75gal mixed reef budget build

[tothpl]

After 2 years of my biocube 32 being mostly stable, small ups and down but nothing catastrophic, I am ready to upgrade. (I want more!)

I’ve been slowly accumulating parts, pieces, and equipment over the past few months. I am trying to keep this as a budget build, no high end designer anything unless it serves a purpose I can’t get elsewhere and for cheaper! Things I have acquired:
- tank and stand - FB marketlace, drilled
- sump - FB marketplace(first sump tank for me)
- pumps and power heads - jebao
- lighting - smatfarm/amazon
- plumbing - 80% req’d valves and unions, all unassembled
- skimmer/heater/uv - aquired
- aqua scape - done and soaking for 3mos.

Aqua scape will be a Bommie/ nsa style with sps dominant. Overall a mixed reef with sticks and plates up high, with lps and softies mid to low. I like a clean, open sand bed and the bommies give it some verticality and depth while keeping the sand open.

I didn’t take many pics of the scaping process but here’s a sneak peak.

Stay tuned for more as the tank gets painted, plumbed, and wet!

 

[Tahoe61]

Congrats.

What brand and size of tank?
Did you already purchase the lighting?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[kevgib67]

Congratulations, I upgraded my Biocube at the beginning of the year. I hope this goes smoothly for you!

 

[Fish Fan]

Congrats on the new build; good luck!

 

[tothpl]

Congrats.

What brand and size of tank?
Did you already purchase the lighting?

Don’t remember the brand of the tank? American ……. Something?

Lights are two smatfarm 95w.

 

[tothpl]

Congratulations, I upgraded my Biocube at the beginning of the year. I hope this goes smoothly for you!

Cheers and congrats to you too! What size did you upgrade to?

 

[kevgib67]

A 105g display with a 40g sump.

 

[Fish Fan]

Lights are two smatfarm 95w.

How do you like these lights? I'm considering purchasing two for a 75 gallon. From what I can see, these are a seriously underrecognized lighting choice, if they perform as stated.

 

[LeftyReefer]

How do you like these lights? I'm considering purchasing two for a 75 gallon. From what I can see, these are a seriously underrecognized lighting choice, if they perform as stated.

if you are looking at the 95w Smatfarms, check out the newest Noopsyche lights too.

I just demoted my pair of Smatfarms G5 95w lights to smaller/QT tank duty and replaced them with a pair of new Noopsyche K7 IV lights.

The functionality of the Noops is better. Better/smoother ramping up/down. better options for lunar lighting. better UV channel. And the Noops have a phone app for adjusting them. You can import/export/share setups via QR codes. etc...

The (2) lights are very similar but the Noops offer a better user experience imho. And when on sale, the Noops are even cheaper than the Smatfarms.

I had purchased my pair of Smatfarm G5's back in December 2021 and used them on my bigger tank up until just recently replacing them with the Noops just 2 weeks ago (swapped lights on 8/22/26). so i used the Smatfarms for over 4.5 years and I've now been using the Noops for 2 weeks. I would recommend the Noops.

The biggest issue for me was the lack of setup/adjustment via a phone app with the Smatfarms. And neither of my Smatfarm lights came with remotes. So I had no way to control them remotely.

on my bigger tank, I have a pair of these "LED puck" style lights and then a pair of longer light bars on each side, for more complete coverage. The light bars were tucked right up close to my Smatfarm lights and I was not able to get to the control panel buttons or view their display screens when all the lights were mounted. So I was unable to adjust my lights at all, unless i took them down each time. A total PITA. So the lack of any phone app with the Smatfarm lights was what finally drove me to upgrade to something that did.

So I would tell anyone looking at Smatfarms to go with Noopsyche's instead.
Same basic light, but better user experience/fuctionality.

 

[Fish Fan]

if you are looking at the 95w Smatfarms, check out the newest Noopsyche lights too.

I just demoted my pair of Smatfarms G5 95w lights to smaller/QT tank duty and replaced them with a pair of new Noopsyche K7 IV lights.

The functionality of the Noops is better. Better/smoother ramping up/down. better options for lunar lighting. better UV channel. And the Noops have a phone app for adjusting them. You can import/export/share setups via QR codes. etc...

The (2) lights are very similar but the Noops offer a better user experience imho. And when on sale, the Noops are even cheaper than the Smatfarms.

I had purchased my pair of Smatfarm G5's back in December 2021 and used them on my bigger tank up until just recently replacing them with the Noops just 2 weeks ago (swapped lights on 8/22/26). so i used the Smatfarms for over 4.5 years and I've now been using the Noops for 2 weeks. I would recommend the Noops.

The biggest issue for me was the lack of setup/adjustment via a phone app with the Smatfarms. And neither of my Smatfarm lights came with remotes. So I had no way to control them remotely.

on my bigger tank, I have a pair of these "LED puck" style lights and then a pair of longer light bars on each side, for more complete coverage. The light bars were tucked right up close to my Smatfarm lights and I was not able to get to the control panel buttons or view their display screens when all the lights were mounted. So I was unable to adjust my lights at all, unless i took them down each time. A total PITA. So the lack of any phone app with the Smatfarm lights was what finally drove me to upgrade to something that did.

So I would tell anyone looking at Smatfarms to go with Noopsyche's instead.
Same basic light, but better user experience/fuctionality.

Thanks for your help!

My only objection to Noopsyche is where to order them from. Where do you get these lights and what's the shipping time?

 

[LeftyReefer]

Thanks for your help!

My only objection to Noopsyche is where to order them from. Where do you get these lights and what's the shipping time?

I ordered them directly from Noopsychereeflight.com. when they were having the recent 15% off sale.

They now have a US distributor who is located in NC, USA.
my lights shipped from them.

I ordered my 2 lights on monday 8/17.
I got tracking info (from NC) on 8/19.
Lights were delivered on saturday 8/22.

So I had them in my possession and installed 5 days after ordering them. not bad.

 

[Fish Fan]

I ordered them directly from Noopsychereeflight.com. when they were having the recent 15% off sale.

They now have a US distributor who is located in NC, USA.
my lights shipped from them.

I ordered my 2 lights on monday 8/17.
I got tracking info (from NC) on 8/19.
Lights were delivered on saturday 8/22.

So I had them in my possession and installed 5 days after ordering them. not bad.

That's great to know, thanks! I thought they were all shipped the slow-boat from China. I wish I knew about that sale though.

 

[tothpl]

A 105g display with a 40g sump.

This is nice!!!

 

[kevgib67]

This is nice!!!

Thank you.

 

[tothpl]

I ordered them directly from Noopsychereeflight.com. when they were having the recent 15% off sale.

They now have a US distributor who is located in NC, USA.
my lights shipped from them.

I ordered my 2 lights on monday 8/17.
I got tracking info (from NC) on 8/19.
Lights were delivered on saturday 8/22.

So I had them in my possession and installed 5 days after ordering them. not bad.

I appreciate all the info!! I looked at the noops too but ultimately decided on these. Didn’t know they had an updated version with decent app control.
I bought the smatfarm controller too, but have yet to use any of it. So I can’t comment on its functionality. I’m going into it assuming it’s clunky at best. But how often are you fiddling with light settings? For me at least, it’s set and forget.

The one thing I am apprehensive about is being able to dim up and down individual spectrums. But I figure it’s a sacrifice of a budget light?!

 

[tothpl]

Weekend update!
Lots of tank things happened! Got the biocube moved to the other wall in the office to make room for the 75g. Moved the old couch out since it was too long. New, shorter couch built and moved in. Bought a zero wall reclining love seat, online. It’s meh. I like the size and functionality, but the ergonomics leave a lot to be desired. Problems of buying furniture online.
Pulled the 75g tank and stand up from the basement and into the garage. Did some work on the stand lighting, painted the back glass, got it plumbed, and filled. Currently leak testing with the sump running in the garage.
I only made 2 mistakes while plumbing. I got everything dry fit and angled right. Made my witness marks and with the finish line in sight, I got gluing! Glued everything up and got excited and grabbed the hose. As I was walking back into the garage, I noticed this large grey valve with a red handle placed prominently on my bench where I definitely wouldn’t miss it…….
I forgot to add the gate valve and the back flow preventer. Unions come in handy folks!! Apart it came, measured, cut, and reglued.
Once I got it filled and the sump running, I was trying to figure out the tuning? With this being my first sump tank, I’m not really sure what right looks like other than everyone saying, ‘ tune it with the gate valve.’ Pretty sure my pump is running at full blast, and the gate valve is tuned to that.
Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

 

[tothpl]

Update time!

Lots happened, tank is wet! No leaks. Rock work is in! Parameters are good so far, with the cycled rock and live sand.

Tried my hand at 3d printing rfg. They came out really well, except they didn’t swivel well. Nothing a little sand paper didn’t fix.

Tank is staged, mostly level (there isn’t a level or plumb surface in my house)

Plumbing complete, water going in. Also I set the lights up cause I was really excited to see what proper budget lights looked like!

Electrical run. I mounted a 10 spot PDU. And I wired the lights to come on when either door is opened.

Mistakes I’ve made so far -
- didn’t build a manifold. I don’t want to have a million pumps running auxiliary items. Manifold is coming soon.
- rushing to get things plugged in and turned on has left a rats nest of wires already.
- not rinsing my sand. Not even a little. It’s very very very silty. Now I have to clean it all out. I’ve been stirring it every few hours when I can. It’s clearing up though!!
- the vecton uv unit I got is much much larger than I expected. I can’t mount it where I originally wanted to, so now I have to get creative. I’m thinking hanging on the front of the sump.

Let me know what you think!

 

[vlangel]

Hi, your title caught my eye because I also have a 75g budget build. Mine is a year old this month. Your build is much more sophisticated compared to mine however. I decided not to go with a sump this time and to use a canister filter for a much simpler system. I do more softies and LPS though so I don't really need skimmers, and more elaborate equipment. I have a few SPS but they are the more hardy, sturdy type, .
I am really enjoying the dimensions of a 75g and the flexibility of fish I can have in it.
Best of luck to you with your new tank!

 

[strich]

Nice thread made. Looking forward to progress!