99 gallon reef tank (newbie startup)

[Javi78503]

Hey guys so I have been asked to start a tank build thread for my new 99 gallon reef tank. The tank diameters are 36.5 x 25.5 x 25.5 with a starfire front. I decided to take on my first diy project as my stand. Pictures to follow...

I currently have 80 lbs of sand and 50 lbs of dry rock from marcos rocks and may order more depending on the look im going for... a diy 20 gallon sump, a maxspect gyre 130 and a 500gph return pump not for flow but for circulation/filtration.
And of course all your other goodies such as a refractometer, heater, thermometer, hanna test checkers, etc...

[Javi78503]

My stand, all thats pending is adding hindges for the doors.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/14/1357096cd1e5989e807ab5fb65562c7a.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/14/f3962ffc6ef6b7abb94a3d042956dfe8.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/14/75c51054ae389cb54a23304909fb6280.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/14/4515b739e6bd6c6807a37251805fc2b0.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/14/0a8762175e98722d9257714706d0da49.jpg

Cement board on top and inside...

[Zack]

Very nice wood work! I can't build things like this to save my life

[Javi78503]

It was fun. I have never built anything before but I watched a youtube video by diy king and thought it was easy enough and my better half had the tools so... I turned into bob vila for a few days.

Thanks for the positive feedback though :) I appreciate it! Though if you looked closely youll see the plywood and I did NOT see eye to eye.

[Zack]

I've never heard of cement board before, what is it used for?

[Javi78503]

Tile flooring, bathrooms, back splash... I like it cause its water resistant :)
... and level.

[Zack]

Nice! Very cool, if you don't mind me asking, what did it put you back in materials cost to make this? I've seen some of Joey's videos so I know you can usually save a ton of money doing it yourself.

[Javi78503]

Back is open. And id say no more than 70 dollars. The most expensive thing being the molding.

10 2x4's at 2.5 bucks a pop, screws at about 7 bucks, some scrap plywood for the sides/front free :p and all the molding for the doors/body about 30 bucks. And the cement board at 10 bucks.

[Zack]

Awesome! What brand of tank are you going with?

[Javi78503]

Not sure, ordered it from a fish store in mcallen called reef valley, great group of people working there. It arrives on Tuesday but since I work I have to pick it up on Wednesday before work

Since it's coming in from dallas im guessing maybe planet aquariums...

[Javi78503]

Sad news today, my tank got scratched as they were loading it into the truck to ship it out so... now its being rebuilt and will be shipped out Thursday to arrive at the latest Monday.

[Zack]

Ouch :/. Literally cringed when I read that. Sorry to hear man, but at least they are doing the right thing

[Dean]

Hey at least they didn't try to hide it and ship it anyway! It sounds like you went with a great company!

[Javi78503]

Yeah, a little bad news and some good news to follow. The fish store that ordered it for me offered me 4 bags of sand to go along with the tank but since I already have 80lbs of sand from marcorocks I told them to hook me up with the bulkheads and plumbing and they said sure, so free plumbing out of it isnt a bad deal for a few more days wait time :)

[Zack]

Nice!!

[aquasport24]

It might not be a good ideal to use treated wood, it would release chemical back to the water. Good luck with build.

[Javi78503]

It might not be a good ideal to use treated wood, it would release chemical back to the water. Good luck with build.
There are no pieces of wood in the water. The wood is for the stand I built that is shown in the pictures earlier in this thread. :)

[aquasport24]

I know there is no wood in the water, but around the water. Might want to do more research on that while the stand is not holding any weight right now.

[Javi78503]

I know there is no wood in the water, but around the water. Might want to do more research on that while the stand is not holding any weight right now.
It may be because im a particularly huge novice currently, but can you explain to me exactly how that would happen? At no point would the wood and or water come into contact with one another so how would the water get contaminated?

[jcnkt_ellis]

Not bad point about the treated lumber, if water is spilt or splashed out of the top you run the risk of chemicals leaching from the top cross beams and dripping into your sump underneath.

The concrete backer board is water proof, but where it meets the molding isn't.

[aquasport24]

Not bad point about the treated lumber, if water is spilt or splashed out of the top you run the risk of chemicals leaching from the top cross beams and dripping into your sump underneath.

The concrete backer board is water proof, but where it meets the molding isn't.
and you don't want your family and the skimmer to breath in nasty chemical in the air either. This is why we only use treated wood outdoor.

[Zack]

Could he seal it with a laquer?

[Javi78503]

Hrm, good point. Couldnt I just treat the wood with some water sealant too?

[alton]

I would think paint may seal it, contact your local paint store? I remember building my first two stands, way over built just like yours. I think my stands weighed more than the tanks they held. Enjoy the new tank. FYI when I built my new shed I used treated lumber and the metal place where I got my roof decking told me unless I painted the boards the chemical in the lumber would eat through the aluminum.

[Javi78503]

It turned out I was right, it is a planet aquarium tank. Arrived yesterday. Haven't had much time to set anything up since I have good friends visiting from houston but here's what I managed last night after the drinking and before bed :p

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/21/94779600074653f7a1b570e5fcc89685.jpg

[Dean]

That is a beautiful tank! Congratulations.

[Justin]

Nice rockscaping man! Are you stacking your rocks up against the overflow or leaving a gap? I would leave a gap so that your Maxpect gyre can cause a vacuum and pull detritus out from under your rockscape.

[Javi78503]

Thanks guys. Its officially full of water and cloudy as heck but its to be expected as all of you know. I left it running over night and now I can at least see through it vaguely.

I havent tested salinity yet since im not sure if the fine particles of sand would affect the outcome on the refracrometer. But hopefully after work today itll be a lot clearer and I can test it then

[alton]

Nice tank! FYI if your rock is sitting on the sand versus the glass and you add a sand sifter in the future, a rock may collapse on his head if he burrows? I lost a pair of yellow head gobies years ago.

[Javi78503]

Its sitting on eggcrate that's buried in the sand

[Javi78503]

Thanks by the way, I was half asleep when I replied. Apparently manners and zombie brain dont go hand in hand.

[Zack]

Story of my life lol..

How are things looking??

[Javi78503]

Its been a rough start. Glued my pcv and started it up. Ran well for a day then I developed a leak on a elbow joint. Thought ok, perfect chance to add im some extra stuff such as a union and gate valve. So. Added them in and my pump apparently isnt strong enough to handle the gate valve and the 5 feet of gravity. Had to make sure there were no blockages and the gate valve was installed correctly but in the end I had to end up cutting it off and adding in some plain pvc tubing, works fine now.

I did notice however that the tank grew much cloudier again after I turned the pump off for a day, any reason why you guys think this may be happening? I dont have any ammonia producing items in the water yet so I dont believe it could be an algae bloom but you guys probably know better than I do

[Zack]

Could it just be kicking up sand that settled in the sump or the pump? Is the tank next to a window or is your lighting running yet?

[Javi78503]

Maybe just the sand but it threw me off since the main pump was off and only the gyre was on. There are no windows near by and I dont have lighting yet since its just cycling. I cleaned off the glass just now to make sure its not a film. I'll give it a few more days. Im running 2 filter socks and I notice it clears up a bit when the main pump is on.

Testing for ammonia just to make sure

[Javi78503]

So its just sand ( I think) ive switched out the filter socks twice now and each time they're full of fine powdery sand. Tank is clearing up slowly but surely.
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/25/76b03e744b5b4a14c6a427995f3747ea.jpg

Can see the rocks now at least. Guess next time ill rinse the rocks/sand more than once :) and I also read that adding rodi water to sand and or rocks causes them to break down a bit so its best to add them to premixed saltwater.

[Javi78503]

Started dosing seachem stability. We'll see how it goes. Going to try to test 1 hour after each dose to see what the readings are.

[Javi78503]

And we have clear water! Now to wait for the diatomaceous bacteria... hopefully the seachem stability will help

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/27/ad8ca75e94383c8541fd40b5794dd190.jpg

Im tempted to get like a shrimp or something and throw it in since I've read stability works better with something live in the tank

And yes my heater is in the main tank for now. I moved it over when I was messing with the plumbing and havent tossed it back

[slm222]

I wouldn't put any bacteria in the tank to speed up the process unless you plan to continue dosing it on a regular basis.the only one I would go with for a starter colony would be dr tims one and only.

Tank looks good, I love rimless tanks.

[Javi78503]

Continued with the stability and added atm's colony as well. Have had a dead shrimp in there for about a week now and all numbers look stable with no spikes so keeping my fingers crossed.

Added a cleaner shrimp yesterday and he seems well and not stressed at all. Pic of him below. We named him "Bigotes" which is spanish for whiskers :p

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/30/07d5fd76f5964d726fbeb876e78dd37c.jpg

[Dkray944]

I like the name

[Javi78503]

Thanks! Got 2 clownfish now too!

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/04/01/35f76a92eb49ec38ae76742c67aa6fe6.jpg

You can see all 3 in this pic.

[Javi78503]

Got my lights in today. Excited to have them since they were my last big purchase. Theyre 36" 20k multi channel vho buildmyled lights.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/11/d6bd0048f01ff107be18bed0a4b72a7d.jpg

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/11/e3868f69419747143826a7855fe81d7e.jpg

Now to start buying more coral and fish :)

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[Dean]

Sure is a nice tank. Those low profile LEDs are sharp!

[Javi78503]

Sure is a nice tank. Those low profile LEDs are sharp!
Thanks Dean!

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[Justin]

Those are sleek lights man.

[Javi78503]

Those are sleek lights man.
Thanks Justin. Im 50/50 on hanging them (since i have the kit) or just leaving them on the tank itself

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[Javi78503]

Got a tiny blue hippo tang anda bubble tip yesterday, both seem to be doing well.

Though leave it to the bubble tip to find a spot facing away from the front of the tank... and my 2 ocelaris haven't noticed or taken interest in it yet either.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/13/f9e91301a4fcdc64234749458fa06760.jpg

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/13/d3c7812d4c2a5781e326b5367095efeb.jpg

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[Javi78503]

Tang was being a bit aggressive at first so i moved some (2) of the rocks around and took the opportunity to move the anemone so it faces the front of the tank. Seems to have calmed down the tang and the anemone hasnt moved from the spot since i moved it so it must be content for now.

I also messed with the color on my phone camera so now it looks more like it actually does. The previous settings were making everything too blue

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/14/a3e15a042389755b881a76f25b7ae093.jpg

And a side view

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/14/6625ce9448d9360a917ff2d8f47d94ff.jpg

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[alton]

Looks nice

[Javi78503]

Its been a while since i updated so, here goes...

https://vimeo.com/135098572

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[Dean]

It's coming along nicely. I really like the aquascape

[Dkray944]

Looking good. Seems like you've got a pretty good stock of fish. Are you looking to add any corals?

[LuckySingh]

Very nice and clean

[Javi78503]

Thanks for the commenda guys and gals! @dkray944 i do plan on adding corals, but it wont be for a while. Maybe another year or so since i want my tank to mature a bit first.

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