Smite's Stout CDA - 205G

Smite

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#1
So it sounds like my tank will be shipping this week or next from CDA. I'm still waiting for some build pictures and will post those once I receive them.

CDA Tank
50"x38"x25"
1/2" glass
3 side starphire
Internal rear corner overflow - 3 drains and 1 return
Steel Stand by CDA
50x38x29"
I'm keeping this one low, it will be in my living room next to the couch and I want to be able to view it sitting down. It will be in a corner, with 2 viewable sides which is part of the reason for the 38" front to back.

Lighting:
Main lighting:
Metal Halide, Lumenbright large refectors x2. I'm still deciding whether I'll need 250w or 400w lamps. Kelvin will be 14k hamilton. I'm using these reflectors so I can mount them 18" above the rim of the aquarium to bottom of pendant.
Supplemental lighting:
4 Kessil A360. These will be for adding more viewing time and also going blue when I want. I'll be controlling them with apex 0-10v ports.
I may add some orphek all blue strips if the kessils aren't bright enough.
I'm looking at building a "floating" canopy for this build. It will be mounted to the wall. I do want to figure out a way to incorporate inserts that will fill the gap between tank and canopy to block overspill for viewing movies, when companies over ect.

Flow:
Return will be a m2 vectra for now. I may upgrade to a RO pump eventually.
In tank flow - all Tunze:
1 Wavebox and 3 x 6105

Filtration:
AA hybrid sump
Considering a cryptic zone plumbed in with a 40g breeder
Deltec skimmer
I've struggled to grow macros for the last year, so I may just skip any kind of plant based refugium altogether.

Control:
I'll still be using my apex classic for this build

Dosing will be my Geo's Reef 618 calcium reactor. I'll be sticking with no water changes and using the Reef Moonshiner's program.


I prebuilt my rockscape soon after placing my order for the tank in May. It has been cycling since then with circulation and heat. I've been adding ammonia every few days. I recently added the biobrick form my sump to the tub. I'll be starting to dose phytoplankton to the tub going forward to try and get a good pod population going. I've kept the rockwork in the bottom 1/3 of the the tank on this one. The goal is to allow for some good sized colonies to grow in and have plenty of free water for fish to swim.
This tank is going to have sand and I'm doing a blend of special grade with a few other types of live sand. The live sand has been in the hot garage all summer, so I think I'm just going to rinse it in tap, flush it a few times with RO/DI and then let it dry in the sun.

This will be a acropora dominant reef tank. I'll be transferring my main structure from my 75g over and all my current livestock when the time comes. I'll be keeping a gigantea anemone on an island rock in the front corner of the tank. I'll be keeping a few chalices/favia on the sand and a torch coral as well.

Not much without pictures, I know. Hopefully those will come through soon.
 

Smite

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#2
Here is a rough idea of when I did the rockwork. That box is 48x36

I’m leaning towards not bridging the sections for more vertical growth but not sure.
7F512D73-B102-4679-B18B-18FBAC4F465F.jpeg

D5D59058-1F5C-4B1A-B89B-746A08D02810.jpeg


Basic layout with my existing rock drawn in amd anemone location
31512626-E24B-4715-B184-22EEC2296BDE.jpeg

Or bridge it? It’s all cycling regardless
B184E6B0-A686-4185-BF3E-4EF289725C17.jpeg
499BE31C-4A9E-44DB-BFFF-984C9522AFE7.jpeg
 

Smite

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#4
Nice! Almost the same dimensions of my peninsula CDA tank. This will be a fun one.
I couldn't fit the 52" so I bumped 2" out the front :) Love the look of your tank and can't wait to play with the deep dimensions. I've always had 24" width tanks so that's the dimension I'm most excited to work with.
 

deaclauderdale

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#6
Nice drawing skills and don’t bridge the gap I like that look better. Looking forward to following this build.
Also looks like we are going to need to setup a CDA club given that you, me, and @gofor100 all have basically the same tank 😉
 

Jimbo327

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#8
The rockwork is fantastic. It looks very natural. Did you use rods or cement? Love the deep dimensions.
 

Smite

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#9
I like valleys. Once everything growns in, you won’t even notice the bridge.
Very true. I'll just have to be more selective on the pieces that make the cut without the bridge.
Nice drawing skills and don’t bridge the gap I like that look better. Looking forward to following this build.
Also looks like we are going to need to setup a CDA club given that you, me, and @gofor100 all have basically the same tank 😉
Sounds like a badass club. I feel like I see more DD builds now, hopefully they'll be a standard like in the IM series going forward. It'll be cool to see similar tanks built out in different ways for sure.
 

Smite

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#11
The rockwork is fantastic. It looks very natural. Did you use rods or cement? Love the deep dimensions.
Thanks. I've always wanted a tonga section to help keep corals from encrusting on to one another. it worked out pretty well coming out of that main rock. I'll probably be placing my favorite pieces on that as it's closest to the glass and the spot where I'll be sitting on the couch.

I used that super glue and fine sand technique for this. I used GlueMaster's thin superglue, stuff is gnarly. I bought two large bottles and used 1 and just a bit of the second so it goes a pretty long way. Came out rock solid. Just slowly built up the joint by layering superglue and tossing sand at it over and over.

It's by far the easiest and quickest way I've ever scaped. I had it done in a couple hours and there are lots of individual pieces, the tonga alone was 4-5 pieces in that little section. Literally dries in 15 seconds and is stuck and then just build up around it more. Wear gloves though, it heated up so much while drying I was worried the rock might crack or pop for the quick temperature change.

Time will tell how well it holds up but when I did a tester piece then attempted to pull/break it apart the rock itself broke. So that was good enough for me.
 

Smite

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#13
Excited to hear about your experiences with CDA. I am considering them for my 240 early next year.
I’ll keep you posted. Zoya has been responsive and helpful throughout the process I get a response in 1-3 days. I think it’s pretty well known that the projected completion dates are pretty far off. As long as the qualities there that doesn’t bother me too much though.
 

drexel

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#14
Dude, that's going to be a great setup! You'll really enjoy sitting down and looking directly into your tank. That's why I have the dimensions of my tank, easy viewing from a sitting position and great look down from above. If I had the room, I would've gone 48x36x18
 

Smite

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#15
Dude, that's going to be a great setup! You'll really enjoy sitting down and looking directly into your tank. That's why I have the dimensions of my tank, easy viewing from a sitting position and great look down from above. If I had the room, I would've gone 48x36x18
Yeah I'm super excited about that part of it, a recliner too ahhhh. I'm going to have trouble getting anything done though.

I love top down viewing as well so I specifically had this one built the same as my current 75g as that's about perfect for me standing. I had to sacrifice a little in height under the tank but that's not too big of a deal for me. Still dreaming of plumbing everything to my side yard walkway. Would be such a quiet system and all the dirty, smelly stuff would be taken care of outside the house.
 
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