~Finally, Beckmola24's 90g is up and running~

[Beckmola24]

Well, since many people have really helped me get this far, I thought I'd share some pics of my tank, and say Thank You to everyone that has given me advice and helped me get this tank running.

Here's a pic of the full tank with stand. It's in our living room.

Here is a pic of the rockwork. It really isn't a big blob of rocks. It has a lot of dimension thanks to my mom and her VERY creative side I spent 3 hrs one night playing with it and still couldn't do it. My mom came to Houston for a visit and together we got this thing aquascaped in 2 hrs. I love my mom!

I am going to take sand out and make the bed more shallow. Just haven't gotten around to it yet...

Another pic of the rockwork...

Trying to show the rock dimension here, but it doesn't look too dimensional.

Here is a pic of the sump/skimmer and YES I know the skimmer is REALLY large and too big for the sump, but my husband got this thing plumbed correctly (after a few tries) and everything functions correctly and won't flood with a power outage. Yes I realize the water is yellowish... I need carbon.

My specs. Tank is a 90g tank. I have 2-250w HQI halides (Aqualine Busch 10,000K's... love the color) supplemented with 2 T-5 actinics. There are fans mounted in the canopy, but I'm pretty sure I'll need a chiller. The skimmer is an ASM G-4 and I like it. For a return pump I am running an Iwaki 40something or other. I will be buying 2 Tunze's for flow in the tank. I just have a powerhead in there for now to give it aeration and flow while cycling.

This tank was a pain to plumb because we couldn't balance the overflow with the return pump so we had to redo a lot of the plumbing and balance it out.

Everything has been running smoothly for the past month and a half now and I'm getting ready to add a cleanup crew sometime in the next month or 2.

Again thanks to everyone here who gave me the knowledge and advice to get this thing done!

 

[jetaero]

Looks very nice!!!

-Josh-

 

[Krish]

Very nice Becky! Everything looks really neat clean

 

[Beckmola24]

Everything looks really neat clean

For now :lol:

 

[Krish]

For now

LOL...It will just get colorful Yeah your rocks do look clean, but I was mostly referring to how well everything was put together (sump, plumbing etc) and how nice your stand looks with the canopy. The rocks are a given (clean looking), but will color up pretty soon. Hopefully the only green you will see is the beginning stages of coraline growth

 

[spongebob lover]

ohh Becky, your tank looks great !!!
I love the aquascaping and the skimmer is just wouu .... i wish i had something like that .
Keep up the good work so we can pretty soon se some nice corals in there .

 

[Beckmola24]

Thanks everyone! I added some carbon today to get rid of the yellow hue of my water. I also got my params closer to what I'd like so I'm happy

 

[Krish]

Thanks everyone! I added some carbon today to get rid of the yellow hue of my water. I also got my params closer to what I'd like so I'm happy

Sounds good Becky! The carbon should clear up the water pretty nicely.

 

[Beckmola24]

Sounds good Becky! The carbon should clear up the water pretty nicely.

I also added some Purigen to help clear it up too. So with both in there, it should clear up.

 

[steve-s]

Tank looks like it's off to great start. It's amazing what some dilligent research time will accomplish

Just and FYI, Purigen does not work on the same principals as carbon, it's strictly a nitrogen scrubber. Still a worth while addition though.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Beckmola24]

\Just and FYI, Purigen does not work on the same principals as carbon, it's strictly a nitrogen scrubber. Still a worth while addition though.

Cheers
Steve

Could you explain a little more?? Thanks

 

[steve-s]

It helps remove dissolved organic waste before it breaks down to ammonia, nitrite and so on. Basically stops/reduces the process before it starts. Kinda like an oxidizer. Unlike carbon it will not sorb particulate matter (although it may trap them), elements, or toxins. On the other hand like carbon, it will not effect phophorous compounds.

Here's a quote from their website:

Purigen™ controls ammonia, nitrites and nitrates by removing nitrogenous organic waste that would otherwise release these harmful compounds. Purigen’s™ impact on trace elements is minimal. It significantly raises redox.

Cheers
Steve

 

[zenn]

Nice work. I don't suppose you could post a picture of inside your canopy where the lights are??

 

[Beckmola24]

Nice work. I don't suppose you could post a picture of inside your canopy where the lights are??

I took a pic of the inside, but my lights are mounted in a hood that is mounted inside my canopy, soooo.... It's almost impossible ot get a decent pic.

Here's a pic to show what I mean...

The halides bowed the acryllic cover of the tank because I didn't have the glass cover on the hood.... I should've known better. It doesn't put out too much heat now with the glass...

 

[Beckmola24]

I have a question. What size (gallon) top off would be adequate for this tank? Also with the the CL280 1/10 hp PC chiller, what pump would be the best to run with it?

 

[jetaero]

Top off, as in resevoire? I would use maybe a 10 gallon one... Or even a 5g bucket

-Josh-

 

[Beckmola24]

I guess what I'm wondering, is what is the best way to hook up a top off unit with the sump (given my setup) I can't have things sitting out around the tank... It's in our living room and not in an area where I can have a ton of stuff around the tank. That's what I like what Krish did with his chiller next to the stand... Secondly, given the way my canopy and lighting are, how can I cut down some of the heat that the halides put out. Would more fans in the canopy help?? Also my husband has the ballasts for everything in the stand. They run hot, and cause a lot of evap. Would I be better mounting them on the back or something??

 

[Krish]

I have my ballas on the outside of my stand Becky. Those things really put off some heat! If you leave it in there I would definately put a fan in there. About the hood, look at my photos on this page to see what I did to my canopy to help with the heat from the halides. 3 are pushing air out of the top and 2 are sucking in air from the sides

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12686&page=19

 

[shallowreef]

Krish where those your shoes in the first pic?

 

[Krish]

Krish where those your shoes in the first pic?

Har-dee-har-har! They are in the garbage! I told my wife not to put them there so...