Gsumner
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2019
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 13
- What state or country do you live in
- Louisiana
Hey everybody,
I have recently started a new reef build with the help of my father (@rsumner).This will be my first SW tank so I am super excited to share my build with all of y'all and hopefully I can remember to keep updating this forum as I progress further down the road.
Material List:
55 gallon Aqueon Display
29 gallon Aqueon Sump
I purchased the tanks from Petco during their dollar-a-gallon sale so I didn't invest much there but I continued to be cheaper and I decided to build my own stand for the build. I used all 2x4 studs from Lowes and some 1x4 to cover the outside and I wanted to leave the front open to allow to sump to be seen along with the tank (I am a fan of the open look).
I had been doing some looking for a background for my tank but with some advice from @rsumner I decided to just paint the back of my 55 gallon with black paint. I took two days painting the back of the tank allowing each coat to dry before adding another and I was very impressed and happy with the look that it gave. The only problem with this build is that @rsumner lives 6 hours away from me (I live in Louisiana out in the sticks) but we somehow got our schedules to work out and decided on a date to start putting everything together.
So, the first step when @rsumner arrived is that were we going to drill holes in the tank to allow us to put the bulkheads and overflow box that I ordered from BRS to give the tank a little cleaner look. We lift the tank off the stand that I put in my new reef tank room, don't tell my wife that her guest room is my tank room now, and head outside on the back porch to begin drilling the holes. All is going well for us as we start drilling the holes and suddenly "POP!" The whole entire tank completely falls apart! Now take in mind people that I live one and a half hours away from any major city where a Petco might be that I can buy a new tank! Its 7pm and the store closes at 9pm but we decided that maybe we were drilling too fast so we drilled a little on the other side just slower and it worked perfectly! We rush to town and thankfully we buy the last tank they have with only minutes to spare and start to head back to the house in a terrible storm. Pulling up to the house we unload the tank from the back of the truck and head to the back porch only to find that the other side that we had drilled right is also broken! We do some research before we drill the new tank and come to find out that Aqueon puts tempered glass all around some 55 gallon tanks so its a gamble if you can drill them or not. We bring the new tank inside and do the polarized glasses test on the tank and sure enough the entire thing is tempered..... time for a change of plans!
Now the whole bulkhead idea has been scratched and we start to do a DIY overflow from the tank after moving the tank back to the stand. We take the overflow box and clamp it on the tank with some silicone and it sticks! So now I start piping in the supply and return lines in the tank and on the backside into the stand where the sump will be located. @rsumner meanwhile, is cutting glass for baffles and siliconing where we had planned for them to go! I finish in the piping and come out in the dining room, wife wasn't too happy about this, to help silicone the baffles in. We had planned a 1.5" bubble trap in the sump but when it came to actually being able to silicone it in.... there was no way that I could figure out to do it so we just scrapped that idea and eventually I will build a better sump with a new layout to put below.
I am supper happy with how the plumbing came out and we throw in all of the sump equipment and materials. Now we move on to the fun part of the tank and begin to lay out the rock! This was probably the longest part of the entire process probably because it is about 1 am by the time we start doing all of this. So we being with laying all of the rock out on the table and come up with an idea on how we wanted it to look and then it was time to transfer it to the tank and begin putting epoxy. Now this whole transfer into the tank process is a little more difficult when you're tired because the whole rock layout we had somehow did not get transferred into the tank! The layout somehow was completely different but we made a new idea on the fly and come out with something that I really like.
It is 3am and time for everyone to go to bed but we hookup the RO system and allow it to drain into the tank and start to fill it. Wake up in the morning and the tank is almost full and we allow the rest of the day to let the tank and sump and we add the Instant Ocean salt and get the salinity to 1.025 and begin the cycling process.
Thank you for reading everyone! I will try my best to keep up with adding updates to this post as I update and grow the tank!
I have recently started a new reef build with the help of my father (@rsumner).This will be my first SW tank so I am super excited to share my build with all of y'all and hopefully I can remember to keep updating this forum as I progress further down the road.
Material List:
55 gallon Aqueon Display
- Jebao PP-8 Wavemaker
- Amazon Cheapo Heater
- KZKR Aquarium Light Full Spectrum
29 gallon Aqueon Sump
- Sicce Syncra 2.0 Return Pump
- Kessil H80 grow light
- Aquamax Media Reactor
- Coralife Turbo-Twist 12x UV
I purchased the tanks from Petco during their dollar-a-gallon sale so I didn't invest much there but I continued to be cheaper and I decided to build my own stand for the build. I used all 2x4 studs from Lowes and some 1x4 to cover the outside and I wanted to leave the front open to allow to sump to be seen along with the tank (I am a fan of the open look).
I had been doing some looking for a background for my tank but with some advice from @rsumner I decided to just paint the back of my 55 gallon with black paint. I took two days painting the back of the tank allowing each coat to dry before adding another and I was very impressed and happy with the look that it gave. The only problem with this build is that @rsumner lives 6 hours away from me (I live in Louisiana out in the sticks) but we somehow got our schedules to work out and decided on a date to start putting everything together.
So, the first step when @rsumner arrived is that were we going to drill holes in the tank to allow us to put the bulkheads and overflow box that I ordered from BRS to give the tank a little cleaner look. We lift the tank off the stand that I put in my new reef tank room, don't tell my wife that her guest room is my tank room now, and head outside on the back porch to begin drilling the holes. All is going well for us as we start drilling the holes and suddenly "POP!" The whole entire tank completely falls apart! Now take in mind people that I live one and a half hours away from any major city where a Petco might be that I can buy a new tank! Its 7pm and the store closes at 9pm but we decided that maybe we were drilling too fast so we drilled a little on the other side just slower and it worked perfectly! We rush to town and thankfully we buy the last tank they have with only minutes to spare and start to head back to the house in a terrible storm. Pulling up to the house we unload the tank from the back of the truck and head to the back porch only to find that the other side that we had drilled right is also broken! We do some research before we drill the new tank and come to find out that Aqueon puts tempered glass all around some 55 gallon tanks so its a gamble if you can drill them or not. We bring the new tank inside and do the polarized glasses test on the tank and sure enough the entire thing is tempered..... time for a change of plans!
Now the whole bulkhead idea has been scratched and we start to do a DIY overflow from the tank after moving the tank back to the stand. We take the overflow box and clamp it on the tank with some silicone and it sticks! So now I start piping in the supply and return lines in the tank and on the backside into the stand where the sump will be located. @rsumner meanwhile, is cutting glass for baffles and siliconing where we had planned for them to go! I finish in the piping and come out in the dining room, wife wasn't too happy about this, to help silicone the baffles in. We had planned a 1.5" bubble trap in the sump but when it came to actually being able to silicone it in.... there was no way that I could figure out to do it so we just scrapped that idea and eventually I will build a better sump with a new layout to put below.
I am supper happy with how the plumbing came out and we throw in all of the sump equipment and materials. Now we move on to the fun part of the tank and begin to lay out the rock! This was probably the longest part of the entire process probably because it is about 1 am by the time we start doing all of this. So we being with laying all of the rock out on the table and come up with an idea on how we wanted it to look and then it was time to transfer it to the tank and begin putting epoxy. Now this whole transfer into the tank process is a little more difficult when you're tired because the whole rock layout we had somehow did not get transferred into the tank! The layout somehow was completely different but we made a new idea on the fly and come out with something that I really like.
It is 3am and time for everyone to go to bed but we hookup the RO system and allow it to drain into the tank and start to fill it. Wake up in the morning and the tank is almost full and we allow the rest of the day to let the tank and sump and we add the Instant Ocean salt and get the salinity to 1.025 and begin the cycling process.
Thank you for reading everyone! I will try my best to keep up with adding updates to this post as I update and grow the tank!
