75gal Mixed reef build

[Rchan89]

Hey everyone. I am upgrading from a 30 gal biocube to a 75 gal. Wanted to share my build progress as i go. My goal is to have a mixed reed with mostly lps. I am working on a modest budget so there will be a lot of diy

[Rchan89]

During the Covid shut down we were starved for resources. Our biocube had a bit of a crash. instead of bringing it all back we decided to upgrade. Here are some pics of the biocube today.

[Rchan89]

[Rchan89]

[Rchan89]

Test the tank. It is a used 75 gal with reef ready overflow. Just checking it for leaks with my official leak detector ,

[Rchan89]

We decided to build a custom stand. Still needs some paint and doors. After the mock up with plumbing it will get a good coat of paint. I made the center post removable to get better access for now since there is no load on the stand. Once everything is plumbed it will be fixed into place.

[Rchan89]

The sump is going to be a 20 gal long. I will be using this recycled water jug for my auto top off.

[Rchan89]

Got the bulkheads in today. I was waiting to check the fit before mocking up the plumbing. The tank came with 3/4 in fittings that were designed for a durso over flow system. I decided to upgrade a bit. I went with 1 inch threadxthread bulkheads to maximize the flow potential. I decided on the threaded in case i want to make modifications to disassemble it in the future for maintenance. I will be converting to a Herbie overflow system. This way i can reduce noise and have a redundancy with emergency drain. I plan to have two DC returns for redundancy as well that will come up the back side of the tank and over the top.

[Rchan89]

Got the bulkheads in today. I was waiting to check the fit before mocking up the plumbing. The tank came with 3/4 in fittings that were designed for a durso over flow system. I decided to upgrade a bit. I went with 1 inch threadxthread bulkheads to maximize the flow potential. I decided on the threaded in case i want to make modifications to disassemble it in the future for maintenance. I will be converting to a Herbie overflow system. This way i can reduce noise and have a redundancy with emergency drain. I plan to have two DC returns for redundancy as well that will come up the back side of the tank and over the top.

[Rchan89]

Got the bulkheads in today. I was waiting to check the fit before mocking up the plumbing. The tank came with 3/4 in fittings that were designed for a durso over flow system. I decided to upgrade a bit. I went with 1 inch threadxthread bulkheads to maximize the flow potential. I decided on the threaded in case i want to make modifications to disassemble it in the future for maintenance. I will be converting to a Herbie overflow system. This way i can reduce noise and have a redundancy with emergency drain. I plan to have two DC returns for redundancy as well that will come up the back side of the tank and over the top.

[Rchan89]

Just got bulkheads in today we went with the 1 in for additional flow

[Rchan89]

Here is the mock up for the drain lines. I would have preferred to use a gate valve over the ball valve for the drain but for the cost of the gate valve i went with the more economical option. I installed a union so if i ever need to change it out it should be pretty easy.

[Rchan89]

Finishing the mock up on the plumbing. Return line are in. Just a couple more modifications and it will be time for a water test.

[Rchan89]

I finally got the sump put together. Not the best looking job but i was going for function. i used glass for baffles. I cut them to size with a glass cutter and sanded the edges smooth to the touch with sand paper. the egg crate is to hold end the algae for the refugium. The first chamber will be for the drains and skimmer as well as some probes and a carbon reactor. The second chamber for a small refugium as well as some mechanical filtering. The third chamber for return pumps and heaters. Let me know what you think.

[Rchan89]

Made a bit of progress this weekend on the build the stand for the tank is painted and ready to be installed permanently! The only thing left are the doors that i plan to do later after my wood shop warms up a bit more. We decided to go with gray because we had some high end cabinet grade paint from some home renovations and didnt want it to go to waste. over all the tank and stand will have a black and gray theme with black hardware. I didnt bother taking the time to paint all of the inside of the stand, just the bottom to protect it a bit from spills. none of it will show in the end.

[Rchan89]

Also, this weekend i blacked out the back of the tank and any plumbing that might be exposed when the tank it set up. We thought this would look a bit better than the white PVC and purple primer look to keep the focus on the tank and not a plumbing eye sore. To paint i taped off anything that would come into contact with water eventually and the sides and top of the tank. i didnt want paint to be inside the aquarium at all. After taping, everything received several coats of flat black spray paint. Im sure that black paint wont last forever. But, i just need it to last long enough to build up a good coat of purple coraline algae and after that it unlikely we will even see the back at all. I still like the look of a blank canvas.

[Rchan89]

I decided to give the sump a trial run. i wanted to check the baffles more than anything for leaks and durability. I filled the tank with some RODI salt mix water. Next i placed a small pump and some tubing in to complete the circuit. everything worked like a charm. I could actively see the bubble trap rejecting bubbles and sending them to the top. There are some things i wish the sump had that i would like to try next time. I washed out all of the plumbing for the tank to remove any PVC bits from the cutting process. There was also a bit of saw dust from the stand fabrication as well that resided in the sump. The mechanical filter floss worked well to let the sump clean itself. I would like to have a much larger refugium. I may at some point plumb in a separate fuge tank all together. Also i would have like to have a couple more stages for bubble traps and mechanical filters and more room in the final compartment for the return pumps. over all just larger. A 20 gal long was about as much as i could fit under my tank and still leave room for the auto top off and some electrical equipment. I like the idea of plumbing the entire system to a sump located in another room where things can really sprawl out..... some day....

[Michael Hoaster]

Awesome project! I love the DIY approach. Nice work too. Keep the updates coming!

[Rchan89]

Thanks Michael! My goal was to make this build a budget build. I wanted to get used to something a bit bigger than the biocube but im not ready to jump up to something huge yet. If this one goes well i would really like to move up to an 8 foot tank. i have the perfect spot for one but it will take a while to soften my wife up to the idea.

[Rchan89]

here is a quick shot of the tank on the stand with all of the plumbing installed.

[Michael Hoaster]

Smart. I like to keep things reasonable price-wise too. Working your way up to an eight foot tank makes a lot of sense. Nice work on the stand too. You're making lots of progress! I agree your sump looks a tad dinky. I know it can get crowded quickly. You got room for a skimmer and a heater in there? Not that a skimmer is required. It's just a good export mechanism. I don't have one, but my tank is basically a 180 display refugium, so macro algae is my export medium.

[Rchan89]

I should have room for a skimmer in the first section of the sump. The one im leaning towards is the reef octopus int 110 i believe. I measured and made some mock ups of some popular skimmer models that i though i might go for and left just enough room to get them in and out. You can see one of my cardboard mock ups in one of my early pics i think. My plan is to run a protein skimmer, carbon reactor, mechanical filter pads and a small fuge with some macro algae. well see how it goes. i can always ditch the macro algae for more equipment room.

[Scuba Mike]

I run that same Skimmer and it works well and easy to adjust with the gate valve. I also have the even smaller footprint one the Reef octo classic 110 space saver and I can tell you that is a challenge to adjust. Instead of a gate valve there is a slash cut on the red riser tube and even the smallest of adjustments have a big impact.


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[Rchan89]

Thought i would post a bit of the equipment ive been setting up for the tank. I have one inexpensive 200 watt heater im going to use mostly for cycling the tank. The plan is to move any "lesser" equipment to a salt mixing station when the time comes and upgrade the display tank as i go. This way i can get up and cycling faster without wasting the equipment. The power head is a jebao pp-8 wave maker. flow is 375 -2100 gph on them i believe. I plan to put one on each end as well as a couple of nano power heads in the middle for good flow. Im shooting for around 30-50 x tank flow for lps. for the 75 gallon that will be around 2500. I likely wont run all the power heads on high at the same time but this way i can make varied flow from one side of the tank to the next. I went with the DJ style power strip. I will probably end up with 2 of them by the time it is all set up. I will be making and enclosure for all the electronics to keep the water off. More on that later. I installed a BRS 4 stage RODI system. I actually took the time to look up my water report to make sure they are not using chloramine. They are using chlorine. We have relatively clean water to start with so i took a chance on the 4 stage . I double checked the out put with a hand held TDS meter and it is reading 000. Seems good enough to me. I picked up a refractometer for testing the salinity.
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[Rchan89]

Hey Mike, what size system are you running the int 110 on?