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Whiston
01-17-2013, 06:42 PM
The Fringe - Coastal Reef Flats


Hey, I'm Andrew, and it's moving time!
Moving time means a new tank and a new build, so it couldn't be more exciting. Out of my crummy apartment into a much larger place with room to store everything required for my tank, and enough closet space for my winter jackets to boot. ;)
My new tank is a custom dimension starphire (or equivalent low iron glass) built by Concept Aquatics. It is an open spaced theme with a lot of swimming space, modeled after the shoreward side of the reef flats. I picture sitting on the beach, under some palm trees, looking out to the reef and ocean ahead, all from the comfort of my living room.

So feel free to tag along. All criticism, input, and encouragement is welcome!

Proteus
01-17-2013, 06:49 PM
For pics of tank yet

Whiston
01-17-2013, 07:11 PM
Equipment list as intended so far (subject to change) is as follows:

Display tank: 40x30x18 (roughly 90 gallons) 3 sided starphire with starphire eurobrace, external overflow (3x1") and dual 3/4" returns
Sump: 36x18x16
Return pump: Mag 9.5
Skimmer: SWC 120 (needs to be upgraded, thinking Vertex Omega maybe)
Controller: Apex
Powerheads: Vortech MP 40W-ES (x2)
Lights: AI Vega (x2)

Stand is built from wood, with maple ply and oak trim. Unfortunately I didn't document the building of the stand very well, but here it is most of the way done with the sump in for a test fit.
http://i45.tinypic.com/sym8fl.jpg

Proteus
01-17-2013, 07:14 PM
Looks good.

Have you bought your Vegas yet

Whiston
01-17-2013, 07:17 PM
I have one so far.
I have mixed feelings about it, but I have mixed feelings about all the LED's I have seen.

I'm pretty torn between getting the second one for the tank, and going in a different direction, but I'm not persuaded by other fixtures yet to change my mind one way or the other. Although I hear the Mitras is full of persuasion!

kien
01-17-2013, 07:30 PM
:pop2:

Proteus
01-17-2013, 07:40 PM
I don't know from personal experience but a member on here has tried all the major brand in the last year. When I talked to him about the vega he had told me the colors did not blend making the display look like multi color spotlight.

So far I've heard great reviews of the ghl mitra. Though cost is higher

JDigital
01-17-2013, 07:54 PM
Nice to see another reefer in Airdrie. Look forward to seeing your build.

The Mitras definitely are full of persuasion. :mrgreen:

Whiston
01-17-2013, 08:08 PM
:pop2:

http://i47.tinypic.com/2hgqxq0.jpg

I don't know from personal experience but a member on here has tried all the major brand in the last year. When I talked to him about the vega he had told me the colors did not blend making the display look like multi color spotlight.

So far I've heard great reviews of the ghl mitra. Though cost is higher

Yes, actually now that I remember, I picked up a coral from Sean (Xtreme) after he had bought the Mitras on boxing day. Just two of them over his large reef was pretty impressive. They are certainly worth considering.

Nice to see another reefer in Airdrie. Look forward to seeing your build.

The Mitras definitely are full of persuasion. :mrgreen:

Thanks, I've been following yours also and look forward to seeing it finished. We could have a meet and frag swap in about ten years when my tank grows out!

Whiston
01-17-2013, 08:21 PM
One of my primary concerns with this new system is cleanliness and accessibility. To accommodate this, I ensured that the sump did not take up the entire cabinet space, allowing me to completely separate the bulk of the electronics from the water.

I was getting fairly exhausted from the stand build at this point, and sick of making drive after drive to home depot, so I went a slightly different route for my electronics cabinet.
Those familiar with Ikea products have undoubtedly heard of the Billy bookcase system. These bookcases actually go back to at least the early 80's, including this fine specimen that has been delegated to garage storage duty:

http://i48.tinypic.com/iz4w92.jpg

And... a little off the top!

http://i49.tinypic.com/34643th.jpg

The bookcase is now perfect height, depth, and a convenient half inch narrower than the opening on the sides of the stand.

On to some of the plumbing details:
The over flow has a siphon, a trickle drain and an emergency drain. A gate valve allows for fine adjustments and then passes into a filter sock. From there the sump has a skimmer chamber and a return chamber.

This is the manifold on the return line. The middle ball valve goes directly to the display tank, the two ball valves on either side go to media reactors. The far right line is plugged for future use, and the far left line will have a ball valve added to it to allow for water changes to and from the basement.

http://i50.tinypic.com/161j9sn.jpg

Whiston
01-17-2013, 08:28 PM
And here we are with the tank in it's final resting spot after moving into the new house.

http://i45.tinypic.com/140ltlh.jpg

And this little monster has resulted in a significantly slower pace at which I can work on the tank. This is Arya, my christmas present for my girlfriend. I specifically asked the breeder for a cute one, but she had none left so gave me this tiny devil instead.

http://i45.tinypic.com/19bj3k.jpg

Leah
01-17-2013, 08:36 PM
http://i45.tinypic.com/19bj3k.jpg

OMG! She is gorgeous :mrgreen:

I can fully understand the hold up. :wink:

subman
01-17-2013, 08:44 PM
sweet looking build!
That pup is crazy cute!

(Im the moron who had all the major leds if you have any questions feel free to pm me)

Whiston
01-17-2013, 08:44 PM
OMG! She is gorgeous :mrgreen:

I can fully understand the hold up. :wink:

Thanks!
She is definitely worth all our time and effort. Also I'm satisfied to say that in four years, the only time I've made my girlfriend cry was giving her a Christmas present. :)

Proteus
01-17-2013, 08:47 PM
sweet looking build!
That pup is crazy cute!

(Im the moron who had all the major leds if you have any questions feel free to pm me)

Nobody said moron. I prefer test rabbit. Lol



Bermease mountain dog? I love that lil guy. But I'll stick to a skimmer cup that the cup your gunna need to clean up after him. Lol

subman
01-17-2013, 08:52 PM
Nobody said moron.....

I did and I stick by it lol

Leah
01-17-2013, 08:58 PM
What would she do if it were an engagement ring?

Whiston
01-17-2013, 09:28 PM
What would she do if it were an engagement ring?

Probably brush me off and call me an idiot! :lol:

Proteus
01-17-2013, 09:30 PM
Probably brush me off and call me an idiot! :lol:

REALLY. I wish that was my luck lol. Jk

Whiston
01-17-2013, 10:21 PM
Yes, I certainly lucked out with her.
More money for hobbies and vacations!

Whiston
01-19-2013, 05:23 AM
Most of my wiring will be going through access holes on the right side of the cabinet, however on the left side I mounted a pair of water proof junction boxes on either side and wired outlets on the sump side and switches on the dry side. I did this because I always seem to have to cut power to my return pump in a hurry somehow. Unplugging it might be hazardous with wet hands, and going through the controller just takes too long, so this is my solution.

http://i50.tinypic.com/21c8m1e.jpg

Also I have everything transferred over to the new tank now, and in my haste to transfer everything, I ended up with quite the mess!

http://i50.tinypic.com/14ne3i9.jpg

Whiston
01-19-2013, 05:26 AM
... And a few hours later.

http://i46.tinypic.com/25icjko.jpg

It's not perfect. I could do with a more eloquent design for the EB8 rack, but it was a quick fix for not realizing the bar would fit in the stand, but the power cord would not. Maybe sometime down the road I'll rebuild this section and make it a little more professional looking.

JDigital
01-19-2013, 02:27 PM
Which dosing pump are you using?

Whiston
01-19-2013, 03:13 PM
That is the Marine Magic triple doser from a Caco3Reef groupbuy.

DCDN
01-19-2013, 04:23 PM
Wish my electrical was as organized. Things are looking great.

Whiston
01-19-2013, 06:37 PM
Thanks!
I needs a bit more cleaning up with some cable ties in the channels, etc, but it is by far the cleanest wiring for a tank I've done yet. I could never get a sump organzed like this before.

Whiston
01-20-2013, 07:23 PM
Added sand and all the rocks had been transferred in and I let things settle down a little, then I proceeded to scape the rocks like I had envisioned. Extra rock went in the sump or frag tank which is also freshly set up.
This was the easy part, as I had been planning this tank for months I knew exactly what I had wanted to do. I placed the rocks as if my tank was only 30x18x18, leaving the entire front end of the tank open for swimming. I then moved the structure away from the back wall a little to keep it more open and extended some lower sloping rock into the open space. I am very pleased with the results and it leaves enough space for some coral placement and plenty of negative space.

Enjoy!

http://i48.tinypic.com/339slkp.jpg

Skimmerking
01-20-2013, 08:17 PM
now that picture is Frickin wicked that is a POTM

Whiston
01-22-2013, 01:49 AM
Thanks! I am pretty pleased with it.
I am setting up my quarantine next so I will be able to stock this up soon.

lockrookie
01-22-2013, 02:45 AM
It is an awesome pic I wish I could get my water clearer.

Whiston
01-22-2013, 07:16 PM
To be fair, the tank has so much new water in it, it hasn't had much of a chance to get dirty yet. That will come with some new fish.

Speaking of which, my first addition to this tank.
These guys get quite large in the wild, but I think it's a welcome change to the usual foxface or one spot. I didn't have very much bubble algae, but a frag came in with a bit some time ago, and this guy has already decimated whatever was in the tank. Pretty awesome.

http://i48.tinypic.com/2rgi1yq.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2hn8kg8.jpg

Whiston
01-24-2013, 04:23 AM
Here's a full shot of the tank from the living room side.

http://i45.tinypic.com/20rmwhs.jpg

Now I need to deliberate over my lighting solution.
I have one Vega as it is, but if instead of adding a second unit, I could get by with a single GHL unit instead, then I would consider selling this one to keep it to a single fixture. Although even with a GHL, I was considering adding some lighting on the back side of the tank to keep corals behind the rockwork towards the outsides.
Or I could build my own fixture, but that would require a good amount of work and planning to get it to look sufficient for our main living area.

Opinions anyone?

And anyone who has a GHL want to swing it by and hold it over my tank to compare it? Might help twist these rubber arms of mine.

kien
01-24-2013, 04:35 AM
I love that rabbit fish! Tank looks nice from this view too!

subman
01-24-2013, 04:41 AM
That rabbit fish is wicked!

I cannot recommend the Mitras enough nothing compares to it period.

Whiston
01-27-2013, 05:57 PM
Thanks guys, the rabbit fish really fits in so far.
Now to further my stocking list, I have to find some fish that do well with an open top and also don't require a lot of rockwork to hide in since the tank is so open. I am starting to feel a little limited in my choices, but I am sure I will find the appropriate selections eventually.

As far as the lighting situation goes, the Vega is gone and I will be moving on to a different fixture now. More to come!

Whiston
02-12-2013, 04:22 AM
So I shopped around for some lighting options and checked out the GHL Mitras. Holy crap! There is no way I'm buying that thing, my girlfriend would kill me if she knew I spent that much...



... so here's my tank with the new Mitras on it. Taken fairly late, mostly royal blues on the lighting.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2rd9kau.jpg

So far, loving this light! I have it at 40% to re-acclimate the corals to a different light and bumping it up a touch each day. Programming is much better than Vega, and I only ran into one frustrating hiccup with it so far, but that's all sorted out and running great.

Rest of the tank is doing well, still need another MP40 to replace the old K2, and eventually upgrade the skimmer, but this little SWC-120 is working quite well for the load. I will get around to the skimmer when I find something that strikes out to me.

And here's the family, minus the PJ Cardinal who hides in the back until it's night or feeding time.

http://i48.tinypic.com/20ht3dl.jpg

rhody605
02-25-2013, 06:06 PM
The mitras looks great on your tank.

How are you supporting the light?

lastlight
02-25-2013, 06:29 PM
fantastic job with the rock work that looks amazing. that extra rock at the end of your island swirl is icing on the cake =)

Parker
02-25-2013, 06:35 PM
The Mitras really does have has quite a bit of extra spread over the the AI Vega.

I love your scaping.

sphelps
02-25-2013, 07:02 PM
Good looking setup you got there :thumb:

Hard to tell it's current position but have you considered moving the mitra a bit towards the back wall? You mentioned adding more light towards the back but with the way the rock is done you could just position the light further back. Even lower it a little possibly making a slight shadow effect at the front of tank which I think might look nice given the layout. Although I'm not sure you can make any shadows with that light ;)

Oh and did you buy the light then? Or what's the deal as you mentioned something about "no way" but then.... there it is.

Whiston
02-27-2013, 04:15 AM
Thanks for the comments guys.
The light is mounted to the ceiling.

Good looking setup you got there :thumb:

Hard to tell it's current position but have you considered moving the mitra a bit towards the back wall? You mentioned adding more light towards the back but with the way the rock is done you could just position the light further back. Even lower it a little possibly making a slight shadow effect at the front of tank which I think might look nice given the layout. Although I'm not sure you can make any shadows with that light ;)

Oh and did you buy the light then? Or what's the deal as you mentioned something about "no way" but then.... there it is.

The light is actually hung a bit further towards the back, the light is actually centered at the 18" mark, which leaves 22" to the front, so just a little off center. It does work out pretty good like this, but I may play with it a bit more.
I liked the idea of a kind of showcase rock scape, and originally wanted to have the back part spotlighted and have a darker, naturally lit front end of the tank. I tried it with the single Vega, hoping to achieve this result, but it just looked really sloppy, and quite wrong. I'd really like to see a tank accomplish this, but I think it would need to be a much larger tank, and some more direct spotlighting effect.

Oh, and I did buy the light. I said she'd kill me if she KNEW I bought it, I just didn't tell her. ;) I also distracted her with a trip to Hawaii, so I think she knows, but is giving me the benefit of the doubt.

And now I have to work a lot of overtime... :(

Pan
02-27-2013, 04:36 PM
I really really love this little slice of ocean.