75 Gallons of No Excuses

[kapnkush608]

Hello fellow reef peeps! It's finally time to start my build thread..... 9yrs into the hobby. Mainly so I can share my passion with everyone else who's passionate about the same thing but also for accountability and to have a personal record. It all started 9 years ago when I said to my pregnant girlfriend "I want a fish tank" thinking I was gonna get some tetras and angel fish like my parents had when I was growing up. Fast forward to standing at Petco in the fish section and my girlfriend absolutely falls in love with a certain fish, this tiny little clownfish. Being pregnant, like really pregnant, shes already decided we're getting a saltwater tank and asks the fish dude what we need to get the Nemo in our life. The "hold up" moment hit me and i tried to finesse my way outta that but the guy just kept selling it to her and she just kept looking at me like "You got this? You taking notes?" And after listening to his pitch we left... With a bag of live sand, a couple hunks of live rock,salt and tap water treatment, a three stripe damsel (named Flo of course) to help cycle the tank, a million questions and my girl telling me "your like the smartest person I know, you can definitely do this!" (If only she knew the monster she had just created) so it started. Fast forward through the ups and downs of reefing and life all the shortcuts we've all tried great growth in the tank and personally as well as a couple devastating tank crashes, from a 29g to a 58g and a biocube to a 75g and now I have a 125g RR sitting on the back burner waiting for me to buy a house. After my last tank crash that was it. I decided no more BS excuses, no more shortcuts. I bought API test kits, an RODI, and spent the next five years turning it into the tank it is now. Went fowlr for a year to stabilize the system getting nutrients in line acquiring minimal corals after that while in college. Now that I'm in my career and everything seems to be stable and growing well I'm transitioning from a mixed reef to an sps dominant system. No more excuses, no more BS sticking to the tried and true methods. Rock solid parameters and no shortcuts. Here it is today:

Equipment list:
- Tank: 75g AGA
- Sump: 40b skimmer > refugium > return
- Skimmer: ASM G-2 with a Sedra 5k instead of the 3500
- Return: Jebao DC1200
- Lights: 4 Noopsyche K7
- Misc.: Rossmont mx3500 Power heads and Waver Controller, diy overflow & ato

This past week I switched from API to Salifert test kits. API was testing the main 3 low so now with the Salifert ALK is 10.9 Ca is 490 and Mg is 1480. I also bought a Nikon D5300 so I'll be getting some more pics up shortly after I resize them.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Great introduction and story behind your addiction! Tank looks Great!

 

[Pntbll687]

What type of diy overflow do you use?

I had one I tried out, but it would lose siphon every once in a while.

 

[kapnkush608]

What type of diy overflow do you use?

I had one I tried out, but it would lose siphon every once in a while.

This is the one I use:

I have a CPR but it kept the water level higher than I liked.

 

[kapnkush608]

Great introduction and story behind your addiction! Tank looks Great!

Thanks Chief, I've always wanted to start a build thread but always procrastinated. Figured now that I have a nice camera I might as well commit.

 

[kapnkush608]

Pics as Promised! Be gentle I just got the camera 3 days ago lol.

 

[Pntbll687]

This is the one I use:

I have a CPR but it kept the water level higher than I liked.

That's the one I tried but it would lose siphon if the power went out.

But if it works for you

 

[NY_Caveman]

Looks good to me! Thanks for sharing it all.

 

[kapnkush608]

That's the one I tried but it would lose siphon if the power went out.

But if it works for you

I tested power failure and restart a million times. I also tapered, primed and glued every piece. Did you fit it with an aqua lifter to help keep siphon?

 

[Pntbll687]

I tested power failure and restart a million times. I also tapered, primed and glued every piece. Did you fit it with an aqua lifter to help keep siphon?

I did not. If I try it again I'll either add the aqua lifter use a spare maxi jet I have

 

[kapnkush608]

Showing the tank some love today.

Copped some Rossmont Movers and a Waver. Really easy to setup with no noticeable noise and daaang do they ever move alot of water. Great job @Rossmont !!

 

[kapnkush608]

More love for the tank.

Came up on some Noopsyche k7s. All feels nice quality wise, the mounting arm base does not fit on the rim of my 75g AGA flush. There is a little gap there but not too bad. The controller took a second to figure out but once it clicked it's not bad especially for the price. I do wish it had just a few more setting points and I'm still figuring it out better but overall they did a great job balancing cost/features/aesthetics. The shimmer on them is awesome. Nice work @noopsyche.

 

[McFly]

That Royal gramma pic came out great!

 

[kapnkush608]

#reefpi coming soon to a tank near me.

 

[kapnkush608]

That Royal gramma pic came out great!

Thanks man. I'm still figuring out how to get those crispy fish pictures. I've also been messing with focus stacking and have a macro rail on the way for the nice tight Coral shots.

 

[kapnkush608]

Some shots with the new lights over the past week.

 

[Pntbll687]

Any chance you can get some shots of the diy overflow?

I want to see where I went wrong with mine

 

[kapnkush608]

Any chance you can get some shots of the diy overflow?

I want to see where I went wrong with mine

Here you go my guy, if you need better I got you in a little bit. Just grabbed those real quick after escaping my cubicle and battling the traffic monster.

 

[kapnkush608]

 

[kapnkush608]

All my ends are tapered, then cleaned, purple pvc primer, then glued. Let it cure for like 2 days because I was busy anyway and have been running since it since I put it in. Shut the return off every night for feeding and it starts back up.