Aquavim 93g Moonview setup

[mskvarenina]

Welcome to my tank thread. I'm a returning hobbyist after being away for 10+ years. My plan is to do a FOWLR tank and I've chosen an Aquavim 93g Moonview with a seamless bow front for my tank and stand. For those unfamiliar with Aquavim, they manufacture some of the most elegant curves glass tanks and finely finished stands. Enough of the advertisement, now on with the show!

Day 0 of my tank build was to drive to Maspeth, New York and purchase the tank.

 

[thirty6]

Sharp looking setup,best of luck with it

 

[mskvarenina]

Next I prepared a space in my basement and constructed a workbench and place for the sump. I wanted to keep as much as possible out of the main room to keep the noise down. Having the sump in the basement also gives me ample room to work on it more effectively then if it was crammed in the tank stand.

Today I finished the plumbing and filled it with water.

 

[mskvarenina]

Here's the workbench and sump. Don't worry, the bioballs ARE OUT!

 

[tangmaniac]

Nice , looking forward to see it running ...
What light are you planing to use it for this build ?

 

[chris koci]

cant wait to see more tagging along goodluck

 

[thirty6]

jealous of the reefers that have sump in the basement and all that room to work! I espeically like what looks to be a low platform for sump to sit. great start after long layoff

 

[mskvarenina]

Lighting is the big question. I'm doing FOWLR so I don't really need the mega dollar LED but I don't want plain old flourescent lighting either. I'd like my fish to glow with color and not be all blown out with simple white light.

So far I'm looking at trying out a Current USA LED. I'm also looking at 2 Kessil A360Ws. Any opinions here would be welcome. What I'm not trying to do however is create a very blue actinic like look. My flame angel for example should have a nice red and slightly glowing color is possible.

 

[yesjenks]

Really nice tank! Check out reefbreeders.com. A lot of people on R2R recommend them. Great price!!

You have the option to add coral later on too.

Good luck with your build! Keep the pictures coming.

 

[mskvarenina]

BRS Reef saver rock

Yesterday I unpacked by BRS reef saver rock. Actually very impressive for the price. Very porous and stacks together very nicely.

I also added 6 blue damselfish to the tank to get the cycle started. So far so good, 12 hours later no fatalities!

 

[mskvarenina]

Here's my tank about a week later. 105 lbs of rock (75 dry, 30 live). Zero ammonia so far, just waiting for the tank to cycle.

This is 4 T5 bulbs. To bright and not very colorful to my eyes.

2 AI Hydra LEDs on order to replace the T5 fixture.

 

[thirty6]

Nice porous rock if you should wish to swap over to corals, lots a space to mount frags! Looks good, good luck catching the damsels when time comes!

 

[tttony]

Looking good , i have a 116 corner from aqua vim. There's a few ways to cycle a tank , your way gives instant fish but hard to catch later .

 

[albano]

There's a few ways to cycle a tank ...

+1...But using live fish is no longer recommended!

 

[mskvarenina]

Tonight's ammonia is 0.25ppm. Finally this tank is on it's way!

 

[mskvarenina]

Which macroalgae?

Great news, the tank has cycled as I'm starting to get a rise in nitrates.

The bad news is my phosphates are 0.24. I guess it's time to add the macroalgae to the refugium.

What's the best macroalgae to use and can I grow more than one variety?

Someone told me Chaetomorpha was good?

 

[mskvarenina]

Added my seed chaeto today. Seems like it came with a little calurpa grapes hitchhiking along...

 

[beastium]

Nice, how's the sump looking?

 

[mskvarenina]

Tank update. About 6 weeks in, tank is doing well so far. The 2 triggers flash once in a while but no other signs of distress. Everyone is swimming around nicely and eating every chance they get.

 

[beastium]

update??