90G Reef Build

[RobinsonReef]

Hey all! Been a big enthusiast of reefs ever since I was little. My first job was in a saltwater store where I wound up being a manger for a while and keeping up our 600 Gallon show tank. Last year I finally convinced my wife to let me break out my old 29 gallon that used to be a fresh water tank and start my first saltwater tank of my own! Have had the 29 gallon up and going for almost 10 months now and am ready for something bigger. We were in our LFS about a month ago and they had the marineland 90 gallon corner overflow tanks on super sale with stand and canopy. We broke down and dove into the purchase! The tank is up running and cycling and I wanted to start a thread documenting my progress as it grows. So here goes the equipment list for starters:

-90 Gallon Marineland Corner Overflow
-ES-Hopps RS-100 Sump
-Bubble Magus Curve 5 Skimmer
- 3x Kessil A160's with spectral controller (I had one A160 on my 29 with controller so added 2 on)
-Quiet One 4000 Return Pump

So I started with the stock plumbing which was Durso Stand Pipe and I was very unhappy with how it functioned. I could make it pretty dang quiet but at a very low flow rate which I knew is just how the durso works. After a week of cycling I decided to go to Herbie method. I took a hole saw and cut in another 1 inch bulk head hole in my sump top beside the current one. The RS-100 sump only has one hole. Bought a Gate Valve on amazon and swapped out plumbing to be herbie, both pipes have straight shot into sump. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out and how easy it is to tune to any flow rate my pump can dish out. I should have done that the first time!!

After much research I ordered Marco Rocks about 75lbs to start and used 100lbs of live aragonite sand from LFS. Started with 50lbs and decided I wanted it thicker. I used the Marco mortar to bond my structures together and was super impressed with how easy it was to work with and how incredibly strong it was after curing. I could pick up a 50lb structure by grabbing one rock on the top of the structure! Incredible.

I am still deciding on powerbeads so if anyone has input that would be awesome. Im really thinking about breaking down and buying one of the gyro style circulators as I think from researching that they do really well in larger tanks.

After this tank cycles I will be transferring all of my live stock from the 29 gallon over to the 90 and putting the rocks from my 29 in a trash can full of salt water to cure them before they go into my new 90. I have been having algae issues in the 29 that are stemming from the live rock I bought not being cured fully to start and I do not want to risk carrying that stuff into the 90.

Pictures to come soon and will keep updating as I go!

 

[dbl]

Sounds like a great upgrade. Looking forward to seeing some pictures.

 

[RobinsonReef]

Update with pics to follow in next post down. Tanks been running about 3-4 weeks now. Did some water changes and put some of my established tank water in and a few live rocks from other tank that are algae free. Parameters have all stabilized for past week. Added 20 Hermits beginning of this week and just got my shipment of corals from WWC Live Sale and put a few of those in and they are all doing great! Ive mounted a power supply with control at the top of one of the doors. Need to tidy up cables running to it. Going to buy some cheap waterproof led tape from amazon and mount them under tank inside stand and wire them to come on when I open the door for work light in storage area and to look at sump components/water level. Loving having a bigger tank! Will start slowly transitioning things from the 29 over probably in the next week or so.

 

[RobinsonReef]

 

[dbl]

Looking good.

 

[Pat Clark]

Sweet set up. I have the same tank but went with the larger bubble magus just because I tend to over feed my fish. Looking forward to seeing it full of salty pets

 

[RobinsonReef]

Thanks guys! @Pat Clark How long did your bubble magus take to break in? I seem to be having issues with it. Right now its sitting on a little plastic stand I built that raises it about an inch and with the adjustment all the way closed the skim mate doesn't go to the top of the cup. If I take it off the stand and let it sit on sump floor which is only about an inch difference and open the adjustment all the way it overflows like mad. Its really strange. I hope this one is big enough, I tend to overfeed a bit too but hopefully between the skimmer and water changes Ill be able to keep params stable. The corals in my 29 seem to like the water with nitrates a little higher than normal.

 

[RobinsonReef]

Another picture update coming today. Will be receiving the third Kessil A160 today and mounting it to the canopy. That will make two A160's on the 90 so far. Ill add the third one which is on my 29 when I get everything transitioned over to the 90. It should be fine with just two A160s for a little while from what I can tell. The outer edges won't get covered well but when I add the third I will spread them out to cover the tank totally. Going to get out the DSLR later today as well and try to get some good pictures of the tank at this beginning stage.

I am looking to add and ATO system soon and wondered if anyone had any input on which one they are using and have had the best experience with. I was going to build my own ATO as I like DIY wiring projects and such but from research on the forum I would spend as much building my own ATO as I would just buying one. Thoughts or opinions??

Also if anyone has any input on the Bubble Magus Curve skimmers that would be great. This is my issue so far. If I set the skimmer on the floor of the sump and have the valve totally unrestricted the skimmer overflows like crazy. If I boost it 1inch the bubble level is so low it only reaches a little over halfway up the skimmer body with the valve TOTALLY restricted. How does 1 inch make such a difference in the skimmers performance? This is my first experience with in sump skimmers on my own so any help would be greatly appreciated. I did let it run for a week with the top off on the bottom of the sump when I first got it.

 

[Pat Clark]

It takes awhile to adjust I usually go for just a cup level with the bubbles. And you should be fine with the smaller one I have Aqua cultured rock with a lot of clams and they spew a lot of stuff out so I have a lot of particulate matter in my water

 

[PaReeferJ]

Thanks guys! @Pat Clark How long did your bubble magus take to break in? I seem to be having issues with it. Right now its sitting on a little plastic stand I built that raises it about an inch and with the adjustment all the way closed the skim mate doesn't go to the top of the cup. If I take it off the stand and let it sit on sump floor which is only about an inch difference and open the adjustment all the way it overflows like mad. Its really strange. I hope this one is big enough, I tend to overfeed a bit too but hopefully between the skimmer and water changes Ill be able to keep params stable. The corals in my 29 seem to like the water with nitrates a little higher than normal.

I have a curve 5 it took mine about a week to really start ripping some gunk out.

 

[RobinsonReef]

Second kessil up now. Added some Nerite snails and red banded trochus snails today. The bubble magus must have heard me say something about it because it calmed down and isn't overflowing today. Here some more iPhone pics so not good quality. Will give a go with the good camera tomorrow hopefully.

 

[PaReeferJ]

Second kessil up now. Added some Nerite snails and red banded trochus snails today. The bubble magus must have heard me say something about it because it calmed down and isn't overflowing today. Here some more iPhone pics so not good quality. Will give a go with the good camera tomorrow hopefully.

Awesome. Looks great

 

[RobinsonReef]

Took a bunch of shots with camera tonight. Got a few good ones. Still trying to get the hang of photographing the tank. Heres what Ive got in so far from the 29 and some of this is new from WWC Live Sale
Ordered LED Tape, Magnetic Switches, and Digital Backlit Temp Sensor from amazon tonight. Will post more pics after getting all that installed and the under tank area cleaned up.

Jason Fox Halloween Chalice

Red/Prp Gonipora

Rock Nem

Frag Rack

 

[Salty1962]

Very Nice!

 

[RobinsonReef]

Thanks @Salty1962!

Getting better at the camera thing.

Orange Acan Echinata just moved from 29 so its a little mad. Its generally way puffy and the entire bottom edge is covered with little ones, one of my fastest growers

Another J Fox Chalice because its cool

Not sure what this is, picked it up from LFS a few weeks back. Its growing quick too. Rainbow Monti doesnt look happy today for some reason

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Nice tank so far!

 

[RobinsonReef]

Installed some warm white led tape in sump/storage area, wired up two magnetic door switches that turn LEDs off/on. Hid all wires, mounted spectral controller and installed a digital display temp gauge with marine grade sensor in sump. Feels good to have visible work area to see things under the tank and have that all cleaned up

 

[RobinsonReef]

Been pretty busy lately but the tank is coming along great! All fish from the 29 are moved in now and the wife and I added our first tang last night. We now have:
3x Purple Firefish
2x Picasso Clowns
1x Juvenile Powder Blue Tang
1x Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
1xPeppermint Shrimp
I know the PBTs can be the most aggressive/picky to keep of the tangs but this specimen was remarkable in the store. He was eating like a pig and was full of personality. Within an hour of being in the tank he was swimming around showing off, picking at the rocks and getting along with everyone. His colors are fantastic! My skimmer has broken in and is doing great work. I recently added the BRS dual reactor and am running carbon and GFO now. Starting to battle that new tank brown algae but my Red Banded Turbo snails are making short work of it on the rocks and now the tang is pitching in and picking at some of it too. I am amazed at how good the red banded turbos are at maintaining algae. I adjusted my light cycle as I think that was contributing. I had a pretty long cycle 9am to about 10pm. I shortened it down to 10:30am and off at 9pm.

I have had one sad casualty that I still cant explain fully. So my flower anemone was doing really well and one day it closed up and started to move around. I couldn't figure out what was ticking him off. One morning when I came down and the lights were still off I saw my peppermint shrimp on top of the closed up flower anemone and he was going to town picking at it. Over the course of the next 2 days he followed that thing around picking at it non stop. I tried to catch the peppermint with no luck. So I pulled the mad flower anemone out and isolated him into the 29. Two days later he disappeared. He could still be in the rockwork somewhere but I cant find him. Ive never seen a peppermint shrimp do that. Hes fed plenty so I know hes not hungry. It was the strangest thing.

Last night I ordered a Jebao RW-15 wavemaker. I really wanted to get a gyro style but just dont have the money right now to sink another 300-400 into one of those or a vortech. I have been researching the Jebao ones tho and have seen really nothing but good stuff about them for the money they cost. So Im going to give one a shot and If I like it Ill get another to sync up to it.

My coral addiction is going to be the death of me. I have placed my ORA Neon Birdsnest and my Green Birdsnest up high in their permanent homes and they are super happy. My jason fox chalice is growing at a remarkable pace. In about a months time it has rounded out and added about 15-20 new eyes. All the corals seem to be doing really well and the ones that had been living in my 29 are way happier than I ever saw them in the 29. Heres a list of all the frags and stuff I have collected.
3x Assorted colors of Lord Howensis Acans
1x Orange/Prp Acan Enchincata
1x Neon Green/Orange Acan Echinata
1x Red/Prp Gonipora
1x Blondie Zoas
1x Red People Eater Zoas
1x Rasta Zoas
1x Pink Zoas
1x ORA Green Birdsnest
1x Neon green Birdsnest
1x Joe the Coral Acro
1x Green Worm Brain
1x Green Maze Brain
1x GSP (yeah yeah i know)
1x Rainbow Monti
1x Sunset Monti
1x Frogspawn

Doing my once a week water changes and keeping up with filter sock as well. I have always used Red Sea Coral Pro salt and have had nothing but great results. My LFS just started carrying AquaForrest reef salt and I am really curious about it. I am impressed by the specs on the blend of the salt and I am reading really good things about it. My interest is peaked because its 20 dollars cheaper for a big bucket of the same weight than the Red Sea Salt I am buying. The LFS had a few customers that have been ordering it and have great things to say about it. If its as good as the Red Sea then the price difference may be worth the switch.

I will bring the camera out later today and do a picture update to follow this up!!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Can't wait to see the update!

 

[RobinsonReef]

Man how time flies! I keep meaning to update this and get caught up in messing with the tank or looking at tank stuff online haha. So I have been recently battling a bryopsis outbreak. I have been testing pretty much everything daily for a few weeks to keep an eye on what could be the cause. I know bryopsis is terrible to get rid of but I knew it could only be growing because it had available nutrients. My PO4 has been .02-.03 steadily but I have been really been struggling with NO3 apparently. Two weeks ago it was around 60ppm. I started doing larger weekly water changes 15% instead of 10% and that had helped cut it some. I also scaled back my feeding routine (much to my fishies dislike) and got it down to about 12ppm. I could not get it to dip down further as I was already doing larger water changes and really scaled back feeding. At this point I knew I was having a nutrient export issue. I really started to regret my initial choice of the es-hopps 100 sump, and bubble magus curve 5 skimmer as I felt they were undersized from the get go but was hoping it would be ok. So I decided to bite the bullet and replace the sump and skimmer. After some research and reading around I went with the Trigger Systems Emerald 30 sump and the Reef Octopus Regal 200-SSS.

After both arrived I was shocked at the size difference between the Bubble Magus Curve 5 and the Regal 200 skimmer! The Regal could have eaten the Curve 5 as a snack. I was really impressed with the quality of the Regal 200 parts and the new controller for the DC pump. The Trigger Systems sump was of course amazing. I have never seen anything bad about these sumps. Its a very fancy, sleek sump with way more room than I had. I was excited to finally have a Refugium section and adjustable water levels to make the skimmer happy. After spending half a day figuring out how to get the old sump out and the MUCH larger new sump and skimmer in I went to town. (Disclaimer Here for doing some things that I do not recommend others try) So I brought in a 32gal trash bin and began to fill it up with water from the DT. I got the water about halfway down and then drained the old sump as well. I had some scrap framing wood laying around and I reinforced both the side panels by double framing them in since I would have to carefully push the sides to slide the tank away from the wall. After reinforcing the load distribution I slid one side of the tank away from the wall enough to get the old sump out. Old sump easily came out. Did some quick measuring and realized the small center support in the back was in the way of being able to slide this new monster sump in. Back to the drawing board (meanwhile the tank has lights and circulation corals still open and happy), I quickly cut two new temporary supports for the back, wedged them in place and made sure they were taking weight, and removed the center support in the back. I carefully slid the new sump and skimmer in, put the center support back in place, brad nailed it and used my two temporary supports to double reinforce the center as Im sure it was weakened some from removing it. After making sure everything was snug and tidied up all my cables I slid the tank back into place. I had to redo the pluming underneath because the trigger sumps intakes were in a different place. Thankfully my initial plumbing was thought out well so I could easily modify and move things around to make it work. About 4 hours later I was putting water back in the DT and filling the new sump with 30 gallons of fresh saltwater!

After dialing things in and getting the new skimmer going I was instantly impressed with everything I had purchased. The skimmer is insanely quiet, almost no difference between off or on, the controllability of the skimmers pump is amazing and all the options really let you dial it in to perform exactly how you want. Extremely satisfied with the skimmer even tho it was pretty dang expensive. Its already pulling gunk out after one night of running and more than the curve 5 did by a long shot in such a short time. The sump is built extremely well, its also really quiet with double filter socks and room for days. Next I need to figure out what all I want to put in the refugium and get a good light for it as well. Hopefully with the increased filtration and the ability to grow macro algaes I will be able to achieve the right nutrient export. Lesson learned here that I should have gone with my gut instinct the first time and just gone huge with the sump and skimmer!! If you have the money I highly recommend the Trigger emerald series sumps and the Reef Octopus Regal SSS skimmers.