# 90g Reef tank finally done



## dp0350 (Mar 31, 2007)

After a couple months of planning and setup my first SW tank is finally done. I could not of gotten it going without the help of all the knowledgeable members here. I picked up the 200# of liverock and 100# of sand a week ago and for now everything seems to be on track. Thanks.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

looking good,i'm going to enjoy watching it grow.


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## SeaSerpant (Dec 9, 2007)

i'll tag along. What are the Parameters right now?


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## dp0350 (Mar 31, 2007)

*Seachem Test*

Before I got the tank setup I ordered a Seachem test kit. However, the day after I setup the tank I went to open the kit and it was ruined. One of the vials broke open and ruined all the strips and the paper documentation. Fostersmith sent another one right away but I wont have it until Wednesday. This weekend I might bring a sample to my LFS. Ill let ya know if I do. I used all cured LR and about half Livesand so it shouldn't take too long.


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## SeaSerpant (Dec 9, 2007)

nope it shouldn't. what kind of livestock do you plan to have?


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## dp0350 (Mar 31, 2007)

*Stock*

I'm not too sure yet. I'll probably start off with a cleanup crew and a pair of false clowns. I do want to have some soft corals so my fish selection will have to be entirely reef safe. I would love a shrimp Goby/shrimp pair. Their relationship is amazing. Im open to any suggestions. Im not sure but I think I have some aptasia(pictured below). Should I inject them with some Kalk? A few feather dusters also showed up.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

I will be watching your progress as well.

A good goby/shrimp relationship is a Watchman Goby with Pistol Shrimp.


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## Aquatic_Fan (Nov 30, 2007)

dp0350 said:


> After a couple months of planning and setup my first SW tank is finally done. I could not of gotten it going without the help of all the knowledgeable members here. I picked up the 200# of liverock and 100# of sand a week ago and for now everything seems to be on track. Thanks.


i got one question.....how much did it roughly cost you to have all that? Im interested in upgrading to a larger size myself and im just been curious looking around and stuff.


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## dp0350 (Mar 31, 2007)

*Cost*

It ended up costing a lot more than I initially thought. You could definitely do it much cheaper with used items and hunting around on Craigs List for LR and such. I would say everything together: the tank, stand all equipment, LR, sand, cleanup crew, lights, ATO, ph monitor, RO/DI etc cost around $5k. But for just the tank, stand canopy about $850. A used setup like mine would probably sell for around $1500 I think.


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## crazy4fish (Dec 31, 2007)

i will deffinately be following this thread. unfortunately i cant give much advise as i am into freshwater. but i love these kind of threads where you can watch as the tank progresses. how many gal is that tank?


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## dp0350 (Mar 31, 2007)

*tank*

Its a 90g display with about a 30g sump.


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## MattD (Apr 25, 2007)

Nice tank. I particularly like how you chose the Koralia. What size is it? a 3 or 4?


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## dp0350 (Mar 31, 2007)

*Korilia*

Both are the Korilia 4. I had two 3's but I decided to move up to the 4's. I have about a 35x turn over rate. Its hard to keep the sand on the bottom.


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## MattD (Apr 25, 2007)

Yeah they're fine units. I like their dispersed flow, it really doesn't overpower the corals despite their high circulation rates.


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## dp0350 (Mar 31, 2007)

*Korilia*

I really do like them. I am having a problem with the left one kicking up sand but Ill just keep moving it inch by inch. Ill post some more updated pics tomorrow.


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## MattD (Apr 25, 2007)

Yeah mine also used to do that, I just pointed it upward slightly or pointed it somewhere to break the flow a bit.

New pics?


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## conger (Feb 2, 2008)

* conger joins the chant *

new pics... new pics... new pics... :redyay: :greenyay: :blueyay:


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## dp0350 (Mar 31, 2007)

*New Pics*

Sorry for the delay. I had some problems uploading the pics on my Mac but I figured it out. The tank is maturing nicely. I will probably add a coral in a week or two if the parameters stay stable. I can't decide if I am going to make it a SPS or softy tank. Why is it that most of the high budget tanks are SPS dominated? I would love to see some nice Softy tanks. I wish mixing coral types wasn't such a problem. 









































I no longer have the Pacific Imports heater. I just died so now I have a Shin Mao controller and 500w TI heater. Its the best heater that I have ever had. 
I have also added a Pinpoint pH monitor because I started dosing Kalk. My Ca is now at 420. 








































As of this morning the three striped clown is dead. He jumped into my overflow box. I have a top on it so he must have jumped onto the top then wiggled between the box cover and the back of the tank. The he took the waterslide to the sump and got stuck in the filterbag. I found him this morning dead. The other clown is very upset to say the least. I will be giving her to my buddy who has a small juvi clown in hopes of pairing them. I will be adding a pair of Picaso clowns once she is at her new home and I make sure that she will adapt there.


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## conger (Feb 2, 2008)

awesome, thanks for the update  I started a 90gal SW just before you posted this thread, so I'm really interested to see how your tank progresses. You've got a nicer sump setup than me, its something that I'd like to upgrade soon. Your substrate and rocks don't look like they've been through any bad stages of algae growth, which is cool, maybe a result of the good filtration you've got? I've had a phase of red hair algae come and go, and now I've got a little bit of brown algae growing, but its mainly on the substrate and a little bit on the rocks.

What kind of protein skimmer is that? And do you like it? And one final question (sorry, I'm really curious!), do you have any trouble keeping the temperature down in the tank? I guess the Koralias are low-power compared to other power heads, but it looks like you've got roughly similar wattage in your water to my setup, and my temp goes between 78-80F, though I'd rather it be around 76 (room temp usually 72-75).

Thanks again for the update, and let us know what corals you decide on!


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## dp0350 (Mar 31, 2007)

*Skimmer*

The skimmer is a Octopus NW 150 works great. I had some algae in the beginning but the hermits took care of it in no time. I have some algae in my sump but thats where its supposed to be. My temp is set at 79 and at the end of the day it gets to 81 at worst. However I have no fans in my canopy. When I put a little house fan behind it, the temp doesnt go above 80. I will add some canopy fans in the near future. I think that the high turnover rate has alot to do with the lack of algae. I have about 35x an hour. If you are going to keep certain inverts I think that 76 may be a little too low. I read in a couple places the average reef temperature in the ocean is 82, 79 being a good compromise in a mixed reef tank.


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## crazy4fish (Dec 31, 2007)

tank looks awesome. sorry to hear about the clown.  post more pics when you get the new fish or coral! :wink:


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## conger (Feb 2, 2008)

dp0350: another question for you... I just purchased an Octopus NW 150 skimmer as well for my 90gal. I just installed and turned it on today, so its still breaking itself in, but I realized I had neglected one potentially very important thing: water depth!

As-designed, the water level in the skimmer chamber of my sump is exactly 12". However, after doing some reading I am starting to think that 12" of water might be much too deep for it to work well. What is the water depth in your skimmer chamber? If yours is working well for you, I may raise mine up if need be to match your water depth as a starting point. Or, if you happen to know that it will work fine at 12", then I'll just leave it be.

Thanks in advance!


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## dp0350 (Mar 31, 2007)

*Skimmer*

Mine is working perfect in 9-10 inches of water. All the the adjustable tube does is change the hydrostatic pressure by making the water travel higher into the air before falling into the sump. This adjustment depends on your sump water level. This in turn either raises the water level in the skimmer itself or allows the level to drop. Basically, try and adjust the tube to get the foam near the collar of the skimmer cup. Let the skimmer break in and see where that leaves you. I think that 12 inches should be fine. If you are running out of adjustment in the sliding tube then you may have a problem. What I really recommend is forgetting the whole tube. Go to Octopus Skimmer's website and look at the gate valve mod. You can buy it from them for about $35 or make it yourself. It allows MUCH finer adjustment of the skimmer and you don't have to get your hand wet with any adjustment. Another plus with the gate valve is you are adjusting the pressure by physically altering the size of the outflow. So no matter what your sump level you should be able to get a perfect height. I did the gate valve mod within a week of getting the skimmer and I am happy I did. I prefer to skim very dry but if I want to I can easily adjust it to skim very wet. Mine took a good 3 days to really kick into action. Monitor the level at first because it can go from not making and foam to overflowing the cup. Now, I barely ever adjust it.


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## conger (Feb 2, 2008)

awesome, thanks for the quick response and that was a very informative description of the whole outflow tube operation. I had noticed the gate valve mod and wondered if it was worth it or whether they were just trying to jack another $35 from me . I'll let the skimmer run for another week or so and see how/if it settles in, hopefully my 12" water depth will be fine. For now, while its still brand new and not producing any foam, I've got outflow tube adjusted so that the bubbles are bubbling right at the neck of the skimmer. Thanks again!


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