Building Gurgly – Kallor’s 125ish gallon reef tank

[Kallor]

There are some days in your life that you immediately know you will never forget: high school and college graduation, landing your first ‘real’ job, seeing your fiancé in her wedding dress walking to you down the aisle … and having your fish tank finally arrive after weeks of waiting.

 

I started the process of planning my aquarium purchase in September, and I’ve finally got an actual, honest to goodness fish tank.

 

I’ve had aquariums before, both freshwater and salt. My prior saltwater tank was never really successful, but that was about 18 years ago, and my knowledge and budget have increased a bit since then. I’m quite determined to ‘do it right’ this time around.

 

This will be my first time attempting to keep coral, and I’m excited about the process. I’ve really enjoyed all the research thus far, but I’m happy to finally do some hands-on work rather than just reading books, monitoring blogs, and watching youtube videos. Given that I am a bit of a ‘nub in the world of reefers, all input and insights will be greatly appreciated. I’ve learned a lot reading other builds here, and also had a great time doing so, so I’m excited to finally post a build log of my own.

 

My tank was made by AGE (who are based in Texas). After getting quite a few of quotes for a custom tank and stand, I went with AGE due to 1) the great representative that I was paired with after emailing them 2) a good reputation for quality and 3) the ease of which my various requests and questions were accommodated.  Though they were not the cheapest quote, I think their prices were fair. There were some challenges associated with not really being able to really work directly with the person building the tank, among other things, . . . but now is the time I think to focus on enjoying the end result :-)

 

The order that arrived from AGE is as follows:

• Tank: 125ish gallon, 36” wide x 30” long x 27” tall, ½” thick glass with coast-to-coast overflow, predrilled for a Bean-Animal style overflow (3 drains, 2 returns)
• Sump: 40sih gallon, acrylic, 3 chamber, designed to fit under the tank (along with the ATO   reservoir and other future additions such as reactors, dosers, etc.).
• ATO: 10ish gallon, narrow and tall acrylic container
• Stand: 32” tall, with 3 hinged doors that also can pop-off for easy access and maintenance

I selected the somewhat odd tank dimensions based on the location my wife and I agreed on as being a good for an aquarium. Gurgly will live in a corner that doesn’t catch any direct sunlight, and that also is right beside the couch where I frequently lounge to watch TV and read. I wanted to buy as much tank as possible, and 36” x 30” was as big as I could go and still have a few inches of clearance for the stand’s doors to open. I went a little overboard on the glass thickness and bracing to appease my apartment complex – I’m just happy they let me have an aquarium!

 

I didn’t want to be prohibited from keeping any particular types of coral, and I also wanted to avoid the heat issues associated with metal halide lights, so I’ve got two Radion Gen 2 LEDs for illumination. I’ve put together a mounting solution using powder-coated Al tubes from eztube.com.

 

For skimming I went with a Super Reef Octopus 2000 SSS. Water movement will be managed by two Ecotech Marine MP-40s. The sump return will be powered by an Ehiem 1262, which will live in the sump (along with the skimmer, chaetomorpha algae and two 200 watt Cobalt Neo-Therm heaters). The entire system will then be managed by a Neptune Apex Lite controller.

 

For the decoration, I decided to go with dry rock rather than live. This decision was based on a variety of factors, including not want to disturb the critters enjoying rock that is already in the ocean, avoiding hitchhikers (I had some anyway – as the photos below show), and having more time to aquascape without worrying about the rock drying out. I do understand, however, that you can’t really make a ‘wrong’ decision when picking dry or live rock – they both have their virtues.

 

I’m planning on doing a fishless cycle by dosing ammonia and some good ole’ Dr. Tims bacteria-in-a-bottle. When water quality issues settle down, then it will be time for a clean-up crew…. but in the meantime I’ve got lots of plumbing and various other assembly tasks to attend to.

 

Regarding a LFS, I’ve really enjoyed visiting Quantum Reefs. Steve and Vince have been very helpful and friendly, I love the store itself, and I love that its focus is solely on fish. Until about a month ago, I hadn’t been in a fish store in well over 15 years, so it was a blast going in and seeing all the amazing corals and healthy fish.

 

There will of course be lot of updates to come, and please don’t shy away from telling me if I’ve made some blunder, or asking any questions regarding my choices. Being fishtankless for so long, I’ve of course only recently discovered and joined WAMAS, but so far I’ve been thrilled with the people in this community.

 

Finally, I'm a week or so ahead of what this current post indicates. I ran into most of the problems people run into when putting a tank together - plumbing leaks, eqiuipment leaks, equipment failures, etc., and getting those somewhat resolved ate up any time I had planned to spend on a build log.

 

With that all said, PHOTO TIME!

 

With some time to kill while I waited on the tank and stand, I decided to start experimenting with aquascaping on the living room floor. Obviously, I have an enormously patient wife

 

Though I got dry rock, I wanted to experience the joy of hitchhikers, so I had to improvise a bit.

 

 

Cat shown for scale.

 

Working on a way to get the two Radions mounted to the tank stand.

 

My mounting solution made with hardware from EZTube dot com.

 

The tank finally arrives!

 

Everything was very securely packaged inside of the large crate.

 

The tank's cost-to-coast overflow.

 

The skimmer, sump and refugium light.

 

The back of the tank after the first coast of paint. After three coats, everything looked great.

 

Painting the front edge of the overflow. In hindsight, I guess I should have asked for this to be black acrylic - but painting it was pretty painless.

 

The painting is nearly finished, and while it was drying I started working on sealing up the floor of the tank so that some spills could be better managed. I'm really glad I did this, as it has (unfortunately?) already been put to the test. Thankfully it seems to work quite well. I sealed up the wood first with silicone around the seams, then threw down some primer, then started attaching the PVC shower liner. You can also see that the light mount is now attached to the back of the stand.

 

Gurgly is now all snuggled in her home in the living room corner. The primer, paint and large amounts of silicone made for some intense odors, so I've got a rigged up fan for maintaining some degree of ventilation.

 

Cheers! Thanks for checking out my build log. More posts are of course due in short order

[YHSublime]

Wow, you've put a tremendous amount of time and thought into this already. I've gotta' say, the tank looks amazing, and so does the sump. I'm really looking forward to watching this grow, and I'm right around the corner from you if you ever need anything.

[monkiboy]

looks good. look forward to watching you get this thing moving! thanks for all the photos!

[BowieReefer84]

Nice tank!  Is it PVC bottom?

[Shoelace]

Gorgeous. Looking forward this!

[Coral Hind]

Welcome back to the hobby! Everything is looking good so far.

[cbashaw]

Awesome setup, it looks like you have a very well thought out plan.   I love the dimensions too. I will be following this build for sure.

[lnevo]

Very nice!! Keep those pics coming

[Kallor]

Wow, you've put a tremendous amount of time and thought into this already. I've gotta' say, the tank looks amazing, and so does the sump. I'm really looking forward to watching this grow, and I'm right around the corner from you if you ever need anything.

 

That offer is much appreciated! I just may take you up on it at some point - and definitely let me know if you need any help moving tank stuff,  borrow a cup of salt, etc. :-)

[Tracy G]

Really incredible.

 

 

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[Kallor]

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback and comments! It has been quite a ride getting the build to this point (leak free for 1 day!). Having read over people's build logs (particularly at WAMAS) really helped prepare me for the experience. 

 

I'll go through a few of the issues I've had - perhaps this might help someone avoid a mistake or two that I have made. My first blunder was made when I encountered my first plumbing leak. One of the bulkheads had a slow but steady trickle leak. I made sure it was finger tight but the leak persisted. Instead of draining the overflow and inspecting the bulkhead, I grabbed the pliers, and proceeded to over-tighten the the bulkhead. That didn't fix the leak, so I backed out the nut on the dry side of the bulkhead, added some extra teflon-tape, and re-tightened. This of course also did not help the situation, but via some more over-tightening with my pliers I did manage to totally lock the nut on the bulkhead, effectively adhering this still-leaking bulkhead 'permanently' under my tank.   After breaking a pair of ratcheting PVC cutters trying to cut through the bulkhead, I managed to get the bulkhead off by very carefully dremmeling' through the bulkhead nut. This was quite stressful, and required I place myself at an enormously uncomfortable angle. When I finally removed the bulkhead, I discovered the wet-side was missing its rubber gasket. If I had just removed the bulkhead and inspected it, prior to all the crazy steps I took to try to fix the issue, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble. 

 

I of course leak tested my tank (with tap water) and leak tested my sump (also with tap water) prior to doing any major work. Both were solid. I neglected, however, to leak test my ATO reservoir. As I mentioned in my first post, I had the ATO reservoir manufactured with the tank, stand and sump such that it would fit in a nook in the stand, sandwiched between the stand's back wall and the sump. The ATO looked mighty durable, and I just kinda forgot to thoroughly inspect it. Which of course means it leaks. One afternoon I filled it up with about 5 gallons of RO/DI water, and later in the evening on the way out the door to dinner, I heard some odd splashing/dripping from under the tank. The water sealing I had done in the tank stand paid off, and had kept the 2+ inches of water I soon discovered in the bottom of the stand and off of the living room floor. As I started to panic and siphon the water out, it occurred to me to do a quick taste test to determine the order of magnitude of the problem - if the water was salty, I was really hosed, but if it was fresh I wasn't so bad off. Thankfully the water was fresh and clean, so I knew both the source of the leak and the amount of water left that could leak. One day I'll drain the sump and patch up the ATO reservoir, but I lack the mental and physical stamina to tackle that task right now. So the lesson is of course to always leak test *everything* prior to using it.

 

There are other issues I've encountered I detail later, but for now, here are some photo updates!

 

We have light! The light stand I had built earlier had ended up working out rather well. The egg-crate/light diffuser shown in the bottom of the tank was there just for temporary storage. 

 

Filling up Gurgly with RO/DI. This process took nearly an entire day. The first marking shows the water level when I was going to sleep. The next mark shows the water level 10 hours later. It took another 8 - 10 hours to fill up the overflow and sump.

 

Our cat takes notice of her new companion around in the apartment. I can't decide if Gurgly is her big sister (due to size) or little sister (due to age).

 

After adding rocks, sand and some shells. Due to dimensions being slightly off and things looking a bit different in the tank itself, my earlier aquascaping outside of the tank didn't make a perfect transfer to the tank. However, I did reuse the general aesthetic, as well as quite a bit of the larger structures I had pieced together. 

Edited December 11, 2013 by Kallor

[Kallor]

Nice tank!  Is it PVC bottom?

 

Thanks! I'm happy with the way the tank turned out. The bottom is indeed PVC. 3 of the sides are 1/2" glass and the other side by the overflow is black acrylic. 

[YHSublime]

That offer is much appreciated! I just may take you up on it at some point - and definitely let me know if you need any help moving tank stuff,  borrow a cup of salt, etc. :-)

 

Same for you, always nice to have people close. I usually keep 55 gallons of saltwater on hand, and onother 20 of RO.

 

I like your rock work, even if it didn't translate. It will leave some nice open room for the fish to swim, and there is enough surface area for corals to grow out nicely. That also looks like a nice spot for the tank.

[Jason Rhoads]

I really admire your rock work! Excellent job

[Kallor]

Same for you, always nice to have people close. I usually keep 55 gallons of saltwater on hand, and onother 20 of RO.

 

I like your rock work, even if it didn't translate. It will leave some nice open room for the fish to swim, and there is enough surface area for corals to grow out nicely. That also looks like a nice spot for the tank.

 

 

I really admire your rock work! Excellent job

 

Thanks a ton for the rock work feedback! I saw a lot I admired here and elsewhere online, which gave me plenty to think about. I wanted to make something that looked nice from both the front and side of the tank (i.e., the two visible sides). I also wanted to have some arches and branching to try and draw the eye through the entire depth of the tank, given the tanks squarish shape. This somewhat conflicted with my third goal of giving room for future coral growth. This was the trickiest part for me I think, particularly since I've yet to grow any corals. But given everyone's kind words, I suppose I've done an acceptable job! 

Edited December 11, 2013 by Kallor

[Kallor]

Could there be life in my tank? Life more advanced than bacteria?

 

 

I spotted this guy (thing?) 4 days into my cycle (which started on Thursday the 5th). He/it hasn't moved much since this shot was taken, and as the individual grains of Fiji pink sand in this photo illustrate, this item is on the small side. Could this be a critter that came with the 'live' sand? Any thoughts?

[Kallor]

Oh, and one maybe slightly off topic question for the community:

 

What is everyone's take on reusing coral? I've got some coral skeletons I used in my old (15+ years ago) saltwater tank. It has been sitting in a hot attic since then. I can't remember if I ever used any medications in that tank, so I soaked the batch in RO/DI for two weeks and then tested for copper. The test didn't show any detectable amounts. 

 

 

I'm particularly fond of the red piece (pipe organ coral, methinks). Any opinions or advice on how this old coral can be used?

 

Thanks!

[smallreef]

Personal preference...

I'm not big on bleached skeletons..but I like the red one!

[sachabballi reef]

this looks fantastic!!! tagging along for the ride...

 

I'm with Kim, the skeletons give me a shiver as I work so hard to not be the owner of any

Edited December 11, 2013 by sachabballi reef

[Sharkey18]

Looks amazing! Glad to have another person in Arlington. 

 

Looking forward to watching your tank. 

[surf&turf]

Very nice, love the scape.

[sachabballi reef]

Very nice, love the scape.

You may not know it but that's HUGE...he's king of scapes B)

 

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[YHSublime]

You may not know it but that's HUGE...he's king of scapes B)

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

Its true

[surf&turf]

lol, you guy's are great!!

[Kallor]

Personal preference...

I'm not big on bleached skeletons..but I like the red one!

 

 

this looks fantastic!!! tagging along for the ride...

 

I'm with Kim, the skeletons give me a shiver as I work so hard to not be the owner of any

 

Thanks for the feedback and compliments! The red piece was really the only one I was considering using, so it seems we are on the same page. Also, you make a very good point about stocking the tank with skeletons ... seems like tempting fate, doesn't it? 

 

I think I might put the red piece in the 'fuge at some point, just as a way to remember my saltwater roots. I actually purchased the red and blue pieces on the way back from my first trip to Florida when I was in middle school right before starting my prior fish-only marine tank. I'd never buy coral like this now (too many concerns about its source, promoting bad practices regarding reef treatment, etc.) but since I have them, keeping a piece in my current tank would be a nice way to  remind myself of my marine 'roots'.