Justin's UNS 90L - 2 Year update!

[Justind823]

FTS 9/22/2023

 

 

Aquarium: UNS 90L

Lighting: X2 Nanobox Duos

Return: Reef Octopus Varios - 2 

Flow: AI N Nero 3

Sump: Trigger Systems - Crystal 30 

 

[Justind823]

Hello all!

 

I finally got around to making a thread for a build I've been putting together since the beginning of the year 😅

 

I just got the stand to a point where I can finish painting and then get it into position to transfer things over. I'm going to finish the doors once I find some reclaimed wood I like. As you can see, I have side access to the wiring and controllers. I made sure to make the stand plenty big enough for the sump, ato reservoir, and dosing containers. You can see in the second pic that I made a little shelf for the GHL units (KH Director and doser.

 

 

[mitten_reef]

That 90L, it’s 22 gallon 3-footer?

[Justind823]

41 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

That 90L, it’s 22 gallon 3-footer?

Yes, that's the one. 

 

I had a 12 gallon long awhile back and I do miss having a long tank

[howaboutme]

Good luck w/ the build! I have a UNS 75s. You're going to love the tank.

[xiaoxiy]

Hi!

[Justind823]

On 10/30/2021 at 9:34 AM, howaboutme said:

Good luck w/ the build! I have a UNS 75s. You're going to love the tank.

Thanks! I love UNS - they have some very high quality tanks. I was actually on the fence between the 75 and the 90. Good choice!

On 10/30/2021 at 1:32 PM, xiaoxiy said:

Hi!

👋

 

Made a little progress today! Fresh coat of paint and the beginnings of wiring 

 

[Justind823]

😲😌

 

 

[Zuma]

Great job with the stand!  Cutting glass is a bit nerve wracking but not too bad if you go slow.  Looking forward to seeing your build progress.

[Justind823]

11 hours ago, Zuma said:

Great job with the stand!  Cutting glass is a bit nerve wracking but not too bad if you go slow.  Looking forward to seeing your build progress.

Yea I've done it on a number of tanks at this point and I've never had an issue. You're right though - still nerve wracking! 

 

On another not, I finally booted up my Hydros! 😁 Super easy to connect and pairing was a snap. 

[Justind823]

Getting there...

 

[howaboutme]

Nice!

 

Which overflow are you using?

 

You should add yours to this thread. Not much UNS tanks. I'm the last poster.

 

 

[Justind823]

58 minutes ago, howaboutme said:

Nice!

 

Which overflow are you using?

 

You should add yours to this thread. Not much UNS tanks. I'm the last poster.

 

 

Ah right! I forgot about that thread. I'll have to post in there soon

 

As far as the overflow... it's custom. Homemade frankenoverflow 😅. I'll be revealing it soon once I get it all plumbed together.

[Justind823]

Let there be light!

 

I decided to move the ATO to the left for easier filling. It was a little tight under the shelf on the right

[mitten_reef]

24 minutes ago, Justind823 said:

Let there be light!

 

I decided to move the ATO to the left for easier filling. It was a little tight under the shelf on the right

love how you have kH Director sitting pretty before the tank and sump even got wet, lol.  now that's dedication!

[Justind823]

27 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

love how you have kH Director sitting pretty before the tank and sump even got wet, lol.  now that's dedication!

Hah! Gotta test fit everything right? Besides - it's a good indication that I'm close to transferring over 🙂🙃

[xiaoxiy]

2 hours ago, Justind823 said:

Let there be light!

 

I decided to move the ATO to the left for easier filling. It was a little tight under the shelf on the right

GHL Fanboy eh? You thinking about getting the ION  at all?

[Justind823]

2 minutes ago, xiaoxiy said:

GHL Fanboy eh? You thinking about getting the ION  at all?

Lolol 

Such a fanboy...honestly I really hated the thing for awhile. It was such a huge pain to setup and it was constantly having connectivity issues. Now that I've sorted through all of that it's been a lifesaver for my tank when I'm away for work on long stretches. I rely on it too much and it'll probably come to bite me one of these days. I'm good about calibrating and maintaining it so hopefully it never becomes a problem. The main reason I ended up on GHL in the first place was because of the cost long term and the small amount of sample water you can set it to. 

 

I don't think I'll end up getting the ION, at least not anytime soon. The Director has been keeping my tank happy enough for me so I'll just stick with that.

[Orangutran]

Beauty of a stand! The tank isn't bad either. 😉

[Justind823]

4 hours ago, Orangutran said:

Beauty of a stand! The tank isn't bad either. 😉

Ha hey there! Thanks bud. I need to make the doors or it's liable to be an open faced stand for the life of this tank😄

 

Do you still have a tank going??

[Orangutran]

On 11/10/2021 at 12:45 PM, Justind823 said:

Ha hey there! Thanks bud. I need to make the doors or it's liable to be an open faced stand for the life of this tank😄

 

Do you still have a tank going??

Lol yeah better do it now before you get distracted by the corals.

 

Yeah my tank is over 6 years old now and it's had its ups and downs. I've been meaning to update my build thread. Basically I have a custom on order to replace the current one. After seeing all the sexy UNS tanks, I wanted to join the club — but needed a custom to fit the current tank location.

 

Looking forward to your updates dude!

[Justind823]

'Bout time for an update! It's been almost two years since I transferred everything over and then ghosted Nano-Reef. But I'm back now to please the reef gods with photos.

 

Here's the FTS as of an hour ago:

 

 

It's been awhile since I've messed around with the camera, still shaking off the dust!

 

As you can see, zoas love this tank. I've fragged many's a time to keep them from overcrowding each other. I'm currently working on encouraging them to cover the overflow. Oh right, the overflow! I was going for an equipment-less look with this build so the vision was to snake everything through the overflow. I have the return (something I've always wanted to improve) a dry pipe for wires (AI Nero 3 cable and X2 NanoBox Duos cables) and a two standpipes for a Herbie style overflow. 

 

I went through a phase of trying to keep SPS but as usual I got lazy and let whatever was happy do it's thing and whatever wasn't...slowly exit. So it became the zoa dominated tank you see here. I do keep a Crocea clam happy with a couple of blastos and candy canes, other than that just softies. I did pick up a little goni frag this week, we'll see how that goes. 

 

So this tank is fairly low maintenance as far as small reef tanks go. I probably do a water change once a month or so, sometimes longer. Levels are kept in check with All For Reef and I keep it pretty dirty by feeding a lot of coral food. I've had a real time of keeping nitrates and phosphates up in this tank despite feeding A LOT! I've been dosing Brightwells's phosphate and nitrate for going on 5 months and only now am I able to keep a stable level without dosing so often. 

 

Other livestock include: my clownfish that I've had since I set up my 17G in 2017, a Wheeler's goby with a candy cane pistol, a pom pom crab, and 3 sexy shrimp. 

 

 

 

 

I will try to update before we hit another 2 years!

[Justind823]

Sorry, that last FTS was driving me crazy. This is a bit better:

[Elizabeth94]

Very cool system. That clam is lovely. 
 

The clownfish with the black lips looks like he is frowning. 

[schgr.cube]

Ooooh yeah, this is definitely fantastic! Amazing job, I absolutely love it!