Journy to capture a bit of reef in my new 120 gal. dream build

captainsmitty · Dec 23, 2019

Ahoy there one and all!
This has been a dream that i have fantasized about since i started my first tank back in 1961!
That was a 10 gallon fresh water tank that had a slate bottom and a metal frame. I had that tank running for about 2 years until my little brother hit it with a hammer and it flooded all over him (and the living room!).
Moving forward to the 70's and moving to San Francisco my obsession grew. At one point i had 15 tanks of 2 were 40 gal breeder tanks for Black Vail Angels and discus. Dick Au Was the seed fish ( ). I learned much about genetics and after 7 generations of the Angels and several of the Discus. Having to move and sterilization due to inbreeding that ended.
Still keeping either a 20 gal or a 30 gal tank up untill 2005 I made the leap into saltwater.I had tride a couple of time with salt before to no success. I got serious about the salt water tank then and had that tank running for about 10 years. Lots of learning with it and the problems of this hobby. I have some pictures of that tank and ill try to load it into here.

Having got married and moving into our "new home" where with the grace of my new Bride I have been able to build out my dream 120 gal.
This tank is going to sit against the wall of my laundry room and I'm going to put the plumbing and thew Apex controller in there as well as adding a slop sink. With a small basement sitting just below I will add my 40 gal. RODI reservoir and mixed salt water containers down there.
I have been buying pieces and parts for this system for about 5 years. I'm So excited to see things start to get done!
Since this is my first time at this Ill stop here and add more in another posting.
Hope you follow along!
Capt. Smitty

captainsmitty · Dec 23, 2019

Ok lets try an installment!!
I have purchased many parts of this build over the past couple of years. From my first big purchase which was the first gen Radon's (quantity 2). then the actual tank and stand that I bought from "Neptune Aquatics" in San Jose. A great go to LFS!! The tank and stand are from "Crystal Dynamics". I'm really happy with this as the stand is a little taller to make viewing easier.The sump is Sapphire Sump 39 by Trigger Systems. Bubble Magnus curve 7 for the skimmer.

captainsmitty · Dec 23, 2019

Moving to the plumbing. I wanted to go for hard as much as we could.
I should also mention at this time I had Blissful Blue Aquatics help with the install. This was a choice I made as at this point I felt completely out of my league and wanted to do this right the first time. So with Darshan Patel and helper Andrew we worked on the through the wall plumbing and wiring.

captainsmitty · Dec 23, 2019

Once the plumbing was set
Thank You Darshan
https://www.blissfulblueaquatics.com/
It was time to start on the rock work and filling.

captainsmitty · Dec 23, 2019

After soaking the rocks for a couple of mounths to get them started It was still time to have patience and leave off the lights And I also purchased the Aquatic Life 48" Hybrid T5HO fixture and mounted with there cable system over the tank.
I just don't care for the look of a bare light fixture and all the light spillage so I had Tap Plastics make a cover for the fixture to cut down on that.

captainsmitty · Dec 23, 2019

Then on to the storage system in the basement. I need to get a couple of better shots of it at the current stage but this picture was during the build.

FARMBOYREEF · Jan 8, 2020

captainsmitty said:
Ahoy there one and all!
This has been a dream that i have fantasized about since i started my first tank back in 1961!
That was a 10 gallon fresh water tank that had a slate bottom and a metal frame. I had that tank running for about 2 years until my little brother hit it with a hammer and it flooded all over him (and the living room!).
Moving forward to the 70's and moving to San Francisco my obsession grew. At one point i had 15 tanks of 2 were 40 gal breeder tanks for Black Vail Angels and discus. Dick Au Was the seed fish ( ). I learned much about genetics and after 7 generations of the Angels and several of the Discus. Having to move and sterilization due to inbreeding that ended.
Still keeping either a 20 gal or a 30 gal tank up untill 2005 I made the leap into saltwater.I had tride a couple of time with salt before to no success. I got serious about the salt water tank then and had that tank running for about 10 years. Lots of learning with it and the problems of this hobby. I have some pictures of that tank and ill try to load it into here.

Having got married and moving into our "new home" where with the grace of my new Bride I have been able to build out my dream 120 gal.
This tank is going to sit against the wall of my laundry room and I'm going to put the plumbing and thew Apex controller in there as well as adding a slop sink. With a small basement sitting just below I will add my 40 gal. RODI reservoir and mixed salt water containers down there.
I have been buying pieces and parts for this system for about 5 years. I'm So excited to see things start to get done!
Since this is my first time at this Ill stop here and add more in another posting.
Hope you follow along!
Capt. Smitty

Nice setup

FARMBOYREEF · Jan 8, 2020

captainsmitty said:
Moving to the plumbing. I wanted to go for hard as much as we could.
I should also mention at this time I had Blissful Blue Aquatics help with the install. This was a choice I made as at this point I felt completely out of my league and wanted to do this right the first time. So with Darshan Patel and helper Andrew we worked on the through the wall plumbing and wiring.

Nice pipe work! Bang on

captainsmitty · Mar 28, 2021

Ahoy there!
Well many things have happened in the past year and a half.. From many additions to the tank to dealing with imbalances and so forth.
First about the changes and upgrades. I've had a couple of issues with the Neptune Apex controller. Within the first 3 months it started failing and had to send it back for a new one as it was 1 month out of warranty. So frustrating as I have been buying parts for years for this build. For example I have the first Radon lights and purchased then 5-6 years ago. Stuff like that for this build. Of course I went through the uglys. Then had a pair of flame hawks that killed everything in the tank and was finally able to remove them. I believe they are in another tank of more aggressive fish and they are doing well. Then after starting to build the population back up I had an ich outbreak which infected my pair of Bellus angles and my butterfly. So into quarantine with them for a copper bath. Letting the tank sit without fish for 3 months. Re introducing the Bellus angles and the butterfly. Only to realize that the butterfly was killing my coral... Another one removed. Then added a UV and a calcium reactor. So now I think i have all the whistle and bells. But I am excellent at killing sps and lps.. I have tried several times with Space invader and have just not had any success. My water shows a little low on iodine and I am starting to dose ( minimally) with it nad AB+. I've also been advised to switch salts and am going from red sea coral pro to Instant ocean reef crystals as the reactor should account for the mag, alk etc. I will give it a month or 2 and then send off another water for analysis. So that kind of brings things up to date. Will see how these changes affect my coral but the fish are all doing great.
Thanks
Capt. Smitty
www.riptide.net