A Novice's 75 Gallon Tank Journey

[scriptmonkey]

Greetings,
I figure I would start a build thread to document (and motivate me...hopefully) my successes and the failures as I go along. It is not going to be the fastest build as I work about 50 hours a week and with our wedding and stuff coming up in July, and two young kids in Elementary school my hands are really full. My goals are:

1. Have a relaxing hobby that will be fun.
2. Have something with to do with the kids (one is a techno geek, other loves animals and fish)
3. Try to have some sort of automation be it COTS (commercial off the shelf) or roll my own ( Systems Engineer by trade) or some combination of the two. I want to work smarter, not harder if at all possible.
   
4. Not have pipes and wires everywhere (actually this a more of a Ms. Scriptmonkey requirement)

After doing a bunch of research I purchased thus far the Following:

• a 75 gal Corner flow Marineland tank. Seems that 75 gallons was the sweet spot to be small enough not be overwhelming and big enough to be a little forgiving when things start to go sideways. The quality is acceptable and figure would be a decent starter tank to get my feet wet in. I would like to do a bigger tank once I get my feet under me though, maybe something built in.
  
• Marineland black plain stand (blah). Wanted to do something custom but lack all but the basic wood working skills so figure it will live on that and will work up a plan for Tank version 2.0. I was thinking about painting it the Marineland stand white, changing out some of the trim with something a little more fancy, and dropping the plain doors and ordering some raised panel doors, we will see. That can be accomplished while the tank is on the stand down the road, will just need to be careful.
  
• 30 gallon tank for a sump. Trying to work up a sump baffle size and placement as we speak. Was all in on a Refugium but backing off of it as of right now I think. I will post drawings when I figure out what I want to do for peer review.
  
• Purchased a Current Eflux DC pump. It is capable of flowing about 1900 GPH before head pressure loss and plumbing decisions. Didn't see much about it online really but figure I would give it a shot. Worst case it ends up as a spare or moving water for water changes or maybe a saltwater mixing station.

 

[scriptmonkey]

• AquaMaxx Cones Q-2 Protein skimmer. It was well reviewed and figure I would take what they say as far as how many gallons and go up to the next size up. Not sure I ever seen a post that said they regretted getting too big of a skimmer.
  
• MarineDepot.com 4 stage Reverse Osmosis System. Well, who does not like clean water? Once I get it set up I will try to do a review of it if I do not see one done already on this site.
  
• 2x 150w Eheim Jager Heaters. The consensus on the web is they are very solid but man are they large! Figure I will try to see if I can fit them in the sump. If it does not work out then I will use them to heat water change water or in the Quarantine Tank. The plan is having 2 will give me redundancy in case one fails and will not fry my fish too quickly if it gets stuck on...which brings me to my next purchase.
• A Inkbird Digital Outlet Heat Temperature Controller. You cannot ever be too careful. Will put up a review of this as well if it has not been done already. I figure if it sucks, I can send it back to Amazon.
  
• I was given a 55 gallon freshwater tank that I am going to use as a quarantine tank if I can get it cleaned up and ensure it is still serviceable seeing it is like 20 years old. The plan would be to get it set up before I start putting in any livestock in the main tank and run it with a canister filter. I will cycle the tank with frozen shrimp or something like that.

On a impulse buy while at That Fish Place in PA while picking up the stand I also bought a 48"-60" Current USA Orbit Marine IC lights with Loop and it came with a 600GPH wave pump. I got it out of the box, started playing with it and while it seemed like a good idea, I was not very impressed with it. The Light was pretty flimsy and seeing I was going to try to do some corals I would have definitely needed a second one at the very least. I thought that would be no problem, the Loop had a second port for another light. Well, I could not buy just an IC light from any stores or even Current USA. I would have needed to buy another unit that had a Loop and to me that seemed silly so I packaged it back up and drove 1.5 hours back to the store to return. I can say lesson learned, will purchase lights after doing more research after I get the tank set up.

Last night I applied more or less a blue vinyl wrap by Blue Life USA to the back of the tank and a third of the side to hide the overflow in the back corner. It is a top notch product, went on pretty easily and they had a very informative video. I even had enough to do the kids 1 gallon cube froggy tank as well. I will say to anyone that buys that product....throw away the spray bottle they give you to put the soapy water in and use a proper one or even Windex. I gained a new appreciation for people that do window tinting and vinyl wrapping. It came out fair I think but It could have done a better job trimming. I will post a picture of it installed this evening when I finally get home.

One issue I discovered last night and it really is not a show stopper was the 30 gallon tank will not easily be able to get into the stand. When I bought the 30 gallon tank the plan was build a stand and make it so it had removable side panels... The Misses of the house wanted an off the shelf solution because my time is already limited and got freaked out by the verbiage in the warranty of the tank that says it must be commercially available. So in a concession I agreed to the stand she selected. I wanted the 30 gallon sump so to get the tank in the stand I will need to remove the center support under the main tank to install then will put the support back. Once it is in there, it is in there once the main tank is filled. I figure if something happens I will just by pass the sump with a new sump that I can fit in through the doors eventually and just smash the first one with a hammer to remove it. Not ideal I know but with some outside the box thinking it can be worked around.

Things up next:

• Finalize sump layout and build it so it can cure for a week per the Aquarium Silicone instructions. (More on this in the coming days, will peer review it after I draw it up)
  
• Install a stand liner. (going to use Shower membrane from Home Depot). I am hoping it keeps my floor dry (and fiance happy) in case of a sump incident. Should contain about ~6 Gallons of Oops.
  
• Replace regular outlet with GFCI outlet that will run the tank. ( I know there are people in both camps but in the end, I like to sleep at night).
  
• Install the sump and plumbing the drain and return.
  
• Install RO/DI system.
• Test tank and components with water.

Short term goals:

• Figure out a LED lighting solution that will not bankrupt me or make me take out a second mortgage. Was reading good things about ReefBreeders but if push comes to shove I will DIY them.
  
• Stock tank with live Sand and Live rock (thinking from TBS but this is fluid and subject to change)
  
• Survive the tank cycling.

Medium term goals:

• Auto Top Off system, build or buy.
• Small RO/DI water storage and Saltwater mixing station.

Longer term goals:

• Purchase or build some sort of tank monitoring system\automation

 

[scriptmonkey]

Sorry for the crappy pic, only have my cell phone camera right now.

Basically the installation goes like this:

• Cut the Vinyl to about the size of that you will be covering. The sheet comes rolled and is a pain to get laid out because it is curled. But a good thing is it has a nice grid pattern on the back that makes it easy to cut.
• Clean the glass really good.
• Spray the glass with a soapy water solution so the sheet can float while you line it up.
• using a plastic card the size of your average credit card squeegee the soapy water out from the sheet getting the air bubbles out.
• Trim the excess
• wait 90 minutes at least to move or mess with tank

 

[PJS]

Great addition to the family! Sounds like you are off to a good start! I'm sure you are excited!

Figure I will try to see if I can fit them in the sump

fwiw.... I have a 125g with 2 corner overflows, I put 1 heater in each overflow, that may be an option for you.

Good luck with your new adventure!

 

[scriptmonkey]

fwiw.... I have a 125g with 2 corner overflows, I put 1 heater in each overflow, that may be an option for you.

Good luck with your new adventure!

That is a great idea and I think I may be able to hide the cables about so that they cannot be seen.

Thanks.

 

[scriptmonkey]

So looking at the 55 gallon tank that was given to me to be my quarantine tank it is in pretty rough shape. The glass is pretty thin and the edges of the glass have little chips that can been seen. The interior silicone is in need of replacement (tank is 20+ years old) and has algae growing behind it which was the tip off all is not well.

In addition I contacted 5 glass companies for some .25" baffle material and was shocked at the prices they were quoting. To have 6 baffles cut, not doing anything to the edges the cheapest was $120, highest was $295 . The max size baffle was 11 5/8" x 12", the rest were 9"x11 5/8".

So in light of my original Quarantine tank not being fit for duty and the price of glass coming back about 2x higher than I originally thought I broke down and bought a Skimz UP30 Sumpro sump and will transition the 30 gallon to be the new quarantine tank killing 2 birds with one stone. The sump was more than just buying the glass but when you factor in the 2 tubes of silicone, the light defuser material for shelfs, buying a diamond glass drill bit, diamond blade for my dremel to cut the notch in the glass I wanted, and factoring in my time in labor the extra cost in my eyes was justified. It will also move me along not having to wait 7-10 days for the silicone to fully cure per the directions.

 

[scriptmonkey]

Well took off Friday to try to get some stuff on the tank done and had to rush to Delaware because my grandmother is in the hospital and is not doing well. I manage to get a pvc shower pan liner in place and the return of sump plummed. Little victories I guess.

 

[scriptmonkey]

Figure I would use the bereavement leave to get the plumbing done, just need to pick up two barbed fittings from Lowe's then will start to get her all cleaned up then figure out the RO/DIsituation so I can start cranking out water to fill her up. I guess for now I am going to use a Rubbermaid bin till I negotiate more room in the laundry room for tanks.

 

[Streetdoc77]

I like your sump setup Looks nice and clean . I have never used skimz products setup looks solid .

 

[Streetdoc77]

This is my insanity..... lol

 

[scriptmonkey]

I like your sump setup Looks nice and clean . I have never used skimz products setup looks solid .

Thanks! Yeah the sump feels pretty solid (at least that is what my back was telling me carrying it down to the basement lol) I plan on doing a review when I finish cleaning and actually have water flowing through it.

 

[Streetdoc77]

Hahahah ! Good luck

 

[scriptmonkey]

Well been kicking around trying to figure out what to do about lights. I was torn between the ReefBreeders and the Maspect Ethereals. Well after looking and looking I decided to say screw it because BRS was running the 10% back pull the trigger on the Ethereals. Figure since they are Wi-Fi lights sooner or later I would be able to figure out the control mechanism the app uses to communicate with the light and devise a way to use them with a controller like product other than theirs.

 

[scriptmonkey]

I am also the proud owner of a Honda EU2000i generator in case of power issues. I just assured never losing power again.

 

[scriptmonkey]

Whew...been a busy two days. Got my 34 gallon Brute and My RODI filter installed with the float cut off. Found out via the RODI pressure gauge that my water pressure sucked so bought a dedicated pressure gauge and it verified the filters was correct at 40PSI.... One screw driver and a bunch of clockwise turning on the house pressure regulator later pressure is at 65 PSI. Started cranking out RODI to clear the antimicrobial treatment on the membrane for about 2 hours then started filling the Brute.

While waiting on water to filter I swapped out the outlet behind the tank with a GFI outlet. I know some people hate them but wanted a little piece of mind.

I have been cranking out water constantly for the last 24 hours and have the tank full and the sump full and the return pump running at about half power. I had to do some adjustment on the drain ball valve to get the drain to quiet down but it is running very quiet. My first impression of the Current USA Eflux DC pump is very positive, it is very quiet and seems to be pushing water without drama.

I also got a chance to throw my two heaters In the main tank and I am testing out the inkbird temperature controller I am going to temporarily use until I build myself a controller. I figure once I get the controller working I will move the inkbird over to the QT tank.

Today the Maxspect Ethereal's came in so that is up next on the things to do next along with adding the salt once the tank is up to temperature. Going to let the tank run the rest of the week to test and tweek and if there are no real setbacks then guess I will be contacting Tampa Bay Saltwater to order one of their 75 gallon packages Monday.

 

[scriptmonkey]

Well made it all night and no leaks or anything!! LOL Set the Thermostat on the Inkbird to 78* and it is about 74.2*. Starting temp was 63.8*. I am starting to wonder if 2 150watt may be a little undersized.

 

[scriptmonkey]

Well wish things have been going better.

I had to remake the drain line to the sump as it was leaking very slightly(few drips an hour). Seems doing the fancy bending of the line with heat made it very slightly out of round and caused a leak. I have since moved to true 90* elbows.

Second I got a bum DC pump controller from Current USA. It took a few back and forth between us but a week later I have a better functioning return pump.

Third, the bracket on one of my Maxspect Ethereal light was bad where the screws that are used to attach to tank. I opened a ticket with them and the promply sent out a replacement. Except....that bracket does not match the bracket that is attactched to the light the holes do not match. I am really not pleased and wish I could do a > $900 do over at this point on the lights. In the picture the closest to the screw driver is the original, the other is the replacement they sent, as you can see the spacing is different between the holes.. I am starting to get a little discouraged at the issues and I haven't added anything alive to the tank yet.



As a positive I have added salt to the tank so soon as the lighting situation is sorted I will purchase the live rock.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Following along.

 

[scriptmonkey]

So thanks to Coralvue, they were able to ship me the proper lower bracket on the second attempt. I have the lights mounted and ready to go.

Current replaced the DC pump controller and it is working much better. BUT..while I was waiting on it I decided the return plumbing was ticking me off. The Mainland return kit was not right. The return plumbing outlet was a good 2 inches higher than the water level in the overflow box and it was causing water to squirt out the siphon break hole and drive me insane.. So seeing I glued the dang on pipe into the return bulkhead I replaced the bulkhead and redid the return side plumbing and I am very happy with it now. I raised the drain side an extra inch and lowered the return pipe about 1.5". It is now pretty silent and I do not need to throttle the drain with the ball valve to keep the water level in the box higher to avoid the water fall noise from the overflow into the corner box or the spraying noise coming out the siphon break hole.

But the 8 days it was down the water is all cloudy now even thought I kept the water heated and circulated with my Gyre pump. I ordered some 100 micron felt filter socks that will be here tomorrow and I am running rox carbon from BRS currently. If that does not get the little floaties and suspended crap out of the water I will just pump it all out, scrub it all over and start over...I will give it 24/48 hours once I put the 100 micron socks in and if it is not clear I will start the culling.

So things coming up? I picked up a few things in the last 2 weeks. I now have another pump I purchase to be standby (one is none, two is one) in case of failure, It is the Reef Octopus Varios 8. If I have to drain and refill I may swap it for the Current and use that as the backup. Noting wrong with the Eflux, just like the fact I can use a hard line with Varios and it has a float sensor I can use to detect if the tank is going to overflow and kills the pump. I have a BRS carbon reactor, a Reef Octopus 4" waste collector, and a second XF230 Gyre pump coming (thanks Group buy!)

Sorry these are long winded...i am turning this into more of a therapy session...lol

 

[scriptmonkey]

Installed 100 micron filter socks and fixed the Gyre so it is now circulating better. It is amazing when you read and figure out yiu can aim the output! Starting to wonder if I also have micro bubbles as well.