The ultimate DIY reef tank

zesty · Nov 21, 2014

Kalen said:
I really hate to say something like that especially in this hobby after someone has put so much time and money into a custom build to have it fail. That would be the worst. Has never happened to be thankfully. However every it's the truth and the truth can suck at times.

I know this exact same feel. I know of 2 members in my LRC that built their own tanks, one with bracing, the other I don't know as many details. They both failed after 6 months of holding water. Now, this is no means is going after anything you did. I don't know anything about building tanks, I just want to pass on my personal experience with these guys. They both are experienced reefers/builders of many things. They both researched it and went for it.

The one tank... oh man, this tank. 400g, full of SPS colonies that he'd been growing in his growout system. He had his 400 filled for 6 months with rock/water. Then he added his corals, 4 radion pros, t5s, he was growing sticks like dandelions. Then he came home to a leak in the back seam... He lost so many sticks. This basically killed the hobby for him. He had a mass sell-off and keeps a small system just to stay current in the hobby.

I know there is no way I can critique your system or compare your tank to these. I just want to bring up a point of caution. Keep an eye on it.

Good luck! I hope it works perfectly for you! :wink:

Deep_Six Corals · Nov 21, 2014

flounder yea the plugs are all only about 6 inches from the sump. I'm gonna make small wooden boxes and Velcro them over the strips and the gfci. It's not getting wet now, but over time I can see an issue there. Velcro has be come my best friend in this. The industrial kind with a supper sticky back almost like glue is awesome. I've stuck all sorts of shyt to the inside of my stand and wall with it, including those strips

zesty I here you dude. That's crazy tho! A 400g? I would never undertake that mission!lol that a job for an absolute professional. My tank only holds 48 gal in the display. Look close at the pics, I went overboard with the silicone on every seam of it not to mention I put tiny spacers inbetween where the panels join to get a good 1/16" of silicone inbetween them. Rly this thing is that ock solid for the amount of water it holds and I cannot even imagine how this would spring a leak from a seam. Srsly like a half inch of silicone on every corner. I will definitely keep this updated over time and also start a new thread to keep a log!

flounder · Nov 21, 2014

Everything else looks great. I've really wanted to make my own glass tank, but have always been scared. I made lots of acrylic tanks. My largest being 2x5x1 (current frag tank) Look forward to seeing more progress.

Deep_Six Corals · Nov 25, 2014

So far so good. I finally got my light in. I went with 4x54w ATI dimmable sunpower. I looks amazing. I really like the dimming features. I hung it up with 2x3/4" conduit pipe (electrical dept at Home Depot) bent at a 90 75" up and it comes 12.5" off the wall. I used eye screws through a hole I drilled in the pipe to hang the fixture. I wasn't able to move my stand to attach it there so I bolted it to the wall. Too a while to get it perfectly centered. Eventually the clamps on the wall will be painted black and the power cord will be zip tied to the pipe for a cleaner look. In the fixture I went with all ati bulbs, front to back blue+ coral+ blue+ blue+. I'll probably pick up an extra aquablue special and purple plus just to mess with some different bulb combos and see what I like. I ended up going with t5 because I've read to many stories of people going from led back to t5 because leds didn't work for them. I just went with something tried and proven. I went with the 4 bulb because I feel that I will get plent of light in the tank. The future is 10" wide and my tank is 16" wide and 16" deep. The top of my rock work where I plan to put the majority of my sps is only 6-7" below the water line directly under the fixture. I also didn't want the extra heat from a 6 bulb. The fixture is super sleek and looks great over the rimless tank. It's day 11 that the tank has been wet and the cycle has started. Hopefully I can get it done in a month. Enjoy some pics!

sir bonkers · Nov 25, 2014

Following this thread. This tank is awesome.

Deep_Six Corals · Dec 3, 2014

Seems like this long road has finally come to an end (or has it just begun?lol) the tank has finished cycling and is in the midst of a nasty diatom outbreak. A few things have changed since I got it wet a few weeks ago. The return pump I was using quit . I took the opportunity to downsize a bit and went with a 550 gph pump. I know have a more controlled flow in my sump. I started skimming immediately after the cycle finished and also added a bag of chemipure to the pre filter mesh. I found a used mp10 for the low low locally, lil thing is awesome. I added cheato to the Refugium and I added my clean up crew consisting of 12 snails 5 hermits and 1 emerald crab. I also couldn't resist on a female Barletts Anthias that I saw at the LFS. one of my flame damsels that I threw in for cycling is still in there too. I really couldn't tell you where the second one is. My best bet is it jumped ship and my dog picked it up lol. All my parameters have been stable for the last 5 days. This will be the last time I post here under the DIY. I will now start a thread under members tanks. If any one ever has questions pertaining to this build, feel free to ask away! Thank you to every one for your kind words, constructive criticism and opinions. It has helped! Thanks for following. Idk why this photos are so over exposed, the tank rly doesn't look that blue sry!

nelson.jdautobody · Dec 14, 2014

Loving that rock structure-nice

ReeferEric · Dec 14, 2014

Nice job!

Deep_Six Corals · Mar 25, 2015

Update

Hello everyone! I Haven't been logging on at all because I had forgotten my PW, though I read these forums everyday at least. I thought it would be appropriate to post an update on here so that everyone doesn't think the tank blew up on me! Lol the tank is still kicking and doing better than ever now. A lot has changed since the last post where I had one fish lol I have many frags and 6 fish in there now. I've also upgraded filtration and flow to accommodate. My parameters have been spot on and I've managed to not lose any coral, about 80% sps.
My live stock is as follows:
Barletts Anthias
Thread fin Anthias
Randalls Anthias
Blue tang
Flame damsel
Coris wrasse

Multiple species of acropora including bonsai,shortcake,frog skin,rose Millie
Multiple species of montipora including plating,encrusting and branching types
1 chalice lol
Frogspawn
Plenty of zoa frags
RBA
And a few other things..

Underneath in the guts I've added a phosban reactor running phosguard.i learned the hard way not to use to much gfo at one time, stripped all the phosphate and the corals got angry. I've replaced the skimmer pump for a better, more effective one. I added a jebao doser because I was only able to dose once a day manually and the daily alk swing was concerning me. My Refugium grows cheato like a weed, I trim it about once every 2 weeks, I installed a fuge Ray +, I like it. I added jebao rw-8 to supplement my mp10, I deff. needed that. It took a while to get them positioned to where they don't blow my sand bed around.my nitrates and phosphate are at low levels and my corals and fish seem happy. I still have a mess in my stand with wires and stuff but I can't figure out what to do with it all. The power strips seem real close to my sump and it concerns me at times but as of yet i have no salt build up on them. At this point I'm letting this thing run its self, it seems to be working great.

Now