# Church's 75G Great Basement Reef



## Addicted (Jan 1, 2014)

OK, so it's not great yet... but it sounded catchy, and it's in my basement.

I've been meaning to put a build thread together for a little while, so here it goes...

Church <- that's me (or Mike, if you prefer). A nickname that's been with me for 25 years or so, originating from my baseball days.

75 <- Has always been my number - baseball, hockey, etc. Figured it was a good match for tank size too since I had a 4 foot space where the tank was going. Alex @ Fragcave was selling an old 75g that he had sitting around. So the stars aligned and the build began.

This tank has had water in it for about 3 months. My previous experience was a small AIO nano that I had for a year, from which I quickly learned how much I love the hobby and how I needed a larger tank.

The Stand: Started out building the stand from DIY plans over on RC (RocketEngineer).



Plumbing: I wanted quiet and failsafe, so Beananimal fit the bill.



Went with a coast to coast style overflow to maximize the surface skimming. Here is a side view.



For the sump, I used a 29g tank and added glass baffles. I knew I wouldn't have the space for a large enough refugium, so I opted for a nice clean sump. I'm using MarinePure and Siporax in the sump to allow for less rock in the display.



Doors on, lights hung, water test



Aquascape complete, sand in



The final product



All in all, it took me about 6 months to put it all together. I had no experience with plumbing, sump building, etc. so it was a learning process but I am very happy with the results.

Here's the final equipment list:

Tanks(s)
75G stock marineland/aqueon/whatever tank
29G stock marineland/aqueon/whatever sump

Flow
MP40wes (converted to QD driver and wetside)
Jebao RW-8

Lights
ATI Sunpower 6x54

Skimmer
Vertex Omega 130

Return Pump
Fluval SP4

Reactor
Phosban 150

ATO
autotopoff.com

Controller
Neptune Apex JR

Heater
Eheim Jager 200W

At this point, I only have about 10 frags or so (picked up from various kind hobbyists - gtareef, altcharacter, Juliefish and a few from Canada Corals and Aquatic Kingdom), and nothing better than a cellphone for pics, so I'll spare you the coral macros 

Current fish list (all but one are from Reef Boutique... Nice healthy fish)

2x Ocellaris Clownfish
1x Carpenters Flasher Wrasse
1x Yellow Coris Wrasse
1x Tailspot Blenny
1x Royal Gramma









I'll update this thread as things progress, and will get my hands on a better camera so I can share coral photos that aren't blurry and blue.

Cheers,
Mike


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## Cichlidrookie (Apr 6, 2014)

Sweet aqua scape. Great start following along.


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## noy (Nov 19, 2012)

Thats a great start. You need post processing software not a better camera - get something like photoshop elements to adjust the white balance on your shots.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*awesome*

hey church aka mike ...
awesome build dude good job look forward to following 
glad u did a build thread ... good job


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## duckhams (Oct 13, 2009)

Awesome rockscape! The Pukani looks incredible! How's the royal gramma behaving?


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## Addicted (Jan 1, 2014)

duckhams said:


> Awesome rockscape! The Pukani looks incredible! How's the royal gramma behaving?


Thanks Elliot. Your help in selecting the pieces was great.

Royal Gramma is a model citizen. Everyone is getting along swimmingly.


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

Beautiful rock scape


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## fesso clown (Nov 15, 2011)

Looking good Church! Loads of room for some big fat colonies! Love the scape!
I have the 80W version of that light and it rocks! I built a DIY Reef Brite actinic strip for under $200 bucks. I run it 14 hours and the main light for 7 now bumping up an hour a month. I really like having the LED supplement.


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## Addicted (Jan 1, 2014)

Thanks, Jeff. I had considered a reefbrite xho strip but the cost put me off a bit.

Maybe I'll consider a DYI as you've done. Could be another fun project / learning experience. Did you get your LED parts locally or order from rapidled or similar in the US?


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## Yellowtang (May 26, 2015)

*Church's 75g Reef*

Great looking tank, you've done a fantastic job with the rock work.


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## Addicted (Jan 1, 2014)

Thanks, Yellowtang. I can't wait to see how it looks covered in coral.


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## Rookie2013 (Jan 17, 2013)

Addicted said:


> OK, so it's not great yet... but it sounded catchy, and it's in my basement.
> 
> I've been meaning to put a build thread together for a little while, so here it goes...
> 
> ...


Mike really great built..following along your build...I love your aquascape...


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## fesso clown (Nov 15, 2011)

Addicted said:


> Thanks, Jeff. I had considered a reefbrite xho strip but the cost put me off a bit.
> 
> Maybe I'll consider a DYI as you've done. Could be another fun project / learning experience. Did you get your LED parts locally or order from rapidled or similar in the US?


I ordered from aquastyles online 
I glued the stars onto a piece of U channel I got from a metal shop


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## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

Love the scape, looks really nice and clean. Great build.


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