First Reef Tank Build - 75g

[MbunaJohn]

I'm in the early stages of building my first reef tank and keep coming up with little questions and figured the best way to ask for help and keep everyone apprised of my progress would be a thread.

So far, i have purchased the following:

Used Seaclear System II 75 gallon Acrylic Aquarium
w/ desk converted to stand and stained-to-match hood

75#'s of Key Largo dead rock from Marco Rocks with 140# of course grain sand
Aquavitro Seed - http://aquavitro.com/products/seed.html

BRS 6-stage RO/DI
1 Gallon of Marinepure 1.5" Sphere Bio media
175g Red Sea Coral Pro Salt
44 gallon trash can for RO/DI output and mixing salt.
BRS Refractometer

I did a leak test and cleaned the aquarium with a very diluted clorox mixture (3 cups: 75g) and then let it dry in the sun for the last 5 days. I was going to take a headlight repair kit to the acrylic, but what scratches are in it are pretty minor and didn't show at all when the tank was full, so i think i'm just going to give it once last cleaning before i start setting it up this weekend.

I sanded the desk/stand and the hood and re-stained them, but at the last second decided i didn't want to trust that desk with 1000#'s of saltwater and rock on our new hardwood floors, so I'm starting from scratch today building a new stand.

I didn't take any pics of the front of the aquarium, but here is one of the "plumbing" in the back. I have removed all of the bio balls and don't intend to re-use them.

And this is how the flow works:

And this is the stand i'm planning to scrap:

It's not horribly built, but without a center support of any kind it makes me nervous...

Here is the hood that i plan to re-purpose (after a major lighting upgrade ofc):

I'll ask my first question in the next post to try to keep this clean.

 

[MbunaJohn]

My first question is controller related. I was leaning towards purchasing a couple of LED fixtures for the canopy and just going with a light controller like the bluefish for now. That said, i am definitely open to purchasing a full controller if you guys think it would be a better plan long-term. At the beginning at least I only plan to have the internal plumbing, lights, 2 powerheads for flow, and 2 heaters. Is it worth purchasing and setting up a full blown Apex or equivalent for those?

 

[kevantheman35]

If you are going with an LED fixture many of them have controllers built in. I think long term it is definitely worth your investment to get a full controller system. You can get a basic Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper lite for about $100 new that includes just a temp probe. I have been using that model for the past 5 years and its worked flawlessly. It gives you the peace of mind that your heater will not stick on and fry the tank overnight. Goodluck, and can't wait to see how the tank turns out.

 

[Salty1962]

I would recommend the DA RKE. You can add more that the 4 module limit of the Lite. Keep eye on the postings, people are having them for sale all the time.
I hit the 4 module limit quickly and had to purchase a RKE head unit. Good luck on the build!

 

[MbunaJohn]

Thanks for your replies! I was leaning towards an Apex and the Wav starter pack. Is there any reason other than cost that you guys are recommending the RKE over the Apex? @Salty1962 @kevantheman35

 

[MbunaJohn]

I planned on getting farther on the stand build last night, but the hardware store took an hour longer than i expected because i couldn't decide on how i wanted to trim out the stand. Hope to get the structure built and skin on this evening:

 

[kevantheman35]

Cost was the main factor for me, also because that's the only system I've used. Apex looks very attractive and I wouldn't mind switching over myself!

 

[MbunaJohn]

@kevantheman35 I caught up on your build thread yesterday and i love your stand. I'm definitely going to steal some of your ideas for mine...well done!

 

[MbunaJohn]

Just ordered 2 of the refurbished RapidLED Onyx fixtures with a bluefish controller and the cables to hook them up. Should have my hood ready to accept them about the time they arrive next week...so excited!

Still on my list:
- Controller? (convinced i want one, but not convinced i want/need it on day 1)
- ATO (will definitely do this, but i think i'm going to start the cycle without it so i can see how much water is evaporating daily and get an idea of how much the ATO is adding before integrating it)
- Protein Skimmer (the plumbing of the tank naturally skims some and there are skimmers that integrate into it...was thinking about waiting to see if one is needed after tank cycles and i start adding livestock)
- Powerheads (taking advantage of the fact i don't have to have them quite yet to spend some time researching and figuring out the direction i want to go controller-wise)

 

[reid429]

I would go slow with it and definitely get you some power heads and a skimmer

 

[MbunaJohn]

I would go slow with it and definitely get you some power heads and a skimmer

Thanks for your reply. Slow is the plan...with dry rock i figure i'm looking at at least 4-6 weeks before i can add fish so right now the priority is to get the things i need in order to get the tank running and cycle started.

 

[MbunaJohn]

Made some progress on the stand last night...top and bottom are square and i'll use the skin on the sides to get it square vertically tonight. Hope to have it skinned, trimmed, and stained by saturday afternoon. Plumbing in my RO/DI tonight and will start getting water ready!

 

[MbunaJohn]

A few more progress pics on the stand. The last one is the sketchup of what it should look like when i'm finished. The wine is not a prop...like the kettlebells it was playing a significant role in the construction...

 

[MbunaJohn]

Also got the RO/DI plumbed in last night and have about 40 gallons of water made. Unfortunately my water pressure is horrible and i will be adding a booster pump in the next few days. Lights came in yesterday and the controller and powerheads should arrive today. I plan to finish the trim and stain tonight and work on aquascaping a little...really hoping to have the tank running and cycle started by Friday or Saturday.

 

[ou12004]

How are you planning on getting your sump into the stand with the center brace? I had to cut some of the side support 2x4's out to slide my sump in.

 

[MbunaJohn]

I made the center support in the back easily removable for future expansion.

 

[MbunaJohn]

The main thing i'm still not confident about at all is running with just the built in filtration instead of a sump with skimmer, etc... If anyone has any ideas for how to plumb a sump into this, and thinks i should, please speak up now! Everyone i asked said to just use what's there, but the fact that i don't have a good way to add a skimmer doesn't give me confidence...

 

[MbunaJohn]

Updates! I'm still waiting for the cabinet doors to come in and obviously haven't gotten the canopy finished. BUT...I finally have water in it and cycle started! Threw a cheap powerhead in to get some movement until i have time to setup the Apex and Wav's. I ended up using the marinepure spheres on one side of the "refugium" and leftover rubble rock on the other. I only used about 1/8 of the sand that Marco Rocks sent, but may end up putting a little more in. I'm sure the aquascape will change quite a bit over the next month, but at the moment it meets my requirements of having some good flat spots for corals at varying depths and some sandy bottom for others.

 

[Freakyyfort]

Nice build I'm also in the process of a 75.. glass tho. It's being drilled so stand is all I'm working on.

 

[MbunaJohn]

Haven't posted in a while, but things are moving along. I've had water in for 17 days, and started the Red Sea Reef Mature Pro kit 14 days ago. Still no algae, but from what i understand the delay is expected starting with dry rock and sand. Put a few hermits in this past weekend and have been throwing them some scraps (algae wafers and frozen shrimp). The kids are loving having something to watch in there. Just got the webcam working last night:



Still haven't skinned/trimmed the canopy because water temp is higher than i'd like and i want to figure that out before cutting airflow down significantly...

The dip in pH you can see from this morning is from the daily dose of NoPoX in the reef mature kit.