New reef build from step one - input/advice needed!

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Figured this might be a better way to get some input here and document what I'm doing. The good, bad and the ugly

Step 1 - Buy tank and stand. Bought a 125g and stand from Petsmart. On sale for $649. Had a 125g 20 years ago and wanted another. That tank was 4' long. This one is 6' long and not nearly as deep as the last one. Having been out of the hobby for so long I just assumed it would be that same. Nope. But thats OK, gives me more of a footprint for reef stuff.

What I started with, sorry the stand is turned around.

The stand was more than a bit plain and ugly. Nothing some trim from Home Depot, a miter saw and paint can't fix. Oh, and my 3 year granddaughter helped. She kept getting the scrap pieces of trim and putting them on the stand. She saw my installing new hinges and handles and kept putting the drill on the surface and squeezing the trigger.

Awesome and beautiful wife painted it for me. We've had a longstanding marital agreement. I put things together, she does the painting. Works out much better keeping our marriage in harmony!

Step 2, get a symp. Picked this up at the LFS for $250. Another member here posted about the 3 different types of overflow systems in another thread which was eye opening and very beneficial. I think I'll be drilling my tank to do things the right way and keep noise down. My last tank was all HOB and it made me recall how noisy that could be at times.

Step 3 - get a RODI unit so I can make my own water. So on the advice from another member, I went to bulk reef supply and bought a 6 stage RODI unit. Wife has agreed to mount it permanently in the laundry room which won't be far from the tank. I'll post pics of that once it's mounted.

Step 4 - start figuring out a system. Here is where I'm stalling.

Been researching APEX set ups. Spent quite a bit of time on their web site and trying to learn what I don't know. My goal is automation. I hated water changes, especially on the 125 I had. When the LFS told me about auto water changes I lit up. I don't expect things to be hands off, but it sounds like it greatly reduces the work load. The kid in the store put together a package (didn't see an itemized list), but quoted me $3500 for an automated system and install. $1k of it was labor. Not afraid to install things myself, but I need to get educated on what's what. In that respect the Neptune site has been very informative.

So next up with be getting my sump set up with a return pump and plumbing. I don't even know what flow rate I need, but the plumbing part is making sense to me. I have a 3 tube bulkhead that came with the sump, didn't realize how beneficial that was until tonight and look forward to installing it.

Anyway, jump on this train with me and please, give me some input here. It seems my next step is getting my sump put together with good equipment. Dosing, return pump, skimmer, and most importantly, automation. Going with the sock methos and not felt rollers. Mostly because that's how the sump is arranged and even knowing it's a bit more extra work, I don't mind that. If I want to spend the $$ down the road, I can mod that.

So please, jump in and help me spend my money wisely. I'm not crazy about spending $3500 to have it done when I can do it myself, I just don't know what I'm doing yet. Fire away!!

 

[Subsea]

Figured this might be a better way to get some input here and document what I'm doing. The good, bad and the ugly

Step 1 - Buy tank and stand. Bought a 125g and stand from Petsmart. On sale for $649. Had a 125g 20 years ago and wanted another. That tank was 4' long. This one is 6' long and not nearly as deep as the last one. Having been out of the hobby for so long I just assumed it would be that same. Nope. But thats OK, gives me more of a footprint for reef stuff.

What I started with, sorry the stand is turned around.

The stand was more than a bit plain and ugly. Nothing some trim from Home Depot, a miter saw and paint can't fix. Oh, and my 3 year granddaughter helped. She kept getting the scrap pieces of trim and putting them on the stand. She saw my installing new hinges and handles and kept putting the drill on the surface and squeezing the trigger.

Awesome and beautiful wife painted it for me. We've had a longstanding marital agreement. I put things together, she does the painting. Works out much better keeping our marriage in harmony!

Step 2, get a symp. Picked this up at the LFS for $250. Another member here posted about the 3 different types of overflow systems in another thread which was eye opening and very beneficial. I think I'll be drilling my tank to do things the right way and keep noise down. My last tank was all HOB and it made me recall how noisy that could be at times.

Step 3 - get a RODI unit so I can make my own water. So on the advice from another member, I went to bulk reef supply and bought a 6 stage RODI unit. Wife has agreed to mount it permanently in the laundry room which won't be far from the tank. I'll post pics of that once it's mounted.

Step 4 - start figuring out a system. Here is where I'm stalling.

Been researching APEX set ups. Spent quite a bit of time on their web site and trying to learn what I don't know. My goal is automation. I hated water changes, especially on the 125 I had. When the LFS told me about auto water changes I lit up. I don't expect things to be hands off, but it sounds like it greatly reduces the work load. The kid in the store put together a package (didn't see an itemized list), but quoted me $3500 for an automated system and install. $1k of it was labor. Not afraid to install things myself, but I need to get educated on what's what. In that respect the Neptune site has been very informative.

So next up with be getting my sump set up with a return pump and plumbing. I don't even know what flow rate I need, but the plumbing part is making sense to me. I have a 3 tube bulkhead that came with the sump, didn't realize how beneficial that was until tonight and look forward to installing it.

Anyway, jump on this train with me and please, give me some input here. It seems my next step is getting my sump put together with good equipment. Dosing, return pump, skimmer, and most importantly, automation. Going with the sock methos and not felt rollers. Mostly because that's how the sump is arranged and even knowing it's a bit more extra work, I don't mind that. If I want to spend the $$ down the road, I can mod that.

So please, jump in and help me spend my money wisely. I'm not crazy about spending $3500 to have it done when I can do it myself, I just don't know what I'm doing yet. Fire away!!

Great start with “all in the family”! It’s fun when grandkids are involved. I am older than you as my grandkids are in college.

I am old school DIY so I am not up on the automation. $3500 seems excessive for ATO. It’s your money. I would save that money for livestock and that’s your budget. If you were operating a nano tank, ATO prevents excessive salinity swings. due to its small volume of water. However, in a larger tank, the increased volume dampens salinity change so the ATO is not as critical. Having a simplified water change method that eliminates 5G buckets would be a higher priority for me.

However, I ask you, what do you want to grow in your ecosystem? When I build systems, I decide what goes into them first, then that narrows down what equipment I choose. Just a thought.

 

[USN74NMCB]

Sounds like you have a plan. I would research other controllers as apex is not the only controller out therr and make a informed decision. Theres hydros and ghl just to name two. I went with hydros as it doesn't have a central brain unit so if i lose a module i just need to replace the module and dont lose the rest of my collective and they all work together but also by them self. I also put in a X2SR for my AWC and ATO as my 360 gallon tank is an island tank and viewable on all 4 sides my mixing station is 12 feet away so i ran the lines through the ceiling from mixing station to tank. Just my two cents as there are many options out there and depending on what you're wanting to do , just dont get swalloed down the wrong path and have to spend more to get where you want.

 

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I'm not crazy about dropping $3500 to get a set up at all Subsea. I plan on something like this. Invertebrates, some corals, anemones, an urchin, but not packed as full as I can make it. I like to see the fish swimming around and movement around the rock. But more of an open tank. I don't want the fish to get lost in a background.

Awesome tip USN74NMCB (you a Vet by the way?). This is exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. I had no idea APEX depended on a single 'brain' to make things work. My brain just assumed everything could work stand alone as you described, which seems much more beneficial to me. I saw on APEX's site that the dosing machine needs to be sent in for scheduled maintenance from time to time? Is this a normal thing across brands with other systems besides the dosing machine? I'm definitely going to look into other brands. Having to take down an important item for a few weeks like dosing does not seem ideal, but I don't know what to expect in this hobby anymore either.

Keep the advice coming guys!

 

[Blitheran]

I feel like you are jumping the gun with the Apex and set up. Apex has a lot of “stuff” what if you don’t need everything.

What I would tell you, is you sound like you can set it up initially. It is very user friendly. I will tell you right now. Buy the brain and the 8 plug panel (EB832). That’s it. Your tank isn’t even running yet you don’t need ANYTHING ELSE!

Let the tank tell you what it needs for automation.

Water in … okay get the leak detection

Need to control lights and flow… MXM

Need to control the ATO… etc etc etc

You get the point. I’m telling you this, to save you money. $1,000 for install on a brand new tank is way over kill.

Start with the brain and EB832

 

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I feel like you are jumping the gun with the Apex and set up. Apex has a lot of “stuff” what if you don’t need everything.

What I would tell you, is you sound like you can set it up initially. It is very user friendly. I will tell you right now. Buy the brain and the 8 plug panel (EB832). That’s it. Your tank isn’t even running yet you don’t need ANYTHING ELSE!

Let the tank tell you what it needs for automation.

Water in … okay get the leak detection

Need to control lights and flow… MXM

Need to control the ATO… etc etc etc

You get the point. I’m telling you this, to save you money. $1,000 for install on a brand new tank is way over kill.

Start with the brain and EB832

THANK YOU!!! Learning about the EB832 and that concept is very appealing to me.

Researching brands now. I know I don't need everything on day one. However, I want to fit as much as I can in the stand and the time to do that is before I sit the tank on. Not saying I won't follow your advice. I will. smart money and convenience is my goal. BRStv and Reef Rookies on youtube has become my go to for learning. Pretty steep learning curve, but I'm enjoying it.

 

[USN74NMCB]

I'm not crazy about dropping $3500 to get a set up at all Subsea. I plan on something like this. Invertebrates, some corals, anemones, an urchin, but not packed as full as I can make it. I like to see the fish swimming around and movement around the rock. But more of an open tank. I don't want the fish to get lost in a background.

Awesome tip USN74NMCB (you a Vet by the way?). This is exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. I had no idea APEX depended on a single 'brain' to make things work. My brain just assumed everything could work stand alone as you described, which seems much more beneficial to me. I saw on APEX's site that the dosing machine needs to be sent in for scheduled maintenance from time to time? Is this a normal thing across brands with other systems besides the dosing machine? I'm definitely going to look into other brands. Having to take down an important item for a few weeks like dosing does not seem ideal, but I don't know what to expect in this hobby anymore either.

Keep the advice coming guys!

I dont know much on apex dossers having to be sent in for maintenance. Many other brands sell yhe stuff you need for maintenance and let the hobbiest do the maintenance. Yes im a Seabee vet. I know im about to purchase more hydros controlers to finish outfitting my main tank and it will then control what i need for now in one app and if i lose a module i just move whats on that moduel to other moduels that have open ports and continue to run and do whats needed till i replace failed module. And i don't need to know coding to make it work like apex does. And if you look at my tank thread i started building stand back in 2020 and my system finaly was wet april 4th 2024 coming up on two year mark and all ive had for a controller is a wave engine v2 by hydros and my pop bloom lights and stand alone equipment

 

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A few steps forward! A few different orders to Amazon for a bulkhead with a plug for a 3" hole in the side of my sump. Adding a booster pump to my RODI (showed 40psi initially, 80 psi after install), wasn't yielding anymore output. For those who haven't made this mistake, 75 gallons per day output equals almost 1 cup of water per minute. Wish I'd have done the math Calling bulk reef supply yielded a 150 gpd upgrade kit. When in doubt, just buy the 150 and get it over with. Now I'll get 120 cups per hour instead of 60. Want to give a shot out to BRS and their customer service. It's first class. They've been top notch every time I've called, which has been more than once.

I've watched several hours of videos on setting up the Apex system. I went with the Apex because it really looked like it was intuitive to use. I'm sure the set up will be a learning curve, but I got things set in place, wired up and tidied up. Not finished but I'll have the tank set in place today once I get pipes fit to my pump.

Maybe not clear in the pics is a tarp under the sump. Went to harbor freight and bought one of their heavy duty tarps. Folded it in half and cut it to size under the sump so it lifts up a few inches on all 4 sides. I remember my last tank flooding and the pure joy that creates. Have a leak detector in place so even when I get a notification of water it has to raise a few inches before catastrophe really sets in.

All wires have been labeled as to what they are prior to plugging them in. Still need to clean up the extra length here, but it'll be neat and out of the way before long.

I also used some of [URL='https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XNBS6TG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title']these to zip tie my spiral wrap to and hold things up and off equipment.
You can't really see them here but they are what those wire bundles are zip tied to.

 

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Next up, the overflow box. Getting the return pump lines glued up to the slip joint. I'll work on the rest after the tank is in place. Used some Fernco sleeves to hook into the overflow box returns. Guessing those are BPT and hardware stores don't sell that, and I'm not running to the fish store for adapters. Fernco's are cheap and work great.

 

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A few small updates. Got my return pump/overflow adjusted. Had a heck of a time getting and keeping two overflow tubes primed. I'd get one done and the other would take in air and loose prime. I ordered a lift pump - just in time after things are tuned in. Used live sand and dry live rock. Got Dr Toms bacteria starter poured in a few days ago along with the chemical packets that came with the live sand.

Getting the Apex peripherals calibrated and my PH probe was a nogo. BRS is sending me a new one. Nothing I did would get it to calibrate with the 7.0 packet. I gotta say BRS has been amazing through this steep learning curve. Huge shout out to them.

I'm continually amazed at the Apex system and what it can do. Binging youtube for tutorials and such. An inkbird thermostat showed up this morning. Took my heaters off the Apex saving myself an outlet and running those into a stand alone thermostat.

Fun fact. Because my overflow box wasn't tuned in yet I shut off my return pump. Left the skimmer running for break in. Doing that and my water temp jumped to 102F. Once I got things adjusted properly it dropped to 75F immediately. I hope it didn't do anything to the bacteria start I dropped in a few days ago. I did buy a certified thermostat to calibrate the Apex and Inkbird thermostats.

My wife is anxious to get the rock set up and a fish in there. We'll probably head to the local fish store tomorrow and pick up a few damsels or clowns.

Once the rock in set in I'll dive deep into the Apex and do some programming. PH probe should be here soon.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I would hold off on the fish for now.
I would buy a few hunks (or more) of actual wet, live rock form your LFS. It will help greatly and ensure that the nitrogen cycle and tank mature quickly to support livestock.

I may have missed the post, but I thought you had made the decision to drill. What prompted you to go with the HOB instead?

 

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No, you didn't miss anything. Found a sticker on the bottom that said tempered glass so I gave up on it.

knowing what I know now, wish I'd have bought a drilled (or drillable) tank

 

[BeanAnimal]

No, you didn't miss anything. Found a sticker on the bottom that said tempered glass so I gave up on it.

knowing what I know now, wish I'd have bought a drilled (or drillable) tank

The bottoms are typically tempered.

You can fairly easily check the side panels with polarized glasses.

 

[Bbio]

Are you sure the side wall you cut a whole in for the sump wasn’t load bearing? I have what looks like the same strand, just a different size and did the same as you adding a third door for the sump and I removed the side trim at the top and found out the whole side panels are load bearing so I framed it out to reinforce what I had removed.

 

[Bbio]

A few small updates. Got my return pump/overflow adjusted. Had a heck of a time getting and keeping two overflow tubes primed. I'd get one done and the other would take in air and loose prime. I ordered a lift pump - just in time after things are tuned in. Used live sand and dry live rock. Got Dr Toms bacteria starter poured in a few days ago along with the chemical packets that came with the live sand.

Getting the Apex peripherals calibrated and my PH probe was a nogo. BRS is sending me a new one. Nothing I did would get it to calibrate with the 7.0 packet. I gotta say BRS has been amazing through this steep learning curve. Huge shout out to them.

I'm continually amazed at the Apex system and what it can do. Binging youtube for tutorials and such. An inkbird thermostat showed up this morning. Took my heaters off the Apex saving myself an outlet and running those into a stand alone thermostat.

Fun fact. Because my overflow box wasn't tuned in yet I shut off my return pump. Left the skimmer running for break in. Doing that and my water temp jumped to 102F. Once I got things adjusted properly it dropped to 75F immediately. I hope it didn't do anything to the bacteria start I dropped in a few days ago. I did buy a certified thermostat to calibrate the Apex and Inkbird thermostats.

My wife is anxious to get the rock set up and a fish in there. We'll probably head to the local fish store tomorrow and pick up a few damsels or clowns.

Once the rock in set in I'll dive deep into the Apex and do some programming. PH probe should be here soon.

I have that overflow and it’s been working great maintaining the siphon. No problems whatsoever.

I would recommend getting a second set of tubes. I change mine out every 2-3months when I notice algae accumulating and clean them with a bottle brush.

For priming them, I use a large pitcher to fill the internal box and then prime 1 tube by sucking the air through an airline tube. One hard suck gets it primed (pause). For the second one I use the pitcher to dump water really fast into the internal box and suck on the airline tube at the exact same time. You have to pour the water fast enough that it overwhelms the already primed tube. It was hard the first time but now I get it first try every time

 

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@Bbio I don't think it's load bearing. I was careful not to cut into the 1x lumber in the framing. If I had it to do over again, I'd reinforce just like you did. This stand isn't exactly a piece of fine furniture and isn't confidence inspiring.

I have been using the tube methos as well. I got my valves adjusted from the overflow box and return pump running at 40% and so long as my water level is good, it runs perfect. I bought an airlift pump out of frustration. I'll have it for next time.

 

[Bbio]

@Bbio I don't think it's load bearing. I was careful not to cut into the 1x lumber in the framing. If I had it to do over again, I'd reinforce just like you did. This stand isn't exactly a piece of fine furniture and isn't confidence inspiring.

I have been using the tube methos as well. I got my valves adjusted from the overflow box and return pump running at 40% and so long as my water level is good, it runs perfect. I bought an airlift pump out of frustration. I'll have it for next time.

I ditched the filter sponges and equal length drain pipes for a herbie. The main drain is just a bare bulkhead with a gate valve on it. The emergency drain is about 4.5” tall and I raise the water height so it is just barely trickling down the emergency drain. DEAD SILENT. The stock config is way too noisy for me.

 

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Wow, I've not posted a lot of things since starting this thread. Upgraded my RODI unit with a kit from BRS, a day late and a dollar short. Shoulda done that when I ordered the unit. But, it's done now and flows faster.

60 lbs of sand and a 100+ lbs of rock. Took pretty wife and I a bit to get things situated but very happy with how it turned out. Grabbed a clown and 3 damsels. Finally got the water circulating quietly. Lights finally showed up today (turn head and cough). Loaded the Mobius app. Nice to realize the wave make I bought was the same brand and ready to link up. Programmed its power down. Not happy with the nozzle I fabbed up to get water in from the return pump. I expect I'll change that up.

Began setting up the Trident today and forgot I've run out of 4 pin outlets. I either need to remove a dosing pump or figure out a way to get that connected.

When I walked into that fish store and he told me water changes were not what they were and I decided to dive head first off the cliff without a road map, he told me lights would be my single biggest cost. I thought he was crazy. He was not. Three 44HD's. I bought the mounts from saltwateraquarium because I like those mounts a lot better that the flexible arms on BRS. Took the horizontal arms out to the shops chop saw and took 5.5" off them.