80 Gallons mixed Reef

[Jul2k22]

Hello Reefers,

I’d like to briefly introduce myself again since not everyone reads the introduction posts.My name is Julian, I’m 30 years old, and I’ve had a saltwater aquarium for about two years now. I’m from Germany and have been reading build threads on Reef2Reef since I started this hobby. Now it’s time to start my own! Since I’ve never been active in a forum before, I’m not very familiar with formatting, replying, or quoting — so things might be a little rough at first . As I’m from Germany, I’ll be using metric units in my posts (please don’t hold that against me).​

A Look Back​

I’ve had mixed success with my current tank. I actually found it for free on eBay — it used to house a hamster that had apparently passed away. At least that’s what it looked like, so I’m assuming that’s the case. I had never owned an aquarium before and had no experience with silicone or anything like that. Still, I scraped out the old seams and, after watching a few YouTube videos, managed to reseal the tank myself. Unfortunately, the glass is a bit scratched, which really bothers me now.
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Today​

My new tank was actually supposed to be up and running two months ago to replace the old “hamster cage,” but as it turns out, two kids and a newly built house take up more time than expected! So, the build is just starting today, and I’d love to take you along on this journey. I’ll try to document everything with plenty of pictures — though I’m not particularly good at taking photos while I’m working. But I’ll let you be the judge of that.
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What I Have in Mind​

I’m not exactly a skilled craftsman, but I still plan to do a lot of things myself (DIY style). Not everything will work out perfectly, but for me, the process itself is the goal. The tank dimensions are 120 cm x 50 cm x 50 cm. Visually, I’m taking inspiration from the Opus G2 Pro Line! The stand cladding will cover the sandbed to create a clean, modern look. I haven’t decided on a color yet. The rock structure is already finished and will be shown later in the thread. I tried to create a good balance of height for my future coral placement (more on that later).
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Thanks for reading!
I’m happy to answer any questions or hear your feedback.
(Texts are translated using AI since it’s much easier for me to write in German.)

 

[Jul2k22]

The Stand​

Choosing the material for the stand was actually pretty easy for me. Aluminum is strong and lightweight. Plus, it doesn’t require much in terms of tools — I could just order the T-profiles online (and theoretically even have them cut to size). Wood would’ve definitely been a good alternative, but I don’t have the right tools or much experience working with it. After a quick Google search, I found a suitable shop and ordered 14 meters of aluminum profiles. The profiles are 3 cm x 3 cm, each either 1 meter or 1.2 meters long.​

Here’s my professional drawing:

Despite that “professional” drawing, I actually measured wrong — so the stand ended up being 100 cm tall instead of 90 cm . I'm a tall guy, i hope it wont be a problem.

I cut the profiles using a saw, which actually worked fine. However, next time I’d probably just order them pre-cut — the precision would be much better. I had some trouble getting all the pieces exactly the same length! The profiles are connected with brackets and two screws each. With better planning, I could’ve hidden the connections for a cleaner look, but honestly, the visible corners don’t really bother me.

After about 2—or maybe 5—hours, all the profiles were assembled and the frame was finally standing!

Overall, the stand feels very solid and stable — it should easily handle the weight of the tank. You’ll find out how things continue inside the cabinet in the next post. But before that, I’ve got a quick question for you all: What kind of material would you use for the top panel? And would you put the stand on a mat to avoid pressure points or uneven spots on the floor?
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Thanks for reading!
I’m happy to hear your thoughts or answer any questions.
(Texts are translated using AI since it’s much easier for me to write in German.)

 

[Jul2k22]

reserve

 

[Jul2k22]

Equipment


Hello Reefers,

Today I’d like to talk with you about the equipment I want to use in my new tank.
The aquarium consists of a 120 cm x 50 cm x 50 cm (47" x 19" x 19") main display and a 100 cm x 40 cm x 40 cm sump. The sump is probably a bit oversized, but I’d like to use 15–20 cm (6-7") of it as a reservoir for fresh water (ATO). But let’s get straight to the exciting part… the equipment.

Lighting
I really struggled with the lighting over the past few days. On the one hand, I like the natural look of a shallow reef with lots of white light; on the other hand, corals look amazing under blue and UV light as well. During my search, I came across several brands. The Reef Breeder Meridian 45, GHL Lightbar 3, and Orphek bars were on my shortlist. In the end, I didn’t choose any of these. I decided on the GHL Mitras LX7206. I managed to get two used units for the price of one. I’m still not sure how I’m going to mount them above the tank.

Filtration
For filtration in the sump, I’m using a ReefMat 500. I was also able to pick this up used for a good price.

Skimmer
I’m using a Deltec 600i skimmer in the sump. I still need to check the skimmer and the filter to make sure they’re working properly, since they were used for quite a long time before I bought them.


Flow Pumps
For now, I’ll continue using my Tunze Nanostream 6020 as flow pumps. I’m not a huge fan of the pump, but I’d like to avoid the investment at the moment. My desired models would be Neros or the Jebao DMP pumps.

I’m happy to answer any further questions about the equipment
Wishing you all a great weekend.

 

[Jul2k22]

My lights came today but I'm a little bit underwhelmed. The GHL Mitras LX7206 are huge and heavy. They are used but still look really good and work just fine. The thing that bothers me is some kind of coil whine that's going on. One of them is completely silent the others makes this "loud" noice. Does anyone know this issue or has a fix? Buying used equipment is always a gamble I guess.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!