freshwater to 75 gallon saltwater reef with fish evolution.

[coffeetwitch]

yet another update:

still no leaks. touched up the paint... didnt need much just a spot where one of my shirt buttons got into the paint job from when i was moving it around to clean up some of the silicone.

and now for some pictures.

this is the paint i used. ive had good results with it. my color options for black where gloss and semi gloss... i went with gloss thinking it may reflect some light back out to the corrals and fish if i ever get to that point.

it may be hard to read but this is the reason i went with ge siliconeI, while it did not say it was for aquariums it did have an fda spec

new seals and the painted back.

 

[tdwright1971]

Are you going to drill it for an overflow? Glass-holes.com kits are awsome and come with a holesaw.

 

[coffeetwitch]

i would like to, but i know very little about the tank. we got it off craigslist in april and it was well used back then. im afraid of a tempered glass bottom. there are no left over tags even saying who made it.

we are having to build this up in stages because bills come first. it will be fish only first with a few chunks of lr with canister filters. but not enough lr to call it a fowlr.

i will be trying my hand at a dyi sum (yay more silicone) i was thinking of a 40 gallon breeder tank for that.

also, im torn on these two overflows since im spooked away from drilling the aquarium.

prefilter box, siphon box, overflow box, siphon overflow, Eurobrace, Euro-brace, Euro-tank
or
CPR CS90 SIPHON AQUARIUM OVERFLOW BOX by CPR Aquatic - AquaCave


ha, to answer your question simply... no i am not going to drill it.

 

[tdwright1971]

I hear ya! I was a bit nervous first time I drilled an aquarium (my 75). After that I went drill crazy and the peice of mind of not having to worry if my syphon will start back after a power failure is worth the risk. But I am quite the do it yourselfer. I cut the glass for my dividers in my sump. Built a wooden box for the 250watt mh that stays cool to the touch without using fans. Built a cheap pvc style overflow that I am using on my 180. Made my own live rock, even built my auto top off using spare parts. I love cheap or diy as long as it doesn't sacrifice on quality. Also grow my own phyto. Some things however your better off spending a little money on, lights ,protien skimmer (actually I just bought a awsome cone skimmer for under $100 from an ebay seller if your interested its an sc150)

 

[slitherbomb]

I think you can tell if glass is tempered by using the 3d glasses, the ones that aren't red and blue. If it looks normal then it's not tempered, and if it has lines, then it is tempered.

 

[coffeetwitch]

3d glasses you say? looks like i may have to go see a movie to get a pair.

and on the skimmer... it is on the to get list. but its towards the bottom but before i get macro algae for the refugeium

on those notes i have to run out to the garage and see if im still leak free

 

[coffeetwitch]

Update!!!

walk out to the garage after nearly 48 hours of holding water... no leaks!

so we moved the tank in, and then i started rinsing 80 lbs of aragonite sand.



finally back in the house!

sweety pie, i think shes glad to have it back too.

after dumping in the sand we had about 2 inches of substrate. then we started adding the saltwater. its cloudy yes but i did rinse the holy **** out of it. and we put in the two pieces of live rock we bought and kept covered with saltwater and a paper towel. remarkably, the paper towel kept the top rock in the bucket wet by wicking the sw in the bucket.

sweety pie probably glad shes not making anymore saltwater.

 

[coffeetwitch]

just for kicks i put the koralia 750 in the tank. i was really expecting more flow. bummer. maybe ill put it in my cichlid tank to keep everything moving to the filter and buy a couple larger koralias. still wanting 2 in the tank. what flow rate does everyone recommend?

 

[TLTGF]

I think the general rule of thumb is about 20-30x per hour your water should turn over... Meaning for a 75 gallon you would take 75x30 = 2250, x 20 = 1500gph - Therefore adding your return pump gph output plus the PH's you should come up with somewhere between 1500 and 2250gph of flow.

If you bought a 1050 to go with the 750, plus your return gph, you should be in really good shape.

For a comparison, I am putting (2) Koralia 750's to go along with a 450gph return pump, in my 54 gallon corner tank.

Another Tip for down the road once you get is scaped is to make sure there are no "Dead-spots" or places in the tank that is lacking flow, standing water.

Hope this helps.

 

[coffeetwitch]

I think the general rule of thumb is about 20-30x per hour your water should turn over... Meaning for a 75 gallon you would take 75x30 = 2250, x 20 = 1500gph - Therefore adding your return pump gph output plus the PH's you should come up with somewhere between 1500 and 2250gph of flow.

If you bought a 1050 to go with the 750, plus your return gph, you should be in really good shape.

For a comparison, I am putting (2) Koralia 750's to go along with a 450gph return pump, in my 54 gallon corner tank.

Another Tip for down the road once you get is scaped is to make sure there are no "Dead-spots" or places in the tank that is lacking flow, standing water.

Hope this helps.

yes it did thank you...

The k750s will be ok for a while but I have 1050s and wish I had more flow.

what do you think of that?
what would happen if i just did 2 of the koralia 1050's?

 

[TLTGF]

Well if you ask Carey, she'll tell you that you can't have too much flow! Dary says that as long as your mushrooms aren't flapping like birds you're good too.

IMO if you aren't creating sand storms and your fish and corals aren't all blown against the side of the tank... it's all good.

Just make sure to turn off the typhoon for about 30 minutes a day when feeding... Oh and Carey also told me that she kicks off one of her powerheads during the night to give the fish and corals "a break" so to speak.

 

[tdwright1971]

Again it all depends on what you want to keep, sps will grow and block off a lot of flow. As will lots of live rock. I thought my 1050s were just about right for a about the first year. Now I've added a mj 2100 mod which puts my total flow somewhere around 4800 gph. But I've knocked a few mushrooms off the rocks...

 

[carey]

In my 125g I kick one off cause theres about 4000gph going in my tank. I havent noticed any side effects like blowing fish or corals around but it still makes me feel better that they can have a quiet corner at night.

In addition, Ihave 200lbs of rock in that tank so yeah, some of the flow is diffused.

 

[slitherbomb]

I have an 800gph pump and a 550gph pump in a 40g breeder. In my 75 I have a 1300gph pump and 800gph.

 

[tjm80]

If you have polarized sunglasses you can use that instead of 3D glasses. Just hold them away from your head and angle them at 45 degrees. But I can guarantee you that the bottom glass is tempered. Glass-holes.com has a great overflow, and they'll send you everything you need.

I also didn't see any answers to the beneficial bacteria question. I think that freshwater and saltwater have different types of bb.

One other suggestion is (since you seem to enjoy DIY projects) DIY live rock. I made some but keep forgetting to test the water for pH. I have a feeling they are too brittle to add. I've only made a few batches.

It's fun to make, and dirt cheap too.

All you need is some portland cement (i used portland 1, i think 2 or 3 will "cure (ph, not bacterial) faster), crushed coral or crushed oyster shells, play sand for molding, and some time. Next batch I make I will include some dry aragonite sand to keep it from being brittle. Some people also mix in rock salt - It will melt away when you soak it in water, giving you some nice, porous, rock. If you have any questions on DIY live rock, feel free to PM me.

 

[slitherbomb]

If you have polarized sunglasses you can use that instead of 3D glasses. Just hold them away from your head and angle them at 45 degrees. But I can guarantee you that the bottom glass is tempered. Glass-holes.com has a great overflow, and they'll send you everything you need.

I also didn't see any answers to the beneficial bacteria question. I think that freshwater and saltwater have different types of bb.

One other suggestion is (since you seem to enjoy DIY projects) DIY live rock. I made some but keep forgetting to test the water for pH. I have a feeling they are too brittle to add. I've only made a few batches.

It's fun to make, and dirt cheap too.

All you need is some portland cement (i used portland 1, i think 2 or 3 will "cure (ph, not bacterial) faster), crushed coral or crushed oyster shells, play sand for molding, and some time. Next batch I make I will include some dry aragonite sand to keep it from being brittle. Some people also mix in rock salt - It will melt away when you soak it in water, giving you some nice, porous, rock. If you have any questions on DIY live rock, feel free to PM me.

Yes polarized glasses! That's what I meant lol

 

[coffeetwitch]

i was trying to look up part numbers. if i recall correctly the mj mod is replacing the prop for the pump. why cant i do the same thing on my koralia? the 750-1400 share the same dimensions. the only parts that ive seen that are different are the impellers. the pumps are rated at different wattage's but is that just because of the extra work that the different sized impellers are making the motors do? its really easy to change out the impeller assy. and they are cheap enough... if i find no answers to this question i may just buy the thing and see for myself.

i have a pair of rayban? sunglasses that are polarized i think. would those work?

dyi rock???? eh maybe down the road but right now im so new to the game i would like to see how everything plays out for a while before i start something like that.

i still havent checked out glass holes yet. i will after i hit "post quick reply"

i have a picture of my tank once everything has setteld down and all the suspended salt has been desolved. i think most of the haze of the previous pics was because of the salt.

we used oceanic natural sea salt mix.

im thinking the next few big purchases are going to be more rock live or base. i dont know if i want fiji or pukani. ive got 1 nice piece of fiji now dont know what the other one is.

another koralia evolution (online purchase there, lfs charge almost 2x what online stores sell them for)

then the next paycheck after that will be stuff for my sump.


here is a pic. the two fluval 405's have been running in the tank since 8pm last night and the picture was taken 10 minutes ago.

 

[slitherbomb]

Here is a site that can show you how to tell if your glasses are polarized.

http://www.polarization.com/water/water.html

 

[coffeetwitch]

glass holes seems to be the way to go for my next tank should it not already have overflows already built in. yep just looked at my glasses... says so right there on the lens.

 

[coffeetwitch]

pukani or figi... whats better to have? i can get both live here in town and i can order both as base rock online.