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Unread 02/03/2008, 03:41 PM   #1
Tswifty
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Starting 90g Reef Tank Build... Finally!!!

Just starting the thread. Finally found an offer I couldn't refuse, so now I get to upgrade from my 55g FOWLR tank to a 90g reef!!!

Here's the only pictures I have so far (they're the origninal from the online add). My father is picking up the tank tonight and will be driving it out to me sometime this week to get started on it. It looks like the tank is gonna need some TLC, but that's something I'm looking forward to.





First projects are going to be refinishing the stand and building a canopy. Then comes the new sump build and plumbing layout...

I'm looking forward to any and all advice as I go through this, so thanks in advance!!!


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Unread 02/03/2008, 03:47 PM   #2
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I guess the only thing I can really do right now is do a poll for black vs blue backgrounds. Preferences, and if you have any pictures of them I'd like to see them...

My 55g and 20g are both painted black, but contemplating blue now after seeing acropora nut's tank of the month (september 2007).

thanks!


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Unread 02/04/2008, 09:39 AM   #3
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Any recommendations for depth of the sand bed? right now I am thinking about a 3" sand bed of strictly Argamax.

Is this ok...?

Is there better substrate out there...?

Should I use strictly one type, or a mixture of substrate...?

Any recommendations...?


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Unread 02/04/2008, 10:29 AM   #4
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I like blue bg, just because it adds depth to the tank. I don't like deep sand beds in the main tank. I would use a refuge that has a deeper sand bed. good luck.


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Unread 02/04/2008, 10:54 AM   #5
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I vote for blue backgrounds as they make the water shimmer in that blue hue!


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Unread 02/04/2008, 11:17 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally posted by jthao
I like blue bg, just because it adds depth to the tank. I don't like deep sand beds in the main tank. I would use a refuge that has a deeper sand bed. good luck.
I will definately have a refugium, and I will be making it as large as possible once I have the tank and stand delivered and figure out how much room I will have to work with. I am also toying with the idea of a large seperated fuge display next to my tank which would drain into my sump in order to utilize a much larger fuge.

My question with the sand bed is more of requirements rather than display... Is there a certain depth or amount of sand needed to help sustain healthy corals/fish/etc...

Does a deep sand bed have advantages over a shallow one?


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Unread 02/04/2008, 11:19 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally posted by Golgi Aparatus
I vote for blue backgrounds as they make the water shimmer in that blue hue!
I am definately leaning towards a blue background... does anyone have a Krylon code or a specific color they have used...

As always pictures would def help here.

Thanks!


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Unread 02/05/2008, 06:33 PM   #8
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Here's the Sump/Fuge design I am thinking about... Just in design phase at this point.

Thoughts... not sure how I will plumb this yet though... I only want minimal flow through the fuge.




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Unread 02/05/2008, 07:34 PM   #9
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I prefer a black background, I use to have a blue background but changed it over to black. I feel it makes the colors "pop" more in corals. JMO


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Unread 02/06/2008, 07:49 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally posted by Tswifty8
Here's the Sump/Fuge design I am thinking about... Just in design phase at this point.

Thoughts... not sure how I will plumb this yet though... I only want minimal flow through the fuge.

I am not sure where your return is but the refugium should not drain back into the sump before the water is skimmed otherwise you will loose alot of the copopods ect before they return to the tank.


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Unread 02/06/2008, 07:51 PM   #11
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so I would reverse the set up like mine:






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Unread 02/06/2008, 07:54 PM   #12
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the skimmer pump is in the far right corner---the fuge returns near the left bottom bulkhead and then is pumped back into the tank
One modification I made with the gravity flow return was to add that t fitting with a small piece of hose on it. If I increase the flow before sometimes an air bubble would stop it and the fuge would overflow--this way it keeps the flow clear


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Unread 02/06/2008, 07:57 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally posted by Tswifty8
I will definately have a refugium, and I will be making it as large as possible once I have the tank and stand delivered and figure out how much room I will have to work with. I am also toying with the idea of a large seperated fuge display next to my tank which would drain into my sump in order to utilize a much larger fuge.

My question with the sand bed is more of requirements rather than display... Is there a certain depth or amount of sand needed to help sustain healthy corals/fish/etc...

Does a deep sand bed have advantages over a shallow one?
it does but it also has disadvantages of trapping gases in iit ect.
IMO 3 inches to 5 inches makes a nice sand bed for inhabitants and for filtration bacteria.
and go with a medium argonite--stay away from crushed coral


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Unread 02/06/2008, 10:41 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally posted by capn_hylinur
I am not sure where your return is but the refugium should not drain back into the sump before the water is skimmed otherwise you will loose alot of the copopods ect before they return to the tank.
my return will be the black box shaped thing in the middle of the sump... the fuge will flow from right to left, and I also was thinking about putting a small area for mangroves after the sump, before the return.


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Unread 02/06/2008, 10:45 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally posted by capn_hylinur
it does but it also has disadvantages of trapping gases in iit ect.
IMO 3 inches to 5 inches makes a nice sand bed for inhabitants and for filtration bacteria.
and go with a medium argonite--stay away from crushed coral
that's good news... I was thinking 4" of argonite... I actually found a link to an article on DSB and it lists various grain sizes that inverts thrive the best in. I forget the diameter that was recommended I'll have to find the link tomorrow, but medium size sounds right.

As far as gasses... is there a chance this can damage my system, or are they ways to keep the gasses from becoming trapped?

Also, I was thinking of a 3-4" sandbed in my display also. Is this too much? This tank is going to be a full reef (I'm not sure if I mentioned it before or not).


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Unread 02/06/2008, 10:53 PM   #16
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Another topic...

I've seen a lot of sumps with LR rubble in the initial intake chamber is there added benefit from this? Also, what does this do to the noise factor. One of the goals of this tank is to try and make it as silent as possible.


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Unread 02/12/2008, 08:14 AM   #17
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The tank got here yesterday, so here's some pics of what I'm looking at... Everything was pretty dirty, so it's all getting a vinegar bath as I speak.

Also, the 20g sump turned out to be a 30g sump so I was excited to see that, and the glass and silicon was all in great shape.










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Unread 02/12/2008, 08:16 AM   #18
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Here's the odd drain system that I am thinking about doing something with or possibly installing a calfo.




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Unread 02/12/2008, 09:22 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally posted by Tswifty8
that's good news... I was thinking 4" of argonite... I actually found a link to an article on DSB and it lists various grain sizes that inverts thrive the best in. I forget the diameter that was recommended I'll have to find the link tomorrow, but medium size sounds right.

As far as gasses... is there a chance this can damage my system, or are they ways to keep the gasses from becoming trapped?

Also, I was thinking of a 3-4" sandbed in my display also. Is this too much? This tank is going to be a full reef (I'm not sure if I mentioned it before or not).
in the depth you are thinking about the possibility of the build up of gases is minimal to worry about.

In the display are started out with a 1/2 inch and then later brought it up to 5 inches with no problems so 4 inches is an ideal level IMO


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Unread 02/12/2008, 09:27 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally posted by Tswifty8
Another topic...

I've seen a lot of sumps with LR rubble in the initial intake chamber is there added benefit from this? Also, what does this do to the noise factor. One of the goals of this tank is to try and make it as silent as possible.
live rock rubble is best in the refugium where it can also help as protection for some inverts

live rock itself can be put in the sump itself especially when more swimming area is needed in the main tank. The sump, refugium and tank are all part of the same water column so it doesn't mater if the live rock is in the sump or main tank

that said you need to tone down the flow over it in the sump to give the bacteria time to work on the organics. This can be accomplished easily by a baffled area.


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Unread 02/12/2008, 09:33 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally posted by Tswifty8
The tank got here yesterday, so here's some pics of what I'm looking at... Everything was pretty dirty, so it's all getting a vinegar bath as I speak.

Also, the 20g sump turned out to be a 30g sump so I was excited to see that, and the glass and silicon was all in great shape.







as a suggestion I would add another baffle in the middle area and make the middle section your refugium. Assuming the flow is right to left--make the far left section a live rock section.
In the first section house your protein skimmer or skimmer pump.
This way the water is skimmed first so that the copopods etc will make it back to the tank finally without being skimmed


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Unread 02/12/2008, 10:43 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally posted by Tswifty8
. One of the goals of this tank is to try and make it as silent as possible.
this can be achieved by making sure the flow iis only 5-10 times the total tank volume or matching the skimmer output

add the filter sock--that slows down the water and also deadens the splash.


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Unread 02/12/2008, 02:40 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally posted by capn_hylinur
as a suggestion I would add another baffle in the middle area and make the middle section your refugium. Assuming the flow is right to left--make the far left section a live rock section.
In the first section house your protein skimmer or skimmer pump.
This way the water is skimmed first so that the copopods etc will make it back to the tank finally without being skimmed
The pictures are of the condition that everything was in when it got to my place. Since then, and before the vinegar bath, I removed the baffle from the sump and will be installing baffles in a similiar way to the drawing below. The sump originally was made to accomidate two huge bags of bio-balls on the one side, which were also included, but I will not be using them for obvious reasons.

Funny you say that about the filter sock, because I just added that to sketch for a potential design yesterday, based somewhat off of Xenon's sump design in the 90g BB reef tank thread.

I am still unsure about the mangrove section I will probably just add the baffles for now which will give me the option to put them in in the future if I decide too.




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Unread 02/12/2008, 02:43 PM   #24
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Quote:
Originally posted by capn_hylinur
live rock rubble is best in the refugium where it can also help as protection for some inverts

live rock itself can be put in the sump itself especially when more swimming area is needed in the main tank. The sump, refugium and tank are all part of the same water column so it doesn't mater if the live rock is in the sump or main tank

that said you need to tone down the flow over it in the sump to give the bacteria time to work on the organics. This can be accomplished easily by a baffled area.
That's good to hear, that way I can save some space in the sump instead of creating a seperate section for the intake and LR rubble.

I'll just leave the LR rubble in the fuge with the cheato.

Thanks as always Capn


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Unread 02/12/2008, 02:50 PM   #25
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You doing great--keep me posted on how it goes

if you go through this thread you will see a similar setup by the Tinman:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1207565


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