paddling oar's 90 gallon future acro/milli tank

paddling oar's · Mar 20, 2015

I usually do not not post up builds because I don't actually build any of it. But decided to since this is as close to a dream tank as I will get any time soon (probably till all my kids are out of school or retirement). I bought this setup off of a friend's brother who was planning on moving to the area back in December. Well he had to sell his house etc so I didn't actually end up picking up the setup till around February 8th. Few days later after cleaning the overflow out to put the bulkheads in did I discover that the center return hole was chipped. He paid movers to move this and they left one bulkhead on and removed other two so I am guessing that they had left the center one on too and chipped the glass when sliding off the stand. Anyway a long story short he decided to buy me a new tank instead of me returning the setup. Original tank was a DSA 90 and the new tank is a planet aquarium custom build to fit stand and canopy. They ended up making the overflow different than the original tank so I had to get someone to come over and help me take the tank back down so that I could cut bigger opening to allow bulkheads to screw on. This setup came with a custom sump and a 6 bulb ATI t5 fixture. At the moment I only have 1 reefbrite 50/50 led strip to supplement the t5't5's but may add more. Put water in today and should be running no later than tomorrow. Sorry for all the rambling but here is some pics.

paddling oar's · Mar 22, 2015

I was going to go with a traditional single island wall around the center overflow but wife and friends convinced me to do otherwise and I am glad I listened. Here is front view and side view from right side of tank of first tower. The next one will be built to be appealing from left side of tank.

ameach · Mar 22, 2015

Looks like a good start! Can wait to see what you start stocking it with!

Scoly · Mar 22, 2015

Agreed, can't wait to see it progress! With a Battlecorals sticker on it, your going the right direction!

Rob.D · Mar 22, 2015

I love the rock formation and you certainly can't go wrong with BattleCorals!

paddling oar's · Mar 23, 2015

Thanks! Yes the guy I bought it from loves battlecorals hence the free advertisement

. I am a most done with the cave on the second tower and will work on finishing it and building the tower today. I had wanted to use some of my shelf pieces but they are heavy so I am staying away from it. More pics soon...

revhtree · Mar 23, 2015

Nice tank and stand!

That rock looks awesome! Where did you get it from?

paddling oar's · Mar 23, 2015

I believe it is pukini but I am not 100% sure. It came with a previous tank purchase. It's light and very porous.

paddling oar's · Mar 23, 2015

My other tower. Now just have to putty them and they will be ready to go in tank.

SeahorseKeeper · Mar 23, 2015

I love your tank and stand! The rock work looks awesome!!

spspirate · Mar 23, 2015

You got some good rock!

NeverlosT · Mar 23, 2015

The tank and rocks look great! Is that all carbon in the sump? That might be a lot, could be an issue with stripping the water too clean, but I am not positive. Either way, the build is coming along great, ATI fixtures are super and you are off to a terrific start!

paddling oar's · Mar 23, 2015

NeverlosT said:
The tank and rocks look great! Is that all carbon in the sump? That might be a lot, could be an issue with stripping the water too clean, but I am not positive. Either way, the build is coming along great, ATI fixtures are super and you are off to a terrific start!

nah that is Hawaiian black live sand. Lol I'm not a rookie. Haha my buddy had 10# extra so I took it and just used it in there. Only went 2-3 inches deep but filled it up with lots of live rock rubble well its all base rock but you get the idea.

NeverlosT · Mar 23, 2015

haha very well. Had to check! That Hawaiian sand is really cool. I wanted to use it in my display but the only stuff I could find was magnetic and I didnt want to risk scratching the glass, thats certainly not the case in your sump. Keep up the great build!

paddling oar's · Mar 25, 2015

So I put the second pillar in and realized that the 3rd pillar I was working on was not going to fit. After looking at it for a few hours this morning zi realized something was missing. I decided AI knew what I wanted to do even though it was going to take away from the two sepera tell island effect. I only had one rock big enough to do what I wanted to do but that was going to mean cutting about 60% of the rock but decided it would be worth it. Just have a reefbrite strip over top but will be working on installing lighting into the canopy tomorrow.

paddling oar's · Jul 9, 2015

Been a couple months since I posted on the new tank. I just made a cheap rack to hold some frags since I don't want to use any magnetic ones and scratch the glass. Moved most of my zoas and a few lps that my hippo tang and ebli angel like to snack on. Even put a cheap acro in and it's been a couple weeks and so far so good. Started dosing 10 ml a day last week, will check and see if any levels have increased this weekend. Anyway here is a few pics.

paddling oar's · Jul 9, 2015

Acans and welso are looking better, had to hide them under an acrylic frag rack to keep them from getting nipped.

paddling oar's · Jul 9, 2015

Here are some of the frags that will be going in after the tank becomes more established. I cannot wait to move alot of these frags so I can turn my 100 into an SPS dominant tank. This was my first tank and I made alot of rookie mistakes lime gsp and I'm afraid of stirring up the sand and causing a nitrate spike.