Joe's 55 Gallon Reef

[jakaufman]

Hey Everyone!

 

I have wanted to put together some kind of tank thread even though my setup is nowhere near the quality of most of these. The process has been very slow because I had to move before I could even think about setting things up.

 

I started by buying a tank/stand and various accessories from a WAMAS member back in February and stored it in my tiny 1 bedroom apartment until moving.

 

In early May, I moved into my townhouse in Bethesda but realized there was a ton of work to do on the place before I could set up a tank. After a month of painting, cleaning, organizing, hanging, wiring, et cetera, and with more to do, I finally began to work on the tank.

 

I am beginning with a fairly simple setup: 55 gallon tank, external overflow, 10 gallon sump. I have not used a sump in the past and the stand only fits a 10 gallon tank so it is what I have to go with.

 

Here's the equipment list as of right now:

SLS Tek Light 4x54W T5

2x Hydor Koralia 3 Powerheads

Ocean Reef +1 RO/DI

2x MaxiJet 900s (if needed)

Sen Return Pump (approx 500gph)

40lbs Sand

50lbs Marco Fiji Rock

25lbs Marco Tonga Shelf Rock

Reef Octopus 100f Skimmer (coming soon)

 

Here are some pictures of the tank and stand setup:

 

 

 

 

 

I ordered base rocks from Marco Rocks and am still waiting on half of the order, but what I have gotten are AWESOME! Check out these beautiful pieces of rock:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have shelf rock still coming but probably won't have much space left! I may put it under the sand to make a sturdy base and then some smaller shelf pieces for coral placement.

 

 

Here is the first aquascaping attempt:

 

And when the sand and water go in:

 

 

So, at this point it looks like its time to watch the dust settle. If you look carefully at the top center brace you can see how it has separated.

 

I guess its time to drain instead. The brace was pulling about 3/4"... and the tank is glass.

 

So I went out and got a replacement tank but I don't feel comfortable with that one either (see post in general discussion) so I am probably going to go this weekend and buy a new tank.

 

Bummer... but the rock is sweet!

 

 

I'll try to keep this updated as everything gets going. I mounted my RO/DI system and should take a couple shots of that too.

 

Feedback?

 

 

Joe

[jakaufman]

My shelf rock came in today! Here are the pictures. 25lbs of it netted out to 4 large pieces which I will try to figure out a good way to use in my aquascape!

 

[EBR]

Very cool -- -not sure I see what you're talking about in the picture, but if the tank is not holding up, but to fix it now! Good catch. Looking forward to more.

Matt

[reefmontalvo]

I was looking at the tank and the water was not level. I would fix this problem before it gets out of hand. I also had that same style overflow box. It works great until the hair algea grows in the tube. Then you have to make sure you remove the air bubble in the tube too keep the system from losing suction. You might want to think about drilling the tank and placing a bulkhead. It would save you a huge headache. Other than that your rock.....well rocks.LOL I wish I gone your route on buying rick when I first started my 55.

[lletellier]

I was looking at the tank and the water was not level. I would fix this problem before it gets out of hand. I also had that same style overflow box. It works great until the hair algea grows in the tube. Then you have to make sure you remove the air bubble in the tube too keep the system from losing suction. You might want to think about drilling the tank and placing a bulkhead. It would save you a huge headache. Other than that your rock.....well rocks.LOL I wish I gone your route on buying rick when I first started my 55.

 

cover your u tubes with tin foil or something else like that and you won't have a problem. I would also level out the tank now before it becomes a real problem.

[jakaufman]

Hmm, it does look crooked in that picture but I am not sure that it is as bad as it looks.

 

If it isn't level.. what is the best way to correct it?

 

Also, I will use something to cover the u-tube to slow algal growth. I am not going to drill this right now but definitely will have a drilled tank next upgrade.

[jakaufman]

Ok, I got a new tank to replace the ones which I did not have any trust in (and sold them on craigslist for use as reptile tanks so I didn't lose too much!)

 

I also worked to shim up the tank and get it as even as possible.

 

Here is what it looks like now:

 

I added the shelf rock and tried to do something fairly interesting in the aquascaping. The one thing that bothers me is that one large, beautiful piece of rock cant be as vertical as I want it because it is too wide for my small 55g!! That is why it is tilted a bit forward, but I think that it looks pretty good and that plus the shelf rock leaves many good places to put corals.

 

Last night, the water was about 1/8" off as far as the leveling of the tank. I was planning on getting another shim or something to correct it but after sitting the night and letting the carpet sink in, it seems that it has leveled out as close to perfect as it will be.

 

I am goign away this weekend so I don't want to start up the pumps and everything but I will fill it up a bit more and make enough water to have the system running next week!! woohoo!

[jakaufman]

Ok, so the water is in and the pumps and lights are running!

 

The overflow is scary to start the first time but it all seems to be going fine now.. my only problem appears to be that my return pump is giving me microbubbles. I can't tell exactly how its happening but it may be because the water falls into the final sump chamber where it pumps upward... I will post some pictures this evening on it.

 

One question I have is about my flow... I have 2x Koralia 3s running, plus the return pump and eventually my skimmer as well. The Koralias are rated at like 850gph I think, the pump is 500gph at 0'. Is this sufficient flow or should I look at throwing in a maxijet or two.. I have them sitting around

[jakaufman]

Here are the new pictures. I solved my microbubble problem (the sump wasn't full enough I think!)

 

 

 

 

And a bonus shot of my RO/DI:

[reefmontalvo]

Looks good. If you want to speed up the cycle process I would add some live sand if you need a hand full let me know. Also when you upgrade your tank and need the next one drilled let me know. I drilled my tank it is not as hard as people think it might be.

 

oh yeah and one more thing......you might want to go get you a check valve for your pump trust me it will help in the event of a loss of power. It will keep water from over flowing your sumo and running all over the place and have you check your over flow with out the power?

[jakaufman]

I am going to check the sump today.. I just went by the lines the guy drew on there before.

 

There are holes drilled in the return to break the siphon if power cuts out, I haven't looked into check valves though. I will take a look and see if its worth it, but if the water won't overflow without one then I guess there's not a reason to have it.

[reefmontalvo]

The check valve prevents back flow of water in to the sump. This helps because your going to have water flow form the over flow box until it levels off in the tank. Nice to have also it would not hurt to paint your pipe on the over flow box black. Since it will help keep the production of hair algea down in the tube which will prevent clogs and lower nitrates.

[jakaufman]

I have heard about that with the overflow tube. I plan to do something but not sure yet if I should use some kind of paint that is safe to put in the water or if I should just wrap it in tin foil or something as has been suggested.

[reefmontalvo]

Tin foil works. I left mine un painted and un tinfoiled. I used to clean the pipe once a month just to keep things flowing smoothly. But in the end drilling your tank is the best way since you chances of losing vacum is real slim. I just hated the thought when I'd loose power in the house, because the I'd think I would loose the suction on the overflow which happened once. But that was due to micro bubbles building up on the top of the pipe.

[jakaufman]

Everything is going well with the tank so far. I am getting a lot of algae right now. Just scraping it off the glass some and hoping it goes away sometime soon!

 

I will keep looking at the parameters to figure out when to put in a cleanup crew.. I'm thinking probably another 3-4 weeks

 

I dropped in a cup of sand and bought 2 small live rock pieces to help seed the tank. I will probably look to pick up some chaeto and setup a light over my sump for it over the next week.

[reefmontalvo]

With a cup of live sand and some live rock your ready. I'd add three chromis to the tank. And then place in a few margaritas, other than that your tank is ready.

[jason the filter freak]

Glad to see you could make a 55 work out for you, the aquascaping is looking good.

[jakaufman]

thanks jason

 

Update: went through a green algae phase, now its gone and covered in brown algae! woohoo!

 

Going to do a water change and test the parameters tonight

 

I also added a kick butt refugium light (per melev's reef's suggestion) and will be putting chaeto in this weekend

[jakaufman]

Well here are some more pictures of the progress:

 

Covered in algae.. I turned the lights off for a few days to get rid of it while letting the chaeto grow and take up those excess nutrients.

 

Here is the fuge before the chaeto was added:

 

The light didnt stay well the way I had it attached so I am goign to work on putting a small screw or two in to hold it up better

 

 

 

i got my skimmer yesterday and am trying to figure out how to get it working. Seems like my cycle is nearing completion with the nitrates being all that was left and around 10ppm before adding chaeto. I am testing the tank tonight to see where they are now, plus getting the skimmer going. After everything is running and I get back from my last small weekend trip of the summer I am going to add livestock!