210g Build

[Amy]

Hey guys!

Just wanted to share some pictures of our new project, a 210g (84X24X24) aquarium.
Not the final set up, just an upgrade for our existing 60g, and this will also be the future home of our tessalata moray eel.
We wanted this to be our "forever" main tank, but the glass is too scratched (the tank is 20 years old),
So we are going to save a whole bunch of money for the next 2 years to come for an even bigger, bottom-drilled tank with starphire glass instead! 

We adopted the horizontal overflow design for this one, since it's going to be safer for the tessalata eel.
The return is also drilled through the back panel, it will be easier to put a glass top on this tank without having to drill any holes for plumbing or anything.



We even gave it a new look!  We spray painted the rims so it matches the new color of the stand too. It is now "espresso" color! 

We kept the original stand for the tank but made it higher by putting 2 4X4 wood beams on all sides, since the skimmer didn't fit underneath it (it was only 23 inches high!).

We tried to make the interior almost waterproof by painting it and putting a panel on the bottom, siliconing everything in place. 

the foam we used is a leftover of Eco cork underlayment.



Our sump is a 75g tank (48X18X21) it is drilled on the side for our pump, which is going to be a Reeflo blowhole 1450.



Our skimmer is the Bubble Magus NAC9.
We also bought a Reefkeeper lite L3, dual reactor for GFO and activated carbon, RO/DI 6 stage chloramine plus system, Reef octopus reactor with bio pellets, one koralia magnum 3250gph powerhead, some big filter socks and some eggcrate for the bottom of the tank. 



Lights are probably going to be the Maxspect mazarra P series (6 modules)... I fell in love with them!!

We have around 150lbs of live rock for now, maybe more. And the only thing missing is some sand and salt buckets!

We are moving the tank inside the house tonight, finishing the plumbing and testing it this weekend with freshwater. THEN, the hard work starts (for me and my poor back, haha)
Washing sand + gluing the liverock together to make nice big stable structures!



Hopefully this system will be running by sunday with saltwater and liverock/sand.

It's going to be a long and painful wait before I can put any fish in there!

[kole18]

Very nice tank.

[Cheebs]

Wow what a start! Looks like you're going into this well prapared and with a good plan... I can't wait to see more!

[FocusFin]

Looking forward to seeing this come together. The build is my favorite part of the hobby

[Pablo]

Set up is done!









It's filling time!   

[Nicolas]

Nice Set-up!

[Hookup]

looking awesome!  must be very exciting.

[Amy]

System has been running for two days now, salinity and temp are stable, ATO is set, reefkeeper is programmed, everything is going great!

Oh! and the Maxspect mazzara's arrive wednesday.   

[Amy]

P.s Live rock is not arranged yet... I have my hacksaw ready and I'm planning to do some incredible aquascaping all week long!

[xenon]

Maxspect mazzara's arrive wednesday.   

Have you compared them directly with the competition.

I saw them side by side with all other LED brands at Marinescape and they came in last IMO.

How many modules did you get?

[Amy]

Which series was it that you saw ?
I would never spend the money to buy ecotech radeon.. my other option was the AI sol but we decided to go with the maxspect mazarra p series.
We are starting with 4 modules.

[Amy]

Rockwork is done!  Went better then expected... I thought I wouldn't have enough to make a decent aquascape.

[Amy]

I've discovered a new hobby at the same time! 

[xenon]

Which series was it that you saw ?
I would never spend the money to buy ecotech radeon.. my other option was the AI sol but we decided to go with the maxspect mazarra p series.
We are starting with 4 modules.

Reefbright, Radion, AI and Maxspect. The Radions won hands down.

Yes the Radios are more expensive but you need less of them because the spread is much better. All you need is 3 Radions on a 6ft tank.

[Amy]

I saw the radions beside the maxspect on a 500gallon reef tank and was not impressed at all with them (I never was impressed with them compared to any other lighting fixture anyway). I thought they looked pretty dull... oh and don't get me started on the price haha...

Anyway, just my opinion. Maxspect won my heart and I love the design of the fixture (I can't have a suspension kit cause of my ceiling) I just love everything about them so the decision wasn't hard to make at all. And I'm still saving money with 6 modules compared to the radions.

[JetJumper]

Radions have the spread only because they don't use optics which means depth penetration will not be comparable to the Maxspect / AI's / Any other fixture with optics.

Radion's win hands down on the programability however I personally see design flaws with the fixture.  But thats just my opinion and what do I know?  I don't have an engineering ring on my finger  

Amy, would love to see pictures when you get your fixture.  They have a sleek design

[MJChang]

Guess Amy's success encouraged me to upgrade my system to some 300/400 g giant in years to come. I'd better, 2, save up from now on

[az]

nice clean job.

[Amy]

My little Dory is back!

Back in November, we asked Ray for a blue tang. When we went to get it, we we're a bit disappointed about it's size but we decided to buy it anyway just to give it a temporary home. It was obviously too big for our 60g, it was constantly swimming round and round in our tank and doing backflips in front of the powerheads. We sold it and we we're very sad after.
Well now it outgrew it's other home it had found and we are truly happy to have her back here in her forever home!




She looks so small in this tank haha! We used to call her "la baleine" which is whale in french...

[Amy]

Went to pick up my maxspect last night in Laval. Installed them at 11pm, went to bed at 1am because these lights are just too awesome!! Had to play with them for like an hour and took some pictures.
All I can say is WOW! Xenon: These lights are just too beautiful, nothing compared to the little module you saw at Marinescape, these lights are powerful!
In my opinion, they totally beat the radions hands down. I only have 4 modules on my 7ft long tank and I don't think it's dull or not enough light in anyway.

I'll shoot a video soon when the tank is less empty. In the meantime, here's some pics..


Just the cool White  at 80%


Just the blue at 100%


Just the purple and warm white at 100%


All of them at 100%


Just blue at 10%


All channels except cool white at 1%


All at 80%

[Dakotamay]

Tank is looking awesome guys.  Love the lighting.

[Cheebs]

Wow! This is an amazing start... Good job guys!!

[Amy]

Thanks guys!! I'm gonna go crazy just sitting here and looking at these lights!  My tank is empty!!! I can't wait to add all my corals in there to see the colors!

I wasn't expecting such results.. I look at my 60g (24x24x24) that has a 250w 12K metal halide with 4 T5's and it's really not as bright as the maxspect lol! They burn like the fires of a thousand suns! 

I will pray to the saltwater gods tonight to speed up the process of my new tank so I can transfer everything! The wait is unbearable!!

[mmaisonneuve]

Hey Amy I dont See my Old Tang in there ! how is she ?

[Amy]

She's doing great!  She was hiding last night cause we blinded her with the lights but now she's back at being the jolly little fish she is! Swimming around without a care in the world

[Thunda]

Looks like it is all coming together... things are looking great.  The lights are very cool looking and the different stages or percentages are super.  Waiting is always the hardest part but the end result is always worth the wait.  Looking forward to following the thread as more and more gets completed.  Awesome work!!!

[Amy]

Update!

So far the livestock is: Blue tang, purple tang, blonde naso, 5 chromis, coral beauty, yellow tail tamarin wrasse, clam.
And I have a saddle puffer living in my sump, he was the first fish introduced in this tank.
90% of the 60g's corals are there, and I'm waiting to put the rest of my fish in there.











Naso tang when he was in the 60g


Flame angel still in the 60...


I'll take some more pics today when the lights are brighter and you can see the other fish.

[Hookup]

looks good...

Looking at your sandbed, the system looks very new still... not sure what your next plans are but i would advise caution at this point...  the wrasse in particular is a concern as they often only get their nutrition from copods which might not be abundant in a newer system... maybe just letting nature take it's course for the next 6-10 weeks would be something your considering.

I don't want to be a downer so...  it looks awesome, great investment in equipment and the aquascaping is looking really good and i'm sure you'll have lots of success.

[Amy]

Yeah I'm, taking my time now, I'll wait at least 3-4 weeks before adding the other fish. My sand is brand new, but my liverock is old, and a lot of the water came from my 60g, I already have some copepods in my sump, not a lot, but there's some.
I still have more live rock to add from my 60 and I still transfer water from time to time from my old reef tank to this one. I'm constantly testing and I've made my first water change yesterday, I had a bit of nitrate, besides that, all parameters are stable and everything is doing great!  


I know it looks like iIve added everything in a day but I took my time, just didn't post photos after every change.

[Thunda]

It's coming together.. finally right.. hardest part is the wait.  We are in the same boat these days

[Amy]

Yeah, Can't wait to see yours, it's gonna look awesome!

here's some pics of my beautiful blonde naso tang! He eats like a pig, I'm so happy!