Martin’s ELOS 200XL build in Japan

[MartinM]

Hello all! After a nine year hiatus I’ve returned to the hobby. In addition to a Red Sea carpet anemone tank I have, I’m finally setting up an ELOS, which is something I’ve wanted to do for nearly ten years! I’m blessed to finally be able to start.

I ordered the aquarium and stand from ELOS Italy in February of 2020, and it finally arrived right after Christmas.



I like my systems to have lots of natural life, so I always use only live rock and live sand. I’ll also be using NSW, and the tank gets a few hours of sunlight each day. I’ve had marine and reef aquariums on and off for 27 years, and, IME, nothing beats NSW and NSL.

While I wait for the engineering assessment I’m hoarding equipment, as I’ve purchased nearly everything for both potential options, excepting a few Kessil A360X’s. Anyone have any suggestions on how many total I’d need to have a shallow (~35cm) with clams? I’m thinking 4?

Core concepts:
- Clean, modern look to match my home
- Mainly white, with some black (although I might eliminate the black, and change to white overflows...)
- Minimalist look (no visible equipment, cords, pumps, etc)

In the works:
- Installing plumbing lines that run to the ATO reservoir
- Powder coating the Kessil lights and fixtures in white (so clean!)
- Deciding on a sump or sump design (I have a Red Sea sump underneath there currently, but I might use something different. Of course, I want a huge sump, but weight is my limiting factor in this build, so I can’t go big)
- high clarity custom glass lid (if I go FOWLR)
- Deciding what will go in it!

If I go lagoon, I’ll be moving the returns further down on the overflows and hiding them behind rocks. I’m thinking splitting them into 2 or 3 nozzles with eductors, and powering each side with a Vectra on gyre or lagoon mode. If I go this route, I’ll put the pumps in skimmer section of the sump so that the water level doesn’t vary.

Hopefully I’ll hear from an engineer soon!



PS. Sneaking in a huge thank-you to my personal assistant for all of her help with this build! Thank you!

 

[FMF0331]

;Woot ;Woot ;Woot ;Woot ;Woot

 

[MartinM]

Btw I tried to add the link to this into my profile for the build thread badge, but I just get an invalid URL error

 

[MartinM]

A minor update! I have purchased the plywood that will go underneath the stand on top of some urethane from to protect the wood floor and provide extra leveling I have also started on do a DIYalgae reactors although there will be a lot of macroalgae in the main display so I might not actually need it: I have a smaller system and the chaeto barely grows now after an initial burst, despite feeding very heavily because there is such a diversity of life (I always use live rock that’s out of the ocean less than 24 hours so it’s covered in life). I do not use protein skimmers either, because I continually feed A variety of powder and liquid plankton foods (both on auto and manual dosing) and I do not want them removed from the water column. I have also never had very good luck tuning proteins skimmers and I don’t want the hassle of dealing with them. I do however use biological denitrate reactors.

On the 15th I’ll have a crew come in and set the tank up and it will be ready to begin working on!

I think I finally decided on lighting: 2x24” Pacific sun Althea 8x T5 fixtures and Kessil A360X’s in the middle. Thinking about doing Macroalgae with softies and LDS and fish with a centerpiece of a ritteri anemone. I purchased some floating fixture Hanging kits so I hope it will look clean! Still waiting for everything to arrive...

I hate having internal pumps both because of the aesthetics and also the risk to the anemones so I am installing quad returns each with an eductor and using two Vectra L2 return pumps which I will probably be alternating in gyre mode, To provide random surging slow without having to use any internal pumps. I hope it’s enough, I’ll find out!

I’m also having a custom lid made of sectional high clarity glass that will float on clear silicone plugs.

Lots more updates and photos coming soon thanks for reading!

 

[MartinM]

Oh I’m also going to attempt setting up a continual automatic phytoplankton and rotifer reactor systems so I have ordered several containers from ClearTides and it will be documenting that as well here!

 

[MartinM]

Waiting for lots of things, but today the Vectras came in! I’m still waiting on three more battery backups, but the 2x L2’s are here. I’m thinking about having my sump drilled and plumbing them externally, they’re large pumps and I don’t want the heat in the system, especially because the tank is positioned to get afternoon sunlight.

Oh, I also water sealed the plywood that will go underneath the ELOS stand, so that all the weight isn’t going onto 8 feet. I’ll put the plywood on top of urethane foam.

I *think* the two L2’s with four eductors will be enough flow, because I refuse to use in-tank pumps both because they’re hideous and also because I don’t want to risk anemones or other animals.

I’ll be working on it daily now, more updates coming soon.

 

[revhtree]

Awesome and congrats!!

 

[MartinM]

Thank you so much! It’s also nice to hear from another brother in Christ

I’ll get heavier with the photos soon, too

 

[MartinM]

Well, I’m terrible at plumbing and when I placed the order for the ELOS over a year ago, I had planned to make it freshwater so I didn’t plan for large amounts of water motion.

So now I have a tank with only two 20mm (3/4”) returns, and it seems like the most water flow I can push through them will be somewhere between 900-1200GPH, which is further restricted by the ~660 GPH max of the Accel eductor... So, I‘ll try putting a T at the end of the output and using two eductors on each return (one wide and one narrow), and then ensuring there’s enough pressure to push ~5-600 GPH through each eductor on each return. Hopefully that will be enough pressure, but I’d love to get some input on this if anyone has any thoughts? Does anyone have any experience with these eductors and do they move a lot of water?

I ask because I really don’t want to use any in-tank pumps, and I don’t want to drill the tank because it uses a single sheet of their custom glass with no bracing and I don’t want to risk weakening the tank.

If I did need to leave myself the possibility to use in-tank pumps, I’d place MP40’s on the back, behind rockwork, but that means leaving a 7cm clearance between the tank and the wall, which I don’t want to do for aesthetic purposes.

The only tank inhabitant I’d consider keeping in this tank that requires high flow would be an H. magnifca anemone, and I could always pointing eductors at it to accomplish the necessary flow, or so I’m thinking.

Water motion input would be appreciated!!

 

[MartinM]

So today I went to the hardware store in an effort to prepare plumbing for the L2’s and to get paint for the Kessil A360X which will go in between two Pacific Sun Althea 8x24w T5 fixtures.

The L2 is imperial size and will require a custom reducer fitting which I’ve had to get online, but I did get 2m of 20mm (3/4”) PVC pipe and the fittings. A plumber will be over soon to plumb everything together, I’m definitely not up to that task.

However, I am painting the light myself...and the hanging bracket...and the extension tubes...and the narrow angle lens...and the accessories, and the screws...all because @Kessil won’t make their white version widely available. I’m hoping it comes out well. If not, I’ll swap it out with an AI Hydra, because at least they come in white! :mad: Dang you Henry Ford and your making everything black as standard!

Masking begins on the narrow angle lens and top of the light:

Had to remask the lens because it was a bit flimsy before:

Top is ready:

So is the bottom:

Everything’s ready for tomorrow’s painting:

I’m not good with projects like this but we’ll see how it turns out. Hopefully it looks good, and if so, I’ll have to paint the lights on my Red Sea white also...

To re-iterate, the goal with this build is a very clean, minimalist look to match my home. No cables, no pipes, no pumps, nothing visible, and white fixtures, black background and overflows,, and white cabinet. Towards this end I’ve also purchased floating mounts for the Althea fixtures, should look good, I hope!

Thanks for reading, more updates soon...

 

[H.herry]

Going to be a great build, keep us updated.

 

[Janci]

Looking forward to see this monster wet soon.

 

[MartinM]

I’ve been busy, although I haven’t updated!

Heading to the hardware store for plywood to place between the stand feet and the floor:

I got some 15mm plywood to place between the stand and the foam. The foam sits between the floor and the plywood, the plywood between the foam and the stand feet. I’m protecting the wood floors, plus hoping to distribute the weight a little bit, although I don’t think it’ll help much. I also water sealed it with a spray sealant. I’m not the DIY type, but having fun with some of the projects for this build!

Stand and tank are up! I’m going to get a bracket and screw down the two pieces of plywood. I’ve placed urethane foam on top of the wood as well, to help dampen sound, and then placed sound absorbing panels on top of that.

Prepping the sump for placement under the stand. It’s a tight fit vertically! There won’t be much going on in the sump except a heater and perhaps a refugium, because I don’t use skimmers. I will be constructing a constant feed phytoplankton and rotifer reactor system that will hopefully work, and that will drip into the sump as well.

The sump is in, and with a little working of the angles the freshwater reservoir is up, too. I went back and forth a lot about installing the Vectra L2’s internally or externally, and I’ve finally decided on internally. I don’t want to deal with the hassle of having the sump drilled, I don’t want to risk leaking, and since I’ll be running them in alternating gyre mode, the head load will only be about ~150 watts, which will actually be welcome about 7 months out of the year. Unfortunately the Vectra in/outputs are made for only one country in the world (1 out of 160!), so I’m waiting for fittings to arrive to have plumbers install the PVC for the overflows and returns.

While waiting for the fittings, plumbers have installed the ATO water line and Hydros solenoid! In case of solenoid failure, the line will only be charged enough for a slow drip, and I’ll have additional sensors installed to alert me if the water level rises too high. Plus, I’m rarely out of town more than a few days, and if so, have staff to check on the system every day. Automation is nice, but it will always fail. The key is making sure when it does, it’s caught early and that it can’t destroy the system.

I’ve also been working on my painting project! As I’ve said, I’m not the world’s best DIY guy, but here’s the update...

I’m still applying coats, so we’ll see how it turns out. I think it’ll be acceptable! I had to purchase the extension arm also because the tank is 80cm deep.

Well, now I’m waiting for the US plumbing fittings and for my Pacific Sun Althea fixtures to arrive! Updates to come, and in the meantime, some photos I took with new iPhone lenses/filters of my Red Sea 200:

My red Haddoni is highly flourescent, this is under ~14k temperature (I don’t like the windex look).

Thanks for reading, more updates coming soon!

 

[Janci]

Great set up. I love those Elos tanks.
Would you mind showing what was used to assemble the aluminium stand? Did you use only corner pieces between each joint?

 

[MartinM]

Thanks! I can get some closeups but this is the stand from ELOS, I didn’t make it (cabinet paneling isn’t on in these photos).

 

[mattgsa]

I love the new tank. Really looking forward to seeing it come along.

 

[MartinM]

A new addition in quarantine + cipro for the upcoming ELOS...

and a new T. Maxima clam addition to the Red Sea (it has a lot more pink in person, gets filtered out by the orange filter I used for the photo I think). It’s nearly 20cm!

 

[Janci]

Thanks! I can get some closeups but this is the stand from ELOS, I didn’t make it (cabinet paneling isn’t on in these photos).

That would be great. Just to have an idea on how they join the profiles.
Congratulations on the new additions.

 

[this is me]

That’s a killer Magnifica. Will follow for the anemone alone.

 

[MartinM]

Thanks, I just got another one, yellow tentacles and bright purple base!

I’ll get photos of the stand soon.

minor update: after buying and testing virtually all of the major LED lights, I’ve come to realize I don’t like LEDs. I don’t like the narrow coverage, hotspots, and poor color rendering. I’m relegating a big pile of Kessils, Red Sea, and other LEDs to the closet (and maybe to refugiums) and going to be going with Pacific sun T5 fixtures and Giesemann t5s/halides fixtures. LEDs were supposed to be more efficient, but they aren’t. You need the same wattage of LEDs to get the same intensity as a halide, and the halide has much better spread and spectrum. I’m definitely pretty disappointed in LEDs but I’m glad I learned earlier rather than later. Plus, led fixtures are hideous compared to PS/Giesemann...

Big update coming soon!