Reefaddict29er's 125 gallon Upgrade
 

Hey everyone,

This is my first attempt at a tank journal so I will do my best to keep this updated.

I moved into an apartment a couple years ago and decided to take a break from the hobby. After getting the itch to start up a new tank I decided to try an AIO tank for the first time. I figured get something easy, low maintenance, and overall "simple"


Red Sea Max 250 White

https://i.imgur.com/n6u1Rsll.jpg


Unfortunately, the AIO experiment lasted only 3 months. Although the tank looked great, I was frustrated daily with the stock skimmer and the lack of ability to add additional equipment.

So here we go...

Specs (so far):

- 125 gallon concept starfire tank 60"L x 24"W x 20"H
- 50 gallon concept sump 36"L x 18"W x 18"H
- Spit.fire custom steel stand and light hangers
- Vertex Omega 150 skimmer (for now)
- Vertex 3.0 Zeo reactor
- Laguna Max-Flow 2000 return pump
- IM HydroFill ATO controller and pump
- IM Hydrofill ATO reservoir
- 60" ATI LED Powermodule Hybrid 8 bulb T5

Production/install goes to spit.fire

Custom steel stand is ready for powder coating.

https://i.imgur.com/bmdHOJ6l.jpg


Its here...

https://i.imgur.com/YPNEhxgh.jpg

Light hangers up...

https://i.imgur.com/qqJPqDBh.jpg


I gotta say this light is a beast. Very impressed by the power and it's a very slick looking fixture. The LED clusters are very bright. I have a feeling I'll be running these at 50%

https://i.imgur.com/Xt353WUl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cUgzGUOl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uSOcD3il.jpg


Now for the display...

https://i.imgur.com/ighB726h.jpg


The tank is 3-side starfire with a starfire eurobrace. External over flow set up for Herbie drain. Black bottom with a black acrylic wall.

Lights on..

https://i.imgur.com/Rcpq1orh.jpg


Very clean plumbing job. 3 head PVC manifold installed to make the addition of another reactor much easier down the line.

Plumbing and tubing done in white to go with the stand.

https://i.imgur.com/e0vsedRh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/pKJVbgPl.jpg

Water is in!

https://i.imgur.com/WwIKgrOh.jpg


Custom white filter sock holder and filter sock compartment door. fabricated by spit.fire

https://i.imgur.com/FObEUtxh.jpg

More custom work done. This time a couple filter sock silencers fabricated and installed. These are just prototypes .

The stock sump was rather noisy. The tank is in my living room and the sound of falling water was a distraction.

Thankfully, between the compartment door and the silencers this tank is almost completely silent other than the hum of the skimmer.

https://i.imgur.com/4sgh7GVl.jpg

Got some live rock from a fellow canreef member and after an acid bath/bleach treatment, it's in the tank. Still gonna need a lot more rock.

Also, IM HydroFill ATO system installed. Very nice looking controller and pump. The reservoir is only 5 gallons but it is nice. I may eventually keep the reservoir beside the tank on the outside if I run out of room in the stand. Luckily its pretty slick looking so it wouldn't be an eye sore.

The ATO itself works great. The high/low sensors are a bit pointless in my opinion. Keeping the salinity as stable as possible is the point of the ATO in the first place not sure why you would want to leave such a gap in the sensors to allow any excess evaporation. I pretty much have the sensors aligned. The pump itself is very similar to the aqua-lifter. Built in check valve to prevent back siphoning. (Will post pics of the actual controller, pump, and reservoir)

https://i.imgur.com/d4xb6sgh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/m7haOSOh.jpg

The tank has been running for a couple weeks now and I've decided to buy some vinyl and attempt to wrap my sump. It would've been a lot easier to do this before the install but will try to work around it.

https://i.imgur.com/iOiPs3mh.jpg


I was lucky enough to find some dry rock from another fellow canreef member. Some nice pieces and just the right amount I was looking for to start building some rock structures.

https://i.imgur.com/kH3OQeXh.jpg


I've always done my aquascape by stacking the rock "nicely", however this time I decided to try to make my own structures using Reef Crest Aqua Weld Pro.

The product was very easy to use. Very forgiving. Dried and harden quickly. And most importantly held together very well without any mess.

https://i.imgur.com/YCg70xzh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/12ZnXCZh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KxEHSRuh.jpg


Rock structures in!

https://i.imgur.com/UMGmZf1h.jpg

Once again a fellow canreef member came to the rescue and helped put together some panels for the stand on very short notice. Always such helpful individuals on this forum and hobby in general.

I decided to go with the Red Sea Reefer look.

https://i.imgur.com/RFwKAbeh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6BTz0CKh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/R5s3ZY6h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/c8UVMQqh.jpg

very nice , loving the scape .

I like the rock scape too! The stand panels look very nice - I did similar for my stand too. Are they held on with magnets?

Did you put anything between the stand/sump and your floor?

Thanks!

Thanks Mindy!

Panels are held in place by French cleats. Much more stable than magnets and the panels always line up. The actual cleats are a very nice design and low profile. I'll admit tho...I am missing how easy it is to pop off panels held by magnets.

And no I dont have anything between the stand/sump and the floor.

Everything looks awesome.... except for that hairy guy in your stand.

Excellent idea with the French Cleats! Could you post a photo of how they are attached to the steel stand please?

You may regret not putting anything on the floor to protect it. It's not too late to quickly drain the tank into a stock tank and slide a piece of acrylic under there... :)

Nice work , looks great


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ive always found putting something under it just traps moisture and does more damage over time

french cleats are just screwed in using self tapping screws

you wish you had a hairy guy under your stand

Salt spray from the skimmer and such will damage that floor in no time. You can raise the sump off the floor with plywood (on the bottom rail of the stand) and then only the steel stand will touch the floor, no trapping of moisture.

French cleats

https://i.imgur.com/S47ahOrh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MIalgNxh.jpg


Behind the panels

https://i.imgur.com/zAGNKRjh.jpg

The cleats look great, thanks for the pics! I need to do some work on my stand this year (it has rusted), and probably redesign my panels. I'll keep this in mind.

Update time...

Tank is just over 6 months now. I've decided to not rush this time. I'm mainly keeping LPS at the moment, but slowly starting to add some sps as the system matures.

Fairly low maintenance, mostly sitting back and enjoying the view ;)

As the system matures I will be moving towards more of a SPS dominant tank, but in the meantime I'm really enjoying some of these corals...

https://i.imgur.com/dheECjLh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/pRGhqnph.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hJgsHrwh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/yPO0Vz2h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DPlkPhnh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xsTkmCBh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3kNtRuah.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zGB1eGYh.jpg

wow some very nice corals , are you finding those lobo / bowerbankis local ? or are you ordering them in and if so from where ?

Thanks!

Colors could be better. But the tank is coming along :)

I'll message you about sourcing the Bowers and lobos

Looks amazing!

Thanks Warren 👍

Wow you have some incredible corals there I'm jealous! I'm going to use your french cleat idea on my stand I can't believe I hadn't thought of this. I've even used cleats to mount a cork board over my breaker panel in the basement but forgot lol. Tank looks great thanks for sharing. Where are your white stand panels from?

Thanks for the compliments Brett!

The french cleats are great. Much more stable than using magnets like I've done in the past.

The panels were actually made by a fellow reefer on the forum. Very happy with the quality. PM me if you need his contact info.

French cleats suck.

Edit: but the corals are nice.

LOL I guess it depends on who helps you install them 😉

Jeez Albert, nothing like supporting a guy through his build.
Poo Poo on you :mrgreen:

Maybe that's his issue ... he can't do it himself :boink:

Albert is just being sassy 😂

The French cleats were all his idea...and it was a good idea at that.

Although installing them ended up being a pain in the @ss due to a drill bit breaking off into one of the screws 🤦🏻‍♂️

Fortunaly Albert and Tyler are always very resourceful individuals 👍

Ya, I was just tryin' to get him goin'

BTW, you have some very nice corals goin' on there.

Fake news. You only say that because you have no clue how good I am at making omelettes. No freaking clue. I make the best omelettes. My omelettes are the best. I use the best eggs.