The Unskilled Reef Build

[Unskilled Reefer]

I got into this hobby in November and started with a biocube. Shorty after was a hospital/quarantine tank. Now I’m already looking to do something else.

I decided on a 80 gallon “low boy”style tank with a 75 gallon sump. I am choosing to go a bit larger on the sump for a few reasons including knowing I may want to go bigger than 80 gallons for the display tank in the future, lol. This will give me some flexibility.

More details and pictures to come...

 

[James M]

Following along

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

Got lucky and found a good deal at one of my lfs on the DT. Of course it’s snowy and slippery out here and a windchill warning the day I decide to do this lol.

Had to wait for my neighbor to get him to help me get it into my basement but it’s finally inside and on the correct floor of my house at least.

It’s a Deep Blue Pro RR rimless 80g.

Let the work begin!

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

Oh and ignore the ugly basement. I’m in the process of working on that too.

 

[Geebs19]

Love the look of that low boy rimless! Can’t wait to see it filled!

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

Decided to pick up a RO/DI system. Getting 5 gallon buckets filled at my lfs for a biocube is one thing but needed a home solution for the new larger tank.

I decided on the SpectraPure MaxPure 4 Stage MPDI 90.

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

Picked up my new Fuge light today! I know I am all over the map on the order of things, lol. Fuge light before tank lights is a bit odd but I wanted to make sure I got one of these.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-ai-prime-fuge-hd-light.541501/

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

So after a lot of manual labor I finally have some progress on the new tank project. Part of this was due to needing to refinish my basement prior to getting the tank going. I still need to deal with getting the floor done but I have it far enough that I have been able to spend some time on the tank stand.

Here is the new home for the soon-to-be fish room.

And here is the stand I built for the DT. It still needs finish work done but I haven’t decided what I want to do yet. Figured this is good enough for now to at least do my build setup and testing on.

I went with the pink foam to help with and micro leveling and to eliminate any chance of pressure points on the wood below.

And here is the DT on its stand.

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

Got my sump today... well at least the start of it. 75 gallons gives me plenty of options. Time for some planning!

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

I ordered my baffles today from my local glass and mirror shop. They should be ready by the end of the day tomorrow. I went with a smoked gray color in 1/4” thick glass.

After consideration I decided to go with the down up down bubble trap which will lead into the return pump section. Then on the far right I am going to put the fuge.

This will allow me to run very high water flow turnover while limiting the water flow to the fuge area. My plan is 15-20x water turnover per hour through the main sump with the fuge running at roughly 100-200 gph.

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

The baffles were ready and I just picked them up. I am loving the smoked gray color!

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

I just had the edges sanded, not polished. This kept the price low and it won’t have sharp edges to worry about when cleaning.

Ended up paying $92 for the 4 baffles. I feel that was a pretty good price.

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

The tank is taped and I’m ready to silicone the baffles in place. Wish me luck!

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

For spacing I went with 2” between and below for the bubble trap baffles.

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

I came across a tip of using stacked dvd’s to hold up the baffle while applying silicone. If you have at least 3 in the stack you can just slide out the middle one and the others are then easy to remove. I’m sure you can apply this idea to many thing you might have around the house.

Then I just held it in place with simple black electrical tape.

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

Here are the finished baffles. I think they came out pretty good for my first time using silicone.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Nice work! Love the DVDs!

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

Leak check for the baffles was successful!

 

[count krunk]

i'm confused with the placement of the baffles. I assume it will flow from right to left.

what are your plans for the small middle section?

 

[Unskilled Reefer]

i'm confused with the placement of the baffles. I assume it will flow from right to left.

what are your plans for the small middle section?

It will make more sense once you can see my plumbing. I am going to have a tee split the drain pipe and filter some water to the left side and some to the right side. The middle section you are referring to will be my return pump and top off area. Both the left and right side will flow towards center.