BigMac's 120 Mixed Reef Build

[BigMac]

I had been playing with little tanks, adjusting my techniques to maintain saltwater environments. All while prepairing for the tank I've wanted most of my adult life.

I had to move my 125 planted tank into a 90 gal ocianic. Move that tank into the dining room, but I had to move a large display case to get the tank in. I had to build a cabinet system and display wall system to remove the large display case.

I purchased a tank late 09. A lightly used Ocianic 120 w/ dual overflows and a black background.


I have been working ever since this purchase to get it setup and in my living room..

[BigMac]

That is the 90 gal I setup as my replacement planted tank just to the right.

My house has been a disaster area since I started this so my sife if very happy it is nearing completion.

[BigMac]

The inside of the stand I got w/ the tank.



I picked up a nice skimmer.



And I decided on the Vortech as my circulation solutioin..

[BigMac]

I picked out a nice 50 gal tank for a sump





I ended up making this a two chamber sump. One large inlet chamber set at 10 inches deep. I made a 4 in stand to put my skimmer on and then filled the space below with dead rocks.

The return section is only about 4or 5 in deep. I have lots of room for overflow. The sump is holding about 20- 25 gal of water.

[BigMac]

During this time I found a little spot in the back of the stand that was rotted.
The entire back was constructed of particle board, so I decided to scrap the original stand and build one from scratch.

I decided on a dimention that was a little larger than the footprint of the tank, to take advantagge of the space I had made available.







I calked the seams inside and painted it w/ a mold resistant primer inside.
I had my pool table guy apply a stain and laquerd finish.

[Rue]

Nice! You're going to have fun!

Do me a favour...keep it neat and tidy when you finally get it going...I find it off-putting when people post pics of their tanks and all the 'stuff' is just left out in the open around it...(like the food, test kits, refractometre, buckets, etc.)...I know it's convenient, but it always looks so messy...takes away from the beauty of the tank (and that's a gorgeous tank!)...

...and yes...I'm guilty of it too on occaision...

[BigMac]

[BigMac]

Since I decided not to run a fuge, I have a nice reactor for GFO and possbly bio pellets and carbon.

[BigMac]

I am currently letting the dead rock cycle w/ one small piece of seeded live rock in the sump.

I only have the one vortech for now. and I circulate about another 600-100 gph through overflow.

I have a definate nitrite spike going so things are prgressing nicly.. I will try to get a current FTS later today.

[BigMac]

I upgraded a power panel in my house to have this tank.
I put in two dedicated 20 amp circuits.

I like it neat too. I am actually dedicating a shed in my back yard to my tank stuff so I can keep it clean.
I'm going to figure a way to move my chiller out there too.

This tank is on a northern facing wall in the center of my house. It is on an outside wall so moving plumbing outside should be easy!

I am in the setup and cleanup phase of this build now.
I fiianlly have my chiller doing what I want through the controller. It comes on @ 79.5 and turns off at 76.5 deg F. It runs once a day when its very hot for my area. I do not have AC so I oversized my chiller somewhat at 1/3hp JBJ.

I am looking for a neat way to run my electrical wires. I want to make a harness, kinda like in a car that runs across the top and front inside the stand.
All the controls are going on the far left side w/ hopfully all the outlets and surge protectors.

My control interface is being screwed to the wall, off the tank.

I have two reefbright LED units lighting. I need to borrow a PAR meter from one of the guys in my reef club to see what its doing before I add corals. I may have to turn one off for a while to not bleach anything.