70 Gallon Panoramic Mixed Reef Build

[The Reefinator]

Re-post from member intro page. I will post my progress here.

This site is awesome and i'm super excited to dig in and post my new tank build. I have had fish tanks for about 8 years; 4 of them being in the nano salt world, and I am just now making my way into something a little nicer. Current tank is a 29 gallon BioCube with tons of upgrades.


Next up is a kijiji find; a 70 gallon drilled with rounded corners. Sump is 30 gallons.



Lots of other goodies as well.



I'm starting the cleaning and sorting today and will post a build blog shortly.

Afternoon update:

I have been cleaning all the gunk out of the system, Sump is running outside in a vinegar bath. Substrate has been washed and is ready to go. Old black painted back was peeling and had salt behind so that has been removed and is ready for new paint possibly tonight.

More pics:

 

[heath]

wow, you have made wonderful progress on that tank...not sure what I like best the tank or the dog, can't decide...

 

[bigdrakar]

Back has been painted already a nice flat black. Going to let it dry out tonight and then finish cleaning in the morning. hopefully tmr afternoon we can get it wet, lots of rodi has been made for me and is sitting on standby


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[The Reefinator]

Another day and more progress to be made. Paint is all dry and looking good.


Now for some details as I drink my morning coffee

Tank: 70 Gallon
-1/4 inch beveled top and curved corners ( low iron? not sure but i'm not seeing that tint I've seen on some older tanks I had.)
-Internal dimensions are 40x17x24
-bottom drilled
-1.5 inch center drain line with a massive 20 inch overflow box
-2 x 1 inch return adapted to Loc-Line on each side.


Sump: 30 Gallon
-Internal dimensions are 31x13.5x17.5
-Acrylic Baffles
-Custom sock holder
-Possibly going to use for refugium

I believe skimmer is a Coralife Super Skimmer 125. I dropped her into some vinegar overnight and was making nice bubbles. At least compared to my nano skimmer

Not exactly sure what return pump is. Looks like a mag drive but only states it's a model 12b utility pump. So Mag12 i'm guessing.


Still undecided:
Lights ( I have a vertex Illumina SR260 but there is no way this will be enough power )
Heater ( I have two 150watt fluvals is this enough? )
Water movement ( looking into MP40 - the older one )

Other Equipment:
-ReefKeeper Elite V2


I'll get back to work now. Getting close to installing sump and the plumbing.
For fun here is my yellow goby in his/her hole -

 

[TORX]

You are right Mag12. Shop around for the MP40, they can be loud and might be worth a listen if you know someone with one. I had to dial down my mp10's at night to quiet my wife.

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[unibob]

I have brand new mp40wes in stock, as well as used mp10wes! Send me a PM if interested.

Tanks looking good


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[The Reefinator]

Another day, another coffee and another update

Fairly productive day yesterday I was able to clean up the sump almost brand new. It's crazy to think this sump has almost the same water volume as my entire nano tank. WoW.


I installed a 24 inch T5 into the top of the stand so I can see a little better. Sump went in right after that without issues.

Fits like a glove!
I didn't waste much time after that connecting the plumbing.

Power cables are loosely ran into a temporary power bar. I also shut off the top returns so that sump can run in a closed loop just so water can get flowing!

The mag 12 sure does purr. Sump was filled with RODI and I did add some salt later in the evening so that I could see skimmer running. I added some floss for the night just to pick up some random gunk that was left in the plumbing.

Because the system had some water I got a little ahead of myself and added substrate, rock and about 10 gallons of RODI to the display

Not my brightest moment. Had a leak on the left return at the bulkhead. System is bottom drilled and we may have dinged the bulkhead while moving the tank. Which we moved several times.... The bulkhead nut is level with the top of the stand and is almost impossible to get any tools into the area to tighten it. But after a few hours of wrenching on it with a towel and almost breaking my fingers the leak has appeared to stop. I will continue to monitor it this week. Lesson learned.

I was up late last night playing with the ReefKeeper, Super cool stuff! I was able to connect usb into my laptop and program my new 300 watt fluval heater with alarms. The overheat auto shutoff works like a dream. I've set the tolerance for temp at 79 - 80. In the future I will be installing some fans so that ReefKeeper will turn them on when temp is too high, cuz i'm too cheap for a chiller. All other devices are now installed into RK as well, under cabinet t5 / Fuge light / Skimmer / Return pump and for the shit of it, my entire nano system is on the RK as well haha. Once that system is migrated into the 70 I will have 3 plugs empty most likely for Wave maker a and b and a secondary pump in the sump to keep garbage suspended.


Today hopefully I can go get all that sweet sweet 0 TDS RODI sitting at chaz's place and get the main system salted and flowing!

 

[EricTMah]

Nice progress

Sony Xperia Z3

 

[Chaz]

Looking Sweet....water is ready when you are.

 

[monizb]

Very good progress can't wait to see build

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[The Reefinator]

Left bulkhead still leaking. I drained the tank and spent a few hours trying to remove it to check the seals but the nut seems to be cross threaded. Must have happened during the move. Headed to princess auto to pick up some different channel locks in attempt to break it free. I will most likely need to replace the bulkhead after this. May take a few more days to get one to my door.

On to the auto top off. I need some advice.

My plan is to have brute bins in the laundry room with my rodi filter. Room is in basement and tank is in dining room - not directly below but a room over. I would like to use the float switches for low and high on the reef keeper but how do I get power to the pump?

Would it be ok to run say a very long extension cord along with the water line and have pump plug in to reef keeper power bar that way? I'd like as little holes and mess and wires as possible. Happy wife happy reef haha.

Any thoughts or tips would be helpful.


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[The Reefinator]

Ok picked up some channel locks from princess auto for like $14. Took bulk nut off and cleaned all around the seal with alcohol wipes and compressed air. After everything was all connected with about 2 gallons of water the bulk is no longer leaking. I will monitor all night and if dry Tmr I'd say it's safe to fill tank. However now the other return bulk is leaking. Fml... Applied some pressure with channel locks and I'll monitor that now as well. Some leak sensors may be in my future! I wonder if any support the reef keeper.


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[TORX]

Over tightening them can cause them to leak by creating hairline cracks. Hand tight is normally tight enough. The washer is on the wet side of the whole right?

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[BigReefer]

I hate leaky nuts!!

 

[The Reefinator]

Finally made some real progress.
First I double checked based on the comment torx had regarding the washers and made sure both were on wet side. Cleaned with compressed air and tightened nuts just slightly tighter then hand tight with the channel locks. The nut is actually even with the stand so it's extremely hard to get it any type of hand tight.

Went to Chaz's place and picked up 50 gallons or so of RODI he had made for me and boy was my back tired.



She is finally full of water! Going to salt right after this post is made. Temporary T8 36inch hood light on top for now, I still have to figure out exactly what is going to be done about leds.

- One thing that surprised me was how loud the system actually is. I'll be looking into methods to help silence the water noise once this is up and running.
- Second thing is that the 300 watt heater was unable to bring the system to 78 degrees overnight. I added another 200 watt just now to help it get there but is 300 watts too small for 90ish gallons system volume?

TODO today,
-Salt system
-Monitor leaks
-Watch temps
-Add some seeded rock and a cup of sand from my established system
-Research lighting for 40 inch long tank ( led for sure )
-Install filter sock
-Follow up on purchase of gyre

And for fun, a FTS of my nano.

 

[heath]

wow, you are not wasting any time getting that bad boy up and running, looking good...

 

[The Reefinator]

Today shall be marked as my tanks birthday!

-Salt is in @ 1.025 using Reef Crystals!
-Temp is rock solid all day with just the 300 watt heater at 78F
-Two large scoops of established substrate added to main display
-Small amount of live rock rubble from established tank added to main display
-1 bottle of ATM Colony added to sump
-Filter sock chamber installed with brand new sock.
-Moved skimmer into 2nd chamber so I can keep eye on sock and see how it's doing.
-Added small 700gph power head until I can pick up my gyre xf150



Things are moving along nicely! Anyone have recommendations on LED lighting for this beast?

 

[zoomster]

Looking good so far!

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Looking good!! Only thing id change is that skimmer. I hate the coralife "supersoakers". Ive had 2 and both had the same problems, theyd be fine for a couple days skimming nicely, next thing i know its overflowing everywhere! This happened on a weekly basis. And mine was all HOB because i didnt have a sump, and it was spraying so bad it hit my Apex outlets that was like 2ft away and fried it on me. Id go skimmerless before id every put one of them on my system. Thats just my experience and 2 cents lol. Can you tell I hate them haha.
Otherwise your setup is looking really good, cant wait to see it all stocked!

 

[reeferkeeper420]

One thing that surprised me was how loud the system actually is.

Whats loud about it? The overflows? Pumps? Anything under your return pump to stop vibrations? Skimmer?(both of mine were loud)