75 Gal w 30 Gal Sump Reef(I told you guys Im back)
 

First off....man has this forum died down in the last 6 years since I disappeared from the hobby! Checked out how things were going on the FB pages but those are severely limited in...well....everything. So, I suppose I'll do what I can to bring some more life back into the old forum.


Anyways, I decided it was time for my return!

I have been working away at this system and its process for the last 2 months now.

It all started with me acquiring a pretty beat up 50 Gal tank for free. I hummed and hawed as to what to put into the tank. Was originally going to fire up a fresh water tank just to put some of those semi retarded/boring fresh water fish in it to give me something to look at. But after much discussion with the wife she convinced me that it is time to stop talking about the days of reef tanks gone by and time to start building a reef tank again.

And that was where it started. One quick phone call to a friend of mine that has left the hobby due to time constraints and I suddenly acquired a bubble magnus skimmer, couple of AI Sols Super Blues, 2 Carbon Reactors, 30 Gal Sump, fans upon fans upon fans and 50lbs of rather dead LR!

Now everything needed a good vinegar scrubbing and servicing. That was the easy part....The rather dead LR on the other hand....well....lets just say that stuff spent 2.5 years outside in a rubbermaid container without a lid. So there was alot of brushing and rinsing and soaking involved just to get the dirt, pine needles, spiders, spider webs and everything else off.

After I was satisfied that I beat most of Canada's natural environment off of these rocks, I threw them all into a rubbermaid with a lid and fans and RO water to start cooking them. Took a month of just circulated RO water to pull most of the detrius out of the rocks. After that I was able to pick up some salt and start curing the rock with mixed RO water. Added a heater. And in about 2 weeks after that, I had a cycle going on. Ammonia was floating just under 1ppm and Nitrate at <5ppm.

So it was time to figure out the tank situation. I only had a tank and a sump but no stand. And the tank was not drilled. So that meant if I want a sump then I had to go overflow box style.

I managed to pick up alot of equipment from Buschwacker in Calgary from his tank shut down. Picked up a Eshopps Overflow Box, Reef Octopus DC pump, Apex Lite Controller with VDM and 2 power bars and probes and wireless bridge. Bucket of Salt, plumbing parts and pieces, refractometer, test kits and much much more.

So that visit solidified that I was going Overflow Box style. Now the stand....I figured that I could build one for about $240 to make it look real pretty just the way I like things. So to work I went. But while I was working I saw this ad on FB Marketplace(I love that place) for a 75 Gal tank in great condition and a stand for a mere fraction of what it would cost to build a stand! So being a bargain lover that I am...I bought it and brought it home.


And 24 hours after bringing it home....this is what we have.


https://i.imgur.com/qDAqohV.jpg?2
https://i.imgur.com/eUhVVPK.jpg?2
https://i.imgur.com/6YgsawS.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/1qqeTh2.jpg?2
https://i.imgur.com/2JaPMyq.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/kiGcThR.jpg?2
https://i.imgur.com/77wC7cc.jpg?2
https://i.imgur.com/cZqjLdf.jpg?2

Welcome back. Unfortunately you are right, this place has died for sure, and it's a shame. Not sure what happened, as I was away as well, but it used to be live and always active.

I started one of these build threads as well few days ago, but as you said, dead forum :(

Yeah I saw your build. Little impressive that you managed to pull off the Polish on that acrylic. Which makes me realize another thing. Maybe there's a lot of people online but we're just busy ghosting each other haha

hahaha maybe. It is a possibility I guess. Not sure if the active user counter is correct on the main page, but it says there are 24 members online right now, and 340 guests. Guests could be anything really, so who knows if there are more members online, but no one is saying much. Either way, dont want to thread jack your build thread

Honestly don't sweat thread jacking on my build threads. Sounds like any type of commenting is it a good thing right now.

True as well I suppose. Lets see how things go. Hopefully canreef can be raised from the dead lol.

Alright details time for those that like them.

75 Gallon Rimless with a 35 Gallon sump that has 3 sections. Drain/Temp probe and PH probe. Skimmer and GFO/Carbon Reactor in the middle with much more room for future developments. and lastly a return pump section.
Water goes from tank to sump via a ESHOPPS HOB overflow. I put an air hose to go from the overflow siphon tube to the sump pump to insure that the overflow will re-establish siphon in the event of a power failure. Also added a 8 inch long tube to the drain in the box to allow for quieter drain.

I decided to stick with 50lbs of LR for this build to allow for lots of swim and viewing space. There is no substrate ATM because I want to make sure that the LR is seated on the glass firmly and cycled prior to adding argonite.

The 2 AI sols are controlled via a Apex VDM module. Programmed to match the sunrise/sunset/Moon Phases times of whatever reef apex uses for that model. Also programmed a random storm here and there at night and random cloud cover through out the day. Mainly because I like having shiny things like that. Also programmed a high temp auto off for lights and in tank fans to help control high heat. Shouldn't be a worry really but I want to be careful.

Using a Bubble Magnus whateverthemodelnumberis for this setup. Definitely reminding me why I hate dialing in skimmers. The Octopus DC pump is running at a dialed down 1200ish GPH(Speed Setting 4) to the tank.

In tank I have 3 other fans. Fluvals I believe. None the less throw all the fans and the return together and I have ball park 5200 GPH of flow.

Im planning to go Softies and LPS and Clams for a reef. I love SPS but I don't feel like creating a nutrient free system. So I shall stick with the wiggly stuff. As for fish, we shall see what the tank needs. I know the wife will want many sorts of shiny fish for her to name and such. But I am going to keep it restricted to what the reef needs to create a nice symbiotic balance.

I will be seeding the tank with Aquavitro Seed Bacteria. Im in Red Deer so my options are limited. In the future Ill be creating a very simple dosing system to make sure everything is peachy.


The wiring is a mess but will clean up as time goes on. I'm just enjoying the fact that I have a glow in the house and can hear running water again.

Current Parameters that matter:

Temp: 77.5
PH: 8.32
Salinity: 1.026

Looking good. I'm starting a 180g right now. Will do a build thread as soon as I get a bit farther into it. One word of caution that you might already know. With your return nozzle that low you could have a flood if your pump kicks off and it backsiphons.

Shiny! We need more build threads to breathe life into this forum!

Yeah I drilled a hole into the return just above water level to suck in air to break siphon. Tested repeatedly and proves true to work! Plus I decided an hour ago to switch the nozzle to just a 45 degree elbow to improve flow rate from the pump. DC pumps really don't like back pressure.

Nice. Yeah looking forward to having some aquatic life in my house again. Been over 4 years since I've had a tank running.

I will point out the obvious, but one potential issue with back siphon holes is that they can get clogged. And if they do... Just make sure that sump will have enough room for all the potential water that would come down from DT, in case those holes do clog up. I read a story before where snail crawled onto one, plugged it up, and surely enough a bunch of water went all over the floor as sump was overflowing

Yeah. I feel your loss haha. Can only get away for so long


Noted. I'm thinking about adding a small air hose onto the hole to help prevent clog up or maybe just stop being lazy and add a check valve to the return line. As for snails....can't predict those bastards and where they will go. I've had snails crawl out of the tank and motor around for a few minutes before going back to the water

hahaha, snails are batshit crazy for sure. Idea with air hose, i actually like that, as I will need to think about that when I start planning my plumbing and all that fun shortly. As for the check valve, I was thinking about those as well, but read way too many stories of them failing as well. A lot of folks are saying dont even bother, as it is like playing Russian Roulette. Question is when will they fail, not if.

Just one thread of many: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ho...umbing.294815/

With that said, one thing I will try to do is what Marc Levenson (Melev's reef) did with it. he used reverse check valve to get air in the line to break the siphon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdURonoCyZM

You know what. Screw it. Do it all. Check valve, reverse check valve, drilled hole, and make sure that the outlet is high enough that you do not flood your overflow. Proper way to be paranoid haha.

Well I did three of those things. I made sure that my overflow can handle a lot of water. And I've got the drilled hole. And lastly I change the nozzle into a 45 degree elbow that is only about an inch under water. It's actually handy that my overflow can't handle a lot of water back flowing into it. I only have maybe about 12 gallons in it and it's a 33-gallon sump. I would estimate that I get about 6 or 7 gallons flowing into the sump in the event of shutdown even if I plug the hole. Which is good because I need a bout 10 gallons of water in the sump to pump back into the tank to restart siphon on the hang on back overflow. And that's roughly what I get before the pump is sucking air into the tank.

haha, better to be paranoid and have dry floors than the other way around.I still havent gotten to the plumbing part, so all info is good info to have once I get to it soon.

This cycling process is reminding me how impatient I can get. Ammonia is dropping. Near 0 today. Still waiting on some algae growth so I can add a CUC

Hello

Welcome back! Can't wait to see when you start planting corals in it.

Will be good to see some photos of the plumbing on your actual setup.

Titus

Thanks Titus! Good to see you're running things still. Anyways I'll get those pics to you guys of the under tank business once I clean up the wiring a tich. Not my proudest work so far haha. I just wanted to see life breathed into the system

welcome back bro good to see you getting back into the hobby again I took a bit of a break from this hobby. wow its been 5 years for me Nov 2013 when I took my baby down. but after a hard 3 years with my mental health from over seas and my current retirement of the forces on Sept 11but its time to start up again. 10 footer and sorry bro for stealing your thread.


congrats again man and welcome back :wink:

Duuuude. 10 footer :mrgreen: that's a hell of a return to the hobby my friend. Glad you're in order to return! Especially coming back big!

Go big or go home. 10 foot is my dream.

Well cycle is moving along excellently. Spiked to max of 0.75 Ammonia. Now we are sitting between 0 and 0.25ppm. And starting to get some algae growth. So it was time to start adding CUC. Tossed in 6 Trochus. Will be slowly building that up as time goes on.

Plus I added substrate. Pics included. Plus people wanted to see some plumbing. Well here it is folks, welcome to my world of simple stupid.


https://i.imgur.com/zEqipM0.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/3tldHOZ.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/lRh1Sh1.jpg?1

Looking good. Always fun to start adding life. My pump is ready for pick up so I'll be able to really get things moving soon

Oh the excitement. I love it when all the parts finally come together. Here's to your next sleepless night when you pick up the pump!

Hello

If that's a filter of some sort on the main drain pipe (right of skimmer) into the sump that's neat.

Titus

Looks like a filter sock

Yes sir. It's a 4" filter sock. They are nice to have. But a pain to clean. Need to have 2 handy because it takes two days to properly and safely clean and dry each one and it takes two to three days to get dirty

I run filter socks as well. I keep about 5-6 handy. I find the washing machine works best and easiest way to clean. Prerise with hot water to flush out detergent. Then a couple caps fulls of bleach, use warm water and an extra rise cycle. Wait a day to dry and yer off to the races with set of clean socks!

Yeah I use the dish washer. And no detergent. Bleach I'll use though. I'm afraid of my clothes washer eating them....it's an evil machine that eats things. Dishwasher on the other hand has been faithful to me.

Not much to report except for the fact that all nutrient levels are nearly at 0. Managed to pick up a frog spawn for a pretty good deal. It acclimated pretty quickly. We'll get shots of it eventually. And by eventually I mean when I can dial my lights back up to at least 30%. It's got some getting used to when it comes to the lighting situation.

I did come across the fact that the flow rate in my tank is to strong for LPS and softies and zoanthids(5500 GPH on a 75 Gallon Tank is SPS worthy). So I removed the tunze and the 2 fluvals in favor of 2 small 350gph fans that are always on and one 1350 GPH fan that is on every minute for one minute intervals all thanks to the Apex Controller that I'm using. And I switched back to the spray nozzle for my return so I can have better flow direction control.

Still having a bitch of a time with tuning the skimmer though. I cleaned it before use. Made sure the needle wheel was good. The air line and intake is unrestricted and I have the skimmer at Bubble Magus recommended depth. So hopefully in a week or so the break in of the skimmer will actually happen.

Worst comes to worst, make a small egg crate stand and elevate the skimmer in the sump. I had a bubble magus and I found I had to do this to have it perform.

I was debating that. I'll give it another few days then I'll break out the egg crate and zipties

Hello

Nice way to get some filtering for free from gravity.

Titus

And it also keeps your sump clean and free of detrius which lowers sump pump maintenance and helps maintain your pumps a lot better since you don't have to take them apart all the time to clean out sand and whatnot and they also help with microbubbles from falling water into the sump.

Not much to report. Other than this has been by far the best cycle I have had so far out of all 5 SW tanks I have had in the past!

Got some sea critters. 2 Chomis, 1 Occelerus, 1 Coral Beauty, 3 Common Crabs, Frogspawn, GSP, Blue Pom Pom Xenia.

Parameters are well with in tolerance.

Still want to shoot the skimmer. Now playing with the water level its submerged in to see if it can work.

Anyways, Pictures!

https://i.imgur.com/rXNpb3o.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/SMWWXNr.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/SlGn0TR.jpg?1

Well shit. The skimmer heard me swearing at it and decided its feelings were hurt. So the pump decided to show a brand new crack on the housing and let water on it and short out. Good thing the Apex Controller auto shut off the skimmer when it saw something weird with the electrical going on.

Anyways, decided that instead of paying $120ish bucks for a new pump for the Bubble Magus 3.5 NAC Ill just step in up one notch for the Bubble Magus Curve 5 for an extra $100 shipped. Thank you Reef Supplies Canada. Next week it will be here.

Now I just need to hope that this new skimmer will break in better and actually skim. Right now Im doing pretty good on bioload and its not a biggy to run without a skimmer but will need that new skimmer running strong with in the next two weeks for sure.

Got bored today. SO I decided to test out different cameras. First six was with an underwater Canon Powershot. Linked a video to it as well.

And the last 4 was with a Canon EOS from outside the tank.

https://i.imgur.com/WGPRIzz.mp4

https://i.imgur.com/915KKXO.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/eoLlj3W.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/KkZsZxL.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/lj6kGpk.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/d6xqbDi.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/K3XzP9r.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/3YxTIq0.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/5mH4Alh.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/f0yRTjK.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/rn9a84C.jpg?1


Say the least. Im really liking the Underwater Camera.

Looking good. Always good when you get to add life to the tank

Yeah :biggrin:

It's starting it's long path to the image I have in my mind of mesmerizing display. Only thing holding me back is the $$$ hahaha

Lol, yeah that's always the problem for me too. Right now I'm waiting on my glass for my sump baffles before I can continue