My 75g In Wall Reef

[Erock68]

I'm a bit late posting this, as my reef has been up for 13 months now. We were renovating the living room and needed something on this wall. Behind the wall, is a closet, we never really used. More to store seasonal stuff. SO, I decided to turn it into a reef system.

Here are the build pics:

30g sump built with Filter sock, Reef Octopus Skimmer and Via Aqua Return Pump

 

[NeverlosT]

Lookin good! Any pics all trimmed and set up?

 

[Erock68]

5 stage BRS RO/DI system

All Pukani LR and Aragonite sand. Sandbed is 1 1/2" - 2" deep

My daughter showing off the completed project

And, how it looks today

 

[Erock68]

More info:

I am running a 6 bulb T5 with 1 Coral Plus, 1 Geis 10,000k, 2 Actinic, 2 Blue Plus.

3 Hydor Korellia Power Heads on timers

2 Green Chromis (had from the beginning), 2 False Percs, 1 Yellow Tang, 1 Copperband Butterfly, 1 Starry Blenny and 1 Anthias.

CUC: 10 snails, 2 Conch, 1 Mexican Turbo, 1 Electric Blue Crab.

 

[Erock68]

This was my sump, when first started. Now...no one wants to see a nasty sump picture Although the Cheato has taken over the center chamber. It's pretty massive!!

 

[Erock68]

A few more...

Various Zoa shot

Green Birdsnest & Sunset Montipora

Armor of the Gods

 

[Erock68]

LA Lakers & Miami Vice Zoas. Nuclear Green Paly in the background.

Duncans

Purple Montipora, just added, after being dipped and acclimated 7/18/13. Color to come. You can see, just to the upper left, I had my Rainbow Monti sitting before moving it up closer to the lights. A bit has started growing on the LR.

 

[shovelrider]

Great looking tank and good work on the in-wall.
What lights are you using?

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Awesome build! Makes me want to put my 75 that is sitting empty in the wall.

 

[Erock68]

So, that about gets me up to speed.

This is my first Reef as I have had freshwater setups, all my life. I was nervous, starting out but, I asked a million questions and read everything I could. I was lucky to also have some friends who keep reefs, that helped by giving more advice.

I have been through everything, these past months: Hair Algea, Cyano outbreaks, Diatoms, a power outage here and there but it is so worth it.

If I HAD to do anything over....I would have gone a bit bigger. Maybe 100g. Maybe down the road.

Thanks to forums like this, it is one of the best hobbies, I have been involved with. One of the hardest parts is....saving up for the next frag swap!!!

 

[Erock68]

Great looking tank and good work on the in-wall.
What lights are you using?

6 bulb T5 with moonlights. I use one of those contractor grade, round metal fixtures, for over the sump. I run that opposite, my display lights. 11:00pm - 8:00am

 

[glb]

Beautiful tank!

 

[Erock68]

This is the closet side of the Reef. I lined the louvered doors with black construction paper, to keep the light from shining in the hallway.

Doors opened to access the tank. I have plenty of room to get to all corners of the tank. The doors can also be removed if needed. One problem....I have to think backwards when placing new coral. I have no access to the front. That's where my daughter's job comes in. My official spotter

Remember that small ball of cheato? Not anymore!
I have the entire sump tank, lined with the water absorbent "snakes" in case of water leak. Just as a precaution.

The house is air conditioned but, I installed this Hurricane Fan, to get air movement inside the doors. My temp stays at a constant 79* It works quite well.
As you can see, I painted the inside of the closet with a mold & mildew resistant black paint.

 

[Genesis Corals]

The tank looks great.

 

[marvelousone]

That is very nice