ChrisQ's New beginning... and hopefully last.

ChrisQ0904 · Mar 3, 2023

Well, I have reached that time again where I need to make a new build thread. I figure what better day than delivery day. I have a few other builds that have ended for one reason or another and always lead to teardowns. My last teardown was a waterbox 130.4 and whatever little remains from that are sitting in a neglected IM 50g AIO. I have been pretty checked out from reefing due to new job and this wonderful housing market. Long story short I finally feel stable in my new job and have finally found a new (to us) home.

My new tank is going to be a little smaller than the waterbox mainly to not take up as much space in the smaller living area. I ended up going with a IM 75 EXT taking advantage of the sale they had going on.

So far I'll be running:

Lighting
XR30 deciding between running 2 or 1 with t5 supplement

Flow
2x Tunze 6095
Return pump not sure yet

Filtration
Most likely simple 20g with baffles
redsea reefmat 500

I have my old lifereef skimmer that i need to see if it fits and isnt too strong

May also dry ditching the skimmer and attempt an ATS. I haven't had too much luck with these but maybe this time will be different and just feed more if needed.

I'll be doing new sand since I'm not a fan of reusing sand. For rock scape I ordered a marco rock shelf kit from BRS and will be moving over some from the 50g as well.

I'm sure I'm missing some details but will do my best to keep things as updated/documented as possible. First update should be later today after the tank arrives.

Thanks for following this build.

nuxx · Mar 3, 2023

Sounds interesting, post pics

John Bolden · Mar 3, 2023

following

kevgib67 · Mar 3, 2023

Following!

ChrisQ0904 · Mar 3, 2023

Well that was certainly an interesting delivery. To make a long story short I had to call IM before I accepted the delivery because of the driver. He brought it in my my garage no problem but when I went to open it up to check for damage he got upset. He literally blocked me from even cutting the plastic off because he said the outside was good. We went back and forth for a little so I made him wait before signing until I got a hold of IM. Thankfully they were understanding of the situation and worked with me.

Finally get to open the box and the tank was..... fine. Which is great but the driver was just unbearable and wouldn't budge. The IM rep did say they were going to be passing this instance to their logistics department and see if they can clarify with the shipping company.

Enough of the complaining... got the stand built after some fiddling around trying to get the stand square. I'm not really sure where I went wrong with building it but I had to loosen all the connections to adjust it to sit flat and as square as I could get it. All while having a toddler dying to help... good times lol.

I was kinda surprised the overflow is glass, I guess I missed that detail somewhere or just assumed it was acrylic.

Close to its final resting spot. I want to move it away from the switch a little more but I don't want to get too close to the TV. Might just end up playing musical stand tomorrow.

I also scored a great deal on a 20 long with baffles locally, just got to get it cleaned up. Forgot to order a gate valve because I thought I had one but can't seem to find it so here comes another BRS order.

ChrisQ0904 · Mar 14, 2023

Was ae to get plumbing done and leak tested. Had no leaks thankfully! Only thing I need to add is a check valve since this tank like to drain a lot of water and I'm pushing it as far as not overflowing.

I seem to have lost my power supply for my algae scrubber lights. Now I'm more on the fence about running one or just setup a skimmer. I've always seemed to have issues with low pH so I now I'm leaning a little more towards skimmer with a line running to the garage.

Gumbies R Us · Mar 14, 2023

Love the stand for the tank!

ChrisQ0904 · Apr 1, 2023

Well, things finally got settled down a bit. I transferred the fish from the 50g and the little coral I had left. Move went pretty good just going through an ugly phase right now.

Aquascape was kinda just thrown together and I actually like how it turned out.

Until clam is just too big for this tank so will have to find a new home.

Tank is still a little cloudy but it's not too bad. Skimmer already pulled some nasty stuff out so pretty happy about that.
Ran skimmer line outside and that has bumped my daytime ph from 7.8 to about 8.1. I just need to find a solution for lights out because it still drops to 7.6.
Plans were algae scrubber but I'm afraid to run too clean with the roller mat and skimmer already doing an amazing job. There's no space for a refugium in the sump either.

Even with the ph issue I'm pretty happy with where the tank is at right now.