Norvehc 120 Oceanic Tech Series Build (1 Viewer)

[Norvehc]

Hello Everybody!

First post here, but I have been lurking since I made the move to Houston from McAllen last March. I have finally settled into my new job and house in the Heights and have been dieing to finally get a build started on a new reef tank!

After I finally finished my MS in Mech. Engineering and got a great job in O&G (HELLO FUNDS!! $$$!!) I finally have the time and cash to start a great reef tank. After work today, I stopped by city pets and instantly fell in love with the 120 oceanic tech tank they had - last one left! This is the one with the front starphire glass. Donny (I hope I got his name right!) took great care of me and got a stand ordered to help me get started. I have been to literally every fish store in town trying to find an aquarium right for the space my wife has chosen to put it. Other stipulations would be that my wife and son would get input on what gets put into the tank. I am a coral nut (SPS), but I want something pleasing that my wife and 2 year old son will also enjoy (fish).

So far that is all I have really specced out. After looking at d2mini and others builds, I want to go with the radion lighting route to not only grow great corals, but also save on electricity costs. I have been lurking this forum and reefcentral for years, learning, taking notes and hoping to one day start a reef tank of my own. I have been diving for 16 years, and have been fishing offshore since I was a kid. Saltwater is definitely "in my blood".

I want to catalogue my build with all of you and get some guidance and advice from those who have created such amazing tanks before me. I also want to keep a photo journal of all of this to keep track of everything I have done.

Here is what I have so far:

120 Gallon Oceanic Tech Series (Mahogany)
48 x 24 Mahogany Stand

Yes, its not a lot, but I am itching to get the ball rolling. I want to try and put my RODI station in my garage and noticed that d2mini had some plastic storage containers that look like would fit well in my shelving. Could you by chance point the direction that I could find this? I don't have space or room inside my first floor (it is the Heights, so horizontal space is a premium), so everything else needs to be stored under the tank. I also am pretty set on my lighting and flow (both ecotech Radion/Vortech mp40), but everything else is pretty wide open. Do any of you have any suggestions when it comes to skimmers, reactors, etc? I am an engineer by trade, so the pre-build is going to be pretty detailed!. I would love to get actively involved with MARSH (already paid my dues), and would love to learn from all of you that have been doing this for awhile. Thanks to the help!

-Shawn

 

[fjwaquarium]

Welcome Shawn! Nice choice tank. Post some pictures will be great.

 

[Traclly Le Tran]

Welcome Shawn! Nice choice tank. Post some pictures will be great.

+1

*Sent from my little corner of the reef. Nano nano!*

 

[RR-MAN]

One of my favorite tanks. The tank has great dims. By the way, Welcome to Marsh.

This is the place in Houston where we all buy the water storage tanks:

water tanks, plastic tanks, septic tanks

 

[BlackSS]

You will love that tank and stand, I've been running the same for 2 1/2 years or so.

 

[fishcraze_1]

Welcome aboard. Another Valley guy. Great setup. Used to have the exact setup a few years ago.

 

[emixa]

welcome to Marsh and enoy it first of all. the best advice i could give someone starting is take your time. it took nature x-amount of time to develope its own eco-system, expect some time for your tank. the faster you rush your tank, the more prone you are for some type of algae growth you get. you will face some discouragement and you will see some progress. keep your mind right and enjoy the gorwth of an expensive but appreciated hobby. as my woman would say, welcome to fish facebook. !!!!! there are tons of people on here and alot of great knowledge. these guys on here have been nothing but awesome for helping out. the best way to re-pay them back is take heed to the advice and when the time comes, help someone else

 

[Andy]

Welcome to MARSH!

You will find alot of knowledge here. We already made alot of mistakes so ask questions & hopefully we can help you not make the same ones.

I am partial to PM reactors myself, but others may have ideas.

One thing I learned is buy the best piece of equipment you can the FIRST time, or you will end up buying it after you wasted your money on the original piece.

 

[Norvehc]

Quick Update:

Still waiting on my tank, stand and sump (used Trigger Systems) from Donnie and City Pets. Hopefully that will be delivered next week.

In the meantime I made a couple of big purchases for the tank!

Lighting : I decided to bite the bullet with Radions. I went with 2, gen2 with TIR lenses after countless hours of research. I really wanted to use LEDs in this tank, as I'm interested in keeping multiple soft and hard corals. I also bought the rail and mounting kits, and will mount hangers to the stand as the aquarium is not going to have a canopy. I almost pulled the trigger on some reefbreeder LEDs, but ended up deciding against it. I really want control over everything, and I feel like the Radions are the most robust choice.

Flow: I decided here to go with Ecotech MP40wes x 2 w/ battery backup.I really like the integration these power heads offer with the Radions, along with the Apex unit I purchased. Flow back to the tank is accomplished by a Eheim 1260.

Skimmer: I think this was the hardest decision I made when it came to equipment. There are so many options at varying price breaks, but I couldn't see myself spending 600 bucks on a skimmer. Ultimately I decided on the Bubble Magus Curve7. Hopefully this will do the job well and I won't be regretting this later. Time will tell.

Controller: Reefkeeper Lite + WXM module for my Vortechs. I also purchased a pH probe. I will be traveling some for work, so I wanted the peace of mind this will offer that I could log into my tank anytime and check its status. By also being able to integrate control throughout the tank is important, as I want it to be easy on my wife when she has to watch it if I'm gone.

Reactors: Decided to give the Zeovit system a shot, so I purchased a small carbon reactor along with the Zeolite reactor + chemicals. The carbon reactor will be tied back through the Eheim pump. The Zeolite reactor has its own pump.

RO/DI: SpectraPure MaxCap RO/DI System w/ Manual Flush - 90 GPD. I want to construct a RODI station in my garage to mix water and for storage. I haven't thought this out completely yet, but its going to be started soon.

Live Rock: âI am seriously considering purchasing my livestock from tampa bay saltwater. d2mini's experience with them, along with others on reefcentral are really pushing me to that point. This is one area I'm not sure exactly what to do. Any input into this will be greatly appreciated. I'm going to use normal aragonite since the Zeovit system discourages the use of live sand.

There really isn't anything to take pictures of yet. Once I start getting my goodies delivered, the pictures will begin!

Stay tuned!