Pirate'e Stick Killer 120g

[pirate2876]

Well, after some ups and downs with my current 65g tank, I have decided to upgrade to 120g. I was hoping to get a stand with enough charisma to be attractive to my wife so it would be easier to justify upgrading to my wife. After scouring the webs for a few months, I found a very unique stand that really spoke to what I was looking for.

No, the tank did not include the child(I already have enough of those). This stand was build by a cabinet maker in the Ventura area for his personal tank. He built the stand to be 40" high with custom molding, and a hidden pull out shelf. Very well built and unique. The color was a bit much for our house however. Sanding and painting here I come.

I also managed to find a 12" high canopy off the local forums that I was going to use as well. This again needed some "customizing". The canopy was a plain black with the piano hinge and 2 doors. It really didnt match the stand so I reached out to DaveOcean to help modify the canopy for me. He put some very nice molding and drilled the fan holes as well. The canopy is 30" deep and I plan to use that extra space to incorporate some kind of faux wall to hide the plumbing. I also plan to mount some of the various controllers there as well.

Top open:

Now I was ready to paint this monstrosity. The tank looks disproportionate because I took the picture from the stairs. Its a standard 120g(4x2x2) with a floating overflow.

 

[pirate2876]

The tank came with 2x 1.5"holes from the overflows drilled for a herbie. One siphon drain and one emergency. I purchased Trigger systems Emerald 34" for use with this tank but the inlets are only 1" so, I had to drill one of the inlets out to 1.5" and I am directing the emergency back into the sump. I tried reducing the piping but, I am not comfortable with the decrease in size with what I am going to be using to return the water.

Hard to tell from this picture but, the main drain goes into the sumps 1st compartment with the emergency going into the skimmer area.

 

[pirate2876]

Instead of a fuge, I am going to run the center portion of the sump as a grow-out tank. I have a Maxspect Celestial LED Spotlight there for frags but, I could always use it for a fuge by adjusting the spectrum. I really wanted to play around with lighting in this build and this was part of it.

For the main tank lighting, I will be using the Halides and LED strip from my other tank. A combination of 250 DE and SE Cayman sun Pendants and Current Pro LED actinics. Bulbs for the halides withh be a 14K Phoenix and a 14K Reefbrite Twin-Arc. I am going to try a Hydra 26 in the center of tank as a highlight /supplement light. I really like this light and all its features. I also have a 2x 54w T5 fixture in there as well so, it will be overkill. Heat dissipation will be via 3 fans in the canopy. Two on the sides and one center blowing out.

 

[pirate2876]

I hate the "rock wall" look of my tank and, I think it contributes to my difficulty getting a nice flow pattern. Instead of live rock I will be using this structure made by Scott at the alternative reef. I am hoping to avoid all live rock in the tank and just use man made materials for structures.

Bio filtration will be via a large Cermedia bio block I have seeding in my current tank. I may or may not include some live rock in the sump as well.

 

[tbdh20]

Very nice start! Following.

 

[pirate2876]

I think I have the pumbing completed, except for a gate valve on the siphon.

Please let me know if you see any errors I should correct.

The return on the left will be connected to a chiller so, that is why it is saggy. I had to reuse the 3/4 line to the chiller since I couldn't find the 1" adapters for the chiller.

 

[pirate2876]

Some lighting here. A Hydra26 and 48" T5's mounted. Will bring over the 250w halides and the actinic LED strip when I strip the current tank.

Three fans in the canopy for circulation. The two side fans pull in, the top mounted fan pushes out.

 

[spspirate]

Great build!!

 

[Harold Green]

At the risk of being the only one I liked the original color of the stand.

 

[pirate2876]

 

[pirate2876]

What a long 2 days...I got most of the setup completed. The skimmer didn't fit in the first compartment so, I have a micro bubble issue right now. I can live with that for now as I plan to upgrade the skimmer anyways.

Corals and fish took a beating in the 50g tub I had them in most of the day. I lost a hefty amount of acros and my fish have ammonia burns on their fins and sides. Hopefully everyone pulls through.

I am really digging the rock I got by Scott at Alternative Reef @gooch. Its really amazing and it does not impeded water motion.

 

[pirate2876]

Lighting set up:

 

[gacolt]

Your tank looks great.

 

[pirate2876]

 

[domination2580]

How much for some of this and where do I get it?

 

[pirate2876]

Update: Tank status is worrisome.

Since the tank swap I am having a hard time with my acros. I've lost about 3/4 of what I had. Lots of nice, higher end stuff. Sigh...Looking back, I wish I had asked someone to hold onto my acros during the swap instead of just going for it. But there is no sense in beating myself up now; Whats done is done.

At least I have the tank I want now and, I finally got it hooked up correctly. I cut the skimmer down a bit to fit into the first chamber in the sump. I really like the Trigger System sump. The design is awesome and flow is insane. Next year I may upgrade skimmers but, now I am content with the Skimz.

Also, if anyone is wondering, I am using the Cermedia block in the 1st chamber, right in front of the skimmers output. There is a good deal of flow around the block to encourage bacteria. So far no nitrites and no ammonia. I seeded that block in my old tank for over 4 months.

Here is a poor actinic shot to not let anyone see how bad the acros look.

 

[booth2010]

At the risk of being the only one I liked the original color of the stand.

Wouldnt go with anything at my house but I liked it too lol.

Pirate, would it not have been possible to let the new tank cycle for a couple months and have left everything in the 65g to keep things steady for as long as possible?

 

[Csreef]

Set up looks great! If you need a place to put some of those frags, called. I've moved most of my frags to the display, so I've got room.

 

[pirate2876]

Set up looks great! If you need a place to put some of those frags, called. I've moved most of my frags to the display, so I've got room.

I might take you up on that offer Cornel. Let me see how things look now and if its worth moving them again.

Pirate, would it not have been possible to let the new tank cycle for a couple months and have left everything in the 65g to keep things steady for as long as possible?

Nope. I'm only allowed one tank in the house and, the new one went exactly where the old one was. I think the combination of moving all my live stock into a huge bin for 6-8 hrs, switching from a Cal reactor to doser a week before, and going from a nutrient rich tank to a nutrient poor tank was just too taxing on a lot of inverts. I also lost 2 Chromis I have had for 3+yrs and a Marine Betta from what I believe were ammonia burns.

 

[Reef Pets]

Its awesome! The structure will look amazing ones those stick start growing. I look forward to seeing it mature. Happy to see some halides over that beauty!