My first reef! Planning stage underway!

Hi, let me introduce myself, my name’s Tilian (well not really, but my online name is anyway 8) ). I’ve spent the last 6 weeks or so obsessively reading, researching, watching YouTube (till 4am!) and planning for my first reef build!

About 12yrs ago I had a 72g heavily planted freshwater tank that I loved working on. Well as usual, life got in the way and eventually that tank developed a leak and I never started it back up again. Now that some time has passed (and I’ve paid off all my debt!) I think it’s time to dive back in! I wonder if you guys could take a look at my plan and offer some feedback. Want to make sure I’m on the right track.

My goal is to start with primarily LPS and softies with an occasional clam, anem and maybe an SPS frag or two. I’ll certainly have some fish, but I’m really more interested in the corals and inverts. I’ll tell you now, I love the inverts… crabs, starfish, cucumbers, etc. I know I have to be a bit careful selecting them but I’d prefer not to exclude them in lieu of fish.

A couple of other top priorities is a controller with an Ipad app (Apex… yes I’m a computer nerd turned reef nerd!) and full LED lighting (controlled by the APEX of course). I want to automate as much as I can within my budget. Speaking of budget… from top to bottom, including initial livestock and new tank and stand, my budget is $5000. Initially I thought that wouldn’t be any problem but it’s been tougher than I thought to stick to that number. I’m not a huge DIY’r!

So here’s the plan…

Tank and stand: 120g (48X24X24) – I’ll be drilling it myself for a BeanAnimal, C2C overflow. I’m planning on making the overflow myself. Tank and stand are $650 new from LFS.

Sump: 40g breeder with DIY baffles… planning as large a refugium (with Miracle Mud) as I can get away with. Figure this will run me around $150 to build. I’m budgeting $200 for plumbing including a gate valve for the full siphon drain and I plan on using a mix of PVC and flex tubing (with appropriate unions and gate valves included). I plan on using 1” drains and dual ¾” returns. On the returns I’ll use two lockline Y fittings so I can have 4 separate returns into the tank to help supplement my internal flowrate. I plan on using a Mag 12 return pump ($145). Internally I’m going to start with 3 Maxijet 1200’s and use the APEX to randomize the flow. This was one of my price concessions… eventually I’d like a pair of MP40s but they won’t fit in the budget at the moment. ($900 in MP40s vs $75 in Maxijets). I think that the 3 MJ1200s along with the 700-800gph I hope to get out of the sump should suffice.

Skimmer: ASM G-3 with Sedra 5000 pump ($285… seemed the biggest bang for the buck). I’ll also be getting a dual reactor for BRS for carbon and GFO (with a MJ1200 pump… $85 combined).

Controller: Full blown APEX with a breakout box… $540. Going with the big APEX since it has built in 4 channel LED controller. Will also use it for an ATO system (hence the break out box) including Kalk dosing there. I’ll upgrade to a 3 part system with dosing pumps later down the road (again, budget issues)

I’ll use the APEX to control my LEDs… planning this DIY solderless kit from rapidLED… $500: http://www.rapidled.com/standard-solderless-90g-tank-dimmable-kit/

My water mixing plans are a BRS 5 stage Chlorimines plus (yes, my frigging city uses Chloromines!) 75gpd RO/DI unit. I found a guy here that can get me used 55g plastic storage drums for $30 a piece (use to store Sorghum). A heater and another MJ1200 should round it off. A couple float switches and some creativity and I think I can get fairly automated for around $330.

For liverock I’m planning 80# of BRS reef saver dry rock and 50# of this Rock Around the World Combo Pack from saltwaterfish.com. I like that pack since it’s live rock from 4 different regions so I’m hoping for some extra diversity in critters… should make for good seed for the dry rock. Combined the rock will run me around $360.

For my sandbed I’m planning a 1-2” bed for Oceandirect Oolite livesand for about $170. Was seriously thinking about a DSB but ultimately decided to wait till I had more experience (and more cash). Maybe on my next tank. Like I said, I like my inverts and unfortunately they like to eat all the things that make a DSB safe :-[

Will also be setting up a QT tank for around $80.

So with all that and my budget for misc. items (salt, test kits, media, heaters, tools, drill bits, glass panels, etc) my costs before livestock came out to $4600. That will leave me $400 for some critters once things are up and running.

Sorry for the long post, I know you guys like details but in re-reading this I may have gotten carried away! Let me know your thoughts.

 

Looks very thorough. Is the 40g breeder big enough to house the G3+refugium+baffles Are you using filter socks? I personally like my sump/fuge half my display size... If you have the room.

G3's are ok it will do the job.. I have had ASM series, and have moved on to better technology. I always recommend the reef octopus line with the bubble blaster pumps. your size is the I would go SRO 2000.. rated for 180 gallons. Its 409.00 though. Way better than a G3. Everyone will tell you something different. Check this out.. pretty good.

FutureDoc's Skimmer Thread - The Reef Tank

As for rock, lots of different opinions. Some people refuse to put LR harvested from the ocean due to hitch hikers. I never have had a problem with that. The best rock I ever bought was from gulfliverock.com. It comes from the gulf just of florida. There are lots of sites selling this rock for the same price. You can get heavy corraline encrusted rock for 3$ lb inc shipping. That cant be beat.

 

I agree with Likeajeenyus's assessment. Especially with the sump suggestion...the bigger, the better, especially when/if you start adding reactors and such. Also, I can't agree enough with his recommendation of the Reef Octopus series. They are by far the most reasonable skimmers that don't skimp on quality.
What I like to do for rock is get mostly dry base rock with a few pieces of live rock to seed it.
Good luck and have fun!

 

You may want to consider separate reactors so you can individually control the flow rates. Also the maxi jets only come with suction cups for mounting. You may want hydor or another less expensive circ pump that has mags for mounting so you dont come home to a dust cloud form your suction cups failing.

 

Yep, Sounds good

'Planning stage'? I KNEW I forgot something!

 

wow....what a thorough well thought out build! Congrats on entering the hobby and welcome to 3reef! I am a non-techie geek and pretty clueless on plumbing and such so I'm sure many on here can help with those components. I can help when you get to the livestock stage. I agree with Likea in terms of live rock - I think it's always interesting to see the critters that come with LR. His gulfrock sounds like an awesome choice!

 

Very neat! Your setup is quite similar to the one I am building as we speak If course, when I started planning I initially figured "shouldn't be more than around $2000"...

but then came the Vortechs and the Apex controller with a lot of gadgets..

At $5306.88 now, still have to actually build the stand and get Live rock/Sand/Stock...


Love it though! I did the Beananimal c2c as well, very anxious to see the rest of your build!

 

I was thinking more about this and it started to bother me... Maybe some other opinions will come in. I know the controllers sound soo amazing, but right out the gate I don't think you need one just yet. If your on a strict budget at the build start, I would put that money into better equipment into your skimmer or mp40's. Let your tank settle for a few months and maybe your finances will change and buy a controller when you start to add coral.

I agree with neubie.. Don't buy the "multi chamber media reactor" the cheap ones out of the ro/di body's. different media requires different flow. You can't control the flow separately in those.

As for the sand.. You can save some money here by not buying 100% live. Buy mostly dry and seed it.

These always go over budget an are horrible money pits. Most of my financial problems are because of this hobby. You become obsessive. Or I did. No joke over 8 years ands tanks I have broken the 20k range.

I just built a tank for my friend, 60 gallon cube, nothing was DIY since he wasn't into that. He was at 5500 no live stock. After a few months, I know he's put another 2k into it.

 

I jokingly refer to my tank as my mercedes in the living room

 

Mother of God! I love your detail and planning. Looking forward to the bucket of popcorn while this unfolds!