Stuns' Reef

[stunreefer]

TANK: 183 gallon AGE rimless - 48"L x 36"W x 24.5"H - 1/2" Starphire front and sides - 1" SCH 80 PVC Bottom - Black silicone

SKIMMER: ATB Medium Internal with Airstar Pump

CIRCULATION: return is an Eheim 1262, Vortech (or two) if necessary for addtional flow.

I like ^ this pic ^ as you can see my current 50 gal breeder in the reflection... the fish and corals are anxiously awaiting their new home... especially now that they can see it

CNC'd bulkhead notches for my Haywards The OF box has an awesome CNC'd top too.. you can see it in the pic above this.

Note in the pic below that the sump has been modified in order to fit better and serve it's purpose perfectly... HUGE thanks to Junior for help with this! Here's the full story behind it if interested: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=14331215#post14331215

1/2" SCH80 PVC Deck:

1/2" SCH80 PVC stand back:

The tank is actually plumbed up now, full of SW and running as of last night. I even managed to get the LR in there before I went to bed I'll get some pics of the plumbing and full tank here soon.

 

[revhtree]

UMmm this is a sweeeeet tank!! More pics!!

 

[mpoletti]

Very nice Austin. Glad to see you finally getting this tank moving along

 

[FaviaFreak]

looking good!!

 

[JuniorMC8704]

Awesome!

I was by Austin's house yesterday, and I must say.....the tank is by FAR the best quality ive EVER seen...

Its going to be an amazing tank that is for sure.

Glad you came and got the extra water Stun...i was tired of hearing "its almost full, just another day" =)

 

[Viva'sReef]

YES FINALLY!!!! LOL. I've been waiting for this build to come alive. We've seen these pics WEEKS ago, Its time for some updated shots.

 

[SaraB]

That's an awesome looking tank! Can't wait to see the progress of the build.

 

[Acro76]

Looking good Austin! :xd:

what kind of lighting are you going to run?

 

[GSMguy]

Very nice, I have been waiting to see what you come up with.

What's the equpment list besides the medium?

 

[Poseidon]

I can't wait for this one to fill out! I REALLY like the stand! I want to do one like that for my next tank, whatever size it is...

 

[MarvinsReef]

sweet stuff bro...

 

[stunreefer]

Thanks guys!

This upgrade has been two years in the making, so I'm super excited to start stocking

Glad you came and got the extra water Stun...i was tired of hearing "its almost full, just another day" =)

Yea, me too! Thanks again bro... definitely saved some time and got me rolling right along.

Long story short it was filling with RO/DI since last Tuesday, and I only needed about 20 gals to go so I followed Jr. home last night and "stole" some RO . I didn't realize that in my new house the incoming psi is only ~40 psi... hence my unit wasn't pumping 75 GPD, more like 30.

I've been waiting for this build to come alive. We've seen these pics WEEKS ago, Its time for some updated shots.

Yep, it's alive! The pic of the stands' back has never been posted before... gimme a break!

what kind of lighting are you going to run?

I dunno yet...

This tank was originally designed to be Acropora dominant with a 48" 10 bulb ATI Powermodule, but plans have changed drastically. This is the first time I've posted (only a couple reefer buddies know), but this tank will now be a "deep-water" NPS (non-photosynthetic) tank focusing on two of my favorite families of coral, Dendrophyllidae and Flabellidae. Fear not my SPS friends... I'll be back someday.

I broke down my 50 breeder a couple months ago in preparation for this new tank, and needless to say I forgot how nice it was to NOT have a tank set-up! I'd had a reef (or two, or three...) for the past six years with no breaks. When I broke the tank down I took my coral and fish to a couple friends houses (thanks a bunch guys!) to hold for me... it was a much needed break, and allowed me to re-think what I was going to do on this tank.

I decided I wanted something that's simpler to run with less maintenance (than a fully stocked SPS), and allows me and everyone else (reefer and non-reefer alike) to remain interested and excited.

What's the equpment list besides the medium?

Well for now it's as follows:

Heaters: 2, 250W Stealth

... and that's it less everything mentioned in my first post, LOL. Very simple

I did have Paul at Oceans Motions make a custom sized inlet nozzle for my return pump... he calls them "Omni-Flex" I believe. Lighting is up in the air as mentioned above... I know I'll utilize a ZeroEdge Lamp Tree (single-bar) to hang my light from, and right now I'm thinking of going with a T5 fixture, 36" long with 4 bulbs and LED moonlights in it. I'm considering trying only a 2 bulb fixture, or maybe only 24" long. Remember, this is replicating 200' - 400' down, so I want awesome color but nothing super bright. Most of my favorite fish are from this area of the ocean, so I'm VERY excited to start fish stocking

At some point I might pick-up a controller - I did have a Profilux Plus II but was not a fan... the only thing I'd use it for is heat/cool control, ATO and monitoring tank while out of town (I'll say I like what I've seen with the newer RKEs). For now I'm manually topping-off, and I'll use one of Juniors extra ATO devices once I start stocking. Everything is plugged into the wall in 2 direct GFI protected 20 AMP circuits I had ran.

 

[ahayes13]

really nice tank!

 

[Poseidon]

Austin, does this mean you will skipping the heaters, and going with a chiller to drop the temp? Forgive my ignorance, but I am thinking that the temp of the water at 200+ feet is going to be pretty cold compared to a typical "reef". Maybe a room temp reef?

 

[GSMguy]

so its going to be a FO deepwater species tank? thats going to be awesome, a 2 bulb powermodule would be the way to go. Now i really want to see what you do with it...

 

[JuniorMC8704]

heres a sample of some of austins corals im holding for the new tank.

 

[GSMguy]

Oh Jeez....

 

[stunreefer]

Austin, does this mean you will skipping the heaters, and going with a chiller to drop the temp? Forgive my ignorance, but I am thinking that the temp of the water at 200+ feet is going to be pretty cold compared to a typical "reef". Maybe a room temp reef?

Yes sir... well, kinda

The room that the tank is in is half underground, so it stays pretty cool most of the time. I do have heaters in it currently to keep the temp up at ~75-76* F. This is where I'll run consistantly run the tank at... I'm hoping that with the low amount of heat given off by the small amount of lighting, and next to no heat from the Eheim and ATB I will not need a chiller, but I might - we'll see (yeah right!).

so its going to be a FO deepwater species tank? thats going to be awesome, a 2 bulb powermodule would be the way to go. Now i really want to see what you do with it...

Oh no, there will be coral

I love PMs, but I really want to have moonlights already mounted in the fixture if possible. Honestly I have a sinlge 24" standard output Actinic Bulb (I think it's a T12?) that I held over the tank and it doesn't look half bad... I do want more light than that to see everything a little better, but by no means do I want to over-do it, and I would like it to just barely appear a bit dim.


Thanks for posting the pics Jr., and of course thanks even moreso for hanging on to them I'm diggin' that photo... might need a copy for the fridge or framing. I love the conch creeping out of the sand in the bottom right... It looks like one of the two conchs I brought you a while back, isn't it?

 

[Acro76]

dimmable T5....

 

[stunreefer]

dimmable T5....

Heh, heh... yea I saw the Starfires the other day :bigsmile:

I was half-considering keeping the Profilux just so I could utilize the GHL I-Bars they have, but I couldn't justify keeping it for that sole reason... especially since I KNOW it would be a nightmare if I ever had an issue with the I-Bar.


Since we're on the subject, what do you guys think lighting wise?

It will be either 24" or 36", with either 2 or 4 bulbs. If I can get away with a 24", 2 bulb that's my first choice... least amount of energy, smallest footprint hanging over tank and cheap bulb replacement. BUT, I do want to be able to see the fish and most of the corals detail. With the LampTree I can hang the fixture ~ 70" high, so I could more than likely get enough spread out of a 24" fixture.