Eric's 90

[ESH]

After being out of the hobby for about 14 years, last October I finally found an opportunity to set up another 90. Even though the tank is new, I've been around the hobby as far as I can remember. Growing up I went from freshwater to eventually a 90gallon FOWLR tank that I bought used through a newspaper ad. I had that tank up for about 4 years. When it came time for college I took the tank down, and sold everything but the stand. The stand, a custom cherry wood with lacquer stain, has stood the test of time. It's spent some time in the back of my parents unheated garage making it through about 4 WI winters. It got run into by a few cars and now has a few license plate scratches on the front door panel. It served as a bar during some parties, moved around with me throughout my active time in the military and eventually became a TV stand. 14 years and about 12 moves later, I'm finally settled and ready to start things up again.

I decided to setup another 90gallon in my office as a starting point, and found a 90reef ready Marine land tank from a local fish store. I thought about going larger, but thought the 90 would be a good opportunity for me to get back up to speed with things . In the long run, I'll likely get a larger tank if I can fit it down the basement stairs, or in the living room and plumb the fish room in the basement. I've seen lots of amazing builds on here just searching and continue to come up with more ideas. With that said, the amount of changes I'm seeing in the hobby are amazing. Lots of great tech out there to make managing the tank so much easier. The amount of information online is great, but I'm glad I kept all the books about the hobby to get up and running again.

Equipment
Water flow in the tank
-2x MP40s (currently set around 50%, alternating between reef crest mode and constant flow)
-Sea Swirl on the return line

Sump
-Lifereef CLF1 Berlin, signature series
-Mag12 pump
-Skimmer upgraded to a flanged SVS3, signature series
-Mag 9.5 pump for media cylinders
-3x Media Cylinders, sig series. Currently running XL bio pellets in 1, carbon in another, have GFO in the 3rd but not running it as Im not sure if Im on board with the ultra low nutrient type of tank.
-1x 150w Eheim heaters (the pumps keep the tank right around 77/78f)
-Lifereef 10gallon refugium
-Lifereef LRC2 Calcium reactor, sig series. Very low drip, not consuming much calcium at the moment

Lighting
-2x Radion XR30 G4 Pro's w/filters. Running a program similar to the WWC program with increased levels to what I found online after mapping out with the apogee PAR meter.

Control
-Reef Link
-Neptune Apex
-Neptune ATK

So 5 months in, I've started stocking the tank with frags sourced from Frag House Corals, WWC, Jason Fox and local stores. I've also come to learn live sales are addicting...

As it sits now, I've got a mixed reef tank of LPS, SPS, Zoa's. Its taken me about 4 months to learn how to keep the water parameters consistent, and honestly it seems like the less I do the better results I'm getting. I do bi weekly water changes of 10-15%, am using Tropic Marin Reef Pro salt (recently switched from regular tropic Marin) . I am dosing Mg to keep it around 1300 (red sea test), and have a very slow drip out of the Ca reactor. Ca has been high, around 500 but my consumption is low. kH is now stable around 8. When I started with the Ca reactor it went up to 15 causing some issues, but over time I corrected it and pin pointed it to the Ca reactor having too much going into the tank. pH is a lil low, averaging at 7.9 though is up to 8.2 during the day, and a lil lower at night but I'm learning how to keep things consistent and stable.

All the pictures I have up so far can be found on my flikr album
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm6UEJUo

Setup Pictures
The cabinet to the left houses all the electronics, and initially a 5gl bucket for ATO. Now it houses a the Neptune dosing pump + reservoir, plus a 10 gallon tank for the ATO. I'm seeing about 1.5gls per day evap.




Basement RODI station. BRS RODI unit with 2x 35gl water tanks that I picked up at a farmer supply store. I wanted larger standing tanks vs this style, but once I saw what shipping was, I went with what I could find locally.


Picked up 120lbs of waltsmith liverock from TBS as well as 60lbs of sand to mix in with the amount I already put in (so about 180lbs sand total). Tons of critters! Part two of the package went in on the 10th of November 2017. Ammonia at setup had a short spike, but then held at 0 and never went very high. TBS does a great job shipping everything, getting it from their farm , boxed and on the plane. I live in the chicagoland area, and Midway Airport with southwest shipping is very easy to work with.

After a little over a month of being setup, I changed the overflow plumbing a bit, converting the reef ready to a herbie overflow. Started with a true union ball valve then switched to a spears gate valve as the union valve was hard to be precise with. With that said, it worked, it just wasn't as easy to adjust.

Ecotech battery backup added to one of the MP40s yesterday, and I finally got around to adding in the media reactors. Every inch of space is used in the cabinet. All of the electrical is in a separate cabinet to the side and is packed itself.

For ATO, I ended up getting a 10gl tank from petco which fits perfectly in the side cabinet. Started with a 5gl bucket, but it wasn't keeping up. The 10gl lasts about 5 days for me. When I'm out of town, I use one of the 32gl brute garbage cans.

DSC_0988 by E, on Flickr
More tank pictures , plumbing pics etc. by E, on Flickr
IMG_0159 by E, on Flickr
IMG_0152 by E, on Flickr

Refugium is holding lots of critters (gorrilla crabs, pistol shrimp, and 1 mantis shrimp) that I found checking over the liverock. Mantis is ruling this tank.
DSC_1007 by E, on Flickr
DSC_0004 by E, on Flickr

So from all of that, heres the office in action.

I realize I don't have much for livestock photo's and will start adding those when I can. Overall, lots of learning going on in these past 5 months and hopefully it will get me ready for a larger tank in a year or two.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Ohiostreetz]

This is a really nice build good job!!!

 

[ESH]

Some updates...

Was out of town for 2 weeks, came home and for the most part... everything was looking pretty good. Apex auto feeder went as planned, water parameters were mostly in check. Only thing I did was have the wife feed nori every other day, check on the skimmer, use the algae magnet on the glass once a day, and before I left I setup a Brute garbage can full of RODI for the ATO. When I got home, I had some red slime that I was battling before I left that was starting to go from the sand bed onto rocks, but within 3 days of returning I managed to get rid of it. I did lose a few frags I picked up before I left but was getting a lot of growth from others, in fact a few that I picked up and added months ago which I killed down to all but a few polyps have now grown half way back and are glowing with color.

Overall with the tank, only water parameter I havn't locked down is the pH as its been an average of 7.85, gets up into the 8's during the day and drops down after the tank lights go out. Corals were living, just not really showing any growth. The times I got water in check things looked ok, just not great, but then when I also got the pH in line, more growth, things looked better. I read not to chase numbers like pH, however I'm seeing in my tank overall things are doing better when its closer to where things should be. The Opposite light schedule in the refugium hasn't seem to counter a pH drop like I would think it would even when its full of chaeto which is growing out of control. So today I set up a C02 scrubber, connected it to the skimmer intake and within a few hours I've gone up from 8.02 to 8.14 and rising. Believe its been getting low due to the Ca reactor or simply a closed up home. Earlier today, I tried keeping a window open for a few hours and it slightly helped, but wasn't significant enough to say it was just that. I'll continue to watch this to see if the Co2 scrubber a good option for me. I'll find a better place to hide it away behind the tank, but for now testing it in fron of the tank seems to be working.

So just passing 5 months in with this tank, I think I'm starting to get the hang of keeping things in line and no longer check every water parameter unless something looks like its off. Biweekly 10% water changes with tropic Marin reef pro salt seems to be working for me now, along with the Ca reactor and dosing 2.2mL of Mg spread out throughout the day. Now, lets hope I'm not putting my foot in my mouth and I start to see more growth from everything!

Also, picked up 29 frags from the recent Frag House Coral's sale. Scored 17 from the sale + 1 freebee (Thank you FHC!) +2 from my stick script! Couldn't be happier! Some of the best packaging I've seen around, no issues whatsoever! FedEx was even delayed an hour and half longer than they were supposed to. Temps in the bags were spot on with the heat pack, and it was about 45F outside when they arrived here in Chicago. Nearly all the corals had polyps out in the bag, then while drip acclimating, and now in the tank. 6+ hours later things are still looking great. Water looked perfect with no noticeable hitchhikers.
O yeah and I also won 9 Zoa's from St Lucie Aquatics during the sale and they arrived just as great!

Not sure how the fire didn't melt the bags, but heres how they look right before I started the drip line

First few minutes in the tank

St Lucie Aquatics Zoa Pack! (closed on arrival, drip acclimated, dipped, 6+ hours later all but a few polyps opened!)

Next up on the to do list is to read through the photography posts and break out the better camera in the house so I can start getting better non cell phone photos.
Thanks for checking out the build!

 

[ESH]

April Update and alot of additions this week, here she stands as of 4/24/18
Some new add's this week from weekend Livesales... if only I'd find time to improve camera skills as my photos don't do these guys justice!
Pieces of the Ocean Live sale (POTO): Added quite a few, here are some of the highlights
Happy little bowerbanki!

Even happier when fed! hope I make the cut for this months photo contest!

Pixar! Amazing colors on this one! Glad I was able to grab a frag!

Dr Seuss! To be honest, I'm not sure if I could tell the difference between this one and the Pixar online, so we shall see how they grow and color out in the coming years.


Acan Lord Shipment! Awesome sale, won one of the prizes and have some amazing Acan's to add to the sides of the tank. If you havn't been to their site, I can honestly say the owner has one of the most thorough and personal customer service around. After one conversation I thought we were old friends. Check them out when their next live sale comes up if you havn't before.


Have a Reef Raft shipment coming in tomorrow and headed to the CMAS frag swap this weekend... I think I'm going to have to figure out how to plumb a frag tank into this one as I'm running out of space.

anddddd hopefully I can win this WWC contest to continue to add to the obsession! #reef2reef, #worldwidecorals, #mywwccontest

 

[ESH]

Recent tank updates: discovered 6 whelk snails in the tank, after they ate one of the clams. pulled them out and havn't seen more yet. The second clam is doing well.

And then there was the Reefers Direct live sale. Another order on the way coming this week!

I think that sale put me over the edge and its time to add a frag tank to the system. Based on the space I have I found a 18x18x18 25 gallon rimless tank that will be going on the end of my desk. Going to try out the XAqua overflow and pulse return system, along with a MP10 for flow, XR15 g4 Pro with diffuser on the RMS for light. The frag tank will be plumbed into my main tank return line, with the overflow going back into the main tanks sump.

Empty total volume will be 145: 90gallon, 10gallon refugium, about 20gl sump, 25gl frag tank.

More to come as parts come in!

 

[ESH]

Started the frag tank build.
25gallon Mr Aqua, 18x18x18 cube. Going in the corner next to the display.

Verified by the manufacturer that it can be drilled

Using the XAqua for overflow and return. It comes with a hard plastic template to use for drilling.

BRS suggests on their website a 42mm drill bit for the overflow, and 30mm for the return. Both worked out great. The 30mm on the return line didn't fit the template due to the diamond coating on the bit, however if you go slow you can cut right through the template.
Only issue I had was when I got done with cutting, it tore some of the glass on the inside of the tank. No cracks, I did a leak down test prior to painting the back glass and it did well.
The XAqua has the gaskets on the outside of the tank.

Back glass painted

Do you see what I see?

XR16's? Suppose this is how they designate the XR15 G4 Pro's? This model was built in April 2018.

Installing the filters.

I'll be using the same light schedule and map on this tank that I'm using with the main display.

Next up will be plumbing this tank into the main display. I will be using a T to route the return line to this tank, and then having the overflow go from this into the main display sump. Easier said then done.

 

[ESH]

Got everything connected, up and running last night.

Power outage test went well! Water was at the high sump mark prior to the test so I'm happy with the results.

The pulsing movement from the XAqua return line works as advertised. I used the XAqua 1.5" tubing, and then reduced it to 1" PVC. This goes into the sump next to the display tanks lines. The plumbing is ran along the wall, held on with the eco tech zip tie holders (Zip ties and double sided tape). The return line (3/4) is kept the same. I found that it was easier to install the 1.5" line onto the XAqua overflow, and then screw the bulk head onto the tank. This gave it a better seal. The XAqua bulk heads only have 2 nubs on them to hand tighten them on. They break off easily and could be a design improvement.

More plumbing pictures. The drain line was easy. I built a splitter off of the main return pump, added in slip joints so I could take things apart, and also added in a ball valve to the frag tank line in case I ever need to shut it off.

I also mapped out the PAR at various levels within the tank. Initially, I copied over the settings from my display tank. Visually, it looked fine, but the PAR numbers were significantly lower. Good example of how one light program can give different results between 2 different tanks.

The Top row shows the initial settings, total intensity 59%. Again, XR15 G4 Pro, with light filter, on RMS (9.5" above the water line in my tank)
the bottom row is now at 83% overall intensity as I want to be able to grow out SPS frags in this tank.
I'm expecting to have them placed 5-9" (Listed as 10.5" from the bottom or 7" form the bottom on the sticky notes) below the water line. This gives me a PAR range of 145-214 dead center. Max was 490 just below the water line. It may turn out to be lower than what I should be running and am going to send this over to another thread to get some experts opinion on this.

I use an Apogee SQ 520 meter to measure, submersion settings were turned on.

 

[ESH]

More photo's of corals from the two tanks: A complete list can be found here https://flic.kr/s/aHsmkp4D9s

Unnamed acro: might name it the trooper acro, as it's been in the tank since December 2017, 2 months after setup. Been through Alk swings, light changes, lots of learning and its still there and has been slowly encrusting.

Blue hippo Bowerbanki

Green Maze Brain coral

WWC Banana Rang Zoa's, JF Cry Babies to the left

JF Superman Chalice

More Zoa's

Don't recall this guy's name, been growing slowly. JF Mohican Sunrise Zoa's below it

8 Different Zoa's growing on the rockwall. The ones up high are doing significantly better (growing faster)

Plate corals, Mandarin Goby , rainbow monti etc.

These were sold as space monster zoa's, but they almost seem like a speckled version of them. Possible reverse space monsters next to them.

Forget this ones name.

In the frag tank
Picked up a 3 tier Bonsai Reef frag holder, and a 3" stand as well.

Starting a Zoa tree on the lower level, then hopefully can get some Acro frags growing up top.


Recent WWC Live sale pick ups


Superfly Chalice! Got this one in the frag tank, hoping to get it to grow out over the plate.

More Zoa's and some shrooms

WWC Space Monsters.


Lots more pictures in the flikr album, all high resolution. I'm using the BAO camera tube for in tank photos.

 

[ESH]

Came across these randomly on facebook, from a business called Jestersix. Very excited to be able to add these to my tank!









Per the vendor, they are made out of a product called MasterEmaco N 427 and A660, which I'm told is a reef safe mortar and acrylic additive. Once I get them washed up I'll find a home for them in my tanks. Look up J6 Jestersix on facebook and check out the different custom work he does, or email him directly at [email protected]

-Eric

 

[vinny110]

Came across these randomly on facebook, from a business called Jestersix. Very excited to be able to add these to my tank!









Per the vendor, they are made out of a product called MasterEmaco N 427 and A660, which I'm told is a reef safe mortar and acrylic additive. Once I get them washed up I'll find a home for them in my tanks. Look up J6 Jestersix on facebook and check out the different custom work he does, or email him directly at [email protected]

-Eric

super cool

 

[ESH]

Been some time since my last update...

Couple of key things I've learned in the last year
-Less LED light intensity is better for coral growth. I was finding some of my acros on the sides were growing, while ones towards the middle under higher intensity (3-400 PAR measured at coral placement) were dying out on me. As I decreased lighting, corals in the tank started doing better. While I was noticing this, I also saw some frags I left lower in my frag tank starting to encrust faster while only in about 100-150 par. I read a lot of others stating they have a certain acro at really high par, Im starting to believe this has to be at the surface, or I simply don't have the right tank setup to handle what they are running. Lower levels of intensity seem to be working great for me.

-Stability is key. I've gone from testing daily to really only 1x a month or if something seems off. Less is more, and experience is teaching me to know what to look for when something seems off. Testing daily initially really helped me learn so I can know what I'm looking for.

I've killed a bunch of frags, but then I've also been able to bring some back from near death.
One monti example... this one died back to nearly nothing, and after a few months I was able to get it to start growing again.
iPhone Pics 8_21_18 - 18 of 75 by E, on Flickr
iPhone Pics 8_21_18 - 45 of 75 by E, on Flickr
more growth!
Before
Branching Monti, Reef Plus by E, on Flickr
Today! Lots of growth around the base (before there was none)
iPhone Pics 8_21_18 - 49 of 75 by E, on Flickr

Green slimer, May 26
WWC , green slimer by E, on Flickr
August 21
iPhone Pics 8_21_18 - 46 of 75 by E, on Flickr
Forest Fire digi, May 26. Lost green color, was starting to die back
May Corals - 93 of 101 by E, on Flickr
August 21. Green coloration is back, lots of growth!
iPhone Pics 8_21_18 - 50 of 75 by E, on Flickr


Some more pics of recent additions, all growing out in my frag tank
WWC OG bounce - currently about the size of a quarter
iPhone Pics 8_21_18 - 67 of 75 by E, on Flickr
iPhone Pics 8_21_18 - 42 of 75 by E, on Flickr
Battle box Corals!
iPhone Pics 8_21_18 - 24 of 75 by E, on Flickr
iPhone Pics 8_21_18 - 25 of 75 by E, on Flickr
iPhone Pics 8_21_18 - 29 of 29 by E, on Flickr

Clown's in the 90gl have started hosting in this guy
iPhone Pics 8_21_18 - 1 of 29 by E, on Flickr

 

[ESH]

Zoa close up! JF Capt Jerk Face & Cry Babies
Untitled by E, on Flickr
Untitled by E, on Flickr
Untitled by E, on Flickr

WWC Honey Pot favia! love it! Have had it sitting on a frag rack for a few months now and finally got it in the main tank!
Untitled by E, on Flickr

 

[ESH]

Had these in another post but thought it was time I made a few updates
picked up some more scolys!!!
IMG_1066
IMG_1065
IMG_1064
IMG_1082

and these 3 button scolys. Tons of color on these tiny guys. They will be placed away from the others as I've read they are pretty agressive.
IMG_1067

 

[leroy_jenkinz]

Nice tank

 

[ESH]

Thanks!