Cali Kid Corals

Jeff's 75 gallon Reef Tank Build

Hello sage advisors of the reef. Thanks already, and in the future for all your guidance and assistance. This is a difficult and pricey hobby to get started, and I read on these forums..."Ask 10 reefers for their opinion and you get 20!

75 gallon MarineLand reef ready tank with overflow and return in the bottom. Back painted black per instructions on Marine Depot website.

Will be adding photos when the sun comes up. Waiting for civilization to awaken so I can sand and paint the stand.

Handmade stand...about $185 including a new miter say and paint. I think it will hold around 3,000 pounds! Photos to come.

Adding:

Sump: Likely DIY from 20L if i can find one cheap.

Skimmer...no idea yet

Return Pump: No idea

Lights and heater...no idea

Power heads...no idea

So excited...
 
Sump, figure out your foot print you can actually get into your stand first. Sometimes people forget with doors, the opening, etc that you can't fill the entire stand's internal foot print. If you do a sump, look at some of sumps at bulk reef supply to get an idea of a good make up. Before you think of getting a sump (whether store bought or DIY) get a skimmer first because you want to make sure that fits in the sump.

As to everything else, DC pumps tend to be quieter than AC pumps, plus you can throttle them down without putting any undue head pressure. But AC pumps have many more options. Just make sure you get a pump that is made to pump water vertically, i.e. no maxijets.

You'll figure everything else out though :)
 
what makes this more exciting to me is the fact that I lived on Guam for two years and did just over 200 scuba dives
Sump, figure out your foot print you can actually get into your stand first. Sometimes people forget with doors, the opening, etc that you can't fill the entire stand's internal foot print. If you do a sump, look at some of sumps at bulk reef supply to get an idea of a good make up. Before you think of getting a sump (whether store bought or DIY) get a skimmer first because you want to make sure that fits in the sump.

As to everything else, DC pumps tend to be quieter than AC pumps, plus you can throttle them down without putting any undue head pressure. But AC pumps have many more options. Just make sure you get a pump that is made to pump water vertically, i.e. no maxijets.

You'll figure everything else out though :)


My tank stand...from incubation to ready to perform
 

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Yes, you are correct. that's this weekend's chore. Planning on paint and polyurethane.

going to face frame the stand with SF Giants orange. Doors will be black with the SF emblem on each one.
 
Sump, figure out your foot print you can actually get into your stand first. Sometimes people forget with doors, the opening, etc that you can't fill the entire stand's internal foot print. If you do a sump, look at some of sumps at bulk reef supply to get an idea of a good make up. Before you think of getting a sump (whether store bought or DIY) get a skimmer first because you want to make sure that fits in the sump.

As to everything else, DC pumps tend to be quieter than AC pumps, plus you can throttle them down without putting any undue head pressure. But AC pumps have many more options. Just make sure you get a pump that is made to pump water vertically, i.e. no maxijets.

You'll figure everything else out though :)


EXACTLY! I bought a used stand and it was overbuilt, to the point that there was wood where there didn't need to be which SIGNIFICANTLY reduced the size of the sump I could use. I plan to one day custom make one that fit.

Here's a tip too ... Get a large piece of cardboard and cut it into a rectangle about the size of whatever tank you think you want to use as a sump (just the footprint of it), then try and maneuver that rectangle into the sump area through the doors you want to use. I did this to find the MAX footprint I could use for a sump, though I've not built it yet.

Or else if you are good with acrylic, you could build a sump IN PLACE under the stand...but you'll never be able to remove it ... but if you build it well, who cares, you will never move it!

V
 
Ah, you used similar plans to how my stand was made. The inside 2x4 or 4x4 or doubled 2x4 pinches in the "waist" of the stand and (in my stand) made it really hard to fit in a sump of the size I want. On mine, even though it supports a 180g tank, I feel is way overkill. I feel A single 2x4 would have sufficed.

I painted the inside of my stand with white exterior paint, to make it more water resistant and to reflect back in refugium light.

V
 
Is the stand larger than the tank? It looks like that from where you cut the overflow hole in the top. Just make sure your tank is supported by the horizontal 2x4s in at least one direction on both sides of the tank (long way or short)
 
Update on my build...found the following for $225:
Flame Angel
Goby
100 pounds live rock wet and in a tank
25 pounds dry live rock
Brand new MarineLand 48" white LED
several water jugs
powerhead
heater
chemicals and test kit

Still need:
Skimmer
Sump (bidding on 30 gallon rimless) for DIY sump
return pump
better heater
live sand

It's coming together.

Today second coat of paint on bottom of stand and additional bracing for my 2x4 supports under the top.

Accepted an elementary school kindergarten position yesterday so times limited. Also swamped with homework for my K-5 credentialing class.

Updates to come
 
Did you buy that rockwork or are you planning something similar?

Where are you holding the flame angle and goby?


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If you already have the rockwork, I would try and cycle it and get any phosphates out of it. Trashcan or any plastic container, fill with saltwater and add a powerhead.


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So I'm getting around 100 pounds of wet live rock from the tank I advertised yesterday, and there is a lot of coraline (spelling??) purple algae on it, which I'm told is good?

There is another 25-ish pounds of dry. I'm a tad worried about the critters on the rock, but it's cycled and in a healthy tank with 3 fish. I was going to put it in a bin and aerate it until i have my tank ready to go. What's your feeling about using the tank water in the tank for sale for my tank? Also, whats your opinion on using his rock. I'm saving a ton of money on this deal. Do i need to worry about temperature with the live rock?
 
so another question is if i get the tank, can i set it up on my back deck outside and run a powerhead to keep the rock alive? when I'm ready to scape, can the rock be dried out, or does it have to stay wet?
 
"Live Rock" is in theory, already full of A-N-N processing bacteria, and may have extras like nice pods, brittlestars, ... aiptasia, etc. So yes, it makes sense to keep the live rock alive in a HEATED saltwater filled tub/holding tank.

Now, here's my thought though. You REALLY don't want aiptasia.... Any dry rock will magically re-animate into live rock given time. It won't have any extra critters which is good and bad. However, you can always seed the tank with the critters you want.... but if you get bad critters (ie aiptasia) you will curse the rock.

The only way you can really tell if you have aiptasia or not is to leave the live rock in the heated saltwater tub for quite a while.

You can, cycle your other completely dry and dead rock in your main tank after you have aquascaped it. Then after (seriously) a few months, you can evaluate if your still-living rock has pests or not and selectively move them to the main tank to seed the main tank with pods or whatever.

Be warned that your beautiful tank will soon look horrible, and then it will look nice.

I am recommending starting with completely dead dead dead dry rock. I did this for my 180 and it was nice, but I had to move corals/rocks from my 58G which I was taking down. Then the aiptasia storm hit and the aquascaping went to crap as I moved out rocks trying to kill all the aiptasia.

Just my thoughts.
 
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