50G Slice of the Ocean

[badisbadis101]

I have been around aquariums all my life - my parents always had a tank, and I quickly became enthralled with them. The tanks became larger and more plentiful - fortunately my parents were supportive. I went to college and held out for about two months before setting up a tank in my dorm. Fast forward four years and I moved back to the same city and my parents, who were gracious enough to take the fish and tanks I had gathered in college while I settled into a new place. After moving into my new house and starting a job, I spent over a year without an aquarium - just periodic maintenance of the tanks at my parents' house.

In September of last year, I finally decided I needed a tank again. Until this point, all my tanks had been freshwater. There will always be a soft spot in my heart for freshwater aquariums, but I wanted a new challenge. I had recently picked up scuba diving and had the opportunity to see a few real reefs and decided I would take the leap to saltwater and coral. I started planning and drawing and picking up bits and bobs. I decided on a ~50G rimless tank - 36"x24"x14" and ordered it from a LFS.


I built a stand in September/October. The painting and staining process was very tedious, but I am happy with how it turned out. When the tank arrived, I realized I had managed to place the 3 of the cross members directly underneath 3 of the bulkheads. This required some modifications to the plumbing, but I made it work.





The tank cycled in November and into December, and got its first inhabitants (other than CUC) right before Christmas. Since then, I have been slowly building up livestock, dialing in equipment, and learning as much as I can.

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/kESl_nwnZ0THGFQ48DkhvSVpM4CpYUpG58xluVVnIAiEgWtbEiLUvzvYqicmwyefmCGa693wh2kHcMed55sZj-vTGinmyEwRQ***q1fTS-ih-YXvAkkUUuEKBHgMSrwnM4oY2o08Bxa0txCK1IjA-YpJpEaTtjK4AEyE42VdTNRDIbW9kDWwNZ5_2qLUOE89kRdZUfwyWpXPBHILcAwcK0R4VkfcsrBjGwiAwKw6sFeDvSYxtYAQdbL1O klWqq4K0WlGvwlsQjCkcSOwpdGM1krmV4UNJEkUIsO5XwbnovYviIertLfr-zhIC_jduuAcS8Vv2edjwN4qWeTusxCuxs2FjfJZyq418_x_opvKqh3ArG3c6h8n7nutQP4f3NU6JrDPIccPpWZsDd8Iv3wy67jb7-5RsfFY52fCwOCzcewDkxMx7Y9ingXV_X64cs_CuToz9TcwkCtnkPJ-OlE0FFlhC5msikqL-3Ukv4ontwgRCKXEh_Vpl0KWmy2vvRY4W9jqly1OSGzzPZlhcOGbVLjAMoBvQsKsyzQ6ZUaGUH8ePdbvLzaHadQHOY__aZzivHtMH V-2IUXx_-K60uI95yXpXqnRDzbKwANF435J7iE=w1698-h960-no[/IMG]

Much of the my inspiration and learning came from posts on ReefCentral - I read countless journals, researched equipment, and just read through others' experiences. I thank you all for the wealth of information you have provided to me and countless others, I am sure. I figured I should give some back and post my tank and some experiences with it. I am excited to see where the hobby takes me and learn as much as I can along the way. Thanks for reading!

[badisbadis101]

[SaltyNovice]

Maybe it's me, but I don't see any of the pics....

[badisbadis101]

Thanks for the heads up. Let's see if this works.

[badisbadis101]

More Pictures.

[badisbadis101]

Stand and Sump. Still working on wire management.

[SaltyNovice]

I like your stand real well. The tank looks great too. Keep us posted - I like tank builds....