90-Gal Mixed Reef Upgrad

[Balanje]

OK, I'll jump in on the build thread... I'm feeling pretty good on my conversion from my starter 30 gal tank to my upgraded 90 gallon.

First the specs:

Reef ready 90 gallon tank (48 x 18 x 24)
Birch wood black stand

Trigger System Emerald-39 sump (directly under tank)
Eheim 1262 return pump (900 gph)
Reef Octopus SRO-1000 skimmer
About 90 lbs of rock between DT and sump
Tunze Osmolater 3155 ATO

2x Power Heads:
- Tunze Nanostream 6055 - Love it
- Koralia Hydor 3rd Gen 1350 - Hate it

Pics:
- New 90 gallon tank and stand
- Emerald-39 sump...

I took that advice "get the biggest sump you can fit" quite literally

 

[Balanje]

So my big challenge (as some of you may recognize) was migrating my 30 to the 90 with a proper cycle.... i moved my 30 to the side with the help of some friends and put my 90 in the same location. Not ideal but I really wanted to keep the tank where it was.

So I purchased about 60lbs of new dry rock. I would later migrate the 30lbs of live rock in the old tank, after the initial cycle...

I wanted an interesting aqua scape with different levels for mixed reef... i bought a large shelf (ended up breaking it up a bit) as well as a large pukini rock. I then wanted a floating shelf in the corner of my tank which ultimately didn't work as planned but ended up working out quite well.

1st pic is the new rock ordered.

2nd pic is my assembly of the left side of my tank using a hammer, chisel and Jurassic Gel from BRS

3rd pic is the first look at the tank with the new rock

 

[Balanje]

At this point, I went in for surgery to repair a tendon in my ankle so rest (up until now) has been done on one leg!

Pics:
- Initial cycle and look of the rock.

Notice the shelf on the left side... i glued it to the tank. that didn't work at all. it fell down so i refitted it with magnents on the back (instead of glue) and supported it by two long pieces of rock. In the end, i think it looks better.

- How that left side shelf finally came out.

 

[Balanje]

Finally, I migrated the contents of the 30 gal over the 90. I built a cave and rock pile with my older rock. I moved the corals and fish over. Put the remaining rock in my sump 'fuge section to make sure all the good bacteria came over.

Here's where I'm at today.

Fish:

Occellaris Clown Fish x2
Melanarus Wrasse
Banggai Cardinal
File Fish
Starry Blenny
Neon Goby
Watchman Goby & Pistol Shrimp
Skunk cleaner shrimp

Coral:

Green Star Polyps
Red Mushroom
Mushroom leather
Nepthea leather
Frogspawn

 

[Louis Casale]

Finally, I migrated the contents of the 30 gal over the 90. I built a cave and rock pile with my older rock. I moved the corals and fish over. Put the remaining rock in my sump 'fuge section to make sure all the good bacteria came over.

Here's where I'm at today.

Fish:

Occellaris Clown Fish x2
Melanarus Wrasse
Banggai Cardinal
File Fish
Starry Blenny
Neon Goby
Watchman Goby & Pistol Shrimp
Skunk cleaner shrimp

Coral:

Green Star Polyps
Red Mushroom
Mushroom leather
Nepthea leather
Frogspawn

Sick tank bro. It looks like you've been "reefing" for years. Where ya from?