My 75 Gal Reef Build

[Marcom12]

Hello all.
I never really had any desire to make a build thread. I sometimes do things in an unorthodox way and even sometimes against conventional wisdom. With that being said..... I also look for proven methods but may change them to fit my needs or situation.

But.... I'd like to enter the Giveaways on here and after explaining it to my Wife she thinks I would enjoy doing it so.... here I go.

I have wanted a Reef tank for.... years...
Life though, seems to have a habit of getting in the way when starting something this big.
At one point I made the decision to start... bought a few things on a budget and then life happened again.

Long story short..... here I am and I'm starting.
I'm at the point of stand built, sump built, tank set up, live rock added. I'm sure I have a few phone camera pics during the process, though I am sure not as many as Id like for a build thread lol.

First I'll describe my thoughts and how I plan on going about this.

I do not have a ton of money, I know that means different things to different people lol, But I will be financing this as I go. I can not afford to go buy alot of stuff at once so I get what I can to get started.

This current attempt started in April 2018. My job gives out gifts for certain milestones of employment and this year it would be a fairly sizable money amount. So of course my thoughts go to "Equipment for the Tank" to add to the other items I have aquired.

I decided this addition would be lights, a return pump and a sump.
I went with (2) Viperspectre LED lights 165W versions, A Jebao ECO wavemaker model OW-10, A Jebao DCP-8000 return pump and a homemade sump out of a 30 Gal tank. I had the glass cut at a local glass shop.

After using the Wavemaker OW-10, I realized I needed a much bigger wavemaker lol. A few weeks later I purchased a Wavemaker OW-40.

I think I'll stop here and continue in another post. I'll list my Equipment as a list as a finish to this post, Mostly as a snapshot of what I'm starting with.


Deep Blue 75 Gal Reef Ready with a Single corner overflow.
Home built Stand.
Home built Sump.
Modified Eshopps PSK-100 HOB skimmer. ( modded to be in sump)
(2) Viperspectre LED 165W.
Jebao Wavemaker OW-10.
Jebao Wavemaker OW-40.
Jebao DCP-8000 Return Pump.
300 W heater.
BRS 4-Stage value plus RO/DI system.
Refrectometer
Red Sea Marine Care test kit.

 

[BestMomEver]

Sounds good! Dig up some pictures!

 

[Marcom12]

I looked for stand pics and do not have many of actually building it, but have a few of the almost completed stand.
Here is the link to the design of the stand, will add pics.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1169964

 

[SPR1968]

Great write up and pictures and thanks for sharing them with us

And welcome to R2R!

 

[NY_Caveman]

A slow start is a good thing. Welcome to R2R!

 

[Marcom12]

Thank you both for the welcome.

I suppose I should clarify that this will be my first saltwater ever so... Crossing my fingers lol [emoji16]

 

[Marcom12]

My sump was designed based on another reefers design. I wish I could remember who, so I could give him credit but , alas I cannot find the post. I'll post the pic he sent and a few photos of the sump.

In hindsight I wish I had made a longer stand and larger sump, but I also think I'm one of those people that, if I had a 120 gal I'd wish I had a 180 gal... So for now I'm content with what I have

The sump was easier than I thought to make, and my main reason for wanting a bigger one would be just to add other options.

My tank came with the basic durso drain setup and I originally plumbed it using this setup. I did a full water test and found I had trouble keeping water levels.... I never quite felt at ease leaving the house as after a handful of hours the level would change. I had a ball valve in the main drain line and felt like I was always chasing a good valve setting. Tiny movement, and water level would slowly rise in my sump.... tiny movement the other way and sump would slowly empty. So then having a controllable pump, I'd start trying to match pump to the level.... I eventually found a semi-decent adjustment but still did not like it. I did some research and found The Herbie Overflow. I converted both holes in overflow to drain and plumbed return up over the back. I find this method to be much more stable, and quieter too.

I'll try to add pics in order of the plumbing upgrades, and again, wish I had taken more pics. At the time I didn't think I'd be doing a build thread so.... Didn't think to take better pics.

 

[Marcom12]

The wires in previous post will eventually be a bit neater, but right now I'm still kinda fine tuning things while I paint the sides and make some doors for the front.
I have open space to the right of my sump and am debating on making a little side access compartment to store foods and chemicals in.... But I'm not positive as to which way I would like yet.

My live rock amount is not where I want it to be, but I bought all I could afford at the time. Almost 40 lbs, and I'd like to get 75 to 80 at least. I think that will be my next goal.

I am unsure how that works with my tank cycle. If I add a rock here and there will that screw me up? The rock I buy is from a local fish store with already cured rock .. so I have very little die off if any, as there isn't much on it.

I have found 3 brittle stars, and one tiny starfish... So that's kinda fun lol.

 

[Marcom12]

I currently mix my water in my basement and haul it up in buckets.... Not ideal.

I hope to change this eventually with a better thought out mixing station and a pump to at least get water up to tank. Would be great to fully automate the water change process.

I have two other tanks at the moment, a 55 gal mixed tropical tank that needs some attention, I've neglected it for other two tanks unfortunately. The other is my wife's 75 gal goldfish tank. So if I could make my setup to where all 3 tanks could be at the minimum, refilled, that would be wonderful lol.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I am not even a sump intermediate, but I think I really like that design. Thanks for all of the details. Nice job on the build.

 

[Marcom12]

I am not even a sump intermediate, but I think I really like that design. Thanks for all of the details. Nice job on the build.

Thanks the 3 baffles I think I'd make a bit wider so I could slip a block of marine pure in it, or something. They are not quite an inch wide and I think that's the thinnest marine pure comes in. But have heard of others using foam or other things in it...

 

[BestMomEver]

Looks good! As for starfish.... brittle and serpent stars are good. The little grey one.... maybe not. My experience is the grey ones are bad but white/tan ones are ok. They look exactly the same except for color. I pulled the grey ones out after I witnessed one of them mowing all the polyps off a stylophora. He made a bare path all the way up.

I’m sure others have the opposite experience and hopefully will chime in. The more info you have, the better off you’ll be. Anyway, just my $0.02. Good luck!

 

[Marcom12]

He looks blue to me..... But could just be his size .... Or my eyes lol

 

[Marcom12]

Did a little work on my stand. Decided I did not want doors on it. Doors sag eventually.... Or I lean on one while open and tweak it.... Plus I wanted full access to the area under the tank.

I decided to make full panel, quick removal panels. I don't know if the look is for everyone, but I think it looks fairly clean.

 

[Marcom12]

Its not finished yet. it needs paint... maybe.... and i'll add corner trim that will be attached to the front panel only so that it has a finished look.

it took a little finagaling to get it to work right but i think it works well. the panel slips in fairly easy and quick.... and is removed just as easy.

 

[Marcom12]

OK, now a little about my skimmer ;Blackeye

A few years ago i bought some items that i was going to use on a smaller build.... and life got in the way. So the items got stored and occasionally got added to.

I had bought a eshopps psk-100h hang on back skimmer.
once i actually started this build, i no longer really wanted to use a hang on back skimmer... but, most of my funds were going to other equipment items so it got me thinking about how i could make it work.

What I thought was going to be a fairly easy modification, ended up being a pain.

First, the tubing for the intake and return are metric sized. and i could not find metric adapters anywhere around me. Nor could i find Replacement items to continue with metric but still alter the skimmer. I even went to a plumbing supply house in town. Yes, I know I could find the items online... but they were awfully expensive and then still had to ship them. Plus, if i forgot a piece or ordered the wrong item..... well you get the point.

So i brought the Skimmer to the above plumbing supply house and explained what i wanted to do and let them mull it over. I now forget what the part was called that fixed it, but essentially it was a section of tubing that you use a special tool to expand. then you slip it over the metric end, and the other end over the standard end. and just like that i was able to now further modify my skimmer using readily available standard PVC.

I essentially just removed the intake line that would have hung over the side of the tank and down to bottom of skimmer.... and now the intake end just hangs in the sump with a strainer on it. that part was easy, but the return was harder.

The return part also went up over the back of the tank in the HOB mode. it also had another "tuning" tube off a "T". You twist it and it adjust the amount of water that flows.. So i had to replicate that with standard tubing. and then use the fancy coupling from the plumbing store.

Overall... it works. im not crazy about it.... and shall upgrade when im able... with a skimmer designed for in sump use lol