New 75gal Reef Tank Step-By-Step Setup DIY

[cornetet]

here are some lessons I've learned in starting my FIRST saltwater tank just 5 months ago:

1) GO SLOW when adding to the tank. your impluses if to buy everything you can get your hands on way too soon. 1st month: just live sand and live rocks....2nd month: slowly add live coral and see what your light source is capable of..... 3rd month: start adding fish one at a time over the weeks to come.

2) BE PREPARED to lay out some serious $$$CASH$$$ ..... its easy to stay in a budget with freshwater....but with salt you want to buy everything that makes you go "WOOOW" at the LFS..... its easy to start spending $500+ a month for the first few month...ITS FREAKIN' ADDICTING!!! so watch out!!!!

3) dont TRUST your LFS on compatibilty.... do major RESEARCH on what things you want to add and see if its all compatible. the LFS is often wrong on some advice...

4) Do water changes once a week for the first six month as things are starting up. Fresh saltwater will eliminate rookie mistakes for the most part

5) test your water with your hydrometer BEFORE you take water OUT! Find the exact reading.... when you go to replace fresh saltwater, test the new water & make SURE the hydrometer is the EXACT same reading as what came out...... BIG TIME IMPORTANT!!!!

6) read your water temp in the tank prior to doing a water change. when you put new fresh saltwater in your bucket, have a small temp probe and adjust your faucet to make SURE your new water is within 2 degrees of whats in the tank.....ANOTHER HUGE TIP!!! things in the tank DONT like changes.

Good luck!!!

[PowerManJ316]

Originally Posted by TheReefer12

Welcome aboard. The more the marrier.

I wouldn't worry about the amount of algae. You can always feed your system algae if it is not producing enough. I wish I could say that.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Brian

I will probably worry more about this down the road. I was hoping to create a good enough refuge that I would not have to supplement much algae or microfauna for my little critters.

[PowerManJ316]

As I mentioned earlier...Here is a preliminary drawing of the tank/sump/fuge layout.

* The overflow will be long and shallow and have 3 separate drains. Two will lead to the sump and one will lead to the refuge, all gravity.
* The fuge will then overflow through 2 similar diameter pipes (only one shown) into the return area of the sump by gravity.
* The other two drains will flow into the sump. The protein skimmer will suck water in from here and outlet to the center of the sump. The baffles should stop most bubbles and then the only pump will return all the water back into tank.

** Design Notes **

* Having only one pump return the water should ensure overflow will not occur during power failure/some equipment unplugged
* Sump should never spill over- one inlet pipe, two outlet pipes of same diameter (granted none clog)

Let me know what you think and any flaws you find in my initial work

[three90s&125sump]

Are you gonna have a bulkhead overflow for your sump?

[PowerManJ316]

Originally Posted by three90s&125sump

Are you gonna have a bulkhead overflow for your sump?

I am planning on having an in tank overflow that will span prolly about 36" of the back of the tank. I am not sure what it is called, but it is the type that has the slots cut every 1/2" or so.

I have read that the more linear inches you span with your overflow, the less residue on the surface and the better oxegyn/water exchange rate. This is why I do not want to go with just the bulk heads in the back of the tank.

I will post a schematic of the overflow soon.

[three90s&125sump]

Well, that is good but, I was refering to your dual sump system. how are you gonna get the water from one sump to the other?

[PowerManJ316]

Originally Posted by three90s&125sump

Well, that is good but, I was refering to your dual sump system. how are you gonna get the water from one sump to the other?

Sorry for the confusion. I was just going to use two bulkheads and PVC to let the Refuge drain into the return section of the Sump.

[Geoff]

would you be interested in drilling one more hole?

i think the triple redundancy is a bit much on the overflows. i would either drop one hole completely or add another hole somewhere else for a return from a CLS. you will not need the 2 overflows going into the sump. the drain going into the refuge will act as a safety net if the other gets clogged. they both lead to the same body of water.

if you are not interested in drilling another hole than just use the middle drain as the inlet for an over the back CLS system using a Mag 12. loop an outlet in each back corner and call it good.

G~

[whatevva]

Welcome to TRT. I hope you have a good digital camera, this group is picture crazy!!

[PowerManJ316]

Originally Posted by Geoff

would you be interested in drilling one more hole?
G~

I will prolly only use two holes in the overflow then and make the one going into the refuge smaller diameter piping because I don't want as much flow through the refuge.

I am planning on doing a CLS system similar (well exactly the same) as you have posted on your webpage. I am going to build a small brace in each back upper corner of my tank and put a pump with inlets and eductors in each of these corners.

Now that you mention another hole...perhaps I will use the center drain on the overflow as an inlet to a third pump and drill another hole in the bottom center of the back for the return for this pump.

That should get plenty of flow throughout the tank since I plan on suspending the LR off the bottom of the tank about 1/2-1".

See any problems with this?

[PowerManJ316]

Originally Posted by whatevva

Welcome to TRT. I hope you have a good digital camera, this group is picture crazy!!

My roommate is got an SLR so I am primed and ready to start using her, but I have to get all this design stuff done first. Oh well...the pics will be coming by the boatload soon...

[tdwyatt]

Originally Posted by PowerManJ316

First question, many of these inverts have different types of algae in their diet. Now I know this is a good thing to have, but how can I ensure there will be enough algae to go around. I know this may sound foolish, but I dont want to starve anyone! I do plan to have a very generous amount of these algae loving critters.

Build a reef tank, it will guarantee that somewhere along the line, you'll get algae...





Welcome to TRT!

[PowerManJ316]

Originally Posted by tdwyatt

Build a reef tank, it will guarantee that somewhere along the line, you'll get algae...

Welcome to TRT!

Prolly not the kind i want though

[PowerManJ316]

Has anyone ever had problems running a CLS from their overflow box?

The only source of water coming back into the tank is from the sump which will not be very fast ~300gph. I was planning on running about 500gph through my one pump that is sucking water from the overflow box and returning water to the bottom center of the tank (through a bulkhead). I realize that all the water is pulls is going back into the tank, but are there any other considerations to take into account here?

I want to make sure I am not missing anything here...

[Geoff]

generally, running a CLS through an overflow is not a good idea. the reason i mention it on your system is because the surface are for the overflow is 36" long. this equates to a max water flow over the weirs at 2400gph. this is plenty of surface are for both a small return pump and a decent CLS pump. most overflows are only rated to about 600gph, so it is not wise to put a CLS in the overflow along with the normal drain. the tank will overflow because the overflow can not keep up with the water leaving the tank.

running a Mag 12 from the overflow to a spraybar at the bottom is a fine idea.

G~