Newbies attempt at an SPS Dominated 60 Gal Tank

[xBakerx]

Hello everyone I am starting this thread to document the progress of my 60 gal tank that will be primarily dominated by SPS. Pictures and the first actual post to come later today and hopefully video updates in the future because Videography was actually my first hobbie and I do still have my camera and some leftover equipment laying around but I am not an expert or great on camera so I cannot wait to see what the future has in stock for this tank! The purpose of this thread is to see where this tank is from the beginning to what it will become and also to prove to myself that it is possible that with knowledge and dedication even a newbie can keep a successful SPS Tank.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

I'll be awaiting pics and details

Best luck. You're in the right place for any help or advice.

 

[vetteguy53081]

You're doing your homework. While a challenge is a beautiful scape when successful. Keep in mind, parameters are of essence in which in the same token, you don't want to chase numbers which is a huge downfall with collecting SPS. A GOOD Quaility test kit will also be import as will lighting and water flow be.

 

[SMSREEF]

I can’t wait to see your pics of the tank and setup.
There are a lot of people on this site with an amazing amount of knowledge, I learn new things every day.

 

[xBakerx]

This thread is not for the faint of hearted but rather for those who appreciate resourcefulness and making do with what you have. It is not a build thread with an unlimited budget but it will include equipment necessary for growth and health of my salt water creatures. The tank that I am going to be using is actually the same one that my father got when he first got into the hobby years ago. I found it sitting in the corner of their garage with junk piled on top of it. It’s been broken down for about four years now but still has some of the major components needed when starting a tank. My hope is to one day bring this tank back to life and for it to become something of an art piece that I can enjoy in my home. So let’s start with some of the basic equipment that came with the tank.

Display Tank: Acrylic 60 Gallon
Sump: 20 Gallon
Custom Stand.
Substrate: None, Bare bottom
Protein Skimmer: Reef Octopus 110-SSS
Return Pump: I’ll find out..
Power Heads: 2 Hydors unknown output
Mechanical Filtration: Filter Sock and Filter Sponge

This setup was actually plumbed by an LFS and the stand was also built by them about 5 years ago. This is not an ideal setup but I hope to make due with what I can and upgrade in the future.

 

[SMSREEF]

Cool Setup! I’m excited to follow along.

I got my acrylic sump used and it was pretty scratched up. I decided to try to buff the acrylic out and it ended up looking brand new.

If you don’t have polish already,
I got the Novus 7100 plastic polish set off amazon and it worked pretty amazing.
Novus 7100 Plastic Polish Kit - 8...

I used these to do the polishing with my cordless grinder. It made quick & easy work of what would have been hours and hours of polishing.
Sorrento Crafts Car Foam Drill...

 

[RichtheReefer21]

This thread is not for the faint of hearted but rather for those who appreciate resourcefulness and making do with what you have. It is not a build thread with an unlimited budget but it will include equipment necessary for growth and health of my salt water creatures. The tank that I am going to be using is actually the same one that my father got when he first got into the hobby years ago. I found it sitting in the corner of their garage with junk piled on top of it. It’s been broken down for about four years now but still has some of the major components needed when starting a tank. My hope is to one day bring this tank back to life and for it to become something of an art piece that I can enjoy in my home. So let’s start with some of the basic equipment that came with the tank.

Display Tank: Acrylic 60 Gallon
Sump: 20 Gallon
Custom Stand.
Substrate: None, Bare bottom
Protein Skimmer: Reef Octopus 110-SSS
Return Pump: I’ll find out..
Power Heads: 2 Hydors unknown output
Mechanical Filtration: Filter Sock and Filter Sponge

This setup was actually plumbed by an LFS and the stand was also built by them about 5 years ago. This is not an ideal setup but I hope to make due with what I can and upgrade in the future.

Love the back story and the idea of bring something from your fathers past back to life. Not a bad start at all sir!

After ur done checking for any leaks look into the buffing if u wanna clean up the acrylic like @SMSREEF suggested. It will be well worth the elbow grease in the end.

 

[MERKEY]

Sweet tank! Cant wait to see it full!

 

[xBakerx]

Cool Setup! I’m excited to follow along.

I got my acrylic sump used and it was pretty scratched up. I decided to try to buff the acrylic out and it ended up looking brand new.

If you don’t have polish already,
I got the Novus 7100 plastic polish set off amazon and it worked pretty amazing.
Novus 7100 Plastic Polish Kit - 8...

I used these to do the polishing with my cordless grinder. It made quick & easy work of what would have been hours and hours of polishing.
Sorrento Crafts Car Foam Drill...

Actually that is exactly what I used! I found some laying around all the fish gear my father had and i gave it a couple of coats which did seem to help. With water in the tank the scratches are not visible and the tank looks great.

 

[xBakerx]

Love the back story and the idea of bring something from your fathers past back to life. Not a bad start at all sir!

After ur done checking for any leaks look into the buffing if u wanna clean up the acrylic like @SMSREEF suggested. It will be well worth the elbow grease in the end.

I ended up buffing it out a bit but i did not use the drill kit. Just the materials included in the Novus Kit.

 

[xBakerx]

Here are a few more pics of the tanks plumbing and filtration.
................
After I buffed out the acrylic with the Novus product I set up the tank with saltwater siphoned out from my fathers 220 gal and I added a few rocks that he had in his sump. I ran it with the return on for about 2 weeks and fixed a small leak on one of the bulkheads. This was a necessary leak test because it was going to be placed in a carpeted room.
..................
I then packed everything up and moved it to its new home along with its water. Carrying all those jugs up the stairs was definitely a pain but everything made it without a hitch. Couldn't ask have turned out better.

 

[xBakerx]

I found sometime to write an update on the tank progress and I’m just gonna catch up as much as possible with the little time I have. I’ll include dates just to give a reference of how long it actually took me to do all of this stuff. More to come tomorrow!
.........................................................................
February 23, 2020
I got lucky that there was some leftover dry rock that was never used from my dads setup and after playing with it for a couple of days I decided on this rock structure. I left plenty of room for the SPS to grow vertically and I left enough room around the rocks to clean the inside of the tank.
.........................................................................
February 25, 2020
To cycle the tank I chose to use Microbacter 7 and use a large frozen shrimp as a food or ammonia source for the bacteria. I followed the manufacturer instructions and added Microbacter 7 when needed. I did not keep the protein skimmer in the tank and just ran it with the mechanical filtration but I did not change it out during the cycle.
.........................................................................
March 16, 2020
Tank fully cycled with test result reading Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, and Nitrates 100. I did a 10 gal water change and it brought the Nitrates down to 25. I then thought it would be a good time to look for my first fish and decided hat it would be a Tang so the next day I took a ride down to my LFS and found a small healthy looking Tomini Tang. The tang had been kept at that LFS for over 2 weeks and eating well so I was comfortable with not Quarantining the fish because I trusted my LFS. I was willing to take the chance because I did not have a quarantine set up at the time. I got him temp and drip acclimated and sent him into the new home

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Great setup.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Game time! Nice work

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Looking good so far! What lights did you go with? Looks like photons in the picture