[ColdZero]

Hey everybody, its my first time posting on MR and I just wanted to share the build of a 75 reef for my mom's science lab.

Just a little background, last year my mom started teaching at a new school. She had always wanted a reef tank in her room for the children (grades 5-8) to see and learn about the reefs and oceans. Well last year we setup my old 75gal tank in her room with the intention of making a reef. Basically it was an awesome excuse for me to have a new tank. So I purchased some rock, sand, lights etc for the tank. An LFS around where I work had a sale for their anniversary and suddenly the tank was populated. It turned out to be a huge success with the kids and school. It got to the point where they knew all the names of the fish, corals and the clam in the tank. They got responsible enough to feed the the tank the correct amount and were genuinely interested in it. The inhabitants we're doing well, the kids would take pictures of the coral growth and could see that the tank wasn't as static as the corals that "just sat there" looked like.

Well as it turned out, it was decided that the science lab was going to be rebuilt over the summer to something much bigger. The tank had to come out for the summer. Some of the livestock was given away, some I was able to keep in a nanocube at my house for the summer. When the architect designed the lab, a place was specifically chosen for where the tank would go, electrical (gfci) and a water supply was also placed close by so that they could be used for the tank.

Constuction is finished and its time to put the tank back. Here are the specs so far for the tank, I pick the actual tank up tomorrow from Glass Cages when they come to White Plains. I'm donating most of the equipment and the school is paying for consumables like the bulbs, salt, etc.

Tank: 48x18x21 from GC
Lighting: 2x 250 Watt 20k Radiums in PFO pendants on IceCap ballasts. (haven't purchased yet see below)
Circulation: 2x Tunze 6025s
Return Pump: Mag 12 into 2 returns, one on each side of the tank.
Skimmer: Octopus NW-150
Misc: AquaController Jr. + PH probe
RO: 4 Stage RO w/autotop off into a reservoir.
Calcium: Haven't decided yet

Last year for the lighting, there were 2 250 watt 10k halides. I'm tempted to go with 400 watts this year as I have a PFO HQI dual ballast that is not in use and the bulbs aren't purchased yet, so its kinda up in the air for me right now. Since I have the 250 ballasts and the 400 ballasts I guess I could always migrate up if I needed to.

So I don't have any pics yet, hopefully tomorrow I'll have some pics of the tank after I pick it up and we bring it over the school. Hopefully this is as much of a success as the last one was. Without any construction coming this summer or for the foreseeable future, the tank should be able to stay there for years.

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[masterswimmer]

Good luck on this project. It's a great way to get the next generation interested in this obsession.

One question I've got is about your overflows. You mention you'll be using a Mag 12 (rated @ 1200 gph @ zero ft) split into two returns. How many overflows do you have? A single 1" overflow is only rated to handle 600 gph. You could conceivably have a flood situation with a Mag 12 and only one overflow. If you dial down the discharge of the pump then why not just use a Mag 9.5 and leave it wide open?

Just some food for thought. Great job with your efforts and make sure you post some pix.

Russ

[prattreef]

I just sent you a message via Reefberry about this and realized you might not be able to respond as you don't have enough posts to use this site function. PM me back if you'd like. I am all about this kind of project Randy

[ColdZero]

From what I was told the overflow had a 1.5" drain and a 1" return. They said something about 1500gph, but I'll keep an eye on it and maybe throttle it back at first and see if really can handle the flow. Thanks for the heads up.

[ColdZero]

Quote: Originally Posted by prattreef I just sent you a message via Reefberry about this and realized you might not be able to respond as you don't have enough posts to use this site function. PM me back if you'd like. I am all about this kind of project Randy

Yea I haven't reached 10 posts yet, so I can't reply. I'll go post in some of the other cool tank threads I've seen and send a message back

[prattreef]

The PM function should work.

[masterswimmer]

Quote: Originally Posted by ColdZero From what I was told the overflow had a 1.5" drain and a 1" return. They said something about 1500gph, but I'll keep an eye on it and maybe throttle it back at first and see if really can handle the flow. Thanks for the heads up.

The 1.5" drain will work fine. That's much bigger than the standard for a 75g tank. Nice to see you know the specs.

Russ

[lfsmarineguy]

2 400w halides on a 75 is a bit extreme in my opinion. Heat and intensity wise it might be a little too much if you don't plan on using a chiller. 250s are fine for the 75. What school in westchester is that anyway I grew up in westchester.

[ColdZero]

The school is St. Joseph School in Bronxville.

I used to run the 2 400 halides over the tank a few years ago before I headed off to college. It was pretty bright, I didn't have to worry about heat too much as the tank was in the basement of the house and it was always pretty cool down there.

[prattreef]

I agree about the 400's. Depending on what you are keeping, you can probably get away with 150's or 175's too.