spsreefer's 84 Gal A.G.E. Peninsula Build w/ Pics

[spsreefer]

Hi everyone! I just joined R2R about a week ago, and have enjoyed reading the forum. There seems to be a lot of friendly and helpful people on this site so I'm really excited about starting my build thread, and looking forward to any feedback.

I ordered a custom starphire tank and wood stand from Acrylic & Glass Exhibits (AGE) back in Feb 2010. They didn't arrive until 4 months later because of several delays, but the wait was definitely worth it. The tank is a 40x24x22 peninsula style and the maple stand is 40x24x34 euro design. AGE is well known for building hybrid tanks using glass & pvc and the results are really AMAZING. Here are some features of the build:

• 3/8" Starphire glass on 3 sides
• 1" PVC bottom panel
• 3/8" rear tempered glass with black acrylic external overflow box
• 3" x 3/8" thick Starphire eurobrace

Before AGE started building my tank/stand I sent them my drawings:

And here are the photos of the finished tank/stand built exactly to spec:

As you can see, they did an awesome job on the build. My next plan is to install the plumbing and order the rest of the equipment. Hopefully I'll have this future SPS reef setup by Christmas. Thanks for checking out my thread.

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

looks great!
What are your plans for lighting?

 

[gilmour01]

looks amazing. cant wait to follow along.

 

[CONSTANTNE]

WOOWW! Nice Tank!

 

[Speg]

Very cool.

 

[killingseed2000]

great start for sure.

 

[Troylee]

1smile1 keep it coming!!!!!!!

 

[FateX8]

nice, im planning on a peninsula tank too
will be following!

 

[sexycorals]

WElcome !! and great looking tank man!!

 

[TopNotchCorals]

Thats pretty sick,welcome to R2R

 

[revsgirl]

Welcome to R2R! Definitely diggin' the tank!! Can't wait to follow along!

 

[revhtree]

That is gorgeous! WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mr E Wrasse]

that is one slick tank! very nice!!

 

[spsreefer]

looks great!
What are your plans for lighting?

Thanks all for the warm welcome and compliments :feel_good: Right now I'm finishing up my drawing for the sump. It'll be easier to work on the plumbing once I get that installed first.

As for lighting, I think I'll go with the ATI 6x39w Sunpower using 3 Blue+ (or 2 Blue+, 1 UVL super actinic), 2 Aquablue special, and 1 Fiji purple. From what I've read this is a good bulb combo for growth & color. I thought about an LED fixture like the Vertex Illumina, but the initial cost is still way too high compared to T5s. MH isn't an option for me because I prefer more energy efficient/low heat system, although the shimmer will be missed.

 

[spsreefer]

nice, im planning on a peninsula tank too
will be following!

Cool, have you decided on dimensions or which brand you're going with?

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

Thanks all for the warm welcome and compliments :feel_good: Right now I'm finishing up my drawing for the sump. It'll be easier to work on the plumbing once I get that installed first.

As for lighting, I think I'll go with the ATI 6x39w Sunpower using 3 Blue+ (or 2 Blue+, 1 UVL super actinic), 2 Aquablue special, and 1 Fiji purple. From what I've read this is a good bulb combo for growth & color. I thought about an LED fixture like the Vertex Illumina, but the initial cost is still way too high compared to T5s. MH isn't an option for me because I prefer more energy efficient/low heat system, although the shimmer will be missed.

Pretty much what i am running on my 65. I have the sunpower with three ATI blue+, one fiji purple, one UVL SA, and one aquablue special. I also have one 36" blue reefbrite LED strip. I just set the tank up last saturday so I'm not sure how my sps will fare under this lighting. I've been running halides for years and this lighting seems a little dim to me but i need to get a PAR meter from one of the club members and see how the numbers are.

I can't wait to see how this all turns out for you. I love the tank dimensions.

 

[Mr E Wrasse]

not sure if you've seen these LED's yet.. LED Aquarium Lighting | Evolution LED Lights you can get them from Reefkoi, a R2R sponsor. Mine will be in some time this week... i'll let you know how they are :xd:

 

[spsreefer]

not sure if you've seen these LED's yet.. LED Aquarium Lighting | Evolution LED Lights you can get them from Reefkoi, a R2R sponsor. Mine will be in some time this week... i'll let you know how they are :xd:

No I haven't seen these but they look like good units w/ high par, and the price is awesome. I wonder what the coverage is on each unit...with no optics probably around 2'x2' hung 5" above water line? What kind of corals are you keeping? I'd be very interested in seeing your results, especially if you have sps. Thanks for the link!

 

[Mr E Wrasse]

I'll be putting mine over a 40breeder that i'm setting up. It will be a LPS tank, but i'm planning on hanging it about a foot above the water. From what I understand it will work well for SPS too. There's a bunch of people that just ordered the same unit so I'm sure there will be lots of feedback over the next couple of weeks. As far as coverage goes.... you would probably need 2 units since you're doing a SPS tank, but it depends on how you're aquascaping

 

[FateX8]

im planning on putting the tank between my "foyer" and living area since its one large great room and wanted a little division but still keep that open feel
so i was thinking somewhere around a 180g to 250g or 6-8' but there are sooo many things going through my mind in how i want to run this
i was also thinking of an extremely shallow reef, like a 8x2x1 so you can look over it instead of through it but again just ideas right now
all i know is its going to be very minimalistic (if thats a word)
not even sure on lighting either as im trying to cut costs in electricity too