C4ctus99
Well-Known Member
So...
I started out my reefing adventures on October 10th of 2022 by picking up a shell in the intercoastal waterway in the Nocatee area just south of Jacksonville Fl. This shell had a thinstripe hermit crab in it that came home with my girlfriend and I and was named Hercules. We got a 20g Long tank for him and he lived at her house until Christmas with his friend, Blackbeard the diamond goby. Since then I've lost fish, added fish, moved the tank, joined this forum, and learned a lot! This build thread is to document the next portion of this adventure with a 75g 48" tank and to put down what I have learned. My motto going into this thread is "everything under $100" which is completely unreasonable, but my target goal is spending less than $100 per aspect/addition to the tank.
For filtration I am going to experiment with a reverse undergravel filter and would like to follow along the same "natural" philosophy as greats like Paul B and others. I have made some mistakes that may inhibit my ability to do so (like quarantining all my existing fish in copper due to Ick on the new coral beauty) but am willing to try and work through it.
Stand: $300ish
I had some 1x4 and 1x6 oak planks in the garage from a planned and unexecuted DIY project a couple years ago along with some pine 2x4. I believe the cost at the time was somewhere between $250 and $300, but I am not certain. Now it would cost a lot more but I would not have bought oak to build it either. It needs a coat of varnish before it is fully ready and my goal is to start that Tuesday.
Tank: $130+tax
Aqueon standard 75G tank, 49x21.25x19.5- Please note the actual dimensions are smaller. Unless my tape measurer is wrong, it actually has a 48.5x18.5 footprint. So the tank has a 3/4" gap on the front and back and a 1/4" gap on either side. I may fix this before varnishing the stand. The tank costs $260 but was half off during a Petco tank sale.
Sump: $27.49+tax
The original tank purchased at 1/2 off during Petco's sale.
Substrate: $63-$113
40lbs CaribSea aragonite gravel $42.98. Will probably need another 20 or 40lbs
20lbs CaribSea AragAlive course aragonite somehwere in the $20-$30 range, came from 20G tank. May use for homemade rock instead.
Rock: $125
11lbs Live Rock from Salty Bottom Reef Co. Traded for shipping costs after I drove to Tampa to pick it up. $4/lb if I remember correctly. $44
Medium purple painted life rock from Petco, broken into chunks. $32.09+tax
Small live rock from petco. I believe it was roughly $25 at the time.
57 stone crushed limestone. Just a bag of it for making rocks myself. $7
Portland cement. Same as crushed limestone. $13
Sump Lighting: $105
Used T5 fixture retrofitted (Aqua Illumination I beieve) $75
2x Philips warm 34" T5 bulbs $30
On the way:
2x Aqueon Quietflow Submersible Utility Pump 1200 for $79.52 shipped off amazon (both pumps)
1x Lee's 70/90 Premium Undergravel Filter 18"x48" for $81.20 shipped off amazon
Future additions:
DIY rock
Lighting, either home made T5 or cheap grow lights. Trying to stay under or close to $100. Expecting to spend closer to $200
DIY protien skimmer
DIY calcium reactor or kalkwasser reactor
Variety of dosing pumps
ATO
Auto water change
Diatom filter for NSW?
All the other things I have forgotten
Stocking List:
New to a 4' long tank, so I have yet to figure out exactly what I would like. Current residents:
Mocha Clownfish (Marquito)
Black Misbar Clownfish (Eve)
RBTA (Noemanemone)
Trochus Snail (Uber)
Emerald Crab (Fish Bait) (...)
Thinstripe Hermit Crab (Hercules)
Serpent/Brittle Star (Starlord) (May be dead) (likes to hide in rocks for long periods of time)
Coral Beauty Angelfish (St. Michael Angelo) (Pronounced Angel-Oh)
On the Way:
A single Acan coral to kick everything off. Will be learning a lot about corals in the next month or two I am sure.
Next posts:
A list of lessons learned and some questions for any of the more experienced reefers who see this
Pictures of what I have so far when I get home tonight
Hope y'all enjoy!
I started out my reefing adventures on October 10th of 2022 by picking up a shell in the intercoastal waterway in the Nocatee area just south of Jacksonville Fl. This shell had a thinstripe hermit crab in it that came home with my girlfriend and I and was named Hercules. We got a 20g Long tank for him and he lived at her house until Christmas with his friend, Blackbeard the diamond goby. Since then I've lost fish, added fish, moved the tank, joined this forum, and learned a lot! This build thread is to document the next portion of this adventure with a 75g 48" tank and to put down what I have learned. My motto going into this thread is "everything under $100" which is completely unreasonable, but my target goal is spending less than $100 per aspect/addition to the tank.
For filtration I am going to experiment with a reverse undergravel filter and would like to follow along the same "natural" philosophy as greats like Paul B and others. I have made some mistakes that may inhibit my ability to do so (like quarantining all my existing fish in copper due to Ick on the new coral beauty) but am willing to try and work through it.
Stand: $300ish
I had some 1x4 and 1x6 oak planks in the garage from a planned and unexecuted DIY project a couple years ago along with some pine 2x4. I believe the cost at the time was somewhere between $250 and $300, but I am not certain. Now it would cost a lot more but I would not have bought oak to build it either. It needs a coat of varnish before it is fully ready and my goal is to start that Tuesday.
Tank: $130+tax
Aqueon standard 75G tank, 49x21.25x19.5- Please note the actual dimensions are smaller. Unless my tape measurer is wrong, it actually has a 48.5x18.5 footprint. So the tank has a 3/4" gap on the front and back and a 1/4" gap on either side. I may fix this before varnishing the stand. The tank costs $260 but was half off during a Petco tank sale.
Sump: $27.49+tax
The original tank purchased at 1/2 off during Petco's sale.
Substrate: $63-$113
40lbs CaribSea aragonite gravel $42.98. Will probably need another 20 or 40lbs
20lbs CaribSea AragAlive course aragonite somehwere in the $20-$30 range, came from 20G tank. May use for homemade rock instead.
Rock: $125
11lbs Live Rock from Salty Bottom Reef Co. Traded for shipping costs after I drove to Tampa to pick it up. $4/lb if I remember correctly. $44
Medium purple painted life rock from Petco, broken into chunks. $32.09+tax
Small live rock from petco. I believe it was roughly $25 at the time.
57 stone crushed limestone. Just a bag of it for making rocks myself. $7
Portland cement. Same as crushed limestone. $13
Sump Lighting: $105
Used T5 fixture retrofitted (Aqua Illumination I beieve) $75
2x Philips warm 34" T5 bulbs $30
On the way:
2x Aqueon Quietflow Submersible Utility Pump 1200 for $79.52 shipped off amazon (both pumps)
1x Lee's 70/90 Premium Undergravel Filter 18"x48" for $81.20 shipped off amazon
Future additions:
DIY rock
Lighting, either home made T5 or cheap grow lights. Trying to stay under or close to $100. Expecting to spend closer to $200
DIY protien skimmer
DIY calcium reactor or kalkwasser reactor
Variety of dosing pumps
ATO
Auto water change
Diatom filter for NSW?
All the other things I have forgotten
Stocking List:
New to a 4' long tank, so I have yet to figure out exactly what I would like. Current residents:
Mocha Clownfish (Marquito)
Black Misbar Clownfish (Eve)
RBTA (Noemanemone)
Trochus Snail (Uber)
Emerald Crab (Fish Bait) (...)
Thinstripe Hermit Crab (Hercules)
Serpent/Brittle Star (Starlord) (May be dead) (likes to hide in rocks for long periods of time)
Coral Beauty Angelfish (St. Michael Angelo) (Pronounced Angel-Oh)
On the Way:
A single Acan coral to kick everything off. Will be learning a lot about corals in the next month or two I am sure.
Next posts:
A list of lessons learned and some questions for any of the more experienced reefers who see this
Pictures of what I have so far when I get home tonight
Hope y'all enjoy!
