Darkdrako's 75 gallon upgrade

[darkdrako]

Hello! I have been lurking on this forum for a little bit and finally signed up and will keep record of my new 75gallon reef tank here. I currently have a 12 gallon Nanocube DX and a 15 gallon aga frag tank. All of the live rock will be put into the system and I am trying to plan out a sump with a frag area built in.

Here is a little background how I got this tank.
My wife had decided for me that I needed a bigger tank for father's day (I guess I complained enough that I wanted a larger tank! ). I ended up settling for a 75 gallon for the larger footprint. What she didn't say that it was almost 50 miles away and I drive a two-door car so I wouldn't have been able to fit the tank and the stand in my car. Luckily for me my coworker was nice enough to take the 100 mile round trip with me and bring back my next adventure and here it is:

It came with a welded angle-iron stand and a few extras. My plan is to first weld the four legs with another piece of angle to distribute the weight around the perimeter of the stand rather than the four corners. After that, my father-in-law will put a nice wood skin on it so that I can place a sump and my frag tank below without having to worry about my dog getting thirsty or my 19 month old daughter deciding that the fish look thirsty and putting whatever she could get into the tank. Being that the iron stand will take up all of the weight, the stand will have very large doors with a small divider in the center for the locks. The tank will be drilled and from there on will have to be taken in steps so I can obtain all of the equipment that I want.

Future specs:
Custom finished wood stand
80lbs live rock
70-80lbs dry sand
700gph overflow with two .75" returns
Koralia 4 x 2 or 1 Koralia 4 and a vortech mp40
Current USA Nova Extreme Pro 6x54w T5HO
Reef Octopus NW 150
40 gallon sump/frag with a QuietOne 2200 (600gph) return pump
3/4" SCWD
Reefkeeper Lite Level 3 Controller

Here is my potential candidates for stocking. I definitely want the tailspot and a tang of some kind.

Tailspot blenny
Anthia - specifics undecided
Blue dot jawfish
Zebra barred dartfish
Sleeper gold head goby
Powder brown tang
Kole yellow eye tang
Pair of Snowflake Clowns

I was able to purchase some live rock from a MR member so once I get my overflow and returns drilled I can set up the tank in its final location. I can't wait!

Ray

 

[darkdrako]

Just realized I should have put a pic of what I have at the moment.
Here is the nancube from a few weeks ago. I'll try to get some pictures tonight of both tanks.

And here is the frag tank

 

[Galantra]

Ray,
Welcome to MR, looks like you have it plan out really well can't wait to see the finish results

 

[ocholoco]

hey

Welcome to MR, It looks like a real good start, you should consider drilling the tank before doing anything else.

 

[darkdrako]

Thank you Galantra and ocholoco. The tank will be drilled while the stand is being reinforced and covered. Once the tank is drilled/plumbed and the stand is done, I will put in the liverock from the tanks (one tank at a time) and the rock that is cooking in a plastic tub and let that sit for a little just to make sure that any small cycle will be done before adding my corals and fish.

 

[Galantra]

I saw your posting for the sump and the return how you have it setup looks good. What do you plan on doing more a reef housing Lps or are you going to add SPS to your tank?

 

[darkdrako]

For the time being, I am planning more LPS than SPS. I have no experience with SPS but from reading around, I can most likely start getting into the easier SPS with the light that I have selected so far. Not completely sure on doing T5 over MH though. I have seen the shimmer effect on the MH but its something that I don't need to have.

 

[PolandSpring]

nice rock :tongue1:...and zoos ..can't wait to see your new tank running

 

[darkdrako]

Here are some photos from tonight of what will be going into the 75. Hopefully I can sell some of the stuff in the frag tank.
Nanocube

Frag tank

 

[Galantra]

Yea i am a T5 guy myself specially having mines overdriven . you will be ok with sps you planned this out really well. With all those frags moving to a bigger tank was needed

 

[darkdrako]

WE HAVE WATER!!!
Current Nova Extreme Pro T5
Custom finished Red Oak stand

Most of the live rock is in. Just need to tear down the nanocube. Tank is showing 5ppm of nitrates from the move.

 

[skimmerman100]

Just realized I should have put a pic of what I have at the moment.
Here is the nancube from a few weeks ago. I'll try to get some pictures tonight of both tanks.

And here is the frag tank

that last pic is vdm polyps? they are beautiful

 

[darkdrako]

Yes they are or at least pretty damn close.

I have almost finished my aquascape and have transfered the frag tank and nanocube last night. All I need is my scwd for the returns and the display/sump can be filled the rest of the way. Let me know what you think.

Ray

 

[PurpleTang]

looking good! i like the rockwork

 

[cowfish]

How is it working out with the back of the tank drilled? Is the drain noisy? What did you do for the intake to prevent inhabitants from travelling to the sump?

I'm in the process of setting up a 75 reef and have been reluctant to drill the back of the tank. However, I much prefer a sump as opposed to having a bunch of HOB equipment.

 

[darkdrako]

Cowfish, I have not filled the tank up to the drain yet. I'm waiting on one piece of equipment so that I can fill the tank above the returns. I bought a kit from glass-holes.com and it comes with an overflow box with a cover for the outlet and a vented street elbow out of the back

 

[Galantra]

Looking good, that is a really nice stand that was built. Its all coming together how do you have everything plumbed?

 

[darkdrako]

Thank you Galantra. The stand was put together by my father-in-law. Its a metal stand with red oak overlay and stained with a fruitwood color stain. He is a freelance carpenter and was looking for something new to do (hint hint for anyone interested )

As far as plumbing, hopefully by the end of the week it will be complete. It'll be a 1.5" overflow plumbed to the sump with a 90* and 45* elbow and returned through a quietone 2200 to a 3/4" scwd and two 3/4" returns. Just have to buy the scwd and hose clamps.

 

[darkdrako]

Well I finally got my plumbing done and running and will hopefully have pictures tonight. The only problem that I have is there is a very very small leak from the overflow elbow so I am going to take it off and reapply some tape on it. The overflow is a little noisy but not intollerable; I actually kind of like the sounds. The overflow in the sump has alot of bubbles which should be caught by a filter sock so that will quiet down a little. Absolutely no noise other than those two.

I also have been thinking about my fish stock list and am undecided on a few of them. I am leaning away from the tailspot, dartfish and goby and already have a pair of clowns so the snowflakes are out. Also thinking about doing 3 Lyretail Anthias. As far as the jawfish, I believe it will be added next but I only have 2-2.5" of sand so I will need to add some to be suitable.

Looking to add fish in this order:
Bluedot jawfish
Lyretail anthias (1 male & 2 female)
Powder brown tang (Acanthurus japonicus)
Kole yellow eye tang

If anyone has any suggestions on other fish I am open to ideas.

 

[darkdrako]

Just have to pick up some more sand, a filter sock and maybe a bigger piece of chaeto (I think its too small of a piece to help with any nitrates right now)