About 6 months ago i decided to take the plunge and upgrade tank larger than my 24g Aquapod. After a month of research about new and used tanks i decided to go with a 90gal. Its big enough to have most of the fish that i wanted, but small enough that it doesnt completely drain my bank account. I found a local Reefer that was looking to get out of the hobby and had a 90gal for sale.

The package included:
90g with corner overflow
30" tall stand
Canopy
2 250w MH lights
3 48" Actinic VHO lights
Rubermaid Sump
ASM G-3 In-Sump Skimmer w/pump
My Reef Creation Ca Reactor w/ 2 Co2 Bottles
5 Mag pumps of all sized for return pumps
Coralife Turbo-Twist 6X - 18 Watt UV Sterilizer
100lbs of LR with all types of Corals
2 5gal buckets of Livesand
Other Misc stuff like timers, heaters, buckets, salt, powerheads, etc

I decided that i was not a big fan of the 30" stand and canopy. So i have taken up the task of making a new stand and canopy. As of this point i have only made the stand, but i plan on making the canopy in the coming few weeks.

Other improvements i have done
30” long BERLIN sump with attached REFUGIUM
Took out Coralife Turbo-Twist 6X - 18 Watt UV Sterilizer
2 Koralia 3's
New plumbing
added CaribSea Tahitian Moon Sand to the white sand to give a Salt and Pepper look.


My livestock list includes (or will include)
1 Yellow Tang
1 Blue Hippo Tang
1 Flame Angel
1 Blackcap Basslet
1 Bluespot Jawfish (RIP always cover your tank if you have one of these fish)
1 Orange Clownfish
1 Black and White Clownfish
1 Sixline Wrasse
1 Blue Mandarine goby
1 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Peperment Shrimp
1 bubble tip Anemone
1 Clam
1 Feather Duster
1 Chocolate Chip Starfish
1 Flower Rock Anemone


Corals: I plan on keeping primarily SPS but i do have a few LPS and Softies

Lots of SPS of all kinds
1 Torch
2 Frogspawn
1 Hammer
1 Plate coral
1 Red Open Brain
1 Duncan
1 Green Maze Brain
Zoanthids of all colors
Candycane
Mushrooms
and many others

Ill try to keep this updated so everyone can see my progress through the next few years. (or until i get the urge to go to a bigger tank!!!!)

waiting.....waiting.... or should I say. loading.....loading....loading. COME ON ALREADY PICS!

Here are some Pics, ill post some better pictures when i get my better camera charged

Full Shot



Stand (not finished, needs doors and stained)


Canopy open (bright!!!)


Left Side


Right Side


More to come of corals and fish within the hour

Nice! Now get the rest of the pics loaded buddy!

New SPS


New Monti caps


Torch


Frogspawn


Mushroom rock


Zoo Rock


BTA

Nice green acro!

damn you for reminding me how much i wanted a big tank

that's definitely one of the nicer tanks on the site right now. i like the stained glass on the canopy, very creative.

Actually the glass on the canopy is clear and i have taped a blue pad that is made for the tank to sit on. Kinda like a buffer so it wont hurt the floor. Anyway i kinda like it but if you dont put the blue pad in the back it BLINDING!!! So im going to make a new canopy that matches the stand. This one will be for sale for cheep or for some frags in a few weeks.

nice, it even looks pretty loaded already! keep us updated!

Looks good, that monti cap is goign to be up the glass in no time though.

Today i ordered a 20 SPS Frag pack. It should be here sometime next week. It should be my last big purchase for a while.

Pack includes
ORA Pearlberry - 1"
ORA Blue Tort - 1"
Forest Fire Orange Montipora digitata - 1"
Steve Elias Blue Stag - 1.5" (mounted and encrusted)
ORA Rose Millepora - 1"
Blue Tipped Tabling Tri-Color, 1"
Dr. Foster & Smith Pink Birdnest - 1"
Bali Yellow Millepora
Green Montipora digitata - 1 (mounted and encrusted)
ORA Green Birdnest - 1
Bali Sunburst - 1
Encrusting Purple polyp Montipora -1
Yellow Acropora Aculeus - 1
Dr. Foster's Wildwood Bottle Brush Acropora Coral - 1
Reefer Madness Unknow Orange Acropora - 1
Reefer Madness Pocillopora damicornis - 1
Ora Turquoise Staghorn - 1
ORA Chips - 1
Orange Cap - 1
Pack of 10 polyps assorted Zoanthids

Im really exciting about having a few of the ORA SPS that i can trade in the future.

nice frag list,

YAY...after a month of having my sixline stuck in the overflow. I finally got it out and its looking great in the tank!!!!

The new frags are set to come in on Tuesday Nov 18. Ill post pics when they come in.

As ive been looking at SPS tanks I am noticing that they do not use a lot of live rock. I am sure this is because of the growth of SPS compared to other corals. So as I am converting my tank from a primarily Softy and LPS tank to a SPS tank I am thinking that i have way to much live rock in my tank. What do most of you think? Should i take out some of the smaller pieces of live rock toward the top of my tank to allow for growth of all my new SPS coming next week??

Today I have moved around a few of the top rocks and placed them in my sump. I think that this will make a nice shelf to place all the SPS.

Today i also saw my Clownfish hosting my BTA for the first time ever. I did not ever think this would happen. I had tried to get them to host all types of LPS with no luck. I guess they knew what they wanted the whole time.

Pics!!!

So i thought i would add a few pics of the new rockwork. Most people will not know any difference but it gives me alot more room to place the new SPS that should be here on Tuesday. Check back in then to see the new pics. Maybe ill have my good camera charged by then.


Old Aquascape


New Aquascape


SPS and Anemone: Can you see any growth? i cant yet.

Like the rockscape arches and other interesting shapes are far more artisitc and natural than a pile of rock. You should paint the back black though as it would make the arches appear as dark caves, that could be cool.

Thanks!!! I am glad you like the rockscape as much as i do. Im currently trying to find another alternative to "painting" the back black. I really like the black look and how it makes the colors pop. Ive heard of people using black plastic w/ cooking oil to keep it attached to the glass. If anyone has any other options im very willing to try something different to achieve the black background.

Very nice setup


Can't wait to see all those sps in your tank.


Adolfo

Like your rockwork howd you do that? PM me

I love you're tank..I'm sure you're dreaming about where to put all of the new SPS's. should be a blast when they come!

I really have not done anything special with the rockwork. I did have 3 huge pieces of baserock that really helped create the cave.

Awesome to see another Southern Indiana reefer around here. I'm from Seymour, but am currently at IU. Tank looks awesome, wish I could have one like it, but I'm stuck with a stock AP12 til I graduate and get a job....

Hey Hoosier fan great to see ya around. Let me know if you ever wana trade some frags. My wife is going back to IU for optometry school in may. It stinks that deliahs burned down. Have your heard if they are going to rebuild?

My sister is a fifth year pre-optometry major at IU and probably getting ready to enter the optometry program there. Delilah's has a temporary store set up which is basically just animal food and supplies somewhere. They are moving to a new, more permanent building in a few weeks near 11th and College i think. I'm looking forward to it. I'd definitely be up for a trade sometime if i can come up with something worth trading, but i'm pretty limited on what i can keep, it'd have to softies. The only coral i have in there right now is a toadstool mushroom, but it's doing well.

ok great!!! ive got some really cool candycane ill throw your way next time im down that way

lol thanks for the offer, but i've already had a bad experience with a candycane. It didn't do so well for some reason and shriveled up pretty bad, probably not enough light with just the stock pc's that I've got.

Hows the Flame angel doing with your coral?

I have never had a problem with the flame angel picking on corals. I make sure they are fed every day though.

Tank looks sweet! I have a 80 that's almost 6 months old.

Awesome tank! We have a 75 FW that I really want to convert to salt!
Can't wait to see your new frags!

Since ive got such a good response today I thought I might post some more pics. These are some actinic pictures i took this evening. Like ive said before. My camera is like 6 years old and my good one is broken.

I also got my Auto top off working today. Ive got my RODI unit in my basement with 2 30 gal rubbermaids set up. One will always be for RO water. The other will always have Saltwater mixing. Ive run a hose through the floor into the basement so i can directly pump the water up from the basement with a mag 5 with the Auto top off. Also when i do water changes i can just change the Mag 5 into the saltwater rubbermaid and siphen tank water out the window of my house. It keeps everything clean.

what are the dimensions on that bad boy?

48" long 18" deep 24" high


Im looking into getting new MH bulbs. I have 10,000k right now. Im considering going to 14k to add some pop to the colors. What does everyone think?

sounds like a good idea. sik tank btw . once they get grown out so your tank is filled in then switch to 20k for some mega pop and slow growth so you dont have to frag a ton.

ya im getting tired of the yellow look from the 10,000k. Ive only got 2 of the 3 actinics working right now also so that will bring out the blues more also

Fed ex should be here any moment

Wonderful tank. I love the FTS with the cabinets on top. It looks like a space ship. Lol

your tank looks really great!! I love the rockwork you've been able to acheive, perfect for the fish to swim under. Another check on the pro side of upgrading! haha


ps. Is that your Cavalier in your avatar? It's my favorite breed & coloration!!

Thanks Cali-girl for the compliment. Yes that is a Cavalier....she is sitting on my lap right now.

I got my frag pack today!!!! its SOOO great. The 20 pack turn out to be 27 frags!!!! im uploading pictures now.

Not everything is open yet but here is the pack. Not included are 3 frags of unknown zoas that have not opened yet.

Wow! you scored on that pack!!

can't wait till everything is grown in, it's going to be stunning!!

I'm jealous of your puppy, ....ah... someday!

Everything is starting to color up nice and the zoas are cool colors too. Ill post pictures tomorrow when my lights turn back on

Update: This weekend ill be finishing my canopy and im going to try and buy new 14k bulbs. I had thought about upgrading to T5s to save on electricity but it was not cost effective. Ill post pictures of the finished product at the beginning of next week.

Im heading to my grandpa's house to build my canopy today. This is what i plan on having it look like.

I did not get the whole canopy finished today but I should have everything done except for staining and clear coating.

I bought new MH lights for my tank. I got 2 Hamilton 14k 250w bulbs and WOW they are blue. Its the exact look I was looking for. It makes all the colors pop so much more. Here are some before and after pics.

Before


After



I also got some pics of the new Zoo's on my Zoo Island

I finally got my stand done!!! It only took 5 months. Ive still got to stain and finish it this week before i mount the lighting into the canopy. I also want to find a few 4" fans to mount in the canopy to allow airflow. Im not sure how to wire the fans but im sure ill figure it out. Ill be painting the inside of the canopy with Kilz primer. Ive been told it has a reflective quality that will help the lighting. I dont know if Kilz is any different than any other white paint but ive got it laying around so ill give it a shot. Here are the pics

I have gotten the stand and canopy stained and finished. Im installing the Lighting in it right now. Ive had to do some modifying to get 2 fans into the canopy but I think it has turned out really good. Im also going to take all the frags i got last week and put them in more permanent places in the tank. Ill post pictures in a few hours.