Pac-Attack - 75 Gallon Reef Build

[Eagle_Steve]

Current Full Tank Shot and Status

Everything added has finally opened up!!!!!!

Well long story short, my youngest son (15) keeps puffers in a 150 (60”x 24”x 25”). Simple tank with a simple sump/fuge. He has been bitten by the coral bug since we moved to the new house. I guess seeing all of the coral from the tanks in bins, 40 breeders, and frag tanks on the floor of the garage just got to him lol.

So now it is time for his first reef tank. It will be using a ton of stuff I have laying around, as well as a few new things. Stand and plumbing will all be red and white. Red pipe, white fittings, and he wants an acrylic name plate with red lighting. Not sure how that is gonna work lol. If done, it will say “Pac-Attack”. His name is Paxtin and that has been his nickname since Jr. Pro football.

Tank: Aqueon Reef-Ready 75 gallon. 2x holes will be for full syphon and emergency drain.

Stand: DIY with built in storage and it will include a desk to the left side of the tank stand. Wife has not decided what to skin it with yet. I did add some storage as the stand is 40” tall. Still have plenty of room underneath and even left a space to get to the unions that will be coming from the drains.

Sump: 40 breeder with as much space for a fuge as possible. Drain/Fuge>Skimmer>Return. Bubbles traps where needed.

Return Pump: Simplicity 1600. Formally a salt mixing pump. Returns will be plumbed over the back.

ATO: diy 5v dc setup with a 5v dc pump and dual float switches. Diy container on right side of stand.

Heater/Chiller: 2x enheim 100w and 2x extreme environment dual 4” IDF cabinet fans pointed at fuge section of sump.

Skimmer: brand new Reef Octopus 110 Classic. He didn’t want an old one lol. Spent his money from working on the farm and bought a new one. We did get a good deal on it and thanks to Sean at Emerald Bay for that.

Mech. Filtration: 4x6 filter sock.

Bio. Filtration: 4-8 year old diy live rock that was not used in the other tanks when we moved. Been ghost feeding it in a brute with all needed to keep it alive. Also a massive fuge section in sump.

Water Movement: either 2x Icecap gyre 1ks or my old MP40s. Not sure yet.

Lighting: 6 bulb Agrobrite T5 fixture. I plan to mod it, put 6 small fans in the sides, and put some blue leds in to allow for a sunrise and sunset effect.

Sand: It will have about a 2” sand bed. The sand will be CaribSea argonite special grade. And like all my tanks, eggcrate will be underneath the sand.

Ok enough banter. Here is what we have so far.

The desk that will be attached to the left side.

The stand framed out.

The desk with the first coat of sealer.

The stand with the first coat of sealer.

The tank. Ignore the 33g on top. It will be turned into a raceway frag tank at a later date.

The light with 2x blue plus, 2x coral plus and 2x aqua blue special. Still debating on what bulbs to actually use.

And his brand new skimmer lol.

 

[Peace River]

This looks like a good plan and it seems to be coming together well! Has he decided what type(s) of coral and other livestock that he wants to keep? What is the plan for the puffers?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

This looks like a good plan and it seems to be coming together well! Has he decided what type(s) of coral and other livestock that he wants to keep? What is the plan for the puffers?

Puffers will stay where they are in the den/game room. He wants zoas down low, lps midways, and sps up high lol. Sps will be a bit though. Want the tank to stabilize after being setup. For live stock all he wants is a ton of anthias and blennies lol. We may do 5 lyretail females and a crap ton of blennies.

Edit: Also, this tank is going in his bedroom.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Well the wife finally decided on how to skin it.

Reclaimed pallet wood with a rough white wash.

So yesterday, I drove over to our warehouse at work, snagged some awesome pallets, and then got to work striping them.

Tips for stripping pallets

Tools needed:
10 inch demon sawzaw blade, good sawzaw, hammer, and 2 concrete blocks.

Stand the pallet up to where the outside nail runs on the pallet are vertical (on you left and right). Put a concrete block on both sides of the pallet in the center. You will then use the sawzaw to cut all of the nails. Gravity is all the effort you need, outside of squeezing the trigger. The demo blades do all the work. Once each side has the nails cut, you then have to do the middle run. Wiggle the boards back and forth a bit, and it will give more room for the blade to be inserted at an angle. Once you can get the blade in for those nails, do the same thing as before and cut them. When all is said and done, you have pallet wood that is not split or damaged. Maybe some saw marks on the back side, but that’s it. You can also remove the screw heads if you desire, but I leave them in and put a dab of wood glue on them for character.

Ok enough of that lol. Here is what I will be working with today.

The whitewash will look similar to the middle board in the below pic. She wants it to look rough, so only a light sanding will be done prior.

And here is the pallet wood laid against the stand and desk to make sure I had enough.

Now the fun begins. Cut wood down, skin stand with 3/8” plywood, white wash wood, let dry, and then skin over the plywood with the now whitewashed pallet wood. Happy happy joy joy lol.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Well, I managed to get the side panels for the stand cut and primed, and the front panel cut and primed before the wife called for the day of errands to start. Hopefully should be done with all of that before the day gets away, and then to deliver some puffers. I should be able to get all the wood whitewashed, the front panel cut to make the doors, and possibly the whitewashed wood on the panels. If not, I have all day tomorrow thankfully. Either way, this thing will be at least in his room by Sunday evening. It may not have water in it yet, but it will be ready for the plumbing that arrives Monday.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

The power is back on, so it has began again today.

Got all of the pallet wood cutdown and whitewashed. Now for it to dry. After that, the stand and desk will be skinned. Then into his room it will go.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

And temp’d to the front panel. There will be strips running across the top and bottom horizontally.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Skinned and trimmed. Now just need to measure and cut out the doors.

 

[Filthybum]

Looking good love the wood work

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Doors are done. Just a few more coats of paint and the stand is done. The desk is only a few pieces to skin it, so almost there.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Desk is done. Once it dries, it won’t be as white and should match the stand perfectly. If not, I own a sander lol.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

It is in his room. Now to put the baffles in the sump, plumb it, and hang the light. Also have to put all his posters back up lol.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

And the 40 fits with room to spare. Right side will be an ATO container and the right upper storage will be for test kits or whatever else. The left side is small, but should hold reef roids and such. The skimmer will be on a stand, but has room to remove the cup and plenty of room to lift the skimmer out to clean it.

 

[Peace River]

Nice work on the stand! Sometimes rough and rustic can be as hard or harder than traditional finish carpentry because you are trying for a specific look and yours turned out very well!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Nice work on the stand! Sometimes rough and rustic can be as hard or harder than traditional finish carpentry because you are trying for a specific look and yours turned out very well!

Thanks.

It would have been much easier to do it with new wood lol. Pallet wood is not exactly straight. If you plane it and true it up, then you just took all of the character away. A little patience and laying the strips out, you can figure out how to place them so a curve corrects a curve.

But at the end of the day, I have a 15 year old who is super happy. Also, the wife wants me to make dressers and a headboard/footboard to match. Guess I need more pallets.......

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Alrighty, was able to sneak out of work early and get some more done on the build.

Found a sump in the shed and cleaned it up. I built the sump a while back and then decided not to use it as I ended up with a 75 that needed resealed. That 75 got resealed and turned into a sump. So lucky us, as this was a time saver.


Built a skimmer stand for it large enough for a reef octo 150 just in case the 110 is too small and added in some egg crate to make a media holder if it is needed. I need to trim the media rack down a little, so that is next. Then comes the plumbing.

Should be wet by the end of this weekend. If not, the boy is gonna get me while I sleep lol.

Very simple sump with as much room for a fuge as possible. Almost 18 gallons just in the fuge. With 14 gallons of estimated back flow clearance. Between syphon breaks and a serviceable check valve, we should be good if power goes out and the generator doesn’t have diesel lol.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

The sump is in the stand. Woooohoooo!!!!! Plumbing shall take place tomorrow and ahead of schedule.

And yes the skimmer looks like you can’t get the cup off. Pre-planning saved the day, there is no shelf above the cup. Easy to remove and we get the most usable space possible out of the stand. This is also where the unions will be for the drains and returns.

 

[Williamson’s Reef]

Looking good.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Well, I got the plumbing done. Bout to get it wet.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Here is preview of what will be going in the tank after they finish their QT in the frag tank.

He wants a tank that looks like fruity pebbles all over the rock, euphillia moving back and forth mid level, and nems up top. He is lucky the frag tanks are full lol.