140G New Build

[Mark Lem]

I'm setting up a Miracles starphire 185 went with the 24 front to back measurement, but agree with Gerry and Tom 30 would be really nice. On the lighting, I bought two 36" x 8 ATI's. Bought 3/4" EMT steel conduit to hang the lights from, and put in 10 hours bending, painting, adding wood mounting strips to back of stand to mount the poles, staining the wood strips to match stand, only to find that when i hung the ati's the poles sagged...very unprofessional look compared to the tank and stand. Ended up hanging the lights from the cathedral ceiling, a bit tricky to get the two fixtures level with each other, but wow what a clean look. No water yet, need to now plumb the sump, so only a bit ahead of your project...

[Gregory]

Ouch - I was wondering about using 3/4" EMT conduit also, so I'll cross that off the list.

Just got off the phone with Derek at Miracles. Cleared up my remaining questions so ready to finalize plans now.

[Gerryd]

Ouch - I was wondering about using 3/4" EMT conduit also, so I'll cross that off the list.

Just got off the phone with Derek at Miracles. Cleared up my remaining questions so ready to finalize plans now.

Can these plans include a light bar of some type? I know that CTC used their metal fabricator to create mine. I simply told them the max weight and height between the bar and the surface, and that the bar should be mid-tank when installed. Mine simply bolts/brackets to the stand itself so can be removed easily. Since they did the tank/stand as well, was easier for them than for me.

Perhaps easier/less work for them to do it?

What type of stand WILL you be using??

[Gregory]

Can these plans include a light bar of some type? I know that CTC used their metal fabricator to create mine. I simply told them the max weight and height between the bar and the surface, and that the bar should be mid-tank when installed. Mine simply bolts/brackets to the stand itself so can be removed easily. Since they did the tank/stand as well, was easier for them than for me.

Like your light bar very much. Won't work with mine though as tank back is against a railing with a wall starting just 10" over tank rim and back of tank will be flush with this wall. Don't want rails to go up from the sides as this will detract from the view. Going to run the support cables for light and power cables into the ceiling as I have an attic above the room. Can put a support beam in attic along with power supply.

Here's a picture of current 72G in the location. Plants are in rough shape as i got some praecox which developed columnar despite being okay after a 4 week quarantine so have been medicating heavily.




Here's a drawing of what I believe to be my final design which takes into consideration all viewing angles for the tank. Size 71" x 25" x 24"high



Greg

[Gregory]

Been busy researching many of the items needed for the setup.

Filter Media: Will use filter foam panels in sump, maybe Poret. Will also have a wet/dry with about 15 gallons of biomedia capacity. Thinking of going with combination of 5.3 gallon of Seachem Pond Matrix. 2 gallons of Marine Pure Biomedia and 6.7 gallons of generic bioballs. Will also have a large plant section in sump - about 32" of the 72" tank.

CO2 diffuser: Will go with Rio pump using their needle wheel impeller conversion kit if its available. Waiting for a response from Taam. Otherwise thinking of Danner Model 3 Supreme 350gph pump with fractionating impeller. Intake and outflow will both be in sump.

Autodoser: Will go with GHL Proflux as it has great reviews and comes with up to 4 internal pumps.

Light bulbs: Looking at 1 ATI blue special, 4 Giesmann midday, 2 Giesmann Aqua Flora and 1 ATI Purple Plus x 2 light fixtures in main. For sump planted section which will be 17" x 32" looking at four 24" bulbs - 3 Giesmann midday and 1 ATI blue special.

Substrate: Will use Seachem Flourite Black Sand. Don't really want to have to change ADA AS out after a year or two. So will use long lasting fluorite and develop a substrate fertilization regimen to complement the water column dosing.

Light Meter: Apogee MQ-200 as it seems to be a favourite.

Have also finished plans for the plumbing identifying all PVC parts needed along with plans for the sump/quarantine tank/ceiling support stand in the basement.

I've finished the plans for my sump which will contain all equipment along with 3 foam filter panels, a 15 gallon wet dry along with a 40 gallon section devoted to plants and shrimps - maybe guppies too according to my daughter. Will purchase 125 gallon aquarium and cut and silicone in glass panels myself. Will drill acrylic sheet for drip tray. Its designed so that I can seal the wet/dry section with a 4 strips of gaffers tape.

Plant list is almost complete as well. Toronto's Menagerie Pet Shop, which has a reputation up here for sourcing hard to find aquatic plants, , will review the plan with me shortly. I visited their shop this past Saturday and was impressed by their selection, plant conditions and pricing. Followed this up with a walk down to St. Lawrence Market, picked as the number one food market in the world recently by National Geographic - yum! Will publish plant list once its finalized and ordered.

Greg

[Gerryd]

Hi Greg,

Just a few thoughts on your last post....

Filter media - can you link to the filter foam panels you mention? They sound interesting...You may want to use ceramic rings or foam scrubbies instead of bio-balls. Other media may offer a larger surface area....

c02 - I tried the mag 350 with impeller in my sump. I could NOT see any visible c02 mist or output so I stopped using it. It may well have done such a great job that it rendered the c02 invisible However, I like to see the mist as it is a nice visual aid for me..Not saying it won't work, but the toother impeller didn't impress me much.

Light in sump - 4 tubes sounds like a lot Fish in the sump would be nice....but will add to bio-load as well....

Substrate - I have had excellent success with plain black flourite, c02, and EI dosing. Not even root tabs...So, you may want to add some fertsicles or similar every now and then. That said, ADA may lose it's N after 2-3 years, but is not replaced that often. As it ages, I would increase water column fertilization to compensate for the loss.

Sounds good so far...

[Gregory]

Filter media - can you link to the filter foam panels you mention? They sound interesting...You may want to use ceramic rings or foam scrubbies instead of bio-balls. Other media may offer a larger surface area....

The foam is fairly stiff and can be cut slightly larger than sump width so it doesn't need a baffle to hold in place. Its from swiss tropicals and is called "Poret". Pretty pricey, haven't found a cheaper substitute that will work the same way yet.

Light in sump - 4 tubes sounds like a lot Fish in the sump would be nice....but will add to bio-load as well....

Maybe 2 bulbs is enough then, will be fairly low light plants, about 35gallon of the 125g sump will be planted area.

Substrate - I have had excellent success with plain black flourite, c02, and EI dosing. Not even root tabs...So, you may want to add some fertsicles or similar every now and then. That said, ADA may lose it's N after 2-3 years, but is not replaced that often. As it ages, I would increase water column fertilization to compensate for the loss.

Sounds good so far...

Noted re. ADA. I guess my confusion arises from a few posts from Tom Barr in 2009 where he seemed to indicate a fairly limited lifespan for ADA AS and that we should consider flourite if we aren't willing to change ADA AS out after a year or two. However, I did some further looking tonight and I see where he's posted more recently that his 180g substrate is 7 years old and still fine - so maybe I was relying too heavily on his earlier opinion which may have evolved as his experience with ADA AS lengthened. My initial preference was ADA AS - I had just been scared off by his early post and hadn't found anything that definitively said otherwise until tonight.

Thanks a lot for your continued advice Gerry - much appreciated. Still following your tank with great interest - just don't have much insight to offer due to inexperience. Looking forward to pics of the new ATI fixtures in place!

Greg

[Gerryd]

Greg,

NP. Happy to help.

FYI, for the planted sump, a single T8 or T12 should suffice for simple java ferns and mosses...I would not use T5ho in there

Keep it simple......