Fluffy's 66 gallon Mixed Reef - Half year update

[akossard]

Setup:
Tank: 100 cm x 50 cm x 50 cm ~(39" x 20" x 20") 250 Liter, 66 Gallon.Custom made by LFS
Stand: Custom made by contracted carpenter at LFS, 100 cm x 100 cm x 50 cm, extra reinforced at middle.

Sump: 46 cm x43 cm x 56 cm (18" x 17" x 22") ~110 liter, ~29 gallon, volume to baffle: ~60 liter, ~16 gallon
Protein Skimmer: Bubble Magus C3
Lights: 2 x Noo-Psyche K7 Pro III
Return pump: CoralBox DCA 2000
Refugium light: 220V E27 60LEDs Plant Grow Light
ATO: Smart EPT-ATO
Auto-feeder: Jabeo AF-250B
Powerhead: 2 x Jabeo SLW-20
Dosing pump: Jabeo DOSER 3.4

Sand: 2 x CaribSea Live Sand Arag-Alive Special Grade 9,07 kg
Rock: CaribSea South Seas Base Rock 18 kg
Extra rock: WIP

Target audiance and the Fluffy in the title:

 

[akossard]

Original designs. I made the sump design in Unity, after I realised I have no idea how to operate in AutoCAD. We ended up modifying the depth from 40 cm to 50 cm. The center area of the cabinet, and the sump also got bigger by suggestion of the LFS, so it can hold all the water, when the pumps are off. We agreed on a custom Herbie overflow box, made by glass, and also in a top rim with holders for slidable glass jump guards(also reduces evaporation)

 

[akossard]

The transportation was a little tougher than expected. Especialy the tank, beacuse it's gets slippery super fast. We managed it with some minor damages. There is some small scratches on the bottom of the gass, and the upper rim has some small damages. I am planning on adding an edge protector to the upper rim, so its not a big issue. The scratches are annoying, but with water they are not really visible. Hopefully the sand will also help.

 

[akossard]

Water testing went well. The stand and the tank seems to be level. I played around with the overflow valve, and the return pump. Its tricky but there is almost no sound when tuned in right. Drained the water after a day of testing, used the return pump, and the ATO, and towels for the end.
I used these adhessive hooks from aliexpress, to find the initial positions for the controllers, and then added 2 sided adhessive tape to the back, so it can be fixed, but also removed with little force. I will look into walcro solutions, that would made it even easier. I still need to make drip loops when the build finalizes.

 

[akossard]

Added my aquascape. I used Gorilla Glue and white mortar for the structures. I am mostly happy with it, but there could be some modifications, when I got a few kg of extra live rock or rock from a closed tank, and when the sand added.

 

[akossard]

Fudged up the first batch of salt water

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[Subsea]

Following along also. You started your tank on my 75 birthday.

 

[akossard]

Thanks, the update is coming I swear

 

[akossard]

Happy New Year, everyone!

I’ve been pretty lazy about updating this build thread, but one of my New Year’s resolutions is to keep the tank documented here. Feel free to hold me accountable—seriously, call me out if there’s no update for more than two weeks!

To catch you up, I’ll write about what’s happened with the tank so far, along with some reviews of the equipment I’ve used and some do’s and don’ts I’ve picked up along the way.

So, where were we? Right—we’d just done the leak test. Everything was shiny and new.

It’s strange to look back at that phase now because I was so confident (thanks, Dunning–Kruger effect).

Here’s some stuff that made my life harder at the start:

I messed up my first big batch of saltwater by dumping all the salt straight into a 140-liter container. This caused the water to heat up and led to some precipitation. Despite this, I went ahead and used the saltwater to fill the tank. Lesson learned: add salt slowly and mix carefully.

I had a frame at the top of the tank that I initially liked because it made the setup look unified. However, when I installed my lights (2x Noo-Psyche K7 Pro III), the weight started to pull the glued frame away from the tank, and the lights tilted awkwardly. To stabilize everything, I placed a piece of foam between the light holder and the euro-bracing.

The overflow system also gave me trouble. My tank builder (LFS) added an extra part to the Herbie overflow—an upside-down “J” silencer designed to make the emergency drain quieter. However, the air hole wasn’t placed correctly, so it didn’t work. Nobody explained this, and I struggled for a week trying to tune it. I eventually removed the silencer, and things worked fine after that. On top of that, I had already bought the return pump before we decided to increase the tank size from 200 liters to 250 liters. It wasn’t strong enough for the larger setup, which added to the challenge.

Just before starting the cycle with the Red Sea Reef Mature Starter Kit, I added a few pieces of live rock to the tank. I didn’t cure the rock beforehand—I just dipped it in freshwater and removed bristle worms and brittle stars, then decided to put them back. Looking back, I think this contributed to the nutrient issues I encountered later.

This spaghetti rock was a nice find

Once everything was set up, I was ready to start cycling the tank using the Reef Mature Kit.

More updates are coming soon—

And here is Fluffy inspecting the tank:

 

[akossard]

In the first two weeks, nothing really interesting happened. I did what the Red Sea Mature kit said I should do. I didn’t really see a big ammonia spike, but maybe the liverock suppressed that. I did spot some of the hitchhikers I put into the tank via the liverock. There were some colonist snails and Asterina stars.

After two weeks, hair algae started to develop. I should have added the cleanup crew around this time, but I had to wait for some of them, so they were added on day 20:

• 4 hermit crabs
• 2 turbo snails
• 5 trochus snails
• Maybe 4 nassarius
• 3 types of macroalgae (chaeto, caulerpa, and red)

On the 27th day, I added some corals. I wasn’t planning to, but my LFS had a discount on a softie pack, so I grabbed the opportunity. I added:

• Some kind of gorgonian
• Briareum sp. (Star polyps)
• Sinularia sp. (Green)
• Candy cane (2 types: green, blue)
• Green toadstool

You know how they say toadstools are bulletproof? Yeah, I killed mine. It sucked because that was my favorite from this bunch. What I messed up was, after the toadstool looked happy, I decided to remove it from the frag plug. I tried to use epoxy to fix it to the rock, but the stalk was small and produced some slime, so I found the coral tumbling across the tank. It got pretty beat up and smelled really bad. I now think it would have been able to heal, but at the time, I wasn’t brave enough to leave it in the tank.

First casualty.
Lesson learned: Don’t take small frags off the plugs unless necessary.

On the 32nd day, I finally added fish. I decided to buy a goby and shrimp pair. They didn’t seem paired up in the store, and when I put them in, they didn’t stay together, but I figured they would find each other later. The shrimp (I think it was an anemone shrimp and not a pistol shrimp) started to build a tunnel instantly but was found dead the next day. I think I just acclimated it too fast.

Second casualty.
Lesson learned: Inverts need drip acclimation.

One week later, I decided to add two Banggai cardinalfish. My girlfriend really liked this fish. They acclimated well. My biggest hermit crab died. He was out of his shell, and the back part had a hole in it. I don’t know what could have happened to him—maybe a bad molt.

Third casualty.
Lesson learned: Sometimes stuff will just die.

To be continued...