Reef Central Online Community - View Single Post - My new 56 gallon column super budget tank build thread, feedback welcome.

polyppetey · 04/09/2009, 09:48 PM

Thanks for the great advice on the fish Peter, like I said it was a preliminary list, my wife picked out most of the fish, as it is she hates all my hobbies so I am thrilled she is showing some interest.
Believe me I will research the heck out of any fish I will get, and definitely not get anything before the tank is ready.
I will strike the catalina from the list, believe it or not I had a 2 spot goby in my nano for close to 1.5 years.

To answer your plenum question, I researched the heck out of that too and the pro's seemed to weigh out the con's. One problem I had with the tank was its depth so I thought a DSB would be ideal here especially since my sump capacity is limited.
I read about 20 pages on WWM about the plenums, if it does not work out I can always remove it down the road. One reason I placed the screen on the bottom 1.5 inches of the DSB was just to keep fish like the jawfish out of the "murky depths".

Again thank you for your considerate input.

Rjukan if you would like any detailed pics I can e-mail them to you.
As far as the stand goes, I have lots of auto body experience from restoring the car, that being said I simply sanded the whole stand smooth as I could, filled all the defects, sealed and repainted. A fairly simple process, a lot can be done with a cheaper stand cosmetically, it just takes a little effort and time.
The Cl is visible when looking up at it but I much prefer it to IMO ugly powerheads, it cost about 7 dollars to build it, if I change my mind it is no big deal.

The guard on top of the baffle is a piece of plexiglass I drilled to keep cheato in my fuge and away from my return pump. The hose going off to the right is what fills the little fuge I built and the filter part is a media holderr I got on sale that you put carbon in for a cannister filter. The baffles were actually easy, I used a piece of round dowel to get the silicon in between the glass panes, alot easier than I thought it would be.

As for the car it is one of 100 or so GT Lemans sport converts built in 72, less than 15 came with a 455. It is powered by a 455 H.O. engine mildly built @ 450-475 H.P. It is mostly all stock with the exception of the suspension, exhaust and the trans-am scoop. I used to race it but now I am older I like to go for those drives to no where. For me it is the tank all winter and the car all summer.

04/09/2009, 09:48 PM	#17
polyppetey Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: richboro Posts: 313	Thanks for the great advice on the fish Peter, like I said it was a preliminary list, my wife picked out most of the fish, as it is she hates all my hobbies so I am thrilled she is showing some interest. Believe me I will research the heck out of any fish I will get, and definitely not get anything before the tank is ready. I will strike the catalina from the list, believe it or not I had a 2 spot goby in my nano for close to 1.5 years. To answer your plenum question, I researched the heck out of that too and the pro's seemed to weigh out the con's. One problem I had with the tank was its depth so I thought a DSB would be ideal here especially since my sump capacity is limited. I read about 20 pages on WWM about the plenums, if it does not work out I can always remove it down the road. One reason I placed the screen on the bottom 1.5 inches of the DSB was just to keep fish like the jawfish out of the "murky depths". Again thank you for your considerate input. Rjukan if you would like any detailed pics I can e-mail them to you. As far as the stand goes, I have lots of auto body experience from restoring the car, that being said I simply sanded the whole stand smooth as I could, filled all the defects, sealed and repainted. A fairly simple process, a lot can be done with a cheaper stand cosmetically, it just takes a little effort and time. The Cl is visible when looking up at it but I much prefer it to IMO ugly powerheads, it cost about 7 dollars to build it, if I change my mind it is no big deal. The guard on top of the baffle is a piece of plexiglass I drilled to keep cheato in my fuge and away from my return pump. The hose going off to the right is what fills the little fuge I built and the filter part is a media holderr I got on sale that you put carbon in for a cannister filter. The baffles were actually easy, I used a piece of round dowel to get the silicon in between the glass panes, alot easier than I thought it would be. As for the car it is one of 100 or so GT Lemans sport converts built in 72, less than 15 came with a 455. It is powered by a 455 H.O. engine mildly built @ 450-475 H.P. It is mostly all stock with the exception of the suspension, exhaust and the trans-am scoop. I used to race it but now I am older I like to go for those drives to no where. For me it is the tank all winter and the car all summer.