125g Reef

wecome
You will have to repost this using the upload files button below the message box below!!!!

There is no way to edit the first post and just upload the photos?

Lower pic is the new setup currently filling/cycling. I'm upgrading to a 200g peninsula.

I got to have some of that SPS man!!! lol

sweet looking 125, and that 200g is gona be sick!  you making it a mixed reef?  i've got a 125 right now...i'm totally running out of space.  i have the corner overflows and didn't want to block them, and i wanted the back wall to be clear of any rock, so no dead spots...but that leads to very limited space to place corals, i am starting to realize

Mastermind - I wish shipping wasn't so expensive..  I did see some acans on your "for sale" post so maybe we can work something out?

Reefsurgeon - Thanks! I've been adding mostly sps lately, but I'm looking to expand my acan and dendro collection. From the looks of things, I may be sps dominant with the new tank. My 125 did have lots of dead spots due to the pile of rocks and I think the only way out is to build a closed loop or place powerheads directed towards those spots =(

The new tank is running a reeflo dart to the wavy sea and I will have 2 koralia 3's on the overflow side blowing straight out about 1/3 of the way from the top. The aquascape should leave me with very little dead spots, but if thats a problem I may upgrade the koralia's to a 4 or 5. We'll see =)

yea, i wanted a closed loop, but was too scared to start messing with glass...what kind of tank is your 125?  mine is the marineland dual corner-flo tank.  the overflows pull water in from the top and the bottom to increase flow and decrease dead spots.  the front section (with the slits on top and bottom) removable sections on the corner overflows, which makes cleaning a BREEZE, when the slits start to clog, so if i pack rock against them, i wont be able to remove those pieces.   right now, each overflow (if i keep them clean) can drain 700 gph...I have two return lines, which came with the kit with the tank.  they are loc-line returns, so i decided to extend them, so instead of each return being split two ways, now they are split three ways on each side.  i have a blueline 70 (1750 gph @0 head).  i calculated my headloss over and over, and kept coming up with about 1300gph or so...i still ended up having to throddle it back after a little algae started growing on the overflows, which i HATE doing cause i feel like if you have a pump, it should be used at MAX, or there's no point...but anyway, my gf decided she wanted to help with my cleaning on day, and she wanted to scrub the overflow pieces that i removed...well, i NEVER clean them THAT well...she cleaned them so well, i was able to start running my pump wide open for the first time in a while!  i REALLY want to add more rock, cause i need more space for placing stuff, but i'm REALLY afraid to block those overflows at all.  i've got two korallia 4's (one on each end of the tank) that are on the korallia wavemaker controller (LOVE IT!), and i've been considering a vortech 40 to add to the flow...maybe if i did that i could reposition the korallias and add more rock.  i don't know!  ech!!  i just upgraded from my 45 to my 125 a year ago, and it's doing so well that the corals are outgrowing it like which is was happened in my 45!  now i want my dad's 300!!  he's had it for lke 15 years, and he sure as heck can't take care of it!  he really doesn't understand the whole "watts per gallon" or the importance of reflectors...or the importance of CHANGING YOUR BULBS before TWO YEARS goes by!!  OR the filtration needed for that sized tank!  it looks like crap, and i've been wanting to overhaul it for years!!!  all he does is complain about how i set up a new tank, and in a few weeks i have coralline algae EVERYWHERE, and he has NONE!  i told him, give me your credit card, and i will make sure you have a sick looking tank!  lol!  when i get a chance to go down to south florida, i am overhauling it!  new lights, new skimmers, gona add a fuge!  but anyway, i just need to figure out what to do about more room in my tank...whether it's adding more flow so i can add more rocks, or what...i dunno...i have a BUNCH of stuff to sell too.  dunno if you're interested in buying anything atm, but i'm gona be putting together a bundle cause it's looking like i'm not going to be able to sell things piece by piece...and i need to drop my prices.  russ is gona help me figure that out.  anyway, i just rambled like i always do...my original question probably got lost!  lol!  how are your corner overflows set up? thanks -Ash 

Mine aren't corner overflows, they sit center. I'm running an All Glass 125 Reef Ready with dual center overflows, bought new about 5 months ago after my first tank had issues. This tank is rated at 1200Gph and I'm running 2 Quiet One 4000's for my returns rated for 1000gph. With the 4ft head height my calculations will bring these pumps down to around 600-700, but I'm no math or science guy so these are complete backyard guessing... plus I don't know how much to trust the spec sheet.

This 200g peninsula will be it for a while unless I hit the lotto. I'm hoping to grow these corals enough to where the frags can support the cost of running the system. I pretty much give away my corals to folks locally with super low prices. It's just tough to give stuff for free because some freeloading idiot will come over and take something he thinks can live in his gold fish bowl.

all looking really good

Thanks, Getinpora!

i see you put the rocks together, did you glue them, stack them, or drill them?

For the larger pieces like the coral skeleton I drilled them and used 1/2" acrylic rods and epoxy. The smaller pieces that were easier to stack only needed epoxy. The entire thing consists of 5 chunks pieced together and are two separate islands within the tank. There is a trench that you can see through if you look at the tank from an angle on two sides. The rocks are not complete as I have a huge 25lb rock from my current setup that the Sebae is fixed too and I cannot put that in until the new tank cycles. The frozen shrimp and the new rocks have the ammonia spiked at 1.0-ish and my nitrites/nitrates are slowly rising. I'm going to do a huge water change on the current tank and take the old water and add it to the new tank this weekend.

the way you did your rocks looks real good and i like it a lot

Thanks, Getinpora! Lots of trial and error out in the garage over the past couple of months.

my mistake on the corner overflows.  from the pic it looks like you have corners.  i REALLY wanted these corner overflows to leave me plenty of room in the tank, but now i'm wondering if having the dual centers would have allowed me more space for corals and rock.  oh well, gotta work with what i've got at this point.  yours looks great!  good luck with your new tank too!  awesome rock work! 
sorry if you already answered this, but where did you get your rock from?  i ordered some base rock from macrorocks.com several months ago since i only had my live rock from my 45gallon.  i ordered like 50 pound of their key largo base rock...they HAD to have sent me AT LEAST 60 pounds or more for DIRT cheap.  i think i only paid $60 or something.  i believe their prices have gone up, but it's still a great site.  and the rock is REALLY nice.  i told him i was just adding the rock for more caves and ledges, so he cherry picked the rocks for me.  did a GREAT job.  the rock was VERY light weight, and extremely porous, so it has an amazing amount of surface area.  after a few weeks, you couldn't tell the difference between what was my old live rock, and what was the new stuff.  since my tank already had so much life and coralline algae, the BRIGHT WHITE rock that stuck out like a sore thumb next to all my other rock, was covered with coralline and critters in no time.  if i order more rock, it will for sure be from them!  REALLY great product, and excellent customer service!
But once again, my question got lost in my babbling...lol...where did you get your rock from? for the new tank?  i love the large ledges.

Reefsurgeon -  AGA did not offer the corner over flows so I was stuck buying this. I was in a pinch because my old tank busted and everything you saw in this tank was living in a 150 bucket for 2 weeks. I lost a clam and some Zenia during the emergency evac.

I bought my rock from BRS http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/brs-shelf-dry-aquarium-eco-rock.html

He doesn't give you a choice for specific type, but he did very well with what I got. I ordered 50lbs and got two nice coral skeletons and a few other flat pieces. I then pulled some rocks out of my current tank to put everything together. I believe I paid just below $200 shipped. Their support was pretty good too so I would buy from them again.

Reef, I already told ya. If you got stuff to sell, I am buying.....especially from that frogspawn colony you got......I want a chunk LOL....you can spare it...

Reef, I already told ya. If you got stuff to sell, I am buying.....especially from that frogspawn colony you got......I want a chunk LOL....you can spare it...

-waitasecun

I never bought anything else from them but I've been thinking about trying out their reef chili! That stuffs looks yummy =)

But, I almost went the two part automated dosing. The reason I didn't is that it was already a pain to dose my 125 and the new 200 can't be any better. The new system should have around 300 gallons of total water volume and dosing will be a nightmare as the sps grow. Plus in the long run I save, but not by much =)

Some updates on the progress..

I took out about half of the LR from the current setup. Dried over night, soaked in vinegar water for an hour, rinsed and soaked in freshwater over night. Then cycled in a tub of saltwater for 10 days and now in the sump. Doing this in case of unwanted critters and hidden growth of whatever =)

New tank reached about 1ppm of Ammonia and the Nitrite is rising to about the same. I'm 2 weeks in with these brand new shelf rocks/coral skeletons from BRS. Starting to see green algae grow on the rocks so I started the fuge with a chunk of chaeto. Also dosed the Ammonia today so I'll be testing it again tomorrow. Clean up crew will be ordered in a week or two.

I really wish I could take a top view picture of the trench between the two islands, but I guess that is only for folks that visit me =) Reminds me of the Nemo movie. "Something tells me we're suppose to swim through it".. Anyway, aquascape is about 90% complete now. I'll snap another photo later of the other side since this is a peninsula.

Close up of the plumbing:
- 2 drains, 1 to fuge and 1 to sump. Fuge drains passed the skimmer closer to the return pipe so any critters coming out of the fuge will go into the tank instead of the skimmer (at least I hope).
- The one to sump goes directly into the LR and passes through to the skimmer (believe me, there is a huge skimmer in there somewhere).
- Returns through the Reeflo Dart to the Wavy Sea spinning 360 non stop.
- I have 4 pipes coming out of the manifold (under the top yellow towel). 1 for chiller, 1 for UV, 1 for Frag Tank (Coming soon). 1 for water changes or my Ca reactor. Thinking more water changes since my Ca reactor has a pump to feed it already.
- Simple and affective (Hopefully).

Also, since someone mentioned Frog Spawn, I'd thought I'd show off my colony as well =) This thing is a beast, probably 40+ heads but I stopped counting about 6 months ago.