My 75 Build (First Reef)

[Reefin' Steve]

I will get some pictures and do some writing, but this is a spot for me to track and show my build! It will (hopefully) be a 75g mixed reef. I posted my list so far in my welcome post, but i will here again. I cant really go much, if any bigger than a 75 with the space and house that i have, so for the foreseeable future this is my dream build. This is my second attempt, first tank was a 40b and i decided to go bigger, never set it up. Im a little bit behind on making this thread, but ill back track to take some good pictures of the whole process.
Parts in hand:
- Marineland 75
- Stand
- Hydros x4 / WE v2
- Kessil A360xe, hard mounts, spectral controller x
- SR Aquaristik sump, skimmer, and return pump (controllable)
- Modular Marine 16" overflow (center rear mount)
- 1" drain plumbing, 3/4 return plumbing (with manifold parts for 2 1/2" feed lines)
- Red Sea master test kits
- Red sea 7 part supplements + reef energy + blue bucket salt (all i really have is petco locally)
- Sicce 300w Heater x2 (for now)

I think thats it currently. Ill upload pics in individual progress posts. All ive really done is situate plumbing and build the stand, the rest is in boxes so should be a good starting point to document the build. I think you guys will find this to be a really slick setup with what i have in mind! Also probably some 3d printing will be involved. Hope you enjoy!

 

[kevgib67]

I will get some pictures and do some writing, but this is a spot for me to track and show my build! It will (hopefully) be a 75g mixed reef. I posted my list so far in my welcome post, but i will here again. I cant really go much, if any bigger than a 75 with the space and house that i have, so for the foreseeable future this is my dream build. This is my second attempt, first tank was a 40b and i decided to go bigger, never set it up. Im a little bit behind on making this thread, but ill back track to take some good pictures of the whole process.
Parts in hand:
- Marineland 75
- Stand
- Hydros x4 / WE v2
- Kessil A360xe, hard mounts, spectral controller x
- SR Aquaristik sump, skimmer, and return pump (controllable)
- Modular Marine 16" overflow (center rear mount)
- 1" drain plumbing, 3/4 return plumbing (with manifold parts for 2 1/2" feed lines)
- Red Sea master test kits
- Red sea 7 part supplements + reef energy + blue bucket salt (all i really have is petco locally)
- Sicce 300w Heater x2 (for now)

I think thats it currently. Ill upload pics in individual progress posts. All ive really done is situate plumbing and build the stand, the rest is in boxes so should be a good starting point to document the build. I think you guys will find this to be a really slick setup with what i have in mind! Also probably some 3d printing will be involved. Hope you enjoy!

I look forward to seeing the pictures, following!

 

[Reefin' Steve]

Tank, Stand, Sump, and Skimmer

These were first on my list for obvious reasons. Tank would be an Aqueon, but Petco is transitioning to the Imagitarium brand, and they look cheap. So i drove about 2 hours to the next closest, Petsmart (closest reef stores are about the same distance). Grabbed the Marineland 75, and a matching stand. It originally has 4 doors, but i thought it would be nice how I did it with a sump in mind.

I dont think i could build a stand that looks as good with less than $1000 in new tools (Milwaukee family :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:) and probably the cost of this stand in materials. Better, yes. Practical, not for me, to build one right now. But its presented some challenges. 24" (not a hair over) sumps are hard to come by apparently, it was this SR or the Fiji 24, and this one matched better, and the whole system was rated for 80-150 gallons. If it never leaks, ill have it a long time. Anyway, here are a few pics of them, the sump fitment was worth it :smiling-face-with-sunglasses:

 

[jcmjoe]

Sounds like a great build! Are you drilling the tank or using a siphon style overflow I’m not familiar with the modular marine units.

 

[jcmjoe]

That sump is nice!

 

[Reefin' Steve]

That sump is nice!

Sounds like a great build! Are you drilling the tank or using a siphon style overflow I’m not familiar with the modular marine units.

Thanks! It will be drilled (https://modularmarine.com/products/1600-gph-low-profile-overflow-box-with-removable-weir). modular marine came pretty highly recommended here and on reddit, along side synergy reef. this one is meant to mate up and sit square with tank trims, so i went modular with that in mind. That should be delivered tomorrow. Here is a teaser on the rest of the stuff!

 

[Reefin' Steve]

Tank Drilling

As I was saying to jcmjoe, the overflow came in today. That meant to move forward, it was time for the most stressful part so far :grinning-face-with-sweat: Measure twice cut once, it came out great. Test fitted the overflow. This is a short and sweet post but one that should definitely be documented. I had a couple small chips as i went through the very end, so i also filled it to the bulkheads in the garage to make sure all was well. Research on here says it should be fine, people have posted much worse. She's dry again and back inside!

 

[Oldsman]

Following your journey! I'd love a 75 instead of our 40b, but space won't allow a longer tank

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

Good luck with the Tank :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[Reefin' Steve]

Thanks everyone! Next post will be plumbing, I have it mostly figured out, I'm just lacking a couple things to be able to make plumbing all one post.

 

[Reefin' Steve]

I think were just about done ordering equipment. Just ordered 2 marco rock shelf scape 50 kits, the brightwell rock kit + microbacter 7, some plumbing pieces, mortar, the new coralline dye from marco (im going to use it for just a little color on what ends up in the display, i think), the hydros xp8 and gyre pumps. I could use some guidance on gyre placement when the time comes. Not sure whether to use them traditional opposing ends, or vertical on the back glass which ive heard of and like the idea of. Had to get in on the memorial day sales! I foresee one more order of small stuff, anything i'm missing right away?

 

[trellemania]

Following along! Very interested in how its coming out!

 

[Reefin' Steve]

I've fallen behind on posting! Partially busy (I detail cars, owner) and partially due to orders coming in a few days apart. The tank is filling with RODI, im going to mix in the tank for this first fill, partially because I have no good spot or need for a ton of water on hand, just a few buckets a week at best. I forgot to take one picture, the plumbing on the backside of the tank, but its pretty straight forward. A few posts coming!

Following along! Very interested in how its coming out!

 

[Reefin' Steve]

Plumbing

This might just be my favorite part of physically building the tank so far. Space is a huge consideration again, The overflow is of course a bean animal, and ended up working pretty well with the sump. Various size holes on the sump was kind of a pain, but also ended up working out well in other ways. I didn't take a picture of the back side before the tank went back into place, but about 2 foot or so of each drain and return is soft plumbed, to where my sump plumbing goes through the stand. Pictures will explain all it needs to really with that still.

Minimal valves, we have a gate on the primary, and even though I have a controllable pump, I had a ball valve so i put that on the return, also acts as a union. That is the one piece of pipe that i cant remove from this entirely for service or replacement, only because of the "nut" for the valve. The rest could be unhooked from the soft plumbing and replaced entirely if needed.

I wanted to build a manifold into the return, where the section of white pipe is. I didn't end up doing that for two reasons, one... not enough room. whether 3/4 or 1", two tees wouldn't fit there (everything coming out of the sump is ultimately adapted to 1"). Second, hydros control. Obviously a big reason i wanted to have a manifold would be for two small reactors plumbed in, but i read so much of stripping your water with basically any media, I wanted to be able to run it on schedule through hydros, which means a separate pump, so that got me done faster.

Overall happy with the result, looks very sleek in my opinion Also mounted all my electronics inside the cabinet, and put a bulkhead between the tow halves of the stand as a wire pass through. Also drilled the shelves on the cabinet side for wire management, which i don't think needs its own post so I'll throw the picture here. Yes, there are a few bushings between 3/4 and 1" if you look, and i made use of that as shown with the return plumbing at the pump. Both should be plenty sufficient for this tank, its oversize anyhow. Overflow setup is kind of weird, but for the sake of not "criss crossing" tubes on the backside, that's the arrangement I have.

 

[Reefin' Steve]

Aquascaping

... might be my least favorite part. I had super glue on my hands, through my ripped up rubber gloves, in my hair, and didn't really stick them together that well to me. But, got her done. I bought 80 pounds, might have 20 left or so. I would have taken a little more regular rock instead of shelf rock in the kits, but I think it looks cool. I have an island, a "peninsula" next to the island off the main rock, and of course I basically just built this massive arch. I can still fit my hand between the back glass, there's a lot more "flow through" than it looks, and the main cave is probably about 6-8". The backside of this will serve as a lot of sanctuary, its not nearly as dense back there.

I watched the brs mistakes video and such as i did this and really tried to keep it all in mind. Its not nearly negative space, i don't think i did the best job ever by any means, but I've been complimented on it a lot by people that aren't really in the hobby just like what I'm doing. Here's my rock order, sitting on the cardboard the tank came in.. What i came up with out of the tank.. what it ended up as in the tank, glued and mortared.. and when I started filling it. Which brings us just about up to speed, the water is about to hit the weirs and fill the sump. Luckily I didn't need a booster pump and my 75gpd system, has filled it in about a day. 2tds going in the DI, 0 coming out.

 

[Reefin' Steve]

Here's a few more scape pictures with lights on, and where we're at right this minute. Like i said earlier, im going to fire the whole system up before i add salt, and use the system to mix it.

 

[Reefin' Steve]

Cycle

Tried getting on yesterday for an update (right when the site was down, my luck). But we've had some hang ups... I'm pretty busy at times to get on for an update. I filled the tank as sated in the last post, all the way to the overflow aaaaand leak. One of the bulkheads from the overflow had a nasty casting mark / plastic flashing, that tore up the seal and didn't sit flush when tightened. Decided not to drain it, most of that volume fit in the sump to work. Getting the old hoses off was easier said than done, so i ended up cutting the soft plumbing to remove and fix. This time, i checked all the bulkhead surfaces, and put aqueon silicone lightly on every mating surface, its been running a few days, no leaks, and some new hoses in back.

Once i had water moving, I started the cycle as directed in the brightwell rock kit, tomorrow 6/14 will be day 5. This seems to be moving really slow. For an estimated 90 gallons or so total, i put in the entire bacter start bottle which is for 125 gal. The second day ammonia had reduced from a solid 2 on red sea to "in between" 1.2 and 2. Nitrite, was registering something, not totally clear. Day 3 and 4... as close as memory serves my tests look about the same as day 2. I dosed micro bacter 7 as directed on bottle for seeding a new system yesterday and today.

Where i'm getting bothered is day 7 on the brightwell kit, it says if its processed all the ammonia and nitrite, check nitrate and if its over .25, you're cycled. I don't see that happening here unless the bacteria is going to go into overdrive the next couple days vs the first few. Time will tell i suppose.

Current readings per Red Sea
Ammonia 1.5
Nitrite .05-.1
pH 8.2

Readings From Hydros
pH 8.15
Temp 78.9 (varys about a half degree)

Readings from Hanna
Salinity 34.2

That's all i am checking or have so far

 

[Reefin' Steve]

Here's something to look at, I suppose

 

[geehad420]

Here's something to look at, I suppose

I actually really like your scape! Use of
Negative space on the left and shelf stacking looks great to me! I’m new to the SW hobby but I feel like patience is a virtue for the cycle. Good luck!