Asonitez's 180ish I think Dream Build

[asonitez]

Updates & Hiccups


First Off;

Finally got the shelves installed in the ReefShed. Now I have storage space for all my reef goodness and other stuff.






Some decisions have been made!


Originally I was thinking of getting one of these

[IMG]



Now that has become



The reason for the change is that this one now has a 8" Body diameter and the Varios Pump. The problem is that its out of stock almost everywhere. So My supplier is looking for one for me ASAP.

Aquatica has been completely unable to find me a Regal 200SSS - They offered to eat some of the cost in other equipment and offered to get me the 250SSS instead. So my skimmer has grown.

[IMG]


Next up is my Ozone Reactor. I run ozone on my display tanks and to date I used to run it through a Avast Marine ozone reactor. While it worked "OK" it was NEVER the best ozone reactor and certainly I hated having to open and clean the spray bar numerous times a month to stop the gunk build up. After looking at some of the available reactors in the USA and even contacting SIAM-Ocean about shipping one here. I got to them through Facebook of all places. - Ultimately I ended up ordering one through ClearTides. I'm awaiting the delivery of this bad boy.



Last but not least - Water Movement -

The fight between Tunze and Ecotech will be fought forever. What works for some doesn't work for others. My Tunzes 6095 worked great and I love them dearly. They have served, and continue to serve me well. This time around I feel like trying the vortech route. I love that they shrunk the dry side and for the first time in years my tank will be against the wall. I will try a few configurations of back wall and side wall mounting to figure out the best flow patterns.



There will be (4) - but guess what - these are ALSO out of stock and back ordered.

Tank - ??? Waiting on Update
4X Vortechs - Backordered (shipping 31st)
Light - Clearcoat is drying construction continues
Calcium Reactor - Backordered (no eta)
Ozone Reactor - Waiting for shipping details

I have like 10 days till I will be gone on vacation to Florida for the continuation of my build thread. Activities planned


Wild Sea Shell Collecting from the beach for the tank
Mangrove Tree Collecting for the sump/fuge/houseplant
Tampa Bay Saltwater - I will be picking up part 2 of (The Package) in person - I'm not using their rock but I love their Sponges and stuff)
WWC Visit and maybe pickup some frags.
Fishing - Lots of Fishing
Wild fish collecting in Daytona Beach (Gonna try to collect some shrooms or ricordea)
There may be some drone footage as well

[Darthv247]

looks good! location of the mp40s will juat depend on the flow pattern u want. I liked have them on the side in my 120. but i also used an mp10 on the back wall. they have some diagrams in the user manual for recommended placement.

[liverock]

You certainly have done your research, and equipment choices are superb congrats on that...but the hassle folks go through after spending many thousands of dollars on equipment....then go thorough the crazy process of using imported/dry rock and all the grief and months of curing....when you can go from an empty tank to this in just seven days....

post 1776

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...ghlight=d2mini

Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater./com

Originally Posted by asonitez

Updates & Hiccups


First Off;

Finally got the shelves installed in the ReefShed. Now I have storage space for all my reef goodness and other stuff.






Some decisions have been made!


Originally I was thinking of getting one of these

[IMG]



Now that has become



The reason for the change is that this one now has a 8" Body diameter and the Varios Pump. The problem is that its out of stock almost everywhere. So My supplier is looking for one for me ASAP.

Aquatica has been completely unable to find me a Regal 200SSS - They offered to eat some of the cost in other equipment and offered to get me the 250SSS instead. So my skimmer has grown.

[IMG]


Next up is my Ozone Reactor. I run ozone on my display tanks and to date I used to run it through a Avast Marine ozone reactor. While it worked "OK" it was NEVER the best ozone reactor and certainly I hated having to open and clean the spray bar numerous times a month to stop the gunk build up. After looking at some of the available reactors in the USA and even contacting SIAM-Ocean about shipping one here. I got to them through Facebook of all places. - Ultimately I ended up ordering one through ClearTides. I'm awaiting the delivery of this bad boy.



Last but not least - Water Movement -

The fight between Tunze and Ecotech will be fought forever. What works for some doesn't work for others. My Tunzes 6095 worked great and I love them dearly. They have served, and continue to serve me well. This time around I feel like trying the vortech route. I love that they shrunk the dry side and for the first time in years my tank will be against the wall. I will try a few configurations of back wall and side wall mounting to figure out the best flow patterns.



There will be (4) - but guess what - these are ALSO out of stock and back ordered.

Tank - ??? Waiting on Update
4X Vortechs - Backordered (shipping 31st)
Light - Clearcoat is drying construction continues
Calcium Reactor - Backordered (no eta)
Ozone Reactor - Waiting for shipping details

I have like 10 days till I will be gone on vacation to Florida for the continuation of my build thread. Activities planned


Wild Sea Shell Collecting from the beach for the tank
Mangrove Tree Collecting for the sump/fuge/houseplant
Tampa Bay Saltwater - I will be picking up part 2 of (The Package) in person - I'm not using their rock but I love their Sponges and stuff)
WWC Visit and maybe pickup some frags.
Fishing - Lots of Fishing
Wild fish collecting in Daytona Beach (Gonna try to collect some shrooms or ricordea)
There may be some drone footage as well

[asonitez]

Update Time:


So it has been a few days. My vacation to Florida is looming and its been quite the reefing adventure. I don't know whats better than coming back from vacation to your tank being delivered and finishing up with all the equipment purchasing. So!

Today's adventure started with the UPS MAN!
The UPS man delivered my new vortechs!




Then it was off to Aquatica to pickup the next integral part of my build. The freakin skimmer!



The box was big and heavy!



Packed Really well - I didn't build it because of time and because I just wanted to check and make sure that nothing was broken.


Build Quality was great


I also picked up one of these - With the Vortech's I now have 5 ecotech marine items. I remember trying to set the vortechs when the original ones were launched and I hated the process. With the Reeflink I can do all my settings without having to get a WXM module or anything to control them with my APEX. I still might get a WXM but with them being able to control my Vectra and the Mp40's I think the reeflink was a great purchase.

[asonitez]

Hey Richard,
Thanks for checking out my thread. I thought a lot about if I should go with TBS rock or one of the man made rocks. Ultimately while I LOVE What you are doing I really wanted to start fresh with a rock I know was 100% clean. I know that ultimately I will need to add some life and I have been doing that by adding in some live copepods and even some chaeto to the curing tub to introduce some critters. I have started seeing some of the live critters in the tub although I have not been testing at all. To date I have performed 2 30 gallon water changes on my curing vat but since the rock I used has already been cured I don't think I will actually have much of a CYCLE.

Also - my choice of sand would not have went well with your sand. I like what you are doing with your sand but all the particulates, mud, grit, and stuff that comes with it was not top on my list. I plan on using tropic eden reeflakes for my substrate. I might default and used carib-sea if the Tropic Eden is cost-prohibitive but I have used that sand before and it was wonderful.

I still hope to visit your facility one afternoon to say hi and check out the operation. I'm sure the thread followers would like to see some more cool stuff going on at tbs!

Originally Posted by liverock

You certainly have done your research, and equipment choices are superb congrats on that...but the hassle folks go through after spending many thousands of dollars on equipment....then go thorough the crazy process of using imported/dry rock and all the grief and months of curing....when you can go from an empty tank to this in just seven days....

post 1776

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...ghlight=d2mini

Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater./com

[asonitez]

I'm BAAAAAAAAAACK! Update Time:

When I write these posts I feel like doogie howser at the end of a long day. Its usually late at night and I'm in bed just gathering my thoughts.

First off the vacation:

The vacation was amazing. I caught almost 200lbs of game fish - filleted and flash frozen to bring back home between my cousin and I. Funny enough with a sabiki right i was able to catch a ton of aquarium fish as well. I didn't keep them but maaaaaaaaaaaan was it tempting to catch some live stock. I never made it over to tampa. It will have to wait for a trip later on this year in the summer.

One of the most magical and awe inspiring things I have ever done was fish at 3 AM in the middle of the Halifax River During a full moon.








Next up was World Wide Corals - I guess I can keep my review of the store short and sweet.

The displays were amazing and easily the best of any fish store I have ever been in. They had more variety (in their show tanks) than multiple stores combined. Their prices were at a steep markup from my area in the carolinas(limited knowledge) and much higher than in new jersey.

Their fish looked to be in fantastic shape and Try as I might I could only find a few fish that looked like they had ich period. As with every other store quarantine is your friend. I got to take some great footage with my gopro that I still need to edit and upload to youtoob.

[asonitez]

Update Part 2:

So now on to the Tank things. -

Tank Status - Out for Delivery !?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

SCA has told me that the delivery of my tank should happen between Friday the 21st and Monday the 24th. So with anticipation I headed out straight to lowes and picked up paint and stuff to prepare the area where the tank will sit. Friday no tank arrived so I was able to spackle, paint and prep the entire room for the tank. Saturday - I went back and touched up all the areas I missed (lol.) - Lets just say that a 5 gal bucket of sherwin williams paint in the best finish is $$$$$$. It looks great though. (Pics to come tomorrow)

Of course its Sunday night and no damn tank showed up. So I'm hoping monday it will show up.

Calcium Reactor and Ozone reactor

Well the ozone reactor arrived from the UK packed extremely well and with no discernable damage. I still have not assembled it but it seems rough around the edges. (Full review to come soon.) The package was damn near destroyed and for the record I didn't think it had survived.

UK to CHINA to US



The calcium reactor arrived in great shape and packaging. Turns out that Coralvue has recently started shipping these bad boys to I'm excited to be on the cutting edge of things.
It is freaking massive. It will cost a fortune to fill with media. Its almost as big as my skimmer. The controllable pump should be a nice feature and I'm hoping with a bit of creative tubing I should be able to get this thing setup relatively easy.


Any advice for a decent regulator? I'll be using a apex to control CO2 so it does not have to be full featured.

Light:

My light will be delivered by the creator tomorrow (Monday). It's raining cats and dogs here in charlotte. I'm hoping monday the tank delivery (if it ever comes) will be easy. I'm hoping to round up some muscle from my neighbors to help me bring it in. I'll be pooping little bricks all day long.

[asonitez]

Originally Posted by pdt7361, post: 3702926, member: 65413

Everything looks great

Thanks dude!


Rooms painted and Ethernet run for Apex and reeflink.




Rocks all cooked and since I added some dr tims and a bag of a healthy tanks sand it's been keeping the nutrients down. Without light zero algae is growing but I see all kinds of life in the rock. I think it's safe to say the rock is finished cooking. I dropped in a bag of carbon to remove the yellow from the water and overnight it was crystal clear.




In the mean time my wife filled and stocked her tank as well so now I got more than fish to look forward to! Gods good folks.

[ElTurco]

Good going body and congrats for the new comer . Keep going...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[asonitez]

Update Time:

So I got this update from Dave @ Nanoboxreef today. There was flooding all over NC/SC so Monday/Tuesday was a bust but tomorrow is the day. I'll have some awesome closeups tomorrow when its in hand!

Let there be LIGHT!









I'll be taking some requests for any upclose shots anyone wants. Currently I'm thinking I will end up with the following bulb Combo

ATI Blue +
ATI Coral Plus
LED
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Purple Plus
LED
KZ Fiji Pink
ATI Blue Plus

I like a 20K look but I will probably let Dave influence some of my decisions.

After water column and rock work my tank will only be about 24" Deep So the amount of bulbs is mostly for spread. The Fixture itself will be hung about 12" off the water surface.

My new tank comes with a canopy so I might try to do something cool with that.

[anbosu]

Originally Posted by asonitez

For example this is about what I anticipate running


Lighting

6 X T5 80w Bulbs = 480w
6 X LED Clusters = 198w

Pumps

4X Tunze 6095 (21w Each) = 84w
Return Pump Vectra L1 = 130w
Ozone Generator = 12VDC

Misc

Apex EB8X2


- Total Watts: approx = 892w

The watts don't matter, you want to check the max amp draw for each item and add those up. If you're having the circuits added I would go with 2x20 amp and you should have plenty of extra space, even if you switch to halides or get a chiller.

[asonitez]

Tank was supposed to get here April 25th - Apparently there was some miscommunication and SCA thought I wanted a modern stand instead of the classic stand and refused delivery by the cabinet maker. After no shipping details and no stand details I contacted SCA and told them that we did in fact decide to go with the white oak furniture grade custom stand with 3 doors etc etc. I was told that It would be shipped Monday May 1st with delivery window to be Friday/Saturday. Well its obviously Wednesday and no shipping details or anything. Finally got in contact with the company and was told that there were some issues with the stand internally and that my stuff would be shipped Friday May 5th. Supposedly with an expected delivery date of Friday May 12th .

Well I'm going to be out of town May 13th-18th. If an attempt is made It will be refused I guess because not a single friggin person will be home. So. Curbside free Tank and Stand -_-;;

I finally got some pictures of the boxed finished products. I give you THE TANK and Sump. It looks beautiful. Now if it can only get to me before I freakin leave!




Starphire 80ish Gal Sump!

[BZOFIQ]

Asonitez,

Just read the whole thread, great going bud.

Congrats on your house purchase and new family additions.

Great equipment choices! Will follow your build to get ideas for a build 3.0 of my own.

Keep updating with lots of pics.

[asonitez]

Well guys it's finally here. It took a case of beer and buttering up some neighborhood muscle but I finally got the tank delivered.

The tank was about a month late. The build quality of the tank is impeccable 10/10.

The build quality of the stand is is not. It could be way better.

Tank on the truck - it was definitely a 2 man job. Of course one guy came but thank god for working from home.



Guy had a pallet jack that made moving it to the garage very easy.

Please pleas have a sharp knife and help ready to examine the tank. I was able to open every package and inspect the tank before the guy left.

My cousin and I were able to lift and move the stand and sump into place. Extremely close fit under the tank.

The sump is freaking huge which unfortunately means nothing else can go under the tank. I'm kinda glad because at least device failure will be kept to a minimum.







You might see I had to remove supports from the front to get the sump in. This also means that it will be hard to put the screws back. So I'm going to buy a flexible screwdriver head to make it a little easier.




I wish I had a structural engineer to tell me if I need those supports in front.




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[asonitez]

A year can be a long time without a tank and I had to find something to hold myself over. After battling the legality of various green substances I decided to use my green thumb for something else. Leading up to my tank I took up gardening with these results















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[asonitez]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hartin461]

just read your thread and will be following along..nice looking equipment and green thumb..lol

and congrats on the new one coming. Nothing compares

[BZOFIQ]

I wish we had the space for a garden like that here in NYC, great results.

[asonitez]

The Entire Build is on HOLD

First Off Let me Preface this With What I KNOW for FACT.

SCA Used to have their stands build in China. When the tank would ship the stand and the canopy would ship as well. This allowed the teams to A) mass produce the stand and B) Test that the stand works well.
SCA's attention to details are excellent and this shows in the FLAWNESS tank I received.

My Cabinet was built by a custom shop in California due to my tank dimensions being 60 X 30 X 24. A Standard 150 tank stand would not work. (2) Cabinets were shipped from the Custom Shop in California. 1 (Regular 150) and My custom tank.

At first glance and measurement I could only check that the tank was the right size shape and dimensions. I also checked that the stand was the right dimensions as best I could due to the rounded corners. The Canopy Also looked ok but as
I did not plan to use the canopy initially I left it wrapped for its own protection.

After waiting a week for some help to place the tank on the stand we rounded up enough people to do the job. I was immediately heart broken and dropped what I was doing and walked away from the fish tank. I went outside for a long walk and had a few drinks before coming
back home and deciding how I was going to deal with this situation.



The Stand was Too small

Untitled by Tristian Allicock, on Flickr

Untitled by Tristian Allicock, on Flickr

As you guys can see once centered on the actual stand the edges hang over the sides of the stand.

It Gets worse

It was discovered also that the structural integrity of the tank may have been compromised by the stupid builder cutting the middle center brace in order to make space for the overflow plumbing

Untitled by Tristian Allicock, on Flickr

SCA announced that they were making all the tank stands 36" high now which is great. However the builder clearly does not understand aquariums and decided to simply build a BASE elevating the tank stand 3" higher to make 36" Rendering the open
area small as the base raises the sump up very high rendering people unable to place equipment into the sump. My Sump is 18" tall for reference

Untitled by Tristian Allicock, on Flickr

The Genius builder then decided to reinforce the stand by adding numerous supports inside the stand pushing the sump almost 6" to the front of the stand rendering you unable to REPLACE The braces after putting in the sump.

Untitled by Tristian Allicock, on Flickr

After going outside and repeatedly firing a mossberg at a target while playing death metal and wondering how much tickets to California are I decided to test the canopy.

What I thought was paint on much of the stand and canopy turned out to be little more than dust. The Canopy is not finished inside at all. Neither is the stand after wiping it down. Either this is marine grade ply or I'm looking at a disaster waiting to happen.

Untitled by Tristian Allicock, on Flickr


The canopy does not fit. It is 1/2" too small

Untitled by Tristian Allicock, on Flickr

If the Canopy WERE To fit it would cover approximately 6" or more of the available viewing area

Untitled by Tristian Allicock, on Flickr

Untitled by Tristian Allicock, on Flickr


The builder has agreed to Refund me the FULL COST of the ENTIRE STAND and CANOPY.

The builder is also not doing any custom stands for any tanks until basically July. We were told online (Facebook) that the builder has secured an ONSITE building facility attached to the Warehouse that they will be doing their own custom woodworking.
I spent the greater part of the last few days contacting various furniture makers in Charlotte, NC - I have not contracted anyone yet but have sent plans to numerous people and have called quite a few of them. I should have something by the weekend or
early next week.

If I am unable to find a builder I will build the tank stand myself using rocketengineers and DIY King Joey's plans online in the upcoming week. I figure it will take me a day to build the frame and maybe 2 days to Skin another 2/3 days to Prime/Seal/Paint.

I am Extremely Bummed about this situation. I have been depressed for days and I'm sorry to the community for not updating.


On a slightly brighter side.

I have decided to build a completely oversized stand to house my tank. I am planning on a Tank stand 9 Feet Wide 30" Deep 36" high. The tank will sit in the center of the stand and the sump directly below it. This will free up Space on either side of the cabinet
that can be isolated from the rest of the stand to house my electronics, controller, calcium reactor and any other items I need. The top of the stand can be used in the future to hold a small frag tank maybe. I will probably use this POS stand I have right now to
build another system in the garage for frags or Fish Only.

[hartin461]

Sorry to hear of all the troubles. That all sucks..

[asonitez]

Well bad news and good news.

1. SCA has of course gone radio silent on my refund. I'm giving them until Monday afternoon then filing a charge back on my Discover Card via PayPal.

2. To date I have contact (stand builders in 4 states and about 10 handy men and cabinet makers in charlotte and surrounding areas.)

I have got projected dates between 5 to 8 weeks.
1 quote for 850 painted and 550 I paint.
1 quote for over 1150 shipped flat packed with instructions on how to assemble the stand.
1 guy and I have been texting and finally went radio silent 2 guys have gone on vacation for a week or more and Craigslist was a bust.

The Good News

Still no lead on a stand. Today on a whim while working I decided to measure out some things do some research and with 1 hour before most shops started closing:













My new stand will be

96 X 30 X 38

I'm using rocket-engineers post to build the stand the reinforce the area of the stand where the tank will sit with braces.

I will sand, kilz and wrap the entire stand with 1/2" smooth sanded ply and simple doors. With ventilation built in



The stand will be lit inside with waterproof RGB LED and a section of the Stand will house the calcium reactor and the other part all of the electronics.


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[JonezNReef]

Following along for your build. The tank and sump look awesome and it sucks they didn't get your stand right. I think this is going to be your best option as far as your stand goes. Now you can make a stand exactly how you want and need with no limitation except your carpentry skills.

[asonitez]

Originally Posted by JonezNReef

Following along for your build. The tank and sump look awesome and it sucks they didn't get your stand right. I think this is going to be your best option as far as your stand goes. Now you can make a stand exactly how you want and need with no limitation except your carpentry skills.

Deep down I kind of knew that I would end up in this situation and having to do it myself. I received a few more quotes today and one was depending on the size of the tank the stands are going somewhere betwen 2 and 25K and the person is 4 months backlogged.

I feel like I'm going to be in the same situation no matter who or where I look and ultimately decided to take matters into my own hands.

After a Quick trip to lowes for a countersink drill bit and some garden stuff I'm going to start making my cuts and assembling the frame today.

One thing I was very worried about was that the Rocketengineer stand would cause the holes for my OVERFLOW to be blocked. After Examining the 2X6 and the overflow holes where they are positioned I don't think this will be a problem at all.

The other potential problem was USABLE space after all of the internal reinforcements under the stand.

I don't think this will be an issue either becuase the Sump is 55 X 24 X 18 so unless I take up 6" of extra space inside the stand the sump should slip in without an issue.

I am Anticipating a Cabinet approximately

36" Long X 30 Wide X 38" High to hold my electrical any my calcium reactor.

[brett559]

Wow, very cool build. When I read these tank builds, with all the DIY elements, I almost feel an anxiety attack coming on. I don't have that DIY gene, or the time to put into something like that (I have 5 kids). So I love watching and tagging along on these big builds, but I could never do one. If I ever upgrade, it'll be something like a Red Sea - something all-inclusive and (generally) idiot proof.

But good luck! Excited to see how it all turns out. I got a quote once from SC Aquariums - very reasonable prices for what you get!

[brett559]

Looked long and hard at this baby boy a few months ago actually:
http://www.scaquariums.com/product-p/sca-90glpnp.htm