Matt's Elos 120xl

Mattres

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Well here we go!
A couple weeks ago I finally received word that my Elos system had touched down in Australia. I placed the order in October last year!
I've had my heart set on a 120xl for the past 2-3 years but always had restrictions with our living arrangements.
The fiancé and I finally moved into our own place, an apartment building 2 years in the making! Having seen the space for the first time and making sure it would work I made the order immediately :D

Before the tank arrived I managed to get the light up and mounted, and in the past couple days I've managed to build the stand.
Having had so long to think about how I'll run this tank I went back and forth with every lighting system under the sun as well as with every other piece of equipment!
In the end I settled on something with proven success with SPS corals but also something many tanks I admire use on their systems. MH/T5
I decided on the Giesemann Spectra as I felt it matched the feel of the Elos quite nicely.

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For the stand I went back and forth but finally decided on the Elos Absolute stand.
I'm really glad I did because as I was unwrapping it I couldn't wipe the smile from my face. It exceed my expectations and will make working on the tank that much easier.
The stand is a stainless steel structure in gloss black and has adjustable feet on each corner.
What I really love about it is the side panels attach via magnets, the structure being stainless has magnets screwed to the legs.
The side panels then actually sit inside the frame so you see the exposed edge of the gloss black stand.
In short.. I love it! :D

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Hopefully the rest of this build goes smoothly and I can keep up with a quality build much like the many tanks on this forum!
Thanks for reading!
 

dbl

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This is going to be awesome. Signing up to follow along.
 
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Mattres

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Reef man 89

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So from the time your ordered the tank it took 6 months to recive it? If that the case how did you not go out of your mind waiting for it. I would love to own a Elos tank but I can't afford it. Can't wait to fallow this build.
Cheers
 
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Mattres

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My tank arrived with the new Elos sump, I actually didn't mind the old style to be honest. But this one should work better as it has a "degassing" chamber, basically just a section for the overflow to run to. Should help reduce the turbulence of the overflow water as I hope to run quite a bit of flow through the return. Both provide sections for media which I plan to fill with siporax media.
The return pump still sits in the same section as the skimmer but to be honest I don't think this is a big deal, the Elos osmocontroller keeps the water level within 10mm or 3/8 inch and a decent skimmer shouldn't have any problems with that. There is room however to add some baffles if I needed to.
Basically the flow runs into the overflow section at the front, then into the filter sock section and onto the media section. There is an adjustable tee peice which can control the flow running through the sock and media section by letting water straight into skimmer compartment. This setup should work really well to keep my siporax clean with all the water running through the sock, and controlling the flow to a low/medium rate for all the lovely denitrifying bacteria:) Well that's the plan anyway! Haha

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Mattres

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This is gonna be a top notch build. Following
Appreciate it mate, hopefully I don't disappoint!

So from the time your ordered the tank it took 6 months to recive it? If that the case how did you not go out of your mind waiting for it. I would love to own a Elos tank but I can't afford it. Can't wait to fallow this build.
Cheers
Haha I suppose because I knew the wait time was going to be quite long. In Australia all Elos tanks get shipped over by boat. I know some people here who have waited 12 months so I was quite happy it only took about 6!
They are expensive, I guess like any significant purchase you have to weigh it up. We were unlucky enough to have to wait 2 years for our apartment to be built and live with the parents but that turned into a positive to save some money to spend on the tank! :D
 
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Mattres

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Today I picked up some Real Reef rock and had a play around with aquascaping outside of the tank.
I haven't used dry rock before but this stuff seems really nice. It's got a lot of nice purple /pink shades and can tell it's had plenty of life on it. These rocks apparently sit in a saltwater raceway for 2-3 months.
I think I'll put the rocks I'll use in a 50% vinegar bath for a day and from there a few weeks in RO water changed every couple days. Hopefully this will rid them of any organics before they go in the tank.
I haven't done this before so if anyone's got some good info I'm all ears.

I think I'm going go with a 2-3 island design for the scape. I love the deep dimensions of this tank so I'll try to showcase that with the scape, although that sounds easier than it will probably be :p
I've always loved the look of a bit of open space, especially on the sand bed so hopefully I can do that to.
At the end of the day in many of the amazing tanks out there it's quite hard to see a rock and even bad rock layouts look amazing covered with beautiful corals so I don't think I'll stress to much on this ;Happy

Here's what I've got so far, note the rock in the back left will be replaced with what I've got in my current tank. And sorry about the shadow!

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Hot dang! Looking good bud!!

Not sure about soaking in vinegar but RO is the way to go!! That's what I did and the rock was pretty spot on when I added it :) A powerhead, 100% water change every two days for two weeks then 100% twice a week for another two and it was spot on :) Then aluminium oxide phos removers for the first month too ;) strip the rocks of everything for super shiny clean rock lol
 
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Mattres

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Hot dang! Looking good bud!!

Not sure about soaking in vinegar but RO is the way to go!! That's what I did and the rock was pretty spot on when I added it :) A powerhead, 100% water change every two days for two weeks then 100% twice a week for another two and it was spot on :) Then aluminium oxide phos removers for the first month too ;) strip the rocks of everything for super shiny clean rock lol

Ah thanks mate!
Okay I might just follow that routine then.
I actually looked back at your thread today to see what you did :D Then also read some people using vinigar.
Might just stick to the RO!
Cheers bud!

Thanks mate :)
 
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Mattres

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Another quick update to keep this build going.

I've got the rock soaking in RO and the smell coming off it for the first few days was crazy!
Glad I'm soaking this!

I was busy over the weekend building a cabinet section to hide all the electronics and separate them from the sump area.
It's times like these I wish we bought a house and not an apartment.. wish I had room for a table saw!
Bought a sheet of MR melamine and spent a day cutting with a straight edge and my circular saw.
It still needs a bit more work and holes drilled but I got it into the stand to see how it worked out.

I'm using a STC-1000 for temperature control and put it in a location easy to see.
Below this will be the drivers for the Vortechs and the Elos SF11000
So the most important equipment is front and centre.
I'll be using two 8 socket PDU's for power and located these at the top we'll away from any water.
Underneath these will be the Doser and the skimmer pump driver.
The back section will hopefully be nicely organized with ballasts and all the power supply's.
Of course this area is quite easy to get to thanks to the magnetic panels.
I also put some white contact onto the back and bottom of the sump, think it looks a bit nicer and will be easier to see into.

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Thanks for looking!
 
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Mattres

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Haha I was meaning to but got distracted last night because I was to busy reading your update! :p

Thanks, hopefully it all comes together like I have it planned in my head.

Will hopefully get some plumbing parts ordered and get that done soon.
 

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Nicely done, Matt.
Will be following this one as well.
I like how you solved the mess of wires.
 
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Mattres

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Nicely done, Matt.
Will be following this one as well.
I like how you solved the mess of wires.
Thanks mate :)
Yea it should work well to organise and hide everything while keeping it easy to access.
I installed a shelf for the Doser tonight, making progress, but slowly!
 
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Mattres

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We're Salty!

Another quick update, the tank is finally cycling and doing its thing.
I've added a litre of siporax from my mini and a small piece of live rock to help seed the bacteria.

I've still got some small jobs to do like place and run the dosing containers and tubes. Tidy up some wires etc.
Hoping to pick up the skimmer this afternoon as well so can get that bad boy in.

I was eagerly awaiting getting this new elos quiet drain operating but ran into a small road block. The actual overflow itself when set right is as quiet as can be but the water and air traveling through the drain pipe was crazy loud.
In the Elos manual it states the secret is to have a gentle curve of the drain pipe but this doesn't help at all.
A big thanks to @d2mini for helping point me in the right direction.
I've put a ball valve on the drain so it runs full of water, reducing the air coming down and it has reduced the sound significantly. It's almost silent now and the missus is happy! Haha :D

A pic as we stand today-
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