Solitaryensis
Supporting Member
Finally getting around to sharing my new tank build. I’ve met some of you over the years but haven’t been around the club in quite some time. I was around during BAR’s beginning days when I worked at Tropical Paradise around 2000. I remember some of the earliest meetings were held right there in the shop. I spent a couple years working at the shop and then college happened, then law school, then kids and family…
The bug never really went away and I spent years trying to muster up the time and energy to get a tank going again, with mostly failed attempts. About 2 years ago, I decided to finally give it a go again with an IM 10.
Of course, I outgrew that tank pretty quickly and moved up to a IM 30L. The 30L was up for about a year when I decided to finally work on getting the fina/dream/upgrade tank going.
I decided on the Seapora 80 shallow (48” x 24” x 16”) with a DIY stand. The quality on the tank isn’t the greatest but it fit my size criteria and price point so I went with it - crossing fingers that the tank holds up. I couldn’t find a lot of information on the tank but some have indicated that Seapora tanks are manufactured by (or in the same factory as) Deep Blue and/or Aquarium Masters. Either way, it’s been fine so far.
Here are some photos of the stand, which took me nearly 4 months to build. I live in Albany and commute to work in Mountain View so needless to say, free time is very limited, especially with two younger kids. Over the course of the 4 months it took to build the stand, some nights i’d work on it for 10-15 minutes, which became pretty frustrating. Nevertheless, it got done. The stand was built with a standard 2’x4’ frame and skinned with ¾ birch ply. The inside is painted with kilz and outside with a matte gray to resemble the ADA style stands. I am happy with how it turned out although there was plenty of things I could have done differently. This isn’t the prettiest of builds but the goal was to keep things simple, not to overdo it, and to be as economical and practical as possible.
The upside to a 4 month stand build is that I got to accumulate a lot of used equipment over that time
Speaking of which, here is my equipment list.
- Sump - Trigger Systems 36 gallon sump with herbie overflow
- Heater - Finnex heater with Inkbird ITC-308 controller
- Return Pump - Current eFlux DC
- Skimmer - Eshopps S-120
-Dosing - BRS 1.1 ML dosers that does calc and alk.
- Refuge Light - Kessil H80
- Main Lighting - 2 x Radion XR30 (Gen3). I also have a Kessil 160 right in the middle that comes on for a couple hours a day. Not sure if it really helps but I do like the shimmering blue from the Kessil over the Radions.
-Flow - MP40 in the front and MP10 in the back
Since the point of sharing the build is to also get some help/feedback, here are some of the issues I am trying to work through now:
- Getting a decent amount of microbubbles/particulate matter in the tank. From what I can see, there does not appear to be any bubbles in the sump so I can only assume it’s coming from the pump. There is at least 3-4” of water above the inlet of the pump so I dont think its pulling in air from there. Any thoughts?
- Still trying to figure out if I like this lighting schedule. I went with the “Coral Lab” template and the AB setting. I am not getting that deep blue I had with the Kessils, although it’s a nice whiteish blue. Considering getting diffusers but that wouldn't necessarily help with the color quandary. What are you guys running and how do you like it?
- I am having a hard time turning up the Vortechs without sand blowing everywhere. I have both both turned up about 50% and still notice lots of dead spots. The MP10 in the back is set to constant mode and the MP40 in front is set to reef crest. I am considering trying a gyre but not sure that would really solve my sand dilemma either. I was on the fence about going bare bottom but decided on sand since I like the look better. But to be honest, I probably would have regretted my decision one way or the other. I love the ease of maintenance with bare bottom but can’t quite beat the look of a clean sand bed in my book.
-I can’t seem to get chaeto to grow. I know the Kessil K80 isn't the best lighting for chaeto but I only turn the white on. I’ve never had much luck with this batch of chaeto - its been with me for almost a year and has not grown much at all.
- One regret I have is building the left rock structure too tall. I spent hours cementing the rock and couldn't bring myself to scrap the project but once it went in the tank, I knew I made the structure too tall. SMALL part of me wants to pull it out and start over but likely not. Someone please tell me it will be okay
Besides that, I am trying to be patient and let the tank get dialed in before I stock it much more, although part of the stocking problem is that I am trying to limit my purchases to other reefers with established tanks. I almost sped up the setup and cycle in anticipation of the frag swap but knew that wouldn't be a good idea. On that note, let me know if you’ve got some colorful stuff for sale. I am mainly interested in LPS/Softies but would like to obtain some of the old school corals that got me the SPS bug, e.g. tort, solitaryensis, efflo, green slimer, leng sy cap.
Enjoy the pics and looking forwarding to meeting everyone in the club!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The bug never really went away and I spent years trying to muster up the time and energy to get a tank going again, with mostly failed attempts. About 2 years ago, I decided to finally give it a go again with an IM 10.
Of course, I outgrew that tank pretty quickly and moved up to a IM 30L. The 30L was up for about a year when I decided to finally work on getting the fina/dream/upgrade tank going.
I decided on the Seapora 80 shallow (48” x 24” x 16”) with a DIY stand. The quality on the tank isn’t the greatest but it fit my size criteria and price point so I went with it - crossing fingers that the tank holds up. I couldn’t find a lot of information on the tank but some have indicated that Seapora tanks are manufactured by (or in the same factory as) Deep Blue and/or Aquarium Masters. Either way, it’s been fine so far.
Here are some photos of the stand, which took me nearly 4 months to build. I live in Albany and commute to work in Mountain View so needless to say, free time is very limited, especially with two younger kids. Over the course of the 4 months it took to build the stand, some nights i’d work on it for 10-15 minutes, which became pretty frustrating. Nevertheless, it got done. The stand was built with a standard 2’x4’ frame and skinned with ¾ birch ply. The inside is painted with kilz and outside with a matte gray to resemble the ADA style stands. I am happy with how it turned out although there was plenty of things I could have done differently. This isn’t the prettiest of builds but the goal was to keep things simple, not to overdo it, and to be as economical and practical as possible.
The upside to a 4 month stand build is that I got to accumulate a lot of used equipment over that time
Speaking of which, here is my equipment list.- Sump - Trigger Systems 36 gallon sump with herbie overflow
- Heater - Finnex heater with Inkbird ITC-308 controller
- Return Pump - Current eFlux DC
- Skimmer - Eshopps S-120
-Dosing - BRS 1.1 ML dosers that does calc and alk.
- Refuge Light - Kessil H80
- Main Lighting - 2 x Radion XR30 (Gen3). I also have a Kessil 160 right in the middle that comes on for a couple hours a day. Not sure if it really helps but I do like the shimmering blue from the Kessil over the Radions.
-Flow - MP40 in the front and MP10 in the back
Since the point of sharing the build is to also get some help/feedback, here are some of the issues I am trying to work through now:
- Getting a decent amount of microbubbles/particulate matter in the tank. From what I can see, there does not appear to be any bubbles in the sump so I can only assume it’s coming from the pump. There is at least 3-4” of water above the inlet of the pump so I dont think its pulling in air from there. Any thoughts?
- Still trying to figure out if I like this lighting schedule. I went with the “Coral Lab” template and the AB setting. I am not getting that deep blue I had with the Kessils, although it’s a nice whiteish blue. Considering getting diffusers but that wouldn't necessarily help with the color quandary. What are you guys running and how do you like it?
- I am having a hard time turning up the Vortechs without sand blowing everywhere. I have both both turned up about 50% and still notice lots of dead spots. The MP10 in the back is set to constant mode and the MP40 in front is set to reef crest. I am considering trying a gyre but not sure that would really solve my sand dilemma either. I was on the fence about going bare bottom but decided on sand since I like the look better. But to be honest, I probably would have regretted my decision one way or the other. I love the ease of maintenance with bare bottom but can’t quite beat the look of a clean sand bed in my book.
-I can’t seem to get chaeto to grow. I know the Kessil K80 isn't the best lighting for chaeto but I only turn the white on. I’ve never had much luck with this batch of chaeto - its been with me for almost a year and has not grown much at all.
- One regret I have is building the left rock structure too tall. I spent hours cementing the rock and couldn't bring myself to scrap the project but once it went in the tank, I knew I made the structure too tall. SMALL part of me wants to pull it out and start over but likely not
. Someone please tell me it will be okay Besides that, I am trying to be patient and let the tank get dialed in before I stock it much more, although part of the stocking problem is that I am trying to limit my purchases to other reefers with established tanks. I almost sped up the setup and cycle in anticipation of the frag swap but knew that wouldn't be a good idea. On that note, let me know if you’ve got some colorful stuff for sale. I am mainly interested in LPS/Softies but would like to obtain some of the old school corals that got me the SPS bug, e.g. tort, solitaryensis, efflo, green slimer, leng sy cap.
Enjoy the pics and looking forwarding to meeting everyone in the club!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
