Stubbs Elos 120XL Build in Malaysia
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markstubb
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Oh man oh man, I have a lot of things that have happened with this tank. I need to do a legit post. It's up and running, and I've had my share of issues with breaking it in, but I need to put a proper post together to share
So we left off with the sump partially installed, but glowing, which is cool. Now I got started on wiring.
I installed some wire channel around the perimeter of the cabinet, just up very high so it's out of sight. It was 25mm x 25mm near the Apex and 45mm x 45mm around the top of the cabinet
Then I had to connect everything to the controller rack. This is just a progression of wires and trying to keep them organized..
The device at the far right is a custom Apex break out board that controls 5 optical sensors + 1 float, or any combination there of (up to 6 floats like a normal BoB). Made it way before Apex released their optical sensors, but all of my ATO container and NSW/RO storage containers use optical sensors already, so I continue to use it. The spare space next to it was thought about for an extra PM1 module for the Calcium Reactor, but I just never got around to buying it yet. (Spoiler: I recently installed 2 more PM1's - we will get back to that at some point)
Now we tried a water test. I just hooked up the garden hose and turned on the faucet. This is the *FIRST* time I have ever put water into this tank, and remember, it's used and has some age on it, so I was a bit nervous. My son wasn't nervous at all, though. He was thrilled to finally see water in the tank.
Next up was rock work. I made the decision quite a while ago that I never wanted to deal with live rock again, and was willing to put the time into dead rock to make it work. I had some hitchhikers before that drove me batty and just don't want to deal with it at this point, especially in a new environment. I also decided that I didn't want to deal with cooking dead rock, so I decided to get some Caribsea Liferock. I had a small chunk in the past and really liked it. It's not 100% white right off the bat, and looks pretty cool in a new tank. Plus you don't have to cook it. So I looked and looked, and looked some around here and realized that it mostly doesn't exist in Malaysia. I found a guy way south in Johor that sold it, but he was out of stock and wouldn't get more for a few months (pretty typical here, honestly). So, being as determined as I was, I did what any sane individual would do. I ordered 120lbs of it off the internet. From a USA based company. To ship internationally. I paid good money to ship 120lbs of rock over the ocean.
OK, I'm not tooootally sane, but that's what I did. I got some of the normal rock as well as some of the "shapes" variant. It showed up, a bit worse for wear, but the folks I ordered it from actually unpacked the boxes, wrapped the rocks in bubble wrap, and repacked it. The place I ordered from went above and beyond, but some of the rock didn't fare so well. The "shapes" especially had some issues, but it was pretty easy to reassemble them, or just use the broken chunks like a normal build.
I also ordered some rocks from a placed called DE Aquatic in Singapore. They're super nice guys down there and have some really cool homegrown dead rock that matches quite well with the Caribsea stuff. It's more "painted" but it looks like it has sponges all over it, has some shinier paint, etc., but once it's under water, it all looks quite similar, just a different texture.
So what does everyone need when doing rock? Glue, right? I also ordered an alarmingly large amount of super glue from the same place in the USA I ordered the rock from. Here's a pic of a few of the bottles:
ARGH! THEY'RE ALL DRIED UP. I tried to contact Two Little Fishies but they didn't really give a crap. When I say they didn't give a crap, I mean they didn't even bother to reply to any of my messages. I'll never understand companies that don't try to help their end users. I'm not sure if the glue didn't like the plane time or what, but they are all super thick and gelled up. If I squeeze the crap out of the bottle, I can get a tiny amount out but that's it. So I ended up having to find some locally which was the normal BSI stuff I've used in the past. I also ordered some of that purple 2 part epoxy stick stuff and used that to make most of the rockwork.
Here's my first swing at the rockwork:
Then I moved some things around, and by that I mean I got the wife involved. I think it looks better. Yes, you were right, honey.
Now what's next? Water? SALT WATER? You're correct! I threw in 100lbs of Caribsea Special Grade sand (I got that from the guy in Johor, so I wasn't stupid and shipped it across the globe) which I really like for the particle size and it doesn't come with a bunch of large rocks and shells. It's not "ocean" natural, but I prefer it. It's big enough grain to stay put, but sand sifters can still work on it.
TAA DAH. December 12, 2017, she got wet!
That's all for now!
Good morning
I also have an Elos120XL so I’m a reading through your thread.... and like you I also spent a long time reading through @d2mini thread and still haven’t finished!I love your rocksape and your sump (I haven’t got past this post about yOu adding saltwater..)...
We have a larger central rock pinnacle made with real reef rock and for 18 months had bad brown slime algae that at last, has regressed.
But we need help with our tank I’ll probably start a thread about it.
Do you find the gyres move your sand? We just cannot get our flow right. We aren’t that good with all the different modes, and just put it on alternating mode last night.
What modes do you use?
Also really like your sump. We have the one that comes with the Elos tank. A slightly odd design as everything is pretty much in one chamber. How much was your sump? Why didn’t you have the Elos design sump?
Thanks,
Shona
Here’s my tank before slime algae took over.
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markstubb
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Do you have two gyres or just that one? I have 2 xf250’s and they’re way too powerful. I run them in .1s bursts, alternating, from 40-55% and when they’re clean, they definitely move the sand for a while. I recently put in an anemone and it was doing awesome until I cleaned my Gyres. Now it’s never coming out, won’t move, and I’m afraid it may die. 18 months is a long time to deal with algae. I will say that my tank took a nose dive for a while, but is mostly recovered now. Almost embarrassed to post this, but after treating it like it was bad GHA for about a month or two and getting nowhere, I got a microscope and realized it was bryopsis. Fluconazole to the rescue!
We only have the one gyra, I was thinking perhaps I should try to get another. The sand was just constantly discoloured with cyano. It’s much better now but now it looks like a tidal wave has shifted the rock!Do you have two gyres or just that one? I have 2 xf250’s and they’re way too powerful. I run them in .1s bursts, alternating, from 40-55% and when they’re clean, they definitely move the sand for a while. I recently put in an anemone and it was doing awesome until I cleaned my Gyres. Now it’s never coming out, won’t move, and I’m afraid it may die. 18 months is a long time to deal with algae. I will say that my tank took a nose dive for a while, but is mostly recovered now. Almost embarrassed to post this, but after treating it like it was bad GHA for about a month or two and getting nowhere, I got a microscope and realized it was bryopsis. Fluconazole to the rescue!
That’s alt of GHA, luckily we haven’t had that....but I lov the corals and rockscape. Yours looks like a proper reef.
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markstubb
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I think they work together if they fight one another. If you tune them right, you'll just be pushing water back and forth rather than a full on gyre which is gonna move sand around. The other option is to move the gyre down the glass a bit and angle it up a bit more. Here's the tank today
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markstubb
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Hi, unfortunately no. I had to leave Malaysia in 2021 and sold or gave away the inhabitants then sold the tank and sump to a coral farmer in the USA. I have a 200g crystal dynamics custom tank now
MrDellimore
Active Member
Ah man! I just moved to Malaysia and I loved following your thread! Looked like an Amazing build!
I also am into woodwork and I am building my stand now.
Gumbies R Us
Another Fish in the Sea
Do you have any pictures of the new 200g tank?
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markstubb
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Are you in KL or another part of Malaysia? I can recommend some shops depending on where you are.
Unfortunately it's not wet yet. I got the tank and custom Geo sump a few months back but other home improvement stuff has kept me from setting it up thus far. I'm not sure if I'm gonna do a build thread on it or not.
It's 60x33x26, so pretty similar dimensions to the Elos as I really liked the format. I think it's *technically* like 220g, but whatever.
Modular Marine overflow, reinforced starboard bottom, double recessed euro braced, armored seams, all starphire. Stand is from MotionAI.
CDA makes a beautiful tank.
I still need to put in the bottom plywood and build a pvc tray like I had on my Elos before it gets wet. I am reusing a lot of stuff from my old tank on this one to save startup costs.
You can see the reinforced euro top and starboard at the bottom.
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markstubb
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Oh, reefbuilders did an article on my sump, which was pretty cool (and unexpected)
Geo’s L-shaped sump is fully loaded and ready to reef | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog
We readily admit to having acrylic sump envy but some of them lack at least one feature we class as essential in a reef sump. Hands down acrylic sumps win in the looks department but if they can’t…
reefbuilders.com
MrDellimore
Active Member
Yup I am in KL! My tank is also around 200G looking forward to seeing your next build!
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markstubb
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Check out 2 places -
Aquarium Batu Karang (www.abk.my) in Subang Jaya- the Lee's are great guys. May be a little expensive on some things but they usually had great selection
Malaya Reef Aquatic (www.malayareefaquatic.com.my) in PJ. Kev and Moon are cool dudes, lots of coral/fish connections. Great prices
For online stuff, Danny at https://www.myaquariumshops.com.my/ is the best. He's down in JB by SG but can deliver stuff super quick if you need it fast.
If you go to SG, stuff is way more expensive but also you can get way more exotic stuff there (imagine that)
Aquarium Batu Karang (www.abk.my) in Subang Jaya- the Lee's are great guys. May be a little expensive on some things but they usually had great selection
Malaya Reef Aquatic (www.malayareefaquatic.com.my) in PJ. Kev and Moon are cool dudes, lots of coral/fish connections. Great prices
For online stuff, Danny at https://www.myaquariumshops.com.my/ is the best. He's down in JB by SG but can deliver stuff super quick if you need it fast.
If you go to SG, stuff is way more expensive but also you can get way more exotic stuff there (imagine that)
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