OPForest's 80 bow front

Well its been a long time coming but I think its finally time for an official build thread. Ive been slowly buying items, planning and researching.

If you read one of my posts a few months ago you know I found a 72 bow front on Craigslist with a bunch of other equipment. Originally I thought it was a good deal but the more I got into it, the more I realized i should have stayed away. The tank had clearly leaked in the past, the overflow was an undersized HOB, the Mag5 pump was to small, the lights were power compacts. The list goes on and on. I salvaged what I could to include a decent sump, a nice Reef Octopus skimmer, the stand and some other misc things. I ended up buying a new Marineland 80G bow front to replace the original tank. I found 50lbs of base rock on craigslist that I will be doing an acid wash on this week and I bought 30lbs of tukani live rock which is currently curing now. I think I am going to want some more base rock but I haven't tried any aquascaping with what I have yet.

Here is my equipment list:

Evergrow IT2080
Marineland 80G bow front (drilled by me)
2x Jeabo wp-25 powerheads
JBWave powerhead controller
Jeabo DC6000 Return pump
CPR 1200 GPM overflow
Reef Octopus skimmer - not sure model but its pretty big
20G tall sump - small but it will do for now
2x Eheim Jager 150W heaters

OH yeah.. the picutres

 

I had already hung the eye hooks for the light and today my tasks were to plumb the tank and figure out what to do for the background. I used 1" PVC for the overflow (Herbie) and 3/4" flex for the return pump. I got some background material from my LFS which applied like window tint. I have to say it came out really good. I was surprised how nice it looks. way easier than painting it.

as you can see in the last pic, I had help the entire time today

 

reserved

 

Should be pretty nice when all done. Congrats.

 

The filling of the tank has commenced! Putting the RODI to work tonight. Already made 20 gallons. About 6 more hours until I go to bed. I'm not sure how far that will get me but it should make a pretty big dent in the fill. Did a leak check before I started filling and everything looks like its going to hold.

I got sick last weekend but I got the base rock acid washed today. It came out really good and wasn't as daunting as it has been made out to be (at least for me).

 

looking good. you said herbie overflow? guess your just using two drains one main and a emergency? I also like the light. let me know how quite the drain is.

 

Yeah its 2 drains. I'ms just hoping it doesn't create a little whirlpool and make a sucking noise. I put the bulkhead as low into the overflow box as i could so I will find out pretty soon. Tank is about half full now.

 

finally got my QT setup in prep for my first fish which arrived this afternoon! Using a 20L with a biowheel filter and a Jager 75W heater.

Ive been watching for this fish to come up for a long time as not many people seem to have them. Its a Orange stripe bristletooth tang which I found on live aquaria in their divers den. Ill leave him in the QT until my display tank is stable and ready for its first inhabitant.

 

Grats on the grab. I bet it will be a wonderful addition to your tank

 

Update for today. I realized that I might have a bad water test kit when I found ammonia before I even added a fish to my QT. Went to the LFS and confirmed this so I purchased a new test kit. after retesting my DT and QT, i realized that my live rock was cured and there was no ammonia or nitrites in the tank. Ive now got a raw shrimp in the tank and seeing if the Bio-Spira is doing its job or if I am still cycling. as of last night, 0 ammonia 0 nitrites, 10ppm nitrates. The sand took about 24 hours to settle down and it looks pretty good now. My light is now plugged in and I need to program the timers on it. I wish I had a PAR meter to see what kind of light I am getting on the bottom but visually it looks good. hopefully it will be able to support some version of a clam and possibly an anemone.

Update on my Tang. He seems to be doing well. he is very active although scared when you come close to the tank. I got him to eat today using PE Mysis so that was very exciting for me. He wont touch the seaweed on a clip and he wont touch the sinking pellets. I have some freeze dried brine shrimp and some slow sinking pellets that I will try as well next feeding.

The drain is close to silent. Just the trickle of water going into the overflow and every so often a slight air bubble going down the drain. The biggest thing I have learned about it is DONT SKIMP ON YOUR VALVE! I have a cheep valve from Lowes that made it almost impossible to tune the overflow. I am more than likely going to change it out but for now, its running and is quiet.