First Reef Tank - 125 gallon

[Dcozine]

Hi All,

I'm (relatively) brand new to this forum and getting ready to embark upon my first saltwater adventure. We re-finished our basement family room last February and add built-in cabinets and shelves. I talked my wife into leaving me a space to put in a fish tank, and wound up with enough space to fit in a 6-foot 125-gallon tank. I have a few small freshwater tanks in my kids' rooms, but have never tackled salt. I've spent a bunch of time consuming books, videos, and articles throughout the COVID lockdowns and decided I wanted to go all in on salt and build my own reef ecosystem!

I'm just waiting for the new year before I start purchasing everything so all my credit card points count towards the same year

My first set of questions is around plumbing. Since I wasn't decided on salt, or a reef, when the cabinets were built, and hadn't read much about sumps, my space underneath is not contiguous. I do, however, have a little-used bomb shelter on the other side of the wall. I'm planning to have a hole drilled through the cinder block and house a 48-inch sump (something like this https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-sump-48xl-icecap.html?qty=1) in there. It'll probably be about a 2 to 3 foot drop from top of display tank, and about a 5 foot horizontal run from left end of display to left end of sump. Coming back, I'll have probably a 7 foot horizontal run from right side of sump to right side of display, with the same 2 to 3 foot rise. How many holes, and what size, will I need drilled in the tank for the overflow? Can I get away with 2 - a primary and a back-up? Should I have a return hole drilled, or can I just go up and over the back of the tank? Since I need to jog down and over to the sump, I'm planning on using flexible tubing instead of rigid PVC. Will I regret that?

Thanks for any and all advice, and I'm looking forward to posting my progress as I go!

Cheers,
Dan

 

[Ron Reefman]

Hi Dan, #Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Having the sump on the other side of the wall shouldn't be a big issue. I had a 425g system (180g tank, 75g tank &180g sump/refugium) and I pumped water 8 feet to an outside cinder bloc wall, through the wall and another 4 feet to a 1hp chiller... and back!

Do you have the tank already? If so, does it have an overflow? How many holes in the bottom of the overflow?

If not, good. You can make sure you get something that is built right and not a compromise.

Holes through the cinder block wall can be done with a big hammer drill and bits rented from HD or Lowes. I made my holes big enough to run a bigger pvc pipe through as a 'liner' and the size pipe I wanted for carrying water able to fit inside it. This worked extremely well.

The best form of drain from a tank is a 'full bean animal' system (drawing below). It has a wide open drain with a gate valve, a durso drain for control and an emergency drain in case of other drain failures. I've had failures and I wouldn't do it any other way. In fact, I built my own 90g tank (36"x30"x20") and made my own overflow wall (also seen below).

Now I did 2 return lines just because I could. They are the 2 at the outside edge of the overflow. You could do it with just 1 return. My tank ran for a year and just a month ago I did a new rockscape and this is what it looks like now.

 

[Dcozine]

Thanks for the reply, Ron!

I don't have the tank yet, so I can drill how I want. After I posted this I did some more reading on overflow systems, and something like this seems like the way to go: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/lopro-external-overflow-box-2400-gph-fiji-cube.html. I want to avoid drilling the bottom of the tank and going through the center of the countertop, just in case 20 or 30 years down the road I decide I don't want a tank anymore (yeah, right).

I had been thinking of using a larger PVC to line the cinder block hole in the PVC, so I'm glad to hear that has worked well for you.

The pic of your tank has me so excited to get going on mine. It looks great!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Good choice. I wish I had done one of those.

 

[Zionas]

These hybrid systems sound very interesting. Were they connected in some way? Could livestock make their way from one tank to the other?

 

[Adrianna]

Hi All,

I'm (relatively) brand new to this forum and getting ready to embark upon my first saltwater adventure. We re-finished our basement family room last February and add built-in cabinets and shelves. I talked my wife into leaving me a space to put in a fish tank, and wound up with enough space to fit in a 6-foot 125-gallon tank. I have a few small freshwater tanks in my kids' rooms, but have never tackled salt. I've spent a bunch of time consuming books, videos, and articles throughout the COVID lockdowns and decided I wanted to go all in on salt and build my own reef ecosystem!

I'm just waiting for the new year before I start purchasing everything so all my credit card points count towards the same year

My first set of questions is around plumbing. Since I wasn't decided on salt, or a reef, when the cabinets were built, and hadn't read much about sumps, my space underneath is not contiguous. I do, however, have a little-used bomb shelter on the other side of the wall. I'm planning to have a hole drilled through the cinder block and house a 48-inch sump (something like this https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-sump-48xl-icecap.html?qty=1) in there. It'll probably be about a 2 to 3 foot drop from top of display tank, and about a 5 foot horizontal run from left end of display to left end of sump. Coming back, I'll have probably a 7 foot horizontal run from right side of sump to right side of display, with the same 2 to 3 foot rise. How many holes, and what size, will I need drilled in the tank for the overflow? Can I get away with 2 - a primary and a back-up? Should I have a return hole drilled, or can I just go up and over the back of the tank? Since I need to jog down and over to the sump, I'm planning on using flexible tubing instead of rigid PVC. Will I regret that?

Thanks for any and all advice, and I'm looking forward to posting my progress as I go!

Cheers,
Dan

It's my dream to have a set up like that just it won't be a bomb shelter anymore it will be a fish room!

 

[Dcozine]

Oh my gosh! Everything is happening so fast now! The majority of my equipment has arrived now, and I just heard that my display tank will be arriving this week and I can go pick it up on Saturday!

I will still have a few things to pick up once I have the tank in hand. I'm waiting to get a few dimensions once I have all the equipment in hand and can see how it fits into my space. That said, my post today will be a list of the equipment I have already or will have soon, with some pics to accompany!

The display tank, as I mentioned, is coming this weekend, and is a standard-sized 125 gallon: 72" x 18" x 21". I will drill it for an also yet-to-be-acquired Eclipse L Overflow Box by Eshopps with 3 drain pipes and a 1000 GPH capacity. I plan to set it up with the bean animal configuration.

Accompanying the display tank, I will of course have lighting, powerheads, and rocks. For lights, I got a track with slide mounts for 4 Radion XR15 Pro LED lights. Powerheads, I have 2 Vortech MP40QD. For rocks, I went with ReefSaver artificial live rock - I got some base pieces with a flat side to go on the bottom of the tank, which should be around 50 lbs; another 100 lbs of assorted rock shapes; and a pre-built pedestal structure, which'll add another 7 or 8 pounds. Total weight of rocks should be right in the 150-160 lbs range. To keep everything visible, I have Hammerhead Float Plus magnetic algae scraper.

For water, I got a 7-stage RO system rated at 150 GPD. Side note - I plan to start using RO water for my freshwater aquariums. Is that good to go, or do I need to add a small amount of aquarium salt back into it? I got a big bucket of Coral Pro Salt for the reef tank.

I have a 48" sump/refugium ordered, and not entirely sure when it will arrive. That's okay, it'll give me time to drill my bomb shelter walls. I got a quote for $950 to have it done and decided I'll give it a shot myself. A friend suggested drilling individual holes for the pipes, rather than one large hole that they all go through - that makes it a much less daunting task, and doesn't require such big equipment. I included a pic of the corner where the refugium will go.

In the sump, I have 2 300-Watt titanium heaters with a dual-sensor controller, a Kessil H80 Tuna Flora LED grow lamp, Reefer Skimmer 600 protein skimmer, and an Octo Varios4 submersible pump rated at 1050 GPH for my return. I plan to run it one notch down from full blast to get somewhere between 750 and 1000 GPH. 750 gallons will be about 5x my full system - I kept reading articles back and forth about having high- or low-flow through the sump, and I decided I'd go slower because I didn't need my return head to provide the flow in my display. I have powerheads for that!

Still in my queue for selection and purchase: automatic top-off system, piping for sump and return lines, live sand, and... what?

Thanks for reading along! Can't wait to show pics of my aquascape, which is my next task. Cheers!

 

[Dcozine]

I got a call yesterday that my sump would be delivered by FedEx Freight THIS Friday - so by this weekend, I'll have both tanks and all of my major equipment. Next big task is to drill holes through my bomb shelter fish room wall and put together my plumbing. Then on to actually setting it all up, filling the tanks, and starting my cycle timer!

I spent some time on my aquascape today. I think I've got the right basic shape and structure that I want. I have a few more smaller pieces of rock ordered so I can fill in gaps and tweak some of the angles, but should be minor adjustments from here. In the photos, for reference, the table is 6 feet long, just like the tank. The top of the shelf above the table is 21", the height of my tank. The inside edge of the two strips of blue tape running the length of the table are 18" apart, the depth of my tank. The tape on the wall and front edge of the table mark off 7" and 24", respectively, indicating thirds of the tank in both dimensions.

 

[Dcozine]

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind. I wound up picking up a hammer drill and getting a monster drill bit from Amazon. I put 5 holes, each 1.5" diameter in the bomb shelter wall, which fit 1" PVC perfectly. I measured 5 times and cut once on all my PVC and got everything cemented together last weekend and got my display tank into position. Last week saw several late nights getting my sump assembled, RO system put together, and double-checking my work.

On Saturday, I started mixing saltwater in 30 L batches, each with 1.125 kg of salt. I filled my sump, which could hold 3 or 4 such batches, then pumped from there to the main tank. I got everything filled to just below the level of my overflow box and left it there for the night.

It's a good thing I did. When I made my last batch of saltwater to put the water level over the edge, I detected a small leak! As I looked behind my tank to try to get a towel back there, I spotted one of the rubber gaskets from the overflow box on the counter top. Apparently, when I was blindly reaching behind the tank to assemble it, it slipped out of place without me realizing it. The good news is that the fix was obvious and relatively straightforward. I drained 25 gallons out of the tank, which brought the level below my drilled holes, disassembled the overflow box, slipped the gasket in, and reassembled. I'm now well over 36 hours of running water constantly through the sump with no sign of even a drip. Whew!

The water got cloudy from putting sand in on Saturday, but cleared up beautifully by Sunday morning, just from running the powerheads. The twin 300W heaters got me up to 77 F in a day (from 67), and my controller has been holding things steady since then.

I just did my first test of water parameters: Specific gravity of 1.026, salinity of 35 ppt, pH ~8.2, ammonia and nitrate both at 0. I used dry rock but live sand, so I should be loaded on bacteria. My plan is to let the system run through the week; if the parameters hold steady, then I'll get a couple clownfish on Sunday to start creating a bioload. Once they've been in for a month and everything is holding steady, I'll start a clean up crew and add a couple more fish every couple weeks. I'm planning to introduce my first coral in late summer, once the tank is more well-established.

I'm open to any and all feedback on the approach to adding livestock. I am so excited to have this tank up and running, and looking forward to getting some living things in there!!!

 

[P-Dub]

Looking Good! The standard 125, which I have as well, poses some interesting aquascape challenges, front to back, and I think that you have done a great job there. Depending on the type of reef you are planning you might consider purchasing an XR30 and placing that in the middle and moving the other two, currently middle, 15's out towards the ends if you are planning on having SPS's. The tank top braces are killing a decent amount of light and causing shading. Other than that, it all looks like a fine job. Congratulations! Now, muster up an abundance of patience and don't rush the cycle. With the rock you have, you will be experiencing some uglies for a period.
Following along and rooting for you.

 

[Dcozine]

I put the first two inhabitants in this weekend: two clowns to help prod my nitrogen cycle along. So far, they seem super happy and are eager eaters.

 

[Jay G]

Had my 125 in wall fired up for a year now love it.
the top braces make 4 lights hard. I have hybrid 4-5” t5s
5’ reef brite, 3 Red Sea 50s for some shimmer.

 

[Dcozine]

Had my 125 in wall fired up for a year now love it.
the top braces make 4 lights hard. I have hybrid 4-5” t5s
5’ reef brite, 3 Red Sea 50s for some shimmer.

I love that in-wall you've got going on!

Yeah, the 4 lights is tough. I bought my lights before I got the tank, and didn't realize exactly what I'd be facing with the top braces. I originally was looking at the XR30s, which claim a 24"x24" throw. I figured 3 of those would cover my 72" length, and it wouldn't matter that I only had 18" depth. Then I spied the XR15s, which had an 18"x18" coverage. 4 of those covered my 72" length, had no wasted coverage on the depth, AND cost the equivalent of only 2 XR30s. Seemed like a total no-brainer. In retrospect, I wish I would've swallowed the cost of the extra XR30 and had one light centered over each opening, but oh well.

Ultimately, I'd like to have a mixed reef, so I'm thinking I can strategically place some lower-light corals in those "shadows" and be good to go.