Kyle's 50 Gal Color Bonanza!!!

kyle1284 · 03/18/2009, 10:36 PM

Off to the races I go again. I'm not sure how many of you know me or my past tanks but in college i had a 75 Gallon BAR TOP reef tankhttp://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reef-chronicles/15743-my-75-gallon-bar-top.html !. It had 2 fuvual 305 canister filters that constantly needed to be cleaned and it got to the point where i was getting jealous of all the other people who actually had the room for a sump because all the ugly bulky equipment could be put in their sump instead of in their display tank.

PRESENT DAY
Now i am all done with college and ready to try out the wonderful world of sumps, powerful lighting, and tons of water movement!! It helps that I have a awesome job right outta college too LOL.

Set-up
I picked up a custom made tank from a friend in Huntsville TX its a 36Lx18Dx17H (roughly a 50 gal) drilled along with a stand, canopy, and 20 long for a sump. I wanted to start out small to get the hang of things in the drilled tank world and the fact that the apt that 780 sq foot apt will not comfortably hold my dream 260 starphire tank... thats another story in itself. Well its been 3 days since i have had the tank and i have painted the canopy, tank trim, the back of the tank, and the stand all black.

Protein skimmer
I picked up a ASM G-1X skimmer from a fellow reefer in hopes that it keeps my water the absolute best it can be for my SPS corals i plan on keeping.

Lighting
Now for extreme lighting, its going to have a icecap 4x39 watt retro fit kit with 4 icecap reflectors all running on a 660 ballast pushing the bulbs most likely to somewhere around 60 watts each The reason behind the t-5s and not having MH's is over all cost of having t-5 lighting is much cheaper and the tank is only 17 inches deep.

Sump
I am in the process of moving the current baffels in the sump. The first chamber in the sump is to narrow to fit the ASM-G1X so i have to take a little bit of room from the fuge and it should fit just right. The water coming from the tank is going to go through a filter sock to remove any big particles from the water before going into the protein skimmer. Then the water is going to flow through a bubble trap and into the fuge, which will flow into the return
that will have a Mag7 for a return. Not sure about the lighting over the fuge yet.

Water Movement
I think might Mod a couple maxijets to create a more broad flow and eventually put them on a wavemaker. Along with the Mag 7 this should be plenty of water flow for a SPS dominated 50 gallon

Substrate
not sure if i wanna go bare bottom or have some reef sand. I have read alot of things about both. Pros, cons, and they all seem to even out with eachother. It really depends on how strong of a flow you want and if your substrate to stay off of your corals or not.

Corals
This tank is going to have nothing but the absolute most eye popping colors in the marine hobby. Mostly SPS and maybe some LPS we will see.

Fish
One fish that i know i am going to get in a couple months is a mandarin. I absolutely love these fish and have read enough to know how to keep them fat and healthy the other couple fish my girlfriend will choose... under my supervision!! LOL

here are some pics.... not much yet but we just moved the stand inside from the garage...

im going to put a over flow box over the drilled section of the tank to skim the surface

kyle1284 · 03/18/2009, 10:48 PM

first coral purchase for the new tank already!! check it out! the seller is gonna hold onto it until my tank is cycled

Sunset Monti

it will color up alot better after a week or 2 in my tank... its kinda dull for now ... cant wait!!

Gwynhidwy · 03/19/2009, 06:06 AM

Nice sized tank and off to a good start. I'm tagging along.

snorvich · 03/19/2009, 06:31 AM

Yes, we all love pictures! Keep them coming.

kyle1284 · 03/19/2009, 12:41 PM

ok update time...i have finished painting the back of the tank and the trim. moved the baffels in the sump to make room for the ASM-G1X and the sedra 3500 pump. We also moved the stand inside. Take a look!!

speeding up the drying process of the baffel placement

JustinReef · 03/19/2009, 12:54 PM

Great spot for the tank! Looks like it fits perfectly.

Ratpack · 03/19/2009, 02:52 PM

Nice, tagging along to see the outcome.

kyle1284 · 03/23/2009, 10:03 PM

UPDATE
everything to get this puppy going is coming in wednesday. Icecap lighting, seals for the protein skimmer, return pump, filter socks, you name it!
THE DIY Overflow!!
ok so i had my very first go with acrylic today. The tools i had were a box cutter, 2 right angle triangles, a surenge(sp) some weldon #3 and of some acrylic!! here is what i did.
i cut and lined up all the pieces of acrylic and squared them up

then i guled mended them together with the weldon #3 and the surenge(sp)

Finished Product!

Checking for leaks

Now just playing around with the extra acrylic... So many different things i can make!!!

kyle1284 · 03/23/2009, 10:04 PM

Now i siciloned the new overflow in... What do yall think for a first timer?I plan on gluing some sps on the overflow to cover up the newbie mistakes lol

QUESTION/OPINION
DO YALL THINK THE RETURN IS TO SMALL? THE RETURN IS ON MY LEFT.

REASON WHY IM ASKING IS BECASUE IM GOING TO INSTALL A FLOAT VALVE IN THE RETURN AREA FOR TOP OFF... WHAT DO YALL THINK?

kyle1284 · 03/29/2009, 05:18 PM

UPDATES!!!
ok so everything is finally done 2 weeks after i got the tank!! And my girlfriend gets the garage back! lol well the tank is all set up lighting, LR, protein skimmer EVERYTHING!!

Check it out and let me know what you think!

The overflow doing its thing!!

here she is a couple hours after the water settling down a little

Oh buddy im gettin excited!!

kyle1284 · 04/22/2009, 10:09 AM

so i ordered a lot of stuff today from marine depot!!

two little fishies phosban reactor
maxijet 900 (to run just it for now, toned down, and a carbon reactor in the future)
4 sure grip powerhead magnets
a jbj quadra pulse wave maker
and 500ml ROWAphos phosphate remover

now hopefully i can tone down the phosphates to 0 before i start introducing corals!

current tests:
Nitrate0
Amonina0
PH8.3
Phosphates Over 1.0

calicum and mag tests are to follow later tonight!

I added some rock to the DT and the Fuge yesterday... pictures to come

mille239 · 04/22/2009, 11:42 AM

why are you yelling at us??????????

DragonFish · 04/22/2009, 11:51 AM

BECAUSE HE'S EXCITED!!! Subscribed

IridescentLily · 04/22/2009, 12:13 PM

Kyle, I think your wanting change the text in areas to differentiate questions from you regular tank build text. Yes? I do that too.
Maybe only underlining a larger font would be better in those areas that you want to call extra attention to, rather than all caps/bolded/larger font all at the same time.
Using a blue color with bold type to differentiate text usually helps me.

And I love your tank. I'm new and it's good to see someone dive in for the first time on a drilled tank. I'll be watching and learning more from this thread i'm sure.
Thanks.

chimmike · 04/22/2009, 12:21 PM

methinks you should cut some teeth in the overflow box........

Jadams · 04/22/2009, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chimmike
methinks you should cut some teeth in the overflow box........

+ 1

kyle1284 · 04/22/2009, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by IridescentLily
Kyle, I think your wanting change the text in areas to differentiate questions from you regular tank build text. Yes? I do that too.
Maybe only underlining a larger font would be better in those areas that you want to call extra attention to, rather than all caps/bolded/larger font all at the same time.
Using a blue color with bold type to differentiate text usually helps me.

And I love your tank. I'm new and it's good to see someone dive in for the first time on a drilled tank. I'll be watching and learning more from this thread i'm sure.
Thanks.

ha ill keep that in mind lol!!

and there is going to be teeth in the overflow in a couple days! another DIY project! SWEET!! lol

kyle1284 · 04/30/2009, 12:29 PM

ok so the tank has had some pretty dramatic changes since my last update. Pictures are to come later tonight after i clean the apt a little lol. Fish stuff is everywhere!

I:
~~got 4 algae free power head holders to hold my 4 maxijets in one place AT ALL TIMES!

~~got a 2 little fishies phosban reactor and put some ROWAphos media in it and BAM litterally in the last 48 hours the tank has gone from above 1.0 phosphates to .25-.30 phos... that suff is amazing

~~put a pair of ORA clowns and a BEAUTIFUL yellow eye cole tang in the tank.

~~ordered 6 peices of sps coral, soon to be in the tank as soon as the tank reaches 0 phosphates (prob in the next 48 hours)

~~hooked up the 4 maxijets to a JBJ Quadra wave maker. Great bang for the buck!! fish are happy and not a dead spot in site.

~~hooked up a set of fans from Windydayzz.com. They are not really moving all that much air so far. I prob have to put the temp probe closer to the lights themselfs.

~~and finally got a couple more peices of LR from my grrd freind DH (Dennis)

now i have a "island" kinda deal going on... pics are commin tonight!!

PAZE · 04/30/2009, 03:17 PM

Can somebody give ma a reason for the teeth in the overflow box? I see no reason for it, its easyer the way it is for snails to get in there and clean it up, I would leave it the way it is. you cut teeth in that overflow and your water level is comeing down.

nolen84 · 04/30/2009, 03:44 PM

lookin good kyle! keep those pics coming

kyle1284 · 01/20/2010, 12:46 PM

wow it has been a LOOONNGGG time since an update.... pics will come tonight. so close your eyes and imagine! lol

i now have about 14 pieces of sps, 5 lps and a couple small frags of zoas. I added some sand inthe mix because i missed it so stinkin much. i had to tone down the flow a little to accomitdate the sand. added 2 clowns a orange shoulder, a 6 line wrasse a fire shrimp and a cleaner shrimp to the mix.

new equipment:
installed a DIY ATO
2 dosers ---- dosing 2 part from Randy Holmes
2 MORE t-5's ---the order of bulbs from front to back are
atntic plus
blue plus
atinic plus
pure atinic
daylight
atinic plus

so far the only thing that i am having trouble with WHAT I BELIEVE is a red cyano kinda algae... its not on the rocks after a couple hrs after the lights go out and stays away but when the lights come on it comes back... does anyone have any info on this kinda pest?

pics to come tonight

kyle1284 · 01/20/2010, 12:48 PM

i feel bad its been so long since an update...

kyle1284 · 01/25/2010, 09:56 PM

here are a couple pics

03/18/2009, 10:36 PM	#1
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	Kyle's 50 Gal Color Bonanza!!! Off to the races I go again. I'm not sure how many of you know me or my past tanks but in college i had a 75 Gallon BAR TOP reef tankhttp://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reef-chronicles/15743-my-75-gallon-bar-top.html !. It had 2 fuvual 305 canister filters that constantly needed to be cleaned and it got to the point where i was getting jealous of all the other people who actually had the room for a sump because all the ugly bulky equipment could be put in their sump instead of in their display tank. PRESENT DAY Now i am all done with college and ready to try out the wonderful world of sumps, powerful lighting, and tons of water movement!! It helps that I have a awesome job right outta college too LOL. Set-up I picked up a custom made tank from a friend in Huntsville TX its a 36Lx18Dx17H (roughly a 50 gal) drilled along with a stand, canopy, and 20 long for a sump. I wanted to start out small to get the hang of things in the drilled tank world and the fact that the apt that 780 sq foot apt will not comfortably hold my dream 260 starphire tank... thats another story in itself. Well its been 3 days since i have had the tank and i have painted the canopy, tank trim, the back of the tank, and the stand all black. Protein skimmer I picked up a ASM G-1X skimmer from a fellow reefer in hopes that it keeps my water the absolute best it can be for my SPS corals i plan on keeping. Lighting Now for extreme lighting, its going to have a icecap 4x39 watt retro fit kit with 4 icecap reflectors all running on a 660 ballast pushing the bulbs most likely to somewhere around 60 watts each The reason behind the t-5s and not having MH's is over all cost of having t-5 lighting is much cheaper and the tank is only 17 inches deep. Sump I am in the process of moving the current baffels in the sump. The first chamber in the sump is to narrow to fit the ASM-G1X so i have to take a little bit of room from the fuge and it should fit just right. The water coming from the tank is going to go through a filter sock to remove any big particles from the water before going into the protein skimmer. Then the water is going to flow through a bubble trap and into the fuge, which will flow into the return that will have a Mag7 for a return. Not sure about the lighting over the fuge yet. Water Movement I think might Mod a couple maxijets to create a more broad flow and eventually put them on a wavemaker. Along with the Mag 7 this should be plenty of water flow for a SPS dominated 50 gallon Substrate not sure if i wanna go bare bottom or have some reef sand. I have read alot of things about both. Pros, cons, and they all seem to even out with eachother. It really depends on how strong of a flow you want and if your substrate to stay off of your corals or not. Corals This tank is going to have nothing but the absolute most eye popping colors in the marine hobby. Mostly SPS and maybe some LPS we will see. Fish One fish that i know i am going to get in a couple months is a mandarin. I absolutely love these fish and have read enough to know how to keep them fat and healthy the other couple fish my girlfriend will choose... under my supervision!! LOL here are some pics.... not much yet but we just moved the stand inside from the garage... im going to put a over flow box over the drilled section of the tank to skim the surface __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume

03/18/2009, 10:48 PM	#2
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	first coral purchase for the new tank already!! check it out! the seller is gonna hold onto it until my tank is cycled Sunset Monti it will color up alot better after a week or 2 in my tank... its kinda dull for now ... cant wait!! __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume

03/19/2009, 06:31 AM	#4
snorvich Team RC member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Outlander Posts: 40,953 Blog Entries: 46	Yes, we all love pictures! Keep them coming. __________________ Warmest regards, ~Steve~

03/19/2009, 12:41 PM	#5
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	ok update time...i have finished painting the back of the tank and the trim. moved the baffels in the sump to make room for the ASM-G1X and the sedra 3500 pump. We also moved the stand inside. Take a look!! speeding up the drying process of the baffel placement __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume

03/23/2009, 10:03 PM	#8
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	UPDATE everything to get this puppy going is coming in wednesday. Icecap lighting, seals for the protein skimmer, return pump, filter socks, you name it! THE DIY Overflow!! ok so i had my very first go with acrylic today. The tools i had were a box cutter, 2 right angle triangles, a surenge(sp) some weldon #3 and of some acrylic!! here is what i did. i cut and lined up all the pieces of acrylic and squared them up then i guled mended them together with the weldon #3 and the surenge(sp) Finished Product! Checking for leaks Now just playing around with the extra acrylic... So many different things i can make!!! __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume

03/19/2009, 06:06 AM	#3
Gwynhidwy Meat Popsicle Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 1,511	Nice sized tank and off to a good start. I'm tagging along. __________________ -- He who learns must suffer, and, even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. -- Aeschylus

03/19/2009, 12:54 PM	#6
JustinReef Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 3,715	Great spot for the tank! Looks like it fits perfectly.

03/19/2009, 02:52 PM	#7
Ratpack Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lexington, SC Posts: 709	Nice, tagging along to see the outcome.

03/23/2009, 10:04 PM	#9
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	Now i siciloned the new overflow in... What do yall think for a first timer?I plan on gluing some sps on the overflow to cover up the newbie mistakes lol QUESTION/OPINION DO YALL THINK THE RETURN IS TO SMALL? THE RETURN IS ON MY LEFT. REASON WHY IM ASKING IS BECASUE IM GOING TO INSTALL A FLOAT VALVE IN THE RETURN AREA FOR TOP OFF... WHAT DO YALL THINK? __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume

03/29/2009, 05:18 PM	#10
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	UPDATES!!! ok so everything is finally done 2 weeks after i got the tank!! And my girlfriend gets the garage back! lol well the tank is all set up lighting, LR, protein skimmer EVERYTHING!! Check it out and let me know what you think! The overflow doing its thing!! here she is a couple hours after the water settling down a little Oh buddy im gettin excited!! __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume

04/22/2009, 10:09 AM	#11
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	so i ordered a lot of stuff today from marine depot!! two little fishies phosban reactor maxijet 900 (to run just it for now, toned down, and a carbon reactor in the future) 4 sure grip powerhead magnets a jbj quadra pulse wave maker and 500ml ROWAphos phosphate remover now hopefully i can tone down the phosphates to 0 before i start introducing corals! current tests: Nitrate0 Amonina0 PH8.3 Phosphates Over 1.0 calicum and mag tests are to follow later tonight! I added some rock to the DT and the Fuge yesterday... pictures to come __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume

04/22/2009, 11:42 AM	#12
mille239 Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Harrison Twp., MI Posts: 1,644	why are you yelling at us?????????? __________________ -Blair Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the creation of this post, though a significant number of electrons may have been inconvenienced. Current Tank Info: 120 SPS reef in progress, 120 mixed reef, currently being completely rebuilt)

04/22/2009, 11:51 AM	#13
DragonFish Unregistered Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Pleasant Prairie, WI Posts: 1,988	BECAUSE HE'S EXCITED!!! Subscribed

04/22/2009, 12:13 PM	#14
IridescentLily Editor-Reefkeeping mag Join Date: May 2008 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico Posts: 3,858 Blog Entries: 5	Kyle, I think your wanting change the text in areas to differentiate questions from you regular tank build text. Yes? I do that too. Maybe only underlining a larger font would be better in those areas that you want to call extra attention to, rather than all caps/bolded/larger font all at the same time. Using a blue color with bold type to differentiate text usually helps me. And I love your tank. I'm new and it's good to see someone dive in for the first time on a drilled tank. I'll be watching and learning more from this thread i'm sure. Thanks. __________________ ~April Editor-Reefkeeping Magazine

04/22/2009, 12:21 PM	#15
chimmike oxygen abuser Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Parrish, FL Posts: 5,089 Blog Entries: 2	methinks you should cut some teeth in the overflow box........ __________________ -Mike Tankless wonder Geaux Noles!

04/30/2009, 12:29 PM	#18
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	ok so the tank has had some pretty dramatic changes since my last update. Pictures are to come later tonight after i clean the apt a little lol. Fish stuff is everywhere! I: ~~got 4 algae free power head holders to hold my 4 maxijets in one place AT ALL TIMES! ~~got a 2 little fishies phosban reactor and put some ROWAphos media in it and BAM litterally in the last 48 hours the tank has gone from above 1.0 phosphates to .25-.30 phos... that suff is amazing ~~put a pair of ORA clowns and a BEAUTIFUL yellow eye cole tang in the tank. ~~ordered 6 peices of sps coral, soon to be in the tank as soon as the tank reaches 0 phosphates (prob in the next 48 hours) ~~hooked up the 4 maxijets to a JBJ Quadra wave maker. Great bang for the buck!! fish are happy and not a dead spot in site. ~~hooked up a set of fans from Windydayzz.com. They are not really moving all that much air so far. I prob have to put the temp probe closer to the lights themselfs. ~~and finally got a couple more peices of LR from my grrd freind DH (Dennis) now i have a "island" kinda deal going on... pics are commin tonight!! __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume

04/30/2009, 03:17 PM	#19
PAZE Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 224	Can somebody give ma a reason for the teeth in the overflow box? I see no reason for it, its easyer the way it is for snails to get in there and clean it up, I would leave it the way it is. you cut teeth in that overflow and your water level is comeing down. __________________ Paul

04/30/2009, 03:44 PM	#20
nolen84 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Austin TX Posts: 44	lookin good kyle! keep those pics coming

01/20/2010, 12:46 PM	#21
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	wow it has been a LOOONNGGG time since an update.... pics will come tonight. so close your eyes and imagine! lol i now have about 14 pieces of sps, 5 lps and a couple small frags of zoas. I added some sand inthe mix because i missed it so stinkin much. i had to tone down the flow a little to accomitdate the sand. added 2 clowns a orange shoulder, a 6 line wrasse a fire shrimp and a cleaner shrimp to the mix. new equipment: installed a DIY ATO 2 dosers ---- dosing 2 part from Randy Holmes 2 MORE t-5's ---the order of bulbs from front to back are atntic plus blue plus atinic plus pure atinic daylight atinic plus so far the only thing that i am having trouble with WHAT I BELIEVE is a red cyano kinda algae... its not on the rocks after a couple hrs after the lights go out and stays away but when the lights come on it comes back... does anyone have any info on this kinda pest? pics to come tonight __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume

01/20/2010, 12:48 PM	#22
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	i feel bad its been so long since an update... __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume

01/25/2010, 09:56 PM	#23
kyle1284 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston. Cypress area Posts: 260	here are a couple pics __________________ Every day above ground is a good day... Current Tank Info: 210 SPS dominating tank. 280 Gallons total volume