SPS 75 Gallon Build [Archive] - Reef Central Online Community

TTrout

06/20/2014, 08:42 PM

After a couple years of not having a tank setup, i'm ready to start building a new reef. My wife and I just bought a house about 6 months ago and have the perfect location in my basement for my new 75 gallon.

Here's a list of what I will be using:

Tank: Marineland 75 Gallon Drilled (by me)
Sump: 20 Gallon with baffles
Return: Mag 9.5
Skimmer: Reef Octopus 110
ATO: Hydor Smart ATO
ATO Pump: Eheim Compact 2000
Heater: Eheim 100W
Lights: 2 x 250W Metal Halide
Reflectors: 2 x Hamilton Cayman Sun with LEDs
Ballasts: 2 x Lumatek 250/400W dimmable e-ballasts
Lamps: 2 x ?? thinking something that is 12K or 14K since it will be MH only
RO/DI: Premium Aquatics 100 gpd - all new filter cartridges
Flow: Hydor Koralias

I'm heading to Premium Aquatics tomorrow to pickup another bulkhead and a overflow box. I will be drilling two holes for the overflow tomorrow. I'm a little nervous drilling the tank as it will be my first time drilling glass. I have watched a bazillion videos though on youtube, so i think i'm ok. I'm crossing my fingers that I don't have to buy another tank!

I may also start building the stand this weekend as well; we'll see.

As for inhabitants, I will mainly be keeping SPS and some LPS and polyps. For fish, I haven't thought about it too much. I know there will be a pair of clowns, but that's about it at the moment. I do like the cherub angels though.

The other thing i'm kind of batting around is i have another 20 gal that i'm thinking of making a display refugium out of. Maybe even putting some slower type things in there like either pipe fish or seahorses. Just a thought...

I will try to get some pics of all the stuff tomorrow.

theaquareef

06/20/2014, 11:43 PM

TTrout

06/21/2014, 07:51 PM

Sounds like you have a great start! I had a 75 awhile ago and I really liked it. I only had 150w halides but it ended up okay. Glad to see your going mostly sps, who doesn't like sps :D. Are you going to be going with single or double end MH? I had Phoenix 14k bulbs on my 75 and they were pretty white with a touch of blue. I'm not sure how you like your lighting but I do recommend them.
Also for your skimmer I think a Reef Octopus 150 would be better off, especially with the added volume from your sump, and your refuge you might setup. And you have head room for fish and corals.

Keep us posted:)

Thanks, theaquareef :)

I'm not too sure what I like as far as the lights and spectrums go. But I'm leaning towards something 12k and 14k, so I will definitely check out the Phoenix bulb. The reflector I have on order is a double ended MH socket. Is the market for de bulbs as good as for single ended?

I already had the skimmer, so it will have to do until I can upgrade :)

I did get some work on the stand done today. Got the main frame just about finished. Had a problem with my drill not working, ended up having to buy a new one :( also bought the wrong size screws, so ended up making tons of trips to the hardware store...

Here's a pic of some of the stuff to tie the pic gods over until tomorrow :spin2:

TTrout

06/21/2014, 08:01 PM

So, the wife and I headed down to PA this morning to pick up a bulkhead and overflow box. I ended up getting the longer 18" model of the overflow thinking that the more surface skimming the better.

However, while I was waiting for the guy to grab my stuff from the back I figured I'd take a look at their livestock :) they had some nice figi live rock in. I'm thinking I may go with the figi rock.

All of the coral looked very nice as well, however the star of the show was the clowns!! They had a couple midnight clowns that were freakin awesome!! Never saw a completely black ocellaris clown before. They also had one that had a ton of white with just a splash of orange and black on his face and tail; it was very cool too.

TTrout

06/22/2014, 08:54 PM

So, today I drilled two holes into the back of the 75 gallon. I was very nervous about doing it, but once I finally started it wasn't too bad. One tip I would say for anyone looking to drill is to make sure that when starting the hole (free handed) that you have the drill going full speed. Don't try to start slow, it will skate everywhere when slow. Also, I had my drill at about a 45 degree angle to the glass when starting the cut. I found you need to stay in that 45 for a minute or so until there is a good enough groove to then flatten the drill head even with the glass.

Once the drill was even, I stopped about every minute or so adding new water to the area to keep the bit cool.

Also, I taped the overflow to the inside of the tank while finding the placement of the bulkheads. This helped a lot, however now I need to figure out how to get the tape residue off my overflow, doh.

I've attached a photo of me drilling the tank.

Also, I finished the framing of the stand today. Not sure that I will put any sides on it, we'll see. I like minimal open stands to allow easy access to it. It's also not in a part of my house that I feel the stand needs to be too fancy looking. However, I do plan on either painting or staining the stand to help with preventing any water damage to the wood.

whiteshark

06/23/2014, 07:41 AM

Or you can get one of these babies and drilling will be super easy :D

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g282/whiteshark_2006/IMG_20140611_203306-1.jpg (http://s59.photobucket.com/user/whiteshark_2006/media/IMG_20140611_203306-1.jpg.html)

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/glass-drill-bit-guide-thk.html?gclid=CjgKEAjwoJ-dBRDbjfKN7IzN0FsSJAAP0G_DcFKjed2u1MevA5flxZsNLkuf7fb8UtO5wyZGUFyIhvD_BwE

Looking good so far!

TTrout

06/23/2014, 04:40 PM

Whiteshark, that is neat. Wish I would have saw that when I purchased my hole saw and bulkhead from them, oh we'll :)

Here's some pics of the tank with the holes drilled.

I will probably paint the stand next weekend.

TTrout

06/30/2014, 04:19 PM

Ok, so I have a few new updates on my 75 gallon build.

I have painted the back of the aquarium black with latex paint. I tried latex this time, as it looked like it would be easier to work with if I ever wanted to remove it. Which, it does come off fairly easy.

One of my reflectors came in today. Thank you Premium Aquatics for having Hamilton ship that out to me! I wasn't sure which reflector i wanted to go with, so i have only ordered one and will wait to see how it works once i get my ballast and bulbs in. Assuming it works well, i will probably order another.

Here's some pics of the tank and stand as well as the Hamilton Cayman Sun 250w reflector.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3900/14359507559_801c03990d.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5506/14359657687_c49d99b916.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3862/14359512989_c8294dce78.jpg

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2929/14359534498_20a719f8f7.jpg

These LEDs are nice, wonder what they will look like with the Phoenix 14Ks
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5497/14359516339_1d7d621acc.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5542/14545191622_212fe87ec1.jpg

Thank you,

theaquareef

06/30/2014, 04:26 PM

Coming along nicely, hamilton makes good products. When do you plan on having it filled with lr and water:). I'm liking this build. Glad to hear your going with mh

TTrout

06/30/2014, 04:37 PM

Coming along nicely, hamilton makes good products. When do you plan on having it filled with lr and water:). I'm liking this build. Glad to hear your going with mh

Thanks, theaquareef. Well, i'm kind of doing this as I have time and money. But, i'm hoping to have lr and water within a few weeks or so. Waiting to purchase the last of the items i'm needing until friday; hoping premium aquatics has a nice 4th of July sale :)

Should have the stand painted this week and hopefully plumbed by this weekend. I would love to get it wet this weekend, but we'll see :)

This will be the first time with metal halides, so it will be interesting to see how the corals do with these 250's :)

theaquareef

07/01/2014, 02:42 PM

This weekend would be sick:). What other items are you waiting on?

I think you will like them. I have almost the same reflector, I have a sunlight supply lumenmax 2. Only difference is mine is SE. I think everything will respond well to the metal halide:).

Sub'd :D

TTrout

07/01/2014, 03:48 PM

I just made an order today for 2 Phoenix 14k bulbs, another hamilton reflector, some plumbing parts that i can't get at Lowes, another bulkhead for the fuge, and a strainer for the fuge drain.

Oh, I also got a Digital Aquatics Reefkeeper Lite Plus :dance: Can't wait to start playing with that!! I may have splurged a little. But hey, I got 10% off at Premium Aquatics because of the 4th of July sale :bounce3:

The Lumatek 250W/400W ballasts came in today. They were in perfect condition. I got them off eBay for only $90 each :)

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5498/14552036684_3d151f0265.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3879/14573728943_2e666ac2d2.jpg

TTrout

07/01/2014, 03:59 PM

What other items are you waiting on?

Other than the items i just ordered, sand and rock is all i'll need. The items i purchased from Premium Aquatics i'll be picking up at their warehouse friday. The reflector will probably be here sometime next week.

The remaining things to do are paint the stand, plumb the tank and refugium, test the plumbing, then hang the reflectors. Then i need to get the ATO, skimmer, and RKL working as well. I'll probably do the RKL last once all the basics are working.

With hanging the reflectors, i'm wanting to use pulleys to help raise and lower them for maintenance and when adjusting for PAR requirements of the corals. I'm hoping to create a system that will allow me to pull one cord that will raise/lower both reflectors at the same time and at the same level. Any ideas or thoughts on that would be great. I don't want to create any kind of support rack or rail system, just the two pendants hanging using pulley and tackle system.

I have seen some examples on different threads, but nothing very specific on how they did it. I'm sure I can figure it out, but some examples would be nice :)

Thank you,

theaquareef

07/01/2014, 04:41 PM

NICE!!! Damn thats a good price on that ballast, I almost went with the same ballast but I got a smoking deal from a really nice guy on my m80 locally. I think you will like it. Splurging is a good thing, somtimes:) especially if you get 10% off! Just remember with that ballast that, you'll need to keep it in the 250SL position since you are going to be running double ended bulbs:). A pulley system will be nice! I thought about doing that, I used some hooks and some black chain from HD, so its adjustable, but a little more time consuming but I'm okay with that since I only paid $15.

I love it when stuff comes together like this! Can't wait for the progress! Make me miss my 75 a lot! :)

TTrout

07/11/2014, 04:12 PM

Ok, so it's taking me longer than expected. Surprise, surprise :facepalm:

I have started plumbing the tank and have ran into a few issues, but I think I'm back on track now.

I read somewhere that a couple 45s are actually worse than one 90, so I have switched to using 90s. This has made running the pipes so much easier and gives it a cleaner look.

Here's some photos of the work so far:

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2899/14443989600_7294f645dd_c.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3919/14443995600_3a8bae9a30_c.jpg

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2912/14630650145_75b803dc2c_c.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5153/14627407401_0145829527_c.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5494/14650579083_ef7593cb40_c.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5483/14444249327_6ca3a5ff2c_c.jpg

Ok, I'm headed back to Lowes to pickup a few more 90s and some other things to help support the plumbing.

Thanks,

TTrout

07/13/2014, 04:21 PM

So, I went to my family reunion today, so not too much done on the tank. Although, I was able to finish the plumbing on the display tank tonight. I have one issue with the return plumbing I need to fix before turning the pump on to test.

I re-used a 90 to 90 from my 20 gallon and forgot that I had drilled a hole to create a siphon break. However, the hole now sits on the top inside ledge of the aquarium frame. I'm thinking I could put a 1/4 inch hose in there and run it into the overflow or maybe just fill it with silicon. What do ya think?

Here's the latest photo of the plumbing:

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2898/14460762900_483e3a5751_c.jpg

Getting closer to :celeb3: then :beer:

CleverD

07/14/2014, 09:28 AM

Very nice job. And my I add smart move on the mh set up you will get great color from them.

TTrout

07/14/2014, 10:03 AM

Thanks, CleverD!

Yeah, the more I read about the LEDs, the more I am glad I went with MH. I powered on one of the reflectors the other night just to see how bright it was. WOW, my entire basement was blue from the reflector pointing up on a table. Can't wait to see them over the tank! :)

Speaking of that, does anyone have some tips for hanging the reflectors with suspended ceiling tiles? my joists are about 3 inches above the ceiling tiles. I was thinking of just putting a eye hook on the joists and running the cable through it. Then figuring out where to drill the hole for the cable to come through the ceiling tile? Although, then I can't remove the tile without removing the cable?

Ideas?

Thanks,

TTrout

07/14/2014, 05:31 PM

I finished the return plumbing today and filled her up....

I'm leak free!! :celeb1: :spin1:

Now after letting it sit for an hour or so, I'm draining the tap water so I can clean her up and start making RODI :)

It's finally coming together :celeb1: :celeb1: :celeb1:

TTrout

07/15/2014, 07:30 AM

Ok, so I have a little tweaking to do on the main drain pipe going into the sump since it wasn't long enough to be submerged into the water to create a full siphon, but I'm pretty happy that I had no leaks last night!

So, I was looking around on Digital Aquatics site yesterday and noticed they have a SL2v2 module that is almost identical to the SL1 module. The only difference that I can see is that the SL2v2 module has a salinity probe port instead of the ORP probe port. Which since I probably won't ever use the ORP port I emailed them to see if I can trade them my SL1 for a SL2v2 module, and they said they would.

So, I'm taking my SL1 to the UPS store today to have that shipped back to them. I will have to pay $15 for the difference and shipping back to me.

phea2

07/15/2014, 01:37 PM

What are the dimensions of your tank? I have a 48x20x20 inches tank that i'm going to drill in a week or two to convert into a marine.

TTrout

07/15/2014, 04:24 PM

What are the dimensions of your tank? I have a 48x20x20 inches tank that i'm going to drill in a week or two to convert into a marine.

Phea2, it's about the same as yours. It is 48x18x21

phea2

07/15/2014, 05:02 PM

Cool, cant wait to see yours up and running.

TTrout

07/22/2014, 05:53 PM

Ok, so here's a small update. I started hanging my lights tonight. However, i was only able to hang one light since I didn't apparently look at one of the cable clips i bought since it was missing a nut; back to Lowes I go.

I also got my Bulk Reef Supply order in for my RO/DI. I had to buy a new membrane and I went ahead and got a pressure gauge, a auto shutoff kit, flush kit, and a new flow restrictor. Hopefully, that will fix my issues with my RO/DI.

Here's some photos of one of the new lights hung using pulleys.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/14698125006_78eb2ee013_c.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3915/14740983763_432b39598c_c.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3887/14718736124_a81c1a855a_c.jpg

I have to get the light cables ran a little neater across the back wall. Hopefully, that will also stabilize the pendant a little from twisting.

Thanks,

JMorris271

07/22/2014, 08:37 PM

Travis. I am learning a bunch reading and enjoying your build. Would you tell me what you tied into on top of the false ceiling?

theaquareef

07/23/2014, 01:18 AM

It's looking good man, how are you liking the hamilton lights so far?

TTrout

07/23/2014, 08:07 AM

Travis. I am learning a bunch reading and enjoying your build. Would you tell me what you tied into on top of the false ceiling?

Thanks JMorris, that's great to hear. I used a fairly large eye hook and screwed that into one of the joists above the ceiling. Then I took the metal cable and created a loop using a clip. You can see one of the clips in the photo above the pulley and S hook. You can use a ferrule as well if you have access to crimpers. I then fed the other end through a hole I drilled in the metal strip of the suspended ceiling and ran the unlooped end through it and then created the other loop that you see in the photo. The loop above the ceiling was then hung on the eye hook.

All of the pieces are rated well above the weight of the light fixture. Also, I made all of the connections so that it's easy to remove each individual piece for maintenance or ease replacement.

I'm at work now, but if you like I can take a photo of the above portion and post that as well.

Thank you,

TTrout

07/23/2014, 08:10 AM

It's looking good man, how are you liking the hamilton lights so far?

I think I like the amount of blue they are putting off, however until I get water, sand, and rock in there it's hard to really tell. But so far I do like them :)

screamingibis

07/23/2014, 10:08 AM

could you fit a 29 gallon or a 40 breeder for your sump or is there not enough room?

TTrout

07/23/2014, 01:41 PM

could you fit a 29 gallon or a 40 breeder for your sump or is there not enough room?

Both of those would fit. I have 40in x 18.5in between the legs of the stand.

The 40 breeder would be nice, although it wouldn't leave much room for other things under the stand such as reactors. I think you could fit a couple under there, but it would be tight.

The 29 gallon would be I think a little too high and would make maintaining the sump a bit difficult. The 40 and the 20 high that I have are both the same height. However, if you had to use this size sump, you could place the sheet of plywood on the bottom of the stand and not add the cross members I put in to give you an additional 3.5 inches of height under the stand. with a little additional poly added to the bottom plywood and side 2x4's you could essentially seal the bottom of the stand from any accidental spills from the sump.

Are you looking to build a similar setup or you just wondering why I didn't go with the sizes you mentioned?

exray

07/23/2014, 05:55 PM

So where did u get the overflow box from

TTrout

07/24/2014, 01:51 PM

So where did u get the overflow box from

I got the overflow from Premium Aquatics

TTrout

08/11/2014, 06:49 PM

So lots of updates. I have finished the lights, got the skimmer going, and placed 44lb of Marco dry rock along with 20lb of Fiji live rock. I also got my ATO working tonight.

Still working on getting my Reefkeeper Lite going. I ended up with two bad PC4s, however Digital Aquatics is sending a replacement for them. Hopefully I will get those soon as I don't have timers for the lights, so just manually plugging them and unplugging at night.

I have noticed that the tank stays pretty much at 79 degrees with the lights on and the heater unplugged. I plug the heater back in after I unplug the lights. The rkl will essentially do this for me once it's working.

Here's a pic of the full tank and sump..excuse the big nasty round thing on the right. Darn sticker residue. I haven't had a chance to get it all off yet :hmm2:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5556/14704709139_bcafb99ce8_c.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/49140465@N07/14704709139/)

theaquareef

08/11/2014, 06:57 PM

Looks good man you go a great start! How are you liking those lights so far? Seem to be putting out a great amount of light! Keep up the good work

Kyle

TTrout

08/11/2014, 07:03 PM

Looks good man you go a great start! How are you liking those lights so far? Seem to be putting out a great amount of light! Keep up the good work

Kyle

Thanks. The lights are very bright. The amount of blue in my opinion is perfect. I'm glad I went with the Phoenix 14k instead of the 10k I was looking at. I think the pic is actually bluer than real life, but maybe I'm just getting used to it? :crazy1:

How quickly do most go through DI resin? I think I made 90-100 gallons of Ro/DI and it's already used up. Is that normal the resin?

mgrmax

08/11/2014, 07:14 PM

theaquareef

08/11/2014, 07:29 PM

Thanks. The lights are very bright. The amount of blue in my opinion is perfect. I'm glad I went with the Phoenix 14k instead of the 10k I was looking at. I think the pic is actually bluer than real life, but maybe I'm just getting used to it? :crazy1:

How quickly do most go through DI resin? I think I made 90-100 gallons of Ro/DI and it's already used up. Is that normal the resin?

I do love the phoenix bulb! I agree on the combo it's gives a nice color and I got good growth out of just my 150w.

I just went through my DI resin and I got about 300gal. I have horrible water in the 700 tds range with about 20-30 tds after ro. My tds just went to 2 on my last fill up so I need to order some more.

TTrout

08/11/2014, 07:31 PM

You should be getting a lot more than 100 gallons. How do you know the resin is depleted?

It's changed from the blue to an orange color and the tds meter is starting to flicker between 0 and 1.

TTrout

08/11/2014, 07:35 PM

I just went through my DI resin and I got about 300gal. I have horrible water in the 700 tds range with about 20-30 tds after ro. My tds just went to 2 on my last fill up so I need to order some more.

Hmm. I wonder if maybe I didn't pack it tight enough in the cartridge. I have about 350 from my well and about 5 after the membrane. I would think it would have lasted longer. I saw a video of mr saltwater tv guy using a beer bottle to tap it in, maybe I'll give that a try :)

theaquareef

08/11/2014, 07:57 PM

Hmm. I wonder if maybe I didn't pack it tight enough in the cartridge. I have about 350 from my well and about 5 after the membrane. I would think it would have lasted longer. I saw a video of mr saltwater tv guy using a beer bottle to tap it in, maybe I'll give that a try :)

Hey that's worth a try! Let me know how it works if you try it haha. I have a brs 5 stage plus so my cartridge came pretty packed but for my refill I will have to refill myself. Can't wait for winter when my tds drops off though haha only 2 more months