Dynastykid's 75G Build

[dynastykid]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum (kinda, I hide under the radar and read all the posts for advice), but have been meaning to fill you guys in on my 75G reef and fish build I am currently in the process of getting started.

I am relatively newer to SW. My experience includes about a years worth of sharing the responsibility of keeping a 24G aquapod while I was up at school with my roommate.

When my family would come and visit they really enjoyed looking at the progress that it had made and wanted to start one at home. One of my friends up at school had a nice 75G aquarium with an oak stand and canopy. He didn't want the hassel of moving the tank, so I offered to take it off his hands... = Free tank and stand!

Knowing I would be working on a budget, this free pick up was the spark to getting a nice tank started at home. The only problem with the free tank/stand/canopy was it all needed a good cleaning and some work on it. After some hard scrubbing, some amatuer carpentry, 2 coats of stain and 4 trys at poly later, I had a good start!

As a kid, I kept a 20G FW with bala sharks in it...perfect sump! I got some glass cut and silicone the baffles in place and now have a sump/fuge setup!

I wanted to keep the canopy on it for the nice oak finish (goes with the house) rather than having an open top with a light fixture on it, so retrofit lighting is the way I am going.

Welp, thats all I can think of right now. I will get some pictures up tonight hopefully of my progress so far because I know everyone loves pictures! Feel free to comment on anything, I appreciate the advice!

-Kyle

 

[Etunes]

Looking forward to your build. Glad your getting in the hobbie again. Be careful, it is addicting. Always glad to follow another build thread. Welcome to AA.

 

[Zer0]

Awesome. Im down to follow your build thread as well. Im almost done with mine so i need something else to look over.

Hope all goes well!

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard Kyle.

 

[thominil]

Just rinse the tank with a vinegar/water solution and you should be fine. If there are any calcium buildups toward the top of the tank, go grab a bunch of razorblades and start scraping. Just make sure to keep the glass where you are scraping wet, and the blades get dull fast, so you will need alot. Great sized tank IMO. Sounds like you know how to setup a sump (unlike me!), I will be looking forward to seeing pics of how you did that as I will be making a 20g sump for a 150g once I upgrade. Just a side note, stay away from bagged live sand as it isn't live after sitting on a shelf for the better part of a year and stay away from crushed coral (cc) as it will lead to HUGE nitrate problems down the road. Just get dry aragonite. HTH. Welcome to/back to AA!

For skimmers, look at Reef Octopus, great for the money IMO.

Get dry aragonite.

Are you drilling the tank, or getting HOB (hang on back) overflows?

 

[dynastykid]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all your support already! Just got back from golfing so I am gunna sort through some pics and thow em up.

thom - I scrubbed the you know what out of the tank with vinegar/water solution. there is very little hardwater/limescale left from the beating i gave it. As for the sand, I got some donated by a Michigan reefer member. I then bought some bagged unfortunately to top it off. The sand in the fuge, I took from my tank from school. Wish I did get all aragonite but I took what was in reach. As for the drilling vs. overflow, I went overflow. I just couldnt bring myself to drill it. I don't have those kind of nerves hah.

Ill post some pics in a sec.

 

[dynastykid]

Here are some pictures of us installing the lights in the canopy. Ballast diagrams are no longer confusing!

 

[dynastykid]

The first wiring slash please work test on the lights! Also, a pic of the stand and tank all dirty

 

[Etunes]

What plans did you use? because i will tell you this every plan i look at still confuses the heck out of me.

 

[dynastykid]

Actually, they had small diagrams on the ballasts...luckily my dad is a better electrician than I am. I would probably still be staring at it.

 

[thominil]

Make sure there isn't that much heat standing over the tank in the canopy, otherwise it will affect tanks temp. If needed, install some fans. I doubt that you will need, but just test to be sure.

 

[dynastykid]

It doesn't seem like the T5's are throwing enough heat off to effect the temp, but I will keep an eye on them. I am pretty sure my dad has a ton of computer fans at work if it does become a problem.

 

[Etunes]

Usually it doesn't come from the bulbs with the t5s, it is usually the ballasts. Some people keep there ballasts under the tank in the stand.

 

[dynastykid]

I have the ballasts mounted on the back of the stand...lil messy still

 

[thominil]

Then you should be good to go and have no problems with heat IMO.

 

[dynastykid]

Thats what I was hoping for. I did build some splash guards out of acrylic that sit on top to help with evaporation and what not

 

[thominil]

slide into canopy, not right on top of tank. Otherwise, you will have major issues with aeration of the water and mantaining a proper PH.

 

[dynastykid]

Picture of the acrylic splash guard with a cutout for the overflow

 

[dynastykid]

Hm what do you suggest for those

edit - even if the sump is open will I have these pH and aeration problems?

 

[thominil]

If the sump is open, you may still have problems. It is just best to keep the top open (in terms of nothing like glass or acrylic resting right on the brace, canopy is fine) IMO.