180g Lagoon inspired tank.

king_neptune

Active Member
Been a while since I posted a build, thought I would share my recent project with yall. Its a 180g build that has been sitting on the back burner for a while. I got the tank from a local reefer, its a 180g Octogon tank. Its aproxamatly 26" deep and has a nice low profile.
The top is about waist level so you can lean over it and work with corals, yet its just right so that I can sit in my favorite chair and chill while smoking a bowl. Here is a shot of it mid project.

I built an LED array for it that features 8 strings. 4w/4b/ Each string is individually dimable an has its own power display to allow for fine tuning of the lights. Its pretty cool to be able to adjust the light according to my mood. Hes some shots during the construction of the array.


I made a real rock wall this time instead of the foam wall. I think they look better than foam and was honestly only about %30 more expensive.I ordered peices from marco rocks that came pre-cut flat on one side. I placed those onto an eggcrate background using mortar also purchased from thier site. I ordered an extra tub of mortar, and Im glad I did. If anything I could have used a little bit more, but I made it work out fine in the end. The final product looks really good and I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

I placed it in back and sealed it against the tank glass, I used a pocket that had an old self contained overflow to allow for plumbing and heaters. The water drains over the top and to the back where I have a closed loop system attached to a Mag18. This closed loop basicly draws water in from the back chamber and pushes it out into the DT where I have an octogon shaped 1/2 line that runs the bottom perimeter of the tank. I drilled 1/8 holes every 6" and angled them towards the glass at a 45degree angle. The result is a gentle upward draft of water that keeps the glass free of algae, and adds a nice column of upward water to add suspension for turnover in the tank.

After the closed loop was installed and working properly, I added a mag6 to drive water up to the sump where it drops into a spraybar down in the first chamber. The spra bar prevents detritus buildup in the sump which was a major peeve of mine on my last build. I have aproximatly 50'bs of LR in the first chamber of the sump as well as a large GB Starfish since they make excellent detriviors. In the case of a power outage the sump had the potential of draining 15g back into the DT, which while not detrimental...it means that the LR would be out of water...and if the power came back on...the skimmer would be running a min while the sump refilled. To keep this from happening, I drilled a small hole just below the waterline to allow air to escape back up into the line. I still get 99% of the water pressure going all the way down the line into the bottom of the sump, but this little bit of bleeding allows for a backup to break the siphon if needed.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
^_^
looks like we are treading on each other. Im re-writing the whole thing anyways. A lot was written in past future/tense since its something Ive been posting elsewhere. I decided to just start from scratch to have it make more sense to folks. Thanks for the heads up on the pictures.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
OK, got it figured out. Ill re-edit my edit and get it sorted out. THX.
Moving along....
The fuge will be pretty much standard. I have it on a timer so that it comes on around 10pm and shuts off 6am this keeps the PH swing (which was already at next to nothing) in check. I am currently using grow bulbs I got at homedepot, maybe later Ill upgrade with some T5's, or PC's. Underneath the fuge is a DSB, this is protected by a layer of eggcrate to keep it undisturbed. I am going to pick up a gentle nano sized power head to also keep some small movement inside the fuge, it will be extremely gentle, but enough to keep the water turning over inside to allow maximum saturation of the DSB below. I am entertaining ideas on how to also turn it into a seahorse pen, but thats only a dream at this stage.

When tis all done, it overflows back into the DT staging area.

I like the light from the window, it provides a nice amount of natural light most of the afternoon. On a really nice day I get a fantastic direct beam of nature into my tank for hours.
The other day I trimmed the tress you see outside up nice and high. It opens up the yard nicely and as an added bonus allows even more light into the window.

Some other shots of the overall system at night:

 

king_neptune

Active Member
Its been up and running for a couple weeks now. Everything is coming along nicely. I hit my diatom bloom pleasantly early. I was expecting it to happen after 3-4 weeks, instead I got it with a week. It peaked a few ago, and is now in decline. The next stage will be the hair algae, im expecting it to happen in the next few weeks. Already small micro hairs are showing up. Im going to let it be for a few weeks to allow maximum saturation of biodiversity. Then Ill begin the process of removal. My favorite technique is a $20 sea hare, they are just amazing for removal of unwanted hair algae. By winters time, the coraline should be in full production, and my purple tang will be enough to keep any small patches of algae under control. One thing that I am frustrated with is dead spots in the tank. The lack of sand is a blessing and a curse. It deffinetly lets me know where I am not getting enough flow, but there in lies the problem....your imperfections really do stand out. I got 90% of the surface covered now, but there are a couple patches that I just cant angle a power head at reliably due to the faceted angles of the glass. Enter the Catfish! I ordered a Marine Catfish yesterday. Should arrive Monday, gonna put him in next month after his QT session. Hell be a nice detritus vacum and I cant wait to see him in action.
Thanks for the read! Ill close with some shots I took over the last week:






 

king_neptune

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by cryptics http:///forum/thread/386099/180g-lagoon-inspired-tank#post_3389233
Looks amazing. Can you detail how you made the rock wall? very curious
Simple actually. I went to Marco Rocks website and ordered some prime cuts. They are basicly Key largo shelf rocks that are cut flat on one side. I also ordered two tubs of reef safe mortar they also sell on their site. From there I cut an egg crate panel that would fit in the gap in the back of the tank. I placed the panel on a peice of plastic and then poured mixed mortar over it, after it was spread evenly I placed the rock pieces onto the egg crate then finished off by filling in the gaps with more mortar. This created a pretty solid and natural looking wall, that could be siliconed against the back of a tank. I'm not sure how well mortar would attach to glass...but if it does...then I would probably prefer that over silicone. Even at the extra cost.
Or you can do like I did, and create an extra chamber in the tank:
After it dried overnight, I placed it into the spot I wanted and used silicone to seal it in place. Using the last bit of mortar I had, I put a bead along the three contact points with the tank. On the back of the wall(inside the pocket) I sprayed a can of pond foam...the UV protected kind. When it dried I used a kitchen knife to cut it away and that made it pretty close to water tight with just a few places that leaked slightly. I filled those spots in with wads of frag putty. There are many alternatives to what I did. If i were to do it again, I would probably buy tubes of polyeurithane and using a spatula coat the inside of the back wall. Pond foam worked ok...but like I said...there were spots that still leaked, and it was a pain to cut away. Poly would have been less of a hassle since the stuff is pretty pliable and would deffinatly seal in watertight. A can of foam cast the same as 3 cans of poly...so it would realisticly have been pretty close to the same cost anyways.
 

1guydude

Well-Known Member
LMAO hey king believe it or not but we are from the same town!!!!!! I havent read ur thread yet...i was just excited!
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
Word, Neptune's back! That's pretty bad, my man. The Petland right up the road here has one of the exact same tanks with fw Comets in it. I always wondered what a salt setup would look like in it. Now i know.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
nice work. I really like the led array and the over the top sump. the reverse arrangement is wicked
I saw the photos and was like "how the heck has this thread been around since 2007?" nope...
I really dig the wrap around scape. with the central valley.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1guyDude http:///forum/thread/386099/180g-lagoon-inspired-tank#post_3389260
LMAO hey king believe it or not but we are from the same town!!!!!! I havent read ur thread yet...i was just excited!
^_^
I dont really spend much time on forums anymore. Been a while since I been on this one. Im usually on our own local one, not sure if your a member there or not. You should should join, 90% of our members are between Eatonville and Everett. Good way to meet local reefers, attend frag swaps and find good local deals on livestock and equipment.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric B 125 http:///forum/thread/386099/180g-lagoon-inspired-tank#post_3389262
Word, Neptune's back! That's pretty bad, my man. The Petland right up the road here has one of the exact same tanks with fw Comets in it. I always wondered what a salt setup would look like in it. Now i know.
Its an $1800 and I got it from a local guy for $150. I was pretty excited, had a few minor scratches but you dont really notice unless you look for them.
It wasnt leaking, but just to be safe, he did a fresh seal on it for me, and it is in perfect working order. Love this tank except for the frustration with the corner deposits of detritius. Since it is a faceted tank wall, it makes mounting a power head and getting it into a corner frustrating. Ive still got a few ideas to try, and Im confidant Ill eventually come up with something that will keep the system clean. I think that catfish will play a big role in the small pockets of detritus that is not being swept away.
Quote:
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/thread/386099/180g-lagoon-inspired-tank#post_3389281
nice work. I really like the led array and the over the top sump. the reverse arrangement is wicked
I saw the photos and was like "how the heck has this thread been around since 2007?" nope...
I really dig the wrap around scape. with the central valley.
Ya, borrowed my neighbors camera for the first few, then my sisters for the last half. And the central valley will be pretty sweet when it gets wide sweeping corals that branch out to the middle.
 

1guydude

Well-Known Member
Quote:
I dont really spend much time on forums anymore. Been a while since I been on this one. Im usually on our own local one, not sure if your a member there or not. You should should join, 90% of our members are between Eatonville and Everett. Good way to meet local reefers, attend frag swaps and find good local deals on livestock and equipment.
went through the thread! So ur not doing sand, do u plan on covering the whole bottom of the tank with LR? It seems so?!?!?!
If ur talkin about the one i think ur talkin about, than yes ive joined the site but havent paid the $15 of watever for membership....are u going to the auction thing at the des moines beach? Its next weekend i believe, im prob gonna go if i can. Seeing as im not a paid member and all....i could prob get it when i go though
 

king_neptune

Active Member
I dont pay the member ship fee for RF. Dont really care much for the mods anyway. Most of them are in spokane yet interfere with us on the west side. The tipping point for me was last year when they got all bent at Josh for "Advertising" a non PSAS affiliated fish store...which was stupid. Josh was selling his own tank, and he said the meeting place could be at Indoor reef in Tacoma. Its not like we all dont know where it is. But it led to an exchange beetween him and a mod, and it got him banned...and half dozen other folks who protested. Anyways, I just mainly use that site for local buy/sell and frag swaps. Not much else, so no point in paying a fee. They pretty much killed thier own site, and its thier own doing, I'm not giving $15 cause they shot themselves in the foot. Being a mod is one thing, being a control freak and a Nazi is another.
As for the question you had....
No, not covering the whole bottom with LR. I got the two arms that wrap around the perimiter, they start high, and slope down to nothing. I plan to add SPS on one side, and LPS on the other. With lower levels reserved for corals that grow low and wide, with corals that branch upwards placed near the top. I also have a peice of cut rock that is about the size of an 8x10 sheet of paper, its flat on the bottom so it will make a great island. Ill sculpt it with some zooz, and probably some kind of tort in the center that I will prune upwards to the center of the tank. For now the middle will make plenty of room for frag placement, which was a real frustration in my last build, but now Ill have plenty of room. I also designed the system to accomidate a frag tank at a later date. Another thing to note about the reverse style sump is that I keep the heaters down below in the DT pocket. This allows me to only concentrate on the DT...instead of heating water in a small sump, then pumping it up 6 feet where it cools rapidly in a large tank. I should save on energy this way. And hopefully reduce wear on my heaters.
 

1guydude

Well-Known Member
Ya i get u about being a mod and not a nazi!!!! LOL
I dont get the RF though, never been their....we are talkin about psas though right LOL
I was wondering why the site was so dead.....its like no one goes on thier or something

I usually go to tropical fish world, GBR, Wildside, and paradise...idk no RF though
 

king_neptune

Active Member
PSAS members mostly hang out on RF, most everyone on RF is a PSAS member, but for whatever reason...RF is used more.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
Beefed up the CuC 4 days ago. Added 15 hermits and 10 assorted snails. Already seeing a reduction in waste. Fish are also on a diet, feeding them every other day and a reduced amount. A big portion of the detritus problem was leaving my Dad to feed the fish, since I live in town while in school. All he needs to do is add a bucket of water every other day and feed them a tiny bit...but he's extremly wasteful. I left him with 12 months supply of home made food, and he used it up in 2 months. He just wont listen to me, so I took a power head and blew it all over the tank. It was a cloudy mess. I think he got the message...I hope.
 
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