My 120G has been in the works for several months but without any tangible results until today when I put it on the base part of the stand. This is going to be a mixed reef with the corals being primarilly softies and LPSs.

Details are:
120G Oceanic Tech Tank with Starfire Glass front 48"X24"X24"
Custom stand slowly being built by me. The sturcture is done and finished on the inside and I will build the sides and front later that will be totally detachable.
Sump is in the basement directly under the tank and consists of a 70G Rubbermaid Stock Tank with about 200 lbs of live rock and a 29G Refugium with a thin layer of sand for looks and Chaeto.
Skimmer is a DAS EX-2 plumbed external to the sump.
Lights are 6 48" T5 Retros with Ice Cap reflectors and standard ballasts.

Looking good Bud....keep the pic's coming!

The first problem I need to resolve is the tank and stand rock easily on the floor so I need to move it out and pull up the carpeting to see what the problem is. I'm going to try to do that while my wife is out of the house.

The next step will be to clean out the inside of the tank, install the overflow and return pipes, figure out the initial plumbing parts I need and make a Home Depot run.

Looking good Bud....keep the pic's coming!

Thanks, I will!

I need a basement... I can't expand till then. Looking great.

very nice bud.....makes me wish I could find my 90........

I couldn't find anything under the carpet and the rocking may just be from the carpet and padding not being evenly compressed. I will go ahead and begin filling it and check it once there is more weight on it.

I've gotten the overflows and returns plumbed inside the overflow box and enough temporary plumbing to start water testing.

Woohoo, hooked up the RO/DI to the kitchen sink and have started it flowing into the tank.

I saw Buds set up yesterday...1st class all the way...Buds' not too bad either :)

Have you tried shimming? But I am thinking with the weight of the water and everything elses, it will compress the carpet down to minimize the rocking.

Bud - I would double check everything with a level as you are filling. That size tank would benefit from being perfectly level. Looks great so far. :thumbs:

Yeah--I'd def. make sure it was perfectly level--plus it looks bad to have one side completely full and the other not-

looking good man! Nice to meet you earlier too. Hope all goes well with the setup.

Thanks guys, I'll keep an eye on the level and hope the rocking quits once the weight settles it down.

I visited Mojo today and got to talk with Lee and Jeremy while I was there and made some decisions. I'm going with a little coarser sand than I originally planned to, will use the Sequence Tarpon as a return pump, and will add two VorTechs with battery back up for flow. I'm also going to plumb the return and overflows using spa flex.

After I left Chris' place I stopped by Aquabuys and ordered the Sequence, VorTechs and sand.

BTW, Chris' tank looked awesome even though it just went through some tough times with a move.

BobZ came over first thing this morning and we emptied the 120G so we could put some shims in the front corner. While it was empty I decided to put jack-posts under the floor joists that are supporting the tank. It probably was totally unnecessary, but I feel much better about it now. After we put in the jack-posts we shimmed the tank and started filling it up again. It looks almost perfectly level so I'll continue filling it with RO and check it again when it is all the way full.

I've got the tank full and I think the level looks good. I picked up a QuietOne 3000 from Sam yesterday and put it in the temporary sump under the tank just to get the flow going. I found two problems:

The first is that the overflows are just slip fit into the bulkheads and there is some leakage so if the flow stops the overflow will slowly empty into the sump. Probably not a big deal but would rather it didn't.

The second problem is the noise. Yikes! The water falling over the overflow is really loud. It sounds like a heavy rainstorm beating on the roof. Right now I've only got RO in the tank so I hope once I make it salt water the slime will quiet this down.

do you have a durso set up for the drains?

I had similar problems on my 70G. I had to adjust the height of the durso pipes to the right level to eliminate the overflow. You should be able to adjust the height until the water level is at the right level to minimize the sounds.

do you have a durso set up for the drains?

Yes, I have two of the standard Oceanic overflow standpipes. I think the noise is actually the water cascading over the box itself, not from going down the overflow pipes.

I had similar problems on my 70G. I had to adjust the height of the durso pipes to the right level to eliminate the overflow. You should be able to adjust the height until the water level is at the right level to minimize the sounds.

If I raise the pipes to where the noise is minimal then they are too high to put the cover back on.

I had this problem with my durso when I changed the light rack to slide back. I had to redo the top of the durso (it was a DIY durso) and replace the cap with a plug that sat lower. Dunno if it's an option in your case, but thought I'd throw it out there....

I had this problem with my durso when I changed the light rack to slide back. I had to redo the top of the durso (it was a DIY durso) and replace the cap with a plug that sat lower. Dunno if it's an option in your case, but thought I'd throw it out there....

Mine is a standard Oceanic Megaflow Standpipe that came with the tank. I'll leave it as is for now and see how bad it is once I get a canopy made for it.

This week I picked up my sand, return pump and Vortechs with Battery Backup from Sam at Aquabuys. I added salt to the water Wednesday and today I installed the two Vortechs. They were fairly easy to align and configure and right now I have them running as a master/slave combination in Lagoon Random Mode.

Congrats. Lets see some pics of the 120

Is that 2 overflow boxes I see on your 120? All I see of the Oceanic site is a single box for the Tech 120s.

I am starting a very similar build. Let me know how that Tarpon works out. I have a spare Iwaki 70 to use until I figure out the flow details.

Jonathan

it is one big over flow with two drain pipes and two returns

Oh ok. I was seeing the top brace of the tank in the photo and it looked like dual overflows.

Since I am going to use a Reeflo Tarpon pump for my return and it has a 1.5" inlet and my bulkhead from the sump is only 1.25" it was brought to my attention that I could have a cavitation problem under certain circumstanses. So I decided rather than trying to empty the 70G of all the corals and rock, drilling it for a 2" bulkhead and putting it all back together without killing anything that I would go ahead and upgrade to a 100G sump and be able to take my time drilling it out and making sure it wouldn't leak. Of course I still needed to empty the 70G and move it out of the way. Yesterday I took a step backward so I could move forward. It took all day to empty the 70G and 20L of all the rock and corals just to set it up on the other side of the room. I started at 8am and by 7pm I had everything back together and running except the lights. I got up at 3am this morning and put the lights back in place and made sure everything was ok. Luckily, it seems everything is still alive and the corals are all opening up this morning.

The next task is to put the 100G sump and 29G refugium in place and plumb them all together with the 120G.

Sounds like fun. I spent the whole day this past Sunday just trying to install the lights in my canopy and still was not done. Its the little odds and ends that always come up.

I received the rest of my marcorocks and spent the last couple of days trying various configurations and today I finished drilling the left side and ran acrylic rods thru it to hold it all together. It is now sitting in a 50/50 RO/vinegar mix with a powerhead running. It is bubbling and foaming like crazy. I'll let it soak over night and then rinse it and start it curing in saltwater tomorrow.

Looking good! Keep the pics flowing. I'm looking forward to seeing the final assembly!

Looking good! Keep the pics flowing. I'm looking forward to seeing the final assembly!

Thanks! Me Too!

You have LOTS of PATIENCE.

After letting my Marcorocks cycle for a while, at least until the worst of the stink dissapatted, I finally have it in the tank. It took a while to get it the way I had originally put it together. After getting the rock in the tank I rinsed 80lbs of sand and put it in as well. This morning once the dust settled, it was obvious I had put way too much sand in so I took a 5 gallon bucketfull back out and will use it in the refugium. I still have more than I want in there but will leave it for the moment.

Here's what it looks like today! Once all the new rock cycles, I'll be adding more rock that is already loaded with corals.

Startin' to look reefy. ;)

Have you tested the water yet? Any ammonia/nitrite present? Assuming the nasty part of the cycle is over soon what will be the first animal in the tank?

Startin' to look reefy. ;)

Have you tested the water yet? Any ammonia/nitrite present? Assuming the nasty part of the cycle is over soon what will be the first animal in the tank?

I haven't tested it since I put in the rock and sand but expect there to be more cycling going on. I still need to get the temporary lights over the tank and still need to plumb it to the sump. I don't plan on putting anything living in for a while and then only some inverts maybe in another month or so.

bud you are really patient ...very nice though cant waite tell its up and going

Here is what it looks like with temporary lighting. While it continues to cycle, I'll get to work on the plumbing.

wow! It looks good. nice job.
Bob

Thanks, Bob!

I checked the water parameters yesterday, first time I ever saw the ammonia test turn green.

SG 1.024
PH 8.2
Amm 1.0
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 0

I'm going to add a piece or two of cured rock today.

On Tuesday, I added a couple pieces of live rock to the display and dumped five vials of Bio Digest in as well. Wednesday's parameters were

SG 1.024
PH 7.8
Amm 1.0
Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 5.0

I hooked up the RKII yesterday and have the lights running off of it. I'm not sure about the temp probe yet, I need to figure out a way to check it's accuracy. I was going to calibrate the PH probe, but found that it was dry in the box so I rinsed it in ro/di and left it soaking overnight in the tank. I'll try calibrating it later today and have my fingers crossed that it is OK.

I reached a major milestone yesterday! I finally have the basement sump plumbed to the tank and water is moving between the two with no leaks. :yay:

The Tarpon pump is noisier than I expected but I think some of that may be due to having it mounted directly on the wooden platform. At some point I'll get some padding to put under it and hopefully that will quiet it down some.

Next I need to do some work on the way the overflows are going into the sump. Any ideas or comments on how to do that would be appreciated. I also need to get another bulkhead so I can finish the overflows from the refugium to the sump.

I tested the water the other day and it was at: SG 1.025, Ph 7.8, Amm o, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10, so I'll be adding some clean up crew soon.

Wow Bud, thats looking really good. Here is one concern. Why is your pH only 7.8. You don't have any coral or livestock to bring the pH down. You might want to recalibrate your pH. If not, I do have a brand new probe for you to try out. A freshly mixed salt water should be at least 8.1-8.2.

Looking good dude! As for pH, I just tested my Instant Ocean Reef Crystals in my mixing barrell the other day and it was low (around 7.9) on my pH probe. I had just calibrated the probe so I know it was fairly close to accurate. I buffered the water and tested again and it was up to 8.3 ... I've had problems with Reef Crystals having low pH in the past as well. I know Bud uses Reef Crystals also (since we ordered them together) so I am guessing that is probably one of the causes of the low pH.
Bob

Bud, I'm going to replumb this weekend and I'm also using a stock tub.

I don't get the overflows (the ones in the bucket)...what's with the tee and the 90 degree elbows?

What size bulkheads do you need? I have some lying around.

Bud, I'm going to replumb this weekend and I'm also using a stock tub.

I don't get the overflows (the ones in the bucket)...what's with the tee and the 90 degree elbows?

What size bulkheads do you need? I have some lying around.

My convoluted thinking is: the overflows are in the bucket to force air bubbles to the surface so they aren't sucked back out the bottom of the return and sent back up to the tank and the tee and other pipe is to allow air in or out sort of like a reverse durso. It seemed to make sense when I did it, but I'm not entirely certain.

I need a 1" slipxslip bulkhead which Sam has but I haven't been able to connect with him. Thanks!

Bud

Wow Bud, thats looking really good. Here is one concern. Why is your pH only 7.8. You don't have any coral or livestock to bring the pH down. You might want to recalibrate your pH. If not, I do have a brand new probe for you to try out. A freshly mixed salt water should be at least 8.1-8.2.

Thanks Trinh! I'm not sure why the PH is so low, there really isn't anything that I know of making it so. It may just be the makeup of the Reef Crystals salt mix or the calibration of my PH meter. It was also taken first thing in the morning so natuarally lower then. Once I get the refugium plumbed in, I'll put it on a night time lighting schedule which should help.

Ok, I've gotten quite a bit done since my last update. I've moved my T5s on top of the tank, although I still need to build a canopy for them; I moved the DAS EX-2 skimmer into place and it has begun skimming some; I have the refugium plumbed with sand, some rock, a little Cheato and a light over it; and I've started adding corals. I still have some large pieces to move in as well as a lot of frags.

Lookin' good! It looks like there's room for Jeremy's monster Monti in there! :D

If you want I can bring you some dirt for that thing... It almost looks fake. I would like to see a diagram of ur plumbing and flow of your sump if you have time to draw one up.

Looks great.

Lookin' good! It looks like there's room for Jeremy's monster Monti in there! :D

Thanks, George. I'm saving the middle for something but not quite sure yet. I have a couple of football sized zoa rocks that need a home and I'm thinking maybe an anenome if/when chrisjet's rbta from Russ splits.

If you want I can bring you some dirt for that thing... It almost looks fake. I would like to see a diagram of ur plumbing and flow of your sump if you have time to draw one up.

Looks great.

I'll try to get something drawn up or pictures for you.

Here are pictures of the plumbing. Under the tank looks pretty good, but the basement is a mess!

what are those purple and green looking things on the right.

what are those purple and green looking things on the right.

I believe they are both a type of rhodactis mushroom.

I believe they are both a type of rhodactis mushroom.


where did you get them, i want some.

I bought about 300lbs of live rock with corals from a couple of different people and they were part of the deal.

I bought about 300lbs of live rock with corals from a couple of different people and they were part of the deal.
dude you are lucky

looks like crap. I'd tear it down and start over :D

You can't really tell from the pics how big those rocks are with the mushrooms. Looks great!
BZ

looks like crap. I'd tear it down and start over :D

You can't really tell from the pics how big those rocks are with the mushrooms. Looks great!
BZ

Thanks Bob, I may try to move one of the zoa/paly rocks into it today or tomorrow.

How are the tee openings working. Do they let some of the air out from the drain and decrease the bubbles into the sump? Is the sound reduced from the bubbling. Mine tends to have intermittent bursts of large bubbles every few minutes. The durso above helps and i tried to drill some holes just under the water, but that seems like a good idea.

I think they help a lot, but I'm still not happy with the way I have them in the sump. I have all but one of them going into a bucket sitting in the sump which forces the bubbles to rise. The surging has quieted down significantly partly because I turned my return pump down a little and partly because it just did and I don't know why.

more pics!!!

more pics!!!

Just because you asked so nicely!

Nice, I like it.

Nice, I like it.

Thanks!

Very nice! I was looking closely at the pictures but did not see any fish. Is this a reef only tank?
BZ

Naw! The fish are just really bashful.

Very nice! I was looking closely at the pictures but did not see any fish. Is this a reef only tank?
BZ

I've had a productive week this week. Jason (Rockdog) came over and put an additional breaker box in the basement and we ran two 20amp circuits to the 120G in the family room, two to my office for the frag tank and 65G, and two to the the basement sump area. All with GFCI outlets of course.

I also moved my RO/DI from it's temporary location in the garage to the basement after running some new copper plumbing and extending the waste line to water one of my wife's gardens. I'm using pvc to plumb two Rubbermaid Brutes to an Iwaki 40 pump so I can move RO and/or saltwater to the sump in the basement without having to carry buckets.

Lastly, I was able to build a stand for my skimmer so I could move it over the sump and no longer worry about an overflow or leak. It also gives me more room on the stand for a QT and maybe another frag tank.

Did you take any pics of the skimmer stand? I wanna see....

ThankX for the "plug" :)

Jason

Yes, I put them in the thread I started while building it. http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17432

Did you take any pics of the skimmer stand? I wanna see....

ThankX for the "plug" :)

Jason

Think I am going to start calling you MR PVC .... I think you have more unions, cutoffs and connections then I have ever seen on one tank!!!!
Very cool.
Z

The purple mushrooms are really awesome!

Think I am going to start calling you MR PVC .... I think you have more unions, cutoffs and connections then I have ever seen on one tank!!!!
Very cool.
Z

Ha! I just added a bunch more to move either saltwater or RO/DI over to the sump. No more carrying it, at least for the 120G system.

The purple mushrooms are really awesome!

Thanks! I really like them as well.

Think I am going to start calling you MR PVC .... I think you have more unions, cutoffs and connections then I have ever seen on one tank!!!!
Very cool.
Z

Just for you, Bob! I finished plumbing my RO/DI/Saltwater system. Now I can circulate water in either tub, mix salt, move water from one tub to the other, and/or more importantly move either RO/DI or saltwater directly to my sump. Now I just have to figure out how to get the old water out to a drain. Thanks to Trinh for the idea.

http://budhorn.com/reef%20tank%20120g/Reef%20Tank-120G_DSC04128w_RO-DI_System_080731.jpg

Like I said before...MR PVC!!! Nice setup, now you can come over and do my RO/DI for me!
BZ

I'm trying to remember to get pictures of the tank at the first of each month. Here are August's pictures. I've added a couple more corals, but alas no fish yet.

FTS!
http://budhorn.com/reef%20tank%20120g/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_5705_FTS_080801.jpg

Left Side!
http://budhorn.com/reef%20tank%20120g/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_5711_Left_080801.jpg

Center!
http://budhorn.com/reef%20tank%20120g/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_5712_Center_080801.jpg

Right side!
http://budhorn.com/reef%20tank%20120g/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_5713_Right_080801.jpg

Very nice!!! Really looking good Bud. Can't wait to see it up close.
BZ

I couldn't stand it any longer, I had to see something swimming in my tank. This first picture is from the last week of August and has all four in the same shot.


http://budhorn.com/reef%20tank%20120g/Reef%20Tank-120G_DSC04384_Fish_080826.jpg (http://budhorn.com/reef%20tank%20120g/Reef%20Tank-120G_DSC04384_Fish_080826.jpg)


The next pictures were taken September 1st. Not much has changed since August 1st, but I'm starting to see some growth in the corals.

Full Tank Shot!

http://budhorn.com/reef%20tank%20120g/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_5899_FTS_080901.jpg

Left Side!

http://budhorn.com/reef%20tank%20120g/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_5901_Left_080901.jpg
Center!

http://budhorn.com/reef%20tank%20120g/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_5902_Center_080901.jpg
Right!
http://budhorn.com/reef%20tank%20120g/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_5904_Right_080901.jpg

Looking really good Bud! :thumbs: and FISH????? :eek: Holy cow! Never thought I'd see any one those in your tank! :D

BZ

Thanks! I was beginning to think that as well. Hopefully I'll get the wrasses in there some day.

Looking really good Bud! :thumbs: and FISH????? :eek: Holy cow! Never thought I'd see any one those in your tank! :D

BZ

Good looking tank!! Nice aquascaping!

Good looking tank!! Nice aquascaping!

Thanks!

Bud,
Looks very nice can't wait to see it tomorrow.

Rawn

Wow, your tank looks really clean. I love how you did the RO set up. :D

Wow, your tank looks really clean. I love how you did the RO set up. :D

Thanks, Trinh! Yeah, I'm glad I saw how you did yours for the idea. Now I just need to figure out how to get rid of the tank waste water without carrying it upstairs to the nearest drain or outside.

Long overdue update on my 120G! I swapped out the T5 retro and replaced it with an 8 bulb Tek Fixture. I've added a couple of fish and reworked the sump a little.

FTS
http://budhorn.com/Reef%20Tank%20120G/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_7145_FTS_090217.jpg

Under the tank
http://budhorn.com/Reef%20Tank%20120G/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_7149_Under_090217.jpg

Basement sump
http://budhorn.com/Reef%20Tank%20120G/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_7155_Sump_090217.jpg

http://budhorn.com/Reef%20Tank%20120G/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_7156_Sump_090217.jpg

http://budhorn.com/Reef%20Tank%20120G/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_7159_Sump_090217.jpg

30G Refugium
http://budhorn.com/Reef%20Tank%20120G/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_7158_Refugium_090217.jpg

Extra 30G
http://budhorn.com/Reef%20Tank%20120G/Reef%20Tank-120G_IMG_7151_29G_090217.jpg

WOW!!! Great looking tank Bud!

Looking great Bud!

Nice! I really like the full tank shot. :up:

Thanks guys!

Looking great. Can't wait to see this tank again in person. Have the clowns found the rose yet?

Thanks! No, but one of them sleeps right next to it and occassionally touches it so there is hope.

Looking great. Can't wait to see this tank again in person. Have the clowns found the rose yet?

Very nice Bud. Looking good. Everything is getting big!!

I have really been remiss on doing updates even though I have made several changes to the tank. I've never been happy with the aquascaping in the center and right sides of the tank but didn't have any idea on how to make it better. Bobz came over two weekends ago to help me with it and he really came up with some great ideas so I am very happy with the way it looks now. I need to add some corals in the center on the tallest rock and hope to get some zoas to put there. I've also added several fish including three female McCosker's Flasher Wrasses, one male Long-finned Flasher Wrasse, a Yellow Tang, and a Hippo Tang. Since my Black and White Clowns appeared to be growing at the same rate and are probably both females, I traded one with Bob for a smaller one which is in QT and will be added in the near future.

Here's a FTS with the new aquascaping.

I like that tank. Nice color nice mix of corals just overall nice setup!! Good job!

WOW that looks great. I wish I had the basement to do some extra stuff.

Wow! That looks even better than I remember. Nice!
BZ

I like that tank. Nice color nice mix of corals just overall nice setup!! Good job!

Thanks!

WOW that looks great. I wish I had the basement to do some extra stuff.

Thanks! Having a basement sure makes things a lot simpler when it comes to waterchanges and other maintenance.


Wow! That looks even better than I remember. Nice!
BZ

Thanks for all the help on it.The center of the tank looks so much better to me.

The tour was incredible! much better in person, to say the least! Thanks for the hospitality!
Ralph

You're welcome and thanks for the kind words.


The tour was incredible! much better in person, to say the least! Thanks for the hospitality!
Ralph

We need another update Bud

ok!! So where are the new pics you promised me?????????? :D

ok!! So where are the new pics you promised me?????????? :D

Ok, here are a couple for now. Unfortunately, some of my newer corals are too small to see yet so I'll try to get some close ups.

Very nice! You were right about the monti cap! hard to believe that was nearly dead a couple of years ago when you got it. Now I remember the blue polyp leather too. That thing is huge now as well. The tank looks great Bud. Nice job.

bz

Very nice! You were right about the monti cap! hard to believe that was nearly dead a couple of years ago when you got it. Now I remember the blue polyp leather too. That thing is huge now as well. The tank looks great Bud. Nice job.

bz

Here's a picture of it when I got it back in 2007:



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And here it is from the first tank shot in this thread:

<IMG style="CURSOR: hand" class=thumbnail onmouseover="this.style.cursor='hand'" onclick="if(this.src.indexOf('thumb') > -1) { this.src='attachment.php?attachmentid=11337&d=1213024191' } else { this.src = 'attachment.php?attachmentid=11337&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1213024191'}" border=0 src="attachment.php?attachmentid=11337&d=1213024191">

Incredible growth! Good job.
Z

Wow looking great Bud.

Bud - Fantastic tank...I've read your entire build thread. I'm likely going to adopt many of your proven designs!!!

Thanks! Feel free to PM if you have any questions and if you are ever on this side of town you are welcome to come see it. A lot of my proven designs were proven by others on here before me and I've learned a lot from them.

Bud - Fantastic tank...I've read your entire build thread. I'm likely going to adopt many of your proven designs!!!