Stratos21ss's 120SSO Tank

[fishcam]

..more pics I took of my light and the hanging kit:

_Matt

 

Man I just spent about 30 mins looking for this tank. Its a beaut. Any updates?

[stratos21ss]

Man I just spent about 30 mins looking for this tank. Its a beaut. Any updates?

 

Thanks! Tank is now filled and running..Made my first attempt at aquascaping and I have been having a good time with the progress..Updates on the way..just need to take a few pics.

[MLazar]

Gorgeous. I love how clean the interior looks without the internal overflows and how much more flexibility you'll have with you aqua scaping.

 

Tagging along for more picutres.

[Vader]

That is one sweet looking tank, can't wait to see it with all the goodies.

[wdytat]

I love this tank and stand. I'd hate to be a copycat, but I may have to go knocking on NAGA's door to have him make another. Then again, I haven't see his prices yet.

[stratos21ss]

Thank you Vader and wdytat!

 

The build is still a work in progress and it is not all put together as of yet, thus things are bit roughed in..

I hope to continue to add details on the rest of the build soon, but for now.. Maureen - here are some quick pics of the aquascape:

 

 

 

The stump looking rock on the left weighs in at +80lbs:

 

I spent a lot of time making a pedestal for the stump..had it cured and everything.

It included a centered pvc fitting and I had the matching fitting cemented into the stump.

It balanced great and was secure, I could swivel the stump around as needed,

I ended up taking it out though - the height of it made things out of proportion (would of looked great in a 300g - I will save the pedestal

 

This is my favorite part of the aquascape..a sharp rising cliff..with an overhang:

 

 

_Matt

[stratos21ss]

Some shots of the tank's power center before wiring it up:

 

 

Here it is viewed from the back. The vertical aluminum strips are ProfiLux controller digital power bars (like a dc8 except they only have 6 outlets). They are heavy and well constructed. I just wish they would be the standard 19

[stratos21ss]

Moved a few corals in..not burning all the lights yet:

 

 

 

 

[gastone]

Matt, how's the tank coming? Anything you would have done different at this point?

 

Garrett.

[Vader]

Very nice job.

[WDLV]

That's a well designed, neat, clean, show system. Keep us posted on your progress.

[stratos21ss]

Matt, how's the tank coming? Anything you would have done different at this point?

 

Garrett.

 

Garrett - The system as a whole is running pretty good now.

 

For the design - The coast to coast overflow is great. Only issue I have is a little dirt accumulation area that developed in the overflow on the far side where the return pipe is. The pipe itself creates a little eddy that holds snail dirt there (snails roam back and forth over the weir freely - the drain screen I have keeps them out of the pipes). Does not appear to be that much of an issue in that I can move the dirt out of there when wiping down the inside off the overflow..so I would still keep the return pipe in that spot.

 

The splashing noise that was around the gate valve is fairly quiet now.

 

The two Vortechs are way plenty and I can get all sorts of different kinds of flow. My sand has settled down, but I can get it blowing around if I turn up the Vortechs too much. I am ok thus far with the choice not to go bb - I like the extra area the sand provides the ULNS bacteria.

 

I have the lights on their full cycle now and lowered them to 7 3/4" which is probably as low as I will take them to avoid spash. I like the FM T5 fixture, but wish it was dimmable compatible with my Profilux controller. My LED simu-stick is and it is a fun play toy with the lightning storm effects and the tropical colored sunrises/sunsets - It would be great to have more blending effects with it and the T5 cycles. The only thing I want different thus far on the tank is to have dimmable T5s.

 

My skimmer (BM200) mesh wheel had worn out mesh from its use on my previous holding tank and I did not know it..I have it fixed now and it is performing great. Greg from Reef Geek indicates that mesh starts showing wear a month into use and progresses to needing replaced in the 4th-6th month time frame. Didn't know that. The timing probably varies with the brand of enkamat used.

 

About 3 weeks in I had mysterious chemistry issues develop and this is where the beginner mistakes started. I lost a lot of nice frags while learning lots of lessons. Some of which are:

 

1) Do not put valuable corals in a freshly started tank until you know the system is completely stable..does not matter how cured you think your rock is , live sand etc, etc..do not matter. You will know when the system is stable - if you do not know it is, then it is not.

 

2) When your corals start shutting down on you remove them to a stable tank instead of trying to make them recover in an unstable system.

 

3) If issues arise and all parameters test ok, then test the tests. Before any of that - test your refractometer. Use something like this to test the tests and to calibrate your refractomter. That stuff and help from Sean at TACO helped solve the mysteries.

 

4) If your skimmer isn't pulling anything on a new tank it is not because your tank is so clean, but more than likely it is because something is wrong with the skimmer.

 

Most of the issues I had would have been caught/handled immediately by someone more experienced instead of the month it took me.

 

I am behind in updating this thread..I hope to soon with more pics of the system components.

 

 

 

Vader & WDLV thanks for the nice words..!

[jnguyen4007]

Isn't this what this hobby is all about. It's a continuous learning experience. Just when you thought you got it down pack, something else that you haven't seen or expected before would pop up. Your tank is still a gorgeous tank. You need to set up a tank tour one day.

[stratos21ss]

Catching up on updates. Took some pics today..click to view:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stratos21ss]

 

 

[reefmontalvo]

A++ Craftsmanship looking forward to seeing the well watered machine working.