125 gallon mixed reef build

[Colin B]

Hello everyone,
Welcome to my tank build. I am graduating from college in less than a month at this point and am beyond excited. So to celebrate this I am thinking of treating myself to something I've been wanting for quite sometime, a 125 gallon mixed reef tank. I found a standard non drilled 125 gallon tank for $100 on craigslist which was too good of a deal to pass up I thought. So here we are now. My plan for this tank as of now, as stated before, is to make a mixed reef tank.
More details of my plan for what will happen:

• 125 gallon display tank
• 75 gallon sump/refugium
• 20 lb of live rock + 70 lb of baserock is what I currently have on hand but looking to add around 30 to 50 more lbs of rock to this system. Total of 120 to 140 pounds of rock.
• looking for a sand bed of around 2-3" so however many pounds of sand that is.
• Triton method is my main goal with this system, I am intrigued by the idea of something that would be more self sustaining, so this is an awesome idea to me.

So to this point I have not addressed some key issues, which include:

• Stand (first thing I want to address)
• Lighting LED vs. T5 vs. MH vs. Combo lights
• Sump/refugium set up and drill or not to drill
• Equipment that I will use, I want a redundant system that will better help me to be prepared if something does go wrong, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
• Stocking list ( so far out I am not even remotely worried about this at this point)
• Proper Triton method utilization

In this thread I would really LOVE some recommendations from reefers and members of this great R2R community to help out and give their input on my ideas and what they would do/do differently if they were in the same situation. Thanks in advance, I cannot wait to share this experience of building a fairly decent sized reef tank with the community.

~CBeech

 

[Colin B]

So the first thing about this build I would like some help with as this is very confusing to me is:
How should I build my stand...
Now my 125 gallon is 18" wide and so is the 75 gallon tank that I plan on using as the sump/refugium tank.
So my question is what would be a good design for a stand for this set up? I'm currently working on a design now in sketchup that might be a possibility, however, if someone has experience with something like this, I am all ears at this point and would love some feedback.

 

[skiergd011013]

Nice. You'll get a million opinions. For lighting, I love t5's. Ati blue plus and purple plus bulbs. I run sumpless, i like simpler setups. But if you want a sump, i'd drill. I think its safer than those syphon overflow boxes. I would just drill and put a bulkhead with one of those intake screens. Thats how i ran an old tank. Worked great.

 

[Tigweldpro]

I have a kind of go to solid generic stand that I have build in 3 different sizes now. Check my build threads for pics.

 

[Colin B]

I have a kind of go to solid generic stand that I have build in 3 different sizes now. Check my build threads for pics.

I really like your stand design, everything holds up well? Even with no support in the middle?

 

[Tigweldpro]

I really like your stand design, everything holds up well? Even with no support in the middle?

yup simple and solid, PL400 & screws on every wood to wood contact except top plywood.
The front beam in double 2 x4 glued & screwed. Its easy to level the tank with shims between the top plywood and stand.

 

[Old Glory]

I would mix up some salt water and get that rock curing while you build up everything else. Throw it in a tub with a pump and heater. You can seed it with Dr Tims or other bacteria in a bottle and then ghost feed to keep up the bacteria levels. You basically pre-cycle the rock.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Hello everyone,
Welcome to my tank build. I am graduating from college in less than a month at this point and am beyond excited. So to celebrate this I am thinking of treating myself to something I've been wanting for quite sometime, a 125 gallon mixed reef tank. I found a standard non drilled 125 gallon tank for $100 on craigslist which was too good of a deal to pass up I thought. So here we are now. My plan for this tank as of now, as stated before, is to make a mixed reef tank.
More details of my plan for what will happen:

• 125 gallon display tank
• 75 gallon sump/refugium
• 20 lb of live rock + 70 lb of baserock is what I currently have on hand but looking to add around 30 to 50 more lbs of rock to this system. Total of 120 to 140 pounds of rock.
• looking for a sand bed of around 2-3" so however many pounds of sand that is.
• Triton method is my main goal with this system, I am intrigued by the idea of something that would be more self sustaining, so this is an awesome idea to me.

So to this point I have not addressed some key issues, which include:

• Stand (first thing I want to address)
• Lighting LED vs. T5 vs. MH vs. Combo lights
• Sump/refugium set up and drill or not to drill
• Equipment that I will use, I want a redundant system that will better help me to be prepared if something does go wrong, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
• Stocking list ( so far out I am not even remotely worried about this at this point)
• Proper Triton method utilization

In this thread I would really LOVE some recommendations from reefers and members of this great R2R community to help out and give their input on my ideas and what they would do/do differently if they were in the same situation. Thanks in advance, I cannot wait to share this experience of building a fairly decent sized reef tank with the community.

~CBeech

@Colin B , check out my build thread in my signature for ideas. My current tank is the 125.

Oh, and welcome to reef2reef! Any questions are welcome!

 

[Colin B]

yup simple and solid, PL400 & screws on every wood to wood contact except top plywood.
The front beam in double 2 x4 glued & screwed. Its easy to level the tank with shims between the top plywood and stand.

Alright, that sounds like a good plan to me, do you have a plan that you followed or a video that could explain how the stand was put together, I'd like to borrow your plan as it looks like it would fit my needs well.

 

[Colin B]

I would mix up some salt water and get that rock curing while you build up everything else. Throw it in a tub with a pump and heater. You can seed it with Dr Tims or other bacteria in a bottle and then ghost feed to keep up the bacteria levels. You basically pre-cycle the rock.

Yeah that's the plan moving forward, but the baserock and the 75 gallon tank are at my parents, which is 500 miles away from where I currently live, so I'm not going to have that for the near future at least.

 

[Colin B]

@Colin B , check out my build thread in my signature for ideas. My current tank is the 125.

Oh, and welcome to reef2reef! Any questions are welcome!

Your stand is amazing, wow, do you think you'd be able to fit a 75 gallon underneath the tank. I don't have the option to put the sump in another room, so it will have to go directly underneath it

 

[Flippers4pups]

Your stand is amazing, wow, do you think you'd be able to fit a 75 gallon underneath the tank. I don't have the option to put the sump in another room, so it will have to go directly underneath it

Probably not as a standard 75 is 18" wide. A 40 gallon long would. It's 48 x 13 x 17. 13" wide would probably fit.

There's pictures of the stand as I was building further in my build thread.

 

[Colin B]

Probably not as a standard 75 is 18" wide. A 40 gallon long would. It's 48 x 13 x 17. 13" wide would probably fit.

There's pictures of the stand as I was building further in my build thread.

Yeah I saw those, I really really like your stands, maybe I could try that one and try some modifications to make it a little wider underneath to house the standard 75 gallon some how

 

[Flippers4pups]

Yeah I saw those, I really really like your stands, maybe I could try that one and try some modifications to make it a little wider underneath to house the standard 75 gallon some how

The vertical supports of the stand should be directly under the tank corners for proper support. Being the standard 75 is 48 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 21 3/8, the width is at 18 1/2". The stand's verticals would have to be placed out around 20". Not sure that would work correctly.

Petco has sales sometimes for a $1 per gallon. A 40 long would be just under $50 and would fit nicely.

A fully stocked 125 gallon, with rock, sand and water is going to be in the range of 1300lbs.

 

[Colin B]

The vertical supports of the stand should be directly under the tank corners for proper support. Being the standard 75 is 48 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 21 3/8, the width is at 18 1/2". The stand's verticals would have to be placed out around 20". Not sure that would work correctly.

Petco has sales sometimes for a $1 per gallon. A 40 long would be just under $50 and would fit nicely.

A fully stocked 125 gallon, with rock, sand and water is going to be in the range of 1300lbs.

What if I were to leave the supports under the stand, I understand this is a lot of weight, just extend the front of the stand out and make a bar height seating with a counter or an over hang to place drinks and enjoy the tank in the front may be a solution to use the slightly larger tank, and still have the structural support that would be needed

 

[Flippers4pups]

What if I were to leave the supports under the stand, I understand this is a lot of weight, just extend the front of the stand out and make a bar height seating with a counter or an over hang to place drinks and enjoy the tank in the front may be a solution to use the slightly larger tank, and still have the structural support that would be needed

You could leave out the center supports to give you room. I would recommend using 2x6"'s for the top, as I did, but with using 2x6's, it would be strong enough to support and keep from deflecting.

So, yes you could get away with doing that.

 

[Colin B]

You could leave out the center supports to give you room. I would recommend using 2x6"'s for the top, as I did, but with using 2x6's, it would be strong enough to support and keep from deflecting.

So, yes you could get away with doing that.

So 2×6 running the length of the tank, ok that would definitely be doable, just to achieve the open space underneath, I really think it would be worth it

 

[Flippers4pups]

So 2×6 running the length of the tank, ok that would definitely be doable, just to achieve the open space underneath, I really think it would be worth it

It could be done.

 

[Tigweldpro]

Alright, that sounds like a good plan to me, do you have a plan that you followed or a video that could explain how the stand was put together, I'd like to borrow your plan as it looks like it would fit my needs well.

I only found 1 more pic I had. In my 38 build you can see the structure

 

[drblakjak55]

More you buy on this site the better. 100$ for the tank. Easily 2000$ to get it lit and running with sand and rock. No fish or corals yet. RODI system. Sump. Triton testing.... Good luck recently graduated college student.
However better than cable and bigger tanks more forgiving of screw ups once they’re running right.
Sometimes it takes a weekend to walk by my tank.