75G SPS tank diary

[maxalmon]

Thought this might be an interesting post for others to read as I'm setting up a 75g SPS tank. I will be adding a lot of equipment that I have no idea on how to setup/dial in/calibrate etc..This will be a huge learning curve for me, as I will be learning about calcium reactor, Kalk reactors and controller systems. I have a pretty good understanding of what and how they operate, but actually installing and setting up will be another issue. Half the equipment has already arrived and I hope to have the tank up and running in about 2 weeks. Once the tank is cycled, I plan on documenting every coral that goes into the tank, I want to measure growth, color etc....
Current Equipment list.
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75g All-Glass brand tank with modern black cabinet and canopy.
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Knop C reactor with dual guage CO2 regulator, 5lbs CO2 tank, and 8lbs CaribSea ARM reactor media
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Neptune III Controller with ph and temp probe, 8 outlet controller.
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1/4hp Euro Chiller
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2" LS bed and 180lbs fully cured LR
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Coralife Super Needlewheel skimmer, this may be upgraded.
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Equipment that needs to be purchased
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Kalk Reactor- still deciding on which one
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Lighting - this is going to get complicated, I'm planning using 6500k and 10ks so I'm thinking about using 4x150w (2x6500s and 2x10ks) I'm going with the 6500k for growth, but want the 10ks for viewing and colorup. Figuring out how to stuff that amount of lighting into the canopy is going to be a challenge, I'm considering switching over to the Solaris LED lighting because you can dial up just about any lighting from 6500k to 22k, this system is about $1200 more than the traditional MH's that I'm looking at, that amount of money really eats into the coral budget for stocking the tank.

 

[maxalmon]

Oh yeah, I would have gone with a much larger tank, but this one had to fit into a certain size space, I begged, pleaded and swore up and down that I would be a perfect angel if I could have a 180 or 240, but it didn't work

 

[reefkprz]

it never does, thats why I am stuck with my 75g for now, but I think since we bought a new house I have the girlfriend convinced to put a nano reef in the bathroom, hey if you cant go bigger just go more.......

 

[maxalmon]

For the lighting, If I go with the MH's I was planning on having the 10k's fire up at 7am until 8pm and the 6500k's fireup from 10am till 2pm. I have no basis for these hours and configuration other than doing some research that 6500k produces incredible growth results, but the actual color of the coral is lacking and thats why some growout farms start the corals under 6500k and then move themover to 20k for "colorup". Would the configuration of using the 6500k and 10k create good growth and color? I'm still playing around with wattage and # of lights. I'm now thinking about using 2x250 10k's and a single 250 or 400w 6500k placed in the middle of the hood with the 10k's on each side.

 

[maxalmon]

Here is a pic of the tank. This was originally going to be a fowlr tank, but I never got around to finishing it, it's been sitting there for about 3 months with nothing but saltwater and sand in it. I'm draining the tank today along with rinsing the sand.

 

[cannonman]

This will be fun to watch - I'm in the tail end of doing the exact same thing with my 75 gal!

 

[maxalmon]

I've already run into one problem, because the tank fits into a niche there is no side ventilation so the chiller is going to have issues with getting fresh air. There is a gap thats about 6" wide between the back of the tank and the wall. Looks like I'll have to mount some fans to force fresh air down the back side of the tank to the chiller. I really don't want to cut into the front of the stand to mount vent holes. I might be able to use computer fans, maybe one to blow air down and another to pull air up?

 

[reefreak29]

Originally Posted by maxalmon
Here is a pic of the tank. This was originally going to be a fowlr tank, but I never got around to finishing it, it's been sitting there for about 3 months with nothing but saltwater and sand in it. I'm draining the tank today along with rinsing the sand.
lol i have that same tank in a 90

 

[teresaq]

what about cutting the doors and putting in speaker panels. Our entertainment center has black panels for the doors that are mesh like material for ventilation

 

[maxalmon]

I had thought about doing the blacks speaker cloth thing, but I simply don't want to cut the door.

 

[maxalmon]

Added some new equipment. I was originally going to shell out the bucks for a 2 Tunze turbelles and controller, but after it was pointed out that seio now makes a controller, I decided to go with a 2 seio 1500s and a controller, this saved me about $500. Water turnever should be around 40-50x when all the pumps are calculated in.

 

[maxalmon]

Decided to tear the whole tank apart along with all the equipment. The tank has been sitting with ls and sw in it for 2 months with no water movement. I decided that I simply wanted to start from the very beginning and do it correct. Scrubbed all the equipment, scrubbed the inside of the tank, rinsed the sand, cleaned the skimmer etc... I also yanked out the sump and plan on customizing it for all the new equipment, I'll post pics of this project. I'm using a 40g which is kinda small, but I'm a little limited with sump size due to the chiller having to fit inside cabinet.
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Also made a change on the neptune controller, instead of the III model, I went with the JR, the only difference is that I can't measure orp, which is no big deal since i'm not using ozone. Saved $250, this savings payed for the knop reactor.
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Also added a Aqua Medic SP 3000 Dosing Pump which can be controlled by the Neptune JR.
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All the equipment should arrive this week and hopefully I can have the tank up and running by the weekend.

 

[maxalmon]

All this arrived today....

Seio controller, X8 outlets, but the 1500 superflows were on backorder. Aquamedic Sp 3000 autotop off, Neptune Jr, new chiller. Just because i'm neurotic about whats going into this tank, went ahead and ordered all new livesand and a aquapod to use a Qtank and a aquaclear 1000 HOB, I like this unit so that I can run carbon, easy access and the premade carbon bags are easy.

 

[maxalmon]

Just finished making the sump modifications, total of 3 pieces of acrylic cut by Lowes @ a total cost of $16. here is the link for details on how I built this sump/fuge. I'll be using a 2x9w 6500k light
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=252339

 

[maxalmon]

Ok, decided on a MRC Calcium reactor, this was one long drawn out process and I think I was going to lose my mind trying to decide on which reactor was going to be the best for my setup, I will give the guys at MRC credit for being very honest and guiding me thru the process, I was ready to buy the biggest, baddest reactor they had, but they pretty much told me that it was overkill and I was wasting money and they talked me into a smaller design.

 

[maxalmon]

Finally installed most of the equipment, the Neptune JR controller looks to be a pain at figuring out. Waiting on the last piece of equipment, a MRC calcium reactor, space has been an incredible issue and it's going to be very tight. I've been mixing the SW (tropic marin pro) in another holding tank, added the water about an hour ago. Added 175-200lb of fully cured LR along with 100lb of very (sugar) fine LS. Skimmer is running even though it's kinda useless at this point. I hope to have the tank fully functional within the next week and then slowly add some test frags. Decided to go with 2x250 14k & 1x250 20k light, skiping on the overly complicated 6500k and 10k system, coral growth vs algae just wasn't worth it. Livestock order is pending and I'll hold these items in QT for about 2 weeks and then start the aquascaping. Tank will have lots of monti caps!!!!! Some of the LR will be pulled out as the aquascaping progresses.....Last pic was included simply because it was cute, seems like my boxers are getting a little irritated with my increased focus on the tank and less of them....LOL

 

[maxalmon]

Just discoverd one design flaw thats easy to fix, need to drill or cut slots so that water level on the foam block side is lower than the foam block

 

[lion_crazz]

This is a very interesting post that I am sure many could use and learn from. I will be interested to see how the tank progresses and matures.

 

[maxalmon]

Thank you! There are several tanks I've seen which have simply blown me away with the beauty of the sps corals. My goal is to increase my own awarness of the skills needed to maintain these corals and to show others that it can be done by someone with less than a year of experience with keeping sps corals.

 

[ejensen]

Nice boxers. We just got a fawn girl. Cool set up. Only question is why the coralife skimmer. Seem like you got the top shelf everything except for the skimmer.