75 Gal. Build for $5 per Gallon

[Neon Reefer]

75 Gal. Build for $5 per Gallon

By Neon Reefer

History

Started in the hobby 15 months ago w/ a JBJ 28 NC, and split some coral out about 3 months ago into a JBJ 12 NC and still out grew them both. A pretty common mistake, Right? So now it is time to expand again and move away from the Nano Cubes. And time to take into account my needs and wants, and balance them out w/ my budget.

Analysis

What I need is about twice the gallons I currently maintain to provide enough room for the coral I have and a little extra space for a few new pieces as well. It has to fit in the wall space allowed (55”) and utilize some of my current equipment such as power heads, reactor, and chiller so I can maintain my budget. What I want is a mixed reef tank w/ a drilled display, dimmable LED lighting, a sump, oversized skimmer, stand and hood. Well the math says that the largest tank I can utilize is a 75 Gal tank. This fits the footprint of < 55” long and is within the parameters of the chiller, reactor, and power heads; and gives me nearly twice the current gallons I maintain. But here’s the kicker, I want it all for $5 per gallon or less. That’s less than $375 for a complete plug and play 75 G w/ LEDs. This is not going to be a new tank, rather a used and probably a DIY fixer upper if at all possible.

Purchase History

Started looking at used tanks on ARC and Craigslist, and I am seeing a few 75 G tanks out there but not in my budget. Finally found a very used tank from an ARC member getting out of the hobby, asking $300. It is a 48” long drilled for drain only, single corner overflow, partially working T5s, 29G long for a sump, Eihem 1260 return pump, 40lbs of clean rock, and very little live stock (no coral). So I went to take a look and decided the glass was pretty smooth, no scratches on the front and the rock was worth $200 alone. Offered $150 and seller accepted. Here’s what I got and what I think it is worth:

• Rock $200
• Tank $90
• Sump $10
• Pump $50
• L / S $25
• Lights $0

TOTAL $375

Now I also found a nice skimmer from another ARC member for $90. This is an Eshopps PSK 150 in great condition. Retails for around $200 delivered new. This skimmer should work well on a 75 G.

The lighting was a hard find. New was way too pricey. Used name brand same thing. Really wasn’t looking forward to a DIY- LED project because I suck at soldering, and name brand DIY LEDs were still a bit pricy for what I wanted. Here’s what I decided on. A sight online where you can
buy 3 watt Epistar emitters assembled in different lengths for a lot cheaper than anything else I could find. Granted these are not Exoctica or Rapid LED w/ Cree LEDs, but they fit my budget and have
a 2 year warranty. Can anyone speak Mandarin, LOL? So here is what I
got: 2X each- 47” strips of 50 / 50 Cool White and Actinic 453 nm blue 48 LEDs w/ 120 degree individual reflectors, lens covers, end caps, heat sinks that matches construction grade extruded aluminum at the big box hardware store, 2 – 5 watt 24 volt transformers w/ plug and play cables, and two 5 watt multifunction dimmers switches. With the extruded aluminum and a box of self tapping screws the total cost was $256. Results are 2x 48” 12K 144 watt dimmable LED bars for a total of 288 watts LED and converted to ~600 – 700 watt MH. This should be just enough light to grow out
a nice mixed reef, and in the near future I plan to add another bar of Red, Royal Blue and Green mixed to really make the coral pop.

For the sump I constructed a two compartment sump separated by 2 bubble baffles, utilizing the 29 G tank I had purchased w/ the display tank; nothing fancy but effective and roomy enough for my equipment. I plan to run sponge and floss if needed between the baffles. For the plumbing I
will run soft ¾” nylon braided tubing from the pump to a single ¾” over the top U accelerator for the return, and will utilize the current overflow box and skimmer as well as the 1” bulkhead. I will replace the stand pipe and the hard drain line, as it seems to be a mix match of different sizes nippled together. I plan to clean it up and go w/ 1” from the top down to the bottom. On the top I will go with schedule 80 PVC w/ a threaded coupling halfway and a modified “Maggie Muffler” on top. I experimented w/ several things: J Pipe, Durso, and found the Maggie Muffler for $9.99 online. It’s bell shaped design amounts to an inverted Hofer Gurgle Buster w/ no adjustments needed.

But what was needed was the ability to insert a piece of tubing from the top for further quieting of the air breather. Just over drilled a ¼” hole and inserted a ¼” piece of air tubing and found the sweet spot.
On the bottom a simple 90 turn X2 to slow the water and a deep pipe w/ an elbow on the end for the sump dump

• Acrylic $20
• Silicone $8.50
• PVC Plumbing $18
• Maggie Muffler $10
• U Accelerator $11.50
• 8’ - ¾” Tubing $12
• ¾” check valve $14
• ¾” thread/barb $1.50
• 4 clamps $1.00

Total Plumbing $95.50

Last thing was to refinish the stand and build a hood. I want to keep it open for good CO2 exchange and to further reduce any heating. So my plan is a simple 4” crown floating on a 1x2 all around with a 6” placard on the front and some gingerbreads to dress it up a little. This should match the simple look of the stand, and I will stain it all Red Mahogany to match my current furniture. The materials to complete this is ~ 20 linear feet of stain grade 1 x 4 pine, 1 x 2 pine, and 3 ft of 1 x 6 pine. 6 wheel style gingerbreads, 1 pint of stain and 1 pint of lacquer, lots of sandpaper, 2 cans stripper, and a few misc. supplies. Total cost $80

In addition I will utilize my current JBJ power heads (1750 gph), Lil Fishy 150 reactor, and Sealine 1/10^th HP Chiller run thru the wall to under vanity in adjacent bathroom for ease of space and quietness. Total value $500

Total cost of project

$581.50 and w/ the $25 livestock credit and the sale of my JBJ 28 G for $200 that brings the adjusted cost down to $356.50. That’s only $4.75 per gallon. Hey I’m under budget! Now that’s pretty sweet. Now granted this is only the build cost and only includes the 40lbs of rock. I already had another 50lbs, worth $250 and I had to buy $100 worth of water. Not to mention my current livestock, and the utilization of other equipment. But it does go to show that with a little work, and making only a few compromises you can accomplish a basic tank build for around $8 per gallon and less if you have a little trade in to work with and a little luck.

Addendum:

Tank has been up and running for two weeks now and all the livestock has made the transition fine. All fishys and corals look good. Water params are great utilizing Red Sea Pro and Kent for Nano Parts A & B w/ Kent Tech M for Mg, and StartSmart for Saltwater w/ weekly water changes of 5 Gals. as well as Prime for insurance of course.

Salinity 34.5 ppm

pH 8.0 -8.2

Tenp 79- 80 F

Ca 425 ppm

Alk 9 - 10 dKH

Mg 1375 ppm

NH3 0.0 ppm

NO2 0.0 ppm

NO3 ~1.0 ppm

PO4 <0.02 ppm

[+KimP]

Wow, what a great write up! Good for you for staying under budget, that's a feat in itself. The hood/canopy is beautiful!

[bige]

Well done sir. It's amazing how you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. And your tank looks great for what you wanted to pay.

[Bpb]

Nice Doberman. You have me whipped on tank cost. For a while I felt like I had the most tank for the least money. You've got me beat...maybe

[subsea]

Your carpentry skills show attention to detail. Interesting canopy. Very nice looking tank.

I got you beat on price per gallon on my 55G tanks set up on cinder blocks.

La bonne temps roulee,

Patrick

[Sascha D.]

Nice job on the tank. You'll have to keep everyone posted on that open top. My wife is afraid of the kids throwing stuff and it landing in the tank, plus the evaporation is a killer.

Your carpentry skills show attention to detail. Interesting canopy. Very nice looking tank.

I got you beat on price per gallon on my 55G tanks set up on cinder blocks.
La bonne temps roulee,
Patrick

Haha it's not a competition!

[Neon Reefer]

Yes for only a 75 G tank i am using almost 1 G per day in RO to compensate for evaporation. But the chiller almost never runs w/ the house upwards of 78 during the day, so that's a good thing compared to the $4.80 for the monthly RO run at RCA. Fixing to get an ATO though so I don't have to worry w/ it daily. No kids to tose anything in, but I worry about things like deodorizing air spray or Frebreeze.

[Neon Reefer]

Addendum II : Maggie Muffler

After some thought I realized there was a significant advantage to the downflow bell design of the Hofer as compared to the Maggie. And that is the safety overflow design. When the air breather of either design becomes restricted (As in the rise of water in the overflow box) it causes the inflow of air to change to the bell causing the water level to drop to that point. It also causes the device to become noisy which alerts you to a problem. To test this just place your finger over the air tube to see the level drop and devise become noisy. However w/ the Maggie the top of the bell where the air intake is sits so high that the air intake is well above the flood level of the overflow box.

Therefore It becomes necessary to make another modifcation to address this potential problem. The easy fix is to leave the tubing coming out of the top long enough to run down the side of the bell low enough to reach a safe hghest level you would ever want your water level to be, and simply attaching the end of the tube there w/ a zip tie or w/ super glue.

Please look at the drawing and note the red arrow showing the point at which to attach the tube above the desired water line. Sorry for the child like drawing but this was the best i could muster w/ a free hand and mouse.

[victoly]

Addendum II : Maggie Muffler

After some thought I realized there was a significant advantage to the downflow bell design of the Hofer as compared to the Maggie. And that is the safety overflow design. When the air breather of either design becomes restricted (As in the rise of water in the overflow box) it causes the inflow of air to change to the bell causing the water level to drop to that point. It also causes the device to become noisy which alerts you to a problem. To test this just place your finger over the air tube to see the level drop and devise become noisy. However w/ the Maggie the top of the bell where the air intake is sits so high that the air intake is well above the flood level of the overflow box.

Therefore It becomes necessary to make another modifcation to address this potential problem. The easy fix is to leave the tubing coming out of the top long enough to run down the side of the bell low enough to reach a safe hghest level you would ever want your water level to be, and simply attaching the end of the tube there w/ a zip tie or w/ super glue.

Please look at the drawing and note the red arrow showing the point at which to attach the tube above the desired water line. Sorry for the child like drawing but this was the best i could muster w/ a free hand and mouse.

paint.jpg

hah, love the graphic

[Neon Reefer]

hah, love the graphic

Ok Victoly so you got me there! Admittedly,graphics on the computer is not really my forte'. When I design I still do it old school without a mouse or a program. Pencil, big eraser, graph paper, compass, ruler, ect...But it does get the job done. I'd rather spend my time engineering and executing a successful tank. And thankfully looks like this one is doing pretty good. Still haven't been able to get my hands on a PAR meter to check, but my coral tells me they like the new LEDs. I think the 288 watts of 12k / 453nm is going to work out OK. Still have clear water and the new corals i got from Mitch are doing excellent. The purple growth line on the Green Monti is already over a 1/4 ".

But Vic if you'd like I'd let you design one of those Gif+ 8mg 3 phase pictures of the Maggie for the post. Maybe just animate the water. Or better yet one with the the first picture w/ no tube then one with the tube and the last w/ the tube in place all with water animation.

Here are a few shots of Mitch's corals in my 75 after only a couple of weeks.

Already seeing good polyp extension and some good growth on these two

Notice the purple growth line on the green Monti and the others are some new ones from the Sea World corals from RAC and a purple Monti I had

And a couple of my own from the 28G

[Neon Reefer]

Time to update my build thread with the latest changes. I added 72 watts of LEDs to my tank to supplement the 288 watts of 50/50 12k and Actinic. The color scheme is Red - Green - Royal Blue - UV / 6 - 6 10 -2 @ 3 watts each. Really brightens up the tank a lot as the red - green - blue makes ~8 - 9 k white while really popping the greens and reds for me and no blue effect from too much actinic. Also gives me 6 separate color temps for healthier coral growth. These were custom made 36 watt PAR 38 fixtures x2 utilizing BrightLux LEDs with Bridgelux chips. I'm really happy w/ these PARs as they are super bright and get great penetration even w/ the 120 degree spread I choose to cover the 48" width of the tank. Nice quality and I could not find this color ratio anywhere of the shelve. It seems everything is still bluer than blue unless you go custom.

Here's a couple of pics showing the new color scheme

Before

After

[Neon Reefer]

Upgraded my return pump and utility pump (chiller / RX) from Eheim 1260 (620) gph and old style maxi jet 1200 (295 gph) to Sicce Syncra 3.0 (714 gph) and 2.0 (568 gph). Although the 3.0 does not seem to have visible flow advantage over the Eheim, it runs very quiet and much cooler. However the 2.0 does provide superior flow over the Maxi Jet 1200 for my utility pump.

For $100 I bought 2x 3.0s and 1x 2.0 from a club member, this would be a $300+ Tax and shipping purchase online. A pretty good value and a nice little upgrade!

[Planeden]

i missed the light upgrade post. looks better.

with the upgrades are you still keeping with the $5/gallon?

[Neon Reefer]

i missed the light upgrade post. looks better.

with the upgrades are you still keeping with the $5/gallon?

No with the upgrades there's another $133 in cost bringing the total to $489.50 or $6.52 gal. Still not bad for a 360 watt dimmable LED system w/ everything I've got PSK 150 skimmer, Lil Fishy RX,, JBJ ATO, Sicce pumps, Chiller, Custom Sump, ect...

But I think i'm done now

[Planeden]

i missed the light upgrade post. looks better.

with the upgrades are you still keeping with the $5/gallon?

No with the upgrades there's another $133 in cost bringing the total to $489.50 or $6.52 gal. Still not bad for a 360 watt dimmable LED system w/ everything I've got PSK 150 skimmer, Lil Fishy RX,, JBJ ATO, Sicce pumps, Chiller, Custom Sump, ect...

But I think i'm done now

not bad at all. it's a great looking tank.