# Shivers Final Build



## shiver905

After changing tanks a few times.
I made up my mind,
NO MORE TANKS FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
Thats my new years resolution for 2011. 2012. and 2013

I decided to go for what I really wanted and get one custom built.

Tank is rimless and starfire
But it will take AT LEAST 3 weeks to get in.

I started the stand, Issue was how im going to make it stable. My buddy and I figured it out and so far the frame is half done and its bullet proof.

I pray this build will go well with minimum problems.

I'll Keep you guys updated With some pictures next post.

ID REALLY LOVE INPUT AND TIPS From this THREAD.

BLUE PRINT: YES ITS MS PAINT. LOL


----------



## CLUSTER ONE

Rimless will be cool though i dont really like the stand. If I was paying $ for a sterfire rimless I would want a sleeker and more modern looking stand. I like the look of ADA stands where its very plain with 2 large doors coving pretty much the whole front

For lighting im assuming your doing something like a MH or multiple bulb t5? I think hanging the light from the ceiling would look best but if you dont want to do that hanging it from some bar over the tank would be cool too like in the below pic.

My link


----------



## shiver905

The stand is coming along first layer of paint. Still 2 more coats to do









This build is going to take awhile,









I also decided add a something special, It will be used as a Fish only tank and will also be used as a QT.
The hole in the wall was already there but it want even so i tore it up and did it again.
Also picked up a new 90g to put there, My older 90 had some scratches on it, Decided to start fresh.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE

So what are your plans now? 90 FOWLR?

What are you doing with your plans for the rimless reef, 65g and that other reef you had at one point with the sump? I saw you sell your rimless so can you go over your lastest plan as im rather confused on what you still have and what your planning to do.


----------



## shiver905

Ya did have it for sale,

But i decided to keep it,

So im doing both tanks.
The 90 and the rimless









Im broke already.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE

Ok so your just transferring the old tanks to your rimless?

You got it made at NAFB right? Im considering getting a 12" cube made with 2 drilled holes but im not sure who I should go with and im not sure what the cost would be.

How was the rimless tanks quality and your overall impression of NAFB (assuming you went there and im not just remembering wrong facts)


----------



## shiver905

For something that size id consider an "Aqua Inspiration" tank.
Iv seen 2 of them and they are amazing.

As for nafb, John makes some quality tanks,
But if you expect costomer service, You are not going to get it.
I wouldnt do it, Unless it was a larger tank. Just not worth the headach.


----------



## FEEFA

Good luck with everything shiver, your tanks always look great and I'm sure this one will too.


----------



## shiver905

shiver905 said:


> Good luck with everything shiver, your tanks always look great and I'm sure this one will too.


Thanks Feef! appriciate that.


----------



## shiver905

The tank is IN!
Super excited that 30" of depth is insane.


















Also, I decided to renovate my sump, Got some extra galss for some extra baffels.
I also decided to lift the sump for easier maintanence.

Iv made these basic frames so many times it take me like 25 min to do.









Damn, Guys

I havent been this excited in awhile.


----------



## His Majesty

its coming along nicely. im digging the dimensions. id really like something similar but i dont really have anywhere sensible to put it at the moment


----------



## sapir

sick tank man, i cant wait to see it filled with water


----------



## shiver905

Still collecting equipment.

I wanted to add another baffel to my sump,
I ended up taking it apart and resealing it.
After a thousand razors its done.

I also took apart my skimmer and did a meshwheel mod.
I cant belive they dont sell meshwheels stock in skimmers its working 2x as good.

Its great actually getting dirty and taking things apart things. You appricate things more this way.

The new toys:


----------



## CLUSTER ONE

Nice pickup.

What exactly does the mp's ecosmart driver and the reef light do?

Is the vertechs controlled just for the power of the flow or does it function as a wave maker too?


----------



## Ægir

CLUSTER ONE said:


> Nice pickup.
> 
> What exactly does the mp's ecosmart driver and the reef light do?
> 
> Is the vertechs controlled just for the power of the flow or does it function as a wave maker too?


EcoSmart check out the "features" tab

It adds a few new features, including "nutrient transport" and "tidal swell" mode... It can function as a wave maker, or you can run the other programs for a changing flow pattern.

Reef crest, and lagoon mode are still standard.

THE RK lite cant control the Vortech (yet?) but can control about everything else... you can monitor PH, ORP, temp, and other params heads up. I am pretty sure you can also get the NET module and use the computer based software (my reef) to program and label channels, and even check your tank from any other computers or smartphones.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE

^sweet though for my application a 30$ korallia will be fine.


----------



## Ægir

CLUSTER ONE said:


> ^sweet though for my application a 30$ korallia will be fine.


Necessary? NO... awesome?... YES

Theres really no comparison (not even the MP10, let alone the 40w), the Vortechs move an insane amount of water and the random flow or changing cycles REALLY helps keep the entire water column moving, and waste or detritus from settling.

When we changed them from "on 75%" (no cycles, or opposing sides working together, just ON) to "Nutrient export" with a max flow of 75% and an opposing slave on the opposite side of the tank (the 155 bow project)... all the little piles in back corners, and crap from under rocks became suspended again. Its awesome to watch the cycle build up... and then the large "surge" at the end of the cycle flush everything out.

They are kinda hard to figure out at first... you can learn some things online that the manual doesnt tell you like the "auto tune" for wave mode:
Here

I am reading more about controlling them with the RKlite... you can control them with the Neptune WXM, but im not sure what DA is doing for their controller.


----------



## shiver905

Looks like AEgir is doing all the explaining.
I agree with everything he said.

Im still stumped on lighting,

I was about to pull the trigger on the Lumenmax 3 but decided against halides.

Lighting a tank thats 30" is harder then I expected.
I might just keep my 6 bulb t5ho and order another one.
But with 12 bulbs sh*t will get expensive. Thats 300$ every year or so.

Im really playing with the High/Low lighting Idea, High lighting in the back half for all sps/clams and the light spill on the front half for everything that is less demanding


----------



## shiver905

So I finished the tank transfer yesterday,

I put one of my maxi anemone in the sump.
Went out.

Came back and It was missing.
I checked the skimmer it was going nut.

I then knew what happened. (my Return Pump sucked it in and Shreaded it apart.)

Dont have any more fresh SW becuase of the transfer.
Now im dripping RO/DI in to a bucket then heating it up n adding salt.

Im Not shure if anything will make it,
All my sps are dieing,
My clams are closed.
(When anemones Die they put out some toxins)

...
...........
Im so Fu*king pissed off right now. Great way to freaking start a new tank.

..
LESSON: DONT PUT anemones in a REEF


----------



## Guest

That sucks . . Hope it works out for you.


----------



## Ægir

Thats the risk when you play god... one small thing brings it all down. When mixing up SW heat the water up first, then add salt... the calcium will precipitate, and you can have huge PH problems in cold water.

I would try to move everything into another tank with fresh water, and rinsing out some rock to help dampen the cycle... clean the skimmer and things out as you move.

If you move everything quick you should be able to save it... It sucks but damage control is the only game plan now. I think changing a large percent of the main tank would take longer (to mix water) and be more harsh than moving things to a smaller tank for now.

It sucks, but like i said save what you can and wash or throw out the rock/water and crap with the nem-goo... This is the same thing that almost threw AK out of the hobby.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE

Damn that sucks. I recently lost a yellow leather due tobeing stung by my paly frags (or at least that is what I beleive it to be from.)

On a side note though where did you find the maxi mini? I saw some at big als hamilton for 30$ though there were only a few left and they looked pretty drab and im not sure how much they would colour up.

You may want a prefiloter pad on your return too.


----------



## shiver905

Well,

All is clear, 
It had no impact on my tank except when it acctually happened.

Tested my water today, Nothing different.

Still going to swap out 25g of water incase something decides to throw it out of wack.

I know im going to hit a cycle.
So, Decided to do 5g water changes every 3 days.

Hopefully all goes smooth for the next few weeks


----------



## Ægir

Typically the things that the anemone will kill will be from contact or feeding on the pieces... Unless its a large nem and completely decomposes. The good news is anemones are mostly water to begin with, and not much tissue or flesh. The worst ones i have seen werent chopped up, they just seperated and floated around and stung the sh*t out of everything.

glad to hear things turned around.


----------



## shiver905

CLUSTER ONE said:


> Damn that sucks. I recently lost a yellow leather due tobeing stung by my paly frags (or at least that is what I beleive it to be from.)
> 
> On a side note though where did you find the maxi mini? I saw some at big als hamilton for 30$ though there were only a few left and they looked pretty drab and im not sure how much they would colour up.
> 
> You may want a prefiloter pad on your return too.


ORG and nafb,
They were on sale for 10 bucks at both places a few months back.


----------



## JeanLucPicard

This is an exciting project even with the losses. Good luck dude!


----------



## shiver905

10pointers said:


> This is an exciting project even with the losses. Good luck dude!


Got a little more exciting An army of SPS frags!


----------



## His Majesty

congrats on the new frags shiver


----------



## shiver905

heres a very poor update.
Il try to get some better piccs next post.

I started useing bio pellets to test em out.









Same sump with a few few mods, I love it, It working great









My temp ligthing situation, Not shure what im going to do yet. Still cant decide. Right now theres a mess up there with a 250w 20k MH and 6 t5hos.









The power station. Theses powerbars are great. INDIVIDUAL switches is key!! great investment. Also the rkl doing its thing.









This tank transfer was bad, Really bad. Everything went wrong. But its starting to settel itself out.
Some very very crappy pics


































Not really done the scape, But I dont want to touch it untill it has time to settle.


----------



## Guest

Very nice setup








Looking forward to seeing the finished scape.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE

shiver905 said:


> Damn that sucks. I recently lost a yellow leather due tobeing stung by my paly frags (or at least that is what I beleive it to be from.)
> 
> On a side note though where did you find the maxi mini? I saw some at big als hamilton for 30$ though there were only a few left and they looked pretty drab and im not sure how much they would colour up.
> 
> You may want a prefiloter pad on your return too.


ORG and nafb,
They were on sale for 10 bucks at both places a few months back.
[/quote]

Sweet, thanks.

Were the sps frags from one of those places too?


----------



## shiver905

Nope.


----------



## shiver905

SO, Im finally comfortable.
Transfering tanks is not easy task.

But its been awhile Everything is FINALLLY settled.
Those sps frags were a bad idea. The tank was just to new.
I lost most but a few made it. Not the color they used to be but getting better now.

Also a new addition. Couldnt resist this sailfin tang.







(check out the vid)






I'll do a proper update soon


----------



## shiver905




----------



## shiver905

dusters are fun


----------



## shiver905

Finally starting to play with the mp40,
Even tho i think its not worth the price and think its built like crap.
Its still neat.


----------



## His Majesty

you have done a great job shiver. very nice looking setup


----------



## shiver905

I made a classic mistake of trying to aquascape with Rock.. Its not about "Rockscapeing". Its all about "Coralscapeing".







Noob mistake.

So I decided to rescape my tank for corals instead of rocks.

I got some dry rock from ;ecoreefer, Underwaterloo.

A quick dry run before it hits the tub for a few weeks.

Notice the Very large flat areas.... No more stupid pointy towers..
This just shows how you can grow in this hobby. I used to hate these flat looking scapes.. Now, Im about to pull my tank apart just to make one.


















Eventho, Im going with the fisrt picture for my final aquascape.. Its fun playing with the rocks.. Heres soem more interesting "Rockscapes"


----------



## shiver905




----------



## shiver905




----------



## XiDiS

Is that a q-tip in there at the bottom right? Is it in there on purpose?


----------



## His Majesty

tank is looking superb shiver. love the range of corals.


----------



## amazonjungle

shiver905 said:


>


LOL at the cuetip


----------



## shiver905

Placing a single "Q-Tip" controls calcium and alkalinity levels. 
It has also been proven discourage Tang aggressiveness.
When it is put near any SPS it encourages them to grow faster.


----------



## Tonynlo

shiver905 said:


> Placing a single "Q-Tip" controls calcium and alkalinity levels.
> It has also been proven discourage Tang aggressiveness.
> When it is put near any SPS it encourages them to grow faster.


More importantly, they eliminate the need to do water changes and cleanings. Amazing little buggers.


----------



## shiver905

Been going threw hell with this tank,

But for now heres a vid


----------



## Guest

Tonynlo said:


> Placing a single "Q-Tip" controls calcium and alkalinity levels.
> It has also been proven discourage Tang aggressiveness.
> When it is put near any SPS it encourages them to grow faster.


More importantly, they eliminate the need to do water changes and cleanings. Amazing little buggers.
[/quote]

How the hell does a Q-Tip do all of the above?? Tank is looking good Shiver, what issues have you been having that are making it a tank from hell?


----------



## ZOSICK

You doubt the power of the Q tip? How dare you!


----------



## Guest

LOL, I am not doubting the power, I just want to know HOW it does what it does


----------



## shiver905

ksls said:


> LOL, I am not doubting the power, I just want to know HOW it does what it does


ENOUGH!

Here's the reason there are (golf tees in my tank)


----------



## shiver905

SKIMMER DAY!!!

Euro Reef Rs180 & 135.
The 135 is in the sump now.. I think its enough.


----------



## Ægir

Nice upgrade... What are your plans for the bigger skimmer?


----------

