# 65G tall reef project



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Since I'm downgrading the discus tank, I am going to use it to upgrade my saltwater tank.

Display tank will be a 65G tall tank (36x18x24) and a 29G sump.

So far I have the following:

- 36" odyssea light fixture currently over my 15G 
- 2 hydor koralia 1 (400 gph) powerheads
- 2 150 w heaters
- corner overflow box made by JT
- mix of white sand and crushed coral

I am missing/ looking to upgrade:

- skimmer
- return pump
- 4 bulbs light fixture
- live rock (or I will use 50seven DIY rock idea)
- more sand/crushed coral

Here is what I have so far:










The tank on the stand is a 55G which has the same footprint and has the holes positioned in the same way as they will be on the 65.










FTS from the current 15G tank.

Let the comments begin.


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## Greg_o (Mar 4, 2010)

Place your LR with care - might as well glue it in place, it'll be a pain 'adjusting' your scape once up and running. I've got a 65 tall with plants, and have always thought it's shape is suited to make a nice reef tank, but I hesitate because damn is it a pain to work inside of.

There was a deal in the buy and sell for a bunch of cheap LR recently.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Yeah man 24" tanks are a true pain to deal with since your arms are like 20" so your armpits are always wet. Ask Jay (flexin5) about his 22" deep tank!

Good luck on this one George, I can't wait to see what you do with it.
P.S. Do you want me to come over and drill it for you!!


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Sure Dave, I would love for you to come over. For drilling and sharing knowledge. We can also play with JT sexy products afterwards.


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

The project is ongoing. The tank is no longer a 65 but a 75G.

Here are the specs:

Aquarium: 75 gallon 
Lights: 36" quad bulb Aquatic Life + 2 par38 
Skimmer: Cad Lights TIA-1150
Return pump: Mag5 but on the lookout for something else

TankCla came today and we made the stand.

This is what I have so far:










Front shot: 









I have about 100lb of Aragonite sand which needs to be washed and some LR from the running 15G tank.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*tank*

awesome George is this the same tank with the "crack "
nice and simple stand and lots of room good job.
look forward to seeing more 
cheers 
tom


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Same one with the crack. Decided to go ahead and use it.


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

The sump will be divided in 3 chambers(skimmer, fuge and heaters & return pump) by a T divider. Since the sump is a 55G tank with a footprint of 36*18, the skimmer chamber will be 18*15, the refugium facing the front of the sump will be 20*10 and the last chamber in the back of the sump will be 20*8. 

If I go by using acrylic will ask JT to install 1 or 2 filter socks. What thinking of using AC70 sponges but was advised that will restrict the flow to a point.


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## Letigrama (Jul 6, 2008)

congrats on the upgrade george!!!!- can wait to see it going. looks great


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## Vinoy Thomas (Jan 4, 2013)

Tagging along.... 

Hopefully all goes well!


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Tonight managed to complete two things:

Putty the stand and sand it:










so tomorrow is time to paint it with white Glidden latex paint. Question for the pros: what should I put over the paint: Minwax Polyurethane semi gloss or Minwax Polyurethane gloss?

The overflow was adjusted by J_T to match the 75 and it was time to attach it:










used the painter tape and learned a very important lesson: remove the tape as soon as the silicone was applied otherwise the silicone gets hard and removing the tape makes a mess.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

I say go for the gloss!! I don't think it matters anyways so you might as well make it flashy right!!

Another tip I learned from J_T for your overflow. Take a marker and mark the glass on the inside of the tank where it meets with the overflow. Then you have a guide to show where you should put your silicone. No tape needed!

Stand looks great and it seems like it should hold the weight of an elephant


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

The tape was used to get a nice silicone work. In the end, the silicone finishes in a nice clean line.

Managed to paint the stand once and went to bed at 5am when I was close to start painting myself as my eyes were closing 

Yeah Claude and me made a stand sturdy enough to hold more than the 75. Plus I will plywood it the following days and that will make sure it wont move in the future.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*tank*

George nice work ...happy too see u moving forward...
cheers


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Tank is finished, stand is finished.

Went to Flavio today as I had only a very limited window to get the rock and got 2 medium sized boulders and a nice LR plate. Together with some left overs I had I put all the rock in and cement it. Tomorrow is time to move the content of the 15G tank and call it a day.

Until JT finishes the sump I closed the overflow so for a little while I will run the DT w/o sump. I need some suggestions on the sump design.

Pictures once everything is complete. Wifey is happy, so I'm happy.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

george said:


> Wifey is happy, so I'm happy.


the most important part of the project. Good luck

and just small suggestion. I do not remember why, but I was told it is better to have 90 degree on the water intake.

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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

sig said:


> the most important part of the project. Good luck
> 
> and just small suggestion. I do not remember why, but I was told it is better to have 90 degree on the water intake.


Thanks Sig. Not sure if i understood your last statement correctly. You mean on the plumbing going to sump?

On the same note, I read that is not good to tee the main drain on a herbie silent and to feed the fuge with a tee from the return line. Which one is better?


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Added the new rock and all there is left is to transfer the 15G into the 75G.


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

A picture with the blue&white lights on:










A night picture of the tank:










So far the tank is running without the sump, therefore the heaters are in the DT and the locline is just sitting there doing nothing.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

george said:


> Thanks Sig. Not sure if i understood your last statement correctly. You mean on the plumbing going to sump?
> 
> On the same note, I read that is not good to tee the main drain on a herbie silent and to feed the fuge with a tee from the return line. Which one is better?


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Sig, I have a silent Herbie, not Durso. 

I have got my answer which is to better tee the return than the main or better yet to use a small pump to move water around.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

george said:


> Sig, I have a silent Herbie, not Durso.
> 
> I have got my answer which is to better tee the return than the main or better yet to use a small pump to move water around.


sorry. missed it somehow 

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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Tank is doing awesome.

Here some pictures with some of the corals after one week.




























FTS taken 2 days ago.










The water is all blurry as I was playing with the wp-25.


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Got my yellow tang and the coral beauty in the tank on Saturday. Within one day there was no more hair algae. 

Sunday the coral beauty ended up with swollen eye so I tested my water. All if fine with nitrate at 5-10 ppm. 

Gave the angel some pellets with some garlic last night and will keep an eye on him. If anyone can advise on a treatment who worked, I'm open to suggestions.

The tang is feeling amazing, grazing all day. Not shy at all.


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Coral Beauty is back in business. The eye looked perfect last night. Gave them some spinach which were not to keen on so I will go back to lettuce. 

The mexican turbo is not very happy as now he has to climb the walls in order to get some algae, and even that was trimmed by the tang-angel duo.


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Ok, Claude dropped by on saturday and we finished the sump. I installed the skimmer and the Mag5, which to be honest is not that loud as I was expecting.

The skimmer is quite a beauty. Almost no bubbles, and the ones he makes are so fine that are dissolving quick. 

I installed some rubble and the cheato and now I have to play the "fidget with the valves" game. I may have found the sweet spot but I will give it a few more days just to make sure it stays that way, especially that the skimmer is still breaking in and the water level may need to be changed. 

Based on the advices from Wilson and Claude suggestions, I will be using this sump as a tryout. No baffles as I am using eggcrate (13.42 @ HD). It is a linear concept, with skimmer in first chamber, next is the refugium and then 2 eggcrates with 2" in between, enough to put some sponge or poly filters. Last is the return area with the Mag5 and the heaters. 

Even though the skimmer is in waterfall mode, i have only fine bubbles in the refugium area and none in the return chamber. So far I would say the sump does what is supposed to be doing.

Tested power loss and everything went smooth. Funny thing is that since I have no elbows in the overflow, when the DT was filling with water, it started rushing down the main drain with no need to go to the emergency. I have installed a suction strainer so no chances for fish or snails to clog it.


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