120g reef build

i now hate silicone for giving my a heart attack and making me feel like an idiot....i thank you for your input in saved me alot of trouble

 

Haha, no problem. Now get back to putting the tank together and taking lots of pictures! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif haha

 

everything is in place. Only thing left is to add doors for the stand and a handle for the canopy lid.

 

you did a reall nice job

 

thnx, ny dad helped alot

 

You make a call on the DSB yet? I wouldn't do the egg crate in it if I were you, for what its worth, you do need a cetain level of movement in a deep sand bed for it to work and to avoid anoxic conditions (typically only develop bellow 4" of depth, but can with less depth if there isn't enough movement and distubance). If you have ever heard horror stories of a DSB taking out a tank, it is because of this anoxic layer. This is also why lots of people will do their DSB in a serpeate tank they can take off line easily if they need to do cleaning.

Something you could take a look at that might be a better nitrate solution is vodka dosing. Based on everything I have read and discussed with some seasoned folks, a DSB is something that takes a very skilled hand to cultivate and seems to get more love than it deserves; ie, great with large tanks that need every nitrate reducing measure possible, but is wasted/ not worth the risk and trouble with a smaller tank that can respond to vodka dosing, wc's, et al much more effectively and easily.

 

i have alrdy decided against the DSB...will be ordering my base rock tmrw and will start the cycle when it arrives

 

well i have decided i want to try an ATS..i'll try to build an acrylic version like Floyd this weekend and if it fails to hold water (it will most likely fail) then im going to have Floyd build me one.

 

so i was cleaning the basement today and found a 50gallon tank and a 30gallon with glass dividers in it...think i just found my sump and QT. Cleaning them out now and going to see if they hold water for a week, they havent had water in them since we moved here from Holland 15years ago...

 

That was a good find!
hopefully those will hold water for you.

 

well so far the 20g and 50g tank have held water for 2 days with no leaks...woot. now i just need a pump or 2 and some glass to make the baffles

 

i have decided to use 2 tunze 1073.05 pumps for my return, each pump can put out up to 792.5gph. the pumps themselves run on DC current and tunze sells an extra product that allows you to add a 12v battery for backup just like the vortechs

 

The Tunze pumps are smart pumps and certainly more energy efficient than the Danner Mag pumps, but they seem to carry a pretty darn hefty price tag for a 792 gph return pump. Especially when I'm sure you could run with a single Mag 12 for $250 less (comparison of new prices). You can also frequently find the Mag 12s available used for around $90. Anyway, food for thought. Then you can put the extra $300 you're saving toward the purchase of a gas generator that would run more than just your return pumps in case of power outage.

--AJ

 

unfortunetly they do cost alot, but i am hooked on the battery backup capability. for the simple reason that power likes to go out alot in my town. and it almost always goes out when im at work or at class, so no one is at home to turn a generator on for me.

 

I understand.  Everyone has different factors to consider when designing their system.   Unfortunately, having to plan around frequent power outages is going to add a lot of expense to your system, but I'm glad that you're doing the responsible thing and planning for it, vs. coming home to a dead tank.
--AJ

 

got the last of my rock the other day and im happy with how i got it set up. just a few more pounds of LIVE rock from AE to finish it off...here are some pics for all of you, let me know what you think.






























 

 

That rock work is looking really good.

 

Looks great! cant wait to see it all filled up!

 

thanks to AE i got new heaters, my other ones kept over heating the tank.i also got some seeded sand from them and now i have a few critters roaming around my tank. they look like little red worms with long strings coming off of them

 

where is the pic of the full tank?
: )