My 75g mixed reef build

Iwannaflyguy

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I am new to R2R and happy to see all the ideas and resources provided through this forum. I have been reading up and studying in preparation for getting back into a reef tank. I kept a reef tank for about ten years, but ended up gifting it to a coworker and have been out of it for the last twelve years. I always loved it and wanted to pick it up again at some point. After some recent reef diving trips I have been unable to contain the desire to have a reef tank. I am building a 75-gallon mixed reef tank that I will keep in the front entry of my lab. I am very excited.

I will take some pictures and list equipment along the way.

First off, the tank:

I decided to go with the Innovation Marine EXT 75 (https://www.innovative-marine.com/shop/EXT-75-Aquarium-w-APS-Stand-White-p222130502). I am very impressed with the quality of their builds. It is a package deal with a matching aluminum stand that is simple and looks very nice.

IM EXT75 Crate.jpg

When the tank arrived, we opened the crate and inspected for any shipping damage. It was well packaged and in pristine shape.
The stand took about 20 minutes to build. I like the two PVC foam sheets that Innovative Marine provides to protect both the tank and the sump in the bottom of the cabinet.
IM 75 EXT with stand.jpg


Water system:

My lab is connected to a municipal water supply and the water is pretty hard, so I purchased a water softening system and a 6-stage 150gpd RODI water system from US Water (50-to-150-gpd-ro-di-system.html).

I also purchased two 55g water storage tanks from Rotational Molding of Utah (https://rockymountaintanks.com/product/55-gallon-waterprepared-emergency-storage-stackable-tank/). They are clean, well made, stackable water tanks. They come with a high quality lead-free valve, which I replaced due to the brass contact material, with a PVC ball valve.

WP-55-Grouping-scaled.jpg


More to come...
 

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Iwannaflyguy

Iwannaflyguy

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Thank you for your responses. I also had big plans to DIY this project, but I decided my time away from reef keeping put me at a disadvantage, since so many things have changed and technologies improved. I still want to do some of my own building in the future, but I want to become more familiar with what is out there first.
 
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Iwannaflyguy

Iwannaflyguy

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We spent a lot of time over the last few weeks getting the rockscape as we wanted it. Experimented with several types of glues and methods. I found the AquaStik Underwater Epoxy Putty (Coralline Red) to produce the most secure bond.

IMG_1483.jpeg

IMG_1491.jpeg


I used CaribSea Live Sand and RedSea Coral Pro Salt. I pre-mixed the salt to 35ppt in my saltwater mixing tank, placed the rock in the aquarium, added the live sand to the tank around the rock and then added some of the pre-mixed saltwater at room temperature (same temperature as the live sand).

IMG_1506.jpeg


I was pretty happy with the result so far.
 

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We spent a lot of time over the last few weeks getting the rockscape as we wanted it. Experimented with several types of glues and methods. I found the AquaStik Underwater Epoxy Putty (Coralline Red) to produce the most secure bond.

IMG_1483.jpeg

IMG_1491.jpeg


I used CaribSea Live Sand and RedSea Coral Pro Salt. I pre-mixed the salt to 35ppt in my saltwater mixing tank, placed the rock in the aquarium, added the live sand to the tank around the rock and then added some of the pre-mixed saltwater at room temperature (same temperature as the live sand).

IMG_1506.jpeg


I was pretty happy with the result so far.
WOW. This is super impressive!
 

GumDropDan

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Just bought the same tank. What did you end up doing for your sump? I want to fit a sump big enough for socks, skimmer, refugium and an ATO reservoir. I'd like to know what you did for your ATO
 
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Iwannaflyguy

Iwannaflyguy

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Just bought the same tank. What did you end up doing for your sump? I want to fit a sump big enough for socks, skimmer, refugium and an ATO reservoir. I'd like to know what you did for your ATO
I love the tank. It is up and running and doing great. I need to update my build thread and hope to soon. I ended up using a 26" Platinum from Trigger Systems. It has the automatic fleece roll filtration system. It had enough space for my skimmer, a small refugium space (enough, but barely) and I installed the Tunze ATO. The sump fits in the cabinet nicely.
 

GumDropDan

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I love the tank. It is up and running and doing great. I need to update my build thread and hope to soon. I ended up using a 26" Platinum from Trigger Systems. It has the automatic fleece roll filtration system. It had enough space for my skimmer, a small refugium space (enough, but barely) and I installed the Tunze ATO. The sump fits in the cabinet nicely.
Well I am looking forward to your update! I'm excited for you
 
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Iwannaflyguy

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In addition to working on the rockscaping, I went to work on the plumbing. I am using a Trigger Systems Platinum 26 sump, which accepts the bean animal overflow on my IM EXT75. It is a nice fit in the cabinet and so far I like the idea of the fleece roll filtration. We'll see how it works in actual practice. The tank, stand and the sump in place are picture below.

IM EXT75 and Sump.jpeg


Here are some pictures of the plumbing:

rear plumbing 1.jpeg
rear plumbing full.jpeg
 
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Iwannaflyguy

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Now for placing the rock and the live sand. I bought 75 lbs of dead reef rock. We had some pretty intricate structures, so I had to be careful with the placement and make sure everything was stable. We rinsed the rock over and over again with RODI water, but after placing it and adding saltwater there was still a significant amount of fine sediment that came off the rock. I don't know if you can get away from that without having a capability of clean, pure, high pressure water to flush it really well. I was dipping the rock in RODI water buckets and also just flushing the rock off by pouring water on them. It didn't prevent my saltwater from clouding up with fine rock "dust", which took a couple of days to settle out. I added the live sand and started the system to get the water and rock prepared to go through an initial cycle.
IM EXT75 with rock close up.jpeg


I am using a Sicce return pump, which I am quite happy with. It is quiet and powerful enough for my return even with my one-way valve installed in the plumbing. This is what it looks like with the Kessil AP9X running.
IM EXT75 with kessil 1.jpeg
 
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taulgrl

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Now for placing the rock and the live sand. I bought 75 lbs of dead reef rock. We had some pretty intricate structures, so I had to be careful with the placement and make sure everything was stable. We rinsed the rock over and over again with RODI water, but after placing it and adding saltwater there was still a significant amount of fine sediment that came off the rock. I don't know if you can get away from that without having a capability of clean, pure, high pressure water to flush it really well. I was dipping the rock in RODI water buckets and also just flushing the rock off by pouring water on them. It didn't prevent my saltwater from clouding up with fine rock "dust", which took a couple of days to settle out. I added the live sand and started the system to get the water and rock prepared to go through an initial cycle.
IM EXT75 with rock close up.jpeg


I am using a Sicce return pump, which I am quite happy with. It is quiet and powerful enough for my return even with my one-way valve installed in the plumbing. This is what it looks like with the Kessil AP9X running.
IM EXT75 with kessil 1.jpeg
Looks great! You scape is so fantastic! Can’t wait to see it progress
 

BeTreyed

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Great build so far!

I really like your aquascape, a little concerned about that high spot on the right side, do you have a vision for that spot? It doesn't appear to have a lot of room for growth in that area, unless your gonna put something plating there.

Great plumbing work as well. You may want to add another union above that check valve on the return side in case you need to change that out for any reason.

Awesome build so far, following!
 
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Iwannaflyguy

Iwannaflyguy

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Great build so far!

I really like your aquascape, a little concerned about that high spot on the right side, do you have a vision for that spot? It doesn't appear to have a lot of room for growth in that area, unless your gonna put something plating there.

Great plumbing work as well. You may want to add another union above that check valve on the return side in case you need to change that out for any reason.

Awesome build so far, following!
Thank you! Great advise on the high rock and the union. I thought to put a union there, but didn't have one in time. I also didn't really like that check valve design, but it was the only one I could source locally. I appreciate the feedback.
 
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Iwannaflyguy

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Here is the IM EXT75 now, after cycling and a few months of being stocked with a light load of fish (4), , CUC and coral. I am really enjoying it.

Fish:
1 Yellow tang (Biota) - I am really impressed with how this little guy arrived and well he has adapted to the rest of the community. He hasn't worried me one bit since acclimating him.
2 Snowflake clowns - these two are extremely friendly, not shy at all, greeting me when I approach and will eat out of my hand
1 Yellow-tailed damsel - this guy was my first addition to the tank. I like their bright colors, but they are always a little nervous compared to the other fish. This guy usually hides for a minute at my approach, and then slowly comes out. You can see from the picture below that he is hidden as I had just approached the tank.

tempImageooK1LZ.png


Here is one learning I will share:
Early on I wanted to plant chaetomorpha in my refugium to help with phosphate/nitrate export and to harbor copepods. Unfortunately it was high in demand and low in supply, so I settled for "sea lettuce" or Ulva Lactuca instead. I wish I hadn't. It was constantly a mess in my refugium. It would not stay congregated, plug the weir and capture detritus on its leaves, requiring me to do a lot of refugium upkeep on at least a weekly basis in addition to water changes. This wasn't so bad, except that I probably am decimating my copepod population with each cleaning. I have since removed all of the sea lettuce, which required me to use a wet/dry vac throughout the sump to get all of the stray pieces that were stuck under, within and around everything. I have replaced it with chaetomorpha and have been so much happier with the refugium. It is much cleaner, does not migrate (at least not yet, after a couple of weeks), through my weir or plug it, and stays in a neat bundle. I hadn't seen anything like this described in all my research leading up to starting up and running this tank, so I thought I would share it.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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