RyanRick's 65g DI(mostly)Y Build

[ryanrick]

Howdy! I've been itching to dive back into reef mania for the last 7 years only to be held back by pesky professional commitments.. Come hell or high water I will have a reef tank.

Enter hardware:

• 1x 65 gallon AGA from craigslist for $250 with a chipped bottom corner (nothing a little silicone cant fix).
• 2x XR15 G4 lights ($450) + 2x 36" OR3 Blue Plus ($340)
  • The goal here is to have some high angle of incidence beams coming from the OR3 strips to reduce shadowing)
• 1x Lifereef SVS2-24 skimmer with Jebao DC-9000 pump ($75)
• 1x Sicce SDC6.0 return ($200)
• 2x Maxspect xf330 gyres ($360)
• 1x Sheet of 4x8" birch ply for the stand ($50)
• Profliux 3 with Jebao dosers and other accessories that are in questionable condition ($75)
• 18" Trigger Systems Crystal sump ($75)

The majority of the hardware was purchased used from FB marketplace or craigslist. I hope to come up with clean and unique solutions to make this reef as beautiful as possible!

The plumbing came out very clean. The distribution manifold from the return line will likely supply a carbon reactor and and UV filter.

I designed the tank stand to hold factors of safety of ~4 against failure. The inside of the stand is coated with 3 layers of west system epoxy and painted with a high gloss white exterior paint.

I struggled deciding whether or not to repair or scrap this tank due to its chipped corner. The previous owner told me the tank was in good condition which to him apparently meant 'it holds water'..? Anyway, I cleaned/prepped and filled the chipped glass with GEII silicone and all appears well. The tank has been holding water for the last month.

My wife and I are moving back to San Antonio in July 2021, so I plan to have this tank reef ready before loading up the moving truck this summer. Stay tuned for more build updates!

-Ryan

 

[HD_Reefer]

Howdy! I've been itching to dive back into reef mania for the last 7 years only to be held back by pesky professional commitments.. Come hell or high water I will have a reef tank.

Enter hardware:

• 1x 65 gallon AGA from craigslist for $250 with a chipped bottom corner (nothing a little silicone cant fix).
• 2x XR15 G4 lights ($450) + 2x 36" OR3 Blue Plus
  • The goal here is to have some high angle of incidence beams coming from the OR3 strips to reduce shadowing)
• 1x Lifereef SVS2-24 skimmer with Jebao DC-9000 pump ($75)
• 1x Sicee SDC6.0 return ($200, lol)
• 2x Maxspect xf330 gyres ($360, lol)
• 1x Sheet of 4x8" birch ply for the stand ($50)
• Profliux 3 with Jebao dosers and other accessories that are in questionable condition ($75)
• 18" Trigger Systems Crystal sump ($75)

The majority of the hardware was purchased used from FB marketplace or craigslist. I hope to come up with clean and unique solutions to make this reef as beautiful as possible!

The plumbing came out very clean. The distribution manifold from the return line will likely supply a carbon reactor and and UV filter.

I designed the tank stand to hold factors of safety of ~4 against failure. The inside of the stand is coated with 3 layers of west system epoxy and painted with a high gloss white exterior paint.

I struggled deciding whether or not to repair or scrap this tank due to its chipped corner. The previous owner told me the tank was in good condition which to him apparently meant 'it holds water'..? Anyway, I cleaned/prepped and filled the chipped glass with GEII silicone and all appears well. The tank has been holding water for the last month.

My wife and I are moving back to San Antonio in July 2021, so I plan to have this tank reef ready before loading up the moving truck this summer. Stay tuned for more build updates!

-Ryan

Stand looks amazing! Following!

 

[ryanrick]

Stand looks amazing! Following!

Thank you, I'm honored to have you tag along!

 

[Mastiffsrule]

#WelcometoR2R

Looks like a fun build. Never bad to overbuild a stand. Yours came out great. Keep an eye on that chip, but should be ok if lasted a month leak test

Keep pics coming.

 

[ryanrick]

#WelcometoR2R

Looks like a fun build. Never bad to overbuild a stand. Yours came out great. Keep an eye on that chip, but should be ok if lasted a month leak test

Keep pics coming.

Thank you - I have an update coming soon about the lighting fixture I'm building now!

 

[ryanrick]

Two new OR3 36" Blue Plus light strips arrived from @Bulk Reef Supply last week. Like others have commented I am very impressed by their build quality. @gws3 has an excellent post on these lights. If you are considering purchasing them, please read through this thread first. The lenses have a ~60° optics installed that create an intense hot spot underneath them. This works perfectly for my lighting scheme:


My goal with this light fixture to minimize shadowing and light spill with a clean looking fixture that matches the stand. The orphek light bars will be angled 30° relative to the waters surface and I'll install mirrors to the inside of the light fixture shroud to reflect the light back to the tank. The XR15's have a wide spread as well so I am anticipating some high angle of incidence light rays from these main fixtures as well. I made an excel sheet to help size the fixture components and limit light spill into the room. Refraction angles in the side view cartoon below are correct . Thoughts?

 

[ryanrick]

I had originally planned to build the lighting fixture with only the two XR15's, but decided that the additional OR3 lights would help future proof and minimize shadowing.

The first calculator I wrote helped figure out the distance from the bottom of the fixture to the bottom of the light so that the lights wouldn't spill out into the room but would still allow me to enjoy the rimless tank.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Looks like an OK place to have a chip, from here. Full speed ahead!

 

[ryanrick]

Here are some pictures of the hardware in its current state. The fixture build is one delivery of aluminum extrusions away from starting!

 

[ryanrick]

Looks like an OK place to have a chip, from here. Full speed ahead!

Time will tell

 

[ryanrick]

I picked up additional aluminum extrusions from Grainger today to finish the light fixture frame build. Next up is the plywood shroud.

​

 

[ryanrick]

The Orphek fixtures came with these wire rope hanging fixtures with M6x1.0 nuts on the end. It turns out, an M6 hex bolt head fits nicely in an aluminum extrusion slot! I plan to trim the threads down to length and use these to hold the fixture.

 

[ryanrick]

To minimize light spill, I plan to have the plywood shroud sit pretty close to the tank's surface. The shroud will be connected to the aluminum extrusions with a 5mm SS rod.

I epoxied these swing bolts some 5mm linear bearings I had laying around from a different project. The bolts will screw into the center hole on the aluminum extrusions. I'll be sure to post additional pictures as it comes together.

 

[ryanrick]

We closed on a home in San Antonio today, so the tank should start progressing quickly over the next few months.


Last weekend I designed and built a custom acrylic lid! I plan to paint the section covering the overflow black. The lid has two removable covers near the front of the tank. This came out fantastic, and I am thrilled to see the tank come together!

 

[mattgsa]

Great build, I love the light rack you built.

 

[ryanrick]

Thank you @mattgsa! I think it will come together nicely once we move.

I've been following your thread over the last few months. Good to see another reefer in SA!

 

[ryanrick]

The tank has water!

Using e-marco-4000, my wife and I assembled two 'mountains'! Post assembly, the rocks spent several weeks in an rodi bath. We tried a few configurations, but ended up with something I think will age well. Tape layout below:

I was able to use the cabinet next to the tank to house the electronics, so the tank's cabinet only contains hardware. I plan to add the ATO soon as well.

I am very happy with the cabinet and light shroud build, although I do need to add a lip on the inside of one of the doors.

I need to find a good live rock 'seed' donor asap. If anybody in the San Antonio area has a pest free established reef tank, and/or knows where to find quality live rock, let me know!

 

[ryanrick]

Things are moving along slowly. The rocks are starting to color up, but no coraline yet. One small rhodactis that's been in the tank for a few months. I have a garage sale profilux 3 that is monitoring ph and temp.

I picked up a lawnmower blenny and two clowns. They are in a 20L awaiting quarentine. The LFS has a beautiful 1.5" Tomini tang that I might just have to add to this round of QT..

 

[Gedxin]

Looking good! Love the shelf scape.

 

[ryanrick]

Looking good! Love the shelf scape.

Thanks Gedxin. I was going for something natural looking but well balanced. That overflow is probably 10 gallons itself! I wish it was plumbed externally. --note to self for future, larger, much larger tank--