My 75g set up

[Ciwyn]

Just wanted to make a little thread showing off my first saltwater tank to some people who would appreciate it.

So I've been designing and building this tank since last December. Someone was supposed to build a stand for me but that never panned out so I had to buy one and that was one of the bigger causes for delay. The whole process of building the tank also took much more planning and time than I had imagined, but as I found out it was certainly better taking my time.

I bought a used 75g tank off of craiglist for $100 to get this started. When I got it I realized I wasn't very happy with the silicon on the tank. It held water but looked aged and not very good. So since I was putting in a coast to coast overflow anyway I decided to redo the seams.

Here is a picture of the overflow during the leak check phase of assembly
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/horfalin/DSCN01271.jpg (http://s39.photobucket.com/user/horfalin/media/DSCN01271.jpg.html)

My sump is a 36g aquarium my family had growing up. It no longer had any fish so I figured I could put it to good use. I designed the sump with the skimmer section and refugium on the outsides and the return section in the middle. Everything is hooked up to a reefangel controller.

Sump picture:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/horfalin/DSCN0188.jpg (http://s39.photobucket.com/user/horfalin/media/DSCN0188.jpg.html)

My ATO is set up to run from my basement mixing station. I have also coded the reef angel for auto water changes from my saltwater reservior. The RODI reservoir is on top, saltwater on the bottom.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/horfalin/DSCN0193.jpg (http://s39.photobucket.com/user/horfalin/media/DSCN0193.jpg.html)

Now for the tank. It has 50# of dry rock from reefrocks and 40# of sand (may not be enough sand). I also purchased 20# of live rock to seed the tank. The rock had a lot of halimeda on it which I may be plucking for a while. So here are some tank set up shots. I was really happy with how the aquascape turned out! (forgive my poor photography skills) Using a reefbreeders photon32 fixture as well.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/horfalin/DSCN0189.jpg (http://s39.photobucket.com/user/horfalin/media/DSCN0189.jpg.html)

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/horfalin/DSCN0187.jpg (http://s39.photobucket.com/user/horfalin/media/DSCN0187.jpg.html)

I believe this is a mini brain coral in the middle of this shot. I've seen half of it open when the lights are off

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/horfalin/DSCN0190.jpg (http://s39.photobucket.com/user/horfalin/media/DSCN0190.jpg.html)

I'm not sure what kind of algae this is, but its cropping up all over my tank, may need to do some plucking with it as well.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/horfalin/DSCN0191.jpg (http://s39.photobucket.com/user/horfalin/media/DSCN0191.jpg.html)

The tank is cycled. I've got a CUC coming this week. Was thinking of adding a couple of mushroom corals soon too.

[bnumair]

looking good. nice tight setup. lol.

[fltekdiver]

Looks great, allot of hard work paid off for years to enjoy, great job!

[twistedfinn967]

Very nice! What do you have planned for fish?

[letsmod]

very sleek, I like the design, so neat and tidy

[Ciwyn]

Thanks everyone. I drew my inspiration from a lot of the tanks I've seen on here. I don't think many of my ideas are original. I am very happy with the outcome so far though.

Should I pluck that "algae" in the last photo? I know it's tough to see. It's exciting my live rock came with a few corals on it. Haven't seen any other life on it yet. It'd be cool if there was something else neat hiding in there.

The halimeda is also starting to grow. Will having cheato in my fuge slow its growth? I think I want to keep a small amount in my display tank at least.

My fish list which I checked with the guru here is planned to be a pair of occeleris clowns, pair of bangaii cardinals, pair of firefish, shrimp and goby pair, a bicolor angel, a redline wrasse, a blue spot puffer and eventually a mandarin.

[devimik]

Looks great - cool overflow design and nice rockwork.

[Ciwyn]

So I actually just noticed a couple of interesting new hitchhikers today. One of the clam shells that came on the rock appears to be more than just a shell. I saw the tube of the clam open and close today. No idea what kind of clam though.

I also noticed something that looked like a bunch balloons under one of my rocks, was a little scared it was bubble algae, but it didn't really look like it at the same point either. So I moved the rock to get a better look and its definitely an animal, I'm guessing an anemone. I tried to get a photo but it was too blurry to make anything out.

[Sn8kbyt]

Thanks everyone. I drew my inspiration from a lot of the tanks I've seen on here. I don't think many of my ideas are original. I am very happy with the outcome so far though.

Should I pluck that "algae" in the last photo? I know it's tough to see. It's exciting my live rock came with a few corals on it. Haven't seen any other life on it yet. It'd be cool if there was something else neat hiding in there.

The halimeda is also starting to grow. Will having cheato in my fuge slow its growth? I think I want to keep a small amount in my display tank at least.

My fish list which I checked with the guru here is planned to be a pair of occeleris clowns, pair of bangaii cardinals, pair of firefish, shrimp and goby pair, a bicolor angel, a redline wrasse, a blue spot puffer and eventually a mandarin.

I have a bunch of halimeda growing in my DT and really like how it looks. I also have cheato in my fuge and it didn't seem to slow the growth any.

Nice tank and setup I love how well planned ount and clean it looks.

[Ciwyn]

Thanks guys. It's been really exciting finally having this thing up and running.

[Sn8kbyt]

Ciwyn,

I like the looks of you mixing station! Any chance you could provide a bit more detail in how you have it set-up and maybe a few more pics?

I was planning something very similar and would like to "steal" as many great ideas as possible.

[FishTacos2]

good start!!!

[Ciwyn]

Sn8t,

I'll see if I can't get a few more shots of it. It's in a pretty tight space hence why I had to use the BRUT tubs instead of trash cans.

Its pretty simple really. Just 2 of the white ~22g brut containers (they still bow out full of water). They also come in other colors. I drilled a hole in each container and used a uniseal and 1" pvc with a ball valve. The top container has a line from my RO/DI unit and a float valve to prevent it from overflowing if I don't turn off the RO/DI unit before its full. This is also my ATO reservoir and I have a pump in there that runs up from my basement to my sump.

The bottom tub is for saltwater. I can fill it simply by opening the ball valve. (Which I am not realizing putting kalkwasser in my RO/DI water tub may have been a mistake. Hopefully it won't screw up things too badly...). I have a cheap powerhead in there and I used the reef angel ATO pump to pump the saltwater up to my sump during auto water changes.

Of course you're more than welcome to borrow any of the ideas. (Some of them aren't that great! lol) Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Kyle918]

Excellent start. I hope to join the crowd someday. It is taking me more time than I expected but at my age, saving money isn't so easy!

Anywa, did you drill the tank yourself? I will have to drill mine and want too for the beananimal style as you have. I was actually planning on getting that done within the next next or so.

[Ciwyn]

It took me almost 6 months to get this to this stage (most of that was waiting on a custom stand that never materialized). I did drill it myself. It was a little intimidating at first because the bit doesn't want to stay right where you put it. Once you get it just slightly below the surface though it becomes pretty stable and then its not so bad. As everyone says though, light pressure and take your time.

Beananimal seems to be the way to go if you aren't afraid of a little DIY. Once I got the kinks worked out its been working great. I probably could have made my siphon intake just a bit lower so snails didn't get caught under it. Had to pick a few out yesterday. Hopefully they learned their lesson.