90 Gal reef and 50 gal predator tank builds

[Oxymoron]

Hello all
I decided to share my tank building experience with everyone:)
So first off I'd like to mention that these setups are my first ever aquariums.
The bulk of my personal knowledge is what I have learned off this forum (especially off the reference section). I also have the help of a well experienced friend.
We started to set up the 90 gal reef about 1.5 months ago and came home with the following
90 gal drilled tank with overflow
30 gal bio wheel sump
Black stand
Protein Skimmer
basic flourescent lighting
instant ocean salt

http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/72/72/6/94/31/2205694310104238059Nydqux_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2205694310104238059Nydqux)http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/72/72/8/87/15/2514887150104238059AEquNn_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2514887150104238059AEquNn)http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/73/73/3/97/47/2739397470104238059YriycB_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2739397470104238059YriycB)http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/71/71/8/28/23/2192828230104238059mYoNqo_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2192828230104238059mYoNqo)http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/73/73/4/66/85/2967466850104238059DvqQSP_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2967466850104238059DvqQSP)

The following day we added 20 lbs of live rock from a lfs
http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/55/755/4/99/92/2733499920104238059VScvGR_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2733499920104238059VScvGR)
And the following day an additional 20 lbs from a different lfs.

I scoured the forum for a couple weeks while out of town and eventually found Sandy with 130 lbs of live rock for sale (2 kinds, tonga and fiji). We arranged to have it picked up and my buddy threw it in the tank for me.
This brought the total up to 4 different kinds of live rock:)
After arriving home from work I decided to re aquascape and remove about 20 lbs or so as I thought it looked cluttered. The final design we were able to create came out very stable and required several hours and many beers.
Here are some pics of the final design.
http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/72/172/8/36/12/2324836120104238059InzWFm_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2324836120104238059InzWFm)
Side
http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/69/669/5/41/27/2493541270104238059OZYFsz_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2493541270104238059OZYFsz)http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/72/172/9/31/67/2496931670104238059xtrBEd_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2496931670104238059xtrBEd)
Other side
http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/55/755/6/0/45/2460600450104238059jUtkTM_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2460600450104238059jUtkTM)http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/69/669/1/69/31/2612169310104238059ONwSJr_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2612169310104238059ONwSJr)

[Oxymoron]

I also added 2 Tunze powerehads
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/tz-ts6065/Tunze+Turbelle+Stream+2+Pump+-+6065.html
And just recently today a Coralife 9w uv sterilizer
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/uv-c09w/Coralife+Turbo-Twist+3X+UV+Sterilizer+-+9W.html

http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/72/172/8/0/74/2882800740104238059tKrFAl_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2882800740104238059tKrFAl)http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/72/172/0/58/76/2114058760104238059Mfryhe_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2114058760104238059Mfryhe)

The 2 inhabitants in the tank atm are a black molly and a yellow tailed damsel.
http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/69/669/3/74/23/2699374230104238059aBJBXe_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2699374230104238059aBJBXe)
(forgot to get a pic of the molly)
Both are feeding well and look great.

With the remaining live rock and a 50 gallon tank we decided to build a FOWLER tank to house perhaps a sole lionfish or something special. Some sort of predator tank anyway. Ill have to put some thought into over the next couple weeks into what kind of inhabitant I am looking for.
Esentially a basic system with a Fluval 304, 300w heater, basic life glo flourescent lighting. Under the cabinet it will house perhaps several 2.5 gal feeder tanks for the tanks inhabitant (or inhabitants).
Will update this one as it progresses. Here are a meager 3 pics of the Fowler tank.
http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/73/73/8/8/9/2464808090104238059WvJdOg_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2464808090104238059WvJdOg)http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/69/669/7/78/90/2691778900104238059Ubpgnl_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2691778900104238059Ubpgnl)http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/69/669/0/7/26/2321007260104238059WzEwgq_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2321007260104238059WzEwgq)
I will take more pictures in the following weeks / months as these tanks progress.
Thanks you all for taking your time to check out my builds. Any questions, comments, suggestions as well as any knowledge you can part with would be greatly appreciated.
Oxy

[Oxymoron]

Ahh I see the pictures came out beautifully. Hmm what to do...

[Oxymoron]

So it would appear I have screwed up the picture attachments. I will try to fix this today and hopefully have a working thread by the end of the day.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Oh good...it's not just my computer. I was disappointed I couldn't see the pics!

[Oxymoron]

Ok looks like I got it working. Sorry about the delay:)

[sharuq1]

Great start! Are you from a different forum? Your name looks familiar. :smile: Loving the LR, looks good. What are you planning to stock the reef with? What kind of lighting are you going to put on it down the road?

[Oxymoron]

Great start! Are you from a different forum? Your name looks familiar. :smile: Loving the LR, looks good. What are you planning to stock the reef with? What kind of lighting are you going to put on it down the road?

Hi Sharuq,
Thanks for the compliments:)
I actually started out on another forum (not sure if im allowed to name it or not) but found they weren't busy enough for me. So now I check out both from time to time.

Im hoping to stock the reef with a mixture of sps to softies. Im leaning towards housing the rarest species that I can get my hands on.

My next purchase will perhaps be a pair of flame wrasse's and down the line I am hoping to purchase a black longnose tang. This will be several months down the line once I am absolutely certain that my system is stable and I have given myself some additional research time. After hearing that certain members on this board have been able to keep a tang alive in captivity for 9 years or more I have convinced myself to justify the cost.

Oh yeah, I have since added a yellow tang, a bicolor pseudochromis (lfs said it was a royal gramma, bah stupid me), a cleaner shrimp and a sixline wrasse.

I also have added several frags (some from you) as well I bought a toadstool, green bta and a leather coral from my last trip to Calgary.

The frogspawn that you were worried about opened up very nicely btw and has already started growing noticeably.

Everything atm seems to be going well and all new additions are feeding well (added a drop of kent garlic extract). The pseudochromis has actually been chasing the damsel away from his "spot" about twice a day. So far It has been the only signs of aggression in the tank. The black molly that has been in since day 3 is still doing great, I hope she lives to a old age.

I have taken pictures of the whole process and will post them sooner than later.

As for lighting atm I am using a new 36" tek t5 4 bulb fixture (15k and fiji purple) This lighting system is temporary and will be moved to my 50 gal once I find what im looking for. My next set of lighting will not be metal halide due to my need to produce an automated system without a chiller. I am hoping to see an advance in the LED technology and pricing by the time I am ready to upgrade and would like to go that route. If this is not feasible i will most likely settle on a 8 bulb 48" t5 fixture and led's for moonlights (heard I can still get some shimmer with the led's). There will also be a custom ATO, a new skimmer, ca reactor and controller added to the system in the near future.

Well that's about all I have for tonight. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for updates:)
Oxy

[Oxymoron]

The skimmer that I have decided to go with is the following
http://www.superskimmer.com/SumpBuddy40.htm
This skimmer has been selected based solely on its footprint dimensions.
I am hoping that It will make do on my tank. I did have my heart set on a bubble king. However after trying for quite some time to make it fit under my cabinet I eventually found this one. I actually have only found about 3 skimmers that would fit in the small footprint I have available and this ones seems to be the best bang for my available size.
The ATO will be custom built and the calcium reactor will be a whole new challange.
Does anyone know of a suitable ca reactor for a 90 gal + 30 gal sump with an extremely small footprint? Or perhaps a custom builder?

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Looks good so far. You mentioned not wanting MH because of heat and not wanting a chiller. Many people use MH without a chiller with no problems. Fans if used right work wonders. I have used MH for years and never needed a chiller. Even now I am running 800 watts of MH over a 95G tank and can keep the temperature right between 79-80. I would recommend a controller though if you use MH with fans, so you can have them turn on and off as needed.

Glad to see your getting off to such a good start in this hobby!

Whats going in the aggressive tank?

[Oxymoron]

Looks good so far. You mentioned not wanting MH because of heat and not wanting a chiller. Many people use MH without a chiller with no problems. Fans if used right work wonders. I have used MH for years and never needed a chiller. Even now I am running 800 watts of MH over a 95G tank and can keep the temperature right between 79-80. I would recommend a controller though if you use MH with fans, so you can have them turn on and off as needed.

Glad to see your getting off to such a good start in this hobby!

Whats going in the aggressive tank?

Thanks for the input:)
Perhaps I need to do some additional research into lighting. Aquattro had also suggested that perhaps halides were feasible in a hood with proper fan ventilation. Im still not certain as to what im going to do about the lights. When the time comes I plan on contacting aquadigital about setting up a profilux controller. I assume this would be a sufficient controller for lighting and fan control as well as just about anything else. I just worry about the additional heat being displaced into the house during summer time as well...
I have vaulted ceilings over the tank and don't feel that a hanging kit is an option that I am interested in. As you can see im still pretty unsure as to what I am going to go with.
As for the predator tank I am hoping to house a Volitan Lionfish, perhaps a puffer and a trigger.
Im not sure if any of these are feasible let alone all three in a 50 gal.
To be honest at the moment im not sure if it will be setup any time soon. My first priority is to complete the hardware portion of the 90 gal and then perhaps move onto the 50.

[fdiddy]

Yeah, i'm not too certain about housing requirements for the aggressive tank, but i would think that it's a little on the small side. At any rate, glad you're willing to justify the costs. If there was any advice i could give to you, it's to not tally up the money you've spent, you'll be disappointed, and to not be afraid to spend the extra money to get what is best.

P.S. I run a 250W MH over my 40Breeder and have no heat problems what-so-ever. GL and congrats on a great start!

[Oxymoron]

Updated tank shots:) 5 Months old
http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0171.jpg
http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0173.jpg
http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0174.jpg
http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0175.jpg
http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0176.jpg

[Oxymoron]

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0184.jpg

[sharuq1]

Wow, it's looking great! Have you considered a dwarf (fuzzy) lionfish for the fowlr?

[Oxymoron]

Thanks Sharuq,
I actually did consider a Lionfish for the fowler tank.
This fowler tank will probably end up being a mixed lps / sps tank as it will eventually have a a 36" 4 bulb tek fixture over top of it.

Im just not sure what kind of predator fish I can keep in a 50 gal. Need to do some more research:)

I should have a new protein skimmer showing up right away thanks to a fellow Canreefer.

I decided to go with a Tunze 9015 as it fits in the small space I have available in my sump. It is rated for up to 528 gal and Im hoping it should fulfill all of my skimming needs on my soon to be heavily stocked 90 gal.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/tz-ps9015/Tunze+DOC+Protein+Skimmer+-+9015.html

I am now also in the market for a 48" combo lighting fixture and am planning on getting the fowler up and running the moment I find something suitable.

I also have a finger coral (colt coral) that has decided to frag itself. I would be able to give you some of these if you are interested. In fact I would be more than willing to give away frags of the finger coral if anyone in the central alberta area is interested.

Ill take some pics of the new skimmer when it arrives:)

[Oxymoron]

Woohoo skimmer arrived.

Now I just need to figure out how to dial it in properly lol

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0192.jpg

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0194.jpg

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0193.jpg

[Oxymoron]

Also I replaced the bulb in my turbo twist UV sterilizer today.

Cheap thing only lasted 5 months and needed to be replaced. I am happy to have UV sterilization again though:)

[sharuq1]

Well I surely wouldn't turn down free coral :lol: :wink: Although I'm sure I could find some zoos or something to trade back.

I guess the fowlr won't be so fowlr'd after all, eh? Build sounds like it's going to be gorgeous. More pictures!

What's the UV doing for you? Notice a difference when you aren't running it? If so what kind of difference?

[mseepman]

Hey, that's a mighty nice lookin skimmer!!!:wink:

[Oxymoron]

Well I surely wouldn't turn down free coral :lol: :wink: Although I'm sure I could find some zoos or something to trade back.

I guess the fowlr won't be so fowlr'd after all, eh? Build sounds like it's going to be gorgeous. More pictures!

What's the UV doing for you? Notice a difference when you aren't running it? If so what kind of difference?

I've had some computer issues the last couple days and havn't had time to update this post.

I'd love to trade some more frags with you Sharuq. I'll let you know when I have everything ready:)

I honestly don't notice a difference when running UV but the whole theory behind running UV is enough for me to justify it. Hopefully this bulb last's a bit longer:)

[Oxymoron]

Hey, that's a mighty nice lookin skimmer!!!:wink:

Thanks again for the skimmmer Mark as well as all your help with setup. It fits in my sump (barely) and should be able to give me the most bang for my footprint.

I'll update with some pictures of the skimmer's progress in the next couple of days:)

[Oxymoron]

The latest additions to the tank have been a gold striped maroon clownfish. He started hosting his anenome within 12 hours and hasn't left since:)
He feeds it whenever food is introduced and is feeding well himself.

I also added a copperband butterfly. He started eating within 1 day and eats mysis, brine and bloodworms. He eats like a pig and I am hopeful that he will defy the odds and be a long term member.

Today I added a fire goby and he has already ate.

All fish are healthy with no signs of ich and everyone is getting along great.

[Oxymoron]

New arrivals.
Thanks very much Fragnplug. It was an absolute pleasure dealing with you and I highly recommend other reefers to use your services.
All arrivals showed up alive and are doing well today.

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0203.jpg
http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0199.jpg
http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0200.jpg
http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0201.jpg
http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/DSCF0202.jpg

[Oxymoron]

Big thanks to Sharuq too for making everything possible. I really appreciate you doing that for me:)

[sharuq1]

No problem at all, I'm so glad everything made it alright. How about a FTS?

[Oxymoron]

I'll have to take one tommorow:)
I've taken some rock out and it should provide with a nice place for sps additions when the time comes.
Still am hoping to find a 48" 250w mh/t5 combo (hopefully with moonlight's)
As soon as this happens I can get the predator tank started. I might just bite the bullit and buy something for retail price.

[Oxymoron]

Couple new pics.
Im starting to get better with the camera. Thanks for your help fkshiu, my photo's have improved dramatically. I'll try to get some good pics of some of the other fish. The copperband is by far the friendliest and is really easy to photograph.

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/Copperbandedited2.jpg


http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/Copperbandedited.jpg
http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/PinkBirdsnestedited.jpg




http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/jj392/t2kewl/Frogspawnedited-1.jpg