120-SR Predator softie build

[Oredigger77]

I just posted over in the welcome forum but I figure I'll start my build thread tonight too.

We managed to get a IM SR-120 used from our LFS early in November. We bought some rock and have been playing with the rock work while I figure out how to get electrical to where we want the tank. It looks like we're going to get our dedicated 20 amp circuit run next week so it's time to start planing the next phases of the build.

The tank came with two Radion XE30w pros and a bunch of other assorted pumps and heaters as well as an ATO. I've still got to go through that box and see what we want to keep, what needs to be replaced and what new stuff I need to add. For now I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with the tank and then I'll work out how to do it.

I'm more interested in fish so I want to start with a stocking list and go from there. So here's what I'm thinking at this point:

Two - Marine Betas
Two - Regal Angles
Two - Maroon Clowns w/ anemone
One - Harlequin tusk
One - Purple tang
One - Whitetail tang
One - Melanurus Wrasse
Three - Lyertail Anthias

I'm thinking CUC will primarily be urchins but we'll probably top off snails and hermits occasionally too. For coral I think it'll mostly be softies with maybe some euphyllia. We'll probably have some rock flower nems as well.

Any suggestions at this point? Probably after Christmas, I'll go through the box of equipment and post what I have for some suggestions on equipment.

 

[A Young Reefer]

sounds promising. for the clean up crew have a decent mixture of everything. also I am pretty sure that you love your hands, try to go with something other than the maroons. they can be jerks sometimes to your hands and other fish.

 

[Oredigger77]

Thanks for the advise about the maroons I know they can be jerks. I don't mind being bitten as long as I don't lose chunks to them. I've read they will posture and try to fight guests through the glass and that sounds interesting.

Today we took inventory of the rest of the equipment that came with the tank and as expected most of it was cheap junk. We've got three Aquion 2500s for return pumps and 4 powerheads of random brands and sizes. The heaters were also off brand and 200w.

For now the plan is to replace the powerheads with two Maxspec xf350s. They are too big for the tank but the 330 maxes out with 1/2" glass and the tank has 5/8". Can we size down? I don't want them falling off the tank and I can at least turn the 350 down to ~10% so I don't blow the fish out of the tank. We are also buying a 15 gallon ato from innovative marine since they were just using a plastic 5 gallon container before and it ran dry every 2 days.

Along with the gyres and ato we will be ordering ocean direct sand and I'm debating between original grade and oolite.

Longer term I'd like to replace the return pumps with reef octopus Vario S-2s but that isn't a today thing. We'll be replacing the 200w heaters as they fail and we already have a 200w backup waiting for one to fail. We're also thinking about replacing the filter socks with those drop in Rollercoaster but that's not needed any time soon.

There was no skimmer in the set up apparently because the previous owner kept the tank very low nutrient and didn't need one. I tend to feed heavy so we're planning on adding a tunze 9012 and possibly a second one as the biology goes up.

Next up we'll be installing a 20 amp circuit Thursday and the RODI Friday. Hopefully this weekend will be making salt water and sticking all if the rocks together.

We ordered two biota marine bettas to be the first two fish with an arrival date Jan 18th to give the tank time to cycle.

ETA: I had the betta in my cart but I hadn't hit check out and went to finish the purchase after I posted this. All of them are gone now. More then a little bummed.

 

[TheWB]

Thanks for the advise about the maroons I know they can be jerks. I don't mind being bitten as long as I don't lose chunks to them. I've read they will posture and try to fight guests through the glass and that sounds interesting.

Today we took inventory of the rest of the equipment that came with the tank and as expected most of it was cheap junk. We've got three Aquion 2500s for return pumps and 4 powerheads of random brands and sizes. The heaters were also off brand and 200w.

For now the plan is to replace the powerheads with two Maxspec xf350s. They are too big for the tank but the 330 maxes out with 1/2" glass and the tank has 5/8". Can we size down? I don't want them falling off the tank and I can at least turn the 350 down to ~10% so I don't blow the fish out of the tank. We are also buying a 15 gallon ato from innovative marine since they were just using a plastic 5 gallon container before and it ran dry every 2 days.

Along with the gyres and ato we will be ordering ocean direct sand and I'm debating between original grade and oolite.

Longer term I'd like to replace the return pumps with reef octopus Vario S-2s but that isn't a today thing. We'll be replacing the 200w heaters as they fail and we already have a 200w backup waiting for one to fail. We're also thinking about replacing the filter socks with those drop in Rollercoaster but that's not needed any time soon.

There was no skimmer in the set up apparently because the previous owner kept the tank very low nutrient and didn't need one. I tend to feed heavy so we're planning on adding a tunze 9012 and possibly a second one as the biology goes up.

Next up we'll be installing a 20 amp circuit Thursday and the RODI Friday. Hopefully this weekend will be making salt water and sticking all if the rocks together.

We ordered two biota marine bettas to be the first two fish with an arrival date Jan 18th to give the tank time to cycle.

ETA: I had the betta in my cart but I hadn't hit check out and went to finish the purchase after I posted this. All of them are gone now. More then a little bummed.

Apologies for hijacking your thread with a picture but if you are going to swap in Varios S2’s then I have had something made recently that you might be interested in. it’s a pretty big step down in size to get the Varios to match up with the IM soft tubing. I just had an adaptor for that pump 3d printed which combines the 1“ barb output and a Y splitter that matches perfectly to the IM soft tubing that feeds the return nozzles on my IM Lagoon 50. I believe the SR120 uses the same size soft tubing and fittings as the Lagoon 50. I just got it yesterday and it’s not installed yet but it will be this weekend. I sent the IM Y adaptor and the Varios 1” barb adaptor to a 3d printing company (eelrivercoral.com) and they custom made it for me. The Coupling ring has to be put in place during the print otherwise it wont fit. Hopefully this is helpful to you. I love the SR120 by the way, if I had the space for it I’d have one. If you want more details let me know.

 

[Oredigger77]

Apologies for hijacking your thread with a picture but if you are going to swap in Varios S2’s then I have had something made recently that you might be interested in. it’s a pretty big step down in size to get the Varios to match up with the IM soft tubing. I just had an adaptor for that pump 3d printed which combines the 1“ barb output and a Y splitter that matches perfectly to the IM soft tubing that feeds the return nozzles on my IM Lagoon 50. I believe the SR120 uses the same size soft tubing and fittings as the Lagoon 50. I just got it yesterday and it’s not installed yet but it will be this weekend. I sent the IM Y adaptor and the Varios 1” barb adaptor to a 3d printing company (eelrivercoral.com) and they custom made it for me. The Coupling ring has to be put in place during the print otherwise it wont fit. Hopefully this is helpful to you. I love the SR120 by the way, if I had the space for it I’d have one. If you want more details let me know.

Wow, that's not a hijack at all! I was looking around for a pump I could use with the half inch tubing which is how I found the Varios. I hadn't looked farther than that yet though.

What does getting something like that cost? Are their any down sides to having it printed shorter shelf life or different materials? I haven't played much in that world and don't know anything about it. How long did it take to get made?

The other concern that springs to mind is if I have to send out the adapter ring then I'd be without a return pump during that time so maybe it's better to bite the bullet today or soon. I was also mainly interested in a DC pump that I could hook up to the 1/2" tubing do these work if I change pump brands in the future?

Sorry, for all the questions, it's my natural reaction to a new idea.

 

[MONTANTK]

Looking forward to following this build! Might I recommend going with only one Regal Angel? That’s a lot of large fish between the tangs, Bettas and Tusk

 

[Oredigger77]

The stocking list was something I was concerned with. I was hoping to get the angles to pair since they look so cool swimming together I'd probably drop the Tusk if that is too many fish. It would be the biggest one by a bunch. We were originally considering a puffer and dropped it for the same reason.

Do you think it's a bio load issue or just a bunch of big fish in too small of a tank? If it's bioload we were thinking about running two skimmers to deal with the problem. If it is just too many big fish then we could replace the tusk with some shoaling fish. I generally prefer the bigger fish so I'm hoping it's the first one but I was also thinking some small fish would help to full the tank out more.

 

[reeftwincities]

Bummer on the marine bettas! I grabbed two from biota a couple months ago. They are great, interesting fish. I have been growing them out in a 20g long, but plan to move them to a 40g this weekend. They are 1-2 inches when you get them just a heads up so they don't get lost in the big tank. Another cool aspect is that a reefer here on reef2reef breeds the marine bettas for biota. They are usually available every couple months from what I have observed.

 

[Oredigger77]

I knew they were tiny. The guy posted a video of them when he sent them over to Biota, unfortunately he also said it would be a while before he had more to send over. I was hoping to get them in a settled so a month or two before introducing more fish to try and get them to be less shy.

It's good to hear that you like yours and they're growing enough you're upsizing tanks. Do they come out much or do they mainly hide?

 

[MONTANTK]

The stocking list was something I was concerned with. I was hoping to get the angles to pair since they look so cool swimming together I'd probably drop the Tusk if that is too many fish. It would be the biggest one by a bunch. We were originally considering a puffer and dropped it for the same reason.

Do you think it's a bio load issue or just a bunch of big fish in too small of a tank? If it's bioload we were thinking about running two skimmers to deal with the problem. If it is just too many big fish then we could replace the tusk with some shoaling fish. I generally prefer the bigger fish so I'm hoping it's the first one but I was also thinking some small fish would help to full the tank out more.

I think it’s more so too many big fish. They may fight for space and a tank with too many big fish looks very crowded. In a tank that size i would probably do 2 or 3 larger fish, such as angels and tangs and then the rest would be wrasse/anthias size fish. You could also look at doing pairs of some of the larger Dwarf Angels as well if you’re not dead set on the Regals.

 

[TheWB]

Wow, that's not a hijack at all! I was looking around for a pump I could use with the half inch tubing which is how I found the Varios. I hadn't looked farther than that yet though.

What does getting something like that cost? Are their any down sides to having it printed shorter shelf life or different materials? I haven't played much in that world and don't know anything about it. How long did it take to get made?

The other concern that springs to mind is if I have to send out the adapter ring then I'd be without a return pump during that time so maybe it's better to bite the bullet today or soon. I was also mainly interested in a DC pump that I could hook up to the 1/2" tubing do these work if I change pump brands in the future?

Sorry, for all the questions, it's my natural reaction to a new idea.

I’ll PM you with the details.

 

[Oredigger77]

We got the 20 amp circuit installed and it went about as smoothly as possible. I ended up choosing 15-amp surge protecting outlets and then we'll be running the power bars into the stand.

After that we tried to hook up the RODI system but the kit didn't have anything that would hook into our faucets and my home depot didn't have anything that could hook into that tiny tubing. I really needed to top off our 40 gallon tank though so we ended up hooking it up to a hose outside of the house and ran the tubing through a door. Of course, we're having 10" of snow today so it was fun having the door open for two hours to make the top up water. We did see 0 ppm tds on the water so once I work out the kinks it should work well.

We also got our order done today for the ato reservoir, gyre pumps, rock epoxy, and a new return pump. I broke the last IM return pump while I was taking it apart to give everything a soak in citric before getting in back in the tank. Next weekend should be getting the RODI hooked up and making some water for the tank and finalizing the rock work.

 

[Oredigger77]

I was excited to get going for the weekend so we ended up accelerating the RODI from today to last night. Got everything together on basically the first try though I don't have any automation set up yet.

Those are 64 gallon bins so once I buy everything for the floats I figure I'll be able to keep about 50 gallons of each on hand. I still need to plumb them for transfer and get the power heads and heaters in there. Right now my RODI is coming out about 33 F so it might be a bit cold to add to the tank.

We got our large BRS order and I've got all of the return pumps and power heads dropped into the tank. Hopefully, Monday when we have the tank filled with salt I'll be able to flow test everything. I've set the ATO reservoir in the stand but I haven't plumbed it in yet and that'll happen later today or tomorrow. The previous owner said they saw about 15 gallons a week of eveporation from this tank. Our 40 is seeing ~7 gallons right now so we might be as high as twenty gallons a week.

Next up for today is finalizing the rock work and getting it glued/epoxy together. I really like the structure on the left.

I think it has a lot of good places for coral as well as places for fish to hide while not being a giant rock wall.

In the middle I've flipped things around after reading @thewbtank build thread. Because he had a really nice Gorgonian that I think would look cool in the middle of this tank. So I swapped the big cave rock out to the front and put the small Marco in the back.

But I'm not sold because that big cave just looks kinds of ugly front and center on the tank. Not sure what better options I have at this point.

Lastly, comes the structure I'm not happy with. I like the big shelf since it both provides a good hiding spot and a ton of space for corals but mostly this just feels like a wall of rock and I'm not even sure it's got much of a cave network since it's mostly 2D

I'd love any thoughts you guys might have before I make this permanent.

 

[TheWB]

I was excited to get going for the weekend so we ended up accelerating the RODI from today to last night. Got everything together on basically the first try though I don't have any automation set up yet.

Those are 64 gallon bins so once I buy everything for the floats I figure I'll be able to keep about 50 gallons of each on hand. I still need to plumb them for transfer and get the power heads and heaters in there. Right now my RODI is coming out about 33 F so it might be a bit cold to add to the tank.

We got our large BRS order and I've got all of the return pumps and power heads dropped into the tank. Hopefully, Monday when we have the tank filled with salt I'll be able to flow test everything. I've set the ATO reservoir in the stand but I haven't plumbed it in yet and that'll happen later today or tomorrow. The previous owner said they saw about 15 gallons a week of eveporation from this tank. Our 40 is seeing ~7 gallons right now so we might be as high as twenty gallons a week.

Next up for today is finalizing the rock work and getting it glued/epoxy together. I really like the structure on the left.

I think it has a lot of good places for coral as well as places for fish to hide while not being a giant rock wall.

In the middle I've flipped things around after reading @thewbtank build thread. Because he had a really nice Gorgonian that I think would look cool in the middle of this tank. So I swapped the big cave rock out to the front and put the small Marco in the back.

But I'm not sold because that big cave just looks kinds of ugly front and center on the tank. Not sure what better options I have at this point.

Lastly, comes the structure I'm not happy with. I like the big shelf since it both provides a good hiding spot and a ton of space for corals but mostly this just feels like a wall of rock and I'm not even sure it's got much of a cave network since it's mostly 2D

I'd love any thoughts you guys might have before I make this permanent.

Do you have a full tank shot so we can see the whole scape at once?
Keep in mind that this tank is shallow and if your going with softies some of them can grow very tall. My tank is the same height as yours and one of my islands, the one with the giant patch of Pandora Zoas, really sits up too high even with a short coral like the Zoas on it. I know I got caught up originally in what I thought looked like a cool rock scape rather than what was going to be best for the fish and corals I wanted to keep. If you don’t like that second big island you might think about maybe just the one larger island set slightly off center with caves and then multiple lower islands that taller corals and the gorgonian will grow on that the fish can weave in and out of or swim over the top. If I was doing mine over that what I’d do. You’ll get better flow too because you won’t have that tall mass of rock so close to the gyre which I’d think would kinda blow up the flow a little bit. Just offering another perspective, hope it helps you think this out.

 

[Oredigger77]

Do you have a full tank shot so we can see the whole scape at once?
Keep in mind that this tank is shallow and if your going with softies some of them can grow very tall. My tank is the same height as yours and one of my islands, the one with the giant patch of Pandora Zoas, really sits up too high even with a short coral like the Zoas on it. I know I got caught up originally in what I thought looked like a cool rock scape rather than what was going to be best for the fish and corals I wanted to keep. If you don’t like that second big island you might think about maybe just the one larger island set slightly off center with caves and then multiple lower islands that taller corals and the gorgonian will grow on that the fish can weave in and out of or swim over the top. If I was doing mine over that what I’d do. You’ll get better flow too because you won’t have that tall mass of rock so close to the gyre which I’d think would kinda blow up the flow a little bit. Just offering another perspective, hope it helps you think this out.

That's good advise. I'm a little nervous about reducing the amount of rock in this build since I don't have a sump. The tops of the structures are all about 2/3 of the way through the tank.

Here is a full tank shot let me know if it changes your opinion any? Sorry for the glare it's just brutal. Hopefully it'll get better once I get the lights on.

 

[TheWB]

Thanks for posting that pic, it helps to see the whole thing at once.
Keep in mind that you’ve actually got a ton of room in the back chambers for extra media like Seachem matrix or just rubble that can provide lots of extra surface area for filtration. I have 3 whole bags of Seachem matrix in my back chambers plus 4 of the eshopps ceramic biomedia sticks in an In Tank tower in the overflow. It doesn’t mean you still can’t use a good amount of rock, you'd just be arranging it differently.
The best thing you can do now is to consider the types of corals you are going to keep and then make sure you build a rock structure that suits those corals and also still provides plenty of hiding places for the fish you want to keep. I got around some of that by raising up my rockwork off the bottom of the tank so the fish could hide under most of it. That made my islands a little taller but at the time I was only going to keep Zoas and smaller fish so I didn’t care. You are going to keep some larger fish so you’ll need larger hiding places. Play around with it some more and see what you like before you commit to anything. It’s much harder to change your scape after you’ve epoxied it all together and your tank is up and running. Take your time.

 

[Oredigger77]

Take your time.

I'm not sure if I can go as slow as you did but I liked the advice about keeping the structure I liked and just sliding it over and then breaking up the other one. Also with the thought about room for more media I've removed some of the rock too. I like the new version better. Still time to play with it but I'd like to get this phase overwrite. Making things pretty makes my head hurt, I'm too much of an engineer to do it for long.

 

[Oredigger77]

I think it’s more so too many big fish. They may fight for space and a tank with too many big fish looks very crowded. In a tank that size i would probably do 2 or 3 larger fish, such as angels and tangs and then the rest would be wrasse/anthias size fish. You could also look at doing pairs of some of the larger Dwarf Angels as well if you’re not dead set on the Regals.

I've been thinking about this comment a bunch even though I guess I forgot to reply at the time.

I'm going to make some changes to the stocking list. We're going to drop the two Marine Betas and replace them with one foxface probably a magnificent. We're going to drop the tusk entirely. I'm still having trouble deciding what Wrasse/anthias size fish we want to fill in with.

3 x Lyretail Anthias
2 x Regal Angels
1 x Magnificent Foxface
2 x Maroon Clowns
1 x Melanurus Wrasse
1 x Purple Tang
1 x Whitetail Tang

 

[Oredigger77]

After messing with it a bit more I think we're mostly there

The only think I don't like a ton is the purple arch on the left. It's got a nice cave structure in it and multiple good size pathways in but you can't tell from just looking at it. I think it just looks like a lump.

 

[TheWB]

After messing with it a bit more I think we're mostly there

The only think I don't like a ton is the purple arch on the left. It's got a nice cave structure in it and multiple good size pathways in but you can't tell from just looking at it. I think it just looks like a lump.

I like it a lot better than what you originally had. Once it’s covered in corals it won’t be a lump anymore. Since it’s on top you can always pull it later if you still don’t like it.