My 75 Gallon Reef Adventure....So Far!

A

Alpheratz

New Member
Ok, This is a work in progress and will update as often as I can showing you Stage Progression.

I'll Start by mentioning that most of my equipment was Bought from a Friend that got it from a Pet store (in the UK) that was shutting down, I will 1st list what I received, I sold some of this to fund myself to get more.

* Fluval 270 Litre Tank (Bow Front)
* Fluval Cabinet With Pre Drilled holes feeding Eternal Canister Filter
* Aqua Medic Turbo Flotor 1000 Protein Skimmer
* TMC V2 600 React Calcium Reactor (Sold) Apparently its rubbish
* Aqua Medic Ph400 Calcium Reactor
* Co2 Canister With Regulator
* Ocean Runner 2500 Powerhead/Return Pump (Sold)
* Koralia 4 Powerhead x2
* Koralia 1 Powerhead x2
* RO/Di Unit with Inline TDS Gauge (Brand New)
* 20 Kg of Tropic Marine Triple Buffer
* 10 Kg of Tropic Marine Coral Minerals

I got All this for £150 GBP!!! ($228 USD)

I got all this kit way over 2 months ago now, It was in poor shape. I cleaned the tank as it still had dried up salt water and calcium (Or what I think was) all over the tank.
I looked everywhere and ask a lot of questions and read up a lot about how best to start (Not saying my way is the best mind!)

1st Thing to do was to ditch the Fluval 305 Canister filter and make A project to build my own sump! So I cleaned out one of my 60 litre fresh water tank, Cleaned cut out all exposed silicone and re-silicone all parts of the tank.
I sourced for aquarium safe plastic from a local supplier and had it cut to size from a Design I made on a 3d Programme on my computer. This is the End result of my Design.

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I have looked at many designs however Due to my Cabinet (You will See later) I have such a small space to work with so this is quite compact! Any sujestions on how to improve would be greatly Received!
I will check this post worked and Continue Sharing my Adventure with you!
 
nanoreefing4fun

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Nice start !!!

I right clicked on your pic, where it was hosted, copied the url & added it to this syntax



like this... 1st bracket removed so you can see :dance:

IMG]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-u3AOuunNapI/UZK-2PqFl5I/AAAAAAAAAC4/kgM9utCe5g4/w497-h373/WP_20130428_001.jpg[/IMG]

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A

Alpheratz

New Member
WP_20130430_003.jpg


This one was it Full, After this picture I started setting it up and modifying my Protein Skimmer to fit the Small confines of my sump!

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I was using 21.5 mm Overflow pipe from a Local Builders Merchants.

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A

Alpheratz

New Member
The Design I went for was one where I sat my Protein Skimmer 1st in my sump, The compartment is where the water from my tank will flow into, Passing through the modded tubes into 2x 4' Filter socks Followed by some zig zags to reduce bubbles and into my return pump!

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Please do not Put power Outlets this Close to water!!! We nearly learnt the hard way! This is just testing everything was working, My return pump is a TMC V2 Powerpump 3800 l/h (826 UK Gallons Per Hour).
 
A

Alpheratz

New Member
The Tank was in a bad state, After a little elbow greace It didn't look bad at all!

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Then After filling holes and installing Sump I placed the cabinet underneath.

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A

Alpheratz

New Member
Thank you :) Its Does indeed :)

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As you can see I have very little space after the Sump was installed, I'm going to be placing the Calcium reactor in the other side along with the tank for a hopefully possible auto topup.
 
A

Alpheratz

New Member
Now I have been Wet testing my tank for the last two weeks, I Found my return pump too powerful and even on the lowest Setting have seen it drain my sump dry of water!
I recently installed this Y connector with ball valves to adjust the flow back upto the tank, The other going back into the section which houses the Skimmer, Is this a good idea?
I've found this has settled the sump and has constant flow through tank and sump but is there a better way?
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K

ksicard

Member
Looking good, I too have a 75g tank and your DIY sump looks far better than mine! If you made that sump yourself my hat's off to you because it looks gorgeous and looks very well thought out. What's your plans for lighting? And what kind of coral will be the tanks primary focus?

keep up the good work!
 
A

Alpheratz

New Member
Thank you everyone! I have much more to share :)

Ksicard, Yes I built it myself, its a 16 Gallon aquarium that I designed from many different design's I've re-searched. I'm kind of proud of it so thank you for the kind words :).

The lighting is a soar subject for me at present as My wife is busting me for spending Any-more money before we move(which is about 2 weeks away!) I'm going to pick up a Arcadia 4' 4x T5 Lighting rig and foot mount it on the top and remove the flimsy Lid that came as stock.

This is why I'm here and sharing my adventure, To seek knowledge too! I haven't fully figured out all type of coral I'd like to know what would survive under just 4 T5's (I'm thinking 2 Blue and 2 white)?

I love some lps but would that require more light?
 
K

ksicard

Member
LPS prefer low to medium lighting so I think your right on par for LPS (no pun intended). Only acros would need more light than that probably, but with the right placement acros might even be do able. I personally like a more blue look so I'd go with mainly blue bulbs, and I think the bluer t5 bulbs have a higher par value if I'm not mistaken. Maybe 2 blue, 1 purple actinic, and 1 white IMO. Looking forward to the updates.
 
burning2nd

burning2nd

Well-Known Member
wow thats a killer deal...
do your self the favor and go with the leds...

It will same you energy and heat..
less heat... less evap... less evap less making Rodi.. less waterbill... or well pump running

took me 10 years to admit that
 
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