The 75 gal money pit (according to my wife)

I’ve been wanting to do a saltwater tank for some time, so my wife gave me a 75 gallon drilled tank for Christmas. 👍😀😁👍. I found a stand on KSL for free that had been finished with laminate flooring. Removed the laminate and headed to Lowes. Reskinned it in pine.



Applied 6 coats of urethane, figuring that should hold up to the saltwater and use.



Primed and finished the inside with a good quality, hard finish latex. I was going to use epoxy, but the cost and smell stopped that.



I used a white urethane sealant to seal all the gaps at joints and corners.

Ordered my plumbing and skimmer from BRS.
Skimmer here, https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/essence-s-130-internal-protein-skimmer-reef-octopus.html
Lights, https://www.marinedepot.com/Current_USA_LOOP_Marine_Bundle_LED_Light_Fixtures_for_Aquariums-Current_USA-CU04300-FILTFILD-vi.html. Jeff, at the fish tank saved me some money on them, THANKS JEFF!!

Plumbing installed,





Filled the tank with water to leak test and zero the water flow in the garage.


All good to go there, time to move it inside.



That’s where i’m at now. Thinking about using rock from reefcleaners.org, anybody use them before?

Here’s the substrate I wanna use. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hawaiian-black-arag-alive-live-reef-sand.html
I’ve been told I would need to dose with calcium, because the black sand doesn’t have enough in it. I also know that black sand isn’t going to be good for light reflectance.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It’s the mega overflow that came with the tank. It’s a little noisy, but not as bad as some others i’ve heard. It’s noisy in the Sump, but i’m Sure some rubble will make it quieter.

Edited by WildBill - February 19 2018 at 1:28pm

Got the Sump plumbed. Had a few small leaks and fixed them. She’s purring like a kitten now. 1 bottle of Spira Bio and a few seed rocks and now to let it cycle. FINALLY.

Thanks, i’ll Keep that in mind.

Tentative fish stock:
Midas Blenny
Thinking 5 chromis
2 O clowns
2 carpenter Wrasse
Green clown goby?
Tahitian butterfly.

As for corals, still deciding. I’ve been drooling over some over at The Fish Tank. I’m sure Jeff is getting tired of cleaning it off his tanks. 😁😀

If you ever come to layton , I'll will give you some bam bams for free.

Nice setup looking good

I've never had luck with chromis. I always start with 4 or 5 and then end up with one. At least they are not an expensive fish. I love blennies though, they have so much personality. Bam bams are great and so are most zoas. I love it when they get to be large colonies especially under the blue leds. Patience will get you a long way in this hobby. It can be hard but it is nice to do things the right way. Is this your first saltwater tank?

Does anyone have a par meter? Once I am cycled, I want to measure the light for coral placement.

I have a seneye you can barrow. You have to download the app but after that it works pretty good. That’s all I use it for anymore. I live in eagle mountain and work in lehi. Don’t know if you’re close enough to make it worth it...