My 58 gallon mixed reef build

[Stephen73ta]

Ok, so I finally got my tank up and running! It's my first tank and it took me forever.. I'm really proud of it and hopefully I won't kill any livestock. I built a majority of the stuff myself and I'll try to show you how I did it.

Here is what I started with.

You will have to excuse me I accidentally deleted a lot of the construction pics of the stand. Here is what I have.

After I got the sides up I painted the stand with primer and then semi gloss black paint. Here I cut holes in the back for plumbing and the side for fans.

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Here's the fans installed.

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I also added this air vent.

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Doors and Bracket.

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Finished Product.. Well, atleast that's what I thought..

I ended up having to drill 4 more holes on the back two for the 3/4" inlet and return on the closed loop and two holes on the bottom left for electrical use..

 

[Stephen73ta]

I must say the planning of the sump/fuge and plumbing were some of the most complicated and frustrating tasks I've ever endured. I'm so glad it's over.<br>

Here is a drawing of my initial design.

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I had a wet/dry system that I converted to a sump/fuge.

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Bulkhead for return and i added some baffles, a bubble tower and drilled the fuge section that I closed up for another bulkhead. This will direct the overflow from the fuge straight into the return chamber bypassing the skimmer.

 

[Stephen73ta]

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Here I modified the bulkhead because I had clearance issues with the baffles.

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Showing the 1" overflow line from the fuge to return chamber.

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Here's some pics of the equipment and plumbing.

 

[Stephen73ta]

Overlflow box single 1" return split with a T to fuge and bubble trap in skimmer section. There are valves on each line to control flow.

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From left to right it goes return line, return #1 closed loop, intake for the loop, overflow and finally return #2 closed loop. Return line is 1" with a valve and the closed loop is 3/4" with a valve on each return.

 

[Stephen73ta]

Here's some pics of me creating a light bar to hang from the ceiling supporting my dual 150w metal halides. I constructed the frame out of 1" square aluminum tubing from home depot. I drilled it then painted it black. I hung the bar from the ceiling using eye screws and black chain.

 

[Stephen73ta]

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[Stephen73ta]

My live rock, just waiting to be in my tank! 60 lbs.

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Timer for lights and fans.

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We have Water!

 

[Stephen73ta]

Livestock:
60 lbs live rock
2 clowns
1 yellow striped dottyback
20 hermits
10 snails
3 peppermint shrimp
1 emerald crab
xenia

 

[silentscream]

great start, nice DIY. I would suggest painting the pvc pipe to hide them. should grow into a nice looking tank.

 

[Stephen73ta]

yeah i just bought some black krylon fusion so i can paint it.. thanks for the comments guys!

 

[gooyferret]

Looks really good! How long you had the tank setup?

Closed loop, your returns are coming off your return pipe correct?

Everything looks great one thing I would worry about is the refudge tube that goes to the return area could bring air in past the bubble trap.

Other than that it looks great!