90 Gal Build - Help me pick the equipment!

[gunguy05]

Well, it seems like the best way to get the most input and make the best, most informed decisions these days is to "poll the audience". So, I am hoping with the help of as many readers as possible, that I can build my 3rd tank. 1st was a NC6, then (currently) a Biocube 29. Now I am looking at a 90 Gallon in the dining room. I'm starting my research, and I plan to do a lot. I research most things into the ground before I do them, so I need some help deciding. I will probably pickup a standard 90 gallon tank, and possibly other gently used stuff on craigslist. So, before I begin I wanted to get the opinions of other.

1. Overflow location/type ? This will give me an idea of what to look for/stay away from on CL. I want it to be quiet, but efficient. Corner, middle, 1/3 of the way down, a box etc. Tell me what you think and why you prefer a certain location. Is there a particular style that I DON"T WANT ?

2. Pump. i want to plan for high flow and will probably have 1-2 powerhead in the tank, surely, but what about the return pump. I want it to be efficient, quiet, and reliable. Sort of looking for what is the best bang for the buck here, don't want to spend 400 bucks on one, but I do want a reliable pump.

3. LIghts... I am pretty sure, and pretty set on some sort of LED. Maybe a Reef breeders, or reef radiance, or other value line. I have seen great results from these. I am also not opposed to building my own custom as I like a good challenge, and have built one before.

4. Rock. Depending on the tank. I might pickup the rock with the tank if I get one that is already drilled.. (then obviously #1 is a moot point) The i will get the rock if it is the right price. Otherwise, I have seen the DIY rocks from morter, salt, and crushed shells. Might look into that one.

5. Skimmer.. I know there is a wide price range here. What's the best bang for the buck. I am not very versed on this, and need all the input that I can get.


That's enough for the time being. The tank will be on a wall that has a 56" wide china cabinet on it. We will side it over and have about 6 ft of room for the tank (wall is a little over 11' wide). I thought about a 120/125, but just too tight. I would only have 3 inches or so in each side, not enough to keep the glass clean.. so I'm going with the 90.

So let me know your thought on each of these. I am open to all suggestions and I am a relative noobie!

 

[oscarinw]

1. I have seen different options used in highly successful tanks so I don't necessarily believe that the overflow location is too important. However,ideally you would have a center or dual overflow.
2. You will try to achieve a 6 to 8 times of your entire system per hour through your sump. In other words if you have a 100 gallon system you want to get about six to eight hundred gallons per hour going through your sump. Considering your overhead loss, you will need a return pump off about nine to twelve hundred gallons per hour.
5. Look at the reef octopus skimmers.
good luck with things

 

[McAllyn]

1. I have a corner overflow 90, works fine. I've drilled a 75 using a GH overflow, worked just as well. If you end up with a standard non-reef ready tank, drill it instead of using an overflow box. The price ends up being the same, and gravity fed is far more reliable.

2. I run a Danner Mag Drive 9.5 on my 90. Works very well. Once it got slimed up, I don't hear it run at all.

3. I'm running an ATI Sunpower over my 90, but if I were to change over to LED's, I go with the ReefBreeders or Ocean Revive 16" fixtures with the built in controllers. They do autodimming and moonlights, etc. 2 of them would still be less than I spent on my ATI and no bulbs to replace.

4. Marco rocks dry rock. Put it in the tank, turn on the pumps, let it turn purple. Lots of things can be hiding in used rocks. Yeah, you could cook them, but in the time it takes to do that, you could just buy dry and seed it yourself.

5. I'm running an AquaC EV120. Not a fan, but it's what I had. I'm going to replace it eventually with an SRO-1000 or SRO-2000, depending on what kind of bioload I end up with. Vertex is also high on my list.

One other option for you in tank size would be a 120 at 4x2x2. Same width and height as the 90, just 6" deeper front to back. Gives you more footprint for layout plus opens up a few options for livestock.

Mac

 

[AquaAngel]

I'm running a 90g too; mixed reef but no SPS. I have the reef ready with corner overflow, an MP10 and MP40, got LR from my LFS, 2 Ecotech Radions, Eheim 1262 pump, and Reef Octopus XP1000SS.

The pump gets clogged a bit, so I have to remove the sponge filter and rinse every 3 months. Probably normal though.

The skimmer is great, though I did have a few overflows while I learned how skimmers worked. I wish I didn't need a stand for it to get it to the right height but I imagine that might be the same on a lot of them.

The lights are too complicated for my needs. They need work on their software, so it just makes me not change anything ever. Lightning scared the crap of my fish.

 

[christo203]

1. I have an Overflow on the 1/3 and wish that is was in the Corner or Center. For the most part, I think that is just personal preference. LOVE MY Tank, but that would be a change that I would make.

2. I use a Mag on my 90 and turn it over 5 times an hour. My wife wanted a quieter tank and this is how I did it. The other end of this though is that I have two MP-40's on my tank.

3. I have two AI Sol Blues on my tank and have loved the lights and the customer service that I received. After two years of having the lights, I will be upgrading with the upgrade kit from AI to the Hydra 52 when they are released.

4. I had a friend that had bought too much Marco Dry Rock and I set my tank up with dry rock! No pest in the tank, no problems, and took everything slowly!!!

5. I use a Reef Octopus on my tank. You have to decide if you think overskimming is an issue or not. Vertex is the other route that I would look into. Both are well built and good products!!!

 

[gunguy05]

Well, it seems like every time I try to put something in concrete, things change. I thought I had the go ahead from the wife for the new tank but I guess not.

More money to spend? "yes honey I know"

So it looks, at least at this point I am putting the brakes on this build.

BUT. There are tenative plans to try and get the house on the market possibly around the first of the year, so if that pans out the new house WILL have a fish room.

Until then, thanks for all the great info thus far. Maybe in a year or so I will change the request to "help me build a 220" or heck, maybe even bugger?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Zoacoral]

For a skimmer: I would look at the Aquamaxx line- Aquamax em200 or the aquamaxx cones co2. These can be hard to find in stock, Check Marinedepot, If your not subcribed to there email list, I highly suggest you do as they have been running 15% off coupons pretty frequent lately, and that is one of the skimmers you can use the coupon on.

Return pump:, Are you wanting, internal or external? If internal, I would recommend a tunze silence 1073.040. I don't hear mine running at all.

Flow: Mp40 and mp10

Lights- I have nothing to say for LED's, but if it was me. I'd skip the led's and go with a ATI t5 fixture, but its your preference.

Overflow: I always prefered the middle back

Rock, I vote Marco rock hands down.

 

[HiImSean]

My 90g is about to start this weekend, here's what I've done

1) Overflow - Mine is a Marineland single corner overflow. I liked it better than the center/offset type for astetic reasons. I am doing a Herbie overflow, using both holes drilled as drains (one being emergency) then running the return over the back of the tank.

2) Pump - I picked up an Eheim 1262. I've heard they are pretty quiet and very reliable. I got mine on sale brand new for about 1/2 off so it was a no brainer. I will also be running a MP10 and 1 or 2 WP25s

3) Lights - I currently run a AI Sol Blue over my 36g so I picked up a second one and will be controlling it with my Apex. I am prolly going to add 2-4 T5s later on, I'm afraid the front and back won't get as much light.

4) Rock - I picked up 50lbs of rock from BRS, I'm going with more of a minimalist look in the tank.

5) Skimmer - I went with a RO sro-2000int. I picked it up used incase I'm not so big on it I can resell it and not take as bigg of a loss if I bought new. I've heard they are good skimmers but may take a while to pull crap out of my tank being on the smaller side for the skimmer.

 

[cpayne015]

lighting I went with reefbrite xho when I had 75 and absolutely loved my coral growth out of these

 

[Scribe]

1. I've got a 90 gallon drilled AGA, with the overflow a little of one corner. Still not sure the reasoning behind that, I guess more intake.
2. I've got a Mag 13 in my sump as a return.
3. Just picked up an Everglow IT2080 from Ocean Review, still slowly bringing it online, so far I love it though, and the price was hard to beat in the group buy.
4. My rock I've gathered over the last 10 years, made some of it my self.
5. My skimmer is an ASM-G1X, very happy with it. A little loud but not too bad.

 

[numsie]

I have a 90 reef with corner overflow that's been running since May and doing great. After learning the hard way with my old system, meaning you get what you pay for and now have useless stuff in my garage I decided to go with top of the line equipment. 1.I have a R/O DC 3500 pump. 2. Skimmer is a R/O Diablo DC 200, works great and controllable. 3. LEDs are Razor fixtures, I had a razor 160 over my old 45g system that I was going to sell and purchased 2 razor 120's for the 90, after setting them up I found they are not powerful enough so I am using both the 120's and the 160 with great results. 4. MP 40 that I picked up used that my corals love. Get the best at the beginning because you will wind up upgrading anyway. Yes this is an expensive hobby but very rewarding!