90 Gallon Reef Setup... Update April 22, 2009...Oceanic Corals with Pics!
 

I've had this tank and pretty much everything sitting in the garage for over a year...and finally decided to re set it up.

90 Gallon Tank with built in overflow
33 Gallon Sump/Fuge system - will have to tinker around with it, need to replace the old skimmer (corallife 125) with something else, thinking Euro Reef and then get the fuge running. about 7lbs of live rock in the sump
Quietone 4000 Return pump
Koralia 1 - To get that tricky part by the overflow
2 Koralia 4s - one blowing accross the back of the live rock and one to blow towards the front of the tank.
130lbs of now cooked live rock
100 lbs (about 3 inches worth) of aragonite sand

I have the return into the tank split into a kind of E shaped pattern with various directions of flow and am pretty surprised at how well the water moves through the tank. Very nice currents going on in there I think. To aid the cycle I bought another 5lbs of live rock and added it directly to the display tank, hoping this will help with the cycle, but we'll have to see.

Plan on making it a softie/mushroom/lps tank, so I'm thinking I only really need some VHO t5s...right?

Which would bring me to my first question...where can I find a lighting unit like the ones in this thread http://canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=47143?

Also, right now my salinity is readin 1.023 and the tank is a steady 76*F...is this okay? I've had my fair share of freshwater experience, tried saltwater for a bit but due to personal reasons had to get out of it before I could even do anything with the tank (literally, had a tank full of rock...stunning) but I want this to be amazing...it's taken the place of the other half's tv...so it better be good LOL

Thanks in advance.

The lights in that thread were bought in the States if I remember right (you can google the brand and the shop that sells them will come up, in the thread it also mentions the shop if I'm right). They are great lights but will cost you a little more. How long is your tank (I am assuming 4 foot)? A decent alternative is going with the Tek lighting system, it produces good light, is priced well and will suffice with what you listed as wanting to put in the tank. Salinity is good but can be raised to 1.025 and a lot of people including myself keep our tanks around 79 F. Remember to be patient in the process and cycle the tank properly to avoid issues later on.

Thanks Trigger

I'll raise it up to 79* gradually, and see how that goes. I thought that 1.025 would be a little too high in salinity for airation? Or am I wrong on that aspect?

The tank is 48" long, 24" tall and 18" back to front.

I've taken a look at the Tek lights, and I think I'm sold LOL

I'm prepaired to wait as long as necessary for this tank to come together. I've had some poor experiences from hurrying my Discus setup once...so I'm ready to wait.

I have had my salinity at a tonne of different levels throughout the years. When I was running fowlr tanks I kept the tanks around 1.018, and then when I started to just have softies and zoas I ran it at 1.023. I did find that a lot of the places that I purchase my coral from (lfs and fellow reefers) had it at around 1.025, so in order to possibley have less shock my corals (as well as new fish) I decided to gradually raise it to the higher level. As long as you have decent waterflow you will be alright, if you are worried you can point one of your ph in a upward angle in order to agitate the water surface a little
more.
If you have any other questions post and you will find may friendly reefers more then willing to find you answers.
Good luck and enjoy!

Had a little bit of an issue with the bulkheads leaking, but figured that out and have everything back up and running...

Ended up just going back to the old output nozzle..the black connector thingers...I still think I'll get enough circulation through there and have a few extra koralia's kicking around if need be.

In doing some more cleaning I found two 48" Hagen 2 Bulb T5 Units, but will replace the bulbs with ones similar to those found in the thread that I quoted earlier...and I'll mount those on the tank when the time comes...no need for lights quite yet from what I read, so there's no rush there.

Thanks again for all your help!

....so need the Hagen Glo's for another tank...I forgot that I originally bought those for the 8 foot gar/ray tank....duh.

And cruising around here found an amazing link to Bulk Reef Supply..so I'll be putting in an order in the new year for a 6 Bulb 48" Tek Light T5 Fixture with suspension and brackets just incase. I've decided to go with 3 Pure Actinics and 3 Aqua Blue+ bulbs (info can be found on Bulk Reef Supply Website) I figure that will be damn near enough to allow me to grow whatever I'd like in there...

As soon as I find my USB cable I guess I better start posting pictures...

Getting a KZ fiji purple bulb may also be an idea, it brings out certain colors that the others you listed don't.

I'm starting to wonder (mainly as I look at the prices of these units) if I could use a 4 bulb unit instead. By looking at your signature, Trigger, it appears that you are using a 4 bulb unit and growing corals well. Is there anyway you could show me a FTS so I can get an idea as to how well the light is getting down into the tank and what your corals are looking like?

The way I figure is the less money a quality, suffiecient lighting unit is going to cost me, the more I can eventually spend on corals and the likes...

I'm working on borrowing a good camera to take some pics, right now I've got a older digital so it takes bad tank shots. My tank is also a 5 footer and a little wider, so the lights don't go end to end (lights are 48") but I've got no dark spots. The 4 bulb lighting unit will fill light throughout your tank, and will allow you to grow sps if you wanted. You may be able to get a good price on bulbs on boxing day or that week (as well if you buy bulbs locally you won't have to worry about broken bulbs from shipping). Also most shops here are pretty good at matching prices of other places if you ask (good to have just incase something goes wrong with the product). You can even put a posting on here seeing if anyone has a similar lighting system for sale (with christmas coming some people may get new lights as presents).

....Trigger seems to be a saving grace LOL.....

well, in trying to help me out the "man of the house" proceeded to break the bulkheads..and then tried siliconing them...and then broke them again. So now I'll have to plug said bulkheads, get a piece of glass cut that will prevent water from going into the overflow and have a skimmer hanging off the back of the tank...looks like this 90 gallon is going sumpless..which is a total PITA, but I dont' knwo what else to do.

on a plus note,
I ordered my 4 bulb tek T5 unit earlier today

After a good nights sleep I figured out a way to still use the sump and all the stuff that goes with it...

Because of where the other half siliconed the bulkheads, they are garbage. I'll have to cut them out, pull off all the silicone, and buy two new bulkheads. The rest of the plumbing is still good, just the bulkheads themselves need to be replaced.

Who knew getting water into a tank would be so hard....:mad:

PICTURES~!!!!
The tank is up and running, waiting for lights and new skimmer before adding any corals (obviously) or fish...

The Supervisor:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m.../tattoo096.jpg

Tank, without Flash:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m.../tattoo098.jpg

With Flash:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m.../tattoo104.jpg

The Boss after a hard days work:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m.../tattoo099.jpg

And The Chameleon, because well, it's a chameleon:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m.../tattoo108.jpg

Got a call from where my Tek was supposed to come from and apparently they've lost the shipment (wha?!?!) so they refunded my card and I headed up to Red Coral...

Where Kevin gave me a SMOKIN' deal on a 48" Metal Halide Unit with moonlights and 4 PC Actinics, a Euro Reef Skimmer and some stuff for the fuge...

pictures tonight!!!

Why shop anywhere else! LOL :lol:

Look forward to the pics.

Okay, so it wasn't last night...(got caught watching House...I love House)

But here we go:

Tight fit..but it fit damnit!
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m.../tattoo149.jpg

Lighting Unit on top..I was a little fustrated, you'd figure a 48" unit would fit just straight on...but I forgot about the extra width/length of the unit when you add the legs..so that took a smoke or two :D
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m.../tattoo148.jpg

Actinics:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m.../tattoo150.jpg

Metal Halides...not all the way warmed up:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m.../tattoo151.jpg

Also took out the small Koralia on the right and swapped it out for a Koralia 2.

Now the flow comes from:

Quietone 4000 High head pump: figure 800gph (just over 4 feet of head)
Koralia 4: 1200gph
Koralia 3: 850gph
Koralia 2: 600gph

So 3450 gph movement in a 90 gallon tank so 38X the tank volume...am I calculating that right? Is that enough for eventual SPS to populate the tank? (the more I look at mixed reefs the more I want)

nice tank. I can see this tank becoming realy nice. What do you plan on having in it for corals and fish?
BTW awsome light fixture.

for the longest time I was going to make it a softie/mushroom/lps tank. But the more I look at it the more I want to have a complete mixed reef. SPS,LPS,Mushrooms, Clams EVERYTHING!!! :D:D:D

Now that I've got the MH bulbs I assume it'll be a little easier to maintain SPS...right?

As for fish, I want small ones so that the main focus of the tank is the corals. Red Coral has some Dart Fish and they are by far, the coolest fish I've ever seen, so definately want some of those...

I kind of want to avoid getting into what everyone else has. Don't get me wrong, they're beautiful, but everyone has tangs, clowns etc.

Must have a pair of mandarin dragonets though. The so called "Psychadellic" ones

Now I know who you are here...mua ah ah :twised: Glad to see that you made it back and got what you needed. The dartfish you were looking at are "scissor tail darts". Hope I see you at the store again. Happy Holidays.

Doug

yes, but you still don't know where I live...so taking a look at the "pool" in the quanset won't be an option :D

Keeping saltwater fish is a breeze compaired to this whole intricate reef jargon. The big tank is simple, because it's simple corals....

atta spoil my cover...jeeze

looks like the cycle is done or at least nearly done. saw a big spike a few days ago and everything has returned down to proper levels...just in time for the boxing day sale at Red Coral! (Maybe there is a reef-god!)

So, I'll be adding the clean up crew this weekend:
(Depending on availabilty)
Astrea - 15
Trochus - 20
Cerith - 20
Nassarius - 15

I've had an over all crappy experience with crabs, so I don't want to have to add any, unless *knock on wood* they are needed for nussiance algae (bubble specifically...grrrr)

just got home from Red coral with snails, sand sifter goby, cardinals, a fox coral and a brain coral....I WENT FOR SNAILS! LOL

everything is drip acclimating as we speak...pics to follow

How busy was Red coral? LOL

one word...insane.

so I'm not overly impressed with the blue given off by the pcs. it's a nice light blue, but not as intense as I'd like. So when I'm no long reeling in boxngday madness I'll be buying a 48" hagen T5 HO unit and adding in a KZ fiji purple and a Geisman (sp?) True Actinic for that nice little bit of Whooopa!

Showing Surface aggitation:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...er_023/004.jpg

Open Brain after a couple hours in the tank:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...er_023/012.jpg

Fox coral. I'm going to give it a week or so to see if it'll expand more (like the ones I've seen here)...if it doesn't it looks like I'll have to move it around a bit!
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...er_023/013.jpg

moved the fox coral yesterday to an area with a little less flow...show's almost instant results, but still not as poofy as I'd like it...oh well, I'll give it time
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...er_023/002.jpg

Foxy lady:mrgreen: Looks good.

Thanks Doug.

Do you guys build custom tanks as well? We've decided to put a tank in the bedroom *dun dun dun* don't want too large, but will need it to be as quiet as possible...

Replied in your other tank journal.

Whoa, been a whilse since this was added to.

Herm today I added 12 coral frags from the big group order. Zoas are out and happy and everything else is looking good.

Since the last post I've added an unknown LPS, a small bird's nest frag, a purple millie frag (thanks fooser!), a sandsifting goby and a foxface. I added the foxface a couple days ago and today he's finally out and about. wooo!

Added a wicked piece of Acan, green digi, green milie and a monti (thanks Lobsterboy!)

On the look out for a tomini tang...must find tomini tang

I know where there is one :)

....and that would be? How much?

That one is sold if you are talkin about the one we have.

Randi you could call Kev today and we might order one in for you.

any pics of the new coral?

So I've decided to take the plunge and vodka dose the tank.

A quick recap of how vodka dosing works (for those who don't already know)

* Main purpose is to reduce Nitrate (NO3) and Phosphate (PO4). The reduction of phosphate not only leads to the reduction of problem algae, but it also leads to the enhanced calcification and growth of corals. Also, there is supposed to be a noticable increase in skimate.

How I will be dosing, based on 80 Proof (40% Ethanol by volume)

My estimated net water volume (nwv) is 85 gallons. RC reccomends that you estimate on the low side, just to be safe. If you're not sure how to ncalculate NWV, take display tank volume, plus sump/refuge and less 30%

Starting dose is 0.1ml of vodka per 25 gallons continued daily for 3 days. So: 0.3-0.4ml a day for my tank

Day 4-7, double daily dosage

Each subsequent week add an additional 0.5ml of vodka regardless of aquarium volume (1.1-1.3ml/day) When NO3 and PO4 levels drop near undetectable, cut vodka dose in half. IE if levels drop in week 2, then dose after reaching levels would be 0.55 - 0.65ml a day.

I'll continue to test regularly. If levels become detectable, I'm supposed to increase daily dose by 0.1ml per week until levels decrease. If you maintain that dose, the levels will eventually drop back down, and this would become the new maintenance level.

I'm also going to be starting to add Amino Acids to the tank...which I've never done. So far I feed Coral Frenzy every 2nd or 3rd day (when I remember really) and I usually mix in some Rotifers every now and then as well.

Apparently with a lower nutrient system you can increase the ammount of feeding, which also leads to better colours in the corals.

I'm pretty freakin excited

I'm interested in vodka dosing. I'll tag with you on this one.

Threads on RC suggest to split the dosing during the day. But for the little ammount that I'll be doing I don't think its worth it. Will start tonight, as soon as I go get a little syringe thingy..

I remember going to the vet supply store to buy a needle and "syringe thingy" after I got off work. I was dressed in my holy sweats and t-shirt with holes burned throughout. They kinda looked at me like a junkie! Man talk about embarrasing:lol: