a year, and there’s some threads on that. If you can’t run dual returns (and the elos isn’t great for that) and are able to spend a bit more money, I would look into red dragon speedy 3 returns. Given the restricted returns, a 50W might be ok for your needs and far more reliable than vectra. I have not personally owned a reef octopus so I won’t speak to its reliability.

Good luck with build! I love this part of reefing. Lots of fun.

 

[Lionsreef]

This is great information. I wasn't even thinking about noise when considering a return pump. The tank will be set up as a divider between our living room and kitchen.

I was considering the Vectra pumps but after seeing your comments and reading about their reliability on other various threads here I'm reconsidering. The RD3 does look to be a good option and has more favorable reviews. Would you recommend the 80W version instead of 50W just to be sure I have enough flow since I can always dial it back to lower power? Is there any disadvantage of having an over-sized pump?

 

[Gablami]

I have the 100W and I am running it at 44W. I love how adjustable the red dragon is (increments of 2Ws) so you can really dial in the flow. For a 90g DT, I think the 50W will be fine. You can check out the flow curves on the data sheet. You will be restricted by the 1/2” return nozzles so I don’t think you should expect Triton levels of turnover regardless. For me, looking at the price difference between a 50W and 100W I went with the 100W. If you want to go used than an 80W would be great.

The 100W is a big pump, and you would be taking a 1.25” output and restricting it down to 0.5”.

 

[Lionsreef]

I have the 100W and I am running it at 44W. I love how adjustable the red dragon is (increments of 2Ws) so you can really dial in the flow. For a 90g DT, I think the 50W will be fine. You can check out the flow curves on the data sheet. You will be restricted by the 1/2” return nozzles so I don’t think you should expect Triton levels of turnover regardless. For me, looking at the price difference between a 50W and 100W I went with the 100W. If you want to go used than an 80W would be great.

The 100W is a big pump, and you would be taking a 1.25” output and restricting it down to 0.5”.

Based on this I think i will order the 50W RD3 pump plus I see it is a recommended pump on the ELOS website. Thanks

 

[Gablami]

Based on this I think i will order the 50W RD3 pump plus I see it is a recommended pump on the ELOS website. Thanks

Sounds good. Please update when you get your tank running. There is no tank as beautiful as an elos imo. I’m curious to hear your experience with the silent drain overflow.

 

[Spanky05]

Hey bud, congrats on the new tank!

I just purchased an Elos 120 as well and am in the process of setting it up. Too cool!

Regarding overflow/drain noise, what I've read is a sure fire way to eliminate/reduce it is to have a gate valve on your drain to be able to fine tune the amount of water exiting at once. The drain tubing is so big (1 1/4") that a mixture of air and water will get in the drain and make a gurgling sound. The gate valve will let you zero in on the perfect amount to drain and effectively make it silent.

I don't have water in my tank so I can't verify this yet but I've done a ton of reading and hope that helps you!

I'll be following along with this build. Hop over into my thread and we can bounce ideas off each other!

 

[Lionsreef]

Well after going to the Big Island of Hawaii scuba diving for the past 2 weeks, I just returned home and my rocks that have been in the brute trash can for the past 3 weeks have fully cycled. I tested the water by dosing ammonia chloride at 2 ppm and then testing 24 hours later and the ammonia was reduced back down to 0 ppm. Since it will be a couple months before I have the new tank I plan to leave them in the basement. What is everyone's recommendation on feeding and keeping the bacteria alive. Do I dose ammonia chloride every week or so...how much and how often?

 

[Mattres]

Your gonna love the Elos mate! Im on my second now and don't think I could ever buy anything else
I got the Absolute stand with my 120XL and love how convenient it is to be able to access all parts of the stand.
I reckon the RD3 50watt will be perfect for your tank, silent and extremely reliable.
A ball valve or better still a gate valve on your overflow drain like Spanky mentioned will make it possible to get an extremely quiet drain. The Elos overflow box is fantastic and can be easily dialed in to be silent with the dial on top. However the water leaving the box into the drain pipe pulls a lot of air with it and can be quite nosy especially when new. This noise is also relative to how much flow is running through the overflow, more water-more air-more noise. By putting a valve on the drain pipe you can restrict the flow a small amount to stop the water from free falling and mixing with air which creates the noise. Elos actually recommend this as an option in the tank manual.

I'm not sure the best course of action for keeping the bacteria going in your trash can but given the nature of bacteria to multiply when food is present and decrease when there isn't I think adding small amounts of ammonia every now and then may be a good idea.
Scuba diving off of Hawaii sounds amazing! I recently did some snorkeling at a few places on the GBR , gives some great inspiration!

 

[Lionsreef]

From everything I've read the new "quiet drain" is much better than past model. I too am getting an Absolute stand. I don't think the classic stand is even an option anymore. I'm just waiting now to get a quote for magnetic panels for the "backside" of the tank since I will orient it as a peninsula.

 

[Spanky05]

From everything I've read the new "quiet drain" is much better than past model. I too am getting an Absolute stand. I don't think the classic stand is even an option anymore. I'm just waiting now to get a quote for magnetic panels for the "backside" of the tank since I will orient it as a peninsula.

The gate valve modification that Matt is mentioning is for the new quiet drain overflow.

 

[NY_Caveman]

What is everyone's recommendation on feeding and keeping the bacteria alive. Do I dose ammonia chloride every week or so...how much and how often?

Bacteria in the simplest sense can adjust its metabolism to the available food source. A little Ammonia once a week should be more than enough. Hope you had a great trip!

 

[Gablami]

You can add nothing and the bacteria will not die off. As bacteria die, it releases nutrients for other bacteria. But it makes sense to feed and grow the population. You could dose some ammonia or just throw in pellets every week. Or better yet, one or two frozen shrimp will last even longer (low maintenance).