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03/21/2018, 02:43 PM | #1 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Caledonia, MI
Posts: 81
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SLOW 75 gal Build
Hi all
I'm new(ish) here, joined back in January when we bought a 14gal biocube. Now here we are in May and we have already purchased a 75 gallon tank to build into a reef tank We bought the tank in Feb, and it will be a slow build as life will most definitely get in the way (we both work 40+ hours a week, have a 6 year old and 8 year old and recently took in my 18 year old sister). We are still very new to the saltwater/reef world which will add to our slow process. We have a 30 gallon tank for a sump. We will purchase a baffle kit and build that out. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how that will run (open to suggestions). Lighting will be LED. We are eyeing the Current Orbit Marine IC Loop Pro lights. We would do 2 light strips. We will be investing in a RODI system soon. Right now we purchase RODI water from the LFS, but that won't be as economical when we are dealing with the larger water volume. We will cycle with dry rock, so it will be slow waiting to add fish. Right now our stock list only includes a goby shrimp pair (we have a pair in our nano and love them). |
03/21/2018, 08:25 PM | #2 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Bay Area California
Posts: 28
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I am doing the exact same thing. Have a 75 that I drilled. Built a stand and a sump out of a 40B. Also using the dual 48" ic pros with two of the 1050 gph eflux. Will definitely follow along with your build as I go through mine
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03/21/2018, 08:35 PM | #3 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Bay Area California
Posts: 28
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That tank doesn't appear to have an overflow. Do you plan on drilling it? I thought of the HOB style overflow but the fear of malfunction is just too scary. Much more than the drilling process of the tank.
For the sump I had previously built this sump for a discus tank. I had all the baffles cut at tap plastics to my specs. Now that I switched to reef I tossed all that and ordered a Fiji cube baffle kit for the 40b. I love the baffle kit. Came with the baffles, filter socks and sock silencers |
03/22/2018, 06:58 AM | #4 | ||
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Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Caledonia, MI
Posts: 81
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Quote:
Do you have a tank build thread? Quote:
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03/22/2018, 10:00 AM | #5 | |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Bay Area California
Posts: 28
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I did start a build thread. It's pretty minimal.
As nerveracking as drilling was it wasn't bad at all. Just be sure that your tank does not have tempered back panel. If you are too worried some lfs or glass shops may go it for you. I used the eshopps eclipse L overflow which came with the hole saw bit As far as wave makers they are to give you varied flow in the tank. Rather than pumps that are just constant on blasting your coral you can set the eflux pumps to ramp up and down opposite each other to give you varied flow in the tank. Getting ready to fill my tank this weekend and test out the wave pumps. For the price I think the ic pros are pretty nice with the understanding they aren't top of the line fixtures If you want some good, easy to understand info watch the bulk reef supply 52 weeks of reefing video series. Everything you want to know from setup, to equipment, stocking etc Quote:
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03/23/2018, 08:54 AM | #6 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Caledonia, MI
Posts: 81
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RODI system has been purchased and will be here Tuesday! I think hubby is getting sick of having to get water from LFS every week or two for me and then for his sister It will be nice to be able to just grab the water we need from the laundry room (our current planned location). The system I puchased is a 100gpd 6 Stage system. It has a 3 gallon storage tank. With this I will always have on hand 5 gallons of water at the correct temperature and 10 gallons at room temperature. We are talking about getting a bigger storage contaner eventually so we will have more water at the correct temperature so we can mix and change water on the fly if ever needed.
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03/24/2018, 08:04 PM | #7 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Bay Area California
Posts: 28
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Just wanted to say I finally got my tank filled. I am extremely impressed with the shimmer of the ic pros. It really is above my expectation for the price of these lights. Granted I did tons of research on lights and felt these were a great light for the price anyway but I really am happy with the purchase. I am fully aware I will likely need to upgrade them in the future but I am quite pleased at this point
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03/26/2018, 07:10 AM | #8 | ||
Registered Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Caledonia, MI
Posts: 81
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Quote:
Quote:
We have an unfinished basement and may be looking at building an in wall tank under the stairs It might not happen, time will tell. The basement is currently our wood shop and we don't have plans to finish it any time soon. |
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03/26/2018, 09:43 AM | #9 | |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Bay Area California
Posts: 28
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Quote:
It's nice to have an lfs you can trust. I had a new reef store open up in my town and went and took a look. The frag tanks were a mess and all the fish looked terrible. I think 80% of them had cloudy eyes. Luckily I have a great one about 20 mins from me I really like this overflow. I was considering one or the external eshopps but the fear of failure was too great. Even though drilling the tank was nerve racking it was well worth it for the safety aspect. I plumbed the overflow bean animal style and it works flawlessly |
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03/29/2018, 07:57 AM | #10 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Caledonia, MI
Posts: 81
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RODI system has arrived. We will install when we get back from vacation. We need it too! I bought a TDS meter when I bought the RODI, straight from tap we are measuring 437, the filtered water from the fridge is 323 and the supposed RODI we buy from LFS measured at 126.
Our next purchase will likely be the overflow box, then we can drill (it should be warm enough to start using the waterhose soon). We also have to decide on a location for the tank. Where we want to put it is currently being hogged by the guinea pigs. The ones the kids got for Christmas that still squeal like we are killing them when we pick them up. Not sure they will ever be tame We are also researching for the next build :crazy: LOL. It won't start any time soon, but I send hubby a photo of a tank someone built into a wall below a stair case and said it would be cool for the basement. He now wants to do it, but not buy a tank and put it in that space, but build it from scratch. We are now researching plywood tank builds as I think that would fit our needs (and budget) perfectly. I did a mock up of what my thoughts were and he liked it. If it works out it will be a drop off tank and will have a 2 wall display, the drop off would be at the corner. There is storage behind the walls where the tank would be, so we would have a "fish room" and all of the plumbing and such would be concealed back there. I will start a different build thread for that one when we get a little closer to it happening. This will combine our fish hobby and wood working hobby into one BIG project. |
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