First build 75g

[DSREEFER]

hi everyone!
I'm new to the forums and to reef keeping. I picked up a 75 gallon tank with a stand and I'm currently getting everything together to start the build. It will be fish only until it is well established and I can try my hand at some corals.
My plan is for a 20g sump with Refugium. So far I have.....

20 g long for the sump
Some plexiglass for baffles
A jebao 6000 return pump
A coralvue nwb 110 skimmer
I'm going to do a diy siphon overflow
Im thinking shallow sand bed (not sure on substrate yet, opinions welcome!)
I ordered 60lbs of dry live rock from brs
I just ordered a 100 gpd 6 stage rodi system
I have 1 euphotica 16 in light (need to order another one when the time comes)

So from what I have read I am going to need more live rock to sustain a tank this size. How much more? and how much cured live rock would I need to add to this set up to get it all cured in a timely manner?
I'm 100% open to any and all suggestions!
Thanks for reading

 

[username in use]

That's more than enough live rock. The old "1.5-2 lbs per gallon" rule doesn't really hold water.

 

[Clownfish Chris]

I would get about 20 lbs of dry rock to add to that. I personally don't like to cure the live-rock. Some do and Ill let them weigh in on that.

I see a couple of issues with the rest of the set up:

1. I would not use plexiglass in a glass sump. It expands when wet and can crack the glass. This has happened to me. 10 gallons of water (in my case) on the floor looks a heck of a lot more than 10 gallons of water in a tank.

I would instead have some glass panels cut. I did mine at Lows and they worked great. Hit the sharp edges with some wet sandpaper to smooth them down. Also, Watch the type of silicone. If there are mold inhibitors it will kill the livestock.

2. I would not use the DIY overflow. They are prone to loosing siphon and will cause the tank to overflow running the sump dry, and burning out your return pump. I had one that worked great... until a snail blocked the flow... then it lose siphon for an unknown reason. Both times, the display flooded.

Drill the tank if the glass is not tempered. If it is, get not one but two commercially made overflows that can each handle more water than the return pump can give it.

Welcome to the hobby, good luck and Keep us posted!!!

 

[DSREEFER]

Thanks for the tips clownfish Chris! I did not know that about the plexiglass. The tank is tempered unfortunately, as for the siphon I was thinking I would use a piggyback float switch with my return pump so that if the level gets too low in the sump it will automatically turn it off. (Assuming the switch works) I may just have to learn this one the hard way lol

 

[Clownfish Chris]

Thanks for the tips clownfish Chris! I did not know that about the plexiglass. The tank is tempered unfortunately, as for the siphon I was thinking I would use a piggyback float switch with my return pump so that if the level gets too low in the sump it will automatically turn it off. (Assuming the switch works) I may just have to learn this one the hard way lol

Happy to help! It can be a hard lesson.

 

[DSREEFER]

Update time!
my rodi filter showed up today so I'm hoping to get the tank filled between today and tomorrow. My sump is all set with the baffles, I have the return pump and overflow and my skimmer will be here on Wednesday. I have all of my live rock and know how I want to lay it out.
I bought 60 lbs of dry live rock so I know I'm going to have to cycle it. I want to get some high quality "live" live rock to help the cycle along. I was thinking maybe 20 lbs or so. All of the lfs' around me sell it at about $8 per piece but it's the man made fake stuff and I want it to be as natural as possible. So my question is, where can I find small quantities of live rock? So far everyplace I seem to find has a $130 minimum.
Also I was looking into the Refugium starter kits and cuc starter kits from live aquaria. Would these be good to get this early to help the cycle?

 

[rfurst]

If you live in an area with decent reefing community you can usually checkout a local online reefing forum or club and get LR much cheaper that LFS with the caveat that accept he risk of introducing whatever the other tank may have had in it. you need very little live colonized rock to seed the dry rock. Some people just seed their new set-ups with a cup of Live sand from an existing tank. There are many ways to start the initial cycle so don't feel like you have to have a bunch of expensive LR, or any at all.

I agree that DIY "U" tube siphon overflow will disappoint you. Are you sure your tank is all tempered glass? That would be pretty unusual. Usually only the bottom is tempered.

No, don't put in CUC as part of cycling. Wont help speed it up and may well kill the critters.

 

[DSREEFER]

Thanks rfurst, I tried the polarized glasses trick and I think he sides are tempered, I don't want to risk drilling it . over the weekend I made a trip to my lfs and picked up an eshopps pf-800 overflow box and 10lbs of live rock to seed the tank. It took 2 days but I finally have the tank filled. I'm going to add live sand tonight.
How long should it take to cycle? And at what point should I turn on my protein skimmer?

 

[rfurst]

Every tank cycles differently given what is in it (the condition of the LR for instance) and how you start the cycle..with piece of shrimp (or any fresh seafood that will rot) from the local market or ammonia, etc you just have to keep checking the readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate until you have no ammonia or nitrite. Can take two weeks, can take six. Some have no detectable cycle if the LR you use to seed the tank has little or no die off and the dry rock and substrate are clean and without any material that will rot. Lots of threads on RC about cycling tanks.

A note on "live" sand, there's not much live about it so don't pay extra for it. The substrate will colonize fine on its own just as the dry rock does. Some people insist on always using fresh never-used substrate but I have reused substrate often... with a very thorough rinse job.

You can start up the skimmer when cycling is done and you have livestock placed that will create the crud the skimmer removes. If you start slow with your waste-producing livestock additions there may not be much being skimmed out so don't get too worried if the skimmer doesn't look like it is doing much for a while.

A lot of ways to go about this so you'll get a variety of opinions and answers to just about any question you ask.

 

[Marinus]

Welcome to RC!

Looks like you've done your research. 75 gallon is a good choice and will save you some money on lights when you start getting into corals as it's not so high.

You've no doubt found this thread by now but just incase, this one is awesome! I'm on my second build but still used this thread as a resource.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

As far as substrate, I went with a mid grade Caribsea (Fiji Pink, I think) and had no issues with it at all. But I like the idea on this new setup to use deadsand and add some live on top. Save some money like you did with the rock (I'm going that way too).

For some reason I like the look of black sand, I might use that this time... but then I can't use deadsand hmmm. Anyway, I would go to the LFS and see the stuff first, if you were going to order it online. Once it's in there, it's in there. lol

I don't like the crushed stuff, seems like not many people do.

Oh, do use something under the baserock and put that down before the sand. Otherwise those critters will undermine it and your whole thing cound come crashing down and scratch the glass what not. Careful with the sides of the tank when aquascaping against it, you may change your mind and it would be a shame it scratch it.

All the best.

 

[DSREEFER]

Thanks for all the helpful tips and info! So I got myself into some trouble last night.

turns out my overflow can't keep up with my pump on the lowest setting I have a ball valve on the return line but I found it very difficult to dial in. I'm going to get a gate valve on my way home from work today and put that in the line. I initially used 1" pvc for the return line I think I'm going to drop down to 3/4 at least and hopefully that will restrict my flow a bit.

I didn't trust leaving everything running last night so I've just had A circulating pump running the water around in the tank. There is a ton of sediment suspended in the water from adding the sand.

I have an old canister filter with sponges and carbon in it so I'm going to set that up temporarily to help clear the water. I have a filter sock in the sump so I'm guessing I'll just have to keep cleaning that out until we get cleared up.

One more thing, the tank stinks! I didn't rinse my rock off before I filled the tank and I remember seeing a lot of crud on and in the rocks. I'm assuming the smell is coming from all of that decomposing but from what I understand that will help with the cycle.

So am I on the right track? Thanks again everyone

 

[DSREEFER]

I finally have everything running smoothly! After 3 more trips to Home Depot I have the whole system plumbed in and running pretty good. My ammonia is at 2 ppm and nitrates are still at 0. I was thinking of ordering one of the Refugium starter kits from live aquaria or a similar online store. My question is should I wait for my cycle to be finished before I order it? Thanks for any help!