Benjamin's 75g Garage Build (FOWLR to Reef)

[mrbee2828]

I've been looking at the tank on and off today and I'm not sure I'm digging the rock work at all right now. I'm also wondering if the tank will benefit a ton by getting the rocks off the back glass. It's just a big pile right now even though there are a few cool caves.

I'm considering redoing this so it's somewhat the same on the left but about 4 or 5 inches closer to the front. Then tapering it off and doing an island in the front right. Thoughts? Left over rock would go into the sump.

 

[Ibrahim]

I think it looks nice but it's your tank and you can scape it what ever way you'd like. I'm sure it'd look great either way you go.

 

[Bschowa]

i think it looks great the way it is, but the idea of an island sounds intriguing, it might look nice to break it up a bit? good luck in deciding lol thats always the hardest part.

 

[mrbee2828]

I haven't done anything with the rock as of yet. Thanks for the opinions. I'm going to sit on this for awhile as I've done a lot of changes to the tank recently. I want to make sure things are doing well for a month or so.

I've basically allotted myself an allowance of sorts to make sure I don't go crazy and also make myself try to find better deals on things to get more for that money. I could easily go spend $1,000 today but I'd probably get a divorce

What I'm thinking about right now is the longevity of this reef and what else I need to make it right. My next big purchase is going to be the overflow box to help clean up the inside of the tank and quiet things down. I have been watching the forums, ebay and CL and these seems to be more of a rarity vs complete setups and such. I'm looking at about $100 give or take to get a new one and I really wanted to go with 2 smaller ones for the corners so that's more money.

So I'm considering drilling the tank . I had done an overflow before and this tank said tempered when I got it so I just went with what I knew. Now I have learned that some tanks are only tempered on the bottom. So I'm wondering what things I can to to see if the sides are tempered. I have read a few things on this but haven't tried yet.

Breaking down the tank would take a weekend for sure and drilling it a 1/2 day, plus installing bulkheads and letting silicon dry etc etc. I'd also have to have another tank setup for my stick and some cans for the rock and sand. I'd also need to consider how fast I can get another tank if IF this one breaks while drilling it. I have a 10g I can practice on. Buying another, drilling that and then selling the other would be a much better plan though. Maybe I can find a good deal and that would make my decision easier. Nothing impossible, but time consuming.

I can get a drill bit, bulk heads and a overflow box for a little more than the CPR box, but drilling would be a whole new level. Quieter, I can make it 99% fail safe and the screened top would be a lot cleaner than I'd have to do now going around all the returns.

I should have considered drilling before BUT I'm not to far along with coral and my sump design wouldn't need any modification at all.

hhhhmmm.....

 

[Fishkeeper92]

If you need an overflow box i can sell you one i have. I have the one from the new sump i bought and didnt need, and an extra from the 90 i had before my 110.

 

[mrbee2828]

Interesting... PM me price, brand and flow rate if you get some time later. There are still more advantages to the drilling though. Big decision!

 

[Bschowa]

I would say give it some time, possibly practice on 10 gallons until your confident in your skills and check around, who knows maybe by the time you get the drilling mastered someone will have a already drilled tank for sale on craigslist, I had a friend looking for a drilled 75 back home so i put a wanted add on craigslist where i am around here and had several hits the first day. I actually got him one from a young couple that bought a house and didn't know what they had for 20$. they were just going to throw it out because it had holes in it lol

 

[mrbee2828]

The heaters came today. I've got everything for the mixing station now so I really need to get cracking. It's past time for a PWC! I need to get a sponge filter and my QT tank will be ready to rock as well! I might just throw in a small piece of LR and one of those 1200s and call it a day for that. I could potentially have 2 pieces I use for the QT and alternate, leaving one to dry out for awhile and get cleaned real well and throw it back in the sump again. Repeat etc.. it wouldn't cost me any more money

 

[NyteGTI]

Copper in your QT means rock never enters your system again so just remember that

 

[kdpuffer]

I wouldn't risk moving the rock from qt to main and back, it could eliminate the purpose of having a qt by introducing things both biological and chemical.

 

[mrbee2828]

I finished most of the water station today. With CL and extra eggcrate this cost me <$100. The most expensive thing were the trash cans. I had some failures but this is what it's all about. And you get to learn from my mistakes right? I have 2 20g Brutes which will hold about 18g each when topped off based on where my float is.

They are connected with uniseals and ball valves. You can see I started with a check valve to prevent SW getting into my RODI container but there isn't enough pressure to push it through after it's less than 1/2 full. I cut that out. I have a disconnect connection for maintenance. Everything is mounted to eggcrate so when I take this down to work on it, all I have to do is pull the egg crate up and I can get to it all easy. Plus it stabilizes the powerheads on the side of the can and makes a nice swirl around the mid level heater.

So the idea is the day before I want to do a PWC, open the ball valve to the mixing station and let 10g in.. the water will level out and 20ish more gallons will be made and it will level off and shut off.

Close the connecting valve and add salt. Plug in everything and walk away for a few hours. Come back, drain tank and add water. I think maintenance is the #1 reason people get out of this hobby (#2 money is a close one lol) so I want this to be quick and easy! I still need to secure the drain pipes when I turn the ball valves but it's running right now. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[mrbee2828]

Something is going on with one of my DIY overflows and it's losing its siphon. I've dorked with it all day and I've made up my mind to swap out for a drilled tank. I've got to limp through the next few weeks until I can afford one.

 

[Hondatek]

Do you have any kind of vacuum pump to keep the syphon on your overflow?

 

[mrbee2828]

Yeah I have a aqua pump but I only have 1 for the 2 overflows. They are connected with a T fitting. For whatever reason, 1 of the 2 is now failing. I took everything apart and cleaned what I could but nothing looked wrong. The siphon will hold for a few hours and break randomly. I can't find any leaks in the PVC anywhere so I'm not sure what's up. It's going right now... been about 3 hours.

 

[mrbee2828]

Oh I also forgot to mention my RBTA saga. So I decided Thursday to see if I could force hosting with the clowns. Catching them proved difficult but I finally figured out how to corner them 30mins later. The RBTA was another story. I figured a direct powerhead flow for a few hours would move him.... nope. 24hrs later he was still hunkered down. So I tried hanging him out of the water with the tips dangling... 15mins later he still didn't drop. He's down in a deep pocket of a this rock I have, probably 2". I tried some crushed ice around his foot... no go. I can't get to his foot to try and scrape him off. So the last resort was trying the opposite and moving him below a ton of rock with no flow or light. I did that this morning. We'll see if he comes out tomorrow. He moved to a new rock in less than a day the other week so I know he can move around when he wants too

 

[Hondatek]

Maybe you need a pump for each overflow.

 

[mrbee2828]

Maybe you need a pump for each overflow.

I don't doubt it but I'm just going to put that $20 toward the newer tank. The are 3 around here for $40, $50 and $60 ans I can flip mine for the same once I'm done swapping out.

 

[Hondatek]

Yea I would do that too. If your getting rid of your overflows eventually pm me. Im looking for equipment for my 45.

 

[don_chuwish]

I like the water station, now you just need a push button water change setup!

 

[mrbee2828]

Here is a quick update on the RBTA hosting saga. So as of yesterday it's almost a week since I've first tried to start forcing the hosting issue with my RBTA and clowns. I tried most everything... no light, a lot of light, no flow, high flow as well as out of water suspension and a bit of ice on the foot. It didn't want to come out of the deep pocket on the large rock it had found.

I finally took out the rock and used a masonry chisel to break up the rock in an effort to make it small enough to get everyone in close quarters. 3 hits into the breakup, the anemone let go. I guess it could deal with everything but the vibration from the hammer lol. So I scooped it up and into the container with the fish. I also put in a small rock hoping it would attach and be easy to remove later.

It was pissed! It moved up onto the side of the container within 15mins and spent the day going in complete circles around it until it gave up and went to the rock. The fish had nothing to do with it... totally avoiding it. This morning it's opened up fully and the fish are swimming through the tentacles. I think we'll be set by the weekend at that rate. I fed everyone some shrimp this morning and the fish went right into it to pull off what they wanted so at least they aren't scared of it anymore.