Eric's 90 Gallon Upgrade

[x19]

It's gonna take a few months but I have officially started my 90 gallon upgrade!

Its going to be a custom rimless tank with black silicon. I've requested quotes back from 5 tank manufacturers and heard back from 2. (One of which was totally obscene) I'm waiting to hear back from at least 1 specific manufacturer before I begin the haggling.

I've requested quotes from:

Glasscages.com
CoasttoCoastAquariums.com
ReefSavvy.com
GreatLakesAquariums.com
SignatureAquariums.com

There are some minor difference in the design depending on when I contacted each of the companies, namely the positioning of the return. It'll either come out of the overflow, or be a split return to the two back corners.

Over the last few days I've spent a lot of time reviewing pictures of stands to find the modern look I'm seeking, and I've decided to build one similar to the ADA style. I spent some time on Google Sketchup and designed everything last night.

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do the hinges on the door so I may end up with using magnets instead.

The tank itself will be aquascaped in a minimalist style, and I plan to use no more than 75 pounds of rock possibly less in the display. I'll be building this rockwork outside of the display and then curing it in a rubbermaid before the tank gets set up in December (Its a Christmas present :D). I'm hoping that I can get away with using very little of my existing rock due to the bubble algae infestation I just can't beat.

Lots of things still to decide, and a lot of time to decide them. I'm going to sticking with my existing skimmer (Vertex IN-80) for now until upgrading somewhere around March. It will be an undersized skimmer which should force me to move slow on the stocking.

I'm thinking I can get away with continuing to use my two Vortech MP10s in addition to one MP40 for flow in the display but I'll probably need to add another MP40 at some point.

The dimensions of this tank are actually designed to best take advantage of my existing Vertex Illumina lights which should provide full coverage and are capable of 200 par at a depth of 26".

Finally, in regards to stocking I haven't decide on much yet. In addition to transferring over from my 30 gallon (2 clowns and yellow tail damsel) I definitely want to add 3 Ignitus Anthias but aside from that I've got no plans. I won't be adding any sort of top to the tank, so jumpers are out of the question.

I'll update again once the tank is ordered, all in all I'm VERY excited.

 

[Smitty]

Sounds like an awesome tank build...can't wait to see it come to life.

 

[little_fish]

going to be AWESOME!

 

[bcool22]

I am excited to see it when it gets started! I am Entertaining the Option of saving for a 150 gallon Corner Custom tank. Just going to wait till after tax season :)

 

[x19]

Going to place the order for the tank on Thursday and I'm struggling a bit on picking.

Option 1: Major Manufacturer from outside the country - 1/2" Glass 36x24x24 - $975
Option 2: Stateside manufacturer but not a lot of info about them outside of their local area - 1/2" Glass 36x24x22 - $793
Option 3: Major manufacturer from inside the country - 1/2" Glass 36x24x20 - $1,200

All prices include estimated shipping. The third vendor is adamant that you should not build a rimless tank over 20" without 3/4" glass. Going to 24" with them pushes the tank to $1,600.

Anyone know anything about engineering rimless fish tanks? Is it safe to have a 24" tall tank in 1/2" glass?

 

[x19]

I'll match vendors with prices in a PM if anyone is interested.

 

[x19]

Deposit is paid and tank is officially ordered from Miracles Aquariums :) 36x24x24 with an overflow on the back instead of the bottom. Similar to what is offered by Glass-Holes.com.

Production Drawing:

 

[x19]

This weekend I turned this:

Into this:

Next week I'll be adding the sheathing and trim. Then, it's time to order my rock :-) I think I'm going to go with supergluing the rock with EcoTech Coral Glue instead of mortar hopefully that'll be easier.

 

[Smitty]

That's a nice looking stand...good job.

 

[SarahSmile]

Looks nice and sturdy, you're quite the handyman.

 

[x19]

Things are progressing...swimmingly ;-) I've got nearly all the gear, just need to order an MP40 and pick up the salt. The tank is actually done, but since its a Christmas present from my wife and daughter I've got to wait until early December before I can take delivery.

The stand is done aside from painting the door, pictures of that should go up this weekend.

95 Pounds of Marco Dry rock curing. I won't be using all of it, but figured it was best to prep it all just in case.

The sump I had made by NanoSeaCreations. I had original planned on a simpler design, but Anthony talked me into this one. He felt my previous design would have had the water moving too fast through the refugium for it to be of any value. Water from the first drain will go into the skimmer compartment in the front, while the second will have a ball valve attached and set to a slow trickle into the refugium. There is a float valve that will go through the wall into my freshwater reservoir for auto-topoff in the return section. The return section will hold a mag-3 to feed the bio-pellet reactor which will empty into the skimmer section.

Finally, here is a shot of the skimmer. I went with the Reef Octopus XP-2000 Cone Skimmer.

Lets see, I went with the Eheim 1262 for a return, and Tropic Eden Reef Flakes and Mini Reef Flakes for substrate. Salt will continue to be SeaChem Salinity and I haven't picked the brand of bio-pellets yet.

 

[CurtisL]

cant wait to see it coming together! gonna be awesome!

 

[Amba]

Looking great I especially like the sump it's really nice.

 

[BL1]

Wow, that sump looks awesome! And you plan sounds great too.

 

[little_fish]

i see such good things in this threads future!!!!

 

[x19]

Thanks everyone, I should have linked the sump creator:

NanoSeaCreations

He's in St. Charles, IL and his prices were really really good. The sump measures 23 x 23 x 16. I estimate it should hold about 30 gallons. The only thing I don't like about the design is I went with dual 1.5" drains in order to provide redundancy. Reducing the drain to just a trickle puts me back at only one drain to prevent flooding. Hopefully 1.5" is big enough for it not to be a problem.

 

[BL1]

A 1.5" drain shouldn't be a problem for you. I'm only running a single 1" drain for my 75.

 

[x19]

A 1.5" drain shouldn't be a problem for you. I'm only running a single 1" drain for my 75.

I'm just overly cautious after I had a nerite snail call into the siphon tube on my overflow and cause a flood...twice...in a week.

 

[BL1]

You could always get one of those screens to cover your drain tube to keep stuff out of it. Bulkhead Strainers - English

 

[NanoReefer]

looks great dude!