Budget driven 75 gallon

[Kyle99]

Hey guys so ive been in the process of setting up my new tank. Heres a little back story. I had a 20L tank from petco and had it set up as a nano. Never did have much luck with the water peramiters because i could not drop my nitrates below 20ppm till i absolutely quit feeding and did water changes every 3 or 4 days. After fussing with this i decided its time to shut down or go bigger. Well because of money issues i shut it down. 

But now i have a 75 gallon that i picked up for $150 that came with a skimmer and a light!

[Kyle99]

So now to catch you up with what my plan is. 

So far i have made my own baffles for my sump (i recycled the 20 gal tank) 

I have bleach cured my rocks and now are sitting out in the sun. Finnaly i bought a hydor 750gph return. Yes ik it is a bit over kill but it does have a flow control. 

 

Now here is the plan. 

I want to use 40lbs of pink figi sand (most common and looks good)

I am going to build a rock wall of some sort. 

Now for a part that i feel may be a little crazy. 

I plan on adding water in the next week or 2 and im wanting to do a 2-3 month cycle. Yes ik people can go a lot faster but i remember watchong a brs video that they left one for a while (maybe the brs 160 video) but following this how should i go about it? Or do you guys have a better method. You guys know more than me so it would be greatly appreciated for any input. Thanks for reading more photos to come!

[Kyle99]

Let the filling begin! Well half way so i can level it. Will add more photos later to show the diy sump i made. Not too proud of the claulk job but it is what it is. 

[WV Reefer]

5 minutes ago, Kyle99 said:

Let the filling begin! Well half way so i can level it. Will add more photos later to show the diy sump i made. Not too proud of the claulk job but it is what it is. 

 

Need more pics!!! 

[Kyle99]

Ok here are the pictures of the sump! The first chamber is 8" deep for the skimmer mainly. Then a 6 inch deep small fuge. Followed by a buble trap and then the final stage is a re turn pump and another pump that im planing to run 2 phosban reactors. 1 for carbon and 1 for roaphos or some sort of phosphate filter(if needed). Rock will probably go in tomorrow along with sand! My heater salt and a fe other stuff should come in on snailmail tomorrow. Taking big steps! More to come...

[Kyle99]

Oh before i forget! Here is what my 75 gpd rodi filter has done in 5 hours of running.... good think i have new filter on the way! Thats about 4 ish inches. Roughly about 18-19 gallons 

[Kyle99]

Sorry for back to back post but i also wanted to add in im also going to treat the water with Prime just incase there is any sort pf bleach left on these rocks. 

[Tamberav]

Nice score! I have been wanting something around 80g for awhile now.... got that itch... but move in 2 years....

[Kyle99]

9 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Nice score! I have been wanting something around 80g for awhile now.... got that itch... but move in 2 years....

I have 2 years till im out of college. Dont let time be a stopper! You will always find something you wish you did diffrently. But the good thing is hey you can re do it when you move. Changing it up keeps everything new and interesting. 

 

[Kyle99]

Ok guys so whats the point of saying its a budget build if im not gonna show any prices. Well heres a break down for ya. 

I make on average 226 a week. I have bills that cost me 400 each month. So im balling on a 200-300 monthly budget, but the goal is to spend as little of that as i can to put money away as well. 

 

Costs so far. 

Tank/stand/skimmer/light - $150 didnt even bargan with the guy it was so cheap. 

Sand - $60 p.s. i was gonna use figi pink but no one local around me sells it so im going with the next step up from agrolive by cribesea 

Heater - 18.99 300w im fishy about this one.... how ever a neo therm is in the works 

Salt - 43.89 160 gal tub of reef cristals.

Rock - used from a old 100g tank  

Return - $60 hydor 750gph 

Glass for the sump - ~$10 

20L tank - reused from old set up. 

Bulbs - ~$80 2x ati blue plus and 2x ati something

Total - $422.88 ive yet to buy a few things as i feel i can wait for them till i have gotten out of the cycle. 

 

P.s. i am not a person With patience. So impulse buying, and jumping the gun on this is a thing for me. Im doing this tp try to teach my self to slow down. Ive done the whole 20gal shotgun (think of it like a shotgun weding) tank where its great at the begining but then goes down the drain. *get it cause its water...* 😂😂😂

[Kyle99]

.... its happening.... you will see 😏... maybe... 

 

[mcarroll]

On 8/1/2019 at 11:21 AM, Kyle99 said:

Yes ik people can go a lot faster

Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank.

 

While I've never heard the term "soft cycle" outside of this thread, check it out for ideas – the forst post nails it pretty well:

 

Slow and steady wins the race.  Remember there's no benefit to chasing nutrient numbers to zero and that it's more about slow and about balance.

 

I'd save up for LEDs or get some used now.  What you have works, so there isn't much urgency to it...but in the long run buying replacement bulbs once or twice a year makes your light expensive to run.

 

If your sump baffles don't hold for any reason just run an open sump where the ATO holds the water level for the skimmer.  I found that baffles add very little benefit but do take flexibility away from your sump and make it harder to work in.

 

 

 

[Kyle99]

54 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

While I've never heard the term "soft cycle" outside of this thread, check it out for ideas – the forst post nails it pretty well: 

I actuary started to read this earlier when it popped up on the main page. its interesting. but i am using dry rock and sand. I plan on doing the shrimp method.

54 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Slow and steady wins the race.  Remember there's no benefit to chasing nutrient numbers to zero and that it's more about slow and about balance.

yes that is my goal with this set up. I went way too fast on my 20 gallon and it just took the fun out of trying to keep it up.

 

54 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

 

I'd save up for LEDs or get some used now

so the plan is to put some ai primes in the future but the best success I've seen personally was from the t5. now I haven't seen a lot of tanks but I don't mind buying bulbs every now and them but in the end I do plan on led.

 

also thank you for the reply!

[Kyle99]

@mcarroll scratch the shrimp idea. i just saw a post you made on another thread. very strong points. what way would you suggest for seeding/cycling?

[mcarroll]

I have always stuck with the incremental approach. (Not the lower case...this is not a "method"...just being literal. 🙂) 

 

Start with a small number of the smallest critters and slowly work your way up.

 

If you do that successfully, the environment will grow up in balance around them, and you have lots of time to intervene as needed, to remove algae, or to add cleanup crew, etc.

 

The typical assumption is that dead rock is dead and that you can drop in a bottle of bacteria in and it's "live rock".

 

This is wrong on both counts....live rock is a lot more than just bacteria....and there are still bacteria (at least) all over the "dead" rock.

 

Your bacteria are scant right now, but bacteria also multiply at a geometric rate under favorable circumstances, such as in the presence of water and primary producers (for a "perpetual" carbon source).

 

So you start with dead rock and lots of patience.  But you'll have at least a bio-filter, and maybe even a close fascimile of live rock in due time.  🙂

 

You might get some of the things live rock would bring from scoops of sand and/or detritus or coraline scrapings you can get from any healthy tanks you know around you.  Obviously, some real live rock would be the best source.

 

There are also some commercial supplies of these such as the coraline algae kits and various copepods, amphipods and mysids available from a variety of vendors.  Some are more common than others so look around.

 

Once algae and pods are growing/in evidence, look for the next larger critter....if you got pods (as in you see em swimming aorund) out of the detritus scoop, then you could be ready to add one or two cleanup crew members....herbivores only.  Keep waiting or keep adding pods if you don't see them.

 

Remember that not much of that can happen without excess nutrients in the water...so if you worry about nutrients at all, restrain it to worrying about running out of essential macronutrients N and P.  It's not uncommon and may need to be remedied if it happens to keep everything growing.  Once the system is rolling along nicely, with plenty of algae (hopefully a lot of coraline) and plenty of cleanup crew all growing, you can start hitting it with waterchanges to bring down overall levels if it seems necessary.

 

That's in a nutshell.  Hopefully you see the idea and where that plan goes from there. 

[Kyle99]

So star small. Live sand/rock seeders. 

Then some  coraline. And then some pods. Then herbivore clean up. And so on. Seems simple. easy. And nice and slow like i want it to be! 

@mcarroll 

[mcarroll]

You've got it!   Small steps to minimize disruption.  Lots of time between each step taken to allow for observation and correction. 

[Kyle99]

@mcarroll 

Thabks for the advice. Tank is almost full just a few more hours to go 

 

[Kyle99]

So tank is full now... pictures to come. 

I need some help with my overflow is making a lot of noise. Not the upper section. But the lower going in to the sump. It sounds like a todler with a straw in cup making bubbles. When i take the house out of the water it makes so much noise from the water rushing into the water. Idk what to do. Air is unrestricted atm and my pump is a little over powered. Pump is at the lowest setting and causing all this noise. 

 

So do i need to restrict air? 

Water flow? 

Change how the water enters the sump? 

 

[mcarroll]

20 minutes ago, Kyle99 said:

I need some help with my overflow is making a lot of noise. Not the upper section. But the lower going in to the sump.

The pump is too large for the drain, which is too small for the pump... 😉 

 

Looks like the drain comes down to a 3/4 or 1/2" hose for some reason.

On 8/1/2019 at 11:50 PM, Kyle99 said:

 

Cut the whole left-side/drain-side slip/threaded adapter off (can't actually see it's connection off the pic) or otherwise replace the drain plumbing with all-1" or larger plumbing.  Should be near-silent up to about 300 GPH.

 

Speaking of GPH, you might want to measure the drain output while you're at it to see what your pump is actually pushing through that hose.  If it's not enough, then upgrading the pumps plumbing the same way would be recommended....to at least all-3/4" or 1".  Depending on the pump, the tubing might be fine though.  See what it's rated for vs what it's producing so you know.

 

In the mean time, if you slow down the pump you can quiet down the existing drain.  But there has to be a flow control on the pump or a valve in the line, which I don't see.  You could put a C-clamp on the hose and squeeze it to slow the flow as a temp. maneuver.  Regular hose is tough enough to handle that, and yours is braided so should be no sweat for as long as it takes to do the drain upgrade.  C-clamp not recommended as a flow control for any length of time for several reasons, most of which are probably pretty apparent. 😉 

[Kyle99]

3 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Looks like the drain comes down to a 3/4 or 1/2" hose for some reason.

The return is interesting. To me at least. Its 2" in the back of the overflow sliped (not glued) to a reducer bushing down to a 1/4" pipe to a threaded section down to a 3/4 hose. I thought that it was 1"id bot it was 1"od but used it anyways. I will run to hardwear store later and get 1 1/4 pipe and threaded section to just have same size all the way down. I believe that the pump will be fine after i fix the drain for better flow. 

I saw this because right now the drain is maxed out for being loud on the bottom end so ill up the flow based off a bigger connection. And then with the 3/4 hose on a 750 gph pump and a calculated 6ish ft of head pressure i think itll be perfect. Also remember my pump is as little flow as it can go. So if needed i  can just up the flow on the pump. 

[Kyle99]

I wish ik how to post a video to show the noise. 

[Kyle99]

Here are some photos of the rock work as it is filling up. 

[Kyle99]

Im bummed because i was not able to use my favorite rock. Its just too big. 

Its a slight bowl shape but supper flat. I would likw to think it is some kind of huge monti but i dont think it is.  For reffrence my hand is 6.5 inches from thumb to pinky 

[Juno]

It doesn't fit at all? I think it would be really cool to build a small pedestal and then prop that across the top. It's a great shelf for coral. Everyone does things differently, but empty/negative space can really add to the overall aesthetic so it might be kind of cool to make a couple of islands or something that could support that as a bridge. Anyway, great build. That's a nice sized tank and will accommodate a lot of fish and coral.