Ver.3.0 - 'Islands' 100Gal SPS Dominant Build

Owram2 · Feb 21, 2020

Starting this thread to track the new tank progress and to share the excitement of having a new tank built.. that the wife don't necessary share.

The plan for this tank is mainly going to be SPS, but it will still have a place for LPS and Softies too!

Frontal Tank shot (Jul 2020)

I currently still have a IM 10gal nano that is about 5 years old. Equipment are starting to fail, so i figured its time for them to move to a bigger place!
*Update: Nano has been decomm.

SPR1968 · Feb 21, 2020

Well the nano looks beautiful and keep the pictures of the new tank coming as well

Owram2 · Feb 21, 2020

So the planning begins early, But contemplating took up most of the time.
Finally, decided to go with a custom tank with aluminium profile stand (4040).
Hoping that the 4040 can gives me the flexibility to add and modify the internals on my own instead of a wooden cabinet, which cost quite a bit more for a professional to build.

Owram2 · Feb 21, 2020

Stand came in rather quickly and the first issue surfaced. My floor is not entirely flat. Dang... So decided to add footing to the stand, took another week before the parts arrived. The inexperience of dealing with aluminium profile is already showing. Oh well... learn as I go!

The stability of the basic frame doesn't inspire much confidence so more parts are ordered. Lots of time are spent on researching on getting the right components and minor details like getting the right screw length... So morale of the story, pay a professional if you can afford to.. otherwise, you still end up paying with some fun, frustration and of course.. Time and $$.

Looks like the frame is completed. Just the first part of the build...

Owram2 · Feb 21, 2020

Ordered some PVC boards as base for both the Main and Sump tank.
This time I decided to pay the shop to do a proper cut out as I do not have all the proper tools for the job.

Then... most part of the order was ok. Top and bottom was suppose to be of the same length... what the....

Needless to say, this was sent back and a new one came after a few days.

And when it finally came back, it still can't fit into the base of the sump. Basically the cutting isn't good enough. About 1-2mm too small in some area. End up doing the enlargement myself... Not perfect.. Morale of the story: Not all the professionals are as good as you think they are.

This seems like its heading towards to be a very sad build.

Owram2 · Feb 21, 2020

Meanwhile the tank is already in the making.

This is the finalised tank design.
The 'special' concept incorporated here is to have another 'tank' within the sump as a species tank. With a removable baffle, I can have some freedom in deciding if i need a frag tank, a refrigium tank or a species tank.

najer · Feb 21, 2020

Nice start, love that you are using profile, thinking of going heavier grade for a larger tank build, I love a shallow and love the good sized sump.

Ruben's Reef · Feb 21, 2020

Interesting build.. Following.

brandon429 · Feb 21, 2020

amazing build, Im interested in the biology of safely moving all the growth into the new tank without a cycle. that tank above is so low storage, detritus free, merely lift it up and set it in all new water and you are done. worlds easiest non cycle, wow. pry some off the bottom and move them over too

only detritus is the risk when moving established corals, what a setup above here.

Owram2 · Feb 24, 2020

najer said:
Nice start, love that you are using profile, thinking of going heavier grade for a larger tank build, I love a shallow and love the good sized sump.

I was thinking about using a thicker profile but the professionals assure me it sufficient to hold it up.
Well, he didn't exactly provide a guarantee though..

Owram2 · Feb 24, 2020

brandon429 said:
amazing build, Im interested in the biology of safely moving all the growth into the new tank without a cycle. that tank above is so low storage, detritus free, merely lift it up and set it in all new water and you are done. worlds easiest non cycle, wow. pry some off the bottom and move them over too

only detritus is the risk when moving established corals, what a setup above here.

Unfortunately, theres a lot of vermetid snails that i hope to get rid of. There has also been AEFW in my system although i dun see them recently. The plan is to remove the corals and go through a dip before going to the new tank. So the transfer is likely going to take some time.

Owram2 · Feb 24, 2020

The new tank came!!
2 Movers came. Unload the tank into position and off in a jiffy.
10 mins is all it takes..

So i took out my plumbings and started to do a mock up. Then this happened.

The bulk head cannot go in the hole! Wrong hole size!

The overflow side works just fine. Murphy law.

So the tank maker took back the tank to rectify the issue.

Owram2 · Feb 24, 2020

I took a closer look at the 2 crystal glass panel and found scratches. Needless to say, I am not a happy man.

Owram2 · Feb 24, 2020

After all the excitement.

This was all that was left.

Owram2 · Feb 24, 2020

While we continue to dwell on all the hiccups.

I have a bag of dry rocks sitting in storage. Some of these are from my previous build, and some of these are donated to me by reefers.
The prices of rocks nowadays are a little too much for me to swallow. It might be due fact that the prices for rocks are like 9 times more than what paid before at the LFS.
And then there are branded rocks, Fake rocks (artificial rocks), resin rock... anything that warrants a fake is definitely valuable item right?
Should have invested in live rocks instead of stock.

Aquascaping

I think this is the most difficult part of the entire setup. How many of you agree with that?

I have seen many interesting scape online, pinterest, forums etc. I have seen several of the floating scape and recently the scape that look like a 'flying aircraft-carrier' seems to be hot.

I do not have very strong artistic talent and I have no idea how to start. So i took out the rocks to evaluate what i have. Most of them are really small to medium size. Some tonga branch and some pretty big one.

After some thoughts, i decide to cut them up and see what I can come up with. Nothing is going to happen unless i start moving some pieces.

So this is what i end up with.

Owram2 · Feb 26, 2020

Went to the factory to make sure they didn't forget about me.
Good to see the guys are working on it. Did a final inspection and this time is free of scratches. Next step then Great!