Astrick's 75 Gallon Mixed Reef Build

Thanks! I was really pleased with it too. I will work on finding another MP10, but I don't know that I will get even close to the same deal

 

Welp, I just picked up my sump last night and it is MUCH bigger than I expected. I don't know if he meant it actually held 30g of water when running, but I assumed he had used a 30g tank that he converted into a sump. Let me tell you, that is certainly not the case. It's roughly 36 x 18 x18, so I'm pretty sure it is a 45 or 50 gallon tank.

 

Here comes the fun part- my proposed fish list:

Bristletooth Tang
2 Ocellaris Clown*
Orchid Dottyback*
Midas Blenny*
4 Firefish
Madarin
Watchman Goby

Anything that has an * next to it is a fish that I already have. What do you guys think?

Would I have room for more/ is it too much?

I really like the idea of having a few schooling fish (aka the firefish), but was thinking maybe I should just go with a bunch of chromis instead, since firefish tend to be a bit more skittish.

I'm also considering a dispar anthias.

 

Alright, so I built my sump over the weekend and I would say I did pretty well for my first attempt. The silicone is far from perfect, but the baffles are straight and are watertight (did a water test for all of the compartments separately).

I also started my plumbing- I have a T right after the bulkhead with one 1" tube heading to the left to feed the filter sock/ protein skimmer and the other is going to the right to feed the refugium. I put a ball valve on that line so I could control the flow.

I know I have been lacking on the pictures, but they will be coming tonight!

Also, any thoughts on the fish list above?

 

fish ..smish...I wanna see some pictures !! ; )

 

I know, I know. I've just been so busy with my move that I haven't had the opportunity to break out my camera. I tried taking several pictures on my phone, but the stupid thing keeps erasing them.

 

Here come the pictures!


So I couldn't take any while actually building everything, so I will just create a quick timeline after the fact.

First, I put down a grey rubberized foam padding to protect the floor and make sure that I didn't have an pressure points under my stand that would mess up the floors.

The foam is about 3/8" thick and should work well. It was $4 per foot at Lowes. I put my stand on top of it and carefully cut around it, making sure I didn't cut through it into the hardwood floor.

 

Next was time for the sump- I built it using a 20g long tank and acrylic baffles. Went to Lowes and got all 4 baffles of 1/4" acrylic for $17. The original piece was 18" x 24" and they cut it to the sizes I needed for free.

The 3 baffles between the skimmer compartment and return are 7" H by 11.5"W, since my skimmer performs best in 6-8" of water. ( I figured I would shoot right for the middle of that zone ) I then placed them 1" apart and the middle baffle is 1" above the bottom.

I used a couple of pieces of cardboard stacked on top of one another to keep my middle baffle off the bottom while it dried. It worked out great because I got silicone on them, but it didn't matter because I could just throw them out then. I was originally considering using DVD cases, but realized they are still at my old house (fortunately)

I went with a refugium wall of 10" H x 11.5" W and the fuge takes up only 7" of the 20g long. This was a change from my original plans as I realized my evaporation would be ridiculous if my return section was as small as I originally planned.

After all of the silicone had dried for 24 hours, I water tested each compartment individually- no leaks!

 

lots of head room..thats good..that is a deep sand bed...you think ya need that much?..I run about 2 inches...It is a preference for sure...and it wont hurt...just not much room for water and rock and such...jmo8)

 

Next came the plumbing- I opted for flexible tubing versus hard PVC. Not sure if this makes a difference, but figured it would be easier to deal with if I ever needed to move it.

The overflow has a T right under the bulkhead and splits the water to both sides of the sump. Most of the water will go to the filter sock/ protein skimmer chamber. I installed a ball valve so I could regulate my flow to the refugium and plan to have it as more of a low flow section.

Water then flows to the center compartment and back to the tank via a Magdrive 5 pump. You will notice that I made sure to clamp down all of the unions on this plumbing because it is higher pressure from pumping the water back up. Does anyone see any issues with the way things are plumbed?