My First 'Mid-sized' Reef -- 65 Gallons

[revaltion131]

Alrighty. I am starting a 65 gallon softy reef (and maybe some low-light LPS). The tank is a used AGA 65g 36"x20"x21". The previous owner made a DIY stand that I am getting, as well as a 20 gallon AGA MegaFlow Model 3 sump, which I have no idea how to set up. Here is the hardware list I am looking at. Any input on the following would be greatly appreciated!

 

Skimmer: Reef Octopus NW110. The big problem is that I currently am not sure how to set it up so that it fits within the 20 gallon sump tank. While it looks like it can be used 'in-line', the product information I've found says that it is 'in sump' only.

 

Return Pump: Eheim 1262

 

Powerheads: 1-2 Koralia 4's. I have one currently and that combined with my return pump is giving some awesome flow around what rock I do have. I'll make adjustments after I complete the rock total (about 100 lbs) and either add one more powerhead or leave it as is.

 

I'm going to go with a generic stealth heater and whether or not I buy a chiller for the tank depends on experience with heat issues during the cycle.

 

For lighting, I'm going to go with the spare 150W MH pendant I have that came with my Solana.

 

Do I need to consider things like a UV sterilizer and other things not normally needed in a 'nano', or have I pretty much covered everything?

 

On to livestock. I'm going to shoot for 100 lbs of LR in the display tank, then add more, if needed, after I see how it fills the tank. I'm going with a fine grain sand, because I want a sand-sleeping wrasse, and I'm going to go with about 80 lbs (of sand), I think. I'm looking at Tahitian Moon Sand, but I may just stick to the white stuff.

 

For CUC, I am going to go all-snail, but I do enjoy watching the Emerald Crab in my current tank, so I may add one or two to this tank. If you consider a Cleaner Shrimp a CUC member, than that will be one as well. Here's my starting numbers. Do you think they will be alright?

 

2 Turbo

6 Astrea

10 Margarita

10 Cerith

15 Nassarius

 

For fish, I'm looking at multiple Neon Gobies for the cleaning utility and just because I love the two I already have. Also in the way of gobies, I am thinking about a Flaming Prawn as well, but we'll see how that goes. I am also not sure if I am overstocking (not concerned with understocking since that's always good). Here is the list, in desired order of addition, and some included comments. Please post your comments/critiques as well!

 

-4 Neon Gobies (Elicatinus oceanops) - Probably way mispelled the scientific name.

-1-2 Flaming Prawn Gobies (Discordipinna griessingeri) - Still not definite.

-2 Picasso Percula (Amphiprion percula) - I may go with B&W Ocellaris if I keep hearing disconcerting input about the health of Picassoes

-3 Pyle's Fairy Wrasses (Cirrhilabrus pylei) - 1 male and 2 females. I chose this fairy because I had one in my 34 (jumped despite lid, issue has since been corrected) and I just loved him.

-1 Divided Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon bipartitus bipartitus) - No, I did not mispell the scientific name. M.b. bipartitus is slightly different than just M. bipartitus, mainly in color, and I prefer it to the 'African Bluestar Leopard Wrasse'. I would love to have one of these beautiful fish, but I'm still not 100% certain that the tank is okay for this fish unless it takes very well to captive food.

-2 Pakistan Butterflies (Chaetodon collare) - Here is the reason for trying to avoid stony corals. If I add any corals before these fish, which should be added 3-6 months in, they won't be secured, so that I can remove them if these two like the taste.

-1 Potter's Angel (Centropyge potteri) - Thoroughly aware of survival issues and still excited to try one.

 

I am going to set up a QT tank, but I'm not sure what size to do. I am certain it needs to be at least 20 gallons. Do I need to make a bigger one?

 

This thread will turn into the build thread as I go along. The plumbing isn't totally complete, so I will need to repair it, but it looks pretty simple and cheap. The stand will not look all that great in the room it's going into as-is, so we're going to add some molding, change the hardware, and give the door one of those little magnet thingies to hold it shut. We're also going to finish it to match the rest of the furniture in the room. Lastly, copying SDT, I'm going to try to take off the black vinyl frame on the tank, at least the top, and turn it into a rimless tank. For now, here is a picture of all of the used equipment I got and one of the sump in particular.

 

 

Thanks a ton for any and all comments.

[revaltion131]

I'm going to scrap the sump that came with the tank for a DIY 29 gallon refugium. The water will go in and run through a small area with drip plates for filter floss and any chemical media I end up using, then proceed through a skimmer, the refugium area, and the return pump. Am I missing anything? I'd also like to get some input on the Reef Octopus NW 110 skimmer for this tank. Lastly, I'd appreciate some comments on my stocking list.

 

We bought some molding, corner trim, and stain to "pretty up" the stand, so after that is done and I've finished putting the baffles and overflow walls in my refugium, I'm going to set everything up in the garage and see what all I need to do to finish the plumbing. Hopefully, I will have at least the return pump (Eheim 1262) by Friday so I can get the hoses and connectors I may need for that and run a test to make sure everything is working as planned, though I won't have the skimmer yet.

[fewskillz]

I've always preferred a DIY sump over the manufactured ones. My 125 has a 20h fuge and a 30 sump.

 

I dont have any experience with that skimmer.

[WindCloudWRX]

Hello,

 

I'm gonna be taggin and following. I'm doing a cube tank. 60 gallon ish and here's what I'm running.

 

TUNZE 9005

MAG 7 Return

 

In terms of Power head, I haven't figured out what, but might go w/ the tunze nano. But haven't really decided.

[jcandler]

I will be tagging along as well. I love my 65 gallon. I find it is a perfect size for me.

[revaltion131]

I haven't updated at all, so here we go. The fuge is finished. Here's a pic of the overall fuge and one of the drip plates.

 

 

Here is the refinished stand with the tank in a temporary home. We need to finish cleaning out the guest room, which is where this will go, before we can move it. I probably should have done two coats of stain on the trim for resale purposes, but I can always go back and do it later if I ever need to sell it.

 

 

I did go with the Eheim 1262 pump. I'm going to get the Reef Octopus NW 110 skimmer. Marine Solutions, which is a huge vendor of them (and very knowledgeable, great guys) is literally in my backyard, so everything works out perfectly for getting that skimmer. I will start with 3 Koralia 3's and get one more if I don't like the flow patterns, but I think the 3 should do it for what I'm looking for.

 

This is an AGA tank that has that black support strut going across the top of the tank. That's going to cause a big shadow when the light is hooked up. Can I cut the strut off, or does the tank need it?

[angelacbishop]

Looks like fun! I have a very similarly sized tank which is a 60 gallon 36x18x24 tall. In regards to the brace, mine doesn't really leave a shadow at all and I am using T5 tek lights that are about 3" about the divider. Not sure about MH lighting though since that comes from more of one central spot instead of a strip.

 

I have about 100-120 lbs of live rock and could still make room for another 30-50 lbs easily but it will all depend on how pourous your rock is and what look you're going for. 65 lbs seems a little light to me but I'm sure you'll be able to tell what you need once you get it in there.

 

As for stocking, I have 10 smallish fish (2x false perc, bangaii cardinal, royal gramma, tailspot blenny, rainfords goby, yellow watchman goby, scooter blenny, geometric pygmy hawk, green chromis) and feel like I'm pushing things in mt skimmerless tank though I haven't had any issues with water quality whatsoever. Your fuge looks great and if you have that filled up with cheato, mangroves, and other macros you might be able to get away with your stocking plans. Plus I see that you're using a skimmer so that will help a lot. Other people will tell you it's too much (I've heard 8 small fish is the max!) but if you add things slowly I think you'll be fine. I have seen around 15 fish in a mature 60 gallon tank with a skimmer.

 

Your clean up crew looks a little light to me too but you could always add those and then get more if you have specific algae problems you need to tackle.

 

3x Koralia 3's or 4's may be a little strong if you plan on keeping much LPS. I have a 1000GPH return pump and 3 Koralia 2's running and I have to be careful about LPS placement because the flesh gets blasted off in certain locations. When I upgraded my center pump from a koralia 1 to a koralia 2, 2 heads of my candy cane were killed off overnight from the extra flow.

[evilc66]

This is an AGA tank that has that black support strut going across the top of the tank. That's going to cause a big shadow when the light is hooked up. Can I cut the strut off, or does the tank need it?

 

The tank will need it, but there are a couple of mods you can do to make the brace a little less unsightly.

 

One thing you can do is use small diameter braided stainless steel cable, looped and crimped on both ends that will span the area the the brace is at currently. Cut out the brace, and bolt/rivet the cable in it's place. It's a good idea to leave an inch or so of the original brace as some extra meat to attach the cable. Cable and crimping components can be found at McMaster Carr.

 

The other option, which might be easier, is to cut out the brace like the other option, and bolting/riveting a strip of 1/4" acrylic in its place.

[Irlandzki]

Hi

 

Tagging along too as I'm planning a similar setup in the new year.

 

I had Tahitian Moon black sand in my previous tank and found it a pain to

keep clean. The smallest piece of crap that wasn't black stood out like a

beacon.

[revaltion131]

Evilc66, thanks for the recommendations. I have a bunch of acrylic left over from the sump build (1/4") that I could easily use for that. If I do get a shadow problem, I will probably use that idea.

 

Irlandzki, thanks for the input. I had heard that as well. Someone locally is upgrading their tank and selling the sand from an old one, so I'm just going to get what he has left over. It should fit my needs.

 

Angelacbishop, thanks for the input as well. As I had said, this is my first big tank, so I'm starting low and building up. I'm hoping to be able to get near 100 lbs of LR as well, but that depends heavily on how much room it takes up. I will definitly consider what you said about flow. I want to have varying locations with high flow and some with low flow. I think I'll start with just one powerhead and start coming up from what I see happening. It's not like you can't add as you go.

 

You also hit the nail on the head with the CUC. I started off very light with my 34 and added more as the tank matured and it was clear that I needed more members.

 

With the stocking, the clowns are certain as is the Potter's. At this rate, I may just have those, the Potter's, and the butterflies. I'd really like to have the fairies, but that grouping of fish should give me some great colors and motion in the tank. From what I've read with this specific species of butterfly, I will want to make sure to have at least one cleaner and I don't want a shrimp, so I may add a pair or triplet of Neon Gobies still.

[angelacbishop]

Can't wait to see how everything develops! Sounds like you have evrything really well thought out and it's going to be a great looking tank.

[jcandler]

I will be tagging along for this one.

[revaltion131]

Thanks guys! As you can see from the first post and my most recent, it's slow going, so I have plenty of extra time to plan things out. Hopefully I'll have sand and water by Monday. Don't know if I'll buy some rock now, or wait a bit longer so I have enough money piled up in the corner to buy a ton instead of just around 60 lbs.

[revaltion131]

A fast update: My sump/'fuge is finished and hooked up, the full system has been moved to its 'final resting place'. I did end up adding a ball valve to the pump's return hose as was recommended. The overflow was making a ton of gurgling noises and adding the valve allowed me to adjust the flow down to the point where the overflow is exactly where I want it and the sounds are gone. After we got that adjusted, we dumped out the test water (tap that tests on the TDS to safe ranges) and let the tank sit for a couple of days to dry out, then filled it with RO/DI and mixed it. I added my LS today, but I have this wierd layer of very fine sediment that settled on top of the "normal" grains.

[wav3form]

I have a similar megaflow sump except mine is the biggest version they make. I bought the midsized version but the place I got it from shipped the largest for some reason and told me to keep it after I told them. It was unused for two years until I got a tank and stand big enough for it to fit. I'm curious how you're going to set it up so take some pics of it when you do.

[revaltion131]

I actually did not end up using the sump. I wouldn't have been able to use any of the equipment I wanted, including any skimmer at all, and still fit it all in the existing stand if I had used the Megaflow. I instead ended up making a custom refugium/sump that fits the equipment I desired. My major complaint was that the sump took up so much room that I would have had to either make an entirely new stand to fit it and my equipment or would have had to have gone with some really weakly powered return pump(s) and no skimmer. I can include pics of the custom one if that's desired, though.

[revaltion131]

Alright, we have sand in the main tank, ~75 lbs, and 30 lbs of dry sand in the refugium. I will take some sand from my 34 to seed the 'fuge once I get the light hooked up. For lighting in the 'fuge right now, I'm going to start with a flourescent strip similar to the one I have on the back of my Solana. That has worked excellently for chaeto so far. I may have to upgrade, but the light isn't expensive and it's not a hard upgrade to do.

 

Sadly, one of the great coral places locally is going out of business so they're having a sale. The price on LR is too good to speak of, so I'm waiting for them to have enough available (next few weeks) then I'll go and get ~100 lbs from them.

 

I replumbed a few things to reduce noise and get rid of some airbubble issues I was having. I did also put a ball valve on the return line.

 

Here are some pics. We're in the diatom bloom of the current cycle. I'm sure it'll go all over again once I get the rock, even though it will be coming from pristine, established systems. I apologize for the reflection from the window.

 

 

 

 

My to-do list:

- Attach 'fuge light

- Set up 20L QT tank

- Buy skimmer

- Buy LR when it's available

 

Thanks for looking!

[angelacbishop]

Looks good...would be even nicer with a background

[revaltion131]

Thanks! I thought about doing a background, but there's not a ton of wires or anything distracting besides the wall light switch, so I decided to go without one. If I change my mind, I'll just use some of the leftover acrylic (we got one sheet too many) to spray-paint black and attach it to the tank somehow.

[glennr1978]

Looks like the silicone on one of your baffles failed. You might want to fix that before it complete splits from the baffle later on.

[revaltion131]

Looks like the silicone on one of your baffles failed. You might want to fix that before it complete splits from the baffle later on.

 

Thanks Glenn. I think I missed it last night because of the cloudy water. I stuck some acrylic pieces inbetween that baffle and the next to keep the top from failing. I think I'll just reinforce the silicone, after it's emptied and dried, and extend those pieces to the bottom of the tank.

[revaltion131]

I got the wall fixed pretty easily and the 'fuge light added, along with a decent wad of chaeto. I also got 40 lbs of LR. The stuff is covered with a few different types of algae, some zoas (dead or dying), and some xenia (please die, please die, lol). The stuff is really dense and now I definitly see why I will be looking at a total of close to 100 lbs in the display. Here is the current FTS:

 

[revaltion131]

Last night, I went and picked up the last of the rock I needed, which worked out to about 47 lbs. So, I have a total of 87 and I'm glad I didn't go with 100. The tank feels crammed tight but I was able to get some really good man-made stuff with amazing shapes. There are tons of holes and caves in the rock work for the planned fish. I got some star polyp hitch-hikers as well as some awesome red mushrooms with blue spots. The rocks are loaded with coraline and sponge growth. They came from established systems and were out of the water for about 45 minutes, so I expect to see little cycling and hopefully the diversity will stick it out. Regardless of cycle or none, it will still be at least two weeks before I start on the CUC beside hitch-hikers. There is a bivalve of some sort that showed up on the rocks. I can't get a very good pic for ID, but I included the best I was able to get. I think I also have some asterinas of the bad sort, the blue/grey ones. That's annoying, but the excuse to get another or a pair of Harlequin Shrimp more than makes up for it. I love the one I do have and hopefully, these would be willing to eat CC stars so I wouldn't have to buy multiple SS a week. Without further adue, here are the picks.

 

These are an FTS and a pic from the right side. The 'scape isn't the best, but the tank is so narrow and tall that it was hard to do the left side without just piling it on and making sure that it was stable.

 

PO'd mushroom hitch-hikers through cloudy water:

 

And the nifty bivalve:

 

Thanks for looking!