Brian's first time Reef tank Build

[block134]

About a month ago I was able to purchase a used 120 gallon reef ready tank, light, sump, protein skimmer and 8 bulb T8 light for all for a decent price. I know next to nothing about reef tanks but have been keeping fresh water tanks for a long time. I am very excited to start my first reef tank but I am nervous about doing things to fast or wrong. When I get interested in something it is hard for me to take my time and do it right, I would rather jump right in and fix later but that can get expensive.

My plan right now is to build a stand for the tank integrated into a wall with a cut out in the wall so the tank can be seen through the wall. The other side of the wall right now is just a storage are that will house all of the tanks related equipment and will eventually be made into a bedroom. I had started to build an ugly stand because at the time the storage room was going to stay a storage room but me and my wife have deiced it will make a nice bedroom as well. I kind of want to rip the stand out and start over with that so it will be better integrated with the wall and will be easier to skin to make it look more like a piece of furniture.

What I would like to know is if anyone has any advice on how to go about building a stand that is part of a wall or if it would be better to keep the wall and stand separate? The floor is concrete with nothing on it for flooring so the stand can be attached to the floor as well. Basically it is a bare room in a basement. I can supply pics of what I have so far later on today.

What I have planned:
1. Build a stand
2. Plumb tank and add water
3. Check for leaks and clean tank of old salt deposits.
4. Redo electrical for that area so tank can be on dedicated circuit
5. Plumb in RO/DI system and maybe a drain
6. Rebuild T8 light fixture by replacing fans and broken bulb receptacles
7. Research and ask questions
8. Fill with salt water and let cycle
9. Fill with rocks, sand, fish and corals.
10. Sit back and enjoy

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Sounds like a good plan! And welcome to R2R if you haven't already been welcomed properly I have a friend that built his stand into the wall like you're considering, so it definitely can be done. I personally do not have any experience with that to-date, but I did build my own stand and can see how it's probably not all that different.

 

[MarsWulf5]

About a month ago I was able to purchase a used 120 gallon reef ready tank, light, sump, protein skimmer and 8 bulb T8 light for all for a decent price. I know next to nothing about reef tanks but have been keeping fresh water tanks for a long time. I am very excited to start my first reef tank but I am nervous about doing things to fast or wrong. When I get interested in something it is hard for me to take my time and do it right, I would rather jump right in and fix later but that can get expensive.

My plan right now is to build a stand for the tank integrated into a wall with a cut out in the wall so the tank can be seen through the wall. The other side of the wall right now is just a storage are that will house all of the tanks related equipment and will eventually be made into a bedroom. I had started to build an ugly stand because at the time the storage room was going to stay a storage room but me and my wife have deiced it will make a nice bedroom as well. I kind of want to rip the stand out and start over with that so it will be better integrated with the wall and will be easier to skin to make it look more like a piece of furniture.

What I would like to know is if anyone has any advice on how to go about building a stand that is part of a wall or if it would be better to keep the wall and stand separate? The floor is concrete with nothing on it for flooring so the stand can be attached to the floor as well. Basically it is a bare room in a basement. I can supply pics of what I have so far later on today.

What I have planned:
1. Build a stand
2. Plumb tank and add water
3. Check for leaks and clean tank of old salt deposits.
4. Redo electrical for that area so tank can be on dedicated circuit
5. Plumb in RO/DI system and maybe a drain
6. Rebuild T8 light fixture by replacing fans and broken bulb receptacles
7. Research and ask questions
8. Fill with salt water and let cycle
9. Fill with rocks, sand, fish and corals.
10. Sit back and enjoy

Your plan is good but you need a little more. I crashed a beautiful tank 13 years ago which put me out of the hobby for a long time and dont want to see you make the same mistakes. Keep in mind that reefing has a business side to it - and people profit when your tank gets sick.

Here's my 2 cents.
1) Avoid live rock at all costs and use dry rock. All rock must me cured - live or dry. Dry rock like Reef Saver, Pukani, etc... can leach phosphate which can lead to algea growth.

2) RO/DI filters and membranes require 65 PSI of pressure to work right. You probably need a booster pump that wprks with your RO/DI system to bring the pressure up or your membranes and filters dont work at the capacity on the packaging.

3) Dry rock must be Cured AND Cycled to make it live rock. Most dry rock will leach phosphate for up to 60 days. Some dry rock, like Pukani, requires an extensice cure: dipping in muriatic acid and bleach outside with a gas mask and then in a pail of saltwater with a heater and a powerhead until the phosphate stops leaching. I use Reef Saver Rock - and I about to start the cure this week. BRS will tell you it needs no curing, only cycling - but thats not true. Phosphates will be an issue if you don't. Then you will end up spending $300-500 on an algea scrubber.
Live rock will give you issues. Live rock needs no cycling - but - it does need curing. Curing is cleaning the rock. I do not recommend live rock. For every good organism on live rock there are 100 bad ones.

4) You will lose a lot of money and be very upset down the road (few months)
If you don't quarantine. Sorry to break it to you - because this part kinda sucks - you need TWO additional separate tanks, one for fish, one for coral and inverts.

Each tank needs to be 10-20g. I recommend a 20g High. Each quarantine tank newds lights, and proper lights on the coral quarantine tank, a simple filter like an Aqueon Quite Flow 30, and a 100w heater - no sand, no rocks of any kind.

Quarantine should be ideally 76 days. So, you really want your QTs cycled and going while you do other stuff - like plumb your sump.

Your fish QT should be medicated to be be sure the fish is healthy of internal and external parasites. If you don't quarantine, you are playing Russian Rulet with your reef tank. This is where most people fail at this.

There are great articles on how to create quarantines and medicate for potential parasites on here. Read articles, not threads. Not all advice is good advice. Be careful.

In conclusion, you cant just cycle your tank and add rock, and fish, and corals. Each thing: rock, fish, corals, have separate procedures of preparation before you can add them to your display tank safely.

The last thing you want is for your tank to turn into a murkey mess from rock - or - to get a disease or a bug in your display tank and watch as thousands of dollars in fish and coral die before your eyes. It's heartbreaking.

Go slow. Do this right. You are recreating one of the most delicate and diverse ecosystems on this planet in your living room.

Doing all this research, getting the right gear, and doing to labor work is a good deal of fun if one doesnt treat this adventure as a "Race to Fish."

Design a good plumb with lots of junctions. Make sure your sump can handle the siphon volume when your power goes out so you dont flood. 231 cubic inches in one gallon. Do the math.

One last thing... Clean all the used stuff really well and Dont use any used rock. Even cleaning it may not be enough. For example, your fish QT and your coral QT are completely separate tanks dedicated to either fish or coral. Why? Copper is toxic to coral. When using copped in ykur fish QT it gets into the silicone of the tank. Even after being washed with bleach, that tank can never be used for coral because copper will leach out of the silicone.

I hope you're not overwhelmed or discouraged - I really want you to be successful. You picked an awesome hobby - one that takes a lot of patience and a lot of dedication.

Best of luck. Looking forward to seeing you build.

Happy Reefing!

 

[block134]

I hope you're not overwhelmed or discouraged - I really want you to be successful. You picked an awesome hobby - one that takes a lot of patience and a lot of dedication.

Thanks for the info. Starting the quarantine tanks ahead of time is something i didn't think of or having two separate ones. It does make a lot of sense though. I have the spare equipment to get those tanks setup so I may start that soon. I just don't have the supplies yet for testing the water parameters.

For the live vs. dry rock I had the same like of thinking as you do in regards to using dry. To me it just made more sense to use dry and let it cure before doing anything else with it. To much of a chance to get bad hitchhikers with live.

Thank you for the info and advice!!

 

[block134]

I finally got around to plumbing this tank this past weekend and filled it with water. I have a couple of small leaks to deal with at a couple of the bulkhead fittings but they shouldn't be to hard to deal with after I drain the tank.

In the mean time I was wondering if they is a good and somewhat easy way to clean all of the old stuff off of the glass and what not from the tank. I was thinking about adding a few gallons on vinegar to the water and letting it soak. I have also heard that citric acid works better but isnt as safe. Right now the plan is to drain all of the water from the tank after I clean it.

 

[block134]

Here is the first pic I have of the tank. It is a 120 gallon reef tank that will be viewable on both sides. The front side is visible in the picture and the back side will be a bedroom some day. The fish tank is a bigger priority so that gets done first!!

 

[MarsWulf5]

Very Nice! Looks great! I think vinegar should do the trick if not try the citric both are realively cheap. Try a magnetic scraper once it's clean. Scrape it every day or so to stop the algea from growing on the glass.

I have yet to plump my DT. The QTs are a lot of work. I have 5 small fish in my fish QT which is a lot - but - I am very glad I QT'd. After two week, I added a black clown - I know the LFS was running copper. I had the fish two days and it started showing signs if Ick. It was barely visible. Just a couple incredibly small cycts - but they were relatively easier to spot on an almost pure black fish.

I am dosing the QT with copper for a few days now and the cycts are gone and there were never and are no signs the other fish got infected. I'll run the copper for two weeks and then dose with Prazipro once the copper is out of the water.

I dipped my corals in Coral Rx and the coral QT is looking great two weeks in. I'm dosing with 2 part every three days and doing 30-40% water changes as needed, usually every 3 days for the fish and Evey 5 or six for the corals and crabs.

I just got a box in today from BRS with Hanna checkers. They are portable -as opposed to the Trident -which is good for testing between three tanks.

I should have waited to get the Sally Lightfoot crab and the emerald crab. They are in my coral QT. Issue is that I have to feed them specifically twice a day -Kind of a pain with a job and 11 other pets -and I will have to keep them in QT so I can feed them for a while until the DT has enough microfauna, pods, etc to sustain them. It also makes keeping my parameters difficult with having to add shrimp as food etc to the coral QT and having to stick my hands in tank at least twice a day. Lesson learned.

I have 3 types of Nemos in my fish QT and a Tang. They all get along. I tried a Frostbite clown but he didnt work out. He was VERY mean, beautiful, but kept biting the other fish and was really hurting them. I accidently killed him when I put a drinking glass over him to give him a time out and stop him from biting the other fish. The phone rang and when I came back I had accidentally suffocated him. Lesson learned. I feel bad because I would have just donated him back to the LFS.

I also tried a Bleu Sea Star in the coral QT. I fed it twice a day - I was proud when it acclimated to the tank -took about 2.5 hours. He started to disintegrate after a week despite good parameters and feedings. I won't try another. Consensus is that they just cant survive in a tank that isn't very very large and established for 5 years or more. Lesson learned.

Also, the color changing chemical tests I bought are basically useless. Turning blue to tell me if my alkalinity is good is fine and all - but I need a decimal value not a color. So, I made the plunge on the Hanna checkers. I got the Calcium, Alk, PhosphorUS (not phosphate), and copper. I ordered extra reagents for each because they don't come with more than a few tests each.

Had a problem with my RODI booster pump - they sent me one with half inch attchemnents so I have to order reducing fitting. What a PITA. I'm getting 0 TDS out of the 6 part RO and 2 part DI system Inodered from BRS. So, I would recommend that. My PSI is at 55 so it's not optimal without the booster pump - but still getting 0 TDS with the double DI unit.

I ordered my frags from Zoanthids.com during the live sale here on R2R. I'm very happy with my selections and they have great customer service. I highly recommend them for frags. Couldn't be happier with them.

Please post some pics of your plumb, I'm going with a Herbie overflow and well, this will be my first plumbing job ever. I was sure to order the 711 primer and cement - the stuff from Home Depot is rumored to leak like a sieve.

Ok, time for me to open these Hanna checkers and test some parameters - and get these rocks in the bucket.

Happy Reefing!

 

[block134]

I have been cycling the tank now for about two weeks with a mixture of libe and dry rock. I am also using vinegar and bottled bacteria. I have my sump going and I am making my own RO/DI water with an ATO to keep the sump full.

My next step is to setup a fuge to help control nutrients and grow my own kids.

I think I have the rocks how I want them now. The first pic is my first try at placing the rocks.


The second pic is after I moved a few around.

 

[inletfish]

looking good so far

 

[block134]

Haven't been doing much updating this thread. Unfortunately I am going through a divorce and haven't been able to spend as much time in the house with my tank.

I am thankful though that I had the foresight to get an Apex so I can keep an eye on every thing. I also got some Wyze cams so I can watch what is going on. I don't have any amazing pics really but I will post a few I have.

If anyone knows what the coral is in the third pic I wouldn't mind and ID.

 

[block134]

I haven't done any updates recently so I figured I might as well. Hasn't been a good past few months for me or the tank.

Still working (fighting) the divorce and what she wants which means I am still away from my house and tanks.

Over the past few months I have had two heaters fail, Alk has been over dosed three times by a large amount. Enough to turn the water white and leave calcium deposits every where. Because of this I think my return pump failed, it was a cheap jebao so who knows and caused the failure. And my 8 bulb T5 fixture somehow ended up in the tank. Still not sure how that happened because I never found any broken mounting equipment for it. That gave me an excuse to get some new Kessil lights at least.

I still really enjoy the time I get with the tank and have setup wyze cameras so I can still watch it from time to time. I just can't wait to be back in my house and with my tanks. The few fish and corals I have make me happy and put a smile on my face