ADA-120P (65gallon) Reef

[tmc1313]

This is my relatively new reef after I sold my 120 gallon. At this point I have a few mini colonies, but mostly frags still. I will update from time to time every few months to document growth. So here is my current stock list and a couple quick FTS's.

My current stock list:

ORA Red Goniopora
Dave's Skittles acropora
Ice Fire Echinata
Pink Birdsnest
ORA Laura's Purple Polyp
Montipora Setosa
Montipora Digitata
Garf Bonsai
Electric Miyagi Tort
Orange Eye Leptoseris
Tyree Lime in the Sky Stag
GH Aqua Delight
ORA Blue Tip Green Stag
JF Fox Flame
Copps Purple Slimer
Unknown Acro
Tyree Pink Lemonade
Copps 24k Mille
Battle Corals Blue Matrix (hoek)
Green Slimer
Sunset Monti
Crayola Plana
ORA Melonberry Monti
Navy Tortuosa
JF Vino Monti
Copps purple Pocci
Aquaman Monti
Space Invaders Pectinia
ORA Blue Maxima Clam

 

 

[tmc1313]

Received a new cell phone this week and took a quick shot (using the new camera) of my favorite piece right now. I'm pretty impressed with what I got with no post processing. I also noticed it has encrusted quite a lot.

[tmc1313]

Latest FTS:

Setosa about to over run my tort😯

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

I love ADA tanks. Did you drill it and put a sump under it? 

[tmc1313]

20 minutes ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

I love ADA tanks. Did you drill it and put a sump under it? 

I love them to. They are really well built and the silicone seams are flawless.

Yes I did drill it and added a sump below.

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

Very nice! I look forward to following along on this build. 

 

Looks like you're mostly an SPS fan. Any other live stock plans for this tank? 

[tmc1313]

Thanks, yes, I'm a big fan of SPS. No plans really, just let everything grow out and see how it turns out. I do think about going bare bottom though. I have a few encrusting montis that I wish I never put on my main rockwork. I think about removing the sand, cutting the montis off of the rock and letting them go wild on the glass bottom.

[Spencer7]

Rundown of equipment and dosing? ADA tanks are great. Glass and silicone.

 

I love these dimensions. Can see this becoming beautiful (and a calcium reactor going in there to help all that SPS growth)...

[tmc1313]

Thanks, equipment is as follows:

Tank= ada-120p (65 gallons)

Lighting= DIY, using 12 nanobox V3 arrays

Skimmer= ice cap K1

Sump= Bashsea mano

Flow= Maxspect gyre (x2)

Two part dosing= B-ionic dosed via cheap two head dosing pump bought from Amazon.

(Had a GHL, But it drove me crazy.) I've been extremely happy with the cheap pump more than half the GHL'S price 

Aqua UV Sterilizer= 50 watt

 

[mitten_reef]

Remember that monster DIY nanobox light on your 120. Can you give us another look at it? 

[tmc1313]

Sure, here it is when Dave built it for me using an ATI fixture.

And here it is when I modified it. I did not want to use T5's and also wanted a slimmer unit (not as wide). I ended up taking the ATI fixture apart and moved everything over to an old Coralife fixture I had laying around. I went from roughly 14" wide  (front to back) to only 9" wide.

[Spencer7]

4 hours ago, tmc1313 said:

Thanks, equipment is as follows:

Tank= ada-120p (65 gallons)

Lighting= DIY, using 12 nanobox V3 arrays

Skimmer= ice cap K1

Sump= Bashsea mano

Flow= Maxspect gyre (x2)

Two part dosing= B-ionic dosed via cheap two head dosing pump bought from Amazon.

(Had a GHL, But it drove me crazy.) I've been extremely happy with the cheap pump more than half the GHL'S price 

Aqua UV Sterilizer= 50 watt

 

I'm surprised by the UV sterilizer (want tangs?) and that you didn't like the GHL doser. Just didn't like UI?

 

Really like gyre's? 

[tmc1313]

No, I like tangs, but I just think the tank is too small. I added the UV because I don't have a quarantine tank so anything new goes right into the display. 

The GHL is a good doser, but I had a lot of trouble with the app for some reason. Just wasn't worth the trouble.

I have a love hate relationship with the gyre's. Excellent flow and I can keep them up high in the tank. I think I only have them 2-3" below the water line. Cleaning them is a whole other story. Kind of a pain, but I have a pretty good routine down. Plus, I bought a second set, so when one set gets dirty I just swap out with the clean set. This allows me to clean the dirty pumps whenever I get around to it.

[RustyRocket]

Love the look of this build, nice and clean! I see you're using the Xaqua, I had that when I was over in the UK, I dont see it much in the US. How are you finding it :)?

Few quick questions:

• How did you mount the UV?
• You dont have much fish, but how do you manage nutrient in and out of the system?
  • whats your water change like?
  • plans for a fuge?

[tmc1313]

RustyRocket,

I bought the Xaqua off of bulk reef supply. I recently swapped out the snap on strainers that it comes with for a slimmer low profile bulkhead strainer that fit right into the Xaqua.

My stand is split into two sides underneath. One side houses my sump, skimmer and ATO. The other side is where I mounted the UV. I've always kept low fish loads in my tanks. I'm really more of a coral guy and to me the fish are just added to finish off the look I guess. However, this tank does have 8 fish in it at last count. They just hide a lot when I'm taking photos. I do struggle with low nutrients so I dose amino acids daily and cut my water changes back to 15 gallons every two weeks. Here's a couple photos of my stand and how I've got it set up underneath.

 

 

[Spencer7]

Beautiful sump area. You mentioned dosing aminos -- Acropower or more? (supplements beyond two part)

EDIT: Was also wondering what you used for your rock. Caribsea? Real Reef?

[tmc1313]

Spencer7,

Thanks, I used to clean my actual sump regularly, but then I noticed populations of sponges, feather dusters and pods growing down in there, so now I just leave it. It kind of drives me crazy looking at a dirty sump, but I think it helps the health of the system. I don't dose acropower, but have heard good things about it. I use KZ Amino Acid Concentrate (just a few drops daily) and then just the two part for alk and calcium. My rock really isn't rock at all. I've used Vida Rock (which I think is some type of porous clay material) in all my tanks for many years now. If this wasn't available I would probably be using the Caribsea shapes rock. Here's a photo of the Aminos I use:

[RustyRocket]

21 hours ago, tmc1313 said:

 

I gotcha, this looks nice and function. Much more comprehensive than the first picture.

Any reason why the return line pipe is running behind the sump and ziggzags to the UV?

[tmc1313]

You have a good eye. It's zigzagged because it's plumbed off of my return pump. The pump is in the back of my sump and the inlet for the UV is more forward (the front of the sump). I probably lose some return flow by having more turns, but I'm OK with it. I don't rely on my return pump for flow at all. 

[RustyRocket]

16 hours ago, tmc1313 said:

You have a good eye. It's zigzagged because it's plumbed off of my return pump. The pump is in the back of my sump and the inlet for the UV is more forward (the front of the sump). I probably lose some return flow by having more turns, but I'm OK with it. I don't rely on my return pump for flow at all. 

Fair enough, as long as it works right? Any particular troubles in maintaining the UV? I'd thought about putting one on since I'm recovering from Dinos, but have never used one. 

 

Also I'm interested in how you put together your rocks too. What did you use and size of rocks etc? I love how you have like pedestal and overhangs with good clear passage underneath for fish and flow, like the structure on the right. 

 

[tmc1313]

What I use and have always used is called Vida Rock. It's not rock at all. They make all different shapes and sizes. Here is a link to their website:

https://aqua-tecture.com/

No troubles at all with the UV. It's a pretty straightforward piece of equipment, but not one I would personally do without. I think the biggest thing is deciding what you actually want to use it for and size it appropriately from there.