New build - 90g Planet Aquarium rimless

[Snowxcross]

Hi all! I've done a build thread before but lacked with providing updates, and over time, simply stopped. I've been reefing for quite some time now and over the past 13 years I've learned a lot therefore I decided to invest further into the hobby and level myself up.

Ive researched and met/talked to a lot of folks on why they have the tank they have. A few things mattered to me, one was I didn't want anything to big. Downstairs I have a 75g plumbed with a 25g. It's an older bow tank and although everything inside is great, I'm really concerned this thing will fault. The euro bracing is frail, and I figured the best thing I can do is build something new in my office upstairs where I spend most my time. I can also go at this slowly and really experience the true "build" versus rushing around and only thinking about running to buy corals and fish.

With that said, the 90g planet aquarium was just really attractive to me. Nice thick glass, deep, all just seemed to me perfect. The sump I chose is a tideline/trigger 30. I've been a fan of them for years, so why change that, great quality. I also can't see spending over $1k for a sump - yes cool features, but I can put that extra money towards something else.

So as of today, I have the tank in place, the sump in place, and my plumbing roughly completed. I'm currently curing 3 totes of dry rock I picked up off OfferUp for free. You'd be surprised, some people just want the stuff gone. The plan with the rock is to break it up and build a cool scape (I have a few drafts already). While I'm curing the rock, probably another 2 weeks, I'm really just brainstorming.

So until I move forward, here's a few pictures of the setup and current list of "new" gear. I'll continue to post as I make some progress.

-Reef Octo Various 6
-Clarisea 5000 gen3
-Aquamaxx Gfo/Carbon (2)


Thanks for visiting!

 

[blaxsun]

Looks great so far!

 

[tsharpe291]

Looking good!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Tank looks good so far!!

 

[dstockwell]

Lookin good !!

 

[Glenner’sreef]

Nice. Keep posting.

 

[Snowxcross]

Hi all! I've done a build thread before but lacked with providing updates, and over time, simply stopped. I've been reefing for quite some time now and over the past 13 years I've learned a lot therefore I decided to invest further into the hobby and level myself up.

Ive researched and met/talked to a lot of folks on why they have the tank they have. A few things mattered to me, one was I didn't want anything to big. Downstairs I have a 75g plumbed with a 25g. It's an older bow tank and although everything inside is great, I'm really concerned this thing will fault. The euro bracing is frail, and I figured the best thing I can do is build something new in my office upstairs where I spend most my time. I can also go at this slowly and really experience the true "build" versus rushing around and only thinking about running to buy corals and fish.

With that said, the 90g planet aquarium was just really attractive to me. Nice thick glass, deep, all just seemed to me perfect. The sump I chose is a tideline/trigger 30. I've been a fan of them for years, so why change that, great quality. I also can't see spending over $1k for a sump - yes cool features, but I can put that extra money towards something else.

So as of today, I have the tank in place, the sump in place, and my plumbing roughly completed. I'm currently curing 3 totes of dry rock I picked up off OfferUp for free. You'd be surprised, some people just want the stuff gone. The plan with the rock is to break it up and build a cool scape (I have a few drafts already). While I'm curing the rock, probably another 2 weeks, I'm really just brainstorming.

So until I move forward, here's a few pictures of the setup and current list of "new" gear. I'll continue to post as I make some progress.

-Reef Octo Various 6
-Clarisea 5000 gen3
-Aquamaxx Gfo/Carbon (2)


Thanks for visiting!

Worked on a cool rockscape. I discovered that you can use baking soda to bond with water like super glue. Three separate pieces looking like one cohesive piece. I also reinforced with e-400 cement. The idea the entire time of building this was habitat first, then flow, then looks. Nice places to hide, plenty of paths for flow and coral placement. Pretty happy with it, but I may rearrange who knows!

 

[Snowxcross]

Well, there's water flowing! I didn't doubt myself with the plumbing but you know, you're filling everything up with water, you can get nervous when you turn it on! I made the water over the past two days, I've just turned on the heaters and the only thing in the sump is the bio bricks. I don't care to cycle this quickly so I may just do the shrimp method, I'm also still thinking about it. I've used Dr. Tim's in the past, who knows... But yea! Looking good, thinking about power head placements etc... Here's a few pics!

 

[Snowxcross]

Hey all - i decided to use Dr. Tim's for cycling. I've used it in the past and it worked, why change something that worked? I'm testing most chemistry, just because i havent in the past when setting up a new tank and of course things like alk/cal/mag aren't needed to test right now, but cool data nonetheless and i'm curious how these parameters change during cycling. Here's where i'm at so far:

 

[tsharpe291]

One step closer to a full blown reef tank.

 

[Snowxcross]

Here's my updated testing with Dr. Tim's. Interesting results, many people out there from what i can see often have a Ammonia spike then drop to zero, followed by the Nitrite spike then drop to zero. In my case, the Ammonia spiked then dropped over a few days, however the Nitrite still sitting at 1.0. It's actually probably more between 1-2. So just testing periodically and looking for a nice clear blue on the Nitrite! Until then, nothing much to do except admire patience lol.

 

[Snowxcross]

Hi there! just an update on the cycle. It's been 4 weeks and i now am testing zero nitrite! Everyone's tank is different, here's a great example of that and why patience is key.

 

[Wasabiroot]

Nice clean build! I see you have the VarIos6; I am really impressed with that pump series so far. Looking forward to the rest!

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Awesome start! Looking forward to seeing more!

 

[Snowxcross]

Nice clean build! I see you have the VarIos6; I am really impressed with that pump series so far. Looking forward to the rest!

I have an Octo Skimmer and that thing is flawless for years, i figured i couldnt go wrong with the varios! Very cool pump.

 

[Snowxcross]

Hey there! Posting an update as I've made a bit of progress over the last few weeks. I've got some diatoms showing, but pretty minimal. I think my copepods are doing their job! I feed phyto everyday and see them on the glass at night. I did bring up some of my coral frags from the tanks downstairs I'm decommissioning along with the fish I was able to catch lol.

My parameters are good with a slight increase to phosphate but not concerned. Last test was 0.13 which I'm fine with even higher is ok. Nitrates are great around 9.5. standard parameters are in check. I usually test Thursdays, or sometime after a water change say a day or two later. Something new to me is that I'm using Dr. Tim's gel. You know, I get that we need to have bacteria around, so I've been using this and killing my skimmer for 4 hours a day. We'll see how it goes, but interesting to say the least.

Also something new is the algae scrubber. Pretty impressive, I obviously don't have anything growing on it, but I imagine I will at some point. The Clarisea I have is high in the water, so that should yield me more use from the roller. Other then that, u til my basic parameters start to decrease or get to where I want them, I'll get to dosing all-for-reef. It will be my first time doing it, but I'm all prepped ready to go. I've got the beeker, powder and balling elements on the shelf!

Here's a few pics - let me know what you think.

 

[Snowxcross]

Been about a week since my last post. Diatoms are slowly decreasing. Mostly a mix of things but looking great. Phosphates are averaging 0.05ppm with nitrates averaging 8.5ppm. The algae scrubber has had a week to work and it's pretty cool, I have it running for 10 hours opposite DT lighting and I have a light brown coat of algae on the screen already. The Clarisea is doing fantastic and my skimmer is getting some great stuff this week. I am running rowaphos in the reactor, that's been keeping the phosphates low. Other then that, I'm on about 10ml a day with dosing all for reef. I like my Alk around 8.5 and I'm averaging that currently. Calcium and mag in check as well. One other thing is I moved both mp40s about an inch or so lower and cranked up the flow a bit too. That's contributing to the removal of this diatoms, I really think I just had the tools in place at the right time is all.

 

[Snowxcross]

Hi all, just wanted to show you all the success of the algae scrubber. It's been a full week since I hooked it up, a few days longer actually. Check out the growth! Also, my diatoms have almost all gone away. I'm contributing that to other factors, but super happy!

 

[Snowxcross]

Hi all - I moved some of my frags from another tank of mine. Had some fun testing out my Nikon although I do not have a lens to cut out the blue yet.

 

[Snowxcross]

Hello everyone, I wanted to share a quick update as it has been approximately two weeks since my last update. The hard work and dedication I've put into my tank has yielded great results. The key to success is maintaining stability, and as long as my parameters remain in a good range consistently, everything is great! Currently, my alkalinity is averaging at 8.7, calcium at 430-450 ppm, and magnesium at 1300-1325 ppm. My phosphates and nitrates are at 0.05 and 7.4 ppm, respectively, which I measure weekly using a Hanna instrument for all parameters. I track alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium daily using a Trident. Although I occasionally get some erratic readings, they usually normalize on the next test. My goal since January has been to maintain stable parameters, and I am thrilled to have achieved it.

I've noticed that my algae scrubber has started to grow some impressive algae since my last post, although it's not quite enough to scrape off yet. I changed the schedule for the lights on it to run from 10 pm to 12 pm, for a total of 14 hours of light exposure. My display tank lights turn on around 1:30 pm and remain on until 10 pm, which has helped keep my pH steady at around 8.2. In regards to pH, I added my media reactor to the skimmer to provide a little more pH stability. I didn't necessarily need it, but I had extra media and figured it was a good idea to use it.

Here's a few pics of some zoa's and my chalice that have been growing fast.