Spartanman22's 80 DB

Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
I am now only 2-3 months out from being in our new apartment, so that means its almost time to make the switch to a bigger and better tank! Over the last 10 months I have been meticulously planning an upgrade knowing that I would be moving to a larger apartment this spring. As always, things changes as you go but for the most part it came out as designed. This setup will be 100% SPS dominant with a multiple wrasses and dwarf angels. Below is an outline of the system's components:

  • Display: 80 gallon Deep Blue 48"x24"x16"
  • Sump: Custom Synergy SS-34
  • Skimmer: Vertex Omega 150 w/Vertex Vectra
  • Media: 2 x Vertex RX-U's
  • Return Pump: EcoTech Vectra M1
  • Dosing: GHL Profilux Doser 2
  • Flow: 2 x MP40wES and 3 x MP10wES
  • Lighting: Elos Planet II
  • Brains: Apex Gold w/ALD, AFS, PM2, Salinity probe

My initial stocking plans are as follows:

  • Potters Angel - have
  • Spotbreast Angel/female - Have
  • Spotbreast Angel/Male - Need
  • Multicolor Angel - Need
  • Regal Angel* - Considering...
  • Picasso Pair - Have
  • Flame Hawk - Have
  • Black Leopard Wrasse - Have
  • Flame wrasse pair - Need
  • Mystery Wrasse - Need
  • Choati Leopards Wrasse - Need
  • Kuiter's Leopard Wrasse - Need

I am considering a smaller Regal Angel in which case I would restructure my stocking list, but I'm still unsure at the moment. I am a notorious overstocker so with that in mind I will likely be dosing vodka/MB7 and/or biopellets.

Now onto the fun part, pictures! Much of the build is currently complete. All that remains is plumbing and moving, but I took plenty of pictures along the way and will upload them in chronological order starting with the equipment arrivals and stand build.

First shipment of goodies! Vertex packaging reminds me a lot of apple products.


Apex Gold thanks to a fellow member.


Incredibly well packaged sump from Synergy Reef










Oh so pretty!
 
Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
Stand Construction

For the stand build I went with the typical 2x4 design but with a 2x6 header. I did not want to have a center brace, thus the 2x6 header.

Wood cut


Assembled


Top and bottom on, and top and bottom trim in progress


Vents and fan holes cut




White base coat


Trim design


Finished product
 
r33fswagg3r

r33fswagg3r

Premium member
Ohhh man! Our builds are looking pretty similar on the equipment stockilst lol. Looking forward to your build progress!
 
Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
Sump and Equipment

My overall theme for the sump area was clean, clean, and more clean. I am a bit OCD and like things to match, be clean, and organized. I think I did fairly well in that category. Originally I was planning a separate wall mounted electronics cabinet but I eventually opted out of that idea for a simpler in cabinet compartment.

Red fan covers and red led fans for that extra cool factor!




Apex Installation






I came across this in Home Depot's closet department and thought it'd be perfect for holding the Vortech drivers.
 
Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
Display

Found clips on ebay that would fit the thickness of the DB 80 gallon tank. No better way to ruin a rimless tank than to have your screen top sticking out like a sore thumb!


I tried to notch out a section of the screen top frames right where the overflow box is so that it would sit flat. I need to play with it a bit more as its still not perfectly flat. Its a bit tricky because it makes the frame kinda week in that corner.


I want a very minimalistic reef scape with lots of open sand. That far right piece will be anchored in with fiberglass rod.


and lastly some light pictures just because!


 
Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
This will be my first ever setup with a fully functioning QT setup. I'll have a permanent 20 gallon QT setup and two 5 gallon setups for TTM. Despite 8 years of reefing I haven ever really QT'd. I intend to sink some money into fish on this setup and don't wont to risk losing them to my own carelessness!

Also, I will be running biopellets in one of my RX-U reactors. This is another first for me. For those of you running BP's should I start from the beginning or wait until cycled, or until fish are added?
 
Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
r33fswagg3r said:
Ohhh man! Our builds are looking pretty similar on the equipment stockilst lol. Looking forward to your build progress!
Click to expand...
You know what they say about great minds! There's just something special about the quality of equipment. You certainly do get what you pay for in this hobby. As a broke high school and college student I never invested much into equipment because I had no money to invest! Now that I'm out of school and have an income I told myself I wasn't going to waste time and money on junk equipment. Plus there's just something so sexy about that red and white color scheme, and with my OCD if one things red and white it all has to red and white. My only disappointment is that the Vextra M1 is white and blue... I'm strongly considering painting the blue plumbing pieces red.
 
Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
Here's a better closeup of the screen top and how it sits in the tank




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r33fswagg3r

r33fswagg3r

Premium member
Great find on the clips. I just buy the clips from the innovative marine sr80 and use them on the db80. I have not opened up the box on my vectra m1 yet but from the pictures it looks as though the motor housing ecotech logo should just be a sticker and if so hopefully removable. I think there are other copies of the Vectra M1 out there by other manufacturers and you might be able to get the the blue fittings in white or black.
 
Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
Ya the blue on the pump is just a sticker, but I'm a bit nervous every removing that in the event of warranty issues. I don't think it'd be a big deal painting the compression fittings but the sticker may be a problem.


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r33fswagg3r

r33fswagg3r

Premium member
Buy a blank white sticker thats just a tad bigger than the original and put it over it. If you put the same sized sticker as the ecotech one sticky side to the sticky side of the oversized one then put it on the pump, it allows the sticker to be removed without destroying the original. I bet though if you asked Ecotech they would tell you it does not void the warranty because it has nothing to do with the functionality of the pump and you could always keep the label if it was required for warranty work.
 
Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
r33fswagg3r said:
Buy a blank white sticker thats just a tad bigger than the original and put it over it. If you put the same sized sticker as the ecotech one sticky side to the sticky side of the oversized one then put it on the pump, it allows the sticker to be removed without destroying the original. I bet though if you asked Ecotech they would tell you it does not void the warranty because it has nothing to do with the functionality of the pump and you could always keep the label if it was required for warranty work.
Click to expand...
Good point I'll give ecotech a call. I've got to call them anyways and see if they can extend the cord between the dry-side and driver of one of my MP40's. As is it's not long enough to run from the far side of the tank, across the back, down into the stand, through the electrical compartment, and out to the driver mount.
 
Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
Haha well only a little longer! Once it's up and running smoothly I'll be contacting Adam at BC for a nice pack.

I can't wait to have some decent sized fish again.


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Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
I'll be going home this weekend to hopefully get the plumbing done. Then this will be all finished. Only thing left is to get some sand and next $1/gallon sale grab two 5 gallon tanks and heaters for a TTM setup.


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