kresdfw's DSA 175g Build Thread

[kresDFW]

Love the clean set up and aquascape.

Thanks tureefik87!

 

[evolved]

I believe you're referring to a check valve. It crossed my mind that a check valve would have helped me in this instance. I have some friends that run them and a good few that do not. I always see the debate for/against, and I decided not to incorporate one, but in this instance it would have been a fail safe for me.

The problem with check valves is two fold; they add a fair amount of headless and they won't work with age due to all the things which grow in the dark in saltwater (think sponges and the like).

 

[kresDFW]

New toy for the tank I picked up today.

I have the skimmer going, thanks to Mark breaking it in for me and leaving the bacteria behind, it's been up and running smoothly.

Current FTS:

This weekend I need to start building the frag tank stand. After seeing Evolved's JBJ 20g, I think that will work perfectly for what I'll need. For lighting on the frag tank I'll just get another AI hydra 26 and let the AI Director operate it.

The QT has cycled. I'm debating on picking up a few small passive fish (firefish, royal gramma, and possibly a midas blenny) and leave them in QT for 6-8 weeks until the tank cycles.

Here's my stocking plan so far which I'll only add a batch every 6-8 weeks after QT. So it will take 6 months to completely stock the tank.
1st batch: Firefish, Royal Gramma, Midas Blenny
2nd batch: 2x Ocellaris Clowns (juveniles), Orage spotted goby
3rd batch: 2x Flasher/Fairy Wrasses (undecided-will need to study Hunter's tank :bigsmile, Starry Blenny
4th batch: 3x Tangs - Purple, Kole Yellow Eye, Powder Blue.
That will be it for fish.

 

[kresDFW]

Forgot to mention I also have the screens in place.

 

[kresDFW]

So I've kept busy the last few days. This weekend I started building the frag tank stand for the JBJ 20g frag tank I picked up today. I also snagged another Hydra 26 from the LFS for the frag tank.

JBJ Frag Tank goodness:

Progress on frag tank stand:

This is what it should look like when it's complete:

For the display tank, today marks the 10th day of the cycle. I'm currently running lights out, however I am running my sump light with some cheato to help control phosphates. I had a small handful just about triple in size in 5 days. I think by the time the weekend rolls around, I'll be giving some back to the LFS for store credit.

This weekend I'll take a break from my projects to help a friend build a canopy for his tank. He should be bringing my 40g breeder I loaned him so I can finally get my other qurantine tank setup.

 

[kresDFW]

I was able to get some work done on the frag tank stand (and also a friends canopy). I need to mount the door, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I'll have pics of the setup by the end of this week. I didn't realize that the AI Tank Mount kit didn't include an ext rail. So I have to pick up one of those this week.


Frag Tank painted.

 

[kresDFW]

Tonight I'm going to try and transfer water from the display (on day 18 of cycle) over to the frag tank to get it cycling as well.

I still need to figure out what I'm going to do with all the power cords. I think since there will just be a covered ATO reservoir inside the stand, that I can mount a power strip inside.

 

[kresDFW]

I got a few things done over the weekend. I have water in the frag tank now and it's cycling with a few rocks from the display.

Main tank is on day 22 of the cycle. I started leaving the lights on last week so I can work my way through the various algea cycles.

I also built the 2nd quarantine tank stand (it will be my primary) from a 40g breeder. I got the water in it last night and the media has been cycling in the display tank.

I'm thinking of cycling a 10g tank that I would probably use with the frag tank to QT the clean up crew for 4 weeks before they go into the tank. I'm trying to be on the cautious side on this build to make sure everything gets an adequate quarantine.

 

[Texasnano]

Wow. Tagging along

 

[Cment]

how bout an update on the awesome build....

 

[reefsquared]

Great tank

 

[Saltwaterwill]

I can tell u are very hands on, one of if not the best custom stands I've seen...very impressive...can't believe you are not a carpenter ! Amazing setup, following.

 

[kresDFW]

So I apologize it's been awhile since I've given an update. Since my last update I've added a little more equipment and made some aquascaping changes.

For hardware, I added a Geo calcium reactor, two additional powerheads, and two additional T5 lamps. I haven't been thrilled with the growth rate and coloring of some of the SPS and after using our club par meter, I've decided I'm going to do a redesign of the canopy.

First before I get into the canopy design, here are a few pictures of the aquascaping changes. I basically needed to add more rock for the new coral I ordered over the holidays.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Now, onto the canopy redesign. I want to reverse the lighting with T5 as the primary and the Hydra's as the supplement. For this to work I want to move the T5 bulbs about 8in off the water.

Since I've been spoiled with an open top, I wanted a way I could remove the light rack easily and the full canopy if possible. After several sketchup drafts and a few trips to the hardware stores, I decided on a three piece canopy.

The bottom part will sit on the tank and consist of the tank rim trim and back panel. The back panel will have cutouts for the two dual 120mm fans and two removable square panels I can use to put the powerheads through or remove for cleaning.

The second piece will be the front and side frame. It will drop into the base and securely latch using chest latches.

The third piece will be the light rack. It will drop down from the top and sit on four wood blocks that can be height adjusted. To do this, I'm going to install four T-Tracks into the front and back panels and use the knobs to adjust the height of the wood blocks. This is what I will use:

With everything assembled, the canopy should look like this:

I plan to start cutting the wood tomorrow and hopefully I'll be finished with the project in 10 days or so, but I'll wait for a few weeks after that for the paint to fully cure before I install the new canopy.

I'll try and be better about adding more updates. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

 

[Cment]

Wow, love the canopy design. Can't wait to see how it turns out.