StikHeds 122 gal rimless w/ custom sump

[StikHedRon]

I've been working on my aquascape this past weekend and I think I have a good start going. I have one island done, I'm waiting on more rock to come so I can start working on the bigger island. I still need to add some smaller rock around the base to give it a better feel. The base of the structure is a piece of Pukani from BRS that I had in my old tank and that has been dry for about 4 months, all the shelves are from MarcoRocks and are bonded by JB Water Weld to the bottom rock. I then added a few pieces of rubble rock to raise up the middle/top shelf so that it creates a nice cave for the fish to swim in and out of and give them a place to sleep. I have more Marco Shelf rock and some of their "base" rock so I can try and create something interesting on the right side this coming weekend. My skimmer should of shipped out today and hopefully by doser ships out tomorrow!

 

[StikHedRon]

After a very long wait on CoralVue my skimmer was finally delivered yesterday. Here are a few pictures. It's a Reef Octopus Elite 200INT, comes with the RODC 3500 which matches up well with my return pump which is the RODC 5500. These pumps are so quite! Here is the bioload rating for the skimmer off the CoralVue Website.

 

[143MPCo]

great choice of skimmer, don't know about miller.

 

[StikHedRon]

great choice of skimmer, don't know about miller.

Thanks! Yeah, that was my wife's beer. I'm either drinking Craft beer or Coors Light!

 

[NoStRaThOmAs]

So another delivery today, today it was the starboard for the bottom of the tank. Looks pretty good I think! I got this from the cuttingboardcompany.com, it's 1/2" I had them cut it 1/8" short on the long and short measurements and they were dead on. I prolly could of had them cut it to within a 1/16" of an inch and still be good. I just wanted that little bit of wiggle room to ensure it fit!

Hey Ron can you give us some details on the starboard installation. What silicone you used and spread pattern. Did you silicone bottom, and top? Thanks

 

[StikHedRon]

Hey Ron can you give us some details on the starboard installation. What silicone you used and spread pattern. Did you silicone bottom, and top? Thanks

I didn't use any silicone because everything that I read stated that silicone wouldn't adhere to the starboard so basically what I did was measure the inside dimensions of my perimeter bracing and subtracted an 1/8 of an inch off the total length and width. I did this to try and minimize the gap around the board for any fish poop or food to get trapped down in the edges. The cuttingboard company did such a great job on cutting to the exact size, I probably could of even when with a tighter tolerance but I didn't want to take any chances. So I have about 1/16 of an inch all around the board which really isn't very much. The board is just laying on the bottom and will be held down by the rock work. Hope this helps, if you have anymore questions please feel free to ask them!

 

[StikHedRon]

Well yesterday my last piece of this puzzle showed up and I can finally start buttoning things up and get some water in it hopefully. I still need to get a few small things but no big deal.

 

[StikHedRon]

Ok. So heres my initial review of this doser after having some time messing around with it this morning. Initial setup is a Pain in the butt and the instructions are pretty vague. I had to manually install the driver and some other stressful things. Connecting to Wifi is not straight forward either as there really isn't any instructions on how to do that, BUT.... once I got it connected and running. The pump calibration is very easy the dosing schedule is also pretty easy. Everything that I do in the control center, which has to be connected to the unit via USB cable transfers to my app on my phone or Ipad. This is pretty nice. You can also adjust or change anything in the app, so once it's connected you really don't need the usb cable anymore but to update firmware. The unit is very light. One thing I'm not sure about is the Glowing GHL symbol on top, since this will be under my stand is my stand just gonna be glowing all the time. I will find this out once I get it in it's final resting place. I think they could of done something a bit different in this department though, but thats just me. The pumps when running you can hear them but their not too loud so thats not to annoying. Overall now that I have it hooked up and functioning properly I am very pleased with the unit. Last night I was a bit p1$$*d off trying to get it connected and thought I made a mistake. If your looking for a doser you can connect to wirelessly, I would recommend this pump if you are willing to go through the stressful situation of connecting it up and the initial setup!

 

[AdamsAquarium]

Love the build ! Great Job ! Hope you stay minimalistic with the aquascape, looking forward to seeing it done

 

[NoStRaThOmAs]

I didn't use any silicone because everything that I read stated that silicone wouldn't adhere to the starboard so basically what I did was measure the inside dimensions of my perimeter bracing and subtracted an 1/8 of an inch off the total length and width. I did this to try and minimize the gap around the board for any fish poop or food to get trapped down in the edges. The cuttingboard company did such a great job on cutting to the exact size, I probably could of even when with a tighter tolerance but I didn't want to take any chances. So I have about 1/16 of an inch all around the board which really isn't very much. The board is just laying on the bottom and will be held down by the rock work. Hope this helps, if you have anymore questions please feel free to ask them!

What thickness did you use?

 

[FireEMT]

Ok. So heres my initial review of this doser after having some time messing around with it this morning. Initial setup is a Pain in the butt and the instructions are pretty vague. I had to manually install the driver and some other stressful things. Connecting to Wifi is not straight forward either as there really isn't any instructions on how to do that, BUT.... once I got it connected and running. The pump calibration is very easy the dosing schedule is also pretty easy. Everything that I do in the control center, which has to be connected to the unit via USB cable transfers to my app on my phone or Ipad. This is pretty nice. You can also adjust or change anything in the app, so once it's connected you really don't need the usb cable anymore but to update firmware. The unit is very light. One thing I'm not sure about is the Glowing GHL symbol on top, since this will be under my stand is my stand just gonna be glowing all the time. I will find this out once I get it in it's final resting place. I think they could of done something a bit different in this department though, but thats just me. The pumps when running you can hear them but their not too loud so thats not to annoying. Overall now that I have it hooked up and functioning properly I am very pleased with the unit. Last night I was a bit p1$$*d off trying to get it connected and thought I made a mistake. If your looking for a doser you can connect to wirelessly, I would recommend this pump if you are willing to go through the stressful situation of connecting it up and the initial setup!

I was wondering where you ordered your GHL doser from? I also noticed that you have a ZEOvit reactor. I am trying to decide weather to run GFO and Carbon or go down the ZEO road. I am starting a tank very similar to yours and its my first tank so I am trying to soak up all the info I can get. I saw that you posted on another thread that ZEOvit reactor isn't as difficult as it seems. Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[HowUDoin]

What thickness did you use?

He went with 1/2" thick.

I was thinking of using HDPE to protect glass bottoms from rock, too. Honestly, I was hoping to be able to get away with using 1/4" material. Anyone have a reason to go thicker?

 

[Thomthom329]

He went with 1/2" thick.

I was thinking of using HDPE to protect glass bottoms from rock, too. Honestly, I was hoping to be able to get away with using 1/4" material. Anyone have a reason to go thicker?

I hear 1/4" tends to curl at the edges.

 

[HowUDoin]

I hear 1/4" tends to curl at the edges.

Thank you, that is the kind of answer I was looking for. 1/2" it shall be.

 

[StikHedRon]

Love the build ! Great Job ! Hope you stay minimalistic with the aquascape, looking forward to seeing it done

Thank you, posting more pics today, tell me what you think? Not too "minimalistic" but not a huge pile of rocks either.

 

[StikHedRon]

What thickness did you use?

I went with 1/2" My perimeter bracing is just a smidge shorter than 1/2" so I have a very very tiny lip but not a big deal.

 

[StikHedRon]

He went with 1/2" thick.

I was thinking of using HDPE to protect glass bottoms from rock, too. Honestly, I was hoping to be able to get away with using 1/4" material. Anyone have a reason to go thicker?

Thicker is always better!

 

[StikHedRon]

I was wondering where you ordered your GHL doser from? I also noticed that you have a ZEOvit reactor. I am trying to decide weather to run GFO and Carbon or go down the ZEO road. I am starting a tank very similar to yours and its my first tank so I am trying to soak up all the info I can get. I saw that you posted on another thread that ZEOvit reactor isn't as difficult as it seems. Thanks for any advice you can give.

I ordered it from Michael from Aquariumcomputer.com So the biggest thing about a reef tank, specifically an sps tank, is how invested do you want to be?? Zeovit takes interaction with your tank every day! You have to pump the reactor 10-15 times 2x a day. You also have to dose zeostart 2x a day. That is why I went with a 4 pump dosing pump so that I can dilute the zeostart and dose it via the pump versus, getting out the solution, clean a syringe, dose the Start in the morning and do it at night. But I will have to pump the reactor twice a day, but that should be 1-2min out of my morning and evening. Not too bad. My best advice would be to read the Zeovit manual, then read it again and decide if it's for you. There is a schedule that needs to be followed when dosing Zeobak and SpongePower. People have moved away from Zeofood as it seems to create algae issues easier. I am by no means an expert and would have to direct you over to Zeovit.com and get the experts advice over there.

 

[StikHedRon]

So I finally finished up my Rock work this weekend. I'm about 95% done, I may add some rubble rock in certain places to smooth things out a bit but this is it! Let me know what you think!

 

[FireEMT]

I ordered it from Michael from Aquariumcomputer.com So the biggest thing about a reef tank, specifically an sps tank, is how invested do you want to be?? Zeovit takes interaction with your tank every day! You have to pump the reactor 10-15 times 2x a day. You also have to dose zeostart 2x a day. That is why I went with a 4 pump dosing pump so that I can dilute the zeostart and dose it via the pump versus, getting out the solution, clean a syringe, dose the Start in the morning and do it at night. But I will have to pump the reactor twice a day, but that should be 1-2min out of my morning and evening. Not too bad. My best advice would be to read the Zeovit manual, then read it again and decide if it's for you. There is a schedule that needs to be followed when dosing Zeobak and SpongePower. People have moved away from Zeofood as it seems to create algae issues easier. I am by no means an expert and would have to direct you over to Zeovit.com and get the experts advice over there.

Thanks so much for the info, I will be following for sure. Derek from Miracles is building my 60x24x22 tank right now. I am going with an internal overflow for bean animal because I don't want the tank to stick out from the wall to far, hopefully thats the right decision? If I could ask one more question, whats the reason for the cutting board other than protecting the bottom glass of the tank. I love the aquascaping by the way.