Official Build Thread of a 135 Gallon Reef tank

Dilan Patel · Dec 17, 2017

Hey guys,

I had made one of these previously for this build but was not certain on a lot of things so I wanted to make a new thread since I have a lot of the details out now that I actually have ordered a tank!

So this is my First tank build thread so give me a break guys lol. I just tore down my 55gallon due to the fact i was supposed to get a bigger tank from a friend of ours. Well they still have yet to deliver and was told about it August of 2017. Well I had been preparing for a tank size around 125-150gallons which I was told it would be.

I bought a lot of equipment during the sales Thanksgiving. Such as heaters, lights,ATO,40gallon breeder for sump and some older equipment from my 55gallon like gyre xf250,kessils,t-5 retro kit and return pump.

I now today just placed my order for a 135 gallon Seapora tank and stand at the LFS. The tank they had was nice looking but was not reef ready. So ordered a reef ready and should be ready to pick up Friday if the weather is good! The only problem I might have is the 40 might not fit for the sump so I will be considering what I should do in the next few days.

I will post pics of the new tank and all the equipment soon as I get it. I have no idea of how this tank will be drilled so it will be a nice surprise. All I know it will be drilled on the corner/s.

The goal for this tank is to hold more expensive fish and coral such as oregon blue tort,orange passion and other higher end stuff but not super high end such as 400$ or above type stuff. I am too broke for that lol. But this tank will not be in a rush to fill by any means. Some common fish and coral will be in here that are on my dream list that I was not able to fit into my 180gallon or ever keep in the 55.

Hope you all will enjoy this journey with me!

neverdie · Dec 17, 2017

I'm in. Cant wait to see your tank.

Dilan Patel · Dec 24, 2017

So here is a little update i got the tank and stand 12/22/17 and did a water leak test the next day. and than on 12/23/17 I just moved the stand up to where the tank will be and started electrical and setting the sump up. I actually put the tank stand backwards due to the fact the doors to the correct side facing outwards were so small compared to the open back. Will be making the front look better once I build the canopy in the spring. I am hoping to finish up electrical and to get some plumbing done and hopefully move the tank either today or tomorrow.

Dilan Patel · Dec 25, 2017

12/25/17.

So today was a great day. After opening presents with the family I was able to move the tank upstairs, Aquascape it and begin filling it with water as well as partially plumbing it. Tomorrow's goal is to finish plumbing and fill the whole tank with water. The rockscape is a lot more 3d than it looks. it really is in a shape of a "M"

Dilan Patel · Dec 29, 2017

12/27/17

Day I finally got the whole tank filled and got the sump up and running

12/28/17

I got my denitrator hooked up as well as added marine pure block and skimmer turned on. Also I put temporary lights on for viewing until canopy is built later in the spring.

Dilan Patel · Dec 30, 2017

12/29/17

Added Biospira and went to the store to add my first fish. I added a red head solan wrasse, 2 S&R snowflake clownfish and a male blue throat trigger. All fish ate when I got home except for the blue throat which is extremely shy. Been wanting a blue throat for a long time ever since I lost my female when I fist started up my 180 gallon tank. As well as wanting a designer clownfish which goes with my unique aspect of my tank

Oh also I added a kessil a160we as a fuge light for the chaeto I put from my 180 gallon tank to help seed the tank as well. Any question please feel free to ask them and I will be doing a parameter check tomorrow so will keep you all posted.

Dilan Patel · Jan 2, 2018

01/02/2018

Parameters tested by LFS
Nitrate:5
Nitrite:0
Ammonia:0

Chemistry looks great but the tank not so great for a couple reasons.

One is the Blue throat trigger unfortunately passed away. I learned my lesson of going slower and make sure to pick a fish eating and not hiding which I neglected to see those as red flags. The LFS has a good relationship with me so they were able to make it right. The guy who always helps me told me that if anything were to happen to the trigger just talk to him and he for sure always takes care of me. I was so eager of trying the bacteria in a bottle and forgot everything I learned with my past two tanks setting them up. Lesson learned

The other is I am not hitting the cycle of Diatoms. to combat this I am going to run GFO which i just set it up today in order to help minimize the amount of phosphates in the water. IDK if this will work but its worth a try to help minimize this. I got my salt which i have been waiting on so I am now able to raise the salinity slowly while using my ATO.

If any questions arise please post them and I will do my best in answering them. I am always eager to share the knowledge I have gained from experience as well as learning from others

Dilan Patel · Jan 11, 2018

01/11/18

Noticed a small sliver of coraline on a rock

As well as the tank may have finished it's diatom cycle and is now starting the dreaded hair algae.

Dilan Patel · Jan 14, 2018

01/14/18

So the hair algae has progressed lol big shocker.

Salinity has begun to rise and is now about 1.024-1.025

I started to notice an "ocean smell" which usually means something is wrong...cannot run carbon due tomy reactor I bought not working right so I decided to return it and buy a new one.

So I tested Nitrate and got 0 as well as Ammonia at 0.

Could be the smell of the hair algae starting. Any thoughts?

Dilan Patel · Jan 25, 2018

01/25/18

Tank seems to be very stable. Chaeto is growing rapidly with the use of a spare kessil ap160 and so is the hair algae lol. So since the tank was hitting around the 1month mork and the fish and chemistry has been running great i decided I would treat myself to some fish

i decided to put some fish from my plan into action finding a nice blue carribean tang which Ive wanted since I lost my frist one very early in the hobby due to unknown reasons. As well as 2 copperband butterflys one for my 180 and one for this tank. This would be my second attempt to keeping these guys. I hope to find some blackworms at the LFS but I have clams on the halfshell and the copperband will be in a acclimation box in the 180 for a few days.

Daniel@R2R · Jan 26, 2018

Looking good so far!

Dilan Patel · Jan 27, 2018

01/27/18

Today I recieved my order from LA.

I got a blue caribbean tang in transition stage at 2 7/8in on divers den. As well as 2 copperband butterflys around 2-2.5 inches from the regualar LA site as well as 3 peppermint shrimp for aiptasia prevention. All fish came in alive and looked healthy. The copperband and tang are doing well in the new home and I am about to try some food out for the butterfly. The second butterfly went into an acclimation box into my other tank as well as two shrimps into the sump. The one other shrimp went into this sumps refugium area. I know how hard Copperbands are to keep and did even more research than I had done with my first copperband I purchased. I cannot get Live Blackworms locally so I decided to try LRS Fish frenzy. I usually feed LRS Reef Frenzy and PE Mysis but found out the fish frenzy contained blackworms so I wanted to give it a try. When I had my last Copperband about November of 2017 it would not touch Reef Frenzy or the clams on the half shell. I am determined to keep it in the acclimation box for longer to see if I can get this one to eat. These new ones are also 1/2 the size of my previous one. So I am going to test out Reef Frenzy,Fish Frenzy,Clams on the Halfshell frozen,Pe Mysis,Butterfly and angelfood mix from Ocean Nutrition as well as Live Br

Dilan Patel · Feb 7, 2018

02/07/18

So everything seems to be doing good. The tang and the butterfly are doing great and the butterfly continues to eat mussels. I changed out my light because I thought it was creating my hair algae issue. With the LEDs I bought. That seems to have slowed the growth of the algae down so my snails and tang can eat it. Will take a pic later this weekend to document progress! All chemicals are stable and hoping to add a frag soon. Maybe a tricolor.

Dilan Patel · Feb 9, 2018

02/09/18

So I decided to stop by the LFS today for some snails for my refugiums. Well I got an unexpected surprise when I walked in. I saw this fish the last time I was at the LFS and was so sad that it was sold. But the lady who bought the fish decided she did not want it anymore and I was so lucky to find it. It is about 2-3in and got it at a decent to great price looking online. This has been a dream fish of mine and was lucky to be able to scoop up what looked to be an extreamly healthy specimen with not exterior flaws. Will get a pic of it when he is in the tank

Dilan Patel · Feb 10, 2018

02/10/18

So the New fish I got was a beautiful Purple tang. She and my Carribean blue tang have been going at it for the past day but everytime I put food in they ignore achother and allow eachother to eat in peace

Hopefully itll cut out in a week or so. I am going to try to keep them well fed so they can fight off any battle scars. both are healthy which is a plus. Had the caribbean for about 2 weeks. Copperband is doing well adn is eating nori lol. And the wrasse and clownfish are looking fat and healthy. All the Hair algae has vanished since changing out my t-5s for my LED which I was not planning on putting on until I built the canopy.

hayleycreates · Apr 5, 2018

I'm ready for your next update!! We are moving at the end of this month, and then we will be setting up our 135 Gallon, so I'm wanting to follow along with what you've got going on. I'm a total newbie though so we bought a Red Sea Max S 500 so I wouldn't have to start from scratch putting all the pieces together. I can learn that as I'm waiting for the tank to cycle and mature enough for corals and fish slowly.

Dilan Patel · Apr 5, 2018

Awesome I will write an update later today following some photos and what I plan to do soon.

Dilan Patel · Apr 5, 2018

04/05/18

So it has been a hectic two months since my last update. To start off with I have since moved past the hair algae phase but am in the cyanobacteria phase now. The copperband is doing well...doesn't eat aiptasia any more but I trained it to eat frozen food as well as mussels. The wrasse is doing wonderful and showing great color and is fat. I had two unfortunate deaths one being my caribbean blue tang due to an ick infestation (later to be described) as well as 1 clownfish for no reason I can solve. The purple tang is doing well and is gaining weight. the other clownfish is doing well and putting size on slowly. I added two more corals from my main display a red cap and a bonsai acro both doing well. These are the corals I believe to have caused the ick outbreak. My main tank has ick and when I put these corals in I didn't dip them hence introducing the ick parasite. lesson learned and when I add the next couple corals this week I will dip them and post a picture FTS

. I am noticing more coraline on my rocks as well. Parameters are stable and I am hoping to start putting more corals in as the weeks come. I will be soon starting my canopy build as well as my door and doser holder builds soon. Thanks too whoever watches this thread.

Dilan Patel · Apr 21, 2018

I did not forget about this thread...just been working on my life as well as my other tank but now it is time for an update soon. i will be starting a new project on the tank and will document it. Stay tuned for this upcoming week.

Dilan Patel · Apr 22, 2018

04/22/18

So guys a lot has changed since the last full update. I put in some more coral this weekend and everything is looking god but one coral colony seems to either be bleaching at the tips or having alk burn but the alk is at 6 so I think it is light issue. The fish have been doing fine and are looking great. I last said I would have a couple surprises which I do. I went to the LFS and picked up two new fish. But first with the parameters:

Alk: 6
Calc:400
Nitrate:0
Nitrite:0
Ammonia:0
Phosphate:0

The first fish is a beautiful Blue throat trigger. If you remember I bought one when I first started the tank and it did not go well. This time I made sure the fish ate which it did immediately and it looked visually healthy. He is about 4in long. I believe he should flourish in this tank until it is time for him to move to the larger tank. The cyano has backed away and now I am getting decent coraline.

The other is a Vlamingi Tang. I know I will get a lot of hate/criticism about this purchase. I hesitated to post about this fish but sooner or later the secret will be announced about him. Right now he is about 1-1.5in and eats like a pig. He looked visually healthy and no sunken stomach. Keep in mind I did not just throw this fish in a 4ft 55 gallon tank. I put him in a 6ft long tank which he can happily live in for a little bit until he is ready to move on to a bigger tank. I love critisim but this is one fish I don't really want to hear criticism about. The only reason I shared this was to document this for me and to anyone that needs help on a build like this. He is a unique fish to me in a sense I have never had the pleasure to keep one and wanted to try one as well as I don't see them in many tanks due to their requirements. Warning: I do not condone the act of placing tangs in a tank smaller than 4ft in length due to their nature of swimming for distances and grazing on the rock. He is going into a 6ft long tank .

I stated earlier that I started a project...Well I was able to start my canopy! I had some criteria that had to be done in this canopy. 1: had to be tall enough that I can work inside of it unlike my other one over my main display. 2: I wanted access to as much of the tank as possible so I am making the sides and front removable so it is easy to work inside and place stuff/fix. 3: light weight. My main display canopy looks great but it is built like a tank and hard for even two people to move. SO this canopy is going to be made with a sturdy frame and than magnetically mounted doors to close off the canoy. Right now I just have the frame done and it looks nice and sturdy.