Duncan's 90 gallon Reef upgrade

[Solarfall]

I'm just about ready to put my new 90 in place and cycle the new live sand I've gotten from a friend. I've got all the equipment and all that's left to do is clean out the tank itself and paint the back.

I'm definetly planning it out more this time around. I found an online magazine on RC that had a "tank of the month" that I'm more or less copying the design. The guy basically had "zones" for all types of coral. Here I have a rediculously complicated MS paint drawing/diagram of my intended setup:

Yeah, I got carried away...
And since I drew that a few things changed in the way I'm handling the sump and overflow/return. I'm converting both drilled holes into overflows and running 2 return lines off of my 1100 GPH external pump.
That way I can designate one to just rippling the surface and the other to whatever I see fit.
I'm also using a big tote for my sump and attaching a round container for a fuge kind of like what biff has. Acrylic tanks are hard to come by and I needed one in the 30-40 gallon range that would fit in my stand. Couldn't find one. And I don't trust a home-drilled glass tank in a situation like this where my return pump depends on it.

Here's the tank, waiting for a friend to come over and help me flip it around so I can clean and paint it.

Got it from a friend pretty cheap.


Here's where it's going in the house.

And here's the skimmer I bought used for $140. It's an Aqua-C EV-180 in-sump. Retails at $339 (on the aqua-c site at least).

Now I just have to figure out whether I want to hang my MH fixture or use it the way I've been.

 

[Bifferwine]

That's going to look great!! It will be a big change from your 55. So much more room to work with.

 

[Solarfall]

Yeah I'm really glad I'll have so much more width. Leaning rocks on the back glass in a 12" tank is pretty much inevitable and makes it a pain to clean back there.

 

[BL1]

I think I've seen the tank you're talking about, can't wait to see what you do with it

 

[Solarfall]

Here's the tank I'm modeling this from
Tank of the Month - April 2009 - Reefkeeping.com

I really like penninsula displays like what he has but I'm really sick of dealing with overflow boxes, so I'm settling with a normal style display.

 

[ccCapt]

If you want to push 1100 gph thru that overflow, you are probably going to have to cut out 1/2 the "teeth". As is, I highly doubt it will handle that much flow without the water rising over the top of the overflow.

 

[BL1]

Here's the tank I'm modeling this from
Tank of the Month - April 2009 - Reefkeeping.com

I really like penninsula displays like what he has but I'm really sick of dealing with overflow boxes, so I'm settling with a normal style display.

Yep that's the same one I saw

 

[Solarfall]

If you want to push 1100 gph thru that overflow, you are probably going to have to cut out 1/2 the "teeth". As is, I highly doubt it will handle that much flow without the water rising over the top of the overflow.

Well since I'm having 2 outlets and the stand is really tall (it comes up to about my chin with tank+stand and I'm 6'3") the head loss will be pretty significant. My head loss calculator is giving me a result of about 700 GPH so I should be alright. If not, I'll have ball valves on both outlets anyway.

 

[reeffreak]

Congrats,not only on the new system but for the patience and time for doing all that with Paint!

 

[Dakwan]

haha lovin' the paint picture. Love the big shit eating grin on the black percula clown

 

[Solarfall]

That black clown is a pain in my ass. Bites me every time I put my hand in the tank.

Anyway, everything's ready, I just need to let the new stain on my floor dry. I figured it would be good by now but it's still kind of tacky after 3 days.

I'm going to run every thing on tap water to make sure it circulates properly then I'll be cycling the sand some time next week.

I currently have 6 fish in my 55 and I'll be tossing one in the frag tank so I'll have about 4 open fish slots.

I definetly want one more tang. Really want a purple but I don't think it'll work out with my Yellow. But I also really want to try a small harem of Anthias. Will 1 male and 2 female Anthias be okay in a 90?

 

[reeffreak]

Be careful with anthias and clowns together.If the clown bites your finger then it's a good chance it will bite the anthias,especially their tails.

I think a trio of bartletts or lyretails will work in that size system.

 

[ggNoRe]

Can't wait to see it unfold! I planned to model a tank after Seapug's in the future as well. :mrgreen:

 

[Solarfall]

Havn't really been on in awhile. But I've had my 90 up for a while:

I'm going to try being more active on here. Just been real busy lately.