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This is my first attempt at a reef tank.  I'm documenting my project from the start.  Should be interesting to see the evolution of the entire project.  Enjoy.

    It all started off with two Friends (Ben and Sone) and I (Jeff).  We all decided to try our hand at a saltwater aquarium together.  Ben had already had a saltwater aquarium before, but it was the first time for Sone and I.  We all discovered reefcentral.com . It was all over after that.  Everything you could possibly want to know and not want to know is on the forums on reefcentral.  Our brains got a big workout and melted down a couple times from taking in the impossible amount of information.  Nonetheless, we all came up with a plan, each different from each other.  Our mission to start our reef tanks began in December 2003. 

    I started off with a 29 gallon reef in mind.  After reading a lot of information, I found out that a smaller reef tank is less stable and takes more diligence to have a healthy tank.  I then thought I would try a 55 gallon.  I bought a used 55 and was just not happy with the width of it.  All the equipment needed to run a 55 would work for a bigger aquarium, so I thought about upgrading to a 75.  I found a awesome price on a 75 gallon stand, so that sealed the deal.  I bought the stand, then sold my used 55 and 29 gallon tanks.

Stand

 

I was then on a search for a tank.  I was going to buy a used or new, non-reef ready tank and drill the holes for the overflows myself.  After a lot of thinking, I decided to take the plunge and  buy a new AGA Megaflow reef ready tank.  I figured it was worth it since I could easily break a tank by drilling it myself.  Plus the overflow was already done and I didn't have to do any DIY.

Side view of tank

 

New Megaflow overflow

 

Tank with stand and canopy

I bought some eggcrate (light diffuser) at a home improvement store to set my rocks on.  This is to distribute the weight of the rock and to avoid a single point of contact between the rock and the glass that could result in the glass shattering.  I am using Aragamax sugar sized sand for a substrate.  Im going for a 1" deep sand bed.  I used 75 lbs.

 

          

         Eggcrate installed in tank                                                            Sand    

 

I ended up pre-rinsing the sand before I put it in my tank.  The crud and foam that came out of the sand was unbelievable.  Some people recommend that you don't rinse the sand off, but I'm trying my setup with clean sand since I'm not running a deep sand bed.

Sand in tank (no water)

 

After reading a lot of information about water quality on reefcentral, I decided to take the plunge yet again and by a RO (Reverse Osmosis) unit.  This will take all the dissolved solids out of the water and help prevent any algae blooms.  This unit does 20 - 50 gallons per day.  Fairly slow.  It will take a long time to fill my 75 gallon tank. 

  

RO unit

 

I hooked up the RO unit and started making water.  I made about 40 gallons in the first batch.  I obtained a TDS (Total Dissolved Solids)  reading of 3ppm.  Very acceptable. 

RO output.  I could pee faster.

TDS reading

 I put some plastic down on the sand to minimize the sandstorm from pumping water in the tank.  It worked really well.  I should have the tank full on the second batch of RO water.

Preparing to start filling process.

 

Fill 'er up!

 

First batch of RO water.  Fairly clear water. 

 

I have my tank filled up with Ro water with no salt in it yet.  I noticed today that I had two plants growing out of my sand.  I doubt they would have grown if I had put the salt in already.  I haven't even had any lights on yet.  I should turn on the lights and see if I can raise an underwater forest.  Weird.  I'll let them grow while I finish the plumbing.

   

Tall boy                                                                     Shorty

 

Lets move on to lighting.  A very important subject.  I decided to go with Power Compact lighting because of the price.  I bought a used 260 watt fixture with two 65 watt 10k bulbs and two 65 watt actinic bulbs.  This wont be enough lighting for a lot of corals, but I will be able to keep some soft corals which I tend to like better anyway.  

 

I decided to build my own moonlights for night viewing.  I bought a kit that contained all the parts, but had to design the fixture myself.

Parts in moonlight kit

 

I wanted to be able to rotate my lights.  I came up with the idea of mounting them into 3/4" pvc and fastening them with clamps to my canopy.  I would then be able to rotate the entire moonlight for aiming.  I also put end caps on the section of pvc.  This becomes the surface that the lights rotate on.  I cut a 1/2" section out of the middle of the pvc with a dremel tool.  This is so I can have room to mount the led's and wiring.  I drilled a hole in the end of one cap and routed my power cable through it.   When done, I had one self contained unit that I could just plug in and rotate to the desired angle.

Close up of inside of pvc.  You can see the wires soldered to led and 1/2" cutout.

 

Power wire coming out of fixture.  Hot glued.

 

Moonlight wired.  Wires tuck easily into 1/2" slot.

 

Moonlights mounted to canopy lid.

 

Side view.  Notice clamp.  Makes it easy to rotate entire moonlight.

 

Shot of moonlights on.  I will have to do some more work to get rid of spotlight effect.

 

After researching about the spotlight effect on reefcentral, I came across a post that claimed to solve the spotlight effect.  The person had used the clear bottom globe from the novelty toys you buy from the vending machines for $.25.  They suggested you sand them down to scuff up the clear finish, thus diffusing the light from the LED.  I decided to try this method.  It was going to be a little bit of work since I had to cut them down to fit the contour of the 3/4" pvc that I used to mount to LED's.  I used the good old dremel tool with a sanding drum to shape the globes.  It was fairly easy.  After making the first one, I traced the pattern on the rest.   I attached the shaped globes to the pvc using a hot glue gun.  Worked really well.

Plastic container.  Before ... cut pattern marked ... after cut and sanding.

 

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Close up of sanding drum used to shape the contour out of plastic globe.

 

Close up of plastic globe glued to pvc.

 

Side view of moonlight after installation of  light diffusers.

 

Shot of tank after DIY diffusers installed.  Much better!

 

Before and After.  Couldn't of turned out better.

 

I'm going to control my lighting with a timer.  I will have the 10k and actinic bulbs on during the day and have the timer switch on the moonlights at night.  There will be lighting 24 hours a day.  I picked up a power strip just for this purpose.  It also has continuous outlets that I will use for my pumps.

Timer