shookONES 120g Reef

[shookONES]

What’s up R2R? I’ve been lurking heavy these past few months absorbing information like a sponge and drooling over masterpiece reefs as I prepare for the most ambitious undertaking in my aquarium career: an SPS dominant 120g reef!

That said, I’ve been buying equipment as my budget allows and good deals pop up. The current setup is as follows:

Aqueon 120g (48x24x24”)
Modular Marine 1600gph overflow
Single 3/4” LocLine return kit
40g breeder sump w/Modular Marine baffles
Eheim CompactON 5000 return
Reef Octopus Regal 150sss skimmer
Dimmable 8x54w ATI fixture w/ Reef Brite

I’m a life long freshwater fish fanatic and have spent most of my adult life collecting and raising some of the most delicate and rare fish freshwater has to offer. This reef tank is totally new to me and will surely be a slow process. This is happening live. I’ll do my best to document the process for others to enjoy, but mostly for myself to track progress.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Welcome!

 

[shookONES]

This is where is all began. I sold off the remainder of my freshwater fish and was left with an empty tank, some money in my pocket, and big dreams.

I met my first challenge almost immediately in that the factory pine stand from Aqueon just wasn’t going to work. While I could physically fit a 40 breeder in the stand by removing the center brace, removal would be all but impossible once the tank was running.

Fortunately, I love a good DIY project. The first hurdle proved inconsequential as a quick trip to Home Depot and some time with a chop saw resulted in this.

A quick coat of paint and this adventure was officially underway. I made sure the stand was big and open and allowed me both the room to work on (and remove if need be) the sump, as well as provide the height I needed for a good skimmer.

 

[shookONES]

I’ve built more than my fair share of sumps, both for myself and for friends. I’ve always used a local glass guy to build my baffles, but this go around, I found myself drawn to the Modular Marine baffle kit. Price was a little expensive, but I loved the design. I pulled the trigger on the refugium kit, took advantage of Petco’s tank sale, and voila! A sump!

My main focus was the baffles not leaking. I could have done a neater job with the silicone, but whatever. Function above all!

At this point, it’s all becoming real...

 

[shookONES]

One facet of this project that I obsessed over for a good while was the overflow. When this tank pulled freshwater duties, I ran a big Eheim 2262 canister filter. Now that it was destined for a reef, a sump was a given.

I’ve always hated internal overflows most manufacturers utilize, so a RR tank wasn’t an option. I did a ton of research and ultimately decided on a Modular Marine 1600gph. As soon as I opened the package, I knew this thing was worth the price.

No matter how many tanks I’ve drilled, it still is the most nerve-racking part of any build. Fortunately, this one went off without a hitch. I manned the drill and my GF operates the spray bottle. Before long, we were through.

 

[shookONES]

Some plumbing action. I’ve always preferred soft tubing over PVC. I find the soft bends do wonders for noise, and the barb fittings make servicing a breeze.

With 3 drain holes, a bean animal setup was a no-brainer. The primary drain just has a strainer attached to the bulk head, while i utilized a durso for the secondary drain and left the emergency drain wide open. I was pleasantly surprised at how quiet this setup is. The only audible noise I hear is the slight trickle of water splashing inside the internal box as it falls the 1-1.5” to the drain. I’m going to try stuffing some super coarse filter foam in the box to break the water’s fall. But all in all, I’m super impressed.

 

[tnobler]

I am at a similar stage to yourself, will be good to follow your progress. I have been on the fence with pvc or not, I think ill go with silicone and pvc elbows to stop it kinking best of both worlds.

 

[shookONES]

When it came to lighting, I knew T5 was going to be the move. Drilling into the ceiling to hang the fixture wasn’t an option, so I slapped together this light rack out of 3/4” conduit. This was super easy and super cheap to construct. I’m going to run an 8 bulb ATI fixture so I hope the conduit is strong enough -_-

So that about wrapped it up for the “construction” part of this build! My timing was perfect as Black Friday was just around the corner. I was patient and thanks to BRS, I was able to pick up most of my equipment at steep discount. One piece of equipment I knew to invest in was a quality RO unit. I chose the BRS 5 stage plus unit. As soon as it arrived I got to work making water...

 

[shookONES]

I knew as soon as I started this project that SPS was going to be the focus. While I appreciate LPS and soft coral, something about a tank full of colorful, fuzzy sticks that gets me excited. That said, I knew I needed a heavier grain sand that would hold up to high flow. In the same breath, one single favorite group of SW fish are wrasses. With their burrowing tendencies, the super-big grain “sands” like reef flakes and the like was out of the question. I ultimately decided on Carib Sea Special Grade reef sand. So far so good. It’s heavy enough to resist all but direct flow, but still a sand that the fish can utilize.

As far as rock goes, I had originally planned on using Marco Rocks. I’ve seen so many successful tanks using them so it was a no brainer...until I caught myself browsing R2R late one night and found a link for Carib Sea Life Rock for $2/lb. I always thought this stuff looked awesome, but was always turned off by the price ($6-7/lb locally). Thinking it was too good to be true and priced in error, I quickly ordered two 40lbs boxes.

Then I decided to add another 40lbs just so I could be a little more selective with aquascaping.

I had my 100gpd RO running nonstop making water and mixing salt. It took almost 1.5 days of nonstop use to fill the tank and sump. I didn’t mind, as this allowed me to take my time aquascaping.

It wasn’t long before I was officially in business. On Sunday December 1, 2019 I turned on my return pump for the first time. Temps were set to 78° and salinity at 35ppt (Tropic Marin Pro Reef). I tossed in a big frozen shrimp and let the cycling process begin. The plan is to dose Brightwell Aquatic’s Microbacter7 to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria.

 

[shookONES]

I think what I’m going to do it try to post a full tank shot every week. In a few months/years, I think it would be awesome to compare how the tank matures and develops. With that said, I present...

Week 0: 12/1/2019

 

[shookONES]

Fast forward a week (present day) and I spent a lot of time staring at a tank of rocks and sand. I tried to envision how I would place corals and how they would grow. The more I looked at it, the more I disliked the two-Island aesthetic. I felt like I didn’t have a lot of real estate for corals, and lacked the crevices and caves my fish/critters to explore. I ultimately bit the bullet and decided to rescape. As the tank turned one week old, I found myself soaking wet and making a mess. As the dust settled, I knew I made the right call. This newest iteration is awesome...

Week 1: 12/8/2019

I’m sure I’ll tweak the Aquascape a little bit, but this is more or less how I’ll leave it. Pardon the dirty glass. I made a mess stirring up substrate and moving rocks around. I also noticed the the frozen shrimp I added last week was breaking down rapidly. I figured this was a good time to do a water test.

So we’ve got ammonia, but not much else. This tank is going to be an exercise in patience, through and through. One video that spoke to me was the BRS/WWC 4 month cycle series. I think that’s the route I’m going to take with this tank. Once the initial cycle runs it’s course, I’ll begin adding fish slowly and just take it from there.

 

[count krunk]

Off to a good start!

 

[shookONES]

I’ve been dosing MB7 since day two, as per the bottle’s recommended dose, as well as a raw shrimp floating in my sump. As the tank neared the two week mark, I had some ammonia and not much else happening. I decided to try a half dose of Dr Tim’s to see if it would help move things along.

 

[shookONES]

Rearranged some rocks to open up some caves on the left side and added a Finnex LED light to what will become my refugium in a few weeks. I also added a few small pieces of nice, stable “live” rock from an established system I trust.

 

[kabal2]

Looking great, I just myself a 120g as well, looking forward to seeing your progress

 

[shookONES]

Looking great, I just myself a 120g as well, looking forward to seeing your progress

Awesome. Got a build thread? I see the NJRC club tag. I’m in NJ as well.

 

[kabal2]

No, no build theead yet, just collecting pieces at the moment, im at 07438

 

[shookONES]

One month update. The cycle is almost complete as nitrates are finally starting to show up and nitrites are coming down. I went ahead and got my skimmer setup today, figuring it was going to need some break in time before really coming to life.

Hopefully in the next week or two, I can do a nice big water change and get some fish in here. Looking at a tank full of rocks, albeit nice purple rocks, is getting kinda dull.