I finally made time to set up my 72 gallon bowfront that i have been drilling and prepping for the past 3 month. With limited space under the stand, i could only fit any tank that is 10 inches wide so I de-rimmed 2 10 gallon to make it my sump for skimming and water pump return. The cabinet behind the tank will gladly fit my future 20 gallon refugium. the pipes in the middle of the 2 10g tank is the siphon between the 2 because i didnt want to drill the tanks.
72g bowfront build
- Thread starter 20nano
- Start date
LuckyReefer123
Member
The pipeing looks nice for how much there is of it. It looks like that would go to a bigger tank, but nice work. I'm a little worried by your pics with how full your 10 gallon tanks are. Remember, if the power goes out, they will overfill and you will get water everywhere. But maybe you turned the pumps off for the pics. Either way, nice job on the start of the tank. Looks good! Best of luck!
i turned off the pump to mimic ad power outage and as of now, the water is filled to about 1 inch below both tank. Did water testing in this tank many times with different pumps and it seems good. The return pump chamber is on the right side behind the stand. its only about 1/3 full when turned on. Thanks for the comment. Will keep close monitoring for a awhile. I thought 2 1 1/4 would be good enough but i overestimated it haha, 2 1inch wouldve been fine.
LuckyReefer123
Member
I just hate getting water all over the place. It sucks to clean up! Is your tank still cycling?
Bald Eagle1
Member
Its looking really good. Looks like you put a lot of thought into it.
thanks, yeah it just started cycling about 3 days ago. I threw 2 big carbon cut-out pads in the bubble baffle and it cleared up my water fairly quickly. About 10% or so milkyness left. I also put in 2 rocks from my 20 gallon hoping it would help speed up the cycling process, but will see. Do you guys want me to upload update images as I go. I will be taking pictures every other day until everything in my 20 gallon will be place into this new tank.
Bald Eagle1
Member
Please do, and some closeups of the reef itself as well. they also have a section just for that so you can document everything you do as your tank progresses.
as of now i have a JBL light i got from someone for 20 bucks 4x65 watt PC, only 2 are working and its 1 side actinic and 1 side 10kk that is why the colors look like that. Thank has finally cleared up all the way, will remove the nasty dusty sandy carbon pads and throw it out. I'll take a close up picture soon of my rockscaping. WIll find a cheap metal halide set and see if i can purchase it. Saw an Oddysea 48" 4x65pc and 2 HQI DE 250w for 200. I heard people say bad things here and there, but my budget doesnt allow a hefty 500+ system so i think the oddysea will do.
Here are some pictures of my rockscaping. I only have about 60lbs or so, have another 30-40 in my 20gallon that I will transfer over once Nitrite spikes and starts lowering to nitrate. During the meantime, this is my scaping, any thoughts and idea would be appreciated and I will change the rocks around if something sparks my interest. MODERATOR CAN YOU PLEASE MOVE THIS THREAD TO ITS CORRECT PART OF THIS FORUM? Its the in-dept discussion right? Thanks in advance.
i didn't use a glass hole-drill or anything, i just had some diamond tip grinder / engraver for my dremel tool and just used it, drew a hole with marker and then slowly engraved a hole and run it in a circle, took forever. Used a small glass over water and slowly poured, didn't have any one to help me bring it to backyard or pour water for me so it was a slow process in my living room.
LuckyReefer123
Member
That is an awesome rock scaping job! The way the rocks are shaped and everything, it looks like you can completely cover those things with coral! Oh and BTW, Is this going to be a reef tank? If so whats your lighting?
yeah its going to be a full blown reef, lps and sps. Im going to start off with Oddysea 4x65PC and 2x250HQI Metal Halide 48" for the time being. When i can afford a better setup, I will either go LED or a better more reliable Coralife brand. Though I doubt Oddysea will fail in the next year or so, then again, I can be 110% wrong.
Right now i have a good amount of corals stocked in my 20 gallon. Have to transition them over very slowly after the cycle.
Bald Eagle1
Member
I'm glad you posted the close ups of the rock work, looks awesome.
LuckyReefer123
Member
Sounds good! I wouldnt jump into an LED fixture so fast. The technology with them is on the rise and they are getting better and better. So if you buy the best now, in 2 months, you can have the worst. I love my MH, my corals grow nuts! But the drawback is the heat in the summer time. But if i may recceomend one thing, Fill your tank with SPS and LPS and whatever corals you may want first. Have fish come last. I regret not doing this because now i have to watch for nitrates and ammonia and more things the fish may mess with while also watching my coral. Perhaps you already know this. But here is a GREAT video of a guys tank. He added fish last, and this is my favorite reef by far! Heres a link to one of his videos- YouTube - DSPS tank from Thailand IV‏ Look at his other videos too see what it looks like now!
yeah, i definitely agree with you on the corals first b4 fish. I pondered about that for the duration, 3month, of having this tank sit there water less. I figured it would be too boring for me to look at if there are no fishes. I'll just transfer my 4 fish over from my 20 and leave it at that for awhile. 2 true perc, spotted hawkfish and a 3inch yellow tang. The yellow tang s*&t alot. Checking out your vid now.
YouTube - that would be nice...cept it seems too overwhelming to care for and expensive as HECK