50 Gallon Build

[beef3333]

Hey all,

After months of research and saving the money I have finally got my tank up and running. This has been in the work snow for about 2 months since I got into my new apartment. I wasn't the best at taking pictures of everything that I did but i think i have most of the major points.

To start a little background. I had a 29 gallon that I was thinking about using but decided to get the 50 gallon because it was 18" deep and 18" Tall. So that meant that I had the tank for a Sump/Fuge. It would just fit in the stand but would give a lot of extra volume.

So I went to the store and ordered the tank. It cost me 240 for tank and stand. Not to bad. It was not drilled but we will get to that.

I ordered some Acrylic to make the 29 gallon into the Sump/Fuge. Once I got it i needed to get it cut. This actually proved to be easier then I thought.

Once the tank got in I took it to a glass shop just down the road and was expecting to pay at least 50 to get it drilled. But they were really nice and i paid 40 to get 2 holes cut, 4 pieces of glass cut to my specs, and they cut all my acrylic. So with that all done now it was time to get to building.

To start glued all the acrylic into the 29. Here are a few shots of it.



Finished Sump/Fuge

It is built to go Fuge->Return<-Sump



So no that I had the Sump I needed to install the overflows into the tank and get the standpipes built.



Now to get caught up on all the stuff that had come in the mail. I ordered a 75GPD Unit from Air Water and Ice. Great Place and the Unit works great.



Once I got this I had some old old rock from my previous 29 Gallon that I put in a tote and set to start curing.

[beef3333]

After getting this far I asked around here and did some research and decided on a return pump. So I placed an order with Marine depot and waited for it to arrive.

Once it got here it was like Christmas again.



Now with this the real fun could begin. I set out to the hardware store to get all the plumbing pieces that i would need. Once back to the house i couldn't wait to get the SCWD hooked up that i got it all plumbed and then took picture. Now it would just be getting everything fit and then glued together.



Now on to the long process of getting all the plumbing figured out. At first i was just going to do everything together but then decided that i i needed to clean/or move the tank it would be nice to take it all apart. So back to the hardware store to get some more Unions. After a long few hours i got everything setup and it went together great.

Drain to the Sump



Diversion going to the Fuge



Return and Bulkheads



Standpipes Installed

[beef3333]

After this it was on to the filling and getting the Rock in. I mixed water all night and got it ready to fill up. Forgot to take pictures be have a few of the tank after everything was up and going.

Put the Sand in first:



After that Sand was in I moved the Live Rock over from the Tote and got All the water in;

Stand Pipes at work:



Sump full and running smoothly:



Here is how it looked as I headed out to work tonight. I will update as time goes along.

Full Shot:




Right now the light is an old PC light from the 29 gallon. As soon as I get my taxes I am going to get a skimmer and a new light. Still undecided but I am thinking of going for the Current USA Nova Pro or the Tek 36" fixture and then because of the small space I am thinking about going with the Tunze 9002, might have to get two of them lol for the size of the tank.

I haven't taken an readings yet but i am sure that the rock still has a long way to cycle. I want to be able to keep almost anything in the end so any comments on lighting would be great. Also i will be getting some Two Fishies Reactors to run Carbon and Phosban in. I will also be getting an ATO in the next month that will feed from a container that will sit next tot he tank.

Please comment and give Crits/Comments on the setup.

[xenon]

I love your progress so far.

Tunze 9002 would be too small for your tank volume.

[beef3333]

ya that was what i thought. I was thinking the 9005 but i am not sure if I would be able to get it in my sump. I will look more i want to get the skimmer/Light ordered here in the next week.

[beef3333]

Now that the tank is up i am regretting going with the Quiet one 300 and not the 4000. Running it through the SCWD and all the other powerheads it doesn't really give out much flow.

[beef3333]

Well everything has been up and running well for a few days now. I took some tests on Tuesday and I am going to again tonight so i will post those once I get home. I am starting to look at what I will need for a CUC. I currently have a 2.5-3 inch sand bed. Any ideas on what would be a good combination for this type of sand bed and a 50 gallon tank.

Thanks

[HumanIMDB]

Here is what I think looks good...

Snails Only:
15 - Astrea Snails
15 - Margarita Snails
15 - Cerith Snails
7 or 8 - Nassarius Snails

Snails and Crabs:
5 - Astrea Snails
5 - Margarita Snails
5 - Cerith Snails
3 or 4 - Nassarius Snails
15 - Blue Legged Hermits
2 or 3 - Red Scarlet Hermit
1 - Emerald Mythrax Crab

Add half to start then see if you need mor later.

[beef3333]

Thanks a lot I think i am thinking more on the lines of the second one with a few Crabs thrown in.

[Gdubb]

Its coming along great Beef! I have a 55g fowlr tank that is sumpless so I decided on a Tunze 9005. I have been happy so far. I have it in a corner, it does take alot room but I only had a few options

[saltycreefer]

All the 90's after your squid are what's reducing your flow. If you get 2 marineland return tubes and connect them with clear tubing to the squid (with no pvc elbows) you will get a butt load more flow.

[beef3333]

Thanks,

I was wondering if that might be the case as i figured the 3000 i had should put out more then it is. Any links to where I could pick up 2 of the return tubes that you are talking about.

beef

[toeside]

Get moving on the skimmer...

[beef3333]

Ya i know as soon as i have the cash i will order it that day

[beef3333]

Ok well things are looking good; here are the readings that I took last night. I am not sure that I trust them as I have not gotten any Ammonia to show up and I did the test twice.

PH: 8.15
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 8.0
Nitrite: 2
ALK: 7 meg/L
Salinity: 35ppt or 1.026
Temp: 79.3

So I am showing a cycle but could it be that fast. I did have the rock curing for about 3-4 weeks before I setup the tank. I was also wondering if it would be ok to get some Cheato and get that running in the Fuge now that I have the light to go over it or if I should wait till I get the skimmer and new lights and just let the tank do its thing for now.

Oh and another thing when I setup the tank I used some for the water that the rocks were curing in and then used fresh saltwater for the rest. These are the readings that I got the day after.

2/19/08

PH: 8.15
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 10
Nitrite: 0
Salinity: 35ppt
Temp: 79.3

Thanks for all the help,

Beef

[beef3333]

Anyone, When could I add the Macro algae to my fuge. And also could my cycle be this quick or am i just possibly getting bad readings

Thanks

[beef3333]

Ayone

[toeside]

Originally posted by beef3333
Anyone, When could I add the Macro algae to my fuge. And also could my cycle be this quick or am i just possibly getting bad readings

I see no reason not to start with the macro algae right away. It should take up some nitrates and head off the nuisance algae bloom (which is the whole point).

My 10g cycled in about 10 days, but know that I'm definitely not an expert on the topic. I didn't add any livestock until about the 3 week mark, and that was just clean-up crew.

[beef3333]

OK I got some macro in and all seems to be going well except that I can't seem to get rid of all the micro bubbles that are in the display. The sump looks good and i can't see many in the display. I will try and take some pics of it tonight and post them but if anyone has ideas about how to get rid of them it would be a great help. I will also post test results tonight also.

[beef3333]

Hey all,

Well things are looking great and i am going to add the clean up crew at the start of next week. Now the last main purchase that i need is to get some new lights. These are the two units that i am looking into.

Current USA Nova Pro

Tek 6 x 39W

I know that i would need to get bulbs with the Tek light also. So my question is which would be better. I am looking to keep LPS and then maybe SPS in the future so i want to get a light that could keep almost anything. I would also like to keep it T5.

The tank is 36 * 18 * 18

Thanks for all the help so far i will post a pic and reading tonight, at least the readings.

Thanks,

Beef

[sanababit]

tek is better because of the reflectors, i know that the current fixture has individual reflectors but they arent as good as the teks, the current fixture comes with bulbs but they are not really good in quality, you will need a fan and acrylic shield with the tek,
you could probably get this configuration which i got from the grimreefer on the t5 thread

ATI Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Aquablue
ATI Blue Plus

hope this help

sana