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-   -   The 120 Gallon Custom Build (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2679837)

Ramracer32 07/07/2018 11:55 PM

The 120 Gallon Custom Build
 
Well its time to make the upgrade. I have been keeping a nano tank for about a year and I told myself If I can keep coral alive and looking good in that tank for a good amount of time then I would pull the trigger on a big tank. I have learned so much about what I would want and not want in a tank and how i would like my tank ran. Its amazing how fast swings will happen with a nano reef I am so excited for more stable water parameters :dance:

This 120 I will be going more old school. Metal halides and a calcium reactor. I have played around with dossers, and the ecotech radions and while those pieces of equipment are pretty amazing I just Love how the old technology works. I have even used the apex controller in the past and would much rather turning on and off a physical switch for servicing than go through profiles on a screen to do the same task.

I just started building the stand and got my influence by Marino420tD stand build a number of years back. I will be putting all my free time into this build and hopefully in a couple of weeks ill have water in the tank :beer:

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/cL5DWo/image1_4.jpg" alt="image1_4" border="0">

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/fJLfBo/image2_4.jpg" alt="image2_4" border="0">

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/gMqfBo/image3_1.jpg" alt="image3_1" border="0">

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/iYmLBo/image4.jpg" alt="image4" border="0">

spiritwalker 07/08/2018 12:56 AM

Off to a good start.

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Ryan Darilek 07/08/2018 02:50 PM

Beautiful stand!! Painting it or staining?

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Ramracer32 07/08/2018 06:58 PM

thank you, I will be painting the stand should be able to get final coat in tomorrow and will take some updated photos. The sump, lights, and protein skimmer going on order tonight. hopefully i can get going on canopy tomorrow as well to match. I was contemplating ordering some custom cabinet doors, but looking at those prices per sq ft im happy to do them myself :hammer: I was able to score a new 120 reef aquarium for only $325 store going out of business. The 2 overflows are in each corner and would much rather had one in the center, but for that price i couldn't say no

Ryan Darilek 07/08/2018 10:34 PM

That's awesome! Which sump and skimmer are you going with? Looking forward to the update pics!

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Zoahoarder 07/11/2018 03:44 AM

Wow love the stand. Great craftsmanship I'm in the process of doing a 120 and plan on going with halides and t5.

Ramracer32 07/11/2018 04:41 PM

Thank you guys! dang hard to be a HVAC tech with this hot weather and have time to get this tank running, but will get there asap. Here is a little update I got the stand painted and my first packages came in for the lights and skimmer. The skimmer is a bubble magnus curve 7 and lights are 2 hamilton bali sun metal halide hoods that will house 2 20k 250w metal halide bulbs. for the sump i went with the icecap 30 sump and should be a perfect size to fit all my equipment under the tank. I Also have on order a 3/4" sheet of white cutting board to line the bottom of the tank as this will be bare bottom. i should have the canopy done this weekend and doors to hopefully put everything together.

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/kpzy48/image1_4.jpg" alt="image1_4" border="0">

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/fnH7xT/image2_4.jpg" alt="image2_4" border="0">

Zoahoarder youll have to post a pic of your setup the halides with t5 sounds awesome

Zoahoarder 07/11/2018 06:28 PM

Lol. I've got the same fixture and going with the 20k radium bulb. Quick preview.

Ryan Darilek 07/11/2018 09:28 PM

Nice! I've got the Bubble Magus Curve 5 Elite on my 60 cube and that thing works amazing. I'm sure you'll be happy with yours too

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Ramracer32 07/11/2018 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan Darilek (Post 25468668)
Nice! I've got the Bubble Magus Curve 5 Elite on my 60 cube and that thing works amazing. I'm sure you'll be happy with yours too

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thats awesome! I feel like the price is right on it as well and couldn't pass it up. I just noticed you are in Colorado springs im actually in highlands ranch colorado if you ever make it up this way there is an amazing store to get corals called aquatic art inc. they are only opened Fridays and Saturdays but definitely worth the drive

Ryan Darilek 07/11/2018 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramracer32 (Post 25468703)
thats awesome! I feel like the price is right on it as well and couldn't pass it up. I just noticed you are in Colorado springs im actually in highlands ranch colorado if you ever make it up this way there is an amazing store to get corals called aquatic art inc. they are only opened Fridays and Saturdays but definitely worth the drive

Oh hey neighbor! That's great to know actually. For the longest time there wasn't even a decent store down here in the Springs and I was going up to Denver, but about 10 months ago we had an online only guy start up a brick and mortar location and it's pretty ridiculous how much selection he has (more than I saw anywhere in Denver), not to mention the quality. So if you're ever this way, check out Reefkoi Corals!

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Zoahoarder 07/12/2018 03:01 AM

Here's what I've got so far. Need to make a floating canopy for the lighting now.
https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/...QxlKpjH6Q6pRqt

Ramracer32 07/17/2018 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan Darilek (Post 25468709)
Oh hey neighbor! That's great to know actually. For the longest time there wasn't even a decent store down here in the Springs and I was going up to Denver, but about 10 months ago we had an online only guy start up a brick and mortar location and it's pretty ridiculous how much selection he has (more than I saw anywhere in Denver), not to mention the quality. So if you're ever this way, check out Reefkoi Corals!

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awesome!!!! I will have to check them out soon :beer:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoahoarder (Post 25468743)
Here's what I've got so far. Need to make a floating canopy for the lighting now.
https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/...QxlKpjH6Q6pRqt

Zoa that looks great. I hope the 2 halides alone will be enough to light my tank, ill probable have to get some light strips as well.

Update! I finally got the stand canopy and doors all done :celeb1: I think i have about 40 hrs into this dang thing and half way through this project i kept telling myself i should have just bought a tank stand, but im happy with the outcome and its set up to make servicing the tank very easy. I can finally work on the actual equipment and design the rockwork. Anyone wanting to build a similar stand here is a link to marino420td thread that will point you in the right direction. I couldn't have done it without his thread. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=787189

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/hqH2By/image3_1.jpg" alt="image3_1" border="0">

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/fumJjJ/image4.jpg" alt="image4" border="0">

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/iyB7dd/image2_4.jpg" alt="image2_4" border="0">

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/iLZhBy/image1_4.jpg" alt="image1_4" border="0">

Ramracer32 07/18/2018 09:53 PM

Quick update! Got the rocks in, my cutting board white base, and also Hung the lighting very excited to get some water in here :celeb1:

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/n9PPRy/image1_4.jpg" alt="image1_4" border="0">

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/hHy7eJ/image2_4.jpg" alt="image2_4" border="0">

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/c1SYKJ/image3_1.jpg" alt="image3_1" border="0">

Ryan Darilek 07/18/2018 10:02 PM

Looks bad *** man!!! I think the aquascaping looks great, but would look even better if you could find a large very flat rock to create a "shelf" spanning a few of those rocks! Just an idea :)

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Zoahoarder 07/19/2018 03:05 AM

Dang man that looks great. I love your stand. Wish I made a custom one but already went way over my budget. Doesn't help when you buy coral off a fire sale. lol aquascape looks good as well. I need to start a thread on here. Just need to figure out how to get the pics up on here now since photobucket when down.

Ramracer32 07/19/2018 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan Darilek (Post 25472025)
Looks bad *** man!!! I think the aquascaping looks great, but would look even better if you could find a large very flat rock to create a "shelf" spanning a few of those rocks! Just an idea :)

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Thank you, great idea! I do want stuff to be a bit taller I will be adding some Tonga branches in there and the shop up the street has some live shelf that I’ll add in there to seed the tank after water is in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoahoarder (Post 25472052)
Dang man that looks great. I love your stand. Wish I made a custom one but already went way over my budget. Doesn't help when you buy coral off a fire sale. lol aquascape looks good as well. I need to start a thread on here. Just need to figure out how to get the pics up on here now since photobucket when down.

Cheers! I was having some issues as well posting pics with photobucket down I finally found a good hosting site called imgbb. They give easy image codes you copy and paste in the forum

Ramracer32 07/24/2018 12:02 AM

Finally have water. I added some tonga rock and plate also started dosing ammonia the cycle cant come soon enough. I also went against my first post in this thread and pulled the trigger on an apex controller. I cant see loosing the entire tank due to a simple equipment problem to me it just makes sense to have the alerts on the phone if anything is wrong. More to come

<img src="https://image.ibb.co/g2moeT/IMG_0966_1.jpg" alt="IMG_0966_1" border="0">

Ryan Darilek 07/24/2018 12:07 AM

Wow that looks great!!! Have a game plan on your stock list??

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Ramracer32 07/24/2018 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan Darilek (Post 25474299)
Wow that looks great!!! Have a game plan on your stock list??

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thank you! I love the colors of a great sps tank but like corals that sway in the current a bit more so this will be a lps, softy tank with a few sps that im transferring from my little tank.
this video is the tank look im after https://youtu.be/IZMmmb8Al2Q

Ive also been following this tank for a long time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeSLFepTq3M&t=5s
love these corals. fish wise im not sure yet but will try to keep it to a minimum. Growing a big squamosa clam is on the to do list as well

Ryan Darilek 07/24/2018 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramracer32 (Post 25474303)
thank you! I love the colors of a great sps tank but like corals that sway in the current a bit more so this will be a lps, softy tank with a few sps that im transferring from my little tank.
this video is the tank look im after https://youtu.be/IZMmmb8Al2Q

Ive also been following this tank for a long time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeSLFepTq3M&t=5s
love these corals. fish wise im not sure yet but will try to keep it to a minimum. Growing a big squamosa clam is on the to do list as well

Hell yeah man. Those tanks are incredible! That's the direction I went on my tank as well (I just upgraded tanks less than 3 weeks ago, so it's still got a bit of filling in to do) https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bc915b79fa.jpg

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Ramracer32 07/25/2018 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan Darilek (Post 25474305)
Hell yeah man. Those tanks are incredible! That's the direction I went on my tank as well (I just upgraded tanks less than 3 weeks ago, so it's still got a bit of filling in to do)

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WoW! that looks Awesome! I think softy tanks are making a comeback

Waterobert 07/30/2018 10:10 AM

Ryan your stand and canopy look great !!!

Daddyrawg 08/28/2018 11:02 AM

How tall is your canopy? great woodworking

Ramracer32 09/07/2018 05:50 PM

thank you all! the canopy is 19" total. there is a 3" overhang that covers the water lvl so 16" off the top of the tank.

Quick update, I have been making some changes and additions. first i hooked up my Geo calcium reactor and this unit has been so easy to tune and very efficient at using co2. I turned the 8 gallon water top off chamber for the ice cap sump into a nice refugium. I drilled a overflow hole exiting the chamber to my return pump and plumed in some pvc with holes on the bottom of the chamber so there is a nice upflow through the chaeto and rock before going back to the tank. I thought i was done cycling everything read 0 so i broke down my nano cube and added those corals and fish to this tank and unfortunately the tank is going through another cycle........went too fast i guess. Fish are doing fine, but did lose some sps frags i had transferred. I have a green kenya tree coral that is loving life with the cycle and has grown crazy fast.

Im still moving around my wave makers to try and get the detritus to settle in one spot of the tank for easy clean up. The bubble magnus protein skimmer has been working amazing once broken in it has been solid with the skim and no overflows which was a problem on my old octo. Other than that just sitting back and letting things stabilize

https://ibb.co/eptCpp

https://ibb.co/fzBnN9


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