So I finally took the leap, I waited to post about my build until it was complete. I come across far too many build threads that start out hot and fizzle over time and we never get to really see the tanks reach completion. Well, here is mine. I’ve been reefing the better part of 13 years now. I started with a 29 gallon aquarium, moved to a 55, then a 90, then a 125. I acquired a friend’s tank and that quickly turned into a 110gallon tank as well. So here I was, a raised ranch with a 125 in the finished basement and a 110 on the upper level. Maintenance was difficult considering both tanks were in different levels. I ran long distances of RO tubing for top off water (RO system is upstairs in the bathroom and line wasn run downstairs and held in place by coaxial wire clips).
I finally got the ok from the misses to pull trigger on my dream tank so I could combine the two tanks. I ordered it from customaquariums.com and I honestly couldn’t be happier. Free shipping and the build quality is just as good as my miracles built 110. I opted for a central Synergy Reef Shadow overflow with two returns on each side of the tank.
Equipment as follows
Lights: 4 radion gen 4 pro’s in two 4x54 watt aquaticlife T5/LED hybrid fixtures. All T5’s are ATI variety.
Flow: 2 - MP60wQD’s (one on each side) and two mp40wES running evenly spaced on the rear wall.
Return pump is a Jebao DCQ10000
Sump/Fuge
Black and Ferrari Red Bashsea 60” sump with matching media and 8x30 bio reactors custom made with red pieces.
All sump pvc is custom ordered red with black fittings.
Skimmer
-Regal Octopus 300INT
Refugium lighting
-Kessil A360WE
Clearwater Scrubber CW300 model scrubber mounted on back of tank stand
Stand lighting is RGBW LED strip
Display box wasn’t made with a shadow box mounted to a hole cut in the stand’s rear panel. I wrapped RGB led’s Around the perimeter and mounted my iPad and apex gear with Velcro to the box.
The sides of the stand were done with Litestone faux veneer purchased at Lowes.com
The front doors are held in place by a french cleat on the bottom of the stand and two strong rare earth magnets at each upper corner of each door.
- the holes were cut in the doors and then they were routed. I attached a smoked piece of acrylic to each door to allow just enough light from the sump area to shine through to show off the filtration. At any point I can kill all sump lighting and the acrylic panels appear as if they were painted black and non transparent. I saw a few tanks like this and thought there were AWESOME.
Livestock
Tangs
-Achilles
-2x hippo
-purple
-yellow
-powder blue
- pacific sailfin
-Red Sea sailfin
Wrasses
-2x Radiant
- Melanarus
Clowns
-2x false percula
-black and white Darwin
Miscellaneous
-1x Lyretail anthias
The tank has been up for about 2 months but has been having livestock added slowly to assist with adjusting the bioload in a manageable way. I utilized a MarinePure ceramic block (8”x8”x4”) from algaebarn.com to assist the live rock, sand, and bio reactor with additional surface area for bacterial growth. MarinePure claims it has something on the order of 2700 sq/ft of porous space. Sounded good to me!
So now that you’ve read all that, picture time! Let me know how you like it, I used Marco rocks/ sand and the aquascaping mortar they sell to aquascape the tank. No corals yet, just the rock and fish. If there is anything I can do better or anything major I should change, I’m always open to suggestions. Thank you for reading!
P.S. I’m new to posting large quantities of pictures so I apologize if there are doubles!
-Josh
I finally got the ok from the misses to pull trigger on my dream tank so I could combine the two tanks. I ordered it from customaquariums.com and I honestly couldn’t be happier. Free shipping and the build quality is just as good as my miracles built 110. I opted for a central Synergy Reef Shadow overflow with two returns on each side of the tank.
Equipment as follows
Lights: 4 radion gen 4 pro’s in two 4x54 watt aquaticlife T5/LED hybrid fixtures. All T5’s are ATI variety.
Flow: 2 - MP60wQD’s (one on each side) and two mp40wES running evenly spaced on the rear wall.
Return pump is a Jebao DCQ10000
Sump/Fuge
Black and Ferrari Red Bashsea 60” sump with matching media and 8x30 bio reactors custom made with red pieces.
All sump pvc is custom ordered red with black fittings.
Skimmer
-Regal Octopus 300INT
Refugium lighting
-Kessil A360WE
Clearwater Scrubber CW300 model scrubber mounted on back of tank stand
Stand lighting is RGBW LED strip
Display box wasn’t made with a shadow box mounted to a hole cut in the stand’s rear panel. I wrapped RGB led’s Around the perimeter and mounted my iPad and apex gear with Velcro to the box.
The sides of the stand were done with Litestone faux veneer purchased at Lowes.com
The front doors are held in place by a french cleat on the bottom of the stand and two strong rare earth magnets at each upper corner of each door.
- the holes were cut in the doors and then they were routed. I attached a smoked piece of acrylic to each door to allow just enough light from the sump area to shine through to show off the filtration. At any point I can kill all sump lighting and the acrylic panels appear as if they were painted black and non transparent. I saw a few tanks like this and thought there were AWESOME.
Livestock
Tangs
-Achilles
-2x hippo
-purple
-yellow
-powder blue
- pacific sailfin
-Red Sea sailfin
Wrasses
-2x Radiant
- Melanarus
Clowns
-2x false percula
-black and white Darwin
Miscellaneous
-1x Lyretail anthias
The tank has been up for about 2 months but has been having livestock added slowly to assist with adjusting the bioload in a manageable way. I utilized a MarinePure ceramic block (8”x8”x4”) from algaebarn.com to assist the live rock, sand, and bio reactor with additional surface area for bacterial growth. MarinePure claims it has something on the order of 2700 sq/ft of porous space. Sounded good to me!
So now that you’ve read all that, picture time! Let me know how you like it, I used Marco rocks/ sand and the aquascaping mortar they sell to aquascape the tank. No corals yet, just the rock and fish. If there is anything I can do better or anything major I should change, I’m always open to suggestions. Thank you for reading!
P.S. I’m new to posting large quantities of pictures so I apologize if there are doubles!
-Josh
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