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

bauder1986 · #1 11-06-2019, 03:49 PM

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.

cvrle1 · #2 11-06-2019, 04:05 PM

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

bauder1986 · #3 11-06-2019, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cvrle1

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

cvrle1 · #4 11-06-2019, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bauder1986

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

bauder1986 · #5 11-06-2019, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cvrle1

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.

cvrle1 · #6 11-06-2019, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bauder1986

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.

bauder1986 · #7 11-06-2019, 07:09 PM

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

target · #8 11-07-2019, 01:42 AM

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.

bauder1986 · #9 11-07-2019, 02:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by target

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.

target · #10 11-07-2019, 05:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bauder1986

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.