75 Gallon Reef - Round 2!

[MorganHeaslet]

I'll be using this thread to document my progress on the 75 gallon tank I'm starting up. I had a 75 gallon at my childhood home around 15 years back, but unfortunately had to tear it down when I moved out. My apartment did not allow aquariums, so I've been sidelined for the past decade but my passion never died out. Now that I'm moved into a new place, I saw the opportunity and had to take it.

This is a 75 gallon display with a 40g (breeder) sump. The stand is DIY based on designs from this forum and Reefcentral, the overflow is from Modular Marine and I went with my attempt at an animal bean drain using PVC.

I am not entirely sure what the stock will be, but I want it to be a peaceful community tank with a wide range of fish and coral. I don't plan on stocking it too heavily, and the end goal will be limited maintenance / water changes, but that is a ways away!

I used a mixture of old rock from my previous tank, Marcos rock, dry sand, and a Pico package seed from TBS to kickstart the fun. The rock arrived on Weds, I am going to get caught up on the tank build here before the real adventure begins.

 

[MorganHeaslet]

I'll start with the stand. I am not very familiar with woodworking, so I had to make sure it was a straightforward design I could pull off. I went with the following, as it seemed sturdy and easy to build:

I don't have many pictures of this part of the build, but it wasn't too exciting anyway. I started the frame in March in preparation for the upcoming move: A few home depot runs for 2x4s and paint, some after-work painting sessions, and it was ready to be constructed. I waited a few months until we moved into the new place, then put it together on Day 1 of the move, eager to get the tank waiting in my parent's garage into the house.

I ran into some issues with slightly uneven 2x4s, but based on my research it was acceptable as long as one 2x4 of each leg had firm contact and the stand was level. I am not proud of how the stand looks, but its functional, and I plan on adding doors in the near future.

 

[MorganHeaslet]

Next up after the stand was painted and ready for the new place, the tank itself. I had purchased it in March due to a nice deal at a local pet shop, but it was forced to sit in a garage for months waiting for its time to shine.

I knew I wanted an overflow and sump, which meant the tank would need holes cut. After doing some research, I decided to go with a Modular Marine overflow and an Animal Bean drain system. This felt overwhelming at first, but I had plenty of time to research and learn while I waited for the big move.

I had drilled my previous tank but that was a decade ago, so I was quite nervous. That said, it went well, and after an hour of sweating, the cuts had been made and it was ready for the overflow to be installed.

Once it was drilled and the overflow had been installed, it was time to paint it. I wasn't sure what the wall behind the tank would look like yet, and I loved the crisp look of a black background, so it seemed like a good idea. After a couple coats of paint (same paint I used on the stand, probably not ideal but I wasn't too worried about it being perfect) it ended up looking pretty solid.

 

[MorganHeaslet]

After the big move and the frightful journey up the stairs with the tank, it was finally happening. The stand was constructed, the tank was safe and sound, the holes were cut, and it was time to plumb. With no real experience besides my first tank, which had a basic overflow and single drain, I was ready to make some mistakes and learn from them. I made another home depot run (or 2, or 3, or 4) and eventually had all the PVC and parts I needed to make the plan reality.

Primary drain, secondary drain, emergency drain, and the return. All laid out, it looked accomplishable but it was time to make the leap. After some messy mistakes with the PVC cement and a couple spare parts used, the drain portion of the plumbing was complete. Each drain was split into 3 removeable parts using unions, a costly addition on my limited budget, but worth it for the peace of mind when it comes to future maintenace.

Time for the return. I was aiming for as quiet an experience as possible, so with that in mind, I switched from my original plan of a hard-plumbed return and went with vinyl tubing:

^ Out with the old!

In with the new!

After all that, it was time to test my handiwork. No leaks please!

 

[MorganHeaslet]

It was the big day, time to fill it up and hope nothing leaked. I added my rock, a mix of old rock from my previous tank and Marcos Rock. I had ordered a Pico Package from TBS, but had another month before it would arrive.

I spent a few days obsessing over the rockscape, then pulled the trigger. After the rocks were placed and stabilized with epoxy, I added 75lbs of Special Grade Arag-Alive! Reef Sand then filled it up.

Nothing leaked, so I took that as a win. I installed the lighting, a pair of NICREW HyperReef 150 Gen 2 that I'd heard good things about for solid lighting on a budget, and the dream was beginning to come together:

I know the sump doesn't look great, I was a bit heavy-handed with the silicone on the baffle installation, but nobody was going to be snooping around down ther anyway. Soon there will be doors and it won't matter. :)

With the tank ready for life, all that was left was waiting for the TBS package. In the meantime, I focused on tidying up the sump, drilling in the surge protectors, installing some cheap LED lighting, and adding some hooks for convenience.

Ignore the vinyl holding up the return tubing, I was playing around with ways to reduce the vibration. I have a silicone mat underneath it as I had heard that helped, but it is still the noisiest part of the tank. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

 

[MorganHeaslet]

After some patient waiting, where my free time was spent browsing these forums living vicariously through you all, the day had arrived. My UPS shipment from TBS had arrived, it was time to seed the tank and begin the fun part of the journey.

Everything arrived in good health, the crabs were moving around right off the bat, and the rock didn't have any strange smell, something I was told to look out for. The goal was to use this rock to seed the rest of the "dry" rock, so I spread it out as best I could.

That was Wednesday. I spent the next few days obsessing over the tank, driving my wife crazy as I forced her to stare at what appeared to be inanimate rock. But there was so much life on it, so many new things to discover. I am still not entirely sure what the hitchhikers are, I plan on getting some pictures and asking you fine folk later this week. Whatever they are, they are the first residents of my new reef. Out of the 8 hermits, 7 survived the week, which I consider a success considering the rough journey they had to make from the ocean to my tank.

I began feeding the tank with some food pellets, hoping to kickstart the cycle slowly but surely. I do not plan on adding any fish for at least a month as the tank settles in, but that won't keep me from staring at it constantly.

This is where it's at today. It may not look all that special yet, but I am beyond excited, as my dream has finally come true after all these years: I have a piece of the ocean in my home again!

I will be posting additional updates as milestones occur, I feel a little stupid posting all this because it really wasn't all that interesting from an outside perspective, but I had a lot of fun and am glad to have the journey documented. I have learned so much already, from woodworking to plumbing to information on how to cycle a tank. I know I am still a relative newbie, and I am excited to learn from everyone here as I take the next steps.

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

I'll start with the stand. I am not very familiar with woodworking, so I had to make sure it was a straightforward design I could pull off. I went with the following, as it seemed sturdy and easy to build:

I don't have many pictures of this part of the build, but it wasn't too exciting anyway. I started the frame in March in preparation for the upcoming move: A few home depot runs for 2x4s and paint, some after-work painting sessions, and it was ready to be constructed. I waited a few months until we moved into the new place, then put it together on Day 1 of the move, eager to get the tank waiting in my parent's garage into the house.

I ran into some issues with slightly uneven 2x4s, but based on my research it was acceptable as long as one 2x4 of each leg had firm contact and the stand was level. I am not proud of how the stand looks, but its functional, and I plan on adding doors in the near future.

I'm intending on doing something similar. Looking so far!

 

[Kilman805]

Nice! Looking forward to following along with your progress.

 

[Baby Damsel 219]

I'm intending on doing something similar. Looking so far!

hows the build going homie?

 

[NanoSteam]

Curious to hear your thoughts on the Nicrews thus far.

 

[Baby Damsel 219]

i had a nicrew on a 20 gallon grew things like duncans and torched but not strong enough for sps and an all blue it not that nice looking so spend the money