my new 115 gallon tank build

[ianmcalpin]

Hello my name is Ian and this is what I have been up to. The tank is 60 x 18.5 x 23.5 center trapezoid over flow back with one 1 1/2" drain and 2 3/4" returners this is my first build thread and i will try to keep it up today as much as possible. This thread will be more picture heavy because dont want to bore you with words to much lol.

Here is the new tanks home and were i plan on placing it. I picked up the tank in burbank got a really good deal for being brand new.

went to home depot and bought all the wood I need to build the tank stand...

After building the frame and attacking most of the skin i brought the stand in to see how it looks and lied in the room also to get the sketch on the trapezoid aswell

after i got a good feel of the stand with the tank on top and checked everything toke the tank off and it was time to cut the whole out and finish the skim and get it ready for the paint.

got all the skin done as well as the doors i went with magnetic doors so it makes it a little hard for my kids to get into.

 

[ianmcalpin]

first coast of prime for the inside. I went with 3 coats of white prime for the inside and did 2 coats of primer out side with 2 coats of black ext high gloss paint as well on the outside

while waiting for all the paint to dry on the stand decided to buy the materials for my sump

SUMP: berlin style sump is 34"x 15"x 15"

once paint dyed up dragged it back in throw the tank back up started to work on the pumping

this is a picture with all the equipment in before i started on the pumping to get a good idea of how to work the pumping.

all the pumping is 1 1/2 tubing until they get to their ball valves then reduced to 3/4" or 1/2"

I am running a jebao 6000 on this tank which is running the water to tank MS as well as my my BP reactor.

 

[ianmcalpin]

once the pumping was said and done went after the aquascape which in my option is the hardest part. I went with something simply because i done the whole island thing which everyone doing these day in my 40 breeder.

there is plenty of coral placement and tons of caves for water flow and fish to hide.

best tip i can give you when aquascaping is give your self atleast 2" around your rock work for maintains reason.

I have about 100 and some pounds on Macro Rock which i would highly recommend to anyone really good dry rock.

The sand I went with was a mix of fiji pink and specail grade reef sand.
I only have about 40lbs of sand because im not looking to have to much sand to be flying everywere lol.

once i got everything done and check everything which mean triple checked everything it was time to hang the lights and start filling the tank up

I am using the college marine water to start this tank up but after that i will be using red sea salt mix like i usually use.

tank is all filled up and ready to rock check for all leaks everything is running smooth and now time for the cycle.

Equipment: from top to bottom
Lighting: ATI 48" 6 bulb 54w Sunpower
Bulb mix: Aqua blue specail
Blue plus
Purple plus
Purple plus
Blue plus
Aqua blue specail
Monitor Controller: Apex
Water Movement: 2 Jebao WP 40
Doser: GHL III doser
Return: Jebao 6000
Protein Skimmer: Vertex Omega 150
Reactor: TLC 150 covertered to BP
ATO reservoir: Advance acrylic

 

[ianmcalpin]

I want to Give a specail shoot and thanks for the people that have helped me and guided me throw this hobby...

First off I want to Thank Aaron from Socalcorals.com he played a hug part in helping me build this tank. He a easy guy to deal with if you guys haven't checked out his website i recommend you do so he has an incredible stock of corals and even if the coral your looking for isnt on his website im sure he has it in one of his many tanks just give him a call ive bought muliple corals from him so check him out. Also He is the First person to Carry Larry Fish Food really top notch food way better then any other food out there.

second my local reef club MASVC great bunch of guys even though the club is not as big as some still have a great time if you from the area check out the website MASVC.org dont be scared.

Lastly my buddying from Daretoreef.ing the website isnt up anymore but we still chat on hang out those guys have been a hug and i mean hug help when it came to this hob

 

[saybng]

Hi how is the 2wp40 working g out for u? I have a 120 and I only use 1 .

 

[ianmcalpin]

I use w1 on s3 works great sand doesn't pick up but if I change it to other setting its pretty crazy lol but I love flow sps all the way lol

 

[ScarBosh]

You are off to an incredible start! You put a lot of planning and work in to this build and it shows! Can't wait to see this as a thriving reef!

 

[Usingthejohn]

VERY nice progress

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[Beezaroh]

Awesome build. Looks like u planned everything carefully. Im usually too desperate when i upgrade tanks. Lol

 

[ianmcalpin]

Awesome build. Looks like u planned everything carefully. Im usually too desperate when i upgrade tanks. Lol

oh i right there with you on that but im learning to take it slow lol

 

[ianmcalpin]

thank you for that great commons

 

[ianmcalpin]

really quick update the first fish went in a few days ago which was the begining of my live stock which was a yellow tang...
Live stock is to follow:
Yellow tang
purple tang
school of lyretail anthias

not to sure if im gunna heavy stock this tank but for one those are the fish im shooting for in it for now

 

[ScarBosh]

Careful with adding a purple tang. I'd add that fish last. It's very aggressive. It'll likely kill any other fish you add after it.

 

[Usingthejohn]

Careful with adding a purple tang. I'd add that fish last. It's very aggressive. It'll likely kill any other fish you add after it.

Maybe other tangs? I had that and added various wrasses and such and it nevet once bothered them.

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[ScarBosh]

I'm glad to hear that. Very lucky. I wish I had the same luck. Purple tangs have a reputation for being very aggressive and many people would offer my same advice. It's not worth the risk of killing other fish

 

[robert_ellis]

Mine doesn't fight with my yellow or my scopas tang.

 

[ScarBosh]

Were they added after the purple tang

 

[ianmcalpin]

Were they added after the purple tang

Thanks for the advice I didn't know about that would it work if you it got all my fish and I decided to add a new fish later down the road would it work if I pulled him out and put him in the qt then reintroduce him to the md so it's like a new tank for him

 

[Usingthejohn]

Thanks for the advice I didn't know about that would it work if you it got all my fish and I decided to add a new fish later down the road would it work if I pulled him out and put him in the qt then reintroduce him to the md so it's like a new tank for him

If you add new fish down the line, introduce them when lights are off, and try to add them in pairs instead of solitary. That way if the tang were to be a jerk, his focus would be split, so to speak.

You could sump the tang if you were able to catch it.

But IME, my purple tang was very chill. I added the following after the purple was introduced:
3 copperbands (which all died)
Falco hawk
Various wrasses
Some anthias
Kole tang.

Out of the above the only one that died was the kole tang

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[ianmcalpin]

Here is the coral list for the 115:
Sps dominate:
ORA pearl berry- Socalcorals.com
Cali tort- open source
Oregon tort- open source
Strawberry short cake-Socalcorals.com
Red dragon- in 40b holding tank
Paletta pink tip stag - Jason foxx
Pro coral rainbow acro- Jason foxx
Jason fox terra nova - Jason foxx
Tyree pink lemonade- open source
Tyree purple monster- Jason foxx
Vivid rainbow delight-fantastic frag
Tyree Tierra del Fuego- Jason foxx
Green dragon eye- open source
Shades of fall- open source
Planet earth- Socalcorals.com

Those that are listed at the first wave of acros going into the 115