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nwrogers
05/16/2007, 08:56 AM
I was thinking of documenting the setting up of my new 65 gallon reef tank. I have never really done anything like this on the boards before but I was thinking if people were interested in it I would post what it takes to setup a reef tank. I know there are some newer reefers out there and for any future reefers I thought it may be useful. So if there is any interest in a subject like this let me know and I will post the details of my new 65 gallon setup…

jacksonpt
05/16/2007, 09:16 AM
No personal interest because I've been through new setups a few times, but I do think it would be a valuable resource for others as the come into the hoby.

fatrip
05/16/2007, 09:36 AM
i would be interested in following your progress, and it would be an invaluable reasource for people who are upgrading or just getting started...

Piazzon12
05/16/2007, 09:44 AM
I would be interested as well, especially with the plumbing/ sump aspects if that's what you'll be doing

nwrogers
05/16/2007, 09:50 AM
OK I will go for it. Please note that I am by no means an authority on setting up tanks. I am sure some people with disagree with a few things I have done with this setup and that is fine. I do think that this tank is coming out nicely and that is why I have decided to share this information with everyone. This is not the first tank I have setup and I believe it is the culmination of all of the things I have screwed up in the past on other tanks. I often have people ask me lots of questions when they are setting up their first tank so I think this may help answer some of the questions. Feel free to ask questions, give me complements, steal ideas, make fun of me, or anything else you would like to do for that matter. I have tough skin :D

fatrip
05/16/2007, 09:51 AM
nate YGPM

nwrogers
05/16/2007, 09:56 AM
The goal of this setup was to do things as inexpensively as possible. Many reefers like me are not made of money! We would rather spend out money on frags and fish rather than on equipment. So many of the parts I used to setup this tank are things I had hanging around from old tank projects or were purchased used. This tank is not one of those tanks were state of the art equipment is used, that is my other tank. :D It is low tech and built as inexpensively as possible. Notice I didn’t say cheep however. The stuff I used is not cheep it is nice but purchased or traded for in used condition. OK enough of that…

The first thing I had to consider is what kind of livestock this tank was going to house. I determined I wanted to make this a Soft Coral and LPS reef tank with fish that could handle living with my 9 year old gold stripe maroon clown fish. I also wanted to keep the tank size smaller because of the cost of setting up and running a tank. I found a spot in my living room that had a perfect view from the couch while laying down and it would accommodate a 3 foot tank. So I set out to find a 65 gallon tank. I was able to find a 65 gallon RR tank with the stand used on RC for $150. Here is a photo of it at the previous owner’s house…

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/116029IM002416.JPG
(It’s the one on the left)

After obtaining the tank I gave the stand two fresh coats of black semi-gloss paint since I wanted to make sure it matched the canopy I plan on building. To paint the stand I use painters touch brand paint and a paint brush. I removed the doors and hardware and painted the doors while they were off the stand. While the paint was drying I went down to the fish store and bought a blue background for the tank. I personally prefer blue over black for backgrounds and I decided to buy a background rather than painting the outside of the back of the tank simply because I hate painting. With the background taped up really well and the stand painted I tightened down all of the bulkheads without over tightening them and put the tank on the stand. I checked to make sure the floor was level, luckily it was, and got to work on the plumbing…

Dave VG
05/16/2007, 10:29 AM
looking good so far Nate

nwrogers
05/16/2007, 02:15 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9954046#post9954046 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dave VG
looking good so far Nate

Thanks Dave :)

Blugobi
05/16/2007, 02:16 PM
Nate great idea, I was planning on doing a similar thread for my new 120...but I look forward to seeing your progress and I may still do mine. Mine will be a bit more on the higher end as it will be my main reef tank and SPS dominated....We can compare notes.

Geo

nwrogers
05/16/2007, 02:21 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9955528#post9955528 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Blugobi
Nate great idea, I was planning on doing a similar thread for my new 120...but I look forward to seeing your progress and I may still do mine. Mine will be a bit more on the higher end as it will be my main reef tank and SPS dominated....We can compare notes.

Geo

Cool! Sounds like a good plan. I hope it may help someone down the road. The way I look at it is even if you have setup 100 fish tanks you can still learn something new from reading a tank startup thread. I look forward to reading yours :)

drbronx
05/16/2007, 05:22 PM
Excellent Nate. I always wished I had chronicled tank development like that. We can all learn or get ideas from such threads. Keep it coming!

nwrogers
05/16/2007, 05:54 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9956713#post9956713 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drbronx
Excellent Nate. I always wished I had chronicled tank development like that. We can all learn or get ideas from such threads. Keep it coming!

You could do it for your new 70 :) Here comes so more for those of you who have been waiting…

nwrogers
05/16/2007, 06:00 PM
OK now for some fun stuff. For the sake of simplicity and to try something new I decided not to use PVC plumbing for this tank. Rather I used Clear Flexible Vinyl tubing. I think for people uncomfortable with plumbing this is the easiest route and so far is working out really well on my new tank.

The first thing I plumbed was the closed loop. This tank was already drilled for a closed loop so that was a time saver for me. The tank was drilled in the back center about 6” down from the top for the send to the closed loop pump. It was also drilled on the left and right side of the tank the same distance down for the returns. For a pump I decided to use a Mag 12 which even though it is not the ideal pump for this application it is working out well so far. I was able to obtain this pump used by trading a Mag 5 pump I had and a few corals. Here is a photo of the pump and the plumbing for it.

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070516_65_closed_loop_pumpl.jpg

Since there were two return links and one send I decided to use a SCWD. The SCWD was purchased on the RC selling forum used for $25 shipped. The plumbing for the closed loop is all ¾” vinyl tubing. I used the regular tubing for the send to the pump and the reinforced vinyl tubing for the return. Here are some photos of the plumbing for the closed loop and the SCWD. (I couldn’t get a better photo unfortunately the tank is full of water and up against the wall)

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070516_65_SCWD_plumbingl.jpg

I would be remiss if didn’t say the SCWD is a little noisy and because of the power of the pump and the distance the send bulkhead is from the waters surface it sometimes causes a vortex making micro bubbles. I plan to make some modifications to the closed loop setup in the near future. I will be adding two penductors to increase flow, $25.00 each new from premium aquatics. I will also be building a vortex shield to eliminate the micro bubbles. Updates on closed loop to follow…

Plumbing the sump was easy since the tank was RR (reef ready) and the overflow was already plumbed for me. The first thing I did was push the tank into the spot where I wanted it and drill two holes in the floor. Then I used a short piece of PVC to glue in the connectors for both the send and return bulkheads. The bulkheads are slip fit on the inside and my connectors are slip fit on one side and threaded on the other. I used Oatey PVC cleaner and PVC cement to connect these two pieces but any brand will work, I let it dry for 24 hours. Here is a close-up of the plumbing for the bulkheads and connectors. (Note: The bigger one is the 1” drain and the smaller one is the ¾” return)

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070516_65_bulkhead_plumbingl.jpg[IMG]

I decided to put the sump in the basement to avoid too much noise in the living room. I didn’t want to use a large expensive pump so I decided to put the sump on a bookshelf and use a Mag 950 for the return. There is more info on the sump coming in the next installment. Back to the plumbing, for the send coming from the overflow I used regular 1” vinyl tubing and for the return I used ¾” reinforced vinyl tubing. Right below the floor I attached a ball valve on both the send and the return incase I need them to combat noise or micro bubbles. Here is a photo of how I installed the ball valves…

[IMG]http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070516_65_ball_valvesl.jpg

After the ball valve on the send it empties into the skimmer feed section of the sump. The plumbing for the return goes directly from the output of the return pump into the connecter underneath the tank with a ball valve in the middle. Pretty simple right? :)

One last photo of all of the plumbing under the tank…

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070516_65_under_tankl.jpg

Coming next: Building and hooking up the sump…

fatrip
05/16/2007, 08:06 PM
hey nate lookin good, does the mag 12 get hot not running in the water?? and what does SCWD stand for?

nwrogers
05/17/2007, 06:01 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9957962#post9957962 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fatrip
hey nate lookin good, does the mag 12 get hot not running in the water?? and what does SCWD stand for?

I am guessing you mean does the mag 12 get hot running outside the water? If so the answer is no it stays surprisingly cool. You can feel some warmth but not really much at all.

SCWD – Pronounced: Squid - Switching Current Water Director (SCWD)

Here is some more info on the SCWD…

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=10668&N=2004+113782

fatrip
05/17/2007, 06:18 AM
cool, thats a neat little guy...

nwrogers
05/17/2007, 06:20 AM
The sump for this system was built out of an old Amiracle Wet/Dry filter and some ¼” scrap acrylic I had laying around. The first thing I did was to remove all of the acrylic pieces inside the Wet/Dry filter that were not part of one of the four walls or the bottom. I used a hacksaw, a chisel, and snapped some pieces off slowly until they were gone. Once I had a simple acrylic box with nothing inside I started cutting some baffles of my own. The design of this sump was something I came up with from previous sumps I had built and some ideas I took from other RC members. The first part I built was the skimmer feed section. Since the only skimmer I had at my disposal was an HOB (hang on the back) skimmer I had to be a little creative with this part. I built a box just big enough for the skimmers pump and that is where the water from the overflow empties into. Here is a photo of the skimmer feed box/section…

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070516_65_skimmer_sectionl.jpg

Another benefit of having this box is that the only water pumped into the skimmer is water directly from the overflow and because of that it has increased the effectiveness of the skimmer. Check out this skimmate, this is less than 24 hours…

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070516_65_skimmatel.jpg

Any water not pumped into the skimmer is emptied into the sump as far away from the return pump as possible. Another limitation of this setup is space since I decided to use a bookcase as my sump stand :lol: The Aqua-C Remora Pro just happened to be the perfect skimmer for the job since it is thin and powerful. OK where was I… Oh yes, I decided to use 4 baffles and between the 3rd and 4th baffle I put a media tray for carbon and PHOSaR (a good phosphate remover). Of course I didn’t take any photos while building the sump so all I can do is describe how I put it together. Here is a photo of the baffles…

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070516_65_sump_closeupl.jpg

The baffles are approximately 1.25 inches apart and approximately 1.25 inches from the bottom. I have found this works better for me than 1” between baffles. The method I use for gluing the baffles is to get two right angles and cut two pieces 1” PVC about 9 inches long. I always glue the second baffle (the one that is up off the bottom of the sump) first. Use the right angle to make sure it is straight up and down and use blue painters tape to tape the right angles to the baffle. Then use the 1” pieces of PVC as spacers underneath the baffle to guarantee your spacing is consistent. IMPORTANT: If you are using an acrylic sump use acrylic baffles with weld-on, if you are using a glass sump use glass baffles with smooth edges from your local glass shop. For glass use aquarium silicone, you should be able to get it at Lowes. Both are good methods and when all is said and done work out to be about the same cost. Silicone does not attach acrylic to glass long term. After the first baffle dries use your 1” PVC spacers (that is 1” inner diameter not outer ;) ) to do the first and third baffle on either side of the second baffle. You can use the blue painters tape to help secure the baffles while you are gluing/silicone-ing them. For the media tray I try to make it about 2.5” – 3” wide and I use two .5” pieces to hold the egg crate (aka light diffuser from the hardware store). I glued the two .5” pieces to the third and fourth baffle then I glued the forth baffle into the sump. I try to make the media tray about 1.5” – 2.5” deep. Lastly I drilled the sump and used a threaded bulkhead to hook up the Mag 950 return pump externally. Photo of the return pump and bulkhead…

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070516_65_return_pumpl.jpg

I have found this sump design to be very effective and so far I am very pleased with it. Once downfall however with this particular sump, not the design, is that it is so small and there is a limited amount of water I can move thru it without creating micro bubbles. With a bigger sump this wouldn’t be an issue, so go bigger if you can. Here is a photo of the entire sump setup…

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070516_65s_sump_full_l.jpg

Did you get all of that? :)

Coming next: Aquascaping with acrylic rods

nwrogers
06/26/2007, 11:40 AM
OK things have been kind of crazy around my place lately with the problems with my 150 so work on my new 65 have been kind of put on hold. Now that the 150 is starting to shape back up I am going to try to continue my 65 tank build and build thread. As promised here are a few photos of my aquascaping with acrylic rods.

So with this tank I wanted to do something different with the rock work than I did with my 150. On the 150 I did what I call the arena style aquascaping, some people call it the rock wall or the fruit stand :lol: Now I really like that look especially when there are a bunch of ledges and caves like I have but never the less I wanted to do something different here. What I decided on was the more contemporary open style pillar look admittedly inspired by Iwan’s new tank…

http://www.hausriff.ch/4534/156972.html

(Disclaimer: I realize my tank will never be as nice as his but it is nice to dream isn’t it? :D )

Enough with the distractions, so the first thing I did was to go down to Binghamton Plate Glass Co. and buy a 6 foot rod of ½ inch acrylic rod pictured below…

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070624_acrylic_rodl.jpg

Then I took all of my rock out of the holding container it was in and came up with a design I liked. Once I decided on how I wanted the rocks to go together I started drilling ½” holes in any spots I thought would be the most inconspicuous. I cut the rod to length and started putting it together. Here is a photo of one of the acrylic rods in the rock…

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070606_rock_half_inch_rodl.jpg

And here is a photo with the new rock being held in place by the acrylic rod. I circled three places where acrylic rods were being used to secure the rocks in a gravity deifying way. Notice you can’t see the acrylic rods, pretty slick huh?

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070606_rock_acrylic_rodsl.jpg

So last but not least I thought I would show my first FTS (Full Tank Shot)! Now you may notice my son standing in front of the tank and there is a reason for that, it’s actually his tank, I just take all of the credit for it! This photo was taken on the day the tank was setup April 14th 2007…

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070414_first_FTS_65gl.jpg

Well that’s it for aquascaping…

Coming next: Removing the center brace

Dave VG
06/26/2007, 12:07 PM
Glad hear your 150 is comming around and doing better Nate. Also glad to see this thread is going again.

drbronx
06/26/2007, 08:00 PM
Beautiful rockwork. I definitely want to try that when I replace my 75 with a 90 or 110. that appears to be the cuurent and future trend: getting away from a wall of rock across thje back and going with fewer rocks but in more imaginative formations. Great thread yet. beautifully chronicled!

nwrogers
06/27/2007, 10:13 AM
Thanks guys! I started gluing some more frags last night. I am still trying to catch up the progress of the thread with the progress of the tank. With the gluing of my new frags it is really starting to look like a reef tank. I am really happy with my new rock setup. It has created a nice home for my big ol’ green carpet anemone and clownfish. The green carpet has been moving around a lot trying to find a place it likes but I think it is starting to settle down now so I feel safe gluing some frags. Nothing has been lost to the carpet although the carpet has taken quite a beating from my extremely large gold stripe maroon clownfish. For some reason the clown likes to bite off big chunks of the anemone and spit it out. I have read this is a common behavior with the gold stripe maroons and it hasn’t seemed to affect the anemone yet. I guess only time will tell…

nwrogers
07/24/2007, 03:12 PM
Well I wanted to get this build thread caught back up to date. As of right now I have replaced the center brace and I am still working on the canopy. I am also working on setting up a RDSB in the tank's stand. So since the center brace is replaced I will post some photos I took while removing it…

The first thing I did was to buy some 2 foot clamps at the hardware store. I needed these clamps because I removed this center brace while the tank was full! The next thing was to actually build the new brace. I found some old scrap acrylic I had in my basement and cut three pieces the length of the old brace. One piece was the with of the old brace and two pieces were only about ½” wide to support the new brace. Here is a photo of the new brace before I put it on…

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070515_new_center_bracel.jpg

One I had the new brace built and the weld-on #3 was totally dry I put the clamps on the tank. Then I cut off the old brace leaving about 2 inches on each side of it. Then I drilled holes in both the new brace and the remaining parts of the old brace so they could be screwed together with the nylon bolts. Here is a photo of the holes in the new brace…

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070515_brace_holesl.jpg

After tightening down the bolts I took the braces off and that that was it!

Not too bad huh?

http://myreef.org/nwrogers/photos/20070515_brace_installl.jpg

**********************************************************************

So I thought I would also give a few updates about the tank since I was at it. About a month and a half ago I added some penductors on my closed loop to increase flow in the tank and I must say they work great! The flow coming out of my closed loop has more than doubled!! I would also like to say that about 3 weeks ago my SWCD died. Now it doesn’t switch left to right anymore but just gets stuck to one side or the other until I turn off the pump and restart it a few times. Such a pain! So I think I am just going to throw it out. They are made to handle 1400 GPH and I was only moving about 1200 through it. The dumb thing only lasted a few months before biting the big one. I think I am just going to replace it with a simple ¾” barbed T fitting and forget about the SCWD all together. Just thought I would warn anyone who was thinking about buying one. I will try to get some updated pictures up here as soon as I finish the canopy…

drbronx
07/25/2007, 05:17 AM
I have heard that many people have difficulty with SCWDs. Thanx for the update..

nwrogers
07/25/2007, 06:19 AM
Yes the idea behind them is really good but in actuality they are pieces of junk. When they are working they are great. Once they break they are garbage because there is no way to open them up and fix them…

If I had $175.00 sitting around I would buy the OM Squirt - 2 Way - Barbed setup instead. Oh well...

Dave VG
11/21/2007, 05:14 PM
Is this thread dead or has there been more updates to the build?

nwrogers
02/15/2008, 09:48 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11230864#post11230864 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dave VG
Is this thread dead or has there been more updates to the build?

Woah! This thread is dead but I am bringing it back to life. I need to snap a few photos this weekend then I will post some updates. Stay tuned...

Dave VG
02/15/2008, 06:04 PM
Alright cool nate. Looking foward to it.