First tank in over 20 years

Wayofthereef · Apr 21, 2024

Hello everyone, It's been over 20 years since I've had a saltwater tank and I was finally in a position to put it together. Like many of the old timers its a completely different hobby. The knowledge shared and gained from the internet and forums like this one has changed the hobby. Back in the 90's it wasn't a matter of growing corals, it was how long can I keep this alive.

So back to today, I had a buddy who had one of those petco 60 gallon tanks and a bunch of amazon equipment and he wanted to sell it. So I took it and got on youtube and watched probably 100 plus videos and got educated. Right out of the gate I knew 90% of the equipment I got from him was basically useless in the sense it wouldn't support what I was trying to do. So I made a list and read reviews and started buying all the equipment.

Now I've been a woodworker for a really long time so I worked out a plan and a lot of you will hate it but it includes a hutch lol. So this is the progress of 3 years, many many mistakes and growth. I hope it inspires someone out there to go the DIY route.

I will break down the costs if you guys want me to. If this gains any traction Ill keep posting.

crazyfishmom · Apr 21, 2024

Wayofthereef said:
Hello everyone, It's been over 20 years since I've had a saltwater tank and I was finally in a position to put it together. Like many of the old timers its a completely different hobby. The knowledge shared and gained from the internet and forums like this one has changed the hobby. Back in the 90's it wasn't a matter of growing corals, it was how long can I keep this alive.

So back to today, I had a buddy who had one of those petco 60 gallon tanks and a bunch of amazon equipment and he wanted to sell it. So I took it and got on youtube and watched probably 100 plus videos and got educated. Right out of the gate I knew 90% of the equipment I got from him was basically useless in the sense it wouldn't support what I was trying to do. So I made a list and read reviews and started buying all the equipment.

Now I've been a woodworker for a really long time so I worked out a plan and a lot of you will hate it but it includes a hutch lol. So this is the progress of 3 years, many many mistakes and growth. I hope it inspires someone out there to go the DIY route.

I will break down the costs if you guys want me to. If this gains any traction Ill keep posting.

This is awesome!!!! I absolutely love what you’re doing and can’t wait to see more. Glad you decided to join and welcome!

Wayofthereef · Apr 21, 2024

crazyfishmom said:
This is awesome!!!! I absolutely love what you’re doing and can’t wait to see more. Glad you decided to join and welcome!

Thanks!

Wayofthereef · Apr 21, 2024

So after I made the base I need to dress it up. I wanted it to look kinda on the older worn side. Like Ive had it for years so I wanted to add moldings and fluted columns. And I have zero explanations as to why I built a hutch with a lid that can open. The total height is almost 7ft, and let me tell you why.. I cant tell you how much I had when I see a beautiful tank and I have to lean over to look at it. So the top of the stand sits at 4.5ft tall so the display is right in your face when you see it.

Wayofthereef · Apr 22, 2024

And here's the finished stand and hutch

Wayofthereef · Apr 22, 2024

And paint with LOTS AND LOTS of clear coat for obvious reasons lol

Gumbies R Us · Apr 22, 2024

Following along! Your stand is great looking!

Wayofthereef · Apr 22, 2024

So now looking back I wished I would have planned the tank situation better. The cookie cutter tanks from petco or any other big box store dont come with an overflow. And back in the day only acrylic had overflows and really I never had a sump so it was all new to me. I used to use the hang on the back filter and skimmer with the heater in the tank. Lets just say it was a hot mess back then but we used to pile up rocks against everything and you could cover it up (don't do that by the way lol). So not really knowing any better I ordered the rocks and stacked them up the same old way.

So doing that I put 2 powerheads in opposite corners thinking this old way of doing things was a good idea.. #1 I bought cheap powerheads off Amazon #2 I left zero ways to access the powerheads if the needed cleaning or maintenance. SUPER DUMB looking back. Now its not a terrible thing to buy powerheads off Amazon, but you must be able to reach for cleaning.. well learned that the hard way. So heres the starting equipment setup and rock scape.. ps.. super embarrassed by how I did this. Had zero clue about building and gluing your own at this time.

Wayofthereef · Apr 24, 2024

So all the equipment I have from this point in the main display and sump from top to bottom are.

• Kessil AP9X
• GHL 3 Fan Propeller Breeze 3 (does not fit on a rimmed tank, had to make modifications to make this work)
• ESHOPPS PF-800 HOB Overflow
• An air vacuum pump to restart the overflow in the event of power outtage (failsafe)
• 4 Nero 3's These came after the failed amazon powerheads
• Live sand and 40LBS of Caribsea LifeRock Dry Live Rock
• Aqueon 60 gallon tank
• Trigger Systems Crystal Sump 30
• Redsea RSK 300 Reefer Internal Protein Skimmer
• Jebao DCQ-5000 Pump, 40W, 1320gph w/Wave Mode
• Hyyger 500w heater

So a loooong time ago RedSea’s attempt at wave making was an ac driven automatic switch box that could control up to 4 powerheads and when I got everything from my buddy he had 1 in the pile of stuff to use. So I did not knowing anything about dc driven powerheads like nero's or ecotech. And that's where all the trouble started. Well piling up rocks against the back wall was where it really started. So after about a month the left lower pump stopped. And we all know once you move a rock it seems like you can never get it back right. So I realized at that point I made a huge mistake burying those pumps.

At this point I already bought a bunch of corals, clearly WAY too fast but they were there and glued to the rocks. So i started moving rocks and breaking corals and getting ticked. So I get it out and clean it and the thing still isnt working. It took me all of a second to realize that that redsea wave box quit on one channel. So this is when i made my next mistake, I figured what the heck 1 pump back there is good enough.

Fast-forward 2 months, thinking back im surprised it lasted that long . After about half of my corals have died i realized the other pump wasn't working. So before i started moving rocks i switched plugs and sure as **** another channel went down. So as another stupid quick fix, because that is always a good idea. I got a cheap chistmas decorations extension cord and plugged in 2 pumps into 1 of the remaining 2 channels.

So I guess simply using that equipment wasnt stupid enough doing what I did just smoked that box I guess because while I was away on a 3 day vacay I came home to nothing but the return running and that was the end of the cheap route for me..

So I got back into youtube and forums to find out about all these different brands of pumps, and while i was at it i realized i needed to do something about this wall of rock.

So I settled on 4 nero 3's and took out like 20lbs of rock and centered the pile away from the wall. And for now it was about getting on a testing and maintenance schedule.

Ps... be careful of the cheap stuff, I moved the powerheads outside to use to mix saltwater and one time I was about to stick my hand in the can of water and i heard a sizzle.. so instead I grabbed the cord and pulled up on it a there it was a broken cracked wire coming right out of the powerhead. Almost electrocuted.

Wayofthereef · Tuesday at 10:36 AM

First Corals! Lookin back on these pics makes me cringe think how my tank was only running for a month at this point.. all my numbers were good but realistically it wasnt ready biologically.

Its hard to look at what you have and not want to move things along but this hobby is a marathon not a sprint and if you jump too fast you'll pay for it with dead corals..

4-19-2021

Honestly and surprisingly, about 2/3 of these first frags are still alive and thriving today.
I got about 20 something the first go around and at this point I still had my buddies Amazon lights with no clue to what par I was getting.

Gumbies R Us · Tuesday at 10:47 AM

Great looking coral!

Wayofthereef · Wednesday at 1:39 PM

So fast forward a few months and to my surprise i avoided the ugly stage. The corals were just settling in here.. nothing has died yet to my surprise.

Wayofthereef · Wednesday at 1:53 PM

Fast forward another 3 or 4 months and things are coming along pretty good. I tried an elegance which was a ballsy move which eneded badly..

Wayofthereef · Wednesday at 1:59 PM

Then.... disaster struck.. so a bit of knowledge I wish I would have know before is that these powerheads aren't made the way they used to be made. And so both of the powerheads in the back lower quadrants stopped.. and if you looked at the pic above you'll see how dumb i was to stack all these rocks with absolutely no way to get those pumps out.

Now I probably put 100lbs of rock in this display and as I was moving things out of the way to clean those cheapy powerheads I was breaking corals and knocking things off the rocks.. it was just all around bad..

Then I get those pumps out and nothing would get them running again.. i still have no clue why they stopped but then I did something really dumb.. i put the rock back without flow behind them.. you probably see where this is going.

Not 2 weeks later one coral after another started dying. It was a disaster.

Wayofthereef · Wednesday at 2:11 PM

So I drained the tank into a large storage tub and started pulling corals off the rocks. Thankfully at this time nothing really grew off the plugs.

Man i got everything out and by then it was just sand or so I thought. I stired it up sucked out thee most disgusting water, I mean straight dark brown water.. I didnt want to rinse the sand because of the bacteria so i added back about 5 gallons and swirled it again.

Fast-forward and alot of headache i re-stacked the rocks but left planty of space on both sides, and ordered 6 Nero 3 pumps... looking back that was 2 too many.. here it is settled after a week.. also hit up the LFS and someone brought in a couple colonies that were on sale for dirt cheap so I picked them up and things started to feel good again.

Literally took out 50LBS of rock!

Wayofthereef · Wednesday at 2:20 PM

Fast forward about 6 months and things are doing pretty good.. Not great but good.. had my sump cause another crash... would never recomend a sump with rock sand and macro algea.. turns out that just becomes a toilet for your system and bam one week of whats happening and half your corals die..
I emptied the sump cleaned it and put everything back...and things seemed to be going well.

So life always seems to have a way of kicking you in the teeth especially when things are going good

16 screws a plate a rod and 42 staples.. they called it a castrophic break and they wernt kidding..

Provate · Wednesday at 2:22 PM

Wayofthereef said:
Hello everyone, It's been over 20 years since I've had a saltwater tank and I was finally in a position to put it together. Like many of the old timers its a completely different hobby. The knowledge shared and gained from the internet and forums like this one has changed the hobby. Back in the 90's it wasn't a matter of growing corals, it was how long can I keep this alive.

So back to today, I had a buddy who had one of those petco 60 gallon tanks and a bunch of amazon equipment and he wanted to sell it. So I took it and got on youtube and watched probably 100 plus videos and got educated. Right out of the gate I knew 90% of the equipment I got from him was basically useless in the sense it wouldn't support what I was trying to do. So I made a list and read reviews and started buying all the equipment.

Now I've been a woodworker for a really long time so I worked out a plan and a lot of you will hate it but it includes a hutch lol. So this is the progress of 3 years, many many mistakes and growth. I hope it inspires someone out there to go the DIY route.

I will break down the costs if you guys want me to. If this gains any traction Ill keep posting.

Nice build

Wayofthereef · Wednesday at 2:30 PM

So when I got home from the hospital my best buddy moved my recliner right in front of my tank ... but man all that did was let me stare at it and ponder which for reefers thats never a good idea lol..

My view

So 3 weeks of sitting on my butt and staring at this thing I kept getting on sales and just staring and fraghousecorals.com had a sale.. and I felt ok I'm feeling brave enough to try some acro's.. I freakin order 22 frags.. so dumb. But i didnt stop the stupid there.

And now I have 3 frag racks lol

Wayofthereef · Wednesday at 2:30 PM

Provate said:
Nice build

Thanks

Wayofthereef · Wednesday at 2:37 PM

So I kept asking my son to open the cabinet doors which drove my wife crazy.. but I kept looking at this thing.. it had gotten out of hand and my wife changing my filter socks every 3 days because I couldn't became a every other day complaint.. so I got on BRS and Amazon and spent WAY to much money lol..