Hello ARC! This will be my 60g reef tank build thread. I’ve been in the hobby for over 25yrs. Looking back, I’ve had a 20g long, 46 bow front, 45g corner, 2 75g, 180g, 30g cube and handful of small pico tank start ups…thus I’m calling this tank the “Forever Reef” 
(fingers crossed not breaking this tank down anytime soon)
The genesis for this tank was to “upgrade” from my 30g cube. So I used a 40g as a holding tank to the left and setup new 60g where the 30g used to be.
Initial setup 7/20/2025
Added initial corals and fish by 7/23/2025
Tank: 60g traditional glass w/ built in overflow. 36” (L) x 18” (W) x 24” (H)
Stand: painted wood cabinet w/ gel coat bar glaze coating inside walls and floor (waterproof)
Sump: Eshopps RS-75
Skimmer: Eshopps X-120
Return pump: Sicce Synchra 4.0
Heater: BRS 300w titanium
Lighting: 2x Kessil A360W E-Series Tuna Blue
Controller: APEX Neptune Classic
Dosing: Red Sea Reef Dose 4 (Alk, Ca, Mg, Iron, etc.)
Most of the equipment was from prior setups or purchased used recently. I re-applied inside corner silicone to the 60g. I also applied white background to the back and bottom of the 60g. Resurfaced the wood stand floor and applied bar glaze.
Live rock and recent additional pieces of dry rock were puttied and glued down to glass and together for initial structure. Additional existing live rock and coral was also puttied and glued. Live sand was from a previous tank / cleaned & running in a holding tank for weeks prior. I also wanted to apply the rule of thirds principle for aquascaping and taped out the layout to create focal points
Enough back story and information, here are some photos from initial setup and I will add some progress updates from this weekend.
(fingers crossed not breaking this tank down anytime soon)The genesis for this tank was to “upgrade” from my 30g cube. So I used a 40g as a holding tank to the left and setup new 60g where the 30g used to be.
Initial setup 7/20/2025
Added initial corals and fish by 7/23/2025
Tank: 60g traditional glass w/ built in overflow. 36” (L) x 18” (W) x 24” (H)
Stand: painted wood cabinet w/ gel coat bar glaze coating inside walls and floor (waterproof)
Sump: Eshopps RS-75
Skimmer: Eshopps X-120
Return pump: Sicce Synchra 4.0
Heater: BRS 300w titanium
Lighting: 2x Kessil A360W E-Series Tuna Blue
Controller: APEX Neptune Classic
Dosing: Red Sea Reef Dose 4 (Alk, Ca, Mg, Iron, etc.)
Most of the equipment was from prior setups or purchased used recently. I re-applied inside corner silicone to the 60g. I also applied white background to the back and bottom of the 60g. Resurfaced the wood stand floor and applied bar glaze.
Live rock and recent additional pieces of dry rock were puttied and glued down to glass and together for initial structure. Additional existing live rock and coral was also puttied and glued. Live sand was from a previous tank / cleaned & running in a holding tank for weeks prior. I also wanted to apply the rule of thirds principle for aquascaping and taped out the layout to create focal points
Enough back story and information, here are some photos from initial setup and I will add some progress updates from this weekend.
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