Shrimpchips's 100g (Live!)

[shrimpchips]

After about a year and a half in the SW side of the hobby, and progressing from a 10g to a 20g tall tank, I think I'm finally ready to upgrade tanks. That, and I need more space

The above model is what I'm hoping the tank will come out to look like.

The tank will go where my 20g reef is right now - to the left is the kitchen, and to the right is the 'living room' area. I wanted to do a 48 x 24 x 24 120g, but after taping off that space in our condo (~600 sqft), but it would be just too huge in the space, so I'm going for a slightly smaller tank.

Here's the plan: the display tank will be 36" x 30" x 24", and I will be ordering it from North American Fish Breeders. It will have a corner overflow like Lobsterboy's 125g in the back left corner - I think this design is great as it's much more hydrodynamic than a rectangular box or a round corner overflow. There will be two 1" drains (full siphon, emergency - a modified BeanAnimal overflow), and a single 3/4" return, which will terminate in 2x 3/4" locline returns into the tank.

Plumbing plan (after some consultation on RC:

The reason I'm going for the siphon return is to minimize noise at night - at night I can hear the durso gurgling on my reef now, and with 400+ gallons going through the drain on this tank, it's going to be a lot louder. So the siphon return should be almost completely silent.

The gate valve is to control the rate of draining to match the return pump - at full siphon (no air, gravity flow) a 1" pipe should handle 900+gph. In the off chance that there is a clog, there will be an emergency drain, also 1".

The lighting will be a Sfiligoi Stealth 8x39w T5HO fixture. Should be more than enough for a nice forest of SPS corals - and I'll finally have a strong light fixture, so I'm looking forward to more intense colours!


The skimmer will be a Royal Exclusiv Bubble King Mini 180 - I bought this used from a friend last summer. This should easily handle the fishload I have in mind for the tank.


Flow will be supplied by a pair of EcoTech Vortech MP-40w. I already have a MP-20 and the upgrade kit, so I'll be grabbing another MP-40w soon.


The other day I came across d2mini's build thread on Reef Central, and I really liked his stand. My stand will look a lot like his. I'm not sure if the frame will be 2"x4" or metal. I've sent a drawing to a guy on my local forum to get a quote on the construction:


Other stuff that will be on the tank include my Profilux 4-channel SA doser, as well as my Profilux II Plus controller.

My sump design is still in progress, but without giving too much up, it'll be different.

Rocks will be what I have in my 20g, as well as rock in a 15g right now, and some dry rock I have, and possibly some more dry rock (Marco rocks) or LR if I can find some for a decent price locally - I probably need no more than another 50lbs for the scape I want - something like the 2-3 island grouping. I want to have lots of overhangs and spaces for fish, but at the same time leave lots of space for the SPS to grow out.

Fish in my20g will come over (Potter's Angel, sixline wrasses, 2x Pearly Jawfish). I'd eventually like to have:

5 - 7 Carberry anthias
3 - 4 Pearly Jawfish
1 - 2 Centropyge multifasicatus
1 - 2 Centropyge potteri
1 - 2 Synchiropus picturatus (Spotted green mandarinfish)
1 - 2 Corythoichthys haematopterus (Dragonface pipefish)
1 - Falco hawkfish

Plus assorted gobies and such to fill out the mix. I want to keep the fish all smaller - personally I'm not a fan of seeing big tangs and angelfish in anything but massive tanks. This tank will be a tang free zone.

Coral-wise, of course this tank will be SPS dominated, with a few clams. I'll have a ricordea garden, and maybe a few zoas here and there, and a rock covered in different xenids (if the Potter's lets me - they're currently his favourite snack).

As I progress with the build, I'll post updates