bubbarockies Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 So I was originally planning for a 180, but my wife and I are holding off on buying a home due to crippling student loan debt. That aside, we are moving into a new apartment this weekend, and with a new place comes a new tank. I haven't had a tank for over a year now, and it has been killing me. So for the past 5 months I have been planning out a 180 gallon tank. Luckily, it's easier to downsize planning than upsize. I am going to pick up a 75 gallon tank and stand this Saturday. But in the meantime, I went crazy on BRS, Amazon, and Marine Depot. Coming in the mail this week will be: Neptune Apex with AWM and Breakout Box BRS RO DI 4 Stage Value + Unit 60 Lbs of sand 50 Lbs of dry Fiji Rock (plus some Wmcbane is holding on to for me) Red Sea Coral Pro Salt BRS Two-Part Dosing Kit AI EXT Tank Mount and Rails Quiet One 2200 return pump Float Switches for ATO 2 RW-8 Overflow Kit Blue and Orange PVC (GO BRONCOS!!!) BRS Carbon Reactor ETC. You get the point. My wife and I are going at this with a rip off the bandaid approach. I've been saving for this tank for a long while and I sold out of a couple other hobbies to devote my time and funds to this build. I already had a Bubble Magus Curve 7 skimmer and 2 AI Hydra 52's on hand for the build. I started building my DIY 20 gallon sump tonight since I only want to do 1 baffle a night so I don't completely screw it up. I couldn't find any commercial sumps that were quite what I wanted. I will post up some pictures soon. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowen1022 Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Sounds like its going to be epic! Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 So the plan for the sump is to do a 3 chamber sump in a 20 long. The first chamber is 9"long and will have the skimmer and 2 filter socks. (This is already something I forgot in my first order. I only bought 1 sock holder. Don't tell my wife [emoji15] ). This chamber will be fixed at 10", right in the suggested range for my curve 7 skimmer. I got that baffle in last night and it should be set when I get home tonight. The second chamber is for a fuge and is slightly less than a foot long. I went with 7"of depth for this chamber. I will run chaeto and rock rubble and will also set up some pod "apartments" down the road because I'd like to put a mandarin in the tank and I'm thinking a 75 gallon display may not have enough habitat for a large enough population without some help. The last chamber is 7"long and comes after a 1 inch wide bubble trap. I will put the return pump and an mj1200 for a carbon reactor in there. Any thoughts/comments on this configuration would be greatly appreciated. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share Posted March 9, 2016 2 down 1 to go. The first baffle turned out well. This one was a bit more difficult to get and keep lined up using a book as the spacing for the bubble trap baffle. We'll see tomorrow. On a side note. I am already realizing things I forgot. I need to buy a small powerhead for the fuge, a medium powerhead for salt mixing, and 3 150 watt or so heaters. I'll post a wtb thread as well but PM me if you have any of that for sale please. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Coming along nicely! Why do you need 3 heaters? I have a 60 gallon tank with 40 gallon sump and I run one 300 watt and it stays perfect at 78. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share Posted March 9, 2016 Coming along nicely! Why do you need 3 heaters? I have a 60 gallon tank with 40 gallon sump and I run one 300 watt and it stays perfect at 78. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk I use 2 in the sump to control the tank temp. One primary and one backup in case the first fails, both hooked up to the apex. The third is for saltwater mixing. It really doesn't need to be that big but then I can throw it in the tank if I want. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 I use 2 in the sump to control the tank temp. One primary and one backup in case the first fails, both hooked up to the apex. The third is for saltwater mixing. It really doesn't need to be that big but then I can throw it in the tank if I want. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk That makes sense:) I was thinking maybe one as a backup but was totally stumped on the third one lol. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 The sump is finished. It looks good to me, but I'll water test it tomorrow night to check all the seals while I would still have time to redo a baffle. I also got the first little batch of equipment today and picked up a brute trash can for water storage. Looking forward to Saturday when I get to set up the tank. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmcbane200 Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Probably more like Sunday if our wives have any say in it... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySaber Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 did you cut the glass yourself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 did you cut the glass yourself?I did. It wasn't too difficult. The 12" 90 degree straight edge was great to have. After the scoring tool, the tank, the glass sheets, silicone, and the straight edge, it only cost 80 bucks. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowen1022 Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Still setting this up tomorrow?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted March 12, 2016 Author Share Posted March 12, 2016 Still setting this up tomorrow?! That's the game plan. I think my plan is to set up the rodi unit, install the AI EXT mount, put in the sand and figure out the aquascape for the rocks. We'll see how far I actually get though. Oh yea. I'm also buying the tank itself. Haha. I checked all my shipments and everything looks good except I got the wrong filter sock. Pretty minor considering all I ordered. Here's the contents of my living space right now. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowen1022 Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Awesome! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share Posted March 13, 2016 So I got exactly as far as I wanted and no further yesterday. Rock and sand are in, first batch of water has been started. I'm going to install the lights and hopefully get it about two thirds filed today. Pictures to come tonight Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted March 15, 2016 Author Share Posted March 15, 2016 I got pretty sick over the weekend so I wasn't too focused on getting things done. This is where I'm at now: I installed the ext mounts and rails and attached the lights. (They aren't talking to my apex though atm.) I really like the way they look. I hooked up my apex and got temperature control going. I am having a hard time getting my awm to communicate with my hydras. I have a thread going on the apex forums to try and figure that out. I dry fitted the plumbing yesterday and will glue it tonight. The last batch of water should be in by tonight so everything should be in order for flow to the sump tomorrow... Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmcbane200 Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Here's a couple photos I got while we where working on it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 The tank is filled and I was testing all the seals on the plumbing when I noticed one of the bulkheads on the overflow box was bad. It wasn't flush to the acrylic box and sure enough it leaks. So getting water to the sump will have to wait until I get the replacement bulkhead in. The hydras decided to start working with the apex out of nowhere. They're fully controllable now though. I bought the magnetic float switches from marine depot which I had to cut the wires to expose connections for the breakout box, but I got it done and tested the program and it works great. I just need to buy a 5.5 gallon tank to use as my storage container under the stand. I'm trying out the reef mature pro kit from red sea to cycle the tank. I put in the first dose of everything yesterday. The bacteria bottle is smaller than I expected, so I may buy a bottle of bio spira and use that as well. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted April 9, 2016 Author Share Posted April 9, 2016 I'm not very good at remembering to update this thread, but the tank is coming along well. I have 3 fish right now. I have a pair of Wyoming White clowns from Sustainable Aquatics and a Yellow Eye Kole Tang. The Kole Tang is afraid of me for some reason. He will graze like crazy when I'm watching from afar, but as soon as I walk up to the tank, he bolts in to his cave. It's been doing this for a couple of weeks since I've gotten him. Has anyone had a yellow eye act like that? I also swung by Cuttlefish and Corals for the first batch of coral. It was really great getting to meet Jeff, he definitely made a repeat customer out of me. I picked up a couple of zoa frags, a Duncan frag and a green millepora with red polyps. Everything seems to be happy so that's good. I was really impressed with the Red Sea Mature Pro kit. I have a lot of algae, but I have an insane number of pods all over my glass and my nitrates have dropped from 10+ppm down to undetectable all in the first month. I will be meeting up with Rolekii this weekend to get some more zoas and while I'm on that end of town I'll be making another trip to Cuttlefish to get a flasher wrasse and a Mandarin if they have any. Picture time! (This is my first time, so hopefully I can figure it out.) My soon to be female Wyoming White: Coral: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbarockies Posted May 17, 2016 Author Share Posted May 17, 2016 Here's an update on the tank. FTS You can see there's still a bit of algae growing on the rocks in places. Also, my SPS are not holding their color like I'd like. Pretty much all of them have less color than when I got them. They still have good polyp extension and are encrusting and growing a bit so I'm not going to stress it yet. I may up the lighting over the next couple of months, but I don't want to shock the rest of the tank. Coral cell phone pics Thanks Miles for the frogspawn! This Yellow Eye Tang has turned out to be quite the jerk. He will even harass my magnificent foxface. He still won't eat any of the food I put in the tank, even nori sheets or spirulina brine shrimp. Luckily there's plenty of algae to go around at the moment. Overall I think it's going well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joehuaseals Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 great tank man ! keep it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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