75 Rescue Mission Overhaul

kristynkritters · Jul 20, 2015

Soooo... We are upgrading our 20 gallon nano-reef to a 75 (getting it through trade). However this poor 75 gallon is a hot mess!

There are a few fish which are surprisingly still alive & there is literally a film of food/waste covering the sand bed.

My question is: would it be best to just scrap all of the sand, scrub the live rock down, & basically start the tank over? There is a protein skimmer... But it is in really rough shape. Any way to easily tell if it's still working? Currently the tank has a HOB (bio-wheel style filter) which I'm going to chunk. But the previous owners had 2 overflow boxes & parts of a sump setup - I obviously want to do a proper sump. But if I'm going to most likely have to take the tank down (at least to move it) wouldn't it be best to drill for appropriate plumbing, rather than an overflow?

The tank will be in our reception area of our clinic & I've heard that overflow boxes can technically lead to flooding - which absolutely horrifies me [emoji16]
I'm going to try to attach some pics, hopefully they'll come through ok.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Protein skimmer

Yup, there are actually fish alive in this swamp

Overflow boxes (there are 2 of these)

kendavjac · Jul 20, 2015

dump the sand and clean the rock. I used a overflow for years without an issue, but it does happen. be careful to make sure you don't have tempered glass if you decide to drill. Tempered glass will shatter.

Daytonareefing · Jul 20, 2015

If it was me I would drill the back glass it should not be tempered but the bottom usually is so don't drill the bottom. The problem overflow boxes can have is the U tube loses siphon and then the tank floods. But you may or may not have good luck with an overflow box. I would change the sand scrub the rock and do a 100 percent water change just because you don't know what kind of water they used and whats in it or what salt mix they are using. I could be wrong but it looks like a corallife skimmer and if it is and your going to buy a sump I would buy a better skimmer like an ASM or something better. That is a nice overflow box and if you don't use it i'm sure you could sell it.

kristynkritters · Jul 21, 2015

Awesome! Thanks for the help! I'm thinking drilling it for proper plumbing will be my best/safest option long term.

The tank is going to be in our Veterinary clinic in the reception area & technically will be viewed from both sides. One side will be facing our cat boarding area, so the "viewing public" from that side will primarily be cats, lol. But nonetheless I still want it to look as nice as I can. Any recommendations for where to drill so that viewing from both sides will be as clean as possible?

kristynkritters · Jul 21, 2015

Oh & if I were to upgrade to an ASM protein skimmer, what size should I get? Assuming the one that's there works, would it be ok to use until I get a new one?

Or would it just be too risky to share whatever "cooties" and funk that could be harbored in that thing?

Daytonareefing · Jul 21, 2015

You may want to drill the end of the tank if its going to be see thru but I would put the hole where it looks best with how your setting it up.

Daytonareefing · Jul 21, 2015

Wash the skimmer you have with ro water and white vinegar then soak it in it overnight then rinse it again before use. An ASM g1 is good up to 100 gallons.

kristynkritters · Jul 22, 2015

Awesome! You rock, thanks so much for your help!

FisheriesOmen · Jul 23, 2015

If you are going to keep corals I would suggest new rock as well. I can't see the picture very well but it looks like that's Lace Rock doesn't harbor much bacteria, nor does it(IMO) look appealing in the Saltwater aquarium. I might be wrong though, it's hard to tell in those pictures. And as far as drilling, you could always go for a small corner overflow, or you can turn your tank into a peninsula tank.

kristynkritters · Jul 23, 2015

Oh great idea! I'm definitely going to look into doing that!

Do you guys have any suggestions on a light that would be good for lots of corals? My goal is to be able to do a really nice reef setup with a good variety of corals. But I'm finding a freggin zillion types of lights, no breakdown on how many of each type of light I would need for a 75, etc. Its hard to determine if I can afford the $600 light, if I can't find any info on how many I would need, lol!

I keep running across the AI brand & reefbreeder brand that people seem to be diehard fans of.

Daytonareefing · Jul 23, 2015

I have both AI and reefbreeder lights and I like the AI better. But everyone will tell you they like something different. I would put two AI hydra 26 lights on that tank. You would need a controller of some sort but its worth it being able to run moonlights and setting it to any spectrum you want even program thunder storms if you want with lighting and cloud cover its fun to play with and there 300.00 each. But its really up to you. You may want to go to a couple fish stores and see how different lights look.

kristynkritters · Jul 23, 2015

Great! Does AI have a specific controller that works best with that system? I honestly prefer the AI anyways because, since it is going to be in our reception area, I really want it to look nice & I love the way the AI's look.

Daytonareefing · Jul 23, 2015

I use an Apex controller with mine to controller everything on the tank and the AWM which is what controllers the AI on the Apex is 125.00 plus you need at least an Apex JR which is 240.00 I think or the full Apex which is what I have is 525.00 ish depending on the options it come able to tell the temp and ph and it does everything but a back flip you can hookup a webcam to it to view the tank from anyway on your phone and of course it also tell you everything going on in the tank all lets you turn stuff off and on. Now a normal AI controller is about 100.00 bucks but I believe there's two different one's. you will need to buy the mounting kit separate because they have a few different type so you can get what works best for your tank.

Daytonareefing · Jul 23, 2015

If you buy an AI controller you want the AI Director that's the better option they offer as it has more features if I understand right.

kristynkritters · Jul 23, 2015

Awesome! That would actually be perfect. Especially since it's going to be at work, I've been terrified of something happening & not knowing until it's too late.

I absolutely love techy gear & the more automated the better!

We really want to set this system up "the right way" so that we can enjoy it to its fullest. Have yall come across anything specific that's an absolute must starting out in order to do it right? Or anything to put on our "future wish list"?

Daytonareefing · Jul 23, 2015

If you like tech you can buy Apex from there website I would buy the Apex Gold its the best if you look around there website you will find so much good stuff to buy and they explain why you need it. Here's there website https://www.neptunesystems.com/.

kristynkritters · Jul 23, 2015

Score! Thanks Daytonareefing!

Daytonareefing · Jul 23, 2015

Your welcome.

Gamma · Jul 24, 2015

I went thru trying to rehab a similar tank but finally gave up and started fresh...was a waste of time!

Daytonareefing · Jul 24, 2015

The 55 gallon I have now with the liverock was in the tank and I bought it used like 2 years ago everything was pretty much dead and covered in bad algae I cleaned it all up and changed the filters and its almost perfect now.