My first reef build - 75 g mixed - pics from 0 to 22 months

[Will G]

My daughter got a freshwater tank in 2021 and my wife immediately fell in love. We started upgrading the lights, etc. on her tank and adding plants. We finally decided to build our own tank, and salt had caught our eye. Thankfully we have several friends with experience that were able to help us through the process. I remember saying right after I finished the build that I would have never taken it on if I knew what it would entail. Anyway, I started with a standard 75 g Aqueon tank my wife came home with as a surprise one day from Petco. I figured I should start by building a stand.

I found simple plans for a 2x4 based stand online. Built the frame, closed it in with 2x6" hardwood planks, added trim, and painted inside and out with an exterior grade paint. I built simple cabinet doors out of the same hardwood planks and glued them together at the corners. For a nice touch I added some beadboard to the center of the cabinet doors. Almost two years later I'm still pretty happy with how the stand turned out, considering my abilities and experience level.

 

[mythesis]

the bead board adds a really nice finish for sure.

How's the tank look now? Have any pics of the reef?

 

[Will G]

the bead board adds a really nice finish for sure.

How's the tank look now? Have any pics of the reef?

It looks good, but I'm trying to work my way there chronologically

 

[mythesis]

Love it, will watch the progression!

 

[KyleW22]

Nice work!

 

[Will G]

Wish I had more photos of installing the plumbing, drilling the tank, etc., but I don't. Here's a shot of the sump right after I set it up for the first time, compared to one from a few weeks ago. The sump tank is a cheap Petco 20L bought on sale, and I purchased the internals as a kit I found talked about here. Can't remember brand.

Since setting it up, my skimmer rarely runs (I have to dose nitrates). The large chamber with the media also initially housed a chaeto ball, but I tossed that for the same reason. I don't run filter socks anymore either.

Over time I added a Jebao doser, Tunze ATO system, various timers, an inkbird heater controller, etc. The doser is running All for Reef and Ammonium Bicarbonate. I just upgraded with new color coded dosing lines and a bracket that helped me arrange them neatly, but I didn't have a full sump shot with them in it.

 

[Will G]

And here's the wall of rock that was my first aquascape after leak testing, moving inside, and adding sand and water. I would eventually remove about 1/3 of the rock and create a large swim-thru arch on the right side of the tank. In hindsight, I would have broken up the macro rock I ordered from BRS into smaller pieces and taken more time to complete it, but I was overwhelmed by everything else going on with my first build.

 

[Will G]

Do as I say, not as I do. This brings us to the phase of my reefing journey where I learned about best fish keeping practices. Against my better judgement, my wife convinced me to add a PBT. So I added an unquarantined PBT to the tank and guess what? Not only did it die, but it took out most of my other fish as well. So now you know to quarantine and choose appropriately sized fish for your tank. Don't be like me. Learn the easy way.

 

[Will G]

This pic represents the phase that almost got me to leave the hobby. Dinos. I tried everything under the sun to get rid of them including lighting changes, vacuuming sand, changing more water more frequently, changing water less frequently, etc. I eventually started dosing silicates, and they cleared up shortly thereafter. It was not immediate, so that's why I still can't say for sure why they went away.

 

[Will G]

Progress pic around 1 year in. This also happens to be the point in time when I decided to switch to decent lights. Also went from one large (can't remember model) Jebao powerhead to two smaller ones to improve flow. You can't see in the photo, but I had a simple Fluval light bar up until this point. I had added a bunch of new coral, and wasn't happy with growth rates, so I figured it was time for an upgrade. I should also mention that shortly thereafter I decided adding a RBTA was a bad idea, as it consistently ended up somewhere killing coral, or splitting to create a new individual that settled somewhere and started killing coral. It was a miracle that I ever got it out. The rock flower anemone in the center, on the other hand, has always been a model citizen, although my wife considers it decidedly ugly

 

[Will G]

Shortly after adding new lights - Noopsyche K7 Pro III. I started them on LPS mode, eventually transitioned to the factory pre-set LPS/SPS mode, then up to the SPS only mode. More recently I've dialed back down to LPS/SPS mode to reduce PAR for some of my softies.

 

[Will G]

...skip a few steps related to starting to dose, figure out parameters, etc. and this is the most recent pic I had available on my computer. It's from a few months ago so there's been additional growth and minor modifications here and there, but overall I'm really happy with where things are...