# My Reef Tank - 90gal Cube 'The Mountain'



## Patwa

*My 90G Gorgonian and Softie Reef Tank*

So, it has been many years since I have had a display tank to call my own.

My last tank was with me for a number of years, but it met its end in the most spectacular fashion - silicone failure (note to self: never buy big box crap again). And while the tank itself was spectacular and very successful, I now look upon it as the critical stepping stone I needed to prepare myself for _this_ reef.

This new tank is not that much larger than my previous tank, but it is leaps and bounds more complicated and challenging. However, I have made efforts to keep it as 'low-tech' as possible - you are not going to see any pimpin' 6-channel doser or superfluous dawn/dusk/thunderstorm effects on this tank.

This will be a mixed reef, with all types of coral incorporated into the aquascape. Specific emphasis will be placed on rarer and uncommon softies and LPS, with a few key branching and encrusting SPS species. The tank is essentially custom-built from the ground-up. Most of the design/building/testing was done by me over long days and nights and countless episodes of ST:TNG re-runs. Never mind the 3+ boxes of band-aids I went through and the weekly floods over my hardwood floors...grr!

I call it '_The Mountain_' because it will feature a unique rockscape that will protrude out of the water - in the same way coral atolls do in nature.

*Display Aquarium: 90g rimless glass (~80g usable volume)*

30" x 28.5" x 23.5" ID - with internal durso overflow
0.5" glass thickness
Completely reused/recycled from a damaged 180gal (ie. glass would have otherwise gone to a landfill)
Tank expertly crafted by Sonny from Aquatic Kingdom

*Stand & Skin: DIY w/ 2x4s and plywood*

Maple veneer paneling, stained and triple-sealed
With back-lit red acrylic insert

*Sump: 46 gal acrylic DIY (~25gal usable volume)*

26.5" x 26.5" x 15" ID
Divided into 3 sections (1-skimmer, 2-bubble trap/macro, 3-fuge/live-rock)

*Skimmer: Deltec AP701 (DIY clone) w/ Eheim 1263 needlewheel, rated for 400gal normal stocking*

DIY air silencer
Air bubble diffuser plate
Base recirculation section w/ input/output ports
DIY'ed by some uber-skilled guy from the US - I bought it from him about 6 years ago and only got around to using it now

*Filtration*

Biological - 100lbs of liverock, 3" oolithic sand
Mechanical - 100 micron filter socks on overflow (cleaned weekly) and skimmer output (cleaned monthly)

*Return Pump: Danner Mag 12*

T'd into reactor(s)
output plumbed to SCWD unit

*Flow: Panworld 100PX-X and Oceans Motions 4-way closed-loop*

Four outlets into tank (two on rear pane, two on bottom pane)
All four outlets use flow accelerators (ie. modified eductors)

*Main Lighting: Kessil A350W Tuna Blue LED Pendant *

Supplemental Lighting: x3 PAR38 LEDs
PAR38 LEDs will be used to spotlight specific corals/areas of the tank (Japanese style)

*Reactors: 2 Little Fishies Reactor*

Alternating between GFO and carbon

*ATO: Tunze Osmolator*

With 4gal DIY freshwater reservoir
RO/DI: Aquasafe 5 Stage (SED, GAC, CCB, RO, DI)

*Temperature Control:*

None - I keep my home at a decent level
Ebo-Jager 200W heater (winter months)

*Frag Tank: 85 gallon DIY acrylic*

(to be decommissioned later this year)


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## aquatic_expressions

Awesome! Can't wait to see what you come up with Zach!


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## kamal

I am excited to see this develop as my next tank will be a 60-70g cube 

I am especially interested in the lighting method selected. Have you decided how you will mount/hang the par38's?


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## Patwa

nice choice on a cube 

I've yet to decide on the actual fixture for placing the PAR38s. I've seen some of the ones commonly available, but they don't appeal to me too much. Mind you, I haven't spent much time looking for different options yet. I've just seen some from local shops here in the GTA....they work, but lack the design I have in mind for a fixture.

I'm trying to take on a more 'modern' twist with this tank.....especially with the lighting and how they're utilized - I want a good mix of industrial and modern....I may be asking for too much, but hey, the interwebs is full of options, you just have to sift through it all to find the right one! 

...some examples


















z


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## lloydj

Oh Yeah.... 

Following along !!


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## deeznutz

Nice start! I'll be following.

As for low tech, it never stays that way. lol I guess it depends on how much free time you have.

As for the light rail. Find a piece of stainless steel or aluminum stock 1/2"x 2" and have it customer bent. I was planning something like this, but my budget just got slashed lol.

Good luck.

-dan


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## CatfishSoupFTW

Patwa said:


> nice choice on a cube
> 
> I've yet to decide on the actual fixture for placing the PAR38s. I've seen some of the ones commonly available, but they don't appeal to me too much. Mind you, I haven't spent much time looking for different options yet. I've just seen some from local shops here in the GTA....they work, but lack the design I have in mind for a fixture.
> 
> I'm trying to take on a more 'modern' twist with this tank.....especially with the lighting and how they're utilized - I want a good mix of industrial and modern....I may be asking for too much, but hey, the interwebs is full of options, you just have to sift through it all to find the right one!
> 
> ...some examples
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> z


Just yesterday I purchased a goose neck 30cm long, to go on the glass, and it was 30 bucks and it does look weird. but cool weird. lol

but before that, I spent over a week looking online, looking for builds, seeing what some stores are doing, and if it isnt a goose neck, or a floor lamp, its track fixtures. I was actually going to build one, but I didnt want to hang stuff, and it would cost me more than a goose neck, excluding the tools I would possibly be missing. so after a week or so of looking and gas wasted driving to different cities, I raged quit. lol

so , good luck to you my friend, as it wasnt successful for me. The goose neck was worth it in the end, 30 bucks cant go wrong, or 40 for the double head one. Its real sturdy , plus the guy at fragbox was real nice.


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## Patwa

CatfishSoupFTW said:


> Just yesterday I purchased a goose neck 30cm long, to go on the glass, and it was 30 bucks and it does look weird. but cool weird. lol
> 
> but before that, I spent over a week looking online, looking for builds, seeing what some stores are doing, and if it isnt a goose neck, or a floor lamp, its track fixtures. I was actually going to build one, but I didnt want to hang stuff, and it would cost me more than a goose neck, excluding the tools I would possibly be missing. so after a week or so of looking and gas wasted driving to different cities, I raged quit. lol
> 
> so , good luck to you my friend, as it wasnt successful for me. The goose neck was worth it in the end, 30 bucks cant go wrong, or 40 for the double head one. Its real sturdy , plus the guy at fragbox was real nice.


yeah, i've seen the fragbox ones. They're nice - well designed and practical. However, since I haven't really spent any time looking for different options as yet, i'll do that first and then decide what to do. I may indeed have to go with the ones you mentioned, but we'll see! thanks for the input 

ok, time for more pics on this build!

so, after setting up and testing the closed-loop, I ran it at full power and noticed there was a very decent amount of flow! ...my goal with this tank is not to have *any* powerheads or any such pumps IN the tank.....looks like I can stick to that statement (for now)









but setting this up didn't come without any issues. When I bought the OM (used) I quickly found there was some rusted/broken parts.









but after a quick call to Paul at OM, a few pints and some chicken wings, I had the replacement parts I needed. Time to set it up!









I used the "Version 2" drum, but widened the opening about 25% more on each side with my dremel. I also had to sand the entire drum down a bit as it was sticking during my tests









Here's the whole closed-loop setup, with Panworld 100PX-X pump (1270GPH)


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## Patwa

I finally have an update - apologies for taking so long......summer was pretty hectic, and honestly, I still had (and have) a bunch of work to do on the tank/stand before I can say it's 100% done.

I did enter a photo contest......you can say it's essentially the first-ever photo of my tank (or at least the first one I like and want to show publicly! )

5 months old....frags, frags, and more frags......can't wait for the next 12 months to pass so I can see these beauties grow!









I've had to deal with moderate algae issues, minor bleaching on some LPS and an alk issue that resulted in most of my zoas shrinking...so yes, one busy, eventful summer.

Oh, I also decided to go with the goosenecks for my three PAR38 LEDs....thanks to Fragbox!


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## Bullet

Quite a journey but with awesome results so far !
The best is yet to come 
Thanks for sharing !


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## Bayinaung

Dude! congrats! I didn't even know you had a thread in here hehe. I only look at the headlines. now let me go and read the whole thing.


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## Bayinaung

sweet story. Question - how did your old tank fail? the silicone thing? that's FREAKIN me OUT man. I've been hearing so many stories of reef tanks failing, hearing another one freaks me out. Did you use a wave maker?

I'm setting up a regular 90G atm. Got it second hand, it doesn't have a maker on it, but I assume it's a miracles tank as it looks to be one of the older standard 90G and stand setup from BA.


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## Bayinaung

Your tank looks trippy with the lights you got. Nice stuff. Next time give us a close up tour of your corals .


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## explor3r

Very nice I can only image when the frag frag frags become colonies..
thanks for sharing and keep the pictures coming!


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## Patwa

Bullet said:


> Quite a journey but with awesome results so far !
> The best is yet to come
> Thanks for sharing !


thanks!



Bayinaung said:


> sweet story. Question - how did your old tank fail? the silicone thing? that's FREAKIN me OUT man. I've been hearing so many stories of reef tanks failing, hearing another one freaks me out. Did you use a wave maker?
> 
> I'm setting up a regular 90G atm. Got it second hand, it doesn't have a maker on it, but I assume it's a miracles tank as it looks to be one of the older standard 90G and stand setup from BA.


yeah it failed...never buying mass-produced stuff again

see the entire bottom seam...so many areas where the silicone lifted....no other seam had any lift

















i'd say give your new one a good inspection...and re-seal it just in case...but im no pro. I know this cube I have is siliconed really well and good.



Bayinaung said:


> Your tank looks trippy with the lights you got. Nice stuff. Next time give us a close up tour of your corals .


still just mostly tiny frags, but ill get to the photos soon lol



explor3r said:


> Very nice I can only image when the frag frag frags become colonies..
> thanks for sharing and keep the pictures coming!


thanks man


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## Patwa

Oh boy, what a day. It's amazing how smelly one gets after playing in the dirt...and who would have thought i'd hear from my special guy, y4zhuang!? good to know he hasn't forgotten about me lol

hopefully this'll clear my head; i'll get back to what i'm good at: more pics, less fight.

a. bowerbanki from Canada Corals









Tahitian maxima clam from AK (trade in)....this guy is huuuuge! brighter blue than an Aussie maxima I had years ago, by far









Pulsing Sinularia from Coral Reef Shop









top part of my rockwork that breaks the surface and rises about 5" above the water line









Japanese softie from RR via Flavio (ARA).....under strong flow it has a much tighter, almost capnella-like polyp/branch structure, but in this form (low flow) it looks nothing like capnella...more like a colt (klyxum sp.)









toxic green a. lordhowensis from NAFB...showing the true colours. No LED actinic flashlight was use in the capture of this pic


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## zoapaly

Beautiful  time to take FTS?


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## Patwa

I posted a FTS on the other page but i'd admit it's already way out of date. I've added and moved around lots of corals since that one was taken. 

Will try and get an updated one soon  I just wanted to post my corals for the people who've been asking me over and over to show my stuff.


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## Marz

Beautiful!


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## zoapaly

Your bowerbanki look sick , but im confusing how come your rockwork 5" above the water line ? Show us your sump too


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## Sea MunnKey

Maybe you need some killah Yumas on the bottom ... insanely intense colored Yumas dude!!!  Not Indo's ....


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## Patwa

zoapaly said:


> Your bowerbanki look sick , but im confusing how come your rockwork 5" above the water line ? Show us your sump too


When I had freshwater tanks I usually did a style called "palaudarium" coz I liked the look of a water surface/air environment. The rockwork comes out of the water because I wanted to try that look out in a reef tank.

in reefs it's difficult to get that same feel, so I modeled that style on a reef atoll. So that means a tiny section of exposed coral that sticks out of the water, with a expansive, colourful and vibrant reefscene underneath. I might even super glue a lego man at the top of the exposed rock 

i'll get pics of the sump soon....I need to post more coral pics!

i'm very low tech...my sump is basic: powerful skimmer, refugium, chaeto, carbon/GFO reactor, that's it...no dosers, controllers and wi-fi and all that hollywood stuff



Marz said:


> Beautiful!


thanks 



Sea MunnKey said:


> Maybe you need some killah Yumas on the bottom ... insanely intense colored Yumas dude!!!  Not Indo's ....


i've got two... one is a fire orange colour and beautiful! cherry picked from AK from a Philippines shipment. I've had it over 7 years! (and it has never grown a baby)

more photos

Foxface next to my sinularia









photosynthetic gorg from AK....this thing is soooo frilly, the polyps are huge









Green Tree coral....this colony is probably 9 years old about now. It has literally doubled in size in just about 4 months in this tank









Foxface next to my duncans









battle-ready green torch from Canada Corals ..insane green on this one


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## Sea MunnKey

Very nice shot of the green torch ...


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## fesso clown

Looks great! I'd love to see a FTS that shows the top of the Mountain.


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## TBemba

You need a HD web cam pointed at this and a link so I can watch this tank for a few hours a day.


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## Marz

Been dying to get a photo gorg.

+1 on the FTS.


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## teemee

There are a couple of nice big ones at BA Scarborough right now.


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## Patwa

Sea MunnKey said:


> Very nice shot of the green torch ...


thanks



fesso clown said:


> Looks great! I'd love to see a FTS that shows the top of the Mountain.


i'm working on a video that'll show it well re: GoPro....just gotta wait a bit 



TBemba said:


> You need a HD web cam pointed at this and a link so I can watch this tank for a few hours a day.


haha  thanks man



Marz said:


> Been dying to get a photo gorg.
> 
> +1 on the FTS.


if you can't find any, i've got two diff species. I can chop you a branch of either, no probs...just gotta mount it yourself.

MOAR PICS

sinularia with the strangest branching i've seen...looks like Sideshow Bob. Had to use a flash to get this as it's under a ledge









this is my nursery area, so to speak. I'm growing out some nice branching softies - i've got frags of two different varieties of capnella imbricata, a peachy/red klyxum (cauliflower colt) and that oddball Japanese softie I can't quite ID properly.









my oldest clown, Beyoncé....had her about 7 years....she was and still is an angry, bossy fish lol









better shot of that bowerbanki!


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## Sea MunnKey

That's it Zach ... I'm gonna start building a new stand and once done, I'm bringing up the empty tank and rebuild it from scratch ... can't stand the purdy coral pics  in my face!!!


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## Marz

Keep 'em coming. I may just take you up on the gorge offer after the new year if I can't find one. Your softies are really beautiful as well.


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## zoapaly

Your bow look sick  i want see it in person ?


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## Patwa

moar pics!

white polyp toadstool from Coral Reef Shop









ORA Loco Lobophytum (yellow polyps slooowly starting to come in on this one!)









bounce shroom ....doubled in size since I got it two months ago...maybe babies are on the way!? ....woot! 









meat coral from Flavio (ARA).....it bleached to heck when I originally added it, has since started to colour back up to the yellow/orange w/ purple stripes it was in the store









love that bowerbanki!









Vietnam acan lord frag from Canada Corals...already sprouted two babies









gorg close-up...not the best clarity in this pic, but it'll do









Tahitian maxima clam mantle close-up









polyp structure of the green tree coral....again, not the best clarity, but it'll do


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## zoapaly

I like your Bow and Bounce , seen in person they look sweettt
The orange bounce it rare


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## Patwa

yeah, from what I read, the orange bounce are called "Jersey Bounce"...in honour of overly-tanned fist-pumpin Jersey Guidos? I dunno.

orange-skinned Jersey oompa loompas for reference:


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## Kooka

Do you know what that gorgonian species is in the 7th pic? Beautiful corals btw.


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## Jiinx

Great photos! I love the details that the gorgs show in macro photos. You've got a great collection of corals. Bump shroom - love it 


sarah


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## iBetta

beautiful toadstool! what level is it in your tank and the level of flow? mine never has its polyps fully extended like that (or maybe it's my hermits running everywhere all the time lol)

and that bounce mushroom...damn. been trying to find one without success...possible frag in the future? 

also, has anyone ever thought what would happen if you pop one of the bubbles on those bounce shrooms...so tempting like those bubble wrap wrapping LOL


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## Patwa

Kooka said:


> Do you know what that gorgonian species is in the 7th pic? Beautiful corals btw.


thanks 

that's a slit-pore sea rod (plexaurella sp. )...Caribbean species. very hardy



Jiinx said:


> Great photos! I love the details that the gorgs show in macro photos. You've got a great collection of corals. Bump shroom - love it
> 
> sarah


thanks...that macro was taken in front of the glass...i've got an underwater port coming soon so i can put the camera lens in the tank. The macros should get waaay better 



iBetta said:


> beautiful toadstool! what level is it in your tank and the level of flow? mine never has its polyps fully extended like that (or maybe it's my hermits running everywhere all the time lol)
> 
> and that bounce mushroom...damn. been trying to find one without success...possible frag in the future?
> 
> also, has anyone ever thought what would happen if you pop one of the bubbles on those bounce shrooms...so tempting like those bubble wrap wrapping LOL


thanks!

not gonna dare pop one of the bubbles  but I do get the temptation just like you

I've got so many toadstools in so many different places it's hard to give you a good answer lol. That big white polyp one is up pretty high and does get some decent flow. It's a mature colony so I give it the full bore of my flow and light.

I have some much rarer/unique toadstools (frags) in much more shaded and less turbulent flow, though.

I've also got a weeping willow toad but the damn thing has never opened since I got it..and it's been about a month. It's also most definitely not dead, so i'm sort of stuck on that one.


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## zoapaly

Hey Z !
i think you may love this Taiwan bounce  From JD 
sickkkkkkk


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## Patwa

nice shroom!


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## Patwa

shit, it's been 2.5 years since I posted an update to this thread...yikes! Well, my tank is doing GREAT...no leaks, no issues *knocks on wood*, can't complain!

....so great, in fact, the corals are growing like mad and I have no room left to add more softies and gorgs! On a bit of bad news, my gorgonians and softies have all but exterminated all LPS and SPS that I had.

This tank is essentially ALL softies and gorgonians now. I do still have my ARC Bounce (it's tripled in size, but no babies yet) and a few other corallimorphs, oh and only one Vietnamese m. lordhowensis remains - go figure.





































if anyone can ID this coral, i'd be very grateful - comes from Kenya (Indian Ocean shipment, Aquatic Kingdom)


















ID this gorg? (wild-collected, Caribbean. Can't find anything that matches this - extremely small and fine polyps, delicate structure)


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## corpusse

Looking good. I remember when your tank was almost all zoas and palys...

Is your marine betta still around?


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## Patwa

Leroy, my marine betta, is still around. I just fed him a big piece of marlin yesterday and he gobbled it up! I'm trying to pin down when I purchased him, and I think it was back in late 2005. He was already an adult and fully grown when I brought him home. 

So I'm guessing he must be at least 14 years old now, 12 of those were with me in my tanks.

Re: zoas...yeahhhh
those were days when people called me 'Zoa man', 'zoa guy' lol!. After having so many morphs, the thrill just went away. It's funny to me to see some of the same zoas and palys I used to have, with new names, going for stupidly ridiculous Cornbred-level prices now *puke*

but I am glad I stuck with the softies, though  always had an affinity for those particular corals, and it sure seems they like me given the growth and good health they enjoy in my system


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## Rookie2013

Beautiful Gorg Setup Patwa...


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