Brandon's DIY Reef

ThatTennesseeBeardedGuy · Dec 17, 2019

I am a new poster to R2R but I have been reading constantly the many various different forums and questions and answers. I have a 75 gallon reef tank presently with a 10 gallon sump. I am a huge DIY man I've always been building things since I was small.

I started with a 55 gallon with two clownfish almost 2 years ago to surprise my now wifey (she's the best). I started setting it up and realized I wanted an anemone for the tank. Which is fairly similar to soooooooo many other reef keepers I have seen. And my lfs at the time said to by this condy anemone with just a t5 and itll be fine. Well lets just say his store is now condemned for 25 warnings about the condition of animals and fish a little while later. I didn't understand the actual needs of my tank and so I had bought a few small frags and they died almost within one week. Well I haaaaaaate when things die and I then did my research on my own. That is when I switched to an led light fixture. Since then I had also started buying fish more and more with damsels, a tang, chromises and a few others. And this as you guessed is when I learned my lesson about quarantines and proper acclimation of fish into the DT.

I got crazy eyes when i saw the most gorgeous potters angel and impulsed bought the fish. I added him to my tank after an acclimation period, but I never thought quarantine was necessary after all I had made it this far and had no problems. Well in a matter of a week every fish I had died from Ich. At that point I broke down and nearly lost all hope. I then took about a month off from reefing all together, and then i started up again with my cleaner shrimp and a few crabs being the only survivors. I said okay, well I am gonna do this right. Then my tank gave way and busted all over my floor. Saltwater and tempered glass allllllll over my living room. Luckily every single invert (which is all that I had at the time survived). And then I really gave it up. For another month I had a makeshift plastic tote filled with my live rock and inverts sitting in the corner as my reefing desires died. However, I just couldn't let it go.

I said okay this time I've got this. About 9 months later I am at my slow build up with my 75 gallon reef tank with a grand total of 3 fish, all of the inverts, zoas, one goniopora, and one massive green bubble tip anemone. Now I have moved into our new house and plan on doing a bigger DIY plywood aquarium from a free 125 gallon tank I received. Now I know many many people cannot stand the DIY plywood aquariums but this is for the main purpose of actually building it into my wall. Anyways, I plan to post the progression and maybe even youtube the building processes over the next while. I plan to take my time on this and will be doing this over the course of a fair chunk of time in order to properly give things curing time and etc.

Oh! And I made the switch to Metal Halide/T5 combo because quite frankly I've never had a better light!

AlexG · Dec 17, 2019

Welcome to R2R. Sounds like you are still progressing in the hobby after a few setbacks. We all have setbacks/stories that make us almost quit the hobby and if you learn from them it helps make you a better reef keeper. I will say there is nothing wrong with DIY plywood tanks since I have two that I built which have been running for over 2 years now. If you have questions on building plywood tanks please feel free to ask on this forum. There are several members including myself that have plywood tanks.

ThatTennesseeBeardedGuy · Dec 17, 2019

AlexG said:
Welcome to R2R. Sounds like you are still progressing in the hobby after a few setbacks. We all have setbacks/stories that make us almost quit the hobby and if you learn from them it helps make you a better reef keeper. I will say there is nothing wrong with DIY plywood tanks since I have two that I built which have been running for over 2 years now. If you have questions on building plywood tanks please feel free to ask on this forum. There are several members including myself that have plywood tanks.

Will do! And thanks for the welcome.

FishDoc · Dec 19, 2019

Welcome to the addiction! As I'm sure you may have already been told, the trigger will out grow a 75 fairly quickly and honestly, a 125 at that. As you look into the fish you intend to keep, I would just make sure you look beyond misleading "Recommended tank size" postings and research the fish's behaviors/habits to ensure the space you provide it will keep it happy, entertained and manage any aggression the best you can.
Glad to hear you weren't completely dismayed by reefing as a result of your past negative experiences.

ThatTennesseeBeardedGuy · Jan 10, 2020

So, a little update to my current 75 gallon tank.

I have been a little coral happy the past few weeks and I have gotten some pretty sweet Christmas deals.

I got this bubble coral from a reefer who had his split.

I also got a hammet coral (atleast thats what they said it is it kind of looks like a torch).

I also received this rose bubble nem for a christmas present! I have wanted one for years!

And today i picked up a staghorn frag for super cheap!

I have also managed to get my slight algae problem under full control and I can honestly say it feels really good to say that I have fully functioning reef!!!

I believe my next project will be to diy a 40g sump/refugium instead of my 10g.

Mastiffsrule · Jan 10, 2020

Hi, not sure if I said welcome yet, so welcome

tank looks great. I can tell you have great taste. My favorite coral is a bubble. I din see them as much as I used to. keep us updated

ThatTennesseeBeardedGuy · Feb 17, 2020

02/17/2020

A few updates on the Tank.

So I have set up a full time quarantine tank adjacent to my main display (for now).

I was told by my lovely wife that I could pick out a fish for valentine's day, (wooohooo!!!) I went to my local fish store for probably the last time unless they get their act together.

I picked up a very active Kole Tang and the next day I discovered he had ich. And this is why we quarantine!!!

So i started the regime of raising the tank temp, cupramine, daily water changes, and hand syringe feeding the tang (because he wouldn't eat without it). He has begun to color up again since Saturday but he will be in fishie jail (lols) for atleast another 4 weeks until I am satisfied with his full recovery. But hopefully he will start to eat on his own, but we seem to get along because he basically comes right to my hand when I go to feed him now. HAHAHA.

I also started to dose Vibrant every 2 weeks because I have noticed that my CUC needs a little bit of help, thinking about getting some more. The tang will help with that once he is at full health.

I am also considering a new 40 gallon sump project and would love if anyone has a suggestion for design, etc.

Also skimmers? I will be posting a separate question regarding these in a bit, but if anyone has suggestions for a 75 that'd be appreciated.

Lastly I am going to be posting my plans for the diy build that made me make this in the first place.

ThatTennesseeBeardedGuy · Jun 29, 2020

Well i have been absent for a while because my life has taken a completely different direction and course that i could have never expected. Firstly i lost my job as an accountant during this whole pandemic and i have been bouncing around until things got more stable. Reefing had to take a back seat until the dust settled. But anyways i started losing interest in reefing not only because of how difficult it seemed everything was getting but also because i slumped into a bit of a depression since the job loss. Also the tank was having issues that i couldn't seem to fix (more on that in a sec). However recently i got back into the workforce and was able to regain some level of my spirits back. I started by trying to really redo the tank. So i added a huge clean up crew pack from REEFCLEANERS to the tank and as far as general maintenance goes they have been the best decision ever. I haven't seen algae in months and with a light wipe of the glass every week or so i barely have to do much maintenance anymore.

Shortly after that addition i was feeding one evening when i got electricuted when i touched the water in the tank. It wasn't a big shock but a steady shockwave that i hadnt noticed before kind of like a joybuzzer. After a game of musical equipment i discovered that my pump had been zapping the water. I quickly removed it and got a replacement.

I am not sure how long this has been occurring but i actually think it has been a while. You see my goniopora was at one time out and about and happy as could be. But for months it has been shruken down and i thought was basically dead. Well a week after the change in pump his polyps have started to come out again.

I am very curious if this will have any other affects on the long term success of my reef. But it has brought some spectacular joy to see progress like this after thinking that i failed somehow.

Anyways i have also added an about 9" engineer goby to my tank as the latest edition to my reef. And I have plans to continue on and get really hyped for my growing reef.

Strawberry · Jun 29, 2020

I’m glad to hear that things are settling down you, man! Reefing can be really relaxing or really stressful, but I think it says something for your dedication to the challenge that you didn’t just break the tank down. Good luck!

ThatTennesseeBeardedGuy · Dec 6, 2020

Just wanting to post how large my rbta has gotten. At least double the size of last year! I am currently not adding any fish or corals until my other 500 gallon plywood is complete. So Merry Christmas y'all and I hope to post more soon!