my 90 gallon build thread

[afbengochea]

Well I guess I should make a thread to show the progress of my upgrade. As of right now I have a 75 gal tank that I have had set up for about 2 yrs now. It wasnt reef ready when it was given to me and I had no clue on what I wanted to do with it but kinda learned on the way. Before I had set up the 75, I had it drilled with a 1" and a 3/4" bulkhead put in on one side and another 3/4" bulkhead on the other side. Well Ive done alot of tinkering and ended up using the extra bulkhead for a closed loop intake and made a manifold to sit on top of the tank. I never really liked the distribution of flow within the tank so I decided that I needed a new tank. With swapping out the tank, I have plenty of time to get together everything I need. So a couple of weeks ago I picked up a new 90 gal reef ready tank and asked flyguy to build me one of those slick looking rock lifts. I received most of the new bulkheads and fittings this past friday and my sequence dart came in on saturday. I also moved all my corals over to a buddies tank so I would have plenty of time to make the move. Right now Im waiting on the diamond coated drill bits to get here from japan and then Ill start the fun of drilling a bunch of holes. Ill post pics as we progress.

[afbengochea]

This is a design on how Im going to drill the tank. I was trying to decide between the two designs but I will be using the bottom one of the two.

[afbengochea]

[beach bum]

awesome! It is so much more fun than having to just 'make do' with old equipment, and actually get to put all of your new knowledge to use. Can't wait to see how all the plumbing looks when it's done - looks pretty well thought out.

[beach bum]

what about new stand and hood? what color are you going to paint the tank (black i guess to match the overflow)? can you post a pic of your current setup?

[Geoff]

which holes are the intakes and which are the outlets? i like to have my inlets high so they can be cleared of debris.

G~

[110galreef]

Cool......tagging along

Geoff....I am pretty sure those are all returns.

[afbengochea]

Well I currently have the 75 setup and I will reuse my stand and canopy that I stained a nice cherry color. Ill see about putting some pics of that. I really like the stand since I had it made nice and tall. I think its 36" tall and already have T5's installed in the canopy. I might add another pair of T5's since now I will have a deeper tank. 110 is right on the holes, they are all returns. For the intakes I am thinking of putting them on either side of the overflow box and about 8" down from the top. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to share

[110galreef]

For the intakes for the CLS I would go a little lower...about 12", since they should be behind the rock somewhat or can be hidden. I don't like seeing anything. Plus if you ever need to get to them it still shouldn't be too bad.

[afbengochea]

heres a pic of the stand and canopy on the 75 thats being replaced

[tashier]

Nice Rock Lifts.

[afbengochea]

lol I know, they are sweet

[DevilBoy]

cool, i really like them rock lifts also...

[afbengochea]

well as it turns out I need to work on this project a little quicker since I have stuff laying all over the place and Im supposed to be expecting visitors from out of town next week. I guess I will have to put the tank together this weekend. Luckily I pretty much have everything I need to do it except for a bulkhead or two but I shouldnt have a problem finding one locally.

[afbengochea]

how low do u guys think I should make the returns from the top?