New 75g Build
- Thread starter skibum1681
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skibum1681
New member
What fixture are you using?
Akronviper
New member
For fowler it dosnt matter, buy as if you are going to get corals. A little more now will save tons later.
If you are going to build a canopy use the TEK retrofits 4x54 for $220, i have seen the ICE cap retros for about $240 online (good buy, better choice). I have 2x54 on my 55 gal fowler with a few corals. I'm building my 75 gal stand now and will have 4x54 tek retros. I will possibly upgrade to Ice cap ballasts and possibly even ice cap reflectors if I go 6x54 (ice caps are slimmer, teks may not be able to get 6 in my canopy).
If you are going to build a canopy use the TEK retrofits 4x54 for $220, i have seen the ICE cap retros for about $240 online (good buy, better choice). I have 2x54 on my 55 gal fowler with a few corals. I'm building my 75 gal stand now and will have 4x54 tek retros. I will possibly upgrade to Ice cap ballasts and possibly even ice cap reflectors if I go 6x54 (ice caps are slimmer, teks may not be able to get 6 in my canopy).
skibum1681
New member
Thanks. I will look into that. The tank will be going under a slanted cieling so there isnt a lot of room for a big canopy. I was thinking about going topless. :O
seagirl
New member
here is a good retro kit-
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...ch__4x54W_Tek_2_T5_High-Output_Retrofit_Kit_w!_Bulbs_by_ReefGeek
it comes with bulbs, and has the ice cap reflectors which are better that the tek's. this kit doesn't come with an IC ballast, but unless you are keeping something with very high lighting needs you won't need it. It's about $50 more than the nova, but it is a much better product imo. T5's don't need to be very high up off the water(few inches), so maybe you can get away with a shorter canopy.
http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...ch__4x54W_Tek_2_T5_High-Output_Retrofit_Kit_w!_Bulbs_by_ReefGeek
it comes with bulbs, and has the ice cap reflectors which are better that the tek's. this kit doesn't come with an IC ballast, but unless you are keeping something with very high lighting needs you won't need it. It's about $50 more than the nova, but it is a much better product imo. T5's don't need to be very high up off the water(few inches), so maybe you can get away with a shorter canopy.
Rustylugnuts
Powdered Toast Man
Ive been running 4x39w retrofit t-5 HO (from hellolights) on initially my 29 (bare reflectors atop of a glass lid!) and now on my newly built 40g breeder (now happily nestled within a canopy) and I've been very pleased with them. I accidentally received 3 actinics and 1 10k bulb with my order (instead of 2 of each). I decided to try them out before I kicked up a fuss and was pleasantly surprised how good the 3 blue to 1 white ratio looked. It looks like you're off to a good start, I'll definitely be checking back to see how things turn out. Good luck and have fun with the build.
I know its said over and over (and you probably already know this), but RO/DI is way better than conditioned tap. I fought red slime and other goodies to some extent for the longest time in my 29G. Recently picked up a 65G and an RO/DI unit at the same time. World of difference. The corals I've moved over from the 29G look way better than they did (this could be due to different lighting/flow as well as water quality). The biggest difference is the near lack of unwanted algae. Of course there is some, but its not where near like it was in my 29 pre-RO/DI.
If I had it to do over again, this would have been one of my first investments. I didn't see coral in your old tank. If all you have at the moment is fish, maybe go for RO/DI and then save pennies for the lights over the next month or so. Just a thought.
skibum1681
New member
Thanks for the tips on lighting. An RO/DI unit is very high on my priority list. What i meant was that i wanted to get my rock and i want to get RO/DI water for it not conditioned tap like i am using on my 40 where i have quite a bit of red slime starting.
I am looking at a Buckeye Field Supply or The Filter Guys RO/DI units. Both look pretty good and are priced well too.
Thanks all for the input! Please keep it comming.
I am looking at a Buckeye Field Supply or The Filter Guys RO/DI units. Both look pretty good and are priced well too.
Thanks all for the input! Please keep it comming.
skibum1681
New member
I'm thinking about purchasing live rock on-line. Most likely in the area of 100# or so. Does any one have a suggestion or expierence with any on-line suppliers? I would like premium Fiji rock with as much purple coraline as possible (dont we all).
Any and all suggestions welcome.
Any and all suggestions welcome.
Rustylugnuts
Powdered Toast Man
One thing I would do in your situation would be to purchase half or less of that 100 lbs as Premium fully cured LR (25 lbs if you have the patience for a longer cure) with the remainder of the rock being dry rock (either eco rox or marco rocks with a couple of shelf pieces thrown in the mix). The savings would be two fold. First the shipping priority on dead rock is much lower (cheaper) and second you're not paying for the water thats in the rocks so a lb goes further. I would then proceed to blow the savings on a refractometer and a case of beer =p . One caveat would be that dry rock is not just dead (easily solved by being seeded w/LR) It is also uncured so there's lots of leftover organics from the total die off due to drying out. (again easily solved, this time by a good soak in fresh water w/a few 100% WC's) HTH
skibum1681
New member
Looking at either marinecenter.com or liveaquaria.com to purchase the live rock. Does anyone have any expierence with either of these?
skibum1681
New member
bump
skibum1681
New member
Just ordered a 75 GPD RO/DI System from Buckeyefieldsupply! Hopefully it works as good as they say it does. We will see.
skibum1681
New member
So i used limo window tint to color the back of my tank black. Does anyone do this and how well does it work? I have a little while till my tank gets wet so there is time to change it if i need to.
skibum1681
New member
I got some new goodies for the build today!
Koralia 3:
40 lbs of Fiji Pink Sand:
Octopus NW-150:
And last, a shot of the limo tint on the back of the tank:
My RO/DI unit should be here tomorrow. I'll post some pics of the install under my sink tomorrow.
I also checked out a new LFS (about an hour away). Nice shop tons of SW parts in case of an emergency. We also bought a new Valintini Puffer while we were there. That is one odd fish.
Koralia 3:
40 lbs of Fiji Pink Sand:
Octopus NW-150:
And last, a shot of the limo tint on the back of the tank:
My RO/DI unit should be here tomorrow. I'll post some pics of the install under my sink tomorrow.
I also checked out a new LFS (about an hour away). Nice shop tons of SW parts in case of an emergency. We also bought a new Valintini Puffer while we were there. That is one odd fish.
skibum1681
New member
I dont know if anyone is still here but i want to start to build my stand and the skimmer didnt come with any instructions. How deep should the skimmer be in the sump (bottom of skimmer to top of water)
Thanks for the help.
Thanks for the help.
Rustylugnuts
Powdered Toast Man
Not sure about the skimmer depth but my guess would be that it is designed to sit @ the bottom of the sump (if not heres a free bump!) .
As far as a stand height think of what angle you will be viewing from the most. I had to base the height of my stand as the tallest that would fit in the back of a saturn wagon ( It was originally 2 inches to tall to fit
so there was some cussing and re-cutting involved). This just so happened to be perfect height to stare at my reef while sitting in the couch (luck went my way for once).
One question where did you order the skimmer from and how was your experience with that vendor? I see that octo out of stock in a few of the places I've looked through (not that I'll be able to fit it into the budget anytime soon).
As far as a stand height think of what angle you will be viewing from the most. I had to base the height of my stand as the tallest that would fit in the back of a saturn wagon ( It was originally 2 inches to tall to fit
so there was some cussing and re-cutting involved). This just so happened to be perfect height to stare at my reef while sitting in the couch (luck went my way for once). One question where did you order the skimmer from and how was your experience with that vendor? I see that octo out of stock in a few of the places I've looked through (not that I'll be able to fit it into the budget anytime soon).
skibum1681
New member
I have heard that skimmers need to sit in about 6" - 8" of water and I have seen people build little stands in their sumps to "get the skimmer to the right level". I guess i'll read the 40+ pages on threads on octo setup....
I got the skimmer from aquacave.com - No problems at all, they shipped it the next day, which was a thursday and i got it on monday. It shipped from IL so you should get it just as fast or faster. They charge $8 surcharge for "heavy item shipping" but if you spend over $175 they dont charge any more shipping other than the 8.
I got the RO/DI hooked up today and i just got the bugs worked out - but i dont like where i set it up so its getting moved tomorrow. i'm learning that Apartment life is not good for reefing The Buckeye system seems really nice so far 150ppm TDS tap water 4ppm TDS RO/DI. Easy set up & easy to use.
Hopefully i can get started on the stand this weekend...
I got the skimmer from aquacave.com - No problems at all, they shipped it the next day, which was a thursday and i got it on monday. It shipped from IL so you should get it just as fast or faster. They charge $8 surcharge for "heavy item shipping" but if you spend over $175 they dont charge any more shipping other than the 8.
I got the RO/DI hooked up today and i just got the bugs worked out - but i dont like where i set it up so its getting moved tomorrow. i'm learning that Apartment life is not good for reefing The Buckeye system seems really nice so far 150ppm TDS tap water 4ppm TDS RO/DI. Easy set up & easy to use.
Hopefully i can get started on the stand this weekend...
Avgou
Premium Member
I am on week 6 of my 75 gallon Marineland Corner Flo Tank. I have photos up recently in the Photography forum. Check them out there on the first page. I will upload some photos soon of the plumbing. I have a 15 gallon sump and a 5 gallon refugium which is tee'd off from the overflow line and gravity feeds into the return section. That way copepds and biologically cleaned water return to the tank.
I used a Quiet One 3000 and that kept up with the overflow that's tee'd off providing a bit of backpressure.
I guess it depends on how you plumb your tanks together. What a learning experience. Everyone who sees the plumbing of my tank thinks I should join a pipe fittters union or NASA hahaha.
I have for now the CurrentUSA Dual Satellite Sunpaq lights. They are good enough for the first year or so once my tank is still being estabished.
The only piece Marineland screwed up on was the elbow for the return plumbing nozzles. It's siphon is too low and sprayed water everywhere in the overflow chamber. I bought a new elbow and drilled a couple holes in the loc-line. It works great. No flooding issue here.
I will take more photos of the plumbing, the pics I have right now are just the tank itself.
I used a Quiet One 3000 and that kept up with the overflow that's tee'd off providing a bit of backpressure.
I guess it depends on how you plumb your tanks together. What a learning experience. Everyone who sees the plumbing of my tank thinks I should join a pipe fittters union or NASA hahaha.
I have for now the CurrentUSA Dual Satellite Sunpaq lights. They are good enough for the first year or so once my tank is still being estabished.
The only piece Marineland screwed up on was the elbow for the return plumbing nozzles. It's siphon is too low and sprayed water everywhere in the overflow chamber. I bought a new elbow and drilled a couple holes in the loc-line. It works great. No flooding issue here.
I will take more photos of the plumbing, the pics I have right now are just the tank itself.
