acerhigh
just a reefer
I've been thru my share of tanks.... mostly upgrades... some downsizing as well though... several years ago I had a 156 gallon... 60x24x24, plus a 29 gallon tank plumbed into the same sump... between the 2 tanks... I ran 4 250 MH's... plus an assortment of VHO's, plus a chiller, a UV sterilizer, and a total of 7 pumps and 3 heaters... needless to say the electric company loved me.. I decided to cut my cost and go smaller.... at first I thought I could sell most of my stuff..... keep what I wanted in the 29 gallon and be happy...... however it was within the first couple weeks I realized that 29 gallon was WAY too small.... so.. I got a 60 tall..... (36x18x22) I built the stand and canopy for it... got everything up and running... got a few new corals... a few new fish... and within 8 months..... it was packed again.... all the corals.... (primarily zoanthids) were growing over the top of each other... everything was happy for the most part..... I spent the next 1 1/2 years looking at the tank... thinking, "I gotta thin this out" and looking at all the coral for sale places saying, "no I don't have room for that". Actually got bored with the hobby as there was nothing I could really do other than waterchanges and clean the tank.... I was faced with a decision.... get out..... or go bigger... I really can't imagine getting out of this hobby... it has brought me so much enjoyment over the years that life just wouldn't seem the same without it... so I decided to upgrade...
I had made a personal decision even before I decided to upgrade not to go with anything less than 24" wide... so I decided on a 120 gallon tank. Not too big, not too small.. So, enough of the history lesson... here is my setup...
I built the stand and canopy from 3/4 oak plywood.. The tank is built by Aquatic America in Hemlock Mi.
This stand and canopy are pretty much the same design I built for my 60 gallon tank... I liked them well enough... why change.
I didn't really take construction pictures..... sometimes I wish I had...
the canopy is pretty simple...
the part that is kinda unique is that once you open the door in the canopy, you can remove the front section of the canopy by sliding it up and out... so you get full access to the top of the tank.... no working thru the tiny opening the door provides. the only picture I have of this to explain it is from my 60 gallon tank that I built.. same design. this is with the removable section just slid up a bit to show how it comes out.
the lighting... 4 54W t5 bulbs overdriven by an icecap 660 are hooked into a wooden light bar inside the canopy... then that light bar is completely suspended by brass chains in each corner from the top of the canopy.. This way I have complete control in raising and lowering the lights. i can also just raise the front of the lightbar if I need to gain more access to top of the tank without removing the canopy. I have 9 Large blue 460nm LED lights installed in the lightbar for moonlights... I used philips deck lights for those.. [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Aurelle-Deck-Light-Blue/dp/B000FFB3AG[/ame] They worked out great... and I got them on ebay for $35 I removed the frosted cover that is installed in each light.
The stand is extra tall.... (43") I like them taller so there in no bending over when viewing the tank... it also gives lots of overhead room inside the stand for a taller skimmer if I change that. I have a 50 breeder that I made into a sump/fuge. I use a mag 12 for a return pump... and a sequence dart feeds an oceansmotions super squirt for the closed loop. I have about an 8" piece of locline installed in each upper corner of the tank... these all go to the super squirt. Because the Dart exceeds the rated input of the super squirt I have the output line teed off to a bulkhead on the right rear of the tank that has an outlet that is pointed across the tank behind the rockwork to help stop detritus from settling. here are some pictures of the sump and plumbing.
right side
left side
and the FTS please forgive the mess around the tank.
I run a tunze osmolator topoff system that pumps water from 2 32 gallon rubbermaid trash containers into a deltc KM500 kalk stirrer, and then into the tank as needed for topoff. I also run a Korallin C1502 Calcium Reactor that is controlled by my neptune systems aqua controller.
My current fish is:
Sailfin Tang
White Cheek Tang
pair of Mated (but not spawning) saddleback clowns.
solar wrasse
a purple psuedochromis (dottyback)
randalls shrimp goby
cleaner wrasse
a couple peppermint shrimp
2 emerald crabs.
long spine urchin
large brown brittle star
a couple snails
The reef is a mixed reef.... with a little bit of everything...
Here are a few of the coral that I have:
I hope to continue filling this tank as compared to my last tank, I have tons of room now!!!!
Thanks for letting me share..
Dan
I had made a personal decision even before I decided to upgrade not to go with anything less than 24" wide... so I decided on a 120 gallon tank. Not too big, not too small.. So, enough of the history lesson... here is my setup...
I built the stand and canopy from 3/4 oak plywood.. The tank is built by Aquatic America in Hemlock Mi.
This stand and canopy are pretty much the same design I built for my 60 gallon tank... I liked them well enough... why change.
I didn't really take construction pictures..... sometimes I wish I had...
the canopy is pretty simple...
the part that is kinda unique is that once you open the door in the canopy, you can remove the front section of the canopy by sliding it up and out... so you get full access to the top of the tank.... no working thru the tiny opening the door provides. the only picture I have of this to explain it is from my 60 gallon tank that I built.. same design. this is with the removable section just slid up a bit to show how it comes out.
the lighting... 4 54W t5 bulbs overdriven by an icecap 660 are hooked into a wooden light bar inside the canopy... then that light bar is completely suspended by brass chains in each corner from the top of the canopy.. This way I have complete control in raising and lowering the lights. i can also just raise the front of the lightbar if I need to gain more access to top of the tank without removing the canopy. I have 9 Large blue 460nm LED lights installed in the lightbar for moonlights... I used philips deck lights for those.. [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Aurelle-Deck-Light-Blue/dp/B000FFB3AG[/ame] They worked out great... and I got them on ebay for $35 I removed the frosted cover that is installed in each light.
The stand is extra tall.... (43") I like them taller so there in no bending over when viewing the tank... it also gives lots of overhead room inside the stand for a taller skimmer if I change that. I have a 50 breeder that I made into a sump/fuge. I use a mag 12 for a return pump... and a sequence dart feeds an oceansmotions super squirt for the closed loop. I have about an 8" piece of locline installed in each upper corner of the tank... these all go to the super squirt. Because the Dart exceeds the rated input of the super squirt I have the output line teed off to a bulkhead on the right rear of the tank that has an outlet that is pointed across the tank behind the rockwork to help stop detritus from settling. here are some pictures of the sump and plumbing.
right side
left side
and the FTS please forgive the mess around the tank.
I run a tunze osmolator topoff system that pumps water from 2 32 gallon rubbermaid trash containers into a deltc KM500 kalk stirrer, and then into the tank as needed for topoff. I also run a Korallin C1502 Calcium Reactor that is controlled by my neptune systems aqua controller.
My current fish is:
Sailfin Tang
White Cheek Tang
pair of Mated (but not spawning) saddleback clowns.
solar wrasse
a purple psuedochromis (dottyback)
randalls shrimp goby
cleaner wrasse
a couple peppermint shrimp
2 emerald crabs.
long spine urchin
large brown brittle star
a couple snails
The reef is a mixed reef.... with a little bit of everything...
Here are a few of the coral that I have:
I hope to continue filling this tank as compared to my last tank, I have tons of room now!!!!
Thanks for letting me share..
Dan
