55 Gallon Reef Tank Build (55gal – I know)

[Swope2bc]

I like painting the back glass with black acrylic or latex paint. Works great, is cheap and can easily be scraped off if a change is desired in the future...


40b mixed reef build with 40b sump
Reef Octopus 110 classic skimmer
Duel jaebo wave makers
Jaebo DCT 12000 return pump
300W Chinese Blackbox LED modified to run on APEX

 

[ChitownBrickie]

From the standpoint of eliminating dead spots and keeping water circulating throughout, I would keep the back corners filled with rock, tight to the glass. You have an angled overflow in your back left (which is good) so I would glue rock to the overflow wall on that side and then create ledges coming off that. Then duplicate the back right corner to do the same thing (but maybe smaller). This will keep anything from settling in the far back corners, making the back essentially rounded so water can naturally flow in a circular pattern.

The pic below shows what I did with mine (using a fake rock wall, but you can use natural rockwork and duplicate it). By carrying a shallow ledge across the top back (and painting the back black) it makes it look like a deep cave which will give the appearance of more depth (front to back) yet not cover the middle rockwork. It also will give a small ledge all across the back to put other corals on, whereas otherwise it would just be wasted space (which is real estate you can't afford to lose with such a narrow (front to back) tank.

I see what your saying. I love what you did with your back wall. I see a market here! I might be something to ponder on a bit. It does give the appearance of more depth, esp with the black paint. that is a slick trick. They're killing me at work. 7 days a week until the jobsite gets caught up. But on a positive note, more money for the tank I will be online more often after were caught up and I start getting my life back. I just wanted you all to know I appreciate everything and I will be back!!

 

[ChitownBrickie]

I found a thread on aquascaping 55 gallon tanks here on RC. I found this pic of one that is pretty close to what I was thinking of the middle section (but this guy didn't do anything with the back corners as I'm suggesting).

I like what he did with the middle section. I see what your getting at too. I cant wait to get it going My baffles came in today from the glass shop. I will get the sump together soon. It's tricky trying to juggle time right now. summer is the busy season for me, winter is my recovery time

 

[ChitownBrickie]

Here was mine before disaster struck.

Nice scape. what happened, the disaster?

 

[ChitownBrickie]

My old 55

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Nice Tank, that is sharp. I like the variety of corals you chose too

 

[ChitownBrickie]

I like painting the back glass with black acrylic or latex paint. Works great, is cheap and can easily be scraped off if a change is desired in the future...


40b mixed reef build with 40b sump
Reef Octopus 110 classic skimmer
Duel jaebo wave makers
Jaebo DCT 12000 return pump
300W Chinese Blackbox LED modified to run on APEX

Sounds like a win win to me! If it is easy to scrape off, I'm sold. What sheen do you use (flat,semi,gloss)?

 

[Swope2bc]

Sounds like a win win to me! If it is easy to scrape off, I'm sold. What sheen do you use (flat,semi,gloss)?

It doesn't matter really because it's behind the glass so it all ends up looking like black glass.. I've tried a couple different ones but found that cheap acrylic (from the dollar store) works just as well as anything else. Just as long as it stays dry back there your fine.

 

[ChitownBrickie]

Ok, good to know. I will get on that soon then

 

[Charley Diesing]

update plz!

 

[Fbrondum]

Here is the scape on my 55 I found it tougher than expected with the narrow workspace.


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[ComforablyNumb]

Scaping a 55gal has its challenges because of the narrowness of the tank. Here is what I did:

Rockwork starting out:


A year later:

 

[Aquaticfishlove]

this seems like a good thread to follow! Love your custom stand!