My 55 gallon

kwaters · 04/07/2007, 03:37 PM

I have spent the last few months combing through this forum, reading threads, articles and looking at other systems. Thanks alot for all of the inspiration.

I finally got my tank up last night. I was up until 2 am! I tried to sleep in today, but I had to get up and look at it again. What was kind of a POS handme down, has turned out all right for me!

The sump is a direct creation due to the knowledge obtained on marc's hidden treasures. Thanks Marc!

Anyway, I added a few before and afters. Enjoy.

Kris

The beast

The sump that Kris built

Twelve hours old

My favorite part of the tank (so far)

The monster-this is what cleared my tank up in 8 hours

Ritten · 04/07/2007, 03:42 PM

Now the fun begins! I really like your rock.

swimboy123 · 04/07/2007, 03:53 PM

happy reefing!

drummereef · 04/07/2007, 04:01 PM

Great job on the sump. A little diy will go a long way in this hobby. Tank looks great.

triggerman41 · 04/07/2007, 05:52 PM

ya, i like the rock too. have fun

supervdl · 04/07/2007, 09:35 PM

Good luck with your tank!!!

pv1191 · 04/07/2007, 09:47 PM

I love the nice thin sand bed. Too many people overfill with sand. It leads to long term problems later on. I would add a few more live rocks but that would be it. The aquascaping is great!

kwaters · 04/07/2007, 10:02 PM

Thanks a bunch. I will add some more rock. I am trying to find some "base" rock, or perhaps, I will make my own. I have found a lot of cool info on that!

Kris

kwaters · 04/10/2007, 12:40 AM

I did a little testing yesterday.

SG: 1.023 (still low but am working on it)
Ph: 8.1
Total Alk: 4.0
Nitrite: 0.05 meq/l
Nitrate: 1.75-2.0 meq/l
Free Amon: 0.1 meq/l
Total Amon: 0.17 meq/l
Temp: 79 F

My heater (jager) is doing well. I need to get one more to balance out the load. A few "micro-bubbles" but hey...

I will test again in a day or so.

Kris

uscharalph · 04/10/2007, 02:13 AM

Cool! Best of luck and enjoyment.

psimitry · 04/10/2007, 02:17 AM

Had you worked with acrylic before? Also - did you already have the necessary power tools and whatnot necessary for the construction?

Hop · 04/10/2007, 10:14 AM

Nice start! I'm glad this is coming together so well for you! Even looks like the skimmer got dialed in without much trouble. Soon you will be wanting to upgrade to any tank over 300 gallons

And I just had to point out that this rock's outline looks like a comic book version of Nessie, the loch ness monster

slowradio · 04/10/2007, 10:22 AM

nice of you to point out a great depiction of our underwater ally

kwaters · 04/11/2007, 01:04 AM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Hop
[B]Nice start! I'm glad this is coming together so well for you! Even looks like the skimmer got dialed in without much trouble. Soon you will be wanting to upgrade to any tank over 300 gallons

And I just had to point out that this rock's outline looks like a comic book version of Nessie, the loch ness monster

I never though of the "Nessie" look...but you are right! Here is a better pic with the water cleared up more.

Thanks a bunch HOP!

Quote:

Originally posted by psimitry
Had you worked with acrylic before? Also - did you already have the necessary power tools and whatnot necessary for the construction?

I have never worked with acrylic before. I credit Marc aka "Melev" for the inspiration. I luckily had the tools available (table saw and router). The toughest part was getting it welded together.
Here is his site http://www.melevsreef.com/links.html

I did get my SG up today to 1.024. I will add a little more salt tomorrow and do more testing.

Thanks a bunch everyone.

Kris

kwaters · 04/15/2007, 12:13 AM

Wow...things go fast on this site. The coraline is starting to take off. I also notice the diatom death as well. I have a lot of brown guck on the sand and some of the coral skeletons. I am skimming, skimming, skimming...hoping to keep phosphates down (boy those are buggers). I am trying to find a balance of light to keep the coraline growing and the other algae out. I've yet to have any spike in ammonia...but am not worried. It will come with the life and death cycle of the other algae. With RO/DI water...I am sure the "food" source is coming from the rocks.

It is tough to see your tank get "ugly"during the cycle process. Perhaps a thread should be started on "gross cycling tanks".

Anyway, still a long way to go...and I am anxious, but in no hurry.

Kris

davidryder · 04/15/2007, 02:10 AM

Nice... can we see some clear pictures?

kwaters · 04/15/2007, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by davidryder
Nice... can we see some clear pictures?

Clearer pictures??? Do you want to see the diatoms?? LOL. Here is a full tank that is clear.

As stated before, I will be adding some more rock on each the right and left sides. Working now with some major micro-bubbles....hmmmm.

Kris

Hop · 04/15/2007, 10:23 PM

Looking pretty good. Give the tank a month before you freak about microbubbles. Once the slime coat is in the pipes and the skimmer breaks in, it should subside a bit. After that you can start trouble shooting if you have to.

davidryder · 04/16/2007, 01:10 AM

Nice dude! Nah, I don't want to see the diatoms, just the tank in all its splendor

jfish298 · 04/16/2007, 01:15 AM

Nice start

davidryder · 04/16/2007, 01:54 AM

I struggled with microbubbles for a very long time. Age didn't cure anything... I simply had to dial down the flow through the sump. If you are pushing too much flow through the sump, it doesn't matter how long you wait.

kwaters · 04/16/2007, 09:30 AM

Thanks much (and it is dudette!) LOL. I did some tinkering yesterday and reduced quite a bit of bubbles. The intake for the airline on my skimmer pump had come out. I pulled it out of the sump and re-glued it in the hole. That helped alot. The Mag7 came with a small foam tube to place over the intake of the pump. I raised the the pipe of the overflow out of the fuge because my durso on that side sounded like a toilet bowl flush!

I then put that foam tube over the 1" spa flex hose and it made things quiet and cut down a ton of bubbles. I know that I will need to make sure this foam is cleaned frequently to prevent nitrate build up.

I am going to pick up some supplies for some DIY rock today. That and look into the materials to re-do my other bathroom. Due to the dimensions of the tank, I will need to make some custom rock for it, and I refuse to spend anymore money on "LR". The rocks in the tank are growing quite well and will consume the others once cured and in.

I changed the flow a little. Pointed the two loc-lines straight ahead. The K-1's point down (a little) and shoot to the middle. I am still thinking of ditching the loc-line and DIY'ing a spray bar. Thoughts on that?

Anyway....thank God for patience.

Kris

kwaters · 04/19/2007, 12:51 AM

A few great accomplishments:

I finally got an ammonia spike today. Tank is 10 days old and my test paper finally turned...

I registered as a premium member! (got tired of spelling words that I usually know incorrectly)

Made it to the 100 posts point. Still having a little trouble with the custom avitar, but hopefully I will figure it out!

Everyone keeps asking me "when are you putting in fish"? I am glad that I am not in too much of a hurry. The diatoms are present, but the skimmer is working well and hopefully, they (algae) will run out of fuel soon.

Anyway...thanks to all of you RC memembers for keeping me tied to the computer. Afterall, the tank is right here so what better place could there be????

Kris

psimitry · 04/19/2007, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kwaters
Everyone keeps asking me "when are you putting in fish"? I am glad that I am not in too much of a hurry.

This will get old. Be strong and tell them to get bent if they start telling you that you wasted money for an aquarium that you "aren't putting anything in."

If I had my druthers, I'd love to start an aquarium from scratch and literally let it sit for a year (as mentioned in Anthony Calfo's book) so as to let the plankton population really grow out before adding anything to the tank (fish and corals), maybe I'd add some basic inverts though (snails and whatnot. No shrimp or other planktivores though).

kwaters · 04/19/2007, 06:53 PM

Oh, I am in no hurry...and I don't have any problem telling anyone to get "bent" LOL. It is kind of fun watching the evolutionary process. I have watch the diatoms come to life and shed there disgusting stuff all over my tank. It will be interesting to watch that phase get "starved" out. As mentioned before, snails will probably be first. I will plot out my plan for fish in June or July.

Kris

04/07/2007, 03:37 PM	#1
kwaters Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Newberg, Oregon Posts: 364	My 55 gallon I have spent the last few months combing through this forum, reading threads, articles and looking at other systems. Thanks alot for all of the inspiration. I finally got my tank up last night. I was up until 2 am! I tried to sleep in today, but I had to get up and look at it again. What was kind of a POS handme down, has turned out all right for me! The sump is a direct creation due to the knowledge obtained on marc's hidden treasures. Thanks Marc! Anyway, I added a few before and afters. Enjoy. Kris The beast The sump that Kris built Twelve hours old My favorite part of the tank (so far) The monster-this is what cleared my tank up in 8 hours __________________ Pacific North West Marine Aquarium Society (PNWMAS)-Secretary Kris Waters Current Tank Info: 110 gallon tall

04/07/2007, 04:01 PM	#4
drummereef Team RC Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: STL Posts: 14,754	Great job on the sump. A little diy will go a long way in this hobby. Tank looks great. __________________ -Brett 180g Marineland Starfire In-Wall 278 gallon system

04/07/2007, 05:52 PM	#5
triggerman41 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bradenton florida Posts: 145	ya, i like the rock too. have fun __________________ Jeff Current Tank Info: 120 gallon reef

04/07/2007, 09:35 PM	#6
supervdl Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: NE PA Posts: 1,315	Good luck with your tank!!! __________________ My tank thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1167897 Current Tank Info: 135 gal mixed reef with Radions and Zeovit; 210 gal SPS reef being set up

04/07/2007, 10:02 PM	#8
kwaters Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Newberg, Oregon Posts: 364	Thanks a bunch. I will add some more rock. I am trying to find some "base" rock, or perhaps, I will make my own. I have found a lot of cool info on that! Kris __________________ Pacific North West Marine Aquarium Society (PNWMAS)-Secretary Kris Waters Current Tank Info: 110 gallon tall

04/07/2007, 03:42 PM	#2
Ritten Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 2,164	Now the fun begins! I really like your rock.

04/07/2007, 03:53 PM	#3
swimboy123 Reef-a-holic Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 154	happy reefing!

04/07/2007, 09:47 PM	#7
pv1191 Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Right Here Posts: 517	I love the nice thin sand bed. Too many people overfill with sand. It leads to long term problems later on. I would add a few more live rocks but that would be it. The aquascaping is great!

04/10/2007, 12:40 AM	#9
kwaters Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Newberg, Oregon Posts: 364	I did a little testing yesterday. SG: 1.023 (still low but am working on it) Ph: 8.1 Total Alk: 4.0 Nitrite: 0.05 meq/l Nitrate: 1.75-2.0 meq/l Free Amon: 0.1 meq/l Total Amon: 0.17 meq/l Temp: 79 F My heater (jager) is doing well. I need to get one more to balance out the load. A few "micro-bubbles" but hey... I will test again in a day or so. Kris __________________ Pacific North West Marine Aquarium Society (PNWMAS)-Secretary Kris Waters Current Tank Info: 110 gallon tall

04/10/2007, 02:13 AM	#10
uscharalph Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 1,248	Cool! Best of luck and enjoyment. __________________ Ralph Mendoza Jr. Long Beach, CA Current Tank Info: 80 Gallon Reef Tank

04/10/2007, 02:17 AM	#11
psimitry Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Phoenix Posts: 1,560	Had you worked with acrylic before? Also - did you already have the necessary power tools and whatnot necessary for the construction?

04/10/2007, 10:14 AM	#12
Hop Carpe Noctem!!! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Western Colorado Posts: 8,548	Nice start! I'm glad this is coming together so well for you! Even looks like the skimmer got dialed in without much trouble. Soon you will be wanting to upgrade to any tank over 300 gallons And I just had to point out that this rock's outline looks like a comic book version of Nessie, the loch ness monster __________________ Hop Current Tank Info: 300-gallon in-wall system (mixed reef)

04/10/2007, 10:22 AM	#13
slowradio Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mesa, az Posts: 691	nice of you to point out a great depiction of our underwater ally __________________ i like you just the way you are. Current Tank Info: 30G mixed reef, 10G FW

04/15/2007, 12:13 AM	#15
kwaters Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Newberg, Oregon Posts: 364	Wow...things go fast on this site. The coraline is starting to take off. I also notice the diatom death as well. I have a lot of brown guck on the sand and some of the coral skeletons. I am skimming, skimming, skimming...hoping to keep phosphates down (boy those are buggers). I am trying to find a balance of light to keep the coraline growing and the other algae out. I've yet to have any spike in ammonia...but am not worried. It will come with the life and death cycle of the other algae. With RO/DI water...I am sure the "food" source is coming from the rocks. It is tough to see your tank get "ugly"during the cycle process. Perhaps a thread should be started on "gross cycling tanks". Anyway, still a long way to go...and I am anxious, but in no hurry. Kris __________________ Pacific North West Marine Aquarium Society (PNWMAS)-Secretary Kris Waters Current Tank Info: 110 gallon tall

04/15/2007, 02:10 AM	#16
davidryder Claris or Elliot? Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Nightopia Posts: 2,750	Nice... can we see some clear pictures? __________________ A rolling stone gathers no moss... Current Tank Info: 90g mixed reef, corner overflow (Mag 9.5), 25g refugium (Mag 5), 15g refugium, Orbit 260w pc, Pan World 50PX-X (Closed loop), AquaC EV-120 (now skimmerless)

04/15/2007, 10:23 PM	#18
Hop Carpe Noctem!!! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Western Colorado Posts: 8,548	Looking pretty good. Give the tank a month before you freak about microbubbles. Once the slime coat is in the pipes and the skimmer breaks in, it should subside a bit. After that you can start trouble shooting if you have to. __________________ Hop Current Tank Info: 300-gallon in-wall system (mixed reef)

04/16/2007, 01:10 AM	#19
davidryder Claris or Elliot? Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Nightopia Posts: 2,750	Nice dude! Nah, I don't want to see the diatoms, just the tank in all its splendor __________________ A rolling stone gathers no moss... Current Tank Info: 90g mixed reef, corner overflow (Mag 9.5), 25g refugium (Mag 5), 15g refugium, Orbit 260w pc, Pan World 50PX-X (Closed loop), AquaC EV-120 (now skimmerless)

04/16/2007, 01:15 AM	#20
jfish298 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Syracuse, NY Posts: 145	Nice start

04/16/2007, 01:54 AM	#21
davidryder Claris or Elliot? Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Nightopia Posts: 2,750	I struggled with microbubbles for a very long time. Age didn't cure anything... I simply had to dial down the flow through the sump. If you are pushing too much flow through the sump, it doesn't matter how long you wait. __________________ A rolling stone gathers no moss... Current Tank Info: 90g mixed reef, corner overflow (Mag 9.5), 25g refugium (Mag 5), 15g refugium, Orbit 260w pc, Pan World 50PX-X (Closed loop), AquaC EV-120 (now skimmerless)

04/16/2007, 09:30 AM	#22
kwaters Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Newberg, Oregon Posts: 364	Thanks much (and it is dudette!) LOL. I did some tinkering yesterday and reduced quite a bit of bubbles. The intake for the airline on my skimmer pump had come out. I pulled it out of the sump and re-glued it in the hole. That helped alot. The Mag7 came with a small foam tube to place over the intake of the pump. I raised the the pipe of the overflow out of the fuge because my durso on that side sounded like a toilet bowl flush! I then put that foam tube over the 1" spa flex hose and it made things quiet and cut down a ton of bubbles. I know that I will need to make sure this foam is cleaned frequently to prevent nitrate build up. I am going to pick up some supplies for some DIY rock today. That and look into the materials to re-do my other bathroom. Due to the dimensions of the tank, I will need to make some custom rock for it, and I refuse to spend anymore money on "LR". The rocks in the tank are growing quite well and will consume the others once cured and in. I changed the flow a little. Pointed the two loc-lines straight ahead. The K-1's point down (a little) and shoot to the middle. I am still thinking of ditching the loc-line and DIY'ing a spray bar. Thoughts on that? Anyway....thank God for patience. Kris __________________ Pacific North West Marine Aquarium Society (PNWMAS)-Secretary Kris Waters Current Tank Info: 110 gallon tall

04/19/2007, 12:51 AM	#23
kwaters Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Newberg, Oregon Posts: 364	A few great accomplishments: I finally got an ammonia spike today. Tank is 10 days old and my test paper finally turned... I registered as a premium member! (got tired of spelling words that I usually know incorrectly) Made it to the 100 posts point. Still having a little trouble with the custom avitar, but hopefully I will figure it out! Everyone keeps asking me "when are you putting in fish"? I am glad that I am not in too much of a hurry. The diatoms are present, but the skimmer is working well and hopefully, they (algae) will run out of fuel soon. Anyway...thanks to all of you RC memembers for keeping me tied to the computer. Afterall, the tank is right here so what better place could there be???? Kris __________________ Pacific North West Marine Aquarium Society (PNWMAS)-Secretary Kris Waters Current Tank Info: 110 gallon tall

04/19/2007, 06:53 PM	#25
kwaters Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Newberg, Oregon Posts: 364	Oh, I am in no hurry...and I don't have any problem telling anyone to get "bent" LOL. It is kind of fun watching the evolutionary process. I have watch the diatoms come to life and shed there disgusting stuff all over my tank. It will be interesting to watch that phase get "starved" out. As mentioned before, snails will probably be first. I will plot out my plan for fish in June or July. Kris __________________ Pacific North West Marine Aquarium Society (PNWMAS)-Secretary Kris Waters Current Tank Info: 110 gallon tall