Zach's 90 Gallon "Build" Log

[ZMattie]

Well the 3 months is up! After 3 hectic days of moving, I have finally set up my tank! As some of you may know, I have had all of the equipment for this setup for a few months now and have been waiting ever so patiently to move into my new place. Trust me, this has not been easy (having to look at all of my stuff, knowing I cannot set up for *40 days* lol...!) Thanks to Nick (firsthesitation), Nate (taminate), Matt (oldetownenorthpets) and Menards (yes menards!) it only took 2 days to set everything up.

Ill start by listing the equipment...
-90 Gallon RR tank
-Megaflow 4 Wet/Dry filter that I like to call my sump
-ASM G3 Skimmer w/ Sedra 5000 pump (I bought the skimmer used off of RC (reefcentral.com) and the guy fogot to pack the elbow that attaches the pump to the skimmer chamber, so I decided to do one of the mods to it right away. Instead of doing the "gate valve mod" that most do, I went with a ball valve that is connected with 2x 90 degree angles, and 2x 1" PVC pieces. For those the dont know what the "mod" does, it restricts the amout of flow that is allowed into the skimmer chamber. To be honest, I have no idea why this helps the skimmer perform better, but I have heard/been told it works wonders!
-QuiteOne 4100 (1017 GPH)
-6x54W NovaExtreme Pro lighting fixture (Back to front) 1x 420NM actinic, 1x 10K, 1x Fiji Purple, 1x Blue Plus, 1x 420NM actinic, 1x 10k
-A dual chamber phosban reactor (Im too lazy to get up and check the brand right now, Ill edit later to announce it)
-A dual swith ATO system from autotopoff.com (I NEED HELP ASSEMBLING THIS! PLEASE HELP!) That is fed from a 20 gallon ATO holding tank.
-A Koralia 4, a Koralia 2, and a Koralia Nano (under the rock pile)
-75 GPD RODI system bought off of ebay (again to lazy to list brand, will edit later)
-An RODI auto shut off float switch (I NEED HELP ASSEMBLING THIS! PLEASE HELP!)

I think this is all, but I AM sure I am forgetting something lol, so I will probally end up editing this later, but I will make sure to post, so the addition is not missed by those who do not like reading the same thread beginning to end 100000xs lol.

Thanks to all that helped with this set up! I only listed those that physically helped in setting up/aiding in equipment that was needed in the process of setting up (Matt), but Thanks to everyone (literally just about EVERY LARK member) that helped in planning it over the last few months!

OH... And I know I will get tagged with a million "This thread is useless without pics" icons, so I will post again in a few minutes with all of the pictures I have taken. (I regret not taking pics of the actual setup, but I do have pics of where it is currently)...

THANKS EVERYONE FOR LOOKING, and Better Yet, FOR THE HELP, it is GREATLY appreciated!
-Zach

**Long enough for you? Just think if I didnt have a few beers in me, Id remember EVERY last thing to include lol!**

[ZMattie]

A shot of the tank with the lights off (Ill be adding more LR)
Attachment 68634

A shot of the tank with all of the lights on (It looks ALOT different with only the actinics on vs. all of the lights on, but the pics didnt really show a difference).
Attachment 68635

A shot of the ATO tank and its trimmer compartment.
Attachment 68636

A under shot of the tank (sump area).
Attachment 68640

A shot of the "ball valve mod" that I did to the skimmer.
Attachment 68638

[schneijt]

Strange...putting a valve between the pump and the skimmer. lol But, my bet is that the 5000 is a bit too much for the body of the G3, so reducing the flow into the skimmer a little bit reduces turbulence and maybe improves contact time. Interesting, though, I must admit. If there's anything I've learned over the years, it's that some pretty crazy ideas turn out to be great ones in this hobby!

-Joe

[ZMattie]

LOL, Im with you on this Joe, It beats me why this works, but I guess if I feel like its not working up to its potential, Ill find the elbow (which I could NOT find anywhere online...) and return the skimmer to ''stock."

[firsthesitation]

I still can't figure out why you cant adjust the outgoing side of that skimmer to regulate the water......doesn't make any sense.

[D.J.]

couple of questions zach...
1...you already changed out 2 of the bulbs in the light? did that make any difference in the light? been thinkin about tinkerin with mine but not sure what to get...

2...barebottom? if so..what made you decide on this?

alright enuff Q&A for now....

tanks lookin good....im gona be addin an auto top off to mine as soon as the meeting is over with. i like the lil cabinet you have the ATO in...i cant find anything that matches my stand so i guess i gota build one..

gona leave it open top or gona add a canopy? im getting ready to build a canopy for mine...just to help with the looks and the overflow noise untill that gets broke in.....

[Sndwave80]

Looks good!

[Loverotties]

Looking good!

[ZMattie]

Answers...
-No, I am not going BB (Bare Bottom). I have already ordered my sand, but I asked the guy to put a hold on the shipping date (til the 22nd), since I am using quite a bit of fry rock, I figured a BB for a couple weeks wouldnt be a bad idea, thata way I can siphon/blow all of the gunk that comes off of the rocks away. But back to the sand, its "fiji white fine sand." I got it on ebay and it was actually a pretty sweet deal. I got 90 lbs of sand, 5lbs of lava rubble, a bag of chaeto and two bottles of tiger pods, all for $82 to my door! Heck, I woulda paid the $82 just for the sand!
-Yes, I already changed out 2 bulbs. I swapped 1x 10k with a Blue Plus, and I swapped 1x 420NM actinic with a Fiji Purple. So, since 4 bulbs are run by 1 switch, and the other 2 off of another switch, Ill be timing my actinics (2x 420NM actinic, 1x Fiji Purple & 1x Blue Plus) 2 hours before and after my "daylight" bulbs (2x 10k).
-Yes, there is a canopy, I just figured Id be in and out of it so much that it wouldnt make much sense to have it on right now.

[Jrmass]

Originally Posted by ZMattie

-ASM G3 Skimmer w/ Sedra 5000 pump (I bought the skimmer used off of RC (reefcentral.com) and the guy fogot to pack the elbow that attaches the pump to the skimmer chamber, so I decided to do one of the mods to it right away. Instead of doing the "gate valve mod" that most do, I went with a ball valve that is connected with 2x 90 degree angles, and 2x 1" PVC pieces. (Jason and I decided that I wouldnt see a huge difference between the gate valve and the ball valve.) For those the dont know what the "mod" does, it restricts the amout of flow that is allowed into the skimmer chamber. To be honest, I have no idea why this helps the skimmer perform better, but I have heard/been told it works wonders!

I just need to clarify that I didn't say that this was a mod... I said if the pump was too powerful for the skimmer to put a ball valve before the skimmer to reduce the flow. I said to add a gate valve after the skimmer to regulate the height of the water in the chamber. Think you may have misunderstood me when I was talking to you about this.

Just figured that I would mention this seeing that there seems to be questions about why a person would go about doing this. It is only a precaution so that the water in the skimmer would not shoot through the collection cup turning the skimmer into a firehose.

Jason

[ZMattie]

I didnt say that you (Jason) told me to do this as a mod. I have seen this mod on RC, but it was done with a gate valve instead of a ball valve. I guess I was confused on what you had said Jason. Your name has been deleted from the thread, sorry for the inconvenience...

[Jrmass]

No it wasn't an inconvience... I was just making sure that you understood why I suggested doing it. And that it is just to make sure the pump isn't too strong for the skimmer. That's all

[D.J.]

AHHH YA THAT DOEAS SOUND LIKE A GOOD IDEA......makes since at least...cant wait to see what you do with this one....keep us posted zach

[ZMattie]

Okay. So first of all, Jason you were right. I did the true "gate valve mod" yesterday. I couldnt find the gate valve any where around here so I had to order one online. I also did the mesh mod to the skimmers impeller. When I post pics, I will include the parts list and step by step instructions for each mod. I also added 37 more pounds of dry rock and 10 lbs of LR (along with the originial 10 lbs of LR that I put in right away from my nano). I added a bag of "Live shells" that will just be buried by the LS lol but they helped alot with the cycling of the tank, which is now cycled. My nitrates spiked and then dropped back to 0, so I did a 10 gallon water change and added a Chromis to make sure it will live before I decide to bring over my other fish/corals. I also accidently brought a piece of LR from my nano that had some kenya tree on it, which remarkably made it through the cycle. So, within the next month or so, Ill be slowly stocking the fish. I will try to get pics up as soon as I can.

[ZMattie]

Stocking List

Fish
-2 False Percula Clowns (Already Have)
-1 Powder Blue Tang
-1 Lawnmower Blenny
-1 Diamond Sand Sifting Goby
-1 Sixline Wrasse (Already Have)
-1 Radiant Wrasse
-2 Purple Firefish
9 Total Fish

Inverts
-2 LTA's (The one I already have, and the one from the meeting)
-2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Already Have)
-1 Coral Banded Shrimp (I know, I know lol)
-2 Peppermint Shrimp
-2 Emerald Crabs (I already have 1)
-2 Sexy Anemone Shrimp
11 Total Inverts

Coral
-LOL you actually think I would even attempt to make this list? lol