Sam's 75 gallon first reef tank

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

So I finally started building my first reef tank. I have been doing planted freshwater tanks for about a year and half. My friend that got me into the planted tanks made the jump to reef tank last year and of course I followed. Figured o post a build thread so hopefully people will point out anything I'm doing wrong and if I do something right maybe it can help others.

The tank is a 75 gallon aqueon tank the wife bought me for Christmas. I got it drilled for the synergy reef shadow overflow.

Equipment:

- Trigger systems saphire 34 sump

- Vertex somatic skimmer

- Vertex 1.5 ml media reactor

- Ecotech M1 return pump

- Ecotech MP10QD X 2

- Kessil A160WE X 4 with gooseneck mount

- Apex 2016 controller with a second EB832

- Avanced acrylic ATO reservoir

- Tunze osmolator ATO

- 100 pounds of reef-cleaners rock


I think that's most of it.


My plan will be to start with LPS but eventually move towards an SPS dominated tank once I have an understanding of what I'm doing.

So far I have the stand frame built and the plumbing dry fitted. Plumbing is done with red schedule 40 PVC and schedule 80 valves and unions.

The pictures are of the plumbing dry fitted, but I think I got it the way I want. I ran into an issue with the shadow overflow blocking one of the kessil mounts so I noticed the cover so that the mount fits in overflow.

 

[KJ]

Look very nice!!!

 

[Richards_reef]

Good job, your setup is very similar to mine. Have you done a leak test yet?

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

Look very nice!!!

Thanks!

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

Good job, your setup is very similar to mine. Have you done a leak test yet?

Thanks. No, the leak test will be probably be Thursday night. Planning to start painting the stand today and finish up the sides and doors. I'll start gluing the PVC tonight and finish this week, Then leak test. I have tested the tank before it got drilled.

 

[Richards_reef]

Awesome. Keep us updated.

 

[cgdcinc]

Very clean. Great set up!

 

[william24]

Nice!

 

[jsker]

Very nice plumbing work, like all the red pipes

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

Very nice plumbing work, like all the red pipes

Thanks! It takes a lot longer than I would have guessed to get it done. Probably doesn't help that it was my first time.

 

[jsker]

One thing you want a solid plumbing, No leaks

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

So painting the stand is going slower than I had hope. Doesn't help that I learned a valuable lesson about trying to clean oil based paint with water and spent 2 hours running around buying acetone and cleaning the kitchen sick yesterday. I'm hoping to wrap up painting today.

I also need to clean the dry rock I have. I did a vinegar soak when I got it but it ended up sitting longer than I had planned and it's got little black spots on a couple rocks. I'm planning on doing a bleach soak for a few hours.

Before starting painting I did mock up some of the equipment to make sure I didn't need to cut holes after paining. The pictures are what I have planned so far. I have an ALD module coming this week to add also. Under the right side EB is where my dosing pump will go someday.

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

So the tank build stalled a couple weekends ago when I was using a flathead screwdriver to separate one of the PVC fittings that was stuck from dry fitting. The screwdriver slipped and I stabbed my hand pinched a nerve. Woke my pregnant wife up running into the house dripping blood everywhere. Went to the ER to get it checked and all looks good. It still hurts and I can't grip very well yet but hoping to finish the build this week and get water in it cycling this weekend.

I did manage to get the overflow plumbing done and glued into place. The return plumbing is about half done. Painted the stand and put the skin on it. Still need to paint the skin.

I had ordered an M1 screen and Barb kit but Ecotech sent me an L1 kit. Emailed them about it and got awesome customer service and was a little surprised how quickly they handled the situation considering it was a $10 part.

When I got my reef-cleaners rock I did a vinegar bath and never got around to the bleach soak so I will be doing that this week. I have a couple ideas in mind for the scape but nothing set yet.

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

Here's a couple of the scape ideas I was playing with. Not sure exactly how I want it to look, so I'm open to ideas.

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

I finally got the tank running a leak test. I got the shadow overflow running pretty good, but it seems like I have too much flow going in the secondary drain, because I can hear it flowing though. I watched a few YouTube videos on how to setup beananimal style overflows and I think it might just take some tweaking. I'm gonna let it run through the night to make sure no leaks pop up, then move it inside tomorrow.

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

Got the tank moved inside today. My brother helped me get it in and put the rock in so I can look at it for a few days and decide if I want to change the setup before I glue. I'll have to pull all the rock out when I start hooking up equipment so I can do some cable management before filling it with water.

Planning on filling with water this weekend, but I also need to finish building the door for the front of the stand. I'm hoping to get a breakout box for the Apex and hook a sensor or something to the door to automatically turn the lights on when I open it.

I've got 5 weeks till the baby comes (assuming he doesn't follow my footsteps and come early) so I'm hoping to get it all setup and cycled, so during my leave from work I can order a pair of clownfish to make the first inhabitants.

Planning on setting up a 20 gallon long tank I used for a freshwater tank as my QT tank in garage. I also have a 29gallon tank I could use but I think the 20 long might be better for longer swimming area. Biggest fish I'm planning on is a kole eye Tang.

 

[Dsnakes]

Looking great! I really like the separate rock structure look.

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

Looking great! I really like the separate rock structure look.

Thanks! I'm leaning towards the separate look.

 

[Clayton Jessup]

Looks great , I can't wait to see this build as well . I am starting a 75g build my self this looks great [emoji1303]

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

So I should have water in it cycling tomorrow or Sunday. Started making RODI tonight. I have a spectrapure 180gpd unit and I'm getting around 65psi out of the hose.

I've got a bucket of aquaforest reef salt for making the saltwater. Planning on mixing it in the tank. Also planning on dosing amonia to help get the cycle going.

I got the 4 kessils, return pump, 2 mp10s, and skimmer wired up. Planning on running probe wires and heaters in the morning. Still haven't settled on my rockwork yet but hopefully get that figured out tomorrow also. Also need to setup my spare wireless router as a bridge so I don't need to use the built in wireless on the apex.

I ran the LED strip light for the sump area but the sticky side was quite a let down in stickyness. I ordered a kit with some connectors and hooks to make it a little cleaner and not fall off.

I'm planning on having the kessils that are on the end of tank angled towards the center a little since they are only about 5 inches from the edge.