Aquatop Recife 49g Build

[sergeantspud]

I've been wanting to get into reef keeping for many years but only recently did I actually dip my toes in with a 10g. I knew going into the 10g that I eventually wanted to upgrade but I figured it would hold me over until I came across a good deal. Plus this gave me the opportunity to learn about chemistry and reef keeping in general. I'm already set up with various redsea test kits and hannas and I have a RODI setup also.

My living room is more suited for a tank that's less than 20" wide, so that really narrow the selection down. I wanted it to be around 36" long and I wanted it to have a modern looking stand (like the redsea stands). I love how the redseas look but I'll never own a redsea tank after all the leaking reports I've seen. I even went as far to call my homeowners insurance to verify that I have appropriate coverage before having 50g of water in my living room. I've had my eyes on an IM or Eshopps tank but as I have more patience than money I have been watching the facebook marketplace for deal and online vendors for any sales. I had a few close calls that I almost picked up but nothing really stuck. I've been watching daily for months. This last weekend I took a trip to a LFS that I've never been to. They had a great selection of fish and corals, but I was invited to the back where they had a bunch of used tanks for sale. I told the guy I was looking for a 50ish gallon tank and he pointed me to one that he had. It was an Aquatop Recife 49g with a sump and stand. The tank was dirty but otherwise looked in great condition and met all of my requirements: size, sump, stand design. I inquired about the price, to which he replied $150 for the lot (tank, stand, and sump). Deal!

So I picked it up, got it cleaned up and filled it with water in my garage. I was okay with the stand but as I looked closer there was a decent amount of water damage on the stand in the lower portion. It probably would have been fine but I don't like living on "probably". I had the tank filled for about 5 min before I decided I didn't want the tank to come crashing down. I didn't see any leaks and the seams look great so I felt comfortable with the tank's integrity.

I hummed and hawed for a bit about maybe reinforcing the stand but ultimately decided to build a whole new stand. I am not an expert in woodworking but I have enough woodworking tools to satisfy an average DIY homeowner. My goal: redsea clone with a few structural upgrades.

Stand:
For the stand I know most people do the 2x4 method, but with the size of this sump (its huge and has an integrated ATO reservoir), there was no way to make the stand equal width of the tank while fitting 2x4s in the stand so I was stuck with the structure being made of boards. I figure most tank companies do this anyways so that's where I started. I'll get 3/4" MDF and to finish it off I plan to seal and paint it to help with waterproofing. I think also having the stand on adjustable feet will help reduce water soaking the bottom edge of the boards.

Another design change I'm making is the height. I don't know why aquatop made their stand so low, but I raised it up 6" so that it was equal height as a redsea finished tank. I recognize I'll probably have to lengthen the return pipe because of this change, but thats not a big deal. Another benefit of raising it is that I might be able to fit a shelf above sump now, since the sump takes the whole bottom footprint. That'll be nice to store stuff on.

I picked up 1.5 4x8' boards of 3/4" MDF from Lowes. 0.5 due to a clearance board I found with a few flaws in a couple areas that was easy to work around. So far I've cut most of the boards and am starting to piece it together.

I ran into some technical difficulties with my saw not cutting as straight as I intended. Even using a straight saw guide on every cut I found my cut would wander about 1/8" in areas. After talking to some colleagues I determined that it was due to my inexpensive and poorly selected saw blade from Harbor Freight. It's a thin "plywood" blade that I thought was appropriate, however I'm told I should use carbide tipped blade for more rigidity. So that's on my list to pick up for this weekend's work.

I also picked up a pack of 8 adjustable feet from amazon which I intend to use as leveling feet. I haven't decided on the configuration of the feet yet, but I figure with 8 I'll have enough to go around. I like how the new redsea tanks have a removable sump board so that you can access the adjustable feet. I plan to have that feature on mine.

So anyways, that's my start to this build. I'm looking forward to updating the build thread with progress in this upcoming weekend!

 

[Rocks reef]

Very nice start to a great project. You should start a build thread so we can follow the progress!

 

[sergeantspud]

Update: I got a good amount of progress this weekend!

I finished up the structure of the stand. My previous issues were surely related to using the wrong saw blade. All my cuts with a proper saw blade were straight within expectations. Then I used some bondo to repair all of my newbie mistakes. That made the corners come out really well, I'm very happy with it.

I put two or three coats of primer on it. I used Kilz Kitchen and Bath assuming that the moist environment claims might help seal the stand against water. Sanded at various points throughout priming.

I got a couple coats of white paint on it. Sanded 220grit between the second last coat and the final coat. Pretty happy with the finish. I'm still working through all paint effort, doors and need to do the bottom shelf also.

I'm working through putting some edge tape on the exposed edges and doors.

I ordered some new push latches and hinges. The hinges really took me for a loop with all the different options. It's hard to find the "self-closing" instead of "soft-closing". I think to make the push latches work properly I need the "self-closing" which doesn't seem to be available locally. I ordered some.

Plan for this weekend: finish painting, install the adjustable feet, install doors. Maybe set the tank on it and get some water flowing. We'll see if I make it that far.

 

[OZoned]

Update: I got a good amount of progress this weekend!

I finished up the structure of the stand. My previous issues were surely related to using the wrong saw blade. All my cuts with a proper saw blade were straight within expectations. Then I used some bondo to repair all of my newbie mistakes. That made the corners come out really well, I'm very happy with it.

I put two or three coats of primer on it. I used Kilz Kitchen and Bath assuming that the moist environment claims might help seal the stand against water. Sanded at various points throughout priming.

I got a couple coats of white paint on it. Sanded 220grit between the second last coat and the final coat. Pretty happy with the finish. I'm still working through all paint effort, doors and need to do the bottom shelf also.

I'm working through putting some edge tape on the exposed edges and doors.

I ordered some new push latches and hinges. The hinges really took me for a loop with all the different options. It's hard to find the "self-closing" instead of "soft-closing". I think to make the push latches work properly I need the "self-closing" which doesn't seem to be available locally. I ordered some.

Plan for this weekend: finish painting, install the adjustable feet, install doors. Maybe set the tank on it and get some water flowing. We'll see if I make it that far.

Great, following along.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Looks like you're enjoying the project.

 

[P-Dub]

Always fun doing it all yourself. I can't say for certain, but it looks like there is some particle board in there. Is there?

 

[kingranch2003]

Always good to see another aquatop owner lol! Good looking work. Any lighting plans yet?

 

[sergeantspud]

Thanks for the support everyone! I didn't see the couple of replies here until now.

Always fun doing it all yourself. I can't say for certain, but it looks like there is some particle board in there. Is there?

No particle board, only 3/4" MDF.

Always good to see another aquatop owner lol! Good looking work. Any lighting plans yet?

Glad to hear they're out there! I haven't seen many. The setup came with a light that was original with the tank/stand/sump setup. It was missing some mounts so you'll see I 3D printed some below. It's 36" LED bar with a blue and white switch. Nothing fancy, but I'm going to run it for now until I start populating it with corals. I'm still debating black box vs big brand. I like the kessil, but I wanted the moon light so I'm not sure if that's the right choice. I'm leaning away from AI primes because the reviews say they only last 2 years, and I don't want to spend that much money for only 2 years of life. So I'll probably end up with black box, just not sure which ones yet.

So anyways, here's my update!

I got the paint and finishing all done. A couple lessons learned, I shouldn't have used latex paint. It didn't smooth out as smooth as I wanted, but in the end its not too bad. The door hinges were a much bigger pain than I anticipated. I got flush mount, and I used one of those nice jigs that drill the pockets so that was all dialed in but I struggled so much getting my door edges to be cut perfectly parallel. Straight edges, squares, and double measuring just didn't get me the precision I wanted. I got them good enough, but someday I'll probably remake the doors.

So I filled it up in the garage for a couple nights, ran the pump and heater to get it all tested out. Worked great. Oh I also added some foam between the tank and the stand, 1/4" yoga pad.

I also added 8 300lb adjustable feet. I'm happy with the load paths there.

I moved it inside and started filling with RODI water... for days. I didn't want to leave it unattended so between work and sleep it took a while. I did leave it for an hour one day and of course my dog knocked the hose out of the tank and I came back to about a gallon of water on the floor. Got it cleaned up quick and fans blowing. Within a few hours the floor was completely dry. And with the leveling feet, none of the wood got wet!

I added some sand, I had some old sand from a previous tank around but I also picked up some caribsea sand. I didnt realize it was the fine grit stuff so that took about 3 days to full settle.

Worked on my aquascape with some leftover rock I had, superglued it for a couple days then set that in. That was a couple days ago, so here's where I'm at now!

As for the configuration, I have a hygger pump and heater which seem decent. I got a black box wave maker, havent settled into a location yet but I have it vertical for now, trying not to kick up too much of that fine sand bed. The light came with the setup, its pretty old but it works and has a white and blue switch. I 3D printed some brackets for it since it didnt come with any.

For the sump, its a weird setup with baffles in places I don't understand. But for now I 3D printed a filter sock holder. I'll probably come to ask for some help once I get things going smoothly. I'll post a photo in my next post which I'll have more sump stuff.

I've been dosing Dr Tims ammonia and seachem stability to get the cycle started. I moved over a couple live rocks from my 10g tank and the filter element, so I hope that helps kick start it.

I had an oopsie this morning, I wasnt watching water level close enough over the last couple days and had my heater in the same section as the pump where water level fluctuates. The heater melted a bit of its own plastic before I caught it. So I did a 10g water change and put some activated carbon in filter section. I just read that petco carbon thread AFTER buying carbon from Petco, luckily I got the fluval stuff so I think that'll be okay but I could have just as easily grabbed the coconut stuff. At least my tank is empty of life if I did though, feel bad for those guys. Anyways, my heater is now in a different section that doesnt fluctuate water, and an ATO is on my short list.

Will update again soon! Thanks!

 

[kingranch2003]

Thanks for the support everyone! I didn't see the couple of replies here until now.


No particle board, only 3/4" MDF.


Glad to hear they're out there! I haven't seen many. The setup came with a light that was original with the tank/stand/sump setup. It was missing some mounts so you'll see I 3D printed some below. It's 36" LED bar with a blue and white switch. Nothing fancy, but I'm going to run it for now until I start populating it with corals. I'm still debating black box vs big brand. I like the kessil, but I wanted the moon light so I'm not sure if that's the right choice. I'm leaning away from AI primes because the reviews say they only last 2 years, and I don't want to spend that much money for only 2 years of life. So I'll probably end up with black box, just not sure which ones yet.

So anyways, here's my update!

I got the paint and finishing all done. A couple lessons learned, I shouldn't have used latex paint. It didn't smooth out as smooth as I wanted, but in the end its not too bad. The door hinges were a much bigger pain than I anticipated. I got flush mount, and I used one of those nice jigs that drill the pockets so that was all dialed in but I struggled so much getting my door edges to be cut perfectly parallel. Straight edges, squares, and double measuring just didn't get me the precision I wanted. I got them good enough, but someday I'll probably remake the doors.

So I filled it up in the garage for a couple nights, ran the pump and heater to get it all tested out. Worked great. Oh I also added some foam between the tank and the stand, 1/4" yoga pad.

I also added 8 300lb adjustable feet. I'm happy with the load paths there.

I moved it inside and started filling with RODI water... for days. I didn't want to leave it unattended so between work and sleep it took a while. I did leave it for an hour one day and of course my dog knocked the hose out of the tank and I came back to about a gallon of water on the floor. Got it cleaned up quick and fans blowing. Within a few hours the floor was completely dry. And with the leveling feet, none of the wood got wet!

I added some sand, I had some old sand from a previous tank around but I also picked up some caribsea sand. I didnt realize it was the fine grit stuff so that took about 3 days to full settle.

Worked on my aquascape with some leftover rock I had, superglued it for a couple days then set that in. That was a couple days ago, so here's where I'm at now!

As for the configuration, I have a hygger pump and heater which seem decent. I got a black box wave maker, havent settled into a location yet but I have it vertical for now, trying not to kick up too much of that fine sand bed. The light came with the setup, its pretty old but it works and has a white and blue switch. I 3D printed some brackets for it since it didnt come with any.

For the sump, its a weird setup with baffles in places I don't understand. But for now I 3D printed a filter sock holder. I'll probably come to ask for some help once I get things going smoothly. I'll post a photo in my next post which I'll have more sump stuff.

I've been dosing Dr Tims ammonia and seachem stability to get the cycle started. I moved over a couple live rocks from my 10g tank and the filter element, so I hope that helps kick start it.

I had an oopsie this morning, I wasnt watching water level close enough over the last couple days and had my heater in the same section as the pump where water level fluctuates. The heater melted a bit of its own plastic before I caught it. So I did a 10g water change and put some activated carbon in filter section. I just read that petco carbon thread AFTER buying carbon from Petco, luckily I got the fluval stuff so I think that'll be okay but I could have just as easily grabbed the coconut stuff. At least my tank is empty of life if I did though, feel bad for those guys. Anyways, my heater is now in a different section that doesnt fluctuate water, and an ATO is on my short list.

Will update again soon! Thanks!

Well that aquascape is begging for color! Your stand looks... outSTANDing (I couldn't help myself). I had the same light bar with this tank. I believe it'll grow corals, but I went with an XR15. However I have the 40 gallon cube so your light needs will be different. Your tank will tell you were to add and subtract flow as you start adding corals. Here's a video of my 40 gallon aquatop with no sump. I can help you with the filtration system in the back or any other questions you want to ask.

 

[sergeantspud]

Well I’m little worried. I’ve had the tank up for almost 2 weeks and I’m noticing a bit more sag in the front center than I would have expected.

I have a 0.25” foam mat as a leveling pad. I used a scale to measure from the bottom of the tank to the top of the stand.

Left: 0.080”, center: 0.170”, right: 0.070”

So about 0.100” of sag across a 36” span.

The stand is 3/4” MDF with double run of 3/4 board across the front. The top is 3/4 MDF and one piece edge to edge, no sheer joints on the top.

Should I be worried? I have nightmares of RedSea failure.

 

[NanoSteam]

If it's already sagging I would think it would get worse as time goes by and the middle starts to fatigue from the weight.

Since there isn't any livestock in right now, it's your best shot to fix it by draining into something like a 44g brute can and adding a support in the middle then refilling.

That's just me, Im terrified of leaks.

 

[sergeantspud]

Yep, well I drained the tank and working on a retrofit. Lesson learned is MDF doesn't do well in bending. I assumed it would work there because that's how the original stand was built. A lot of the design choices leaned on methods used on the original stand from the manufacturer. Also why I picked MDF, since that's what it was made of. But MDF doesn't do well in moist environments, I know, but the OEM did it so it must work?

But anyways, for the retrofit I'm working on implementing a beam that runs inboard of the front fascia boards (they're fascia now that I know they won't handle the load). I can't do a support in the middle because the sump would be locked in the cabinet. Actually, maybe a removable support... hmm I'll think about that. Anyways, currently my plan is to add either a steel beam, 2"x2"x.125 or a douglas fir 4x4. According to deflection calculations, they would end up about equal in deflection. I also ran the deflection calculation and it shows that "as-built" I should only have around 0.070" of deflection, I measured north of 0.100" so I think the moisture had something to do with that. It was quite humid in the cabinet, so as part of this retrofit, I'll add a fan in there too.

 

[sergeantspud]

Update on the "re-build":

Last week I drained it and over thanksgiving weekend I set out to retrofit in a new beam. I found the only metal supply store within 100mi open on friday after thanksgiving. I was planning on picking up a stick of 2x2x0.086 square tubing for around $80, but a quick browse through their remnants pile and I found a pristine 2x2x0.25 steel square tube that was 36" long. I only needed 34" so it was perfect. A cool $16 and I made my way home.

For implementing the beam, I made sort of a saddle out of more MDF. Glued it, then put three carriage bolts through and bondo'd the outside to cover them up.

While I had the retrofit going, I decided to put a fan in. I'm currently 3D printing out a shroud that will point the flow downwards.

Now I'm just working through finishing. I went through several iterations of bondo and sanding, currently getting through the paint/primer/sanding. It's looking like I'll probably be done with the paint tomorrow. I'll start repopulating the cabinet hardware that I took out, install the fan, and if all goes well... start filling it back up.

 

[Tklein2219]

Following! This thing looks great!

 

[sergeantspud]

Thank you!

Well it's been a while since I posted, everything's been going great with the tank! I have a few fish in there now and several corals. Main battle right now is algae but with it still being a young tank I'm not very concerned about it yet.

Status Photos:

I need to get a camera lens filter to get better closeup shots, so for now just the overview photos.

A couple updates since last time:
1. I got new lights! Weighed it heavily against getting some nice high end lights but ultimately decided to get the PopBloom RL90s. I think two lights is probably overkill for this 36" tank, but I don't want to be limited by my lights. I don't have any complaints about them, they set up nicely in the app and are intuitive to use.

2. I got my sump all setup with a filter sock (3D printed holder) and a skimmer. Seems to be going well down there. I just posted another thread about my ATO system which I have been using also.

3. My phosphase and nitrate have been pegged at 0 for a couple weeks now. I have been dosing Neophos and Neonitrate out of fear that my corals will die but I assume that the algae is just consuming it all before I can measure it. I manually remove much of the algae about every other day. I just purchased a few more snails and crabs and got a long spine urchin and they seem to be putting in some good work.

4. I have a lid on my list to get next. I'm considering a DIY approach since no one seems to acknowledge this tank so I'd have to custom built it with someone which sounds expensive. Not sure what I'm going to do there yet.

Current livestock:
2x Ocellaris Clowns
2x Pajama Cardinals
1x Watchman Goby
1x Royal Gramma

Other than that, just enjoying my tank :) my wife loves to tell people about how often she finds me with a chair in front of the tank just watching.