Saltwater Adventures - My Build Thread

[LaneBrain]

Hi Everyone! I thought I would post a build thread to document my progress. My hope is that this thread is can be a resource for both new and experienced reefers as well as something that I can look back on for myself.

Since I am about 2 years into my reefing journey, I am going to write a few posts about how I got here, what I did for my first tank, and then my current build.

 

[DylanCameron]

Looking forward to it!

 

[LaneBrain]

Background
8 years ago in the summer, a friend suggested we set up a fish tank and keep it at my place. I said no. So we went to Petsmart and got a couple community fish and put them in a 20 gallon tank he had. We (I) had the fish for a couple weeks till they died. I read up on why they possibly could have died, turns out we needed a water conditioner. So we went back to petsmart, got that and a few more fish and these lasted a few weeks then died. My research told me that the water needed to cycle. A year later, I was keeping cichlids in a 55 gallon tank with a canister filter and fluval LED bar. It was nice! They were even breeding and a few made it to adulthood. It was the centerpiece my nasty apartment needed.

 

[LaneBrain]

Interest in Saltwater
By this time, I was hooked on fishkeeping. I was going to local fish stores (Petco) to see what they had for fish, but never buying anything. Then I found out there were actual local fish stores, so I went to those and was first introduced to saltwater fish. I was asking questions and soon realized that keeping saltwater fish was not too different than keeping saltwater water fish. My research changed from freshwater to saltwater. I read everything there was, watched all the videos. The series that really sold me on how “easy” it is was the budget build series from saltwateraquarium.com LINK HERE. From there, youtube suggested BRSTV. JACKPOT!
I was sold. I was going to set up a FOWLR tank.

 

[LaneBrain]

My First Saltwater Tank
I moved into a house with my girlfriend (now wife). So I took this as an opportunity to downsize my 55 cichlid tank to a 20 long, and set up a standard Aqueon 29 saltwater tank with a hang on filter. I got the stand from facebook marketplace and gave it a fresh coat of paint. We made the trip to Tropic Isle in Framingham and came back with rock, substrate, Biospira, an API salt test kit, refractometer, and coralife salt from petco (there was a good sale online at the time). I set up the tank and a week later, went back and picked up my first fish, a nearly naked clown and a davinci clown!
Everything was settling in nicely. Once algae started growing I got a clean up crew. Then a yellow watchman and a candy cane pistol shrimp (who are still best buds).
About 6 months before I moved, one of my cichlids started to be very aggressive and kill off the 15 or so fish in the tank. I admittedly took too long to address the issue. So when i moved to the new house, I had about 4 left. So I decided to rehome them to someone who would care for them.

 

[LaneBrain]

Time to Upgrade!
My fish only tank was doing well. I never had reef grade lighting, so I didn't grow coralline algae, despite me introducing it to the tank. I was going to European Aquatics and Love the reef to look at fish, and found myself looking at the coral. I would ask questions about SPS and LPS, lighting, sumps, and everything else. I realized that I wanted to upgrade and keep coral. So I saved up, and bought a used 75 gallon tank, with sump (homemade 40) and a stand from Love the Reef. I also got a second hand protein skimmer, a sicce 3.0 return pump, and all the necessary plumbing. So I went home and started planning out where the new tank would go, and the new wooden stand I would build for it.
I was able to dig up an old picture of the tank as sold by Love the Reef.

 

[LaneBrain]

Setting Up My Current Build
I built the stand out of 2x4’s with a thin plywood cover. The stand is the classic wood fish tank stand, but since this would be in a main area, I wanted it to look nice. I bought a water resistant colored wood stain (since the interior would be exposed to moisture) and painted it all a color my wife picked out. I measured, cut, and painted the 5mm sanded plywood and covered the outside, except for a vent in the back. For the front cover, I needed it to be removable so it is one singular piece of plywood that hangs on a screw using d-ring picture hooks.
Once it was properly fit, I moved it to its resting spot, and plumbed it. This took some trial and error because I forgot how it was supposed to go. When I did hook it up appropriately, the external return line leaked, so I reassigned the emergency drain to be the return line. This is where I ultimately landed as I don't feel comfortable with any of the plumbing outside of the tank.

 

[LaneBrain]

Lights
Tax free weekend came and I bought my lights (2 AI Prime 16 HD), mounts, substrate, and dry rock. It was a great deal from European Aquatics. I like these lights, but becasue my tank has a center brace, I do have a couple shadow spots. But for now, they work well!

 

[LaneBrain]

Aquascaping
To start my aquascape, I taped off a portion of my kitchen table tape off at the same measurements as the tank so I could visualize what it would be before I sent anything in the tank. My wife loved this part (not). I landed on what I currently have and have not changed it. As I acquired more coral, I realized that this isn't really the best layout for mounting frags. Recently, I bought a few pieces of shelf rock and have them maturing in the tank and will eventually add them to the rockscape to have better places to put coral.

 

[LaneBrain]

RODI
Until I bought this, I was going a few towns away and getting RO water for $0.35 per gallon at a public water fill up station. getting this was a game changer! My 6 stage BRS water saver 150 gpd unit came used from a fellow Boston reefer. I recently got the OK from my wife to mount it on the wall of our laundry space. I don't have to lug the board it was mounted on to and from the sink when I make water. I don't have a water mixing station, but I do keep 10 gallons of RODI water in storage for my ATO

 

[LaneBrain]

ATO/Refugium
The section all the way to the right in my sump was originally planned and used as a refugium, but I currently have it as my ATO reservoir. Inside that I have a phosban reactor with chaeto and a light for a homemade algae reactor. One of the last things I did was buy a Tunze 3155 ATO. I can't believe that for over a year I was manually adding water to the sump. If you are a new reefer, BUY AN ATO.

 

[LaneBrain]

Protein Skimmer
Reef Octopus INT-150. Used from Love the Reef. It wasn’t working for a long time, to the point where I was looking to sell it. I’m glad I didn't because I put it back in and it is working great! I think that the tank was new and not mature enough for it to pull out protein from the system.

 

[LaneBrain]

DIY Bubble Algae Vacuum
Early on I bought a frag with some bubble algae on it and didn't know what it was. When I found out they popped, that's what I did to get rid of them. A week or so later, I saw hundreds more of these bubbles. I researched what they were and decided I DID NOT want these all over my tank. I found a couple people who made tools for manual removal. I came up with the design for a siphon with a sharp point on the bottom to pluck them off rocks. You can see more info on my post HERE

 

[LaneBrain]

GHL Profilux Controller
For my wedding gift to myself (and for peace of mind during the honeymoon) I bought a GHL mega set. It came with the profilux, powerbar, and 4 sensors (Temp, pH, Salinity, ORP). This things is awesome! This app isn't as pretty as the Apex and it's a bit harder to learn to code, but it is rock solid! The programming is not unlearnable, it is based on logic. There are many tutorials to guide you through setup and configuration. It was a big decision, so I did my research and talked to a lot of people. At the end of the day I went with GHL. I bought this from European Aquatics.

DIY Probe Holder
Probe holders are so expensive for what they are and do. Especially if it will be unseen in your sump. So I made one out of small PVC. it was easy to do and gets the job done. Maybe one day I’ll 3d print one? Probably not.

 

[LaneBrain]

IKEA CABINET
I took the idea from Reefer_NYC on instagram to buy this cabinet. It is the Ikea Alex. It has great storage and looks sleek. If/when I upgrade my tank, it will be a white stand, so it will match nicely. I keep food, filter socks, testing supplies and other miscellaneous things in it. The bottom drawer holds my GHL powerbar. I cut a hole in the back to route the wires and make it look more organized.

 

[LaneBrain]

Flow
When I was first starting out, wave makers and pumps were one of the things that was a bit overwhelming to me. Upon the recommendation from Dong (what an amazing resource!), I got 2 Jebao SLW-20’s. They are basically AI Nero knock-offs. Recently, I bought 2 AI Nero 5’s from a fellow Boston Reefer when they were getting out of the hobby. So far, I like these a lot. They integrate into the AI app and are easy to control.

 

[Ttran102]

GHL Profilux Controller
For my wedding gift to myself (and for peace of mind during the honeymoon) I bought a GHL mega set. It came with the profilux, powerbar, and 4 sensors (Temp, pH, Salinity, ORP). This things is awesome! This app isn't as pretty as the Apex and it's a bit harder to learn to code, but it is rock solid! The programming is not unlearnable, it is based on logic. There are many tutorials to guide you through setup and configuration. It was a big decision, so I did my research and talked to a lot of people. At the end of the day I went with GHL. I bought this from European Aquatics.

DIY Probe Holder
Probe holders are so expensive for what they are and do. Especially if it will be unseen in your sump. So I made one out of small PVC. it was easy to do and gets the job done. Maybe one day I’ll 3d print one? Probably not.

I have Ghl probes holder lying around you can get it for free if you want.

 

[LaneBrain]

Amazing! Thanks, where are you located?
Some of them need to be stored in liquid. Are any of them stored that way?

 

[Ttran102]

Amazing! Thanks, where are you located?
Some of them need to be stored in liquid. Are any of them stored that way?

its the probes holder not the probes and im located in revere.

 

[LaneBrain]

Oh, that’s different lol I’ll pm you now