Reefermikes 72 Gallon Bowfront - Nov 5/06

reefermike

reefermike

New Member
This project has been 2 months in waiting.. and almost been planned to happen for 11 months now. i bought this tank and stand for a whopping $250 and it is an Oceanic brand tank. This is supposed to be a Father and Son project but i can already say that its going to mostly be son in the end.

Equipment-

2x 250 watt hqi(14K) 2 x 24 watt pc(actinic)sleek hood design (getting a loner light, untill the real hood is ready)
25 gallon sump/fuge (biggest i could fit)
berlin skimmer (hopefully upgrade to something out of sump)
2 x mag 5's return's
custom made hang on overflow (in the making)
2 x 300 watt heaters ( have them sitting around and always hear 2 is better then one)
corallife digital therometer
3 - 4 250 gph powerheads(still to come)
1 wavemaker (still to come)
2 x coralife power bars (still to come)
Unknown light for fuge(suggestions welcome :D)

1 x 40 lb bag of reef sand

Tuesday i will hopefully be recieving the powerheads, wavemake, loner light, 70 - 80 lbs live rock

And some pics to start off the show.


We had to take the centerbrace out to get the sump in. Wouldnt fit by 1/8"


sump under stand


Bubble trap in sump


Over flow divider to pumps. 2 x mag 5's


Fillin her back up. Lazy man way :D


Return from pump


Both returns in place... Ones bigger as my Overflow is going to sit in the middle of it

The over flow im making is going to be 2 times the size of the one in the picture. As that one only handles 1 mag 5

Alright well im going to finish the plumbing tommorow as i dont want to move any of the dividers, as i just siliconed them in and boy o boy does that stuff stink. Its quite dangerous as well.

Should i be putting live sand and rock in my fuge or just rock? and yes of course cheato.

Happy Birthday to mee tommorow :) :lol3:
 
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Anonymous

Guest
nice project - seems well planned
i would add a second overflow box - with undrilled tanks its nice to have two should one get air locked
you do not need to put rock or sand in the sump as part of the filter - detritus trap IMO - but many people do one or both successfully. i do however, often store pieces of rock in mine for future use if you have the space
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
Thanks you guys... Iv been wanting a reef ever since last christmas, So in that time iv seen a lot of tanks and stuff. The over flow box i am making is going to be double everything of the one thats shown. So its going to have 2 U tubes on either side and 2 bulk heads. Id rather it be over kill then get killed because it couldnt handle the water flow and ended up on the floor. :oops: Which is what happened in the basement, luckely it was still concrete floors.

So its final then.. LR and Cheato. As for a light. I was thinking a pendant such as the one reefman used or 2 24" t5's
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
Alrighty then.. Tonights progress.

Firstly i finished of the return plumbing. Works very nicely. I decided i want to

tee off my over flow pipe to have a water change valve. Would just make

water changes all that easier.

Im really really wishing this tank was drilled. Its much more difficult to work

with an undrilled tank. My new overflow is going to be great. The one i have

now just barely takes the return of both mag drives. I do not trust it at all.

By the way it seems my sump/fuge turned out rather nice and usefull..

better then i was expecting. Although my skimmer might get in the way.

im really looking into a external one or maybe one with out a base as i

would be able to push it more into the corner, aswell as a better pump

design. Right not it takes up roughly a 7"x14" foot print. Ok well let me

show some pictures of whats going on now.


Full system shot


Sump


Skimmer/Fuge... gotta do what i can with the space i have


Return plumbing


Skimmer in action... with DIY lid :D


Side shot


And the Bubble tower doing its Job in the back corner...

Alright well hopefully i get my Rock tommorow and lots of other goodies.

Im open at all opinions and improvement ideas... after all thats why were

all here isnt it? To learn :lol3: Im having a great time with this tank

already :D
 
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aquemeni5110

New Member
WOW :shock: Nice setup. An ATO (automatic top off) is always a good investment. It will keep your pump from running dry and you don't have to add water as often. Just a thought since you have a big tank. Nice job so far :thumbup:



Oh, and if you're looking to replace your skimmer for more room, there's the AquaC Urchin. I've never used it but It does have a smaller footprint than most in sump skimmers.
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
Im thinking an ATO would be an awesome idea as well. I was planning on ordering that and a 2x 24 watt lighting up grade for my nano. Just need to work up some cash. I get bulk filter floss... and when i mean bulk i mean 52" x 60 yard rolls of it. lol i never run out. So hopefully if i sell some i can get some money to get the ATO and Light upgrade from nanocustoms or tuners...which ever it is.

Equipment update-

Loner lights will be Coralife T5's (marine version) (used)
Power heads on the way(new..appently the ones that go with the wave maker)
fuge light - 24" coralife aqualight ( freshwater version)(new)


Live Rock will be here tommorow morning. So i will post pictures of the process. As well as some horrible news. My supplier and one of his emloyees got into an argument... words were said, and then he turn on the fresh water top off on all the stock tanks, He lost every coral, fish, inverts, and over a dozen clams. :( Almost as bad as the black out couple years ago.

Lastly im going to have to say that i dont think the design of the berlin skimmer was very well thought out. Theres barely any random bubble action. The main reaction chamber is too small, and the vortex it creates is almost useless. I cant say im too happy with it, i no i havent used it on a real tank yet but from what iv seen with other skimmers compared to this berlin one, i can see why they are better. So Skimmer upgrade is well in the near future.

more updates sooon :lol3:
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
Well i got my lights and Rock today ... wahoo... very nice rock i might say, 4 or 5 different colours on it, and everywhere at that. It was only 80 lbs but im thinking i need more still a bit empty.

As for my lighting.. i placed the 10 ks in one fixture and actinics in the other so i that i have more control over lighting effect.

Getting 4 powerheads. 2 rio 900's and 2 600's which would give a light wave effect then a slightly stronger one.

No more DIY overflow. Im getting a saline solutions one that can handle 1000 gph.


Recieved a 24" 55 watt pc Fuge light.

Not to sure about my rock work right now.. Not quite done with it as i want to add more rock.

Heres some pictures

The pictures never do real justice.

















 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
You guys are too nice. Its no where near the look im going for yet, must get more rock. I was so worried i was going to have to much, as i didnt think this rock was this dense. When would it be ok to get my fuge going? The cheato in the back on my nano is starting to over grow and its only been in there a week. Would it help cycle the tank? I dont think i have read anything on this.. or have seen it in any threads.

I have not yet tested my water parameters. Hopefully i can get to that tonight.


Thanks again :mrgreen:
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
Just notice a snaill... about 1/4" on my cheato lol.. will it die or is it fine?

By the way i was givin a bag of rotofiers. Produced by reefcrew that is local to me. i

dont want to use it yet until i get more LR, because i was told it wil pretty much cycle my

tank in 48 hours.



Fuge. Messy right now but ill get around to fixin it up.



Snail... its the white thing sorry its a crap picture. I can never get clear macro with this crap camera.



my nice lump of cheato



and my free reef crew product
 
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