90g triton method build

AbsoluteZer0273 · Nov 12, 2017

Starting a 90 gallon using the triton method. So far I’ve refinished the stand and rebuilt the tank. Both the tank and stand were free from someone we ran across at a petco. He was into fresh water and had this in his garage and just wanted to get rid of it. Score for us! The tank glass was very scratched up, and the seal didn’t look good. We completely tore the tank down and rebuilt it with the back glass in the front, because it wasn’t scratched as bad. It came with a small acrylic sump, but I think I need a bigger one to accommodate the refugium size required for the triton method. I’m going for the higher end of the size recommendation at 20%. So 18 gallon refugium alone. I’ve been looking at the curve 5 skimmer, but have bought it yet. I’ve been cycling the rock for about 3 months now. And I have been going back and forth whether to have sand or a bare bottom. I’m going to use 2 jebao cp40 wavemakers. I have a couple xr30 gen3 pros for lights. I will add more pics as it progresses. I’ve been taking my time on this one since I rushed my 180g tank and had to fight to keep everything alive. Please let me know any thoughts or suggestions. I want to get this one right the first time!

Ashish Patel · Nov 13, 2017

Nice setup! What kind of creatures are you planning for? Best thing I could advice if you plan on adding SPS in a few months than look for some good LR to seed your tank otherwise you'll give nuisance algaes a blank canvas to call home! I will probably transfer to triton after my tank is fully stocked so as to better keep track of minor trace elements and waterchanges are a pain but sometimes neccessary even with triton. Good luck..

AbsoluteZer0273 · Nov 13, 2017

Thanks Ashish Patel! I do plan on it being a sps dominant tank. It will probably have some lps also though. Can’t resist the acans and euphilyias! I have a bunch of rock that came with the tank. It looked to have been ran for a long time before it was given to me. All the rock was dry when I got it though. I did a bleach soak for about a month. Then I rinsed it and have been cycling it in saltwater and I added a good bit of seachem prime. It has been cycling for about 3 months. I have a Red Sea mature kit I’m going to use to cycle the whole system once it’s filled too. I plan on giving it a good long cycle before adding to much! I have a few pairs of clown fish in another tank. I might added one of the pairs for the cycle, but haven’t decided yet. I plan on have very few fish in this system overall. I want to keep it mostly coral.

Wicked5oh · Nov 13, 2017

I just purchased a used 90 gallon with internal over flow, came with a stand and a sump. a euro-reef skimmer (LARGE) and a couple reactors. I have an established 90 gallon already but I made poor choices starting it and have been plagued with issues.
starting completely fresh on this one and taking my time as well.

how much rock are you going to be using?

Brian W · Nov 13, 2017

Looking good! I would start with bare bottom then add sand if you do not like it.

AbsoluteZer0273 · Nov 13, 2017

how much rock are you going to be using?[/QUOTE]
I haven’t weighted it, but it probably around 80-100 pounds if I had to guess. I have a 180g tank with a 75g sump. I put way to much rock in it when I set it up. I have 230lbs of cycled rock in it of which there is 80lbs in the sump if I need any extra.

Ashish Patel · Nov 13, 2017

IMO to much rock in the display is more room for detritus buildup and hiding space for unwanted creatures, also more difficult to clean and circulation.. My hope is the sps will fill in the blank space and add to the aquascape. I started with 35 lbs of dry rock + large marinepure + 5LB of Mud/chaeto fuge (1/4 LB per gallon). Within 2 months of setup and knowing the tank was not seeded correctly I added 30LB of LR to the sump and 20LB to the tank and more recently a cryptic sump... Go to youtube and watch that video by Mike palleta on american reef (elos update).

I know its easy for everyone to say take it slow but when anyone setups a new tank 2 months seems like 6 months, at least it did for me - No one really goes as slow as they should.. Honestly I wish I started putting sps in my tank after 3 months of adding established LR. This seems to be when the tank nutrients stabilized for good. Since your doing a SPS dominant try not making the same mistake all it takes is 10-20 LB of LR from another hobbyist. I can sell you a marinepure block if your local to NJ.

AbsoluteZer0273 · Nov 13, 2017

I can sell you a marinepure block if your local to NJ. QUOTE said:
Unfortunately I live in Florida, but thanks for the offer! I will definitely go light on the rock work this time! The stuff that came with this tank is all different shapes and sizes, so it will take a long time to decide on a good scape. I’m anxious to start the scape and get the cycle going, but I have 2 other tanks already. That should make it a little easier to fight the urge to rush this one!

AbsoluteZer0273 · Nov 13, 2017

Ok. I’m still trying to figure out this quote reply thing.

d2mini · Nov 13, 2017

AbsoluteZer0273 said:
Ok. I’m still trying to figure out this quote reply thing.

Just hit the orange REPLY button. It will automatically quote the message.

Type your reply below the quote. Not inside the brackets.

Use the +QUOTE button if you want to quote multiple posts in one message.

AbsoluteZer0273 · Nov 13, 2017

Ashish Patel your setup looks awesome by the way! How big is the display?

AbsoluteZer0273 · Nov 13, 2017

d2mini said:
Just hit the orange REPLY button. It will automatically quote the message.
Type your reply below the quote. Not inside the brackets.

Use the +QUOTE button if you want to quote multiple posts in one message.

Got it! Thank you! To reply to just a sentence or two in a post how do you do that?