Myka's 69 SPS Tank 2015

[Myka]

Hi all! Time for a new build.

My name is Mindy and I'm from Saskatchewan, Canada. You may recognize my name if you read the Reef Hobbyist Magazine as I wrote a few articles for them in 2012 and 2013. I own a marine aquarium maintenance company here in Saskatoon, and I have been a MO breeder for the last number of years. I have recently decided to focus on the maintenance company though, and have shut down the hatchery. My passion in the hobby is helping newbies out, and also SPS corals. I love SPS.

Here's a pic of me from MACNA 2012 that makes me look important (lol). I'm the one on the left...haha kidding.

I spend most of my time over on the Canadian CanReef forums, and this is actually my first post on Reef2Reef!

I started up my first reef tank in 1993 off babysitting money. It was a 20 or 25 gallon hexagonal tank and had a sweet UGF (for those who remember what that is haha), and even housed a Queen Conch for a week or so. These days I know better.

My last SPS tank was never supposed to be an SPS tank. It was a 90-gallon that was supposed to a low maintenance system. I set it up in May 2009, the SPS started wiggling in by October. In 2012 I moved all the LPS to a different tank and the 90 was then exclusively SPS. Unfortunately, winter of 2012 I spent 6 months out of province working and the demise was inevitable. Long story short, here it is just before it's demise...

 

[Myka]

Ok enough about me, here's the new tank!

36 x 24 x 21"

- False back wall made of black glass (I despise acrylic) making the display 36 x 21 x 21" (69 gallons)
- Full weir overflow
- Black vinyl wrap around the overflow
- (2) 1" holes for Herbie drain
- (1) 3/4" hole for return
- PPG Starphire low-iron glass
- One-piece eurobracing
- Trimless, black silicone
- Full bevel and polish

Tank was built by Concept Aquariums in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and was shipped to me. Don't blame Concept Aquariums for the newb 3D drawing - I did it myself.

 

[Myka]

Here is Sump V3.1. This was my final design.

The two cylinders at the back represent the Herbie drains, and the two cylinders near the front represent reactors. The grey mesh looking stuff represents egg crate to hold a filter pad. The black circle (not in the first pic) represents a 3/4" Uniseal which I can put a plug in that's super easy to remove. With this mod I can remove most of the water volume of the sump (a little over 10 gallons) for water changes, plus the Herbie emergency drain standpipe is removable and will drain an additional 9 gallons to the sump. There is a tee on the return that goes to a hose to a bucket, so I can do up to a 19 gallon water change pretty easily. Plus, doing a water change this way, there won't be SPS branches sticking up out of the water.

There is enough space in the sump so that if the ATO gets stuck on the sump will hold that volume (4 gallons of RO/DI), and then if the power fails at the same time and the overflow chamber of the tank drains (it shouldn't drain) it will hold that volume (9 gallons) as well with about 1 1/2 gallons to spare.

The skimmer area is 15 x 12" and would probably hold something even bigger if it fits in there at an angle.

The only drawback I can see to this design (so far) is that I don't think I could fit my Reef Dynamics biopellet reactor into the sump anywhere (footprint is 10 x 4"). I don't think I will want to run biopellets, but it's a nice option. I could always just buy the external pump for the BP reactor, so the option isn't completely ruled out.

 

[Myka]

Some equipment pics...

I have two skimmers for the tank. I bought a used ATB because I found it, and I've never used an ATB before, so I was curious and purchased it to check it out. It's an Austrian-made ATB 840 Small. The second is a new Bubble King Double Cone 180 +RD3 Speedy pump. I'm curious to see how they perform as they are VERY similar. I'm also very curious to hook up the RD pump to the ATB and see performance.

ATB 840 Small (out of production)
Footprint with pump: 14 x 8"
Height: 21"
Body base diameter: 8″
Neck diameter: 3.75"
Pump: Eheim 1260
Water flow: 645 gph (without air), 264 gph (with air)
Max air draw: Up to 900 L/hr
Power consumption: 65 watts
Manufacturer tank rating: Up to 249 gallons

Bubble King Double Cone +RD3 Speedy
Footprint with pump: 14 x 11.5"
Height: 21"
Body base diameter: 8"
Neck diameter: 3.9"
Pump: Red Dragon 3 Speedy DC
Water flow: 1320 gph (without air), 793 gph (with air)
Max air draw: Up to 1500 L/hr
Power consumption: 50 watts
Manufacturer tank rating: Up to 132 gallons

On paper, the Bubble King definitely leads the race. Especially with that whopping 1500 liters per hour air draw using only 50 watts of power. I like the small neck diameters on both skimmers - this was a significant factor for me since it's tricky to find a good skimmer for small water volume. Something to consider is that the water volume flowing through the BK will be more than the water volume flowing through my sump.

The skimmer bodies are VERY similar - the BK has a wine bottle shape and the ATB has a true cone shape. The bubble plate design is very similar - the wine bottle shape of the BK allows a slighter larger distance from the body wall to the top of the bubble plate component, where the ATB is slightly narrower at this point. They are the same height. The same base diameter. The BK shortens the body height in favor of a taller collection cup, thus the ATB has a taller body height. The standpipe on the BK is 1/4" larger than the standpipe on the ATB - likely to allow the significantly larger water volume to pass through. On the BK the outlet is positioned lower, where the ATB is slightly up the body wall - maybe there will be less microbubbles leaving the BK. The most significant difference is the pump - a $200 pump and a $700 pump.

A GHL doser, no Profilux though, just the stand alone unit.

 

[Myka]

I built the sump myself on the deck while I waited for the tank to be built. I added trim to the sump too, but I didn't take any pics.

 

[Myka]

Hubby built the stand, and I painted it.

 

[Myka]

Let there be light! It's an ATI Sunpower 6x39w dimmable T5 fixture. I plan to mount a couple of Reefbrite blue LED strips on either side. Not sure if I'll be wanting the XHOs or the if the Techs will do the trick. I'm thinking the Tech will give me enough punch. This way I can run some high PAR T5 bulbs and have the LEDs for the blue supplementation. I'll be running a combo of ATI Blue Plus, Aquablue Special, and Coral Plus.

 

[Myka]

Then I built the interior of the stand.

The dry side.

 

[Myka]

Here are a couple pics of where the old 50-gallon frag tank is sitting. The new tank is a little further to the right so that it is fully in the livingroom and is more in line with the recliner for excellent viewing. The new tank has 3" taller viewing panes, and the stand is also 3 1/2" taller, so the entire system will stand 6 1/2" taller. It will fit the wall better.

I put some rock into the frag tank (it was all acrylic racks) to help mature the rock several weeks ago.

 

[Myka]

Tank arrival! It's a thing of beauty! Dave's crew built an outstanding tank - they really did a great job.

I'll get some better pictures when there is better light in the house. The reflection on the glass was killing me! Oh, and sorry about the ghetto light stand - I don't have the light hanger installed yet.

Here you can see the size difference with my 50-gallon beside it.

Eurobracing detail.

Vinyl covering on the overflow box and weir overflow detail.

Perdy bevel and polish on all edges.

 

[Myka]

On July 1st I made the tank transfer!

Here's a crappy photo to show the size difference of the old 50-gallon and the new 69-gallon. I had an SWC 180 Cone skimmer running on the 50-gallon, so I transferred that along with the tank contents so I didn't have to wait for one of the new skimemrs to break in.

Here's the view from the recliner.

A couple photos showing the little pipe stilts I made to hold the rock off the bottom for optimal water flow and to prevent detritus settling.

A couple closer photos showing the rock - though it's hard to see very well with all those fluffy (non-SPS) corals on the bottom.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Awesome! Following!

 

[sromero287]

Hi Myka, honestly your whole thread is just AMAZING N GREAT, not just for the details on pictures and technical info on the components but overall it's your dedication and love for your little piece of ocean at home, will show this to my wife to see if at least she get from you a 10% of interest and love for our reef, lol. Thanks for such a nice history and all the best, happy reefing from Weston Fl. [emoji225][emoji245]

 

[ifarmer]

Very nice and thanks for sharing . That 69g has a great dimension. Plenty room for sps

 

[Myka]

Awesome! Following!

Thanks for following!

Hi Myka, honestly your whole thread is just AMAZING N GREAT, not just for the details on pictures and technical info on the components but overall it's your dedication and love for your little piece of ocean at home, will show this to my wife to see if at least she get from you a 10% of interest and love for our reef, lol. Thanks for such a nice history and all the best, happy reefing from Weston Fl. [emoji225][emoji245]

Thanks for your comments. I do love reefing. It's been over two decades since I set up my very first saltwater tank, and my passion is as strong as ever.

Very nice and thanks for sharing . That 69g has a great dimension. Plenty room for sps

Thank you for following! I'm loving the dimensions. I'm sure the SPS will be hitting the side walls in no time. Tanks are never big enough.

 

[Myka]

It's been a long time since I weighed rock before putting it into the tank, so this time I weighed it all piece by piece so I have an accurate number. Interestingly, I only used rock that was already in the 50-gallon tank, so I didn't have to add any of the rock that I acid washed. So I have about 100 lbs I can sell. Ha! All the rock that I used in the new tank is all branch rock, so it's super light - only 28 lbs in the tank!

I did all the plumbing using grey SCH80 pipe and fittings. I was short one bushing fitting for the return pump, so I did it in white (I have tons of white pipe and fittings). I have a new Eheim Compact 3000 return pump on the way right now anyway, so I'll redo the return plumbing when I install that pump. I am adding a tee into it with ball valves for my water changes anyway.

I still have to get the light hanger installed, it's on some SWEET unpainted 2x4s right now. I have to get the screen lid installed too. I have a friend with a 3D printer and he's printing me up some custom-fit round corners to fit into the eurobracing. They even have a lip on them to hold the screen in place so it will fit flush to the surface of the eurobracing with no tabs to hold it in place.

There's a bunch of corals in the tank that still need to find a home. The only fluff I'm keeping are the rainbow brain, the Space Invader Pectina, a few select Zoas. Even most of the current SPS in previous photos are going to find their way out of the tank (the birdnest, the tricolor, and the Pocci).

My original plan was to run the tank bare bottom. I was expecting the tank to show up with a clear bottom pane which I was going to paint white, but it showed up with black vinyl on it and then the tank was built onto particle board. So the tank has a black bottom. I wasn't sure I was keen on the black bottom, so I washed some sand to put in the tank, but then I was kinda diggin' the black look (no reflection). Now I think I've decided to put sand in because I want some Jawfish, and my Pistol Shrimp keeps glaring at me to put some sand in for him.

During the tank transfer I removed some fish too. I have left a breeding pair of beautiful Onyx Perculas, a big old Pajama Cardinal, and a Royal Gramma. I added a Panamic Barnacle Blenny a week ago purely for entertainment value. I had a breeding pair of red Firefish in my old tank, but during the tank transfer one jumped out and I didn't notice in time to save it. I decided to re-home the remaining red Firefish and will replace them with a pair of Helfrich's. I have a 5-some of Maldives Flame Anthias (P. ignitus) on order, so as soon as Quality Marine has stock they will be ordered. I have a 40-gallon QT setup already and I'm ready with live brine shrimp, live blackworms, and a bottle of PraziPro. The LFS just got some Lyretail Anthias in from QM, and I'm thinking I will buy a couple females for in the QT as well to help encourage the Flames to eat, then re-home them after.

 

[Myka]

At 5 days in the corals didn't show any reaction to the transfer. They looked like business as usual. On the 50-gallon tank when I received the ATI fixture I dimmed the blue channel at 50% for 12 hours and the white channel at 30% (for 4 hours) and I bleached the crap out of most of the LPS and a couple Zoas. In the month leading up to the tank transfer, most of those corals had recovered. Since the transfer I've now turned the fixture up to 60% on blues and 45% on whites (tank is 3" deeper too) and will slowly work up to full strength depending on how much the LPS react.

On July 9th, only 9 days after the transfer I took a random trip to Purolator and found this...

Dippy dip, and inspection. Nothing came off them.

The following pics were taken maybe 20 minutes after introduction. I have them on a rack for observation, and then that rack will be outta there!

 

[Myka]

Here's how they looked July 15th (7 days in the tank).

L: Sunset Mille
R: Blue Polyp Nasuta

L: A. lovelli
R: Strawberry Shortcake

L: CM Fiji Cobalt
R: Albino Mille

L: Extreme Insignis
R: CM Sun God Mille

L: ORA Red Planet (showed up nice, but has bleached in my tank)
R: CM Green Dragon

L: CM Golden Sunset Mille (really diggin this one)
R: CM Christmas Hyacinthus

L: DWI - Deep Water Insanity
R: CM Sexy Beast

L: Cherry Popper A. florida
R: For the Love of Ivy

 

[Tahoe61]

Yup, me too, following.

 

[Myka]

Some pics from July 15th.

This is a maricultured Mille that showed up at the LFS with most of its zooxanthellae expelled a week before the tank transfer. It was white at that point, and at this point it was 3 weeks in my care, and looks like it will be blue, pink, purple.

This is another maricultured piece I picked up at the same time. The branches were a rich forest green with blue tips. It was bleaching, so I moved it to the bottom of the tank. I'm not sure what species it is - some sort of deepwater.

This is Montipora capitata that I've had for a couple years. I like it, so it's staying for now even though it's a Monti.

This is some sort of tabling Acro that came in on consignment at the LFS. There were some big chunks, but I just wanted a small chunk so I don't get weird growth pattern changes. I'm hoping it has more color to it, but I haven't seen any changes yet and I've had it about a month.

This is a weed that isn't going to be staying in the tank.

This was a nice surprise - I picked it up as a skin flap frag that was totally browned out and I had no idea what it was. It it super sensitive to alkalinity swings, and there were a couple low alkalinity issues not long before the tank transfer. I almost lost it. The green is normally a really deep green with neon magenta corallites. Some sort of SSC. It's been my favourite for a long time, but it grows painfully slow It's 2 years old.