My New 110G :D

[FishFrik]

Got my 110G today! Since my fish and corals are all at a LFS (babysitting), it feels like I'm starting from the scratch, so I thought I would make a building log for this new tank Enjoy!

Tank: ReefReady All-Glass/Oceanic Hight 110 Gallons Tank (48"x18"x30")
LiveRock: 160+ Pounds
LiveSand: 100+ Pounds - 2 inches Sandbed
Flow: 4 Mod'ed Maxijets 900 - 940+ GPH
Lighting: 260W PowerCompact
Filtration: Coralife Super Skimmer 125, LTP Phosban Reactor, 9W Coralife UV Sterilizer (Rated for 125G)
Heater: 250W Jager

Plans:
1. 40G Sump/fuge
2. 4 x 54W T5 Fixture
3. Auto Top-Off

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Day 1

The 110G was a heavy beast, which weighted about 200lbs. The 6' seller, my dad and I had to bring it down from the 2nd floor of an apartment complex.

The tank didn't fit my 75G stand, because the stand was homemade. DOH! We tried to fit it in and cracked 1 side of the stand a little but it was all good lol. I quickly filled the tank with the sand, then stacked the rocks. I tried to stack them against the back glass to leave more swimming space in the front. The aquascape did not come out as I wanted. It looks like a stacked together pile of LR now...I don't know if I should change it or not. Since water is already the tank and the tank is 30" high, moving the rock around would suck XD I only filled the tank with water to 0.5" below the overflow box's intake because my plumbing is not done. After that, I added the CSS and Maxijets ,and fired them up. Boys! The CSS went nuts for Detrius! I'm glad I bought this skimmer.

That was pretty what I did today. Doesn't it sound like alot of work AND fun? I'll take some pictures tomorrow to show how the tank is doing

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Here's a few pictures of my old 75G. I really missed it but... this 110G is gonna ROCK!

Enjoy!

 

[melosu58]

I`m excited and cant wait!!!!

 

[angelscrx]

Post pics so we can see how it's going. I know you are going to love the bigger tank.

 

[FishFrik]

Morning After Day 1 Pictures

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As you can see, I havn't filled the tank up yet because the plumbing is not done. I'm planning to finish the plumbing next weekend. A problem that I'll have to face when I plumb this thing is the stand. The 2 openings are too small to put any decent sump/fuge in there. A friend of mine recommended me to cut off the middle divider. This stand was homemade for a 75G, so I don't know if that would be a smart thing to do. The 110G itself is way heavier than a 75G alone due to the thicker glass. I'll have to call the maker of the stand and ask. Meanwhile...

QUESTION: Do you guys think cutting off the middle divider is a good idea?

If I'm to cut it off, I supposed I could drain the water out and try to reduce the tank's weight as much as possible.

Picture of the stand

 

[angelscrx]

You could always get a sump built that would slide in standing on one end then turn it once it was in the stand. Or get all the pieces cut and put it together inside the stand. I had a side door built into my stand so i can slide the Sump out of the side when ever I needed to.

 

[afilter]

Can't you drop the sump in from the top before you put the tank on? This is what I did. I had to temporarily remove a cross brace slide the 30g sump in and then replace the cross brace.

Do you have a pic of the stand without the tank on it?

BTW, love the pics of the 75g. First thought I had was how many fish do you have in there? Your profile states only 3, but I think I counted 3 tangs, 2 butterflies, 2 clowns, royal gramma, mandarin and another fish I could not ID. Even with the 110g this will be alot of fish if not too many. I hope you do not have plans to add any fish.

The 110g is 35g more volume, but does not add any swimming room for those big tangs because it is not any longer.

Anyway, good luck with the project.

 

[FishFrik]

You could always get a sump built that would slide in standing on one end then turn it once it was in the stand.

I tried that. The biggest tank I could barely fit through the door was a 10G

Or get all the pieces cut and put it together inside the stand.

I thought about that but it is too much trouble XD I never want to build my own sump/fuge. I'm getting a really nice used one from a LFS because they broke down their show tank.

Can't you drop the sump in from the top before you put the tank on?

I tried that before I put the tank in. The guy who made this stand didn't think about the reefready aspect of it so he made a pretty wide brace all around. I will even have to cut off a small piece from that brace to use the drilled holes under my tank XD

BTW, love the pics of the 75g. First thought I had was how many fish do you have in there? Your profile states only 3, but I think I counted 3 tangs, 2 butterflies, 2 clowns, royal gramma, mandarin and another fish I could not ID. Even with the 110g this will be alot of fish if not too many. I hope you do not have plans to add any fish.

Thanks for the compliment! Yes I did have alot of fish in that 75G. I made mistakes and impulsively bought them all. I learned my lession though . I'm only keeping the Blue Tang and Clownfish for now and sold away the rest. This time i'll try to do everything right with this 110G, starting with the right equipments.

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Day 2

I didn't get many things done today because I "had" to attend the MACNA tradeshow. It was AMAZING! Anway hehe, I set up my UV sterilizer and Phosban reactor today. In the reactor, I run Seachem Matrix and Phosguard (got them as "free samples" from MACNA lol). I also painted the back of the tank black. After every filters were in place, I put on the canopy and turned on the light. The water got clear so quickly thanks to the CSS125. Here are some pictures of the tank as of this afternoon:

 

[afilter]

Looking good so far. Too bad about the sump.

I have an idea though. What about installing a temporary brace off set like middle of one of the doors. The cut out the center brace and replace it once you slide in your sump.

Otherwise another metod which would require you to remove the tank is to cut out the floor of the stand. Then just position the sump and set the stand over the top of it. This would most likely cause no structural of cosmetic issues. Just a thought.

Glad to see you are modifying your stocking list. I have 7 fish in my 90g, but only one tang (large fish).

Good Luck,

 

[DeFeKt]

The tank didn't fit my 75G stand, because the stand was homemade. DOH! We tried to fit it in and cracked 1 side of the stand a little but it was all good lol.

If I'm to cut it off, I supposed I could drain the water out and try to reduce the tank's weight as much as possible.

umm, I wouldn't be using that stand at all let alone cutting the middle brace out of it.[

 

[FishFrik]

umm, I wouldn't be using that stand at all let alone cutting the middle brace out of it.[

Why wouldn't you? The difference between the tank's width and the stand was only about 2mm. The tank went down hard when we slid it in the stand and poped the right brace out just a tiny bit.

 

[DeFeKt]

only because it was made for a 75g and I wouldn't be overly confident using it personally.
What is it made out of? it's hard to tell as in one pic it looks like the back legs are thin wood, but in the same pic the front legs look like steel.
Not having a go mate, just giving my personal opinion.
75gallon to a 110gallon is a big jump to be messing with (or withoutin this case) structural integrity.

damn nice looking tank though..

 

[FishFrik]

only because it was made for a 75g and I wouldn't be overly confident using it personally.

Thanks for the concern. I was thinking the same thing but then again, I know a few people that upgraded from their 75G to higher tanks that fit their tank (90G, 105G, 110G). A "75G stand" is just a universal name for any 48"x18" stand IMO.

ADDED: The guy that I bought the tank from was going to use the following solid oak stand for the 110G. As you can see, no center brace front nor back. I'll have to compare my stand to it material-wise though.

http://www.marshreef.com/modules/Forums/files/stand_view_i.jpg

What is it made out of? it's hard to tell as in one pic it looks like the back legs are thin wood, but in the same pic the front legs look like steel.

The material is the thing I'm most concerned about. It is wood but I don't know what kind. I havn't been able to call the maker yet. Maybe I'll give him a call tomorrow. His thought on this would be most important.

Not having a go mate, just giving my personal opinion.

I can't thank you enough for taking your time and give me your opinions. That's basically what everyone wants from this forum.

darn nice looking tank though..

Thanks

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Day 3

Not much was done today either because I had school and work. I can't do anything much during the week because I get home from work at 6:30PM. Anyway, I spent 2 hours to fix my aquascape. It looks WAY better than yesterday's IMO. The water is a little cloudy right now because of all the rock-moving, so I'll have to save the pictures for tomorrow.

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Thanks for tuning in my build log! "Day 4" episode will be on air tomorrow night!

To Be Continued...

 

[ntswift]

Looking good!

 

[SkinnyPete]

only because it was made for a 75g and I wouldn't be overly confident using it personally.

If it makes you feel better, I upgraded from a 75g to 110g on my 'All Glass' Pine stand. I was concerned as well and actually called All Glass. They told me, weight-wise, it's rated to handle something ridiculous like 210g or something. I've been using the stand for a year and a half with no problems so far.

Also regarding the 110...I think you have it covered but really make sure to get some flow going deep in the tank. I've got a ton of flow in mine and I've still got dead spots on my sand. It's really hard to keep things moving in a tank so tall. It's my biggest complaint about the 110. Consider running topless on the thing to help with gas exchange. With the surface area to volume of water and especially if you have a small sump - you'll need all the gas exchange you can get.

Good luck.

- Skins

 

[FishFrik]

I think you have it covered but really make sure to get some flow going deep in the tank.

Consider running topless on the thing to help with gas exchange. With the surface area to volume of water and especially if you have a small sump - you'll need all the gas exchange you can get.

Thanks for the reminders. Yeah, I'm going to try my best to keep my tank from having dead spots, which I had in my old 29G...(its cyano outbreak's still haunting me). Currently, I have 4 Maxjet900's running in there. They are all mod'ed w/ the basic Maxi Mod so I basically have 8 directions of flows in there. 2 of them are near the top to help with gas exchange. Also, my canopy is open in the back. There are two fans blowing from both side of it too so the canopy actually helps with the gas exchange and temperature.

In addition to that, I'm plumbing my sump this weekend so gas exchange will never be an issue Plus, with the returning Mag7, I'll have more flow to prevent dead spots. YAY!

Speaking of flow, I'm thinking of buying a Mod kit ($45) for 1 of my Maxijet. I've heard that it can boost the performance from 260GPH to 1200GPH.

Thank you so much for your insights!

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Pictures of new Aquascape is coming tonight! Stay tuned!

 

[SkinnyPete]

Well, just to give you an idea - I've got 4 maxijet 1200s, 3 of them on a wave maker and one of them the Maxijet mod, plus a Mag7 as a return....and still dead spots. Seems impossible, I know...but it's just so deep. Just something to keep an eye on.

 

[ckmn101]

Anxious to see the re-aquascaped pics. Just a thought- I have a Seio powerhead that has high flow. You might check one of them out
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12074&N=2004+113040
good luck

 

[FishFrik]

Hey guys. Sorry for the delay on the pictures. Had so many things to do last night.

Here is the tank as off last night. I didn't change the aquascape's general shape that much but it has improved tremendously from a packed stack to a structure which has many overhangs and caves. Enjoy!

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Day 4

All I got done was strategically positioned my 4 mod'ed Maxijets. Believe it or not, it was harder than it sounds. Because there are 2 flows coming out the each of the Maxijets, I had to position them correctly so they won't crash too much into each other or into the tank walls and blow sand everywhere (happened lol).

 

[ckmn101]

FishFrik- What do you have the minijet hooked to? And the turbo twist, is it on a ph?
thanks

 

[FishFrik]

What do you have the minijet hooked to?

The minijet is for my Phosban Reactor.

And the turbo twist, is it on a ph?

Yes, it is hooked to a Maxijet400, which is on the left of the skimmer's pump.

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Day 5

I tested the water today. The parameters were alright

PH - 8.2
NH3 - 0.25< (I think something is wrong is with test kit. My tank water always tests for 0.25)
NO2 - 0+ (Not quite 0.1 but a little/tiny indication of pink)
NO3 - 14
SG - 1.024
PO4 - 0.03

I got a really nice 4" piece of galaxia for $15 from a local reefer. First life of the tank