MaiReef
Valuable Member
So I finally gathered a few pictures for my tank build thread.
I decided since my wife would only allow one tank to replace my 46 gallon bow freshwater tank I wanted to go salt and bigger. I had been doing freshwater for 30 years so this was a challenge I wanted to take on. I looked at what I had to work for the space in the living room and I saw that I could go with a 4 foot tank. I ended up with a 100 gallon for two reasons. One, I did not want to see the corner overflow on the left side of the tank as that would be a viewing area and two, I wanted to go with a sump with a refugium as I was told at the lfs and read online mixed with the books that were recommended to me that it seemed the way to go.
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, was the one that seemed to be the most recommend, so I started there. It was a good book, but a bit outdated I felt as LED had a large presence in 2011 and a bunch of the older methods seemed outdated. The value was the explanation of the husbandry that it would take compared to the freshwater was probably the biggest subject I was concerned about and it definately provided that. I looked online and found a forum(not this one at the time) and worked from there with other online sources and a few more books.
I read with a sump/refugium that I wanted a way to put in the cabinet. It seemed like the basic cabinets at the lfs could not accommodate this and I wanted something a bit nicer so I decided to build one. This was the first wood project that I was ever going to work on outside shop class and was happy the way it turned out. I will say this though, it was QUITE the PROJECT. Many, many hours and full details aside, below is what I ended up with mostly with a few modifications after the photo. The front has two doors and the left side panel is removable to have access to put the sump in.
I also looked at the price of sumps and decided to build my own out of a used 30 gallon tank I acquired for $20. Plus it seemed to give me more flexibility with how large the sections of the sump would be and have what I needed. I took a design in part from Marc Levenson as I felt I received a bunch of well detailed information with facts to back it up from his site. Thanks Marc. I basically ended up with a 30 gallon version of the tank below, which is a 40 gallon breeder that I completed with my brother.
The only difference is that I used lighting diffuser / eggcrate on the last baffle on the left to prevent macros from getting to the return pump. Works pretty good. I never had a pump clog in 4 years and no micro bubbles so I did something right.
I won't really get into plumbing at this point, as in the beginning I had a true mess of plastic tubes and did not understand drain systems at all. Previously, I only ever used HOB and canister filters. Later, on another post I will explain at least how pvc is not that difficult and hard plumbing is indeed the better way to go.
I then wanted a DSB, which now I have diminished though knowledge that an enginner goby is not suited for a DSB. He was my third fish and the oldest in my tank. It is his and he will let all the inhabitants know. I also did not want the nightmares of hitchhikers as I read so I started with dry rock. I ended up getting piece by piece from local fish stores.
I knew I wanted coral. What is needed? I thought. After research I ended up with Hydor powerheads and 2 Reef Breeders value blackbox fixtures that I put on the glass covers. I must say, both products still work and would work 100% if I didn't drip water on the fixtures. These are recommended companies to purchase from and Reef Breeders has great customer service.
Below are two of the earliest pictures I could find, but this is about three months in. I still have the frogspawn, kenya tree and favia so I made some good choices for first coral. I do not still have any of those fish as they all died because of my wife...kidding. It was my choice to let her pick out the flame angel and then later the coral beauty which in combination with my gold-striped maroon, I think they killed the scissortail, the firefish and the orchid dottyback one way or another. I never found the remains so I can't be sure.
Fast forward 3+ years and here is 3 my new Aquatic Life XS-UV lights, 1 before I "broke" my frogspawn(then fragged), 1 after
and 1 close to my current tank, but not quite.
That ends the start of my tank thread. More to come when I get a chance
I decided since my wife would only allow one tank to replace my 46 gallon bow freshwater tank I wanted to go salt and bigger. I had been doing freshwater for 30 years so this was a challenge I wanted to take on. I looked at what I had to work for the space in the living room and I saw that I could go with a 4 foot tank. I ended up with a 100 gallon for two reasons. One, I did not want to see the corner overflow on the left side of the tank as that would be a viewing area and two, I wanted to go with a sump with a refugium as I was told at the lfs and read online mixed with the books that were recommended to me that it seemed the way to go.
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, was the one that seemed to be the most recommend, so I started there. It was a good book, but a bit outdated I felt as LED had a large presence in 2011 and a bunch of the older methods seemed outdated. The value was the explanation of the husbandry that it would take compared to the freshwater was probably the biggest subject I was concerned about and it definately provided that. I looked online and found a forum(not this one at the time) and worked from there with other online sources and a few more books.
I read with a sump/refugium that I wanted a way to put in the cabinet. It seemed like the basic cabinets at the lfs could not accommodate this and I wanted something a bit nicer so I decided to build one. This was the first wood project that I was ever going to work on outside shop class and was happy the way it turned out. I will say this though, it was QUITE the PROJECT. Many, many hours and full details aside, below is what I ended up with mostly with a few modifications after the photo. The front has two doors and the left side panel is removable to have access to put the sump in.
I also looked at the price of sumps and decided to build my own out of a used 30 gallon tank I acquired for $20. Plus it seemed to give me more flexibility with how large the sections of the sump would be and have what I needed. I took a design in part from Marc Levenson as I felt I received a bunch of well detailed information with facts to back it up from his site. Thanks Marc. I basically ended up with a 30 gallon version of the tank below, which is a 40 gallon breeder that I completed with my brother.
The only difference is that I used lighting diffuser / eggcrate on the last baffle on the left to prevent macros from getting to the return pump. Works pretty good. I never had a pump clog in 4 years and no micro bubbles so I did something right.
I won't really get into plumbing at this point, as in the beginning I had a true mess of plastic tubes and did not understand drain systems at all. Previously, I only ever used HOB and canister filters. Later, on another post I will explain at least how pvc is not that difficult and hard plumbing is indeed the better way to go.
I then wanted a DSB, which now I have diminished though knowledge that an enginner goby is not suited for a DSB. He was my third fish and the oldest in my tank. It is his and he will let all the inhabitants know. I also did not want the nightmares of hitchhikers as I read so I started with dry rock. I ended up getting piece by piece from local fish stores.
I knew I wanted coral. What is needed? I thought. After research I ended up with Hydor powerheads and 2 Reef Breeders value blackbox fixtures that I put on the glass covers. I must say, both products still work and would work 100% if I didn't drip water on the fixtures. These are recommended companies to purchase from and Reef Breeders has great customer service.
Below are two of the earliest pictures I could find, but this is about three months in. I still have the frogspawn, kenya tree and favia so I made some good choices for first coral. I do not still have any of those fish as they all died because of my wife...kidding. It was my choice to let her pick out the flame angel and then later the coral beauty which in combination with my gold-striped maroon, I think they killed the scissortail, the firefish and the orchid dottyback one way or another. I never found the remains so I can't be sure.
Fast forward 3+ years and here is 3 my new Aquatic Life XS-UV lights, 1 before I "broke" my frogspawn(then fragged), 1 after
and 1 close to my current tank, but not quite.That ends the start of my tank thread. More to come when I get a chance
