abcha0s' 90

[abcha0s]

I can't really do a tank journal for this tank because over the next couple of months I will be tearing it apart. However, I do have some photos that I can share. This will be a short journal and primarily photo based.

The tank was established in late 2009 with the first introduction of life just before christmas.

This was my learning tank. It's been a good tank and one that I have spent many enjoyable hours working on and observing.

[abcha0s]

The tank has a 4" DSB in the display. To maximize the sand in the tank while ensuring good water flow and detritivore movement, I raised the rock off the tank bottom using PVC pipe. This was a quick and easy way, but was very effective.

It's basically 5" diameter PVC cut into apq. 5" sections. I drilled the main holes with a hole saw and then used a dremmel to shape the support. The patterns are somewhat random which allowed me to match the support with a rock.

These pictures are not of my final aquascape. I had an incident where I had to retrieve a dead fish that forced me to remove a significant portion of the rock work. I never did find the fish and almost suffered a full tank crash as a result, but when I refit the rocks the new structure was better than the old.

<All of the images are clickable if you want to see it in high"er" res>

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping1.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping1.jpg) . http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping2.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping2.jpg) . http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping3.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping3.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping4.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping4.jpg) . http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping5.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping5.jpg) . http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping6.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping6.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping7.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping7.jpg) . http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping8.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping8.jpg) . http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping9.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping9.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping14.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping14.jpg) . http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping15.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping15.jpg) . http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping17.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping17.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping10.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping10.jpg) . http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G_aquascaping12.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90g_aquascaping12.jpg)

[Skimmerking]

love that rock is that Jarakata

[abcha0s]

love that rock is that Jarakata

Hi Mike - it's from Fiji. I really like the shapes too. The only problem is the aptasia that came with it. Man I hate that stuff.

[MitchM]

That looks great, Brad!
I just might try that with my aquascape.
I think I want mine about 2" above the sandbed.

[abcha0s]

Here's a good sump shot. The refugium on the left was an interesting experiment. At some point this tank cracked due to my own fault. Fortunately I was there when it happened. I replaced it with a larger refugium which also cracked. This time because water caused the plywood it was sitting on to swell and stressed the bottom. My wife was the first to notice the dripping and she was not happy. I took the day off work and that was the end of my refugium.

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/sump1.jpg

These shots are from December 2010. The tank was about a year old. Can you spot the mandarin in the first picture?

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G-1year01.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90G-1year01.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G-1year02.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90G-1year02.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90G-1year03.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90G-1year03.jpg)

[abcha0s]

Here are some pics of the closed loop before I took it out. It was two seperate loops (left and right) driven by two Posideon PS4 pumps and two Oceans Motions Super Squirt 4 way. I'll never setup another closed loop, but I did accomplish what I had hoped to at the time.

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_closedloop01.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/closedloop01.jpg) . http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_closedloop05.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/closedloop05.jpg) .http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_closedloop06.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/closedloop06.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_closedloop03.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/closedloop03.jpg) . http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_closedloop04.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/closedloop04.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_closedloop02.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/closedloop02.jpg)

[abcha0s]

These are the latest pictures. - Taken March 2011.

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90gmarch01.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90gmarch01.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90gmarch02.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90gmarch02.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90gmarch03.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90gmarch03.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90gmarch04.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90gmarch04.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90gmarch05.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90gmarch05.jpg)

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/tn_90gmarch06.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/90g/90gmarch06.jpg)

By far my favorite fishes are my Hawaiian Flame Wrasse pair. When the male shows his full colors, it's amazing and very different than these pictures. It's proven very difficult to photograph though. I will keep trying.

[Skimmerking]

ya I have the red male too. love him can't wait to get the female either. i am wanting a powder blue thou./

[Cugio]

Hey Brad

Sorry to bump an old journal on a tank that is shut down. Was this your first salt water tank? It is pretty impressive what you did with the closed loop system. If you could go back and do this again, would you still use the PVC pipes to lift the rocks off the sand bed again?

[abcha0s]

Hey Brad

Sorry to bump an old journal on a tank that is shut down. Was this your first salt water tank? It is pretty impressive what you did with the closed loop system. If you could go back and do this again, would you still use the PVC pipes to lift the rocks off the sand bed again?

Hi Donny

Always happy to revisit an old thread. The pictures are becoming sentimental.

This was my first salt water tank. It took about a year of planning and six months to build. Of course, there are many other distractions in life.

The closed loops worked perfectly save two major drawbacks. Due to my choice in pumps (Poseidon PS4), they added considerable heat to the tank. Secondly, at 160W per pump, it consumed a considerable amount of power. The turbulent flow was excellent and the corals thrived in the system.

When I setup this tank, my goal was for it to be silent and to not have any visible equipment in the display tank. To that end, I accomplished my goals. However, I've since decided that I can live with a little bit of noise and my new philosophy tends favor function over fashion.

I really like the powerheads from EcoTech and Tunze.

The PVC support structure worked really well and I would say that it probably contributed to the overall success of the tank. By raising the rock, you allow for better water circulation and you allow sand dwelling creatures more habitat. In fact, I did do something very similar on my new tank.

From post 32 of my tank journal:

http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/scape/tn_pegs1.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/scape/pegs1.jpg) . http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/scape/tn_pegs2.jpg (http://owa.footit.ca/wwwimages/scape/pegs2.jpg)

I have to say that overall this tank was more successful than my current 300G tank thus far. I'm working hard to turn that around though. My big challenge with this 90G tank was Aptasia which I ultimately took drastic measures to eradicate by basically throwing out all of my live rock and starting with base rock in the new tank. I'm not sure that I would do this again, but at least I don't have any aptasia.

- Brad