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Coral in the Capital


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Hey everyone, so this tank has been up for a while, and this thread will mostly be a mirror of my thread on R2R: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coral-in-the-capitol.463350/

 

Its a 90g "cube" from SCA. 36x24x24 with the upgraded cabinent in american grey, it started in oct 2018

 

Fish:

Yellow Tang

Tomini Tang

2x Davinci Clowns

McCroskers Flasher Wrasse

Resplendent Anthia

 

 

Coral List:

Way too many acros to list

A few torches and other things

 

Lighting:

2x ecotech radion xr30 G4 Pros set to WWC AB+

Reefbrite ration attachments

Fuge has a Kessil H160

 

Flow:

2x ecotech MP40's

Return- Ecotech Vectra M1

 

Controlled with an ApexEl with quiet a few modules

 

Currently dos BRS 2 part + tropic Marin balling, and have a DOS setup for AWC.

 

Here it currently is as of 3/10:

47290352892_75da87544d_o.thumb.jpg.e2f9c27d2360387a306f27a4d7745e56.jpg

 

A progression of FTS's:

FFCB4173-C5F0-4841-ABBC-8B202A067EB4.thumb.jpeg.b5bf7e7efc100e87adc704a955071fea.jpeg

image.thumb.jpg.0ec6dedce89d56f78955000842be4631.jpg1627314450_fulltanksmall.thumb.JPG.404f61a386f5c2caf403a9295ba5ff8d.JPG6E36448C-88CD-4EC8-ADB3-EFF95C26DBBE.thumb.jpeg.c821a501920c02ba088b32df2ee3796b.jpeg515207BE-3A7B-409C-89A8-27AE76931276.thumb.jpeg.fa0f0ceb52666d2170b86d61b4a06235.jpeg

 

Current (October 2022):

85A1B4E9-B358-4F67-B50E-90A76AFC69BE.thumb.jpeg.293f394ca19fc0f0a9d73d26bbdda58b.jpeg

Edited by ccurnick
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Very cool! Are you in DC, hence the capitol reference? 

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  • 1 year later...

Been far too long since I have updated this thread on here.... I will be updating with a bunch of photos and write ups of various projects

 

I recently moved my tank to a new corner of my living room and it was quite a project, but everything survived with no casualties aside from creating a few new frags! I also changed my stand doors into removable panels which was a major improvement.


Draining the tank down:

image.thumb.png.38da48f57e69b1800d912c5e5b57cc1c.png

Used a 100g stock tank, which since I live in a city I had to special order. The people at Ace Hardware were very concerned with what I was doing with it image.thumb.png.2d93027c662dc72934b7c14aa52f482c.png


Tank in new spot:

image.thumb.png.6a48adc53843d92ff97c01507b29f294.png


Livestock back in the tank, and starting to remove the AWC container, dosing pumps, and other stuff from the cabinet next to the tank, and redoing all of the electrical stuff in the cabinet above the tank. The electrical cabinet is kind of overflowing with stuff at the moment, but trying to find a replacement has been tough as Ikea hasn't had them in stock for months now.

image.thumb.png.81c99446c1f9628eb35fa95e1829cc48.png

 

Holy rats nest batman! (Dont worry, the tank didnt run like this!)

image.thumb.png.86d79b1d31e697dcbade2c4515b11d01.png

 

 

 



 

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Move continued:

 

Took over part of my media console for my dosing pumps/reservoirs/supplements.image.thumb.png.89811eb27f28f203ec6e7cdcf859d50b.png

 


New view of my tank from my couch (I think my dog likes the new spot)image.thumb.png.1638540284589fb38f0947182d7dd3db.png

 

Some fun neon photos post move:

 

89241EB9-6783-4AE9-949E-64EEC81C05D7.jpeg

 

E1B209FC-B43D-4AC3-A16E-A788D08F9EAB.jpeg

 

931FE60B-4C91-41FB-B5EB-A8B767CCB539.jpeg
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Phase 1 of the sump reconstruction is done. Still have some things to figure out where I am going to put, like ATO tank and skim locker, as they don’t fit like I thought they would under the cabinet around the sump.

Empty cabinet & I re-applied a water proof

E84FB7C8-C331-4EF9-AFC2-A30455984511.jpeg



 

Test fitting it all44E46B74-9F0D-4C5B-8096-18EEF4C7A44B.jpeg



and it’s live! So much more space for my equipment and was able to set up a frag area so I no longer have to have racks in my display. The Kessil h160 has been replaces with an A360WE. 83F586A6-831F-4FE5-B9C7-1EEE60F632EC.jpeg

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Next up in my saga of tank projects is redoing my electronics cabinet/controller board with a larger besta cabinet from ikea since they re back in stock.

here’s how it currently looks sitting above my tank:
image.thumb.png.0c1e59f7122cf828236351500b21ecea.png

And since my tank move and removal of the extra cabinet next to my tank, it’s been a bit cramped:
image.thumb.png.1b513823146a23821c5d7c1b162f8668.png

 

New cabinet is twice as tall/deep:
image.thumb.png.77f5ae5d62d18c5d6598c159d36823ba.png

created a template of the false wall I will be putting in as well as cutout for all of the parts to decide how to fit everything:
image.thumb.png.bf618486fb4a505cb8c58a4b2b7a1508.pngI
image.thumb.png.61fdacc1c3a220d4a8eeaa6596d1a35d.png


I will be getting the wood from Home Depot today and hopefully get working on it. I also got an exhaust fan to help with heat from the power supplies.

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New electronics cabinet is complete!

 

The board:
F8528308-AEB9-4BC7-A72B-853585720277.jpeg


 

B31A649D-BD03-4C17-912F-C5F5F2090EEA.jpeg


Inside the cabinet I used dowels to hold the false wall:
99A6ABC5-561C-433E-AF4E-CFD648DA4530.jpeg


Added an exhaust fan to help with heat from all the power supplies:
02ED751F-FF71-47E7-816A-25C240179D67.jpeg


What the final inside looks like:
7E8F3ADA-8CEC-4013-8B04-A2AC1FBF81D8.jpeg


 

And hanging above my tank:

C49477E9-CE03-4A01-B8E1-A238AC1320A1.jpeg
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It certainly is cleaner looking. It takes loads of equipment to keep it going, eh? You've taken on more with this than I have with even setting up a new tank, and it's taken me 3 months just to turn it around, lol. 

 

Looks great, giving me some good ideas as well! 

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12 hours ago, YHSublime said:

It certainly is cleaner looking. It takes loads of equipment to keep it going, eh? You've taken on more with this than I have with even setting up a new tank, and it's taken me 3 months just to turn it around, lol. 

 

Looks great, giving me some good ideas as well! 


Haha all in all it was about 5-6 days of work with everything. Just wrapped up re-plumbing my emergency drain and still have a bit more to do.
 

I am waiting on a few more things to come in the mail but I will be redoing my frag “tank” area by re-plumbing from the sump bulkhead to my filter roller with flexible tubing as well as moving the filter roller to its own stand/see if I can manage to hang it on the sump. After that I will be relocating my heaters somewhere and then try to figure out a way to cut my frag rack and make it a dual height rack without losing any space. 

 

When I bought a BAO photo tube for my camera a while back they accidentally sent me one of the Coleman locking racks they sell and let me keep it. So I be held onto it for a while and finally found a chance to use it. It fits well in the sump area, but presently it’s set up on 4” tall pvc and my filter roller sits on it. I ordered the official legs for the rack and plan on trying to cut it into 2 tiers somehow and make it a more efficient use of space. My backup plan (what I’ll probably end up doing) is just keep the rack as is with the new legs, and rotate my filter roller to be more in the corner of its section of the sump, and that should open up more rack space.

 

I also want to hard plumb my reactor as well as redo my main drain & replace that bulkhead but that’s more of a dream at this point ?? 

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11 hours ago, ccurnick said:

I also want to hard plumb my reactor as well as redo my main drain & replace that bulkhead but that’s more of a dream at this point ?? 

 

What about a manifold? 

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34 minutes ago, YHSublime said:

 

What about a manifold? 

 

The groundwork for one is already there, you can see the ball valve on the right side of my sump and thats my plan for hard plumbing the reactors. I just need to figure out how I am going to actually fit it all & if I am going to move my reactors or get a new one. My reactors aren't in the pic, but they are BRS dual reactors on the left wall of my sump fed by an mj1200 from the skimmer chamber. 

 

Since my current system works, I'm not in a huge rush to do it, and want to plan it out as well as I can. It might involve redoing part of my return line and changing the gate valve to the manifold to a smaller diameter and moving it to the back wall.... haven't figured that part out yet. But I am thinking of redoing the return a bit and making the gate valve a 1/2" and putting it on the back and have the return manifold go up from there, or just change the elbow just below the check valve to a T and putting the manifold to the left side of my sump. 

 

I honestly might just redo all of the plumbing, including the bulkheads. I basically just cut what was already there and added to it for the new sump, and I am kind of regretting that decision because it forced me to make some sacrifices that I am not thrilled about. 

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Love the cabinet project. Was thinking of getting something from Ikea for mine too. Is the material ok for being near water? Any concerns that moisture will seep into the particle board through any cracks or exposed parts from the drilled holes and make it expand?

 

Also, I love that you're in DC. I lived in the U Street neighborhood for 18 years and it was tough to make a reef hobby fit in a row house. Also, it was hard to find fellow WAMAS members who lived inside the beltway. I spent way too much time driving out to the boonies just to get frags or a scoop of sand or whatever. When my son started wanting his bathroom back and my wife didn't like the flood damage to the floors, we moved :) Now I have a dedicated fish room and everyone is happy.

 

I'm enjoying the frags you sold me and hope to do some more exchanging in the future!

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54 minutes ago, Steve G said:

Love the cabinet project. Was thinking of getting something from Ikea for mine too. Is the material ok for being near water? Any concerns that moisture will seep into the particle board through any cracks or exposed parts from the drilled holes and make it expand?

 

Also, I love that you're in DC. I lived in the U Street neighborhood for 18 years and it was tough to make a reef hobby fit in a row house. Also, it was hard to find fellow WAMAS members who lived inside the beltway. I spent way too much time driving out to the boonies just to get frags or a scoop of sand or whatever. When my son started wanting his bathroom back and my wife didn't like the flood damage to the floors, we moved :) Now I have a dedicated fish room and everyone is happy.

 

I'm enjoying the frags you sold me and hope to do some more exchanging in the future!

 

Was great meeting you briefly the other day as well, always nice to meet another reefer in the District! Glad to hear the frags are doing well! Pre-covid my job was outside the beltway so it made meeting people a bit easier, but honestly now I don't mind driving to meet someone because it gets me out of the house. Some of my colonies are getting huge and I have a new frag "tank" to fill so I have a lot of fragging on my future.

 

I have flooded my place a few times (with fresh water only thankfully) but have since put in a bunch of extra sensors, alarms and safeguards as well as put in an auto water changer so I am not carrying buckets of water anymore. I can't wait until I buy a bigger house and can have a dedicated fish room, its become a requirement for me haha. 

 

A lot of people use this cabinet for their controller/electronics cabinet and it's been fine above my tank for the past year that I have had the smaller one, but I do wipe it down whenever I remember (like once a month). I think adding the neoprene cable covers helps keep salt filled air from entering through the bottom as it fills the hole completely. I also glued in the grommets to help cover any exposed material inside of the cabinet. But for the price, if I have to replace it every 18-24 months I would be fine with it, but I don't expect any problems. But honestly salt spray was why I put the fan on the top, and it blows out. I might add another up top but so far it doesn't seem necessary from a heat management perspective. 

 

They can be hard to get right now as Ikea is having a hard time stocking them (took me a few months). They didn't have the door for it that I was looking for, like the one I had on the first version of it so I frosted the glass on it myself for now until they are back in stock. But I do highly recommend it along with adding a fan if power supplies are kept inside. 

 

Heres a link to the cabinet: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/besta-frame-black-brown-20245964/

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Welp.... as soon as I wrote the idea of replumbing my tank... I couldn’t sit still. 

 

973320DD-F3D0-437E-8917-B4EBF53398AA.thumb.jpeg.4c5671bd1d79aa743db9a7a91f7b4170.jpeg

 

I am much happier with the results and added a manifold which was huge and enabled me to get rid of the mj1200 hogging up room.

 

CF0F00B0-1118-4261-AC86-26759B880336.thumb.jpeg.73204ea967c8c3027cd935edf706f903.jpeg

 

 

Next up is to build a better frag rack when the legs for this rack come in and I get rid of the anemones in the box. 

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How far away is the Trident from the water source? I'm contemplating a similar setup and am curious if there are problems with the line clogging or something like that. 

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